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#martin luther kind jr
thecalminside · 1 year
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Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
-Martin Luther King Jr.
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jazzdailyblog · 7 months
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John Coltrane: The Colossus of Jazz
Introduction: John Coltrane, often referred to simply as ‘Trane,’ stands as one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz. His innovative approach to improvisation, coupled with a tireless quest for musical exploration, reshaped the landscape of jazz and inspired countless musicians across genres. This blog post endeavors to illuminate the life, music, and legacy of the colossus of…
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The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’
- Martin Luther King Jr
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The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?
Martin Luther King Jr.
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The painting is titled Waiting For The Hour, by William Tolman Carlton, 1863.
* * * * *
While President, there used to be a painting depicting the night of December 31, 1862 that hung right outside the Oval Office. In it, enslaved Black men, women, and children crowded around a single pocket watch, waiting for the clock to strike midnight and the Emancipation Proclamation to take into effect. As they huddled anxiously in the dimly lit room, we can sense how even two more minutes seemed like an eternity to wait for one’s freedom. But the enslaved Black folks of Galveston, Texas, had to wait more than two years after President Lincoln’s decree and two months after Appomattox to receive word that they were free at last.
Today, we commemorate the anniversary of that delayed but welcomed news. Decades of collective action would follow as equality and justice for Black folks advanced slowly on our nation’s journey toward a more perfect union. This Juneteenth, we remember that struggle as we reflect on how far we’ve come as a country—and the work that remains undone. We remember that even in the darkest hours, there is cause to hope for tomorrow’s light. Let us all recommit ourselves today to honoring those who fought over generations and generations to steer our country closer to our highest ideals.
[Barack Obama]
* * * *
“And somewhere along the way it is necessary to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God. And without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. And so we must help time, and we must realize that the time is always ripe to do right. This is so vital, and this is so necessary.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
[alive on all channels]
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jjspina · 3 months
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Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Here’s to a great man who strived to make a difference in the lives of many. His message is still resonating today. I apologize for featuring this a little late. Here is a link to learn more about this incredible man. May our world find peace and freedom ringing from all lands. May we all accept each other for our differences. May we treat one another as we want to be treated with kindness…
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enya-writes98 · 3 months
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As we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I wanted to share a quote that is short, yet poignant. Especially today. Hate takes too much time, effort, and energy. Let's love instead.
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kc22invesmentsblog · 7 months
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The Power of Righteous Action: Embracing Martin Luther King Jr.'s Words
Written by Delvin Welcome to a motivating Saturday! Today, we draw inspiration from the timeless words of Martin Luther King Jr.: “The time is always right to do what is right.” These words serve as a reminder that we each hold the power to make a positive impact, regardless of the circumstances or challenges we face. Join us as we explore the significance of taking righteous action and creating…
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celaenaeiln · 7 months
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12 am anon back at it again. my friend called me at 2 am, tipsy on i wanna say wine??? and ranted about how nightwing’s “superpower” is his charisma for like 15 mins . and then they talked about how he looks like he’d have a great spice tolerance before hanging up. i think its a hyperfixation .
I absolutely love it!! You and your friend just have the best conversations ever.
Your ask immediately reminded me of this scene from YJ Season 3
"That's just about everyone. Wasn't sure they'd all respond."
"You command more respect than you realize."
"I'm starting to get that."
Literally this boy has charisma oozing out of his pores. It absolutely is his superpower!
Charisma is known as "a personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure" or "the quality of being able to attract, charm and influence those around you." And Dick is the living embodiment of it.
It's actually a canon trait of his
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The New Teen Titans (1980) Issue #5
Dick has the unique ability to lead people. It's not just about telling others what to do, it's people wanting to follow him, listen to him, and and accepts his commands of their own volition.
In the DC/RWBY comic, the RWBY team crosses over to Gotham with all their problems so they have to work together with Batman, Batgirl, and Nightwing (Ruby REALLY gets along with Dick which for some reason makes so much sense idk why). And the batfamily get superpowers.
