Hello, again.
Wow. I haven’t written a Simone Uncensored Blog since August 3, 2020. 3 months ago.
But I’m back now.
First: Remember that I do publish my newsyletter monthly. Subscribe on my website. T’is a traditional newsletter – but I call it a newsyletter. Mini articles. Suggested resources. And some stuff just for fun.
Second: You can subscribe to this (mostly) weekly blog, Simone Uncensored on my website, too. Yes, separate subscriptions. Always remember that Simone Uncensored is ME…UNCENSORED. Longer articles. Really candid. Often provocative and maybe even ranting and raving about something.
I’m gonna start easy after my 3-month hiatus. I just want to share some quotations. Quotations that make me hopeful, give me strength, and some level of peace.
I think I’ve told you before that I’ve collected quotations since my high school years. Little notebooks. So many handwritten.
So here goes…In honor of of the US 2020 election and… And to remind us of how much more work there is to do.
• “Hope has two daughters, anger and courage. They are both lovely.” (Saint Augustine)
• “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
• “This is the oldest story in America: the struggle to determine whether ‘we the people’ is a spirtual idea embedded in a political reality – one nation, indivisible – or merely a charade masquerading as piety and manipulated by the powerful and privileged to sustain their own way of life at the expense of others.” (Stated by Bill Moyers in June 2003. At the “Take Back America” Conference.)
And for those of us working and volunteering in the philanthropic sector: From the Greek word “philanthropia” (love of humankind). And my favorite definition of philanthropy…voluntary action for the common good. (That’s from Robert Payton, one of the early greats of philanthropy.)
• “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropists to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice that make philanthropy necessary.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
• “Charity is good, but supporting and creating social change are about power. Power can infuse lives with purpose and dignity. That opens up the possibility of joy. The life of the giver, as well as that of the receiver, is transformed…No matter who we are, no matter how much money we have, whatever our color, gender, age, religion, or language, we can bring change to the world around us. We can open our minds, rool up our sleeves, and reach out our hands.” (Alfre Woodard – in her preface to the book Robin Hood Was Right, 2000)
SOME WONDERFUL BOOKS TO READ…As we struggle to move forward…
• Robin Hood Was Right: A Guide to Giving Your Money for Social Change (Collins, Rogers, Garner)
• You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train (Howard Zinn)
• The Self-Made Myth (Miller and Lapham)
• Make Trouble (Cecile Richards)
• Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
