Tag: respect

Seattle: A Sanctuary City

Seattle is a sanctuary city and proud of it. On this day that our new President signed an executive order blocking federal funds to sanctuary cities, I feel compelled to share the signs that I saw in my neighborhood when I came home from India last week. They speak for themselves.

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Daily Prompt: Ten (and in this case several more)

cropped-senior-salon Shared on Senior Salon

Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around

I just watched this video on my friend Kathie’s blog Chosen Perspectives. It is what I needed to hear right now. I thought that might be true for others too so decided to share it on my own blog.

In posting the video above, I saw and listened to the one below, so am posting it too.

May we remember where we came from and always move forward, even when it seems impossible. May we treat all people in the world as if they are our brothers and sisters, because they are.

We Shall Overcome

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Ever since I learned about Song Lyric Sunday, songs from my past have been going through my mind. My 67 years of life has had so many phases and the music that is dear to me reflects all the different paths I have walked.

As I contemplated what song to use this week, I realized I wanted it to relate both to my life in the past and the present. What song could do that better than Pete Seeger’s version of We Shall Overcome.  As I read the words and listened to the video I chose to accompany it, I began to cry.

There were so many levels to my tears. I grew up during the struggle for civil rights and in a lot of ways that movement created the me I am today. As I looked at the photographs that are on the video below, my mind flooded with my own memories. Some of my tears were from remembering what this country was like before the push for civil rights, and feeling touched by how far we have come.

At the same time, the events of this past week (and many weeks/months/years before it) make it evident that we still have a long way to go. Therefore, another part of my tears were due to despair arising from the recent killings in Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights and Dallas and the overwhelm of not knowing if, when or how we will make the violence stop. When will we (humans) learn to live with love and respect for all beings?

No one knows for sure who wrote We Shall Overcome. There is some new evidence that it may have originally been a gospel hymn composed between 1932 and 1942. The lyrics have changed over the years. The song as I know it became associated with the Civil Rights movement in 1959 and was soon considered its unofficial anthem.  (Wikipedia)

 

We Shall Overcome Lyrics

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I do believe
We shall overcome, some day.

We’ll walk hand in hand,
We’ll walk hand in hand,
We’ll walk hand in hand, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart…

We shall live in peace,
We shall live in peace,
We shall live in peace, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart…

The whole wide world around,
The whole wide world around,
The whole wide world around, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart…

We are not afraid,
We are not afraid,
We are not afraid, TODAY.

Oh, deep in my heart…

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I do believe,
We shall overcome, some day.

 

While my faith is a bit shaken right now, as I listen to the music, I know that this is my truth.

Oh, deep in my heart,
I, Karuna, do believe
We shall overcome, some day.