And DC-
DC LITERALLY WENT-
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DC/RWBY Issue #3
THEY ACTUALLY GAVE HIM THE POWER OF INSPIRATION. THEY SAID "if anyone has the ability to lead people to a better life, give them light and hope, and be everyone's favorite leader and savior, then there is only one person to which we can attribute this power to."
Inspiration is the factor that leads people to moving mountains, becoming greater, and changing our entire lives and everyone else and Dick is the one who bestows that power.
He literally inspires people to be better and inspires them to follow him and became the greatest they can be.
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Teen Titans (2003) Issue #33
He just has the ability to inspire people to reach greater heights. The younger generation, his own, and the older ones kind of hero worship him.
Charisma is a dangerous power to have. It's essentially the unique ability to convince people to want to do things for you.
Examples of charismatic leaders are Martin Luther King Jr, Joan of Arc, Fidel Castro, and Napolean.
These people moved nations, worlds, societies but they are only one person. And Dick, has the ability to do this too.
To describe him as a person, to describe his charismatic authority, you need to combine all those figures into one person. And that's the equivalent of his power.
Because in the comics when he wants something - the whole superhero society answers.
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The Titans (1999) Issue #39
On a separate note, Dick does have a high spice tolerance!
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Batman and Robin (2009) Issue #1
Also Romani food is made hot and spicy, commonly using chili, paprika, and red and black pepper. So he can definitely handle the heat.
Lol I'm just imagining Dick absent-mindedly chewing on a red chili pepper while he watches Garth dare Wally to eat a ghost pepper while Donna's rolling her eyes and Roy's hyperventilating on the floor because he's having flashbacks to Ollie's Chilli.
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ant111fragile · 1 year
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Hiiiiiiiiiiiii. Ok let me introduce myself. my name is seri. I’m a master shifter and my main destinations are different points in history. I have no idea why history isn’t more popular in the shifting community. Like the things I’ve experienced first hand are amazing. Like I’ve seen things with my own eyes that we learn about in history textbooks. It’s the most amazing experience. I’ve been to alot of drs too like hogwarts, mcu, fame, love dr, avatar and so many more but nothing compares to seeing our worlds history for myself.
Some of my fave times I’ve been too: ( I changed my gender to a boy for most of these drs because I wouldn’t be able to experience it properly as a woman because of the time periods and I didn’t want to change history )
The making of the pyramids
Cleopatras ruling
King Tutankhamen
The making of the Great Wall of China
The first man to land on the moon ( I scripted I was a part of crew for the mission )
Queen Elizabeth the firsts ruling
The independence of America
The battle of Hastings
Ancient Greek
Ancient Rome
Seeing the Mona Lisa being made
Meeting Vincent Van Gogh
The Black Death ( I didn’t go to see people die I lived as a part of the government cause I always wanted to know how they tried to deal with it. There was so much panic )
Seeing Martin Luther kind jr give his “ I have a dream” speech in person
The crowning of queen elizabeth the seconds coronation
Meeting William Shakespeare
The Christmas truce
Pompeii before it way destroyed ( it was beautiful )
Seeing the 7 wonders of the ancient world
Hanging garden of babylon
Seeing ancient structures when they were actually In use ( the colosseum, temple of Hera, so many more I can’t even list )
Getting the great honour to learn kalaripayattu in ancient India
And genuinely just getting to live life seeing these people go about their own lives. Beautiful
I’m not going to list anymore cause there so many but I have experienced the beginning of the first humans millions of years ago to the making of the I phone. I am so honoured I get to experience these events and meet the people in the stories we learn. It’s crazy because to us it’s this amazing history we can only imagine but to them it’s just life. They no nothing else. They don’t know how truely incredible they are in our history. I can’t wait to experience more. Maybe one day I’ll even go into the future. Who knows.
