Hi there. It's the wife. I'm stepping in for the evening as Orion is currently entrenched in the warhammer universe, which has much to do with his best friend returning from the metaphorical grave (or North Carolina). Ah, we lost him again to drawing this time. These artists, I'll tell ya.
So, after several months of complete fiction immersion, I've felt pretty self-indulgent. Usually I do a sort of flip-flop, read a little fiction, read a little non-fiction and keep things nice and balanced. Since Christmas I've been buried in one good fiction series after another, so in honor of the Lent season I decided to give up fiction until Easter. My first non-fiction book of choice is a biography of Martin Luther King Jr. It's called "Let the Trumpet Sound- A Life of Martin Luther King Jr." by Stephen B. Oates. Now to begin with two things: 1. I'm always a little nervous about reading books that are meant to instruct when they are picked at random. I'm a pretty trusting person, so I try to be picky about who I trust and randomly picked books can be well, kind of random. So, far this author seems pretty even-handed, and I suppose you have to start somwhere which leads me to-2. I really don't know much about MLK. This, I suppose, is in the same vein as, I don't know much about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or any other variety of perennial historical figure favorites. You know what I mean, we all know the basic details, in MLK's case, the Montgomery Bus Boycott (although I have to admit I didn't know how much he was involved with it), the "I Have A Dream Speech," sit-ins, his assasination. But, like much in life, it was all so vague, so blurry to me. The beautiful thing about a well written biography is that it leads the reader into the nit and grit of a person's life. A good biography will humanize a figure, a myth, and make their ideals and triumphs more attainable for us lowly folk. So, on that note, I thought I'd share a couple of quotes that I really liked:
Quoting Ghandi, "Rivers of blood may have to flow before we gain our freedom, but it must be our blood. The same must be true of us, King would say, because 'unearned suffering is redemptive.'" Yet, he qualified this statement, this way of life, by saying "this is resistance, it is not stagnant passivity, a "do-nothing" method. 'It is not passive nonresistance to evil, it is active nonviolent resistance to evil.' And it is not a method for cowards. Ghandi said that if somebody uses it because he is afraid, he is not truly nonviolent. Really, nonviolence is the way of the strong."
I know that I, a middle class white gal (not to sound glib, but it's the truth!), won't run into oppression and violence too often, or really ever, in my life. But it is an interesting mind set, this idea of active resistance to the many terrible, terrible things going on in our world today. So, thats my musing....
and for kicks, here's what I caught Orion and her majesty, Lord Cocoa, doing the other night
So, after several months of complete fiction immersion, I've felt pretty self-indulgent. Usually I do a sort of flip-flop, read a little fiction, read a little non-fiction and keep things nice and balanced. Since Christmas I've been buried in one good fiction series after another, so in honor of the Lent season I decided to give up fiction until Easter. My first non-fiction book of choice is a biography of Martin Luther King Jr. It's called "Let the Trumpet Sound- A Life of Martin Luther King Jr." by Stephen B. Oates. Now to begin with two things: 1. I'm always a little nervous about reading books that are meant to instruct when they are picked at random. I'm a pretty trusting person, so I try to be picky about who I trust and randomly picked books can be well, kind of random. So, far this author seems pretty even-handed, and I suppose you have to start somwhere which leads me to-2. I really don't know much about MLK. This, I suppose, is in the same vein as, I don't know much about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or any other variety of perennial historical figure favorites. You know what I mean, we all know the basic details, in MLK's case, the Montgomery Bus Boycott (although I have to admit I didn't know how much he was involved with it), the "I Have A Dream Speech," sit-ins, his assasination. But, like much in life, it was all so vague, so blurry to me. The beautiful thing about a well written biography is that it leads the reader into the nit and grit of a person's life. A good biography will humanize a figure, a myth, and make their ideals and triumphs more attainable for us lowly folk. So, on that note, I thought I'd share a couple of quotes that I really liked:
Quoting Ghandi, "Rivers of blood may have to flow before we gain our freedom, but it must be our blood. The same must be true of us, King would say, because 'unearned suffering is redemptive.'" Yet, he qualified this statement, this way of life, by saying "this is resistance, it is not stagnant passivity, a "do-nothing" method. 'It is not passive nonresistance to evil, it is active nonviolent resistance to evil.' And it is not a method for cowards. Ghandi said that if somebody uses it because he is afraid, he is not truly nonviolent. Really, nonviolence is the way of the strong."
I know that I, a middle class white gal (not to sound glib, but it's the truth!), won't run into oppression and violence too often, or really ever, in my life. But it is an interesting mind set, this idea of active resistance to the many terrible, terrible things going on in our world today. So, thats my musing....
and for kicks, here's what I caught Orion and her majesty, Lord Cocoa, doing the other night
Mrs. B
1 comment:
So refreshing to hear from my friend and to find out what's on her mind.
I enjoy african american fiction and non fiction, I once majored i African American Studies.
Active non-violent resistance-sure beats the hell out of our mostly passive or resistant against the wrong type of things culture.
-beth
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