Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Why “Revolutionary Love” Gives Michelle Alexander Hope

Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, was interviewed today on Democracy Now about her latest piece in The Nation, “Only Revolutionary Love Can Save Us Now.”

When talking about revolutionary love, Alexander draws from the words and insights of Martin Luther King Jr.

Writes Alexander:

King was right back then. And he’s still right. He’s just as right today as he was fifty years ago about the corrupting forces of capitalism, militarism, and racism and how they lead inexorably toward war. He was right that, if machines and computers and property rights and profits are considered more important than people, we are doomed. . . . Above all, he was right about what is required of us now: to speak and to act with unprecedented courage and with love. To oppose all forms of hate and racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. To oppose any policy and any economic system that places profit over people. And to reject militarism and state violence as the answer to our most profound, seemingly intractable conflicts and struggles. If we are to honor the principles and values for which King sacrificed his life, we must demand a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the occupation of Palestine. We must speak unpopular truths and organize to save our planet, rebirth our democracy, and embrace human creativity and the natural beauty of our world rather than artificial intelligence and virtual reality.


When interviewed earlier today on Democracy Now!, Alexander was asked about what gives her hope in these troubled times. Following is part of what she said.

________________

What gives me hope right now is that, despite everything, revolutionary love is bursting and blossoming in all kinds of places and spaces. Years of relentless and patient organizing and deep learning about each other’s histories and struggles have led to a moment when Black activists are showing up at protests organized by Jewish students who are raising their voices in solidarity with Palestinians who are suffering occupation and annihilation in Gaza. And, you know, this is due to connections that have been made over the course of years between liberation struggles on the streets of Ferguson and those occurring in Palestine. And these small acts of revolutionary love are leading to movements, are building movements that just might help us change everything.

And, you know, we see this in communities everywhere, where people are connecting dots between climate change and racial and gender injustice. We see it in the movement to stop Cop City in Atlanta. We see it in movements for clean water and food. And we see that people are making connections between liberation struggles here at home and those occurring around the world, as well as connections between the violence of policing and incarceration and the violence of militarism and the relentless assault on Gaza.

So, you know, people are turning towards really promising forms of movement building, incredible acts of courage in this moment, speaking unpopular truths. And that gives me hope, even in a time when there is so much reason for fear and anxiety, that can be paralyzing.

. . . [W]hat makes King’s [1967 Riverside Church] speech essential in this moment is that he was arguing that if we, as a nation, do not awaken from our collective delusions, we are doomed. . . . [H]e said we must rapidly shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. He said when machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplet of racism, extreme materialism and militarism will never be conquered. . . . [I]f we fail to make this turn, if we fail to awaken, we are doomed. And he was right.

Whether we’re talking about climate change, AI, mass deportation, mass incarceration, the wars in Gaza or the wars on drugs, [King was] right, that if we don’t turn away from the corrupting forces of capitalism, militarism and racism, and embrace a truly revolutionary love for all people and all creation, we are doomed.

Towards the end of that speech at Riverside, he said there is such a thing as being too late. You know, he said over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words “too late.”

And yet his message wasn’t a hopeless one. He was calling us to embrace a revolutionary movement, one that was grounded in an ethic of love. Just as bell hooks once said, as long as we refuse to embrace love in our struggles for liberation, we will not be able to create a culture of conversion where there’s a mass turning away from an ethic of domination. And that, ultimately, is what revolutionary love is all about and why I believe it is the only thing that can save us now.

Michelle Alexander
Excerpted from “‘Revolutionary Love’: Michelle Alexander on Gaza,
Solidarity, MLK and What Gives Her Hope

Democracy Now!
March 13, 2024


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
When We Choose to Love
Susan Raffo: Quote of the Day – September 11, 2012
Marianne Williamson: “We Must Challenge the Entire System”

Image: Michelle Alexander. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/WireImage)


Saturday, March 09, 2024

Marianne Williamson, the Cassandra of U.S. Politics, on the “True State of the Union”



I’ve long considered author, activist and two-time presidential candidate Marianne Williamson the Cassandra of U.S. politics.

