Dignity – Page 2 – let kindness win

Changing the Rules of Engagement

If you are speculating on how dire things will be and not taking action to stop the harm, you are missing an intrinsic reality: This is still within our power to change.

Most recently I learned of the president of Namibia, who let it be known that western travelers and others will now be required to pass through a visa process to enter her country. The 72-year-old is changing the rules of engagement and requesting dignity for her people. I was heartened by the clarity of the declaration. It was not made in retaliation. It was made in reclaiming humanity that has been in imbalance far too long.

It has long been said that patriarchy is in its waning days and we should expect a backlash. I guess we are in the midst of that backlash at this moment. But it does not make it right, nor does it mean we have to surrender our values and all that we have come to learn. We do not have to bow and grovel before ignorance.

This is a time that requires a fierce trust in humanity’s best angels. It requires a courage that withstands the grotesque distortion of values and remains resolute to higher truth.

It demands that we reach the reachable. And what should we invite them to consider? I would argue that we need not try indoctrination into a political party, or another religion. We should invite people to discover the strengths that we each hold, encourage everyone to celebrate their uniqueness and to honor the earth, our collective home. We need to beat the drums of our mutual humanity and call for the reachable to come back to the simplest of truths. We are alive and the power of peace is still available.

In her new book Defund, Black Lives, Policing and Safety for All, Sandy Hudson invites us to re-examine our understanding of policing and to consider what gains can be made as we re-invest in humanity with dignity for all. This is a lively and compelling conversation that highlights the necessity for change. Take time to listen here.

You can find more of my podcasts on the transition to restore humanity at Changing the Narrative on WDRT. Thanks for listening and sharing.

He’s Counting On You

Welcome Spring. Walk in Beauty and Fight like Hell the injustice and ignorance. Uplift Humanity.

ODE TO THOSE WHO HANDED OVER THE REINS

Do you so want a Savior that any savior will do? He said you’d love him even if he killed a man on Fifth Avenue and you said, “Yes”. He talked of grabbing women and you said, “OK”. He said reporters who challenged him were evil and so are all democrats and you said, “Yep”.

He said he would clear the swamp and you said “By all means”. He freed 1500 mostly violent offenders of the insurrection and you said, “Well, OK”. With his unelected sidekick, he began destroying the federal government, eliminating jobs that keep you safe – like park rangers, NOAH, air traffic controllers, etc. and you said, “Right on chief, let ’em have it.” He started to deport your friends, neighbors and co-workers and you said, “Hmmm, yes”. He tells you it will be a bumpy financial ride as he jolts the economic world with tariffs – on allies and enemies alike – and you say, “Trusted you so far.”

He obliterates the history of Black and Queer soldiers that fought alongside many in combat and you say, “It’s a white man’s world, isn’t it?”

He sends green card holders to be imprisoned in foreign lands – without trials – breaking fundamental laws of our country and you say… nothing. He continues Biden’s genocidal campaign in Gaza to heartless applause…and he cozies up to Putin in your silence.

In less than two months he has shown you how right he was from the very beginning. He’s still counting on you – to ignore everything he warned you about – and to keep you buying his merch. And that includes electing his mouthpieces, however rude, arrogant, hateful and inhuman they may be. He’s counting on you… to be just like him.

Here the translated words of new flyers dropped in Gaza (see flyer below): To the people of Gaza, after what happened and the end of the temporary ceasefire and before we start Trump’s compulsory plan which we will proceed with whether you liked it or not, this is the last call for anyone who may share information with us in return for financial support…
Reconsider this. The world map will not change if Gaza’s people disappear. No one will notice you. No one will ask about you..

Neither America nor Europe cares about Gaza. Even the Arab states. They are our allies. They provide us with money, oil, and arms. They only send you shrouds. The game will end soon

Let us prove them wrong. Call your Senators and Reps today, everyday. #FreePalestine

To Live in Uncertainty

In our northern climate, February can be difficult. While few of us rely solely on the summer’s bounty for our sustenance, there could be a sense of scarcity as you eat the last of the greens you put up or taste the last bite of your homemade jam. And if you heat your home with wood, you may be reckoning with the reality that your supply may run short. It is a gamble these days to guess how long or how cold the winter may be and how warm the spring. There is always the unknown in life, however much you plan, and the truth is you just don’t know what will be. And to be able to live in uncertainty and still keep your joie de vive is the art of living.

There is another aspect to February that adds a bit of kindness to the mix of tumult, it is the return of the light and the lengthening of the days. On bright days the sunlight kisses our face and reminds us of the coming of spring and the triumph of summer. That light generates hope and rekindles the memories of less burdensome times. Some people count the days until spring. I am not one of them. I prefer to meet the challenges of each day with a bit of trust that everything I need will be at hand. Or I am comforted in realizing how little I truly need.

We have collectively been thrown a deep-winter punch in the gut. And while some are gloating at the political upheaval, most are reeling. Hold steady. We have strengths yet to cultivate. Like seeds that are dormant, with proper care they will rise. Love put you here and Love holds you. Never doubt that. We will rise.

Still I Rise

50/50 1 Fifty states / Fifty marches on 2/5/25

You Are Not Rudderless

You are not rudderless. You have the capacity to determine the course of your life. You may not be able to influence circumstances that occur, but you can choose how you will respond to them.

In this moment, we can do well to be touched again “by the better angels of our nature”, as Lincoln once penned.* The order of the day is to resist the cruel and power wielding nature of man and return again to our capacity to be human. We’ve witnessed the upsurge of violence and hatred, but we have yet to extol and promote the power of benevolence and goodwill.

We have succumbed, by default and by choice, to the most egregious calamities both to the earth and to one another. We have, by default or by choice, handed our power to the ignorant and the arrogant and we will now collectively suffer the consequences of our inaction.

And what would it look like to return again to our humanity? Foremost, it would mean that a majority of us would reclaim our rudders, or better to say our moral compass. It would mean we would take time to discover in silence and in the reckoning of our own being, what is most important to us.

What we may find are common threads that run throughout humanity – our desire to live in peace, to respect and be respected, and to know the capacity of the earth to care for us and to feed us. Certainly, we would understand and cultivate dignity.

There is no dignity in being rudderless. There is no dignity in allowing suffering. There is no dignity in following inhumanity to its end. Your moral compass knows this. Take it out, dust it off and let’s begin again.

*From Lincoln’s inaugural address, “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Presidential Actions after 1 week in office. – Many are being contested in courts and some have already been rescinded due to public outcry. Refuse to be victims.

Let’s Celebrate! Diversity Equity and Inclusion