Also something else I did was meet Van Gogh and take him to the dr future to the Van Gogh museum so he can see he wasn’t a failure. So he could see he made it. I took this idea after watching doctor who and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I still get chills. To see this man who died thinking he was nothing getting to see a the future where he is known as one of the greatest artists of all time. My favorite shifting experience ever
Woooaaahhhh!! That's like suppoerr cooll!! I'm so happy for you and that is such a cool idea ajajajsk😭❣️
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cripple-punk-dad · 4 months
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Once again feeling emotions about God, Forgive These Bastards: Songs From The Forgotten Life Of Henry Turner by The Taxpayers. I listened to the whole album not really knowing the background or the story behind the title. I just loved the music and the artist's voices. But then I found the explanation by the main vocalist on the album, Rob Taxpayer, and:
"The first time I met Henry Turner I feared for my life. I remember the exact date – February 18th, 2007 – because the day before, a close friend of mine had unsuccessfully attempted to commit suicide in his studio apartment and I’d spent the entire night at the hospital. It was one of those terrible and typical Pacific Northwest winter nights where the rain seemed relentless and the gloom was contagious, and as I waited at a sheltered bus stop on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for the # 6 to arrive, a man approached me for a cigarette.
I shook my head and gave him a half-smile.
“Sorry. I quit a few years back.”
I stuck my head back into the newspaper I was reading, and he took a few steps closer.
“How about a buck and a quarter then? All I need is a dollar and a quarter and I’ll have enough for bus fair.”
I shrugged and fumbled around in my pocket.
“I’m using an expired bus transfer myself, but I might have a few extra dimes. It ain’t much, but if it helps, it’s yours.”
I passed him the change, and when he grabbed it, he ducked down to my level and looked me straight in the eyes.
“Look at me. Does it look like a few extra dimes would help? You think a few extra dimes would do any good to anybody? Take a look at me. I got a rotten heart and a bad shoulder and I ain’t slept a good night’s sleep in the past ten years, and you wanna know the kicker? I get fuckers like you tossing me their condescending extra dimes.”
He was tall and intimidating, with wild gray hair and deep wrinkle lines all across his face, and his eyes would occasionally roll up into his head, quiver, and then refocus. His thick, wet coat and his tangled beard had bits of crumpled leaves stuck to them, and he carried himself with the strange confidence of an angry and confused lion.
“And the best part about all of this is that I know you’re cheating me. And you know what I did to the last bastard that cheated me? “
He paused for a few silent, terrifying seconds.
“I bit his ear off.”
I almost pissed my pants. My brain was telling me, “get up and run”, but my body was frozen in fear, and I sat there shaking in excruciating silence. Sure, maybe he was harmless, but something about the look in his eyes terrified me. I could see the bus approaching from about a quarter of a mile away. I did the math. From that distance, it would be another minute or so before the bus arrived, saving me from certain death. I could try to fight back. But while he was an old man, he was an enormous old man, and anyways, you just can’t fight a crazy person. I could run. That was it. I was going to have to get up and run before he sunk his teeth into me, or pulled out a knife, or worse.
Suddenly, he burst into laughter. Not a maniacal laughter, but a booming, good-natured laughter, and his angry eyes became kind and warm. His snarl turned into a crooked smile, and he slapped me on the back like an old friend.
“Aw, I’m just fucking with you, kid. Ain’t much for laughs around here. You’ll have to forgive me.”
He held out his massive hand for me to shake.
“Henry Turner. Friends call me Hank. How ya doin'?”
I was still petrified. Was this some sort of a trick? Was he going to grab my hand and then snap it off like a tree branch? He looked me over and laughed again, reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a bus pass.
“Here. This one ain’t expired. Go on, take it, I got a whole stack of ‘em.”
And with that, the bus pulled up to our stop in the rain, the doors opened with a loud mechanical sigh, and Henry held out both his arms, outstretched, in the direction of the doors.
“After you, kid.”
