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And we finally know how Peter Petrelli gets his scar!
- n
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Monday, January 15th, 2007
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This speech still makes my hair stand up on end. What a good man, what a wonderful dream.
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I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. *We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only."* We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Friday, December 1st, 2006
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In these demon days it's so cold inside
So hard for a good soul to survive
You can't even trust the air you breath
Because Mother Earth wants us all to leave
When lies become reality
You numb yourself with drugs and T.V
Lift yourself up it's a brand new day
So turn yourself round
Don't burn yourself, turn yourself
Turn yourself around into the sun !
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What can I say? It's been a weird time in this life..... sometimes you take good advice where you can get it.
- n
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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Thursday, October 12th, 2006
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About a week ago I grabbed The Streets' "A Grand Don't Come For Free" and threw it into the car. I've heard The Streets lots of times, but had never heard an album and didn't realize that the whole album is a story, from end to end. When I did realize it, I decided to listen to it like I would read a book: I took a chapter or two a day for the rest of the week, and really listened to the story.
When I got to the end, a funny thing happened. I don't know how many of you have ever actually heard this album, but it's basically a story of failure, mistrust, betrayal, retaliation, loss, and rediscovery. Like a little pop opera. Anyway, at the end the hero of the story realizes that while he's lost a lot, in the process, he's regained belief in himself.
Everytime I listen to the end of this album now - well, I won't lie - I get totally emotionally overwhelmed, and it makes me well up. Like, every time I hear it. I can't help it. The idea of someone failing miserably and not giving up hope, in fact having that strengthen his hope, has always resonated with me.
Which makes me wonder: is that the way I view myself? As a failure seeking atonement? I think it is maybe. It explains a lot; maybe it's why I often think about roads not taken, successes almost reached, regrets along the way. Maybe the need for redemption lights a fire under me.
Do other people see themselves this way, I wonder? I'm pretty sure it's not a unique feeling. I think often people are more driven by negativity than positivity, but that it can still lead to positive things.
What drives you?
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Friday, September 15th, 2006
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Wednesday, September 13th, 2006
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My friend phronq is a great TV critic. Sometimes he just hammers the nail right on the head. And, he's one of the two people to have gotten me to start watching House the past 2 weeks (the other being mah woman):
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-> *phronq* so i really like House. just started watching it
*phronq* Hugh Laurie is awesome.
-> *phronq* yeah. i've never seen a brit play an american so well
*phronq* he even does an american faking a brit accent the way an american would. that's a professional. :)
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gonna watch last night's episode tonight when I get home - TV junkyism is sad, but hey, at least it's a good show ;)
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Friday, September 8th, 2006
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So I feel really really good about my Good Deed for the Day:
I was standing outside with my co-workers - oh yeah, I have a new job now, but more on that later - chatting while they smoked, when all of a sudden this tiny object fell out of the sky and down onto the pavement next to us. It was a little green hummingbird, and it was in shock. I've never seen a hummingbird up close, but I was pretty sure that it's a bad sign when their wings stop.
So, we picked up the bird, which was totally stunned. it couldn't stand up even in the palm of my friend Joe's hand because it had lost its balance, and its beak was bent from the fall. it really didn't seem like it was gonna make it, but I ran upstairs and packed it in a box and got directions to the nearest wildlife preserve, and in the middle of the day, took off like a bandit in my new car to do what I could to keep this little thing alive.
And off to the wildlife preserve we went. They've got the little guy now and are taking care of him. I've always heard that if a hummingbird stops flapping its wings, it's all over, but am holding out hope. Which is funny because I love animals, but I don't really like birds that much - I'm pretty sure they'd just as soon eat your eyes as fly over you. Anyway, if he gets better they will call me and I can go pick him up and return him where I found him.
So, I feel pretty good about helping something smaller than me. And privileged to have seen a hummingbird so up close - something I understand is a very rare experience.
Not a bad day :)
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006
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Okay, so last night I decided to treat myself to Lick's take-out as a reward for my first day on the new job. I stayed at work late to finish some stuff, and because it was damn hot out - 36 celsius, 46 with the almighty humidex factor (now that's nasty). So I drove over to the beaches and parked, and when I got out of my air-conditioned car to go into Lick's, my glasses steamed up so bad I couldn't see anything. It was worse than stepping into a bathroom with a hot shower running.
So, last night it was hotter out than a typical shower. Now that's some crazy shit.
