"How Long? Not Long."

[NYC_SKP]

I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, (No sir) because "truth crushed to earth will rise again."....

...How long? Not long, because "no lie can live forever."

How long? Not long, because "you shall reap what you sow."....

...How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.



http://www.historicaldocuments.com/MartinLutherKingOurGodIsMarchingOn.htm

:patriot:

[Terran]

1. A very appropriate comment for our times.

Thanks for posting. Such a great picture too, I've never seen that one.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Timeless and universal comments by a visionary.

And, yes, I like that two finger pointing portrait.

Martin looks like he's seeing important things ahead, as if through the fog and smoke, and telling us, "Look, look up ahead."

[Clio the Leo]

3. That's one of those you gotta hear.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAYITODNvlM

GLORY HALLELUJAH!!!! GLORY HALLELUJAH!!!! :)

[NYC_SKP]

5. That's right!

I just happened to have the History Channel on this morning and heard parts of the speech.

I couldn't help but think of how well the excerpt applies to these past eight years (longer really), and how hopeless it had seemed to become.

And the countdown to inauguration.

Thanks for the YouTube, I got to hear it without the History Channel annotations!

:fistbump:

[Clio the Leo]

16. Did you catch the Silver Fox citing it....

.... in his goodbye speech to the Senate the other day. He talked about how, when he first joined the Senate, the older members asked him why he was there. "For civil rights" he'd say and then feel embarassed thinking it was a dumb answer.

He closed by saying, "I came here for civil rights .... and I leave to work for the first African American President of the United States .... the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice .... I yield the floor."

I'm getting all chocked up just typing that again.

[NYC_SKP]

17. I missed that, dagnabbit.

He really is amazing, great choice, they both "get it", the way Martin did.

Thanks for the heads up, hope to find the full address on youtube.

:patriot:

[Clio the Leo]

18. Ask and ye shall receive.....

.... I needed to find it too. Thanks for giving me an excuse.

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-14358

[NYC_SKP]

23. Oh, you just ROCK, don't you!

:yourock:

Thanks!!! Now I'm going to watch, I know the end is gonna give me a lump in my throat...

[Clio the Leo]

27. with my Barack out!! NT

[NYC_SKP]

25. And here is the full transcript link, Biden's Farewell to Congress.

In case you didn't have it, or for others.

http://delawareonline.com/article/20090115/NEWS/90115053

(last bit, as you included earlier)

I came here to fight for civil rights. In my office now sits
that grand conference table that once was used to fight against civil
rights, and I leave here today to begin my service to our nation's
first African-American president.

The arch of the universe is long, but it does indeed bend toward
justice.

BIDEN: And the United States Senate has been an incredible
instrument in ensuring that justice.

So although you've not seen the last of me...

... I say for the last time, and with confidence in all of you,
optimism in our future, and a heart with more gratitude than I can
express: I yield the floor.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[firedupdem]

4. Thanks for this. I can read his words all day long. Beautiful n/t

[NYC_SKP]

6. "Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long..."

"but it bends toward justice."

I'll bet many people don't even understand that concept.

:toast:

[Clio the Leo]

19. But how supercool is it when you get it....

.... and MY fav. part

"Truth forever on the scaffold,
wrong forever on the throne,
but that scaffold sways the future,
and beyond the dim unknown,
standeth GOD within the shadows,
keeping watch above His own.
HOW LONG!!! NOT LONG!!"

[H2O Man]

30. King often quoted

James Russell Lowell:

Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide
In the strife of truth and falsehood
For the good and evil side;
Some great cause God's new Messiah
Offering each the gloom or blight
And the choice goes by forever
Twist that darkness and that light.

Though the cause of evil prosper
Yet 'tis truth along is strong
Though her portion be the scaffold
And upon the throne be wrong
Yet that scaffold sways the future
And behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above his own.

[firedupdem]

7. Kick!! n/t

[NYC_SKP]

15. Hey!

Excited yet? :thanks:

[BlooInBloo]

8. Double point bonus for Rage Against The Machine reference!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUfaJ8RqfOg

(at the end of the ditty)

[NYC_SKP]

9. Nice Connection---While at YouTube, from the same poster...

Rage Against The Machine: Take The Power Back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqkMsXcHQYg

In the right light, study becomes insight
But the system that dissed us
Teaches us to read and write

So-called facts are fraud
They want us to allege and pledge
And bow down to their God
Lost the culture, the culture lost
Spun our minds and through time
Ignorance has taken over
We gotta take the power back
Bam, Here's the plan
Mother fuck Uncle Sam
Step back, I know who I am
Raise up your ear, I'll drop the style and clear
It's the beast and lyrics they fear
The rage is relentless
We need a movement with quickness
You are the witness of change
And to counteract
We gotta take the power back