I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was a semi-celebrity around town, although most people wrote him off as just another one of the crazy folks that told rambling, drunken tales – amusing for a few minutes, but best largely avoided. It was true, he had his demons, but he also had a magical brilliant quality to him, and whenever I ran into him around town, I’d end up spending a few hours with him, if for no other reason than to listen to his unbelievable stories. It didn’t really matter whether they were true or not, it was the way he told them, with absolute clarity and confidence, no matter how crazy they sounded. Some of it even checked out. He’d often talk about his years playing baseball with Georgia Tech, and the famous play-off game where he pitched a two-hitter in 1979. When I got home, I went on the internet and looked up the Georgia Tech roster from 1979, and there he was. Henry Turner. I’ll be damned.
The years went by. I’d leave town for months at a time, but when I came home I could always expect to run into Henry for the latest news and a ridiculous tale. Businesses closed and new ones opened, houses changed ownership, new faces arrived and old ones disappeared, but he was like an ancient marble pillar – unaffected by the changes around him. Or so it seemed. In the winter of 2010, three years after we first met, I ran into Henry on one of the downtown park blocks. He was disheveled and had these crazy eyes, and when he recognized me, he touched me on the shoulder and said something to the effect of, “Gonna go away for a while. You’ll hold onto something for me, yeah?”. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a huge stack of unused bus passes, thrust them into my hands, and walked away. It was the last time I would see him.
Henry Turner died on March 25th, 2010, a product of years of substance abuse and tough living. If a funeral was held I wasn’t aware of it. The news of his death hit me harder than expected, and it sparked an obsession: I began compulsively writing down every outlandish and unbelievable story he’d ever told me, as a sort of tribute. My band started working on an album of songs pertaining to Henry’s life. My nights were spent researching everything I could find about the Turner family. I would rant on and on to complete strangers about the whole ordeal. Then slowly, it began to subside. Life went back to normal. Though I never quite forgot about it, my utter entrancement with the Turners faded.
What follows is an amalgamation of the stories Henry told me, as best as I can remember them. I hope I did him justice. There are some embellishments and I took quite a few liberties, but like all good narrators, Henry knew that any story worth telling should be grand, significant, and a little bit false. It’s important to note that Henry was no hero, and I’m not trying to romanticize or defend him – as you’ll find out, he was a murderer, an abusive husband, an unapologetic addict, and a crook who was haunted by his most awful moments. But he was also at times a tender, loving father, a brave adventurer, and an amazing pitcher, who was surprisingly candid and an absolute charm to listen to. No person can be summed up by their worst actions. And despite his insistence that “forgiveness ain’t an inherent human quality”, that’s what this whole thing’s been about for me: the capacity to forgive someone’s most wretched moments.
Ultimately, I think that when Henry was at his best, he was something simple: a kind, strange friend" -Rob Taxpayer, from The Taxpayer's Bandcamp page
Look at me look me in the eyes: "No person can be summed up by their worst actions" I'm broken I'm dead I'm deceased. The last track on the album is an interview with somebody who knew Henry as a child. It's about remembering someone that nobody else thinks about it's about preserving the memory of the jerks and the assholes and the addicts because everyone deserves to be remembered and to have songs sung about them and have their stories told in whatever way they can be told.
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Worried by Florida’s history standards? Check out its new dictionary!
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As always, Alexandra Petri is spot on in satirizing the right-wing censorship and educational nonsense happening in Florida. This is a gift 🎁 link, so you can read the entire column, even if you don't subscribe to The Washington Post.
