ROSA PARK.   GEORGE WASHINGTON. , MARTIN LUTHER KING
             ROSA PARKS

            When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man on December the first 1955 she became the mother of the civil rights movement.

            Her arrest led the black community to a bus boycott. The boycott made the bus company change their segregationist policy. This policy was to have the black people seat in the back of the bus. And then a Supreme Court ruling in November 1956 made segregation unconstitutional.

             It took real courage at this time in the south to stand against segregation. Her strength changed the future of a nation.

The book she wrote "Quiet strength" is available at Zonderwan publishing house.

              Rosa parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a worker building houses but was almost never at home and not a presence in her young life.
Rosa Parks was a very polite young girl and a very avid learner at school. In these time of segregation times a black school of course.  Her first school in the town of Pine-level had No glass windows, overcrowded classroom and a short school year of 5 months instead of the 9 months in schools for whites.
Although she had to change schools many times she was always a dedicated student and her mother did her utmost to help her get a good education.

She then went to work in Montgomery as a seamstress and for the NAACP and took the bus to and from work.
It is then when the most significant event in her life and in the Civil Right movement took place.
At this time in 1955 Black people were assigned to seat in the back of the bus, the front rows being  reserved for the white people, black people had to board through the back door.
On this trip more white people were boarding and she was asked to leave her seat for a white man and go to the back of the bus.
She refused to give her seat and was arrested on December 1, 1995.
She said she was tired of being constantly mistreated.

Her act was truly Heroic: Think about it, she was not a rebellious person, she has always being a good and quiet student, a good worker, a good employee, by all account a good and quiet person.
She was not a tall or large person, she was not a man with physical strength, she was a simple quiet person.
To defy by herself the government of a state so racist and so oppressive is an act of courage of incredible magnitude.

She defied racism single handed.
It is in my opinion the highest form of courage.
Somebody without any of the characteristics of a fighter defies a government.
She has no physical strength, no money, no high education, no prior experience of being arrested.

After she was arrested the NAACP with Martin Luther King decided to organize
a boycott of the bus company by the black people.
After a year of boycott and the trial of Rosa Park which was taken all the way to the Supreme court, the supreme court declared that segregation in Public transportation was unconstitutional.
It was a victory for Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights movement.

The Civil Right movement  found its momentum only after the arrest and trial of
Rosa Parks.

She continued a life of work and dedication for the Civil Rights movement and as I write these lines in 2001 she is still our contemporary.

She is the embodiment for anybody, men or women of changing the world out of personal courage.

 

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George Washington

POWER AND DEMOCRACY


    Of extraordinary importance is that George Washington literally held in his hands the power to make the United State of America a Dictatorship, a Kingdom or a Democracy.

     Not only on one but also on three occasions without any effort on his part he had the power to turn the U S A Democracy into a Kingdom or a Dictatorship.

     What is admirable and of huge consequence for the USA today is that he put his efforts into showing for the future generations how a leader should, himself restrict his power in order to allow the Government of the People by the People to continue to be a reality.

The first example is when he was challenged as the commander of the army by opposing ambitious generals who had connection in the congress.
Acquaintance of his inVirginia wrote him a letter explaining in short that they couldmake him Governor inVirginia and from this position of force he could gain control of all the United state and render the Congress impotent.

Georges washington very politely but in no uncertain term declined the offer.

     The Second example took place in 1783. After the victory against the English, a real dissatisfaction was felt by the soldiers in the army because even if they had been victorious they had not been paid and fed or equipped decently by the civilian government, that was the Congress at this time.

     A group of officers wanted to march to the capital, then seize New York and overthrow the Government.

     They wanted George Washington to become King of the Nation.

     George Washington had to make a very moving address to these officers in order to calm the Army into not tempting a coup.

     The extraordinary element is that Washington had to put all his efforts and talents into not becoming a King.

      He disbanded the army and returned to his plantation as a civilian.