Cassandra, after all, is the woman from Greek mythology who is given the gift of foresight yet roundly cursed with disbelief and scorn by others. In modern usage, Cassandra’s name is employed as a rhetorical device to indicate a person whose accurate prophecies, often of impending disaster, are not taken seriously or believed. Any doubts that Marianne Williamson is such a person are readily dispelled by both the ongoing mainstream media blackballing of her campaign and its message and this message itself, one most resolutely expressed in Marianne’s latest Transform posting, reprinted below.

_____________________

Two nights ago, President Biden gave a State of The Union address which was vigorous and largely effective.

At the same time, it showed all the signs of a candidate and a campaign cloistered away from the American people. The speech displayed way too little understanding of the struggles of life for the majority of Americans. Biden has been buffered from that reality by closed door events, staged “spontaneous drop-ins,” distanced from the press and from actual voters.

I have been talking with people around the country. I’ve heard their stories, their lives, their voices. I have spoken to individuals and communities who have been ignored by modern politicians. The true state of the union is that the average American is struggling, both spiritually and economically. And if Democrats want to win in 2024, we better start listening to people now. If we don’t – if it takes a Republican Senator in her tradwife-in-the-kitchen rebuttal to point out that people are choosing between buying their medicine or paying their rent – then we’re in trouble. Such an image of everyday despair is one the President himself should have used. And he should do more than just use the image, as the Republicans do. He should stand for policies that actually assuage the pain.

Denying that pain is a disastrous strategy for 2024. For the majority of Americans it can make you sound seriously out of touch if you refuse to even acknowledge the chronic stress that people are experiencing. I’ve been running for President because neither Republican nor Democratic elites are paying the attention that should be paid – that must be paid – to the West Virginia coal miners who have black lung disease yet no medical insurance, or the millions of children with asthma due to the toxic environment of their neighborhoods, who can’t even run for 30 seconds without running out of breath. The President’s message the other night was “Look at me! We’ve made a bit of a difference!”

Biden spoke at length about the struggles of reducing insulin prices, trying to negotiate drug prices, capping costs and so forth. It’s true that he has made those incremental changes. But those changes do not represent fundamental reform. What he should do, and what I would do, is to fight for Medicare for All. When 75-90 million people are uninsured or underinsured – when millions who have the insurance to cover a doctor’s visit still don’t have coverage for the tests or the medicine that the doctor prescribes – then the ubiquitous despair in modern American life isn’t ended. It’s simply tweaked.

Biden said he wants an economy “where everyone has a fair shot [. . .] and the poor have a way up,” yet his policies do not match his rhetoric. If that was really what he stood for, he would be fighting for a guaranteed living wage. Over the twelve years that Joe Biden has been in the White House, the minimum wage has not been lifted above $7.25 an hour. Someone needs to explain how you can work your way up from that.

Although the President argued for military aid to both Ukraine and Israel, nothing could be more obvious to the American people than that the forever war machine which dominates Washington is neither good for others nor good for us. The war in Gaza is a humanitarian disaster the President must put an end to, now. We need to begin an era in which we are as sophisticated in the ways of waging peace as we are sophisticated in the ways of waging war.

The speech went on to say “We are making history by confronting the climate crisis, not denying it.” I’m sorry, but the kind of history we’re making is not something that will impress our grandchildren. While the President has made admirable investments in clean energy, he has made even larger ones in dirty energy. He has given more oil drilling permits than even President Trump did. He has approved the Willow Project. There is a classic purse thief distraction technique going on here: bragging about all you do for the climate, in hopes people won’t notice how much more you do for Big Oil. In order for Democrats to win over a younger generation of Americans in 2024, we’re going to have to do a whole lot more than slowing down our walk to environmental disaster.

And whoever wrote that line in the speech that says “Respect free and fair elections!” certainly must know all the ways in which my own candidacy has been suppressed.

It’s not that people don’t realize Donald Trump is dangerous. Millions do. But not wanting Trump to be President does not necessarily equate with making sure you go vote for Biden. I know the Democratic establishment is under the impression that if they raise enough money, and make enough TV ads, then they’ll be able to scrape out a win in November. But they shouldn’t be so sure.