Below are some excerpts 😂:
Well, it’s a week with a Thursday in it, and Florida is, once again, revising its educational standards in alarming ways. Not content with removing books from shelves, or demanding that the College Board water down its AP African American studies curriculum, the state’s newest history standards include lessons suggesting that enslaved people “developed skills” for “personal benefit.” This trend appears likely to continue. What follows is a preview of the latest edition of the dictionary to be approved in Florida. Aah: (exclamation) Normal thing to say when you enter the water at the beach, which is over 100 degrees. Abolitionists: (noun) Some people in the 19th century who were inexplicably upset about a wonderful free surprise job training program. Today they want to end prisons for equally unclear reasons. Abortion: (noun) Something that male state legislators (the foremost experts on this subject) believe no one ever wants under any circumstances, probably; decision that people beg the state to make for them and about which doctors beg for as little involvement as possible. American history: (noun) A branch of learning that concerns a ceaseless parade of triumphs and contains nothing to feel bad about. Barbie: (noun) Feminist demon enemy of the state. Biden, Joe: (figure) Illegitimate president. Black history: (entry not found) Blacksmith: (noun) A great job and one that enslaved people might have had. Example sentence from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R): “They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life.” Book ban: (noun) Effective way of making sure people never have certain sorts of ideas. Censorship: (noun) When other people get mad about something you’ve said. Not to be confused with when you remove books from libraries or the state tells colleges what can and can’t be said in classrooms (both fine). Child: (noun) Useful laborer with tiny hands; alternatively, someone whose reading cannot be censored enough. [...]
[See more select "definitions" below the cut]
Classified: (adjective) The government’s way of saying a paper is especially interesting and you ought to have it in your house. Climate change: (noun) Conspiracy by scientists to change all the thermometers, fill the air with smoke and then blame us. [...] Constitution: (noun) A document that can be interpreted only by Trump-appointed and/or Federalist Society judges. If the Constitution appears to prohibit something that you want to do, take the judge on a boat and try again. [...] DeSantis, Ron: (figure) Governor who represents the ideal human being. Pronunciation varies. Disney: (noun) A corporation, but not the good kind. [...] Election: (noun) Binding if Republicans win; otherwise, needs help from election officials who will figure out where the fraud was that prevented the election from reflecting the will of the people (that Republicans win). [...] Emancipation Proclamation: (noun) Classic example of government overreach. Firearm: (noun) Wonderful, beautiful object that every person ought to have six of, except Hunter Biden. [...] FOX: News. Free speech: (noun) When you shut up and I talk. Gun violence: (noun) Simple, unalterable fact of life, like death but unlike taxes. [...]
Jan. 6: (noun) A day when some beautiful, beloved people took a nice, uneventful tour of the U.S. Capitol. King Jr., Martin Luther: (figure) A man who, as far as we can discern, uttered only one famous quotation ever and it was about how actually anytime you tried to suggest that people were being treated differently based on skin color you were the real racist. Sample sentence: “Dr. King would be enraged at the existence of Black History Month.” Liberty: (noun) My freedom to choose what you can read (see Moms for Liberty). Moms for Liberty: (noun) Censors, but the good kind. [...] Pregnant (adjective): The state of being a vessel containing a Future Citizen; do not say “pregnant person”; no one who is a real person can get pregnant. Queer: (entry not found) Refugee: (noun) Someone who should have stayed put and waited for help to come. Slavery: (noun) We didn’t invent it, or it wasn’t that bad, or it was a free job training program. Supreme Court: (noun) Wonderful group of mostly men without whom no journey by private plane or yacht is complete. Trans: (entry not found) United States: (noun) Perfect place, no notes. [emphasis added to defined words]
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I always remember that interview where Whoopi Goldberg described seeing Nichelle Nichols as Uhura for the first time as a child. She was absolutely stunned, yelling for her whole family to come and see this new show that was on because “There’s a Black woman on TV and she’s not a maid!” Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, Goldberg later went on to play Guinan. Nichols’ work as Uhura was instrumental in opening the way for Avery Brooks and Sonequa Martin Green as the first Black Captains in the franchise, and many of the Black characters who have been part of the series’ supporting casts. The legacy of the character of Uhura continues today in her 21st century portrayals by Zoe Saldana and Celia Rose Gooding.