      The third example was after he was elected for two, four year terms as President of the USA and at this time. There was no limitation in the constitution of the number of terms a President could serve as the head of the Government.

      President Washington refused to serve a third term as President, thus refusing to become a President   "for life," which is in fact a Dictatorship.  By doing so he set the scene for the generations to come.

     He basically, by his actions, delivered the following message;

You do not become a great Democrat by seizing Power, but by giving the Power back to The People who entrusted it to you.

George Washington had defined for the Centuries to come
the American Democracy
not by words but by example

 

Extensive Georges Washington biographie at: http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=03152000

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                          MARTIN LUTHER KING
JR

           One of the best ways to achieve a deep knowledge of Martin Luther King
is to read the book BEARING THE CROSS  by David J Garrow publisher
William Morrow and Company,inc.
The life of Martin is incredibly rich and packed with important events, the book a little bit in the form of a diary gives an extensive account of all the events, the book is  a 625 page book without the notes but the quality of this book is exceptional and I retrieved most of my information from this book.

Of course in this short essay we will only try to enhance the essence of the admirable achievements accomplished by Martin Luther King.

Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, His father was a minister. When growing up he went to the same experience other black children endured which was for example not to be able to drink to the same water fountain or use the same rest rooms.
He attended a theological seminar, went to college to become a minister and would be known in the future as Dr King. He married Coretta King.

The lightning rod in his life was the Montgomery bus boycott where a young woman Rosa Parks refused to leave her seat to a white man and go in the segregated part of the bus She was arrested at once on December 1, 1955( for more on Rosa Parks check her link on the home page). In protest the leaders of the Black community organized a bus boycott and Martin Luther King became an influential leader of the boycott as well as an organizer.He experienced the first attempt of violence on his person when a shotgun blast ripped through the front door of his home.

After a boycott of 381 days and a court battle the Supreme court decided that segregation in public transportation was illegal.
It was the first significant victory for the civil right and its leader Dr King

In January 1957 the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed with Martin Luther King as its President.
One of the fundamental principle insisted upon by Dr King was
NON VIOLENCE
and that is of paramount importance because it has set the rules for the next 20 years of confrontation between blacks and whites. This rule was decided and applied only by the black community, the white extremists very often used violence.
Without Martin Luther King very strong commitment to non violence
, confrontation between the black and white community would literally had ended in blood bath.
It is important to remember that as the leader of the black community were preaching non violence bombs set up by white people were destroying churches,
houses and the leaders and helpers were fired upon and killed.
Violence imposed on the black community was not only a world it was experienced every day, it was very tangible and the black community and Dr king were the victims.

Although Martin Luther King and the black community were the victims of violence, The FBI constantly bugged the home and hotel rooms and listened to Martin Luther King telephone conversation. The FBI and specifically J. Edgar  Hoover its director were obsessed by the desire to present Dr King as a vilain,
a communist or to show him in the worst light possible to the white house, they engaged in a constant surveillance of Martin Luther King trying to dig as much dirt against him as they could.
In the mean time Martin Luther King was totally unaware, for more than
10 years,that his home was bugged and that all his telephone conversation were recorded and presented to the white house in he most incriminating ways.
The powerful FBI and its director were against Martin Luther King.

   An other aspect that is mind boggling is the enormous amount of constant tasks that Martin Luther King was engaged in.
Almost every day of every week of the year Martin Luther King will fly or drive to two or three cities, will give a number of speeches, attend reunions, and late at night preach in a church.
The reunions, meetings speeches, were constant. His day schedules were inhuman and Martin Luther King broke down a few time of sheer exhaustion.
The best comparison is with the schedule of the last 2 months of a presidential candidate before the election. Only for Martin Luther King it lasted 10 years at this unrelenting rhythm and without the money and private jet and private limo.
A very important part of Martin Luther King influence is that he went everywhere and spoke in person to thousands of people.