I’ve thought I was the best candidate to be the Democratic nominee, and I still do, for the very reason that I would be offering people much, much more. Our country needs universal healthcare, tuition free college and tech school, and a guaranteed living wage; the establishment of a Department of Peace and the Department of Children and Youth; a plan for reparations and the declaration of a Climate Emergency to mass mobilize for the development of a green energy economy; and ending America’s Drug War. I realize my chances for that occurring are drastically diminished. But I’m not sticking around in hopes that I can win; I’m sticking around in hopes that I can contribute. I know the way that voters hear me. I know I’m hitting a vein. I know that’s why the establishment muffled my campaign. But I’m going to keep talking – I’m staying in the race – because the things I’m proposing reflect some very deep yearnings of the American heart right now. They are things that would win the election.

We will not win by denying the truth of Americans’ everyday lived experience. Consumer confidence, as well as confidence in our future, are among the lowest ever. With increasing economic anxiety come diseases and deaths of despair. And voters don’t want to hear their pain glossed over; they want to hear their pain validated, and addressed.

Leadership at this time takes more than marketing skill; it takes vision. Simply arguing that Trump is so bad gives people nothing to vote for, only something to vote against. And we can do so much better. By offering people genuine hope that their lives can get better, by addressing not only the symptoms of our problems but their root causes, and by calling people to the great cause of creating a new chapter in American history, we can not only beat Trump - we can truly heal the nation.

Marianne Williamson
The True State of the Union
Transform
March 9, 2024


3/12/24 Update: “Cassandra” speaks . . .






Related Off-site Links:
I Remain in the Race – Marianne Williamson (Transform, March 6, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Surprises by Coming In Second in Multiple States, Leapfrogging Dean Phillips – Timothy H.J. Nerozzi (Fox News, March 6, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Slams Biden’s “Tacit Approval of Genocide” in Gaza – Carolina Ampudia and Bobby Johnson (LA Progressive, March 5, 2024).
“This Occupation Is Illegal”: Marianne Williamson Calls Out Netanyahu Over Treatment of PalestineForbes Breaking News (March 5, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Calls for Gaza Ceasefire on Eve of Super TuesdayForbes Breaking News (March 4, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Returns to Presidential Race, Saying Biden Is Vulnerable Against Trump – Anders Hagstrom (Fox News, February 28, 2024).
Centrist Democrats Keep Bragging About the Economy. But Here’s the Problem – Perry Bacon Jr. (The Washington Post, February 20, 2024).


UPDATES: Primary Purpose and Power – Marianne Williamson (Transform, March 12, 2024).
A Working Class Susceptible to Trump Needs Much More From Biden – Les Leopold (Common Dreams, March 13, 2024).
Biden 2025 Budget Would Offer “Welcome Relief,” But Not Enough – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, March 11, 2024).
Biden and Trump Clinch Nominations, Setting the Stage for a Grueling General Election Rematch – Steve Peoples (Associated Press News, March 13, 2024).
In Hopes of a Future Harvest – Marianne Williamson (Transform, March 13, 2024).