Nichols’ invaluable portrayal had tangible impacts outside the acting world as well. Her performance was recognized by leaders of the Civil Rights Movement such as Martin Luther King Jr. He considered her work instrumental in helping audiences imagine a future with equality and integration as facts of life for all people, especially Black people. Nichols also used her role to encourage Black people to pursue careers in space, with several astronauts from NASA citing her as an inspiration for their careers. Among them is Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space.
Sure, Nyota Uhura is fictional. She’s “just” a character on TV. But Nichelle Nichols and her groundbreaking career are real. Her impact is real. When she acted on set each day, she took part in imagining a better future. Uhura as a character helped people to understand and revise the kinds of things that could be possible for them.
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madseance · 11 months
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“Tried to scare you”: Producer “almost killed” picketing writers with SUV
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Today in Atlanta, producer Ian Woolf (BMF) allegedly tried to run over protesting writers with his SUV, as reported on Twitter by striking writer Brian Egeston (The Game, On a Wing and a Prayer), one of those nearly hit by the vehicle.
The full text of Brian Egeston's open letter to Woolf:
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MAN WHO ALMOST KILLED ME ON THE WGA PICKET LINE TODAY. A thread… Dear Mr. Ian Woolf, Welcome to Atlanta. Years ago, forward thinkers and Civil Rights icons labeled our fair town, ‘the city too busy to hate’. What you did today on Hank Aaron Drive and blocks from the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr….was hateful. When you pointed your SUV at me as though it were a weapon and slammed the breaks within six feet of writers, I felt the hate and aggression of scenarios similar to Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and others who have been harmed at the hands of hate-filled oppressors. As I marched with the WGA in a peaceful protest, similar to the giants who have walked the very streets where you almost committed manslaughter, you chose to—in your own words— “Tried to scare you.” Mr. Woolf, this scare and intimidation tactic reeks of German Shepards, water hoses, bricks and burning flesh. It reeks of the worst kind of hate. A hate that continually divides us as a people. I would implore you, in hindsight, to consider the ramifications of killing an African-American man in the streets of the city too busy to hate, while being the producer of an African-American TV show, created by an African American man, run by an African-American Man. Mr. Woolf, your actions purveyed a deep generational hate for us. And that, sir, is a travesty for which you must be held accountable. If not by your superiors and peers, then by the people of Atlanta because the South will have something to say about what you did today. Should you choose to remain in our city, where I will remind you that you are a guest, I beg of you to lead with love and refrain from being a drum major for hate and potential manslaughter. I pray God’s grace and mercy over your life. Brian Egeston Writer
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1 Nephi 7- The Peacemakers
The story of 1 Nephi 7 is familiar for those of us who grew up in the Church. Laman and Lemuel bind Nephi with cords and leave him for dead. He prays for strength to break the cords and his prayer is answered. Laman and Lemuel are even more angry and are about to lay their hands on Nephi again, but then three unnamed figures step in. The text refers to them as one of the daughters of Ishmael, her mother, and one of the sons of Ishmael. In the alternate title of this painting depicting the scene, they are simply called The Peacemakers.*
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In Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he criticizes the white moderate "who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice."**
Too often, we think of peacemaking as a passive thing, simply avoiding contention and doing whatever you can to dispel disagreements as soon as possible. But positive peace, the presence of justice, doesn't come passively. That kind of peace has to be fought for, the way Martin Luther King and so many others fought for it during the Civil Rights Movement, and the way so many people are fighting for it now. Being a peacemaker is an active choice to look around, notice when something is wrong, and take a stand. It takes courage and compassion. Just like the Peacemakers actively stepped in to protect Nephi from his brothers, we can be peacemakers as we actively stand up to protect and stand in solidarity with those who are marginalized and oppressed.
*George M. Ottinger, Nephi Protected from his Brethren by the Daughter of Ishmael and her Mother, 1890. The Book of Mormon Art Catalog, https://bookofmormonartcatalog.org/catalog/nephi-protected-from-his-brethren-by-the-daughter-of-ishmael-and-her-mother/.
**Martin Luther King Jr, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963. https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
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Doctor Who, but Chronologically: 41
Well. Holy shit.