  In the only 12 years of his active life as a civil leader Martin Luther King achieved or help achieved as a leader and a human being the following accomplishments:

   - Montgomery bus boycott, 1957 and the end of segregation in Public transportation.
   - Meeting with three US Presidents: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson
    - Bitter fights and success to desegregate lunch counters and stores in the south. Many marches, civil protests were necessary throughout the south.
    - A huge March on Washington of 200 000people culminating with the speech I have a dream
   - In 1964 Dr King received the Nobel Prize for Peace
   - Martin Luther King is the Author of Many sermons and books including STRIDE TOWARDS FREEDOM. While autographing his book he was stabbed by a woman but recovered.
    -After President Johnson signed the civil act into law which in the law banned segregation, Dr King in order to transfer into reality the law, organized in 1965 a march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, the capital of Alabama to insist that voting reform be implemented .
The march was met by a wall of troopers, horses, fire hoses; two persons died and 70 were injured. It was one of the occasion when the hatred of the white community including the police was palpable and that event made the headlines across the nation.
Martin Luther King nonetheless achieve another of his goal for the black community: to improve voting rights.
    - Martin Luther King accomplished outside the deeply racist south important progresses.
    - In Chicago he was able to alleviate the housing discriminations that were the rule at this time.
    - Martin Luther King was also a supporter of the anti war movement during the Vietnam war a position that created dissents inside the black community and with president Johnson.
    - Martin Luther King was shot and killed on April 4 1968

        This essay is only an humble attempt to bring out the Highlights in a very dense and very rich life of a man Martin Luther King who dedicated his life to a noble cause through noble means 

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Janet Reno


            Of all the unsung heroes, JANET RENO is one of the most exceptional for many reasons.

                      She was assigned one of most difficult and ungrateful jobs in the world.  She was literally holding in her hands and keeping them at an even level, each side of the balance ( scale) of justice. 

                      In most difficult cases where important issues regarding important persons, like the president of the United State, or Congressmen, the pressures applied on her were  enormous.  As she keeps an even field, the very and obviously partisan, opposite parties accused her of partisanship for not yielding to their desires.

                       For example:  The Republican leader accused her many times of being supportive of the Democrats when she did not appoint a new independent counsel every other week to allow the Republican Party to trash their enemies, the Democrat's, the President and the Vice President.
                      In the same unfair way, the Democrats accused her of facilitating the Republican Party, and the President Advisor, Dick Morris advised that Janet Reno, the Attorney General, be fired.

                       So, you see now that by keeping the fair and strong justice system, Janet Reno displeased, one after the other, the two parties, and this repetitively.
You now understand, that Janet Reno, by holding high the true spirit of justice had constantly made enemies among the opposite political parties.  She is constantly in turn, the hated target of one political party, which spend  time asking for her dismissal, because no matter how violent was the pressure put on her, she always resisted in order to be faithful to the spirit of justice.  In the process, she gathered more unfair and violent enemies than most civil sevants in the United States.

              Maintaining the highest standards of justice under every conceivable threat is heroic.

 

-------------------------- RESTORING US DEMOCRACY ------------------------------

American People who care about their country should consider analyzing, learning and sharing the Fundamentals elements that make their country such a great country regardless of its wealth and military power.

It is the task of Restoring Democracy to America

It should be undertaken by pursuing two sets of accomplishments achieved by two different organizations.

One, Cultural would be to Restore among American the knowledge about how American Democracy was won and nurtured from its beginning through this day.
The Other, Politic will be to build a structure where Americans eager to live in a true Democracy will be able to be listened to and to express themselves and vote.

The First one unrelated to Political Parties and immune to changes in Political leadership would pursue a steady course about informing the Public about American Democracy .