See also: Marianne 2024 Official Site | About | Issues | News | Events | Donate


For The Wild Reed’s coverage of Marianne Williamson’s 2024 presidential campaign, see the following chronologically-ordered posts:
Marianne 2024
Marianne Williamson Launches 2024 Presidential Campaign
Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
More Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
Ben Burgis: Quote of the Day – March 10, 2023
Despite the Undemocratic Antics of the DNC, Marianne Williamson Plans on “Winning the Nomination”
The Biblical Roots of “From Each According to Ability; To Each According to Need”
Marianne Williamson on The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton – 05/30/23
Marianne Williamson’s Economic Bill of Rights
Three Progressive Voices on the War in Ukraine
Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – June 27, 2023
Marianne Williamson on The Issue Is with Elex Michaelson – 07/20/23
Voters, Not the DNC, Should Choose the Nominee
Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire
Marianne Williamson: “Repairing Our Hearts Is Essential to Repairing Our Country”
Marianne Williamson on Trump’s Day in Court
Marianne Williamson on NewsNation – 08/25/23
Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Joins NYC’s March to End Fossil Fuels
Marianne Williamson on Your World – 10/6/23
Marianne Williamson’s “Radical Idea” of Putting People First
Marianne Williamson: “We Need to Disrupt the Corrupt”
“We Are Surging”
“Let the People Decide”: Marianne Williamson on the DNC’s Efforts to Deny and Suppress the Democratic Process
Democratic Presidential Debate: Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips – 1/8/24
The Democrats Challenging Biden
Bannering for Marianne
Campaigning for Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire – Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Marianne Williamson: “I Have Decided to Continue”
Marianne Williamson in Nevada – 2/4/24
Forever Grateful
What Marianne Williamson Learned from Running for President
Marianne Williamson: Playing It Big
Minnesotans Launch Super Tuesday Push for “Suspended But Not Ended” Candidate Marianne Williamson
A Welcome Return
This Super Tuesday, Don’t Be “Uncommitted” . . .
Super Tuesday in Minnesota

See also:
Marianne Williamson: “We Must Challenge the Entire System”
Marianne Williamson on the Current Condition of the U.S.
Marianne Williamson’s Politics of Love: The Rich Roll Interview
Now Here’s a Voice I’d Like to Hear Regularly on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
Marianne Williamson on the Tenth Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street
“Two of the Most Dedicated and Enlightened Heroes of Present Day America”
Deep Gratitude
“A Beautiful Message, So Full of Greatness”
Marianne Williamson: “Anything That Will Help People Thrive, I’m Interested In”
Caitlin Johnstone: “Status Quo Politicians Are Infinitely ‘Weirder’ Than Marianne Williamson”

Image: Marianne Williamson in Portsmouth, New Hampshire – Friday, January 20, 2024. (Photo: Michael J. Bayly)


Friday, March 08, 2024

Remembering Kate McDonald, CSJ – 1929-2024




Last month I had the great honor of delivering the "homily reflection" at the funeral mass for my dear friend Kathleen “Kate” McDonald, CSJ.

Kate, one of the famous McDonald sisters, four biological sisters who all joined the Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet – St. Paul Province, died January 23. She was 94.

You may recall that Kate’s older sister, Rita McDonald, CSJ, died last October.

Following is my homily reflection for Kate. (NOTE: The service’s contemporary reading was an excerpt from Pope Francis’ World Youth Day 2013 homily, while the Gospel reading was Matthew 5: 1-11, also known as The Beatitudes.)

_________________

Friends, it’s a great honor to stand before you and share this homily reflection.

As we all know, our dear Kate embodied many different roles throughout her long life. Along with the roles she played within her family of birth, she was, within the context of her CSJ life, an administrator, a caregiver, an educator, a resource-finder, a listener, an advocate, a justice-seeker, a music-maker, a party-goer, a friend.

She was also both a mystic and a prophet. . . . But more about this a little later.

For now, just let me say that what underpinned and infused all of Kate’s different roles, responsibilities, and sources of life and meaning was her passion and dedication to being a peacemaker.

In all kinds of ways, Kathleen McDonald lived and taught peace. This was her signature way of both following the nonviolent way of Jesus and working to build that “better world,” that “civilization of love,” of which Pope Francis so eloquently speaks.

One of the most visible ways in which Kate did this was by participating, for well over a decade, in two weekly peace vigils – both of which took place each Wednesday – one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

It was at these vigils that I first got to know Kate. I was also a neighbor of hers, as in the late 1990s I lived not far from the 6th Street house in south Minneapolis that was home to Kate, her sister Rita, their fellow CSJ Marguerite, their dear friend Lang, and at least two feline companions.

It was a warm, welcoming home; and one that I recall being invited to many times to share a wonderfully home-cooked dinner. More often than not, our meal was followed by much laughter while watching one of the household’s favorite TV shows, Keeping Up Appearances.

I always appreciated Kate and her sisters’ love of humor, and how they used and expressed it to balance the more serious aspects of their lives. Speaking of which, the weekly Wednesday morning vigil that Kate and many of us here today participated in, took place outside the corporate headquarters of Alliant TechSystems, maker and seller of all kinds of weaponry, including landmines and cluster bombs.

The afternoon vigil was on the Lake St./Marshall Ave. Bridge. Its focus was on drawing attention to the far-too-many U.S. foreign policy decisions that resulted in war.

It was on the Lake St. bridge one Wednesday afternoon that I took one of my favorite photos of Kate. We were there that day to protest the economic sanctions on Iraq. These sanctions were adversely impacting the civilian population, children especially.

“Sanctions Kill,” Kate’s sign boldly declared to the passing commuters. Some honked in agreement and support, others gave far less charitable indications of their differing views.

Regardless, Kate, as you can see in this photo, sits serenely on the guard wall separating the bridge’s traffic lanes from one of its pedestrian sidewalks. She’s using her sign to shield her face from the summer afternoon sun, and she has a book on her lap.

I think this image says much – not only about Kate’s dedication to truth-telling and peace-building, but also about the ways in which she prepared for and sustained herself in this work. The presence of the book is key in all of this. Let me explain why.

In the 2003 video documentary Four Sisters for Peace, which was made at around the same time I took this photo of her, Kate was asked how she “stayed so positive and committed, even when bad things happened in the world.” Kate responded by saying: “I do inspirational reading, things that feed my soul; like something, maybe, from the Bible, something from a good poem, or something from a peace activist-writer – Martin Luther King Jr., for instance. And I pray, meditate, and try to ground my soul in the morning; I take a little time to do that.”

Author Marianne Williamson writes that the cultivation of stillness is the best preparation for our response to the urgency of the times we’re living through. Kate clearly knew this as, through her daily inspirational reading, her meditating, and her cultivating of stillness and groundedness each morning, she was building inner peace.

This peace, Williamson reminds us, builds non-reactivity. In other words, it keeps us calm and focused in the midst of upheaval and hostility. I don’t know about you, but I hear these words and think immediately of Kate.

Williamson also reminds us that the inner peace we cultivate through times of intentional stillness builds courage, insight and intuition. It deepens the mind and expands the heart. And through us – through our thoughts and actions – this divinely-infused inner peace builds a new world.

Kate McDonald lived and breathed these spiritual truths. She knew that in order to be a peaceful presence and change-maker in the outer world, she needed to be a peaceful presence within herself. It was a balance she intentionally and lovingly cultivated; the fruits of which inspired many – myself included . . . and perhaps you as well.

This balance of the inner and the outer ensured that Kate was both a mystic and a prophet. The late South African theologian Albert Nolan once wrote that prophets are “people who speak out when others remain silent. They [constructively] criticize their own society, their own country, . . . their own religious institutions.” Sure sounds like our dear Kate.

Nolan lifts up Jesus as an example of a prophet. Yet he also reminds us that Jesus was a mystic as well, a person who longs to experience oneness with God. Because he was both mystic and prophet, Jesus, says Nolan, was grounded in a mystico-prophetic tradition that can be traced back to the prophets of the Old Testament.

Jesus’ life – and I contend Kate’s life – was a powerful example of prophesy and mysticism forming an inseparable whole. (And as Kate would say, “that’s ‘whole’ as in w.h.o.l.e.”)

Nolan highlights others who have similarly recognized that an inner life of stillness and prayer and an outer life of justice-making and peace-building are two sides of the same coin. These others include Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Oscar Romero, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Not surprisingly, it was the writings of these people that I remember Kate reading on a regular basis for her own spiritual nourishment . . . I also remember her sharing snippets of these writings with myself and others on a regular basis for our spiritual nourishment.

Indeed, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the book Kate was reading that day on the bridge was written by one of these people. Nor would it surprise me if she had shared something from this book in the circle we gathered in for a few minutes at the end of each of our Wednesday afternoon vigils. That was just Kate’s way.

And so with all these stories and memories in mind and in heart, I say –

Thank you and blessed are you, Kate, for being such a powerful and loving example of both mystic and prophet. In doing so, you lived, taught and created peace; you stayed involved in the often messy realities of this world; and you mindfully and joyfully worked to build all kinds of communities of love.

May our memories of you inspire us to do likewise. And like you, may we nourish our efforts to be and build peace in the world by cultivating inner peace.

May it be so.

Michael Bayly
Our Lady of the Presentation Chapel
St. Paul, MN
February 12, 2024



Following are some images of Kate’s burial.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Remembering Rita McDonald, CSJ – 1922-2023
Celebrating the “Sisters of Peace”
The Inspiring Brigid McDonald
Beginning the Process
Making My Consociate Commitment
The Vatican and U.S. Women Religious
Three Winter Gatherings
In Wintry Minnesota, An Australian Afternoon Tea
Award-winning “Hellraisers” at It Again
Alliant Action
It Sure Was Cold!
Walking Against Weapons

Images: Michael J. Bayly.


Tuesday, March 05, 2024

Super Tuesday in Minnesota


It’s Super Tuesday here in the U.S., that day early in the presidential primary season when the greatest number of states hold primary elections. More delegates to U.S. presidential nominating conventions can be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day of the primary calendar. In order to secure their party’s nomination, candidates seeking the presidency traditionally have to do well today.

Minnesota is a Super Tuesday state, and so after work this afternoon I joined with my friend Kate to electioneer for Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson outside a polling site in Minneapolis. You may recall that Kate and I traveled to New Hampshire in late January to campaign with and for Marianne in that state’s primary contest (right).

Kate and I decided to do what we did today in Minnesota for two reasons. First, we wanted to remind people that Marianne is still in the race. This seemed especially important as some may not have heard that she had re-entered the race after briefly suspending her campaign last month.

Second, we wanted to invite those who were planning on voting “Uncommitted” (as a way of protesting incumbent candidate President Biden’s failure to call for an unconditional and permanant ceasefire in the Israel/Hamas conflict) to consider instead voting for Marianne, an unequivocal “ceasefire candidate.”


While electioneering this afternoon, a friend messaged me about a recent article that contains the following good news.

In a seismic shift within party ranks, DNC delegates Liano Sharon of Michigan and Nadia Ahmad of Florida have pledged their automatic delegate votes to Marianne Williamson, citing her relentless advocacy for an immediate ceasefire and intervention in Gaza as the impetus for their decision.


And following is Marianne’s Super Tuesday message, first published earlier this evening on her substack, Transform.

One year ago today I launched my campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency.

It has been a wild ride. This year has given me an inside look at everything that is right, and everything that is wrong, with American politics.

But I didn’t enter this race to be part of the political system as it is; I entered to represent the millions of people who know it needs to change. That it is corrupted by money. That it serves donors more than constituents. That it represents not the better angels of our nature, but the crass and greedy will of a soulless economic behemoth that now controls DC.

To say my message has not been appreciated by the establishment is putting it mildly. When I ran in 2020, the political and media elite seemed satisfied to simply paint me as a crazy person . . . a crystal lady . . . “not serious.”

But this time when they saw me coming, they were not amused. A woman who founded a multimillion-dollar non-profit that has served 16 million meals to homebound people with AIDS and other critical illnesses became someone who apparently did not take illness seriously. From the women on The View willfully lying about me and my past, to a complete blacklisting on CNN and MSNBC and elsewhere, you need to hand it to our party overlords. When they want someone out of the way, they will tell any lie and go to any lengths to make it happen.

And why? Because I was saying too many things that they knew would light a political bonfire. A majority of Republicans as well as Democrats say they want Medicare for All. And the establishment knows that. A majority of Republicans as well as Democrats want tuition free college and tech school. And they know that too. My message of fundamental economic reform is the message that resonates with a majority of Americans. The establishment elite who run our political machinery had no intention of letting anyone who is not in their club have a say. The narrative that I’m “not serious” wasn’t spread by those who actually believe it. They created that narrative because they know how serious I am.

Over this past year, we’ve seen it all. But for those who actually heard our message, who came to my events and listened to what I have to say, this campaign has been far from irrelevant. It’s the campaign that many of us have been waiting for.