It's 1955, and hot on the heels of the incredibly socially important episode about Partition, we get one of the greatest episodes this show has ever produced: Rosa, co-written by Malorie Blackman.
(Funnily enough, once again, this dumbest of watch orders has triumphed - this close to Demons in the Punjab, you feel emotionally prepped for Rosa. "Ah yes," you think. "A much-needed and blindingly important historical episode that educates white British people in race relations. One of the functions of Doctor Who."
You still aren't ready.)
I mean this without hyperbole: of every episode, book, comic, radio show, and everything else Doctor Who has ever produced or had a hand in, this one makes you feel the imminent danger to the companions the most, and on a level that none other ever has. We get Whittaker, Ryan, Yaz and Graham back as they all go to Montgomery Alabama, the day before Rosa Parks stages her sit-in protest, and sweet Christ on a stick they do not pull their punches in making every single white person into a raging cunt of epic proportions. They do not shy away from stressing that Ryan could be lynched at literally any time and it would be legally sanctioned. They are not coy about citing the real-life murder of Emmett Till - murdered for daring to speak to a white woman - within seven minutes of the opening credits, after a white man physically assaults Ryan and snarls that he will have him "swinging from a tree with a rope for a kerchief, boy".
It is visceral and shocking and completely out of the normal tone of this show. Part way through, Ryan chooses to go off alone because his spine is apparently made of fecking titanium, and I honestly don't think I relaxed for the rest of the episode (although it leads to a fantastic scene of him meeting the leaders of the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr, and I really mean that it is FANTASTIC). I've watched companions be menaced by everything from statues to large pepper pots to fucking Bertie Botts; I've seen them trapped in drifting spaceships, partially turned into birds and fish, stuck in the Blitz, slaughtered in the Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, melted, possessed, infected, mutilated, and threatened with compulsory roller derby membership. I have seen it all and then some. Some I have seen in more than one iteration.
This is the only episode where I have been genuinely frightened for one. I've aged, Tumblrs. 73, I am now. Wizened.
Anyway. You know the story of Rosa Parks sitting on the bus and refusing to give her seat to white people. This episode does cover that, but it does so through the medium of an awful time travelling neo-Nazi, complete with Richard Spencer haircut, who has been released from intergalactic prison Stormfront Stormcage and decided to use a vortex manipulator like Captain Jack's to come to 1955 and stop the Montgomery Bus Boycott from happening. There's a nasty scene where he tells Ryan he's doing it to stop Ryan's "kind" from "rising above their station", so when I say he's a neo-Nazi, I am not pissing about, and nor was this show. (Ryan shoots him with a time gun in the end that sends him to a prehistoric past trololol enjoy that, conservative, you people love The Past)
The TARDIS team spend the episode trying to nudge history back into place so the protest can happen. It's genius, really - super simple sci-fi plot, so the focus can be on the social issues. There's a beautiful conversation between Ryan and Yaz about the way they both still face racism in the present day, and the way Ryan has to constantly police his emotions and faces police discrimination even now; but, also about the nature of social change, and the importance of looking forwards and fighting the good fight. There's also a great scene when they first get on a bus - Ryan is forced to sit at the back, but Yaz doesn't know where to sit. The driver lets her on at the front, but she's not white - so which box do they want her in? "Does 'coloured' just mean black in the 1950s?" she asks, having been accused twice of being 'Mexican'. It's a subtle performance, but the indecision of it - guessing if she's endangering herself or not - is shown to be genuinely distressing.
God, fuck, this is such a good episode. It's absurdly good. They fit so much in 42 minutes, while still making it a Doctor Who episode and yet not shirking on any of the fundamental issues. And the writing is still deftly done - there's a dry humour that they intersperse throughout as a palate cleanser that never undoes the impact of the social stuff, like some stupid MCU LOL NOT REALLY bit of obnoxious bathos; instead it's a foil for the serious stuff, making it that bit more impactful. And! A rare Sexy Lamp Test pass for all three companions! That does not often happen in Chibnell's run, so shout out there.
