28 August 2008

45 years ago today

well worth repeating...

"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 sixtythree 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 selfhood 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."

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 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 selfevident, 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."

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 snowcapped 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!"

delivered August 28, 1963
at the Lincoln Memorial
in Washington D.C., USA
by Martin Luther King, Jr.

26 August 2008

countdown to greece

I told myself that I had to wait until my trip to Greece was less than a month away before I was allowed to get excited about it. So, now that I am safely within that timeframe, here goes...

We start off the trip with a flight from Detroit to Newark to Athens. In Athens we will be staying at the Titania located between the old city's two main squares. We'll have a half-day guided tour of the city and the rest of the time there we are on our own to explore.

After spending time on the mainland in Athens we are off to two islands that are part of the Cyclades, one of the island groups of the Aegean archipelago.

For island #1 we hop a plane for Mykonos where we will be staying at the Yiannaki. Mykonos is famous for its nightlife and clothing optional (Paradise Beach) and anything goes (Super Paradise Beach) beaches. Naner and I will defintely hit the nightlife, but the family style beaches of Ornos (where our hotel is) is way more our style. Unless, of course, I somehow magically swap my bod with that of Jessica Biehl between now and then... :)

For island #2 we set sail from Mykonos to Fira, the main port of Thira (aka Santorini) where we will be staying in the *town* of Firostefani at the Nomikos Villas (I plan on spending a lot of time in that hot tub sipping spirits & gazing out over that magical blue Aegean Sea). While in Santorini we plan to visit *some* of the following wineries:
good thing we're going the public transportation route on the island--we just may be a little tipsy

I am still trying to finalize plans for a one day cooking school at Selene while on Santorini also.

If all goes wrong (b/c if all goes right I will be staying in Santorini as Jennifer Onasis-hahaha) we fly out of Santorini back to Athens and then back to the good ole USA.

In the mean time I am still trying to beg/borrow/steal a digital camera and suitable luggage for the trip. I'll keep you updated. :)

20 August 2008

congratulations!!!!

some of these are a little dated...but better late than never, right?...

1) Heartfelt congrats to proud parents Mike & Stacy, as well as proud big brothers Gaige & Tyler, on their latest edition, Elizabeth Lee. How precious!




2) Big congrats and sighs of relief to know that Jamie is no longer in 'high-risk' category for little Miss Payton Hope!

3) Happy housewarmings to the Czechoslavakahousekis. Hope the move went well!

4) Warm fuzzy (furry) congrats to Wilson and his family for getting a happy prognosis regarding the tumor!

5) Happy day to Angie & Bob for setting a date. The ceremony plans sound lovely!

6) Big (envious) smiles to Lara and Talin on their relaxing trip to Trinidad & Tobago! Can't wait to see pics!

7) Dee, I'm sure I read some happy things about you while catching up on emails, but right now it escapes me. Please forgive me, and congrats to you on simply being you!

:)

14 August 2008

where to begin.....?

So much to catch up on. I either need to post more often or share less. Seeing as the point of this blog was to share more I guess I need to focus on the former. Excuse the barrage, but here goes....


1) buried treas...uh...umm...stuff...
Antiques Roadshow was a lot of fun. The lines were VERY LONG. We got there at 1:30 and didn't walk out until after 6:00 and there was no sitting down. It was also PACKED. They had more requests for tickets for this show in GR than any other in the show's history.

Sad to say my borrowed treasures weren't worth much:
  • Sugar & Creamer = depression era glass ~$25 USD
  • Opera glasses = ~1880, unique that they were not mother-of-pearl, but they were Parisian, not too rare ~$125 USD.

My friend Helen didn't do much better:
  • Grandmother's hankie collection = ~$100-$200 USD
  • "Hand-painted" bone china plate = ~$20 USD

Even though our treasures turned out to be relatively worthless, we got to meet some cool people: we talked to the couple in line behind us for a while. He's a chef who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in the great white land to the north of here, but he's originally from Lake Linden (in da U.P. for those of you who don't know). Go figure. We also got to meet the show's host, Mark Walberg (no, not Marky Mark nor any Funky Bunch), as Helen was getting her hankies appraised. He was really nice.

The stuff that did get filmed while we were there (translation = my big ole' backside may be in the background of some of the shots...):
  • a black (Navajo is what the owner said) blanket
  • a gaudy-awful red and gold clock monstrosity
  • a pretty cool greenish vase
  • two prop spear-like things used in the film the Wizard of Oz
The show will be aired during the 2009 season, and the schedule for that will be announced this fall. I'll post it when I know.

2) gettin' movin'
I've actually bit the bullet and have made a pledge to get myself more healthy and active. In doing so I joined a local fitness franchise. Had my first 'real' workout last night. It wasn't too bad actually--which is weird, cuz I hate exercise typically. I followed that workout with a stroll to check out the expansion project along the waterfront in Kollen Park. They've added a BEAUTIFUL lakefront boardwalk that will stretch West past the Heinz pickle factory and then East to the edge of downtown Holland. The picture isn't that clear, but this is the best documentation of the expansion project (page 12-13). I also met some really nice Hollanders while out on my walk, Jose and his kids Abraham (7) and Lynda (5). They were out taking advantage of the beautiful weather and the new venue while mom was finishing up at work and invited me to stroll with them. There sure are some really nice people in the world. :)

3) pinching (and picking up) pennies
I heard the coolest story on Marketplace (NPR) the other day. This family has a hobby of going for walks and picking up dropped coins--they have collected an UNBELIEVABLE amount of discarded change. My eyes are so going to be scanning the pavement/gravel/grass on my next stroll.

There's more to share, but I've run outta time. Adios for now!

06 August 2008

$1200...$4000...$650.....

No, it isn't the Price is Right...It is my favorite commercial for Antiques Roadshow on PBS.

I'm heading out this Saturday, with my friend Helen, armed with 'borrowed' antiques (b/c I really don't collect my own) to DeVos Place in downtown GR to:

1) get some stuff (pink glass sugar/creamer from Germany, and a pair of Parisian opera glasses) appraised
2) gawk and ham it up for the cameras if I get a chance
3) people/antique watch...with GR and West MI being a furniture hub, I'm thinking there will be fun stuff to watch

I'm anticipating that it will be a hoot!
I don't know when the air date will be, but I'll let you know.

No news on Leo yet--keep your fingers crossed. No news is good news, right?