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Comments: Read 8 or Add Your Own.
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Reply with your name (or whatever else) and I'll tell you something I admire about you. Afterwards, copy and paste this into your own journal.
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Comments: Read 31 or Add Your Own.
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Saturday, August 24th, 2002
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"Stanislavski once wrote that you could play well or badly, but play truly. It is not up to you whether your performance will be brilliant - all that is under your control is your intention. It is not under your control whether your career will be brilliant - all that is under your control is your intention. If you intend to manipulate, to show, to impress, you may experience mild suffering and pleasant triumphs. If you intend to follow the truth you see within yourself - to follow your common sense, and force your will to serve you in the quest for discipline and simplicity - you will subject yourself to profound dispair, loneliness, and constant self-doubt. And if you persevere, the World, which you are learning to serve, will grace you, now and then, with the greatest exhiliration it is possible to know."
Welcome to the world again nab.
time to eat it alive.
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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Saturday, August 3rd, 2002
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the other night in the park a girl told me i have "the most beautiful eyes".
it's been a long time since anyone told me something nice like that.
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Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
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my holiday fucking sucks so far. i have no where to be, nothing to do, and pretty much everyone i know has made it clear they don't want me around this week. well, sorry folks: it's not like i have a lot of choice on my free time this year. so here i am sitting in my parents' house for the past 72 hours. today i was so bored i slept. that's pretty much all i've done for the past 24.
stupid fucking holiday.
fuck. this.
i'm so angry i want to taste blood.
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Comments: Read 9 or Add Your Own.
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small towns are beautiful.
it's so clear outside here today that you feel like you could reach up and stretch a million miles to scrape your knuckles against the sky.
it would feel like blue velvet :)
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Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
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so I had a freakin' blast on Canada Day weekend in Ottawa. A couple of friends came up from Toronto and it was pretty much a non-stop party: saturday was an all-day, all-night barbeque at my parents' place (much excess was to be had), followed by a mellow day of chilling and wandering about on sunday, and a pool/keg party, followed by fireworks on monday. the fireworks were, of course, spectacular.
tuesday morning we all headed home. i sprained my neck getting out of bed and have been suffering ever since - although the painkillers I got today seem to be helping :)
after class today, i have 3 hours of meetings. then homework. this heat and humidity better die down soon. i can't think straight. and exams are coming.
it's freaky how smoothly i've slid back into student life.
ah well. enjoy it while you can, nab.
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Comments: Read 13 or Add Your Own.
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schism fucking rocks.
and now, back to rocking out.
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Comments: Add Your Own.
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just finished my first midterm in about 5 or 6 years.... felt a little weird. i was totally panicked about it last night when i was at home, and when i woke up this morning. the thing about me is that i usually do incredibly well on standardized test but i bite the big one on regular, university style exams. i dunno why, but they hurt my brain.
anyway, the first one is down. done micro, monday is macro. it's definitely trial by fire time. macro is going to be KILLER. i think my prof is really cool and funny, but i'm sure he smokes crack too.
one thing i noticed yesterday: now that i'm back in school, that little part of me that wants to be blatantly irresponsible and slack off and not perform is trying to get louder in my head. i've got to ignore it. this is my master's degree, not fricking drunken undergrad science.
(sigh!) maybe installing max payne last night wasn't a good idea in the middle of all this work.... :)
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Comments: Read 23 or Add Your Own.
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3 assignments, 1 midterm. i didn't get nearly enough done this weekend..
(shudder).
welcome back to school, nab. midterms or finals every 6 weeks for another 11 months.....
eep. :)
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Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.
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| Time: | 8:47 pm. |
| Mood: | productive. |
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the weekend was okay.... i can't believe it's thursday already again.... midterms are next week and i have to study my ass off if i'm gonna do well.... but i'm getting ahead of myself.
went home to ottawa for the weekend to celebrate my birthday with my twin. we had a barbeque at my parents place, and lots of people showed up for what turned out to be a really good time, including my wonderful boo, who, among other things, got me the most gorgeous mug that she made herself as a birthday gift. you really gotta see it, it's incredibly cool.
anyway, got back to kingston, and pretty much i've been busy with school again. i'm starting to get a little freaked by the workload, but hopefully if i work work work non-stop until next weekend, i should do pretty well with exams.
damn. i gotta get back to it. :P
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Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
nab's journal
pleased.