Thursday, November 26, 2009
Giving Thanks
I give thanks to all the people who have the courage or who just can not take (pick one or all) discrimination, oppression, social injustice, unjust war, environmental degradation, ignorance, economic injustice, or selfishness any more and take a stand --large or small-- to help make the world a better place.
In today's NYT there is an article about Claudette Colvin--she was the first black person who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery Alabama bus. But she was seen as too black, too emotional, too mouthy, and unwed pregnant teen to be the real test case. So, was the next teen arrested Mary Louise Smith deemed unsuitable to be the test case because her father drank.. Rosa Parks--lighter skinned and who worked for the NAACP (as a secretary, she was a woman, afterall) was chosen to take a seat on the bus, not give it up and become the impetus for the bus boycott.
I give thanks for our Bill of Rights which allows us to redress wrongs, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which sets forth the concept that all people deserve to be respected, to Convention on the Elimination ofl Discrimination Against Women (which the US has not ratified and now has been transformed to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination--even though 50+% of the world's population are still discriminated against--only 1% of property for instance is owned by women, laws are still made on women's bodies-- including the current health care reform bills under discussion-- need I go on....)
I give thanks for the idea of equality, and I work towards seeinthat concept fulfilled.
In today's NYT there is an article about Claudette Colvin--she was the first black person who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery Alabama bus. But she was seen as too black, too emotional, too mouthy, and unwed pregnant teen to be the real test case. So, was the next teen arrested Mary Louise Smith deemed unsuitable to be the test case because her father drank.. Rosa Parks--lighter skinned and who worked for the NAACP (as a secretary, she was a woman, afterall) was chosen to take a seat on the bus, not give it up and become the impetus for the bus boycott.
I give thanks for our Bill of Rights which allows us to redress wrongs, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which sets forth the concept that all people deserve to be respected, to Convention on the Elimination ofl Discrimination Against Women (which the US has not ratified and now has been transformed to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination--even though 50+% of the world's population are still discriminated against--only 1% of property for instance is owned by women, laws are still made on women's bodies-- including the current health care reform bills under discussion-- need I go on....)
I give thanks for the idea of equality, and I work towards seeinthat concept fulfilled.