Anyway. ANYWAY. I could honestly write a whole scene by scene breakdown of this episode complete with citations and explain in exquisite detail how much I love it, punctuated with "We laughed at this bit, and then cried at this bit, and threw shoes at the screen at this bit" but uhhhh, that is not the point of this project. So I shall stop.
Plot threads! Any answers? Not really. A few things we've seen before though, like the vortex manipulator, that was fun.
And apparently there's a big prison called Stormcage that puts anti-violence implants into its inmates' heads before release! That's fun. Good to know that policy.
“She” (an unknown person) is returning (perhaps River returned as Missy. Maybe Me? Maybe Clara???!)
There is something on Donna’s back
An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest. The Thijarian planet was destroyed by some sort of impact)
Amy is maybe dead (she’s not)
The Doctor has been cubed (he’s out, but how?)
River is possibly blown up  (unless she’s Missy. Nope: she is definitely not blown up)
The TARDIS has blown up  (It’s fine now. Except it’s sort of melting now because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again)
The universe appears to have ended  (the universe is back again)
The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole
(And Nardole was “reassembled???” Nardole had glass nipples and invisible hair?? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE)
There’s a vault in the TARDIS and it contains Missy but we don’t know why (sometimes she knocks for the bants)
There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons
Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?
What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?
Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window? (She’s with the Silents, but we don’t know why Amy saw her)
Why is Amy’s pregnancy inconclusive? (Maybe because the baby had Time Lord DNA?)
Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?
How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?
What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???
What happened with the Other Cyber War?
What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?
Why does Rose seem particularly important?
What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker)
Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?
Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri
There is a Lupari shield around Earth.
What’s a Time War?
What’s the Rift?
What’s Bad Wolf?
In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?
Who is the Master?
Why has Amy forgotten Rory? How did she forget a Dalek invasion?
Is Rory plastic or not?
Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?
How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?
What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?
Which friend killed Strax?
Which friend brought Strax back?
Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?
What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?
How does Clara actually join?
Why so many Claras?
Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven?
Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?
What is Trensilor and what happened there?
Who is Handles?
The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man
The universe is being crushed by the Flux
Will the Doctor open the fobwatch?
Sontarans are invading Earth again
Who is Kate?
Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?
The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent
Does Martha get to go to an ice cream planet with 12-fingered massage aliens?
How did the Doctor forget Clara?
Who is Bill’s puddle girlfriend Heather?
How did Nardole die?
When does Bill get Cyberman-ed and die?
When does the Doctor shrink and enter a Dalek called Rusty?
Whittaker is falling to her death rn
Was that ring relevant?
Does anyone know the Doctor’s name?
When did Yaz talk to Dan about fancying the Doctor?
When did Dan talk to the Doctor about fancying Yaz?
What’s happening with the bees?
What happened with Donna’s ex and a giant spider?
What war wiped out the Daleks, and is it one of the ones already mentioned?
What did the Doctor mean when he said “The (Daleks) always live, while I lose everything?”
If Dalek Caan is the last Dalek left why are there more now?
How did the rest of the Time Lords die?
How and why did Amy melt?
What’s the question that will make silence fall?
Why do the Silents… want silence to fall?
How and why are Silents at war with the Doctor when he… hasn’t even heard of them?
How does Hitler get out of the cupboard?
What’s the significance of fish fingers and custard?
Why does the Doctor feel guilt about Rose, Martha and Donna?
What happened with the space whale?
When does Rory defend Amy for 2000 years?
How does the Doctor survive River
How does he erase himself from history
Did Captain Jack lose his memories to the same people as the Doctor? What did he lose?
When did the Doctor send the Daleks into a void to save the universe?
What’s with the weird crack in the wall and is it affecting memories?
Why do Amy and Rory think the Doctor is dead?
Is Matt Smith’s Doctor a tree racist?
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