Chorus:
We gotta take the power back
We gotta take the power back

The president curriculums
I put my fist in 'em
Eurocentric every last one of 'em
See right through the red, white and blue disguise
With lecture, I puncture the structure of lies
Installed in our minds and attempting
To hold us back
We've got to take it back
'Cause holes in our spirits causin' tears and fears
One-sided stories for years and years and years
I'm inferior? Who's inferior?
Yea, we needa check the interior
Of the system who cares about only one culture
And that is why
We gotta take the power back

Chorus

The teacher stands in front of the class
But the lesson plan he can't recall
The student's eyes don't percieve the lies
Bouncing of every fucking wall
His composure is well kept
I guess he fears playing the fool
The complacent students sit and listen to the
Bull shit that he learned in school

Europe ain't my rope to swing on
Can't learn a thing from it
Yet we hang from it
Gotta get it, gotta get it together then
Like the mother fuckin weathermen
To expose and close the doors on those who try
To strangle and mangle the truth
'Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react
We gotta take the power back

Chorus
No more lies


:kick:

[BlooInBloo]

14. Reason #345436456745 to love RATM. :)

[AtomicKitten]

10. Prescient. K&R n/t

[NYC_SKP]

33. And Timely!

I've been feeling the end of a bad era drawing near, those words being really important to hear right about now.

There will always be more to do, but this is such a significant step in the right direction, back to sanity...

[mopinko]

11. “But, here's the thing,

it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us, in our own ways, put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice, because we organize, we mobilize, we march, we vote, we parent, we're active in our community, we're active in our schools. So on this day of all days let us each do our part to bend that arc, let's bend it towards justice, let's bend that arc towards opportunity, let's bend that arc towards prosperity for all. And if we can do that and march together as one nation and one people, then we won't just be keeping faith with Dr. King's dream, all that he lived and died for. We'll be making real the words of Amos that he invoked so often and said, "Let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Barack Obama

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/tupusa/gGBcMq

[NYC_SKP]

12. What a perfect and beautiful addendum!

Thank you! :toast:

[Clio the Leo]

20. Arc you say?

I discovered this speech about the time of Barack's speech at the Gateway Arch.



Imagine all the irony bouncing around in my head at the time.

[mopinko]

21. cries out for some photoshopping.

and a superman suit.

[Number23]

29. Oh my God. I love that. Absolutely love that

Beautiful. And true.

[mopinko]

32. you know, they sent out a cd to people who had donated, i think, and

it is called 'yes we can. voices of the grassroots' and it is mostly music, but there are a few little snippets of speeches on there, and that is one of them. it is kind of an odd little cd, but when i get tired of mudslinging on du, it is a great tonic.

[PBS Poll-435]

13. K&R

:-)

[Cha]

22. Yes, "A Change Is Gonna Come"

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown
Somebody keep telling me don't hang around
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees

Ohhhhhhhhh.....

There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/sam_cooke/a_change_is_gonna_come.html

[NYC_SKP]

26. Very, very, nice and fitting.

I looked for a youtube version, only found covers including this one by Dylan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_nP55cAwsk

The narrator says that Sam was inspired to write "A Change is Gonna Come" after hearing Dylan's "Blowin in the Wind".

What a trip.

:thumbsup:

[Cha]

28. Should be able to hear Sam Cooke singing A Change Is Gonna

Come with this link. I just bought the CD and there no one sings it like him..

http://www.last.fm/music/Sam+Cooke

And, here is some more information on what prompted Sam's writing the song A Change Is Gonna Come..


"The song, very much a departure for Cooke, reflected two major incidents in his life. The first was the death of Cooke's eighteen-month-old son, Vincent, who died of an accidental drowning in June of that year. The second major incident came on October 8, 1963, when Cooke and his band tried to register at a "whites only" motel in Shreveport, Louisiana and were summarily arrested for disturbing the peace. Both incidents are represented in the weary tone and lyrics of the piece, especially the final verse: "there have been times that I thought I couldn't last for long/but now I think I'm able to carry on/It's been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Change_Is_Gonna_Come_(song)

Thanks for that link to Dylan..I loved hearing what Ossie Davis had to say:)

[grantcart]

24. And "now" never seemed so urgent

[nemo137]

31. One of my favorite speechs. Thanks.

[ObamaRules]

34. Tuesday seems so far away N/T

[firedupdem]

35. kick

[Clio the Leo]

36. MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE COMING OF THE LORD!!!

HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON!!!!!



(screaming like a MAD woman here!)

[Clio the Leo]

37. ONE MORE TIME!!!!

HOW LONG NOT LONG !!!!!