The First cultural organization should endeavor itself to accomplish the following tasks be above Parties and should be named: Restoring US Democracy

ESTABLISH A CLEAR DEFINITION OF US DEMOCRACY

Democracy is a system of government defined as The government of the People by the People. It comes from the Greek words Demos meaning the people and Kratein meaning To Govern.
What makes the United States Democracy unique is the fact that this Democracy was:
Designed by Men of extraordinary intelligence, knowledge and honor. Extremely rarely in the history of the world such a group of extraordinary men where reunited for such a gigantic endeavor. That is what make US Democracy unique and brilliant
Designed by men who had suffered the injustice of inequality of treatment imposed on them by a dictator-King, a government,or its representatives.
Designed by men who were thinkers and writers and who left a rich legacy of writing about the foundation of the US Democracy.
Many other countries with lesser leaders have attempted Revolution and Democracy to end up with a Banana Republic which is a corrupt Dictatorship

To be truthful to the souls and writings of the Founding Fathers who cherished Democracy above all The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA should today follow and reinforce the following principles.

The government of the United States of America is a DEMOCRACY which is the Government of the People by the People.
The will of the majority of the People is sacred and should not be distorted or ignored
In order for the People to make informed decisions there is an absolute need for Freedom and Plurality of the Press.
In order for the People to make informed decision there is an absolute need for unequivocal truthfulness in the declarations of the President and of the Government.
Each member of the Congress Senators and House representative have a duty to serve their constituents and reflect in their votes the will of the majority of their constituents.

When the President lies to the American People or when the Congress vote in opposition to the will of the majority of its constituents then Democracy is destroyed and a Dictatorship is installed.


ESTABLISH THE FOUNDATIONS FOR RESTORING DEMOCRACY ( Not to be treated lightly)
Informing young generations about the values of US Democracy set by the founding fathers

----------- Movies and TV shows linking today's working of Democracy with the Founding father vision and writings of
American Democracy .
As an Example: A TV show where a President in office uses quotes from the Founding fathers to guide him each time a difficult situation arises.

---------- More educational CD and Games about the values of US Democracy to be given free to schools, Colleges and universities.

----------More school Programs through high school dedicated only to the studies of Democracy as a discipline such as Mathematic is.

---------- Aiming at making mandatory in High school and college a discipline called Civic studies that will teach US Democracy.

-----------------

The second one a Political organization will open a virtual Home where People who want a true Democracy will be welcome.
It will be a true political structure.
This Political organization should endeavor itself to accomplish the following tasks

ESTABLISH A POLITICAL STRUCTURE


------------ A new political entity is needed that will ally or not with the main parties. As an example it could be called "the People party" or something similar. This entity will have a genuine concern in adhering to the Definition of Democracy which is : " The government of the People by the People".
The advantage is at this time very important if you observe the pathetic state of the Democratic party which has now perfected to a science the art of aggregating a bunch of losers who follow lose - lose strategies and gives the Republicans as many oportunities as they nnd to beat them

----------- A liaison committee in charge of relations with the Democratic party and other friendly organizations

----------- A philosophical committee in charge of developing the implications that the writings of the Founding fathers put on today's form of government. No other country had such an amazing group of extraordinary men to give birth to a Democracy.
This committee will also be in charge of raising red flags when Democracy is mocked.

----------A media network through Media ownership to spread the message across .

--------- A short list of Presidentials candidates who in the past showed that they did not betray their constituents and followed the ideas of the founding Fathers

-------- Direct, financial selective actions to support selected Senators and house representatives who follow the spirit of US Democracy.

STRATEGY

-------- Think long term, do not make concession for a short term victory.

----------- Raise the Ethical bar by challenging other Candidates and other Parties to strictly follow the rules of Us Democracy as edicted by the Founding fathers.

------------Analyze each action of the opponents through the values of Democracy and comment on them.

---------- Above all remember that our entity does not want power for the sake of power but only to restore Democracy and to give back the power to the People

Elements needed the most

-------- A lot of fund raising

-------- Bright, faithful, brave staff members

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EVERYTHING IS IN FAVOR OF THIS ROADMAP TO RESTORE US DEMOCRACY

Eric Lafayette / L A, February - June 2003

Tel: 1 310 231 0228 Los Angeles time zone
Email ericlafayette@alltheperspectives.com