The political-media industrial complex made sure the horserace had only one horse. Yet after I suspended the campaign, I received thousands of messages from voters throughout America. And I realized there is something bigger than the horse race at work here. In the words of Mohammed Ali, “When the mission is right, the odds don’t matter.”

Having unsuspended the campaign, a huge amount of energy has burst forth to support us. For the first time since we started, I feel the wind at our back rather than in our face. It’s as if people are waking up from a fog, realizing that no, we do not have to accept another Trump versus Biden election.

Ours is the campaign that will defeat Donald Trump. My life force matches his, plus I have the ultimate edge because I speak truth where he speaks lies. Whereas he offers fear and authoritarianism, my campaign offers hope and inspiration. We offer the American people the vision of a future that is unburdened by intense and chronic economic anxiety. And that’s how we will win.

We can restore America’s middle class with an Economic Bill of Rights. We can repudiate America’s forever war machine and begin to wage peace. We can transition from a dirty economy to a clean economy and from a war economy to a peace economy. We can stand for reparations and a ceasefire now. We can end America’s ill-begotten War on Drugs.

In short, we can begin again.

We can turn the page on an aberrational fifty-year chapter of our history during which a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” has become a government “of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations.”

Now that we’re back on the trail, new supporters are hearing and cheering for us wherever we go. But in order to continue to create breakthroughs I need your support.

Please take very seriously our responsibility to create an alternative to the trajectory by which Donald Trump – now polling higher than the President in the swing states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nevada – returns to the White House. This is a critical moment in American history, and we must rise to meet it.

If your heart says Yes then please invest in the campaign. It’s time for a political miracle, and together we can create one.

Marianne Williamson
It’s Been a Wild Ride: Musing on One Year In
Transform
March 5, 2024



NEXT:
Marianne Williamson, the Cassandra of U.S. Politics,
on the “True State of the Union”


Related Off-site Links:
Marianne Williamson Slams Biden’s “Tacit Approval of Genocide” in Gaza – Carolina Ampudia and Bobby Johnson (LA Progressive, March 5, 2024).
“This Occupation Is Illegal”: Marianne Williamson Calls Out Netanyahu Over Treatment of PalestineForbes Breaking News (March 5, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Calls for Gaza Ceasefire on Eve of Super TuesdayForbes Breaking News (March 4, 2024).

UPDATES: Marianne Williamson Surprises by Coming In Second in Multiple States, Leapfrogging Dean Phillips – Timothy H.J. Nerozzi (Fox News, March 6, 2024).
“Uncommitted” Wins Nearly 20% of Democratic Primary Vote in Minnesota – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, March 6, 2024).
Super Tuesday Shake-Up: “Uncommitted” Voters Prove Problematic for BidenRising (March 6, 2024).
Super Tuesday: Biden and Trump Head to RematchDemocracy Now! (March 6, 2024).
Biden vs. Trump is Set. What Are the Alternatives? – Zachary B. Wolf (CNN Politics, March 6, 2024).
Dean Phillips Ends Democratic Primary Challenge to Biden – Alison Main and Kaanita Iyer (CNN Politics, March 6, 2024).
I Remain in the Race – Marianne Williamson (Transform, March 6, 2024).



See also: Marianne 2024 Official Site | About | Issues | News | Events | Donate


For The Wild Reed’s coverage of Marianne Williamson’s 2024 presidential campaign, see the following chronologically-ordered posts:
Marianne 2024
Marianne Williamson Launches 2024 Presidential Campaign
Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
More Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
Ben Burgis: Quote of the Day – March 10, 2023
Despite the Undemocratic Antics of the DNC, Marianne Williamson Plans on “Winning the Nomination”
The Biblical Roots of “From Each According to Ability; To Each According to Need”
Marianne Williamson on The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton – 05/30/23
Marianne Williamson’s Economic Bill of Rights
Three Progressive Voices on the War in Ukraine
Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – June 27, 2023
Marianne Williamson on The Issue Is with Elex Michaelson – 07/20/23
Voters, Not the DNC, Should Choose the Nominee
Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire
Marianne Williamson: “Repairing Our Hearