You are entitled to fight
But
You are Worthy of Peace.
Imagine how strong you are. Imagine your ability to win a fight. You are smart; you have a handle on the language. No one can out talk you, out wit you. No one can put you to the floor; you can dominate the room, the home, the neighborhood, the community, the city, the state, the nation. You can dominate the world. What now do you do with all of this ability? Do you leave everyone frightened or do you leave them empowered? With all of your strength, will you use it to weaken or to empower? If you believe you are entitled to fight, your option will be to use your ability as a force to be reckoned with. If you engage your truth – which is, ‘you are worthy of peace’ – you will see your ability as the power to make things good, wholesome, and honest and ultimately peaceful.
“…one nation under God with liberty and justice for all…”
I get it, you were offended and you may think the only way out is to present a ready defense. You desire vengeance and you are entitled to do ‘just this’. However, within you, there is everything you need to do ‘justice’. You are due justice and you should do just this. To do justice is to make things equitable and not just for yourself but to use the complete bounty of your power to cultivate equity in every dimension of your sphere of influence. It is to make things equitable so that all injustice is removed and unable to sponsor itself anywhere. Martin Luther King Jr. stated in his letter from the Birmingham Jail, “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So do this. Do Just This. Do Justice for ALL, who are due Justice.
“Pursue peace with all men.”Forgive me for stating the obvious… this is a historic presidential election. The Democratic Party will nominate either a woman or a black man as their candidate for President of the United States. In an era of “civil rights”, “equal rights”, the remnants of “affirmative action” and “political correctness”, it seems that all issues and conversations about them are on the table. And yet, ironically, all these issues are not discussed on an equitable basis. And so it is with sincere deliberation and efficacy that I use the term “black” man rather than the evolving politically correct ‘African American’ when referencing Barak Obama. And even in writing, I am compelled to provide a sense of equanimity and use the term “black” man so that the reader is not faced with the visual disadvantage of seeing a capital “African-ness” compared to the lowercase words like woman-ness that characterizes Hillary.
Having said these things, it may be even a further stretch to imagine the consequences of hearing the vociferation of the word “woman” in all of its derivatives when cast alongside the word, “black”. Now take the imagination further and hear over and over and over again the strong and fortuitous voice of a self willed and determined woman. She is cultivating an interspersed anthology of synonymous references to all of the many types of women in our society who now have a chance to believe in what is possible. This is a good thing.
On the April 24, 2008, in an airing of NBC’s Today Show, Chuck Todd talking with Meredith Vieira pontificates on why Hillary Clinton faired as well as she did in the recent Pennsylvania primary. The tenor of the conversation intimates in no uncertain terms that Hillary’s strongest base of support is women and particularly white women. In her victory speech, Hillary Clinton, left nothing to the imagination as she begin to flag references to all the many women, daughters, older women, young women who could see progress and victory coming their way as she begins to champion their cause. Now, a father holding his daughter can confidently look at her as he holds her in his arms and tell her with an unwavering tongue that she can be anything she wants to be.
Ancient Hebrew Proverb
And remember…
Where there is peace, no war can exist.
Where there is war, peace is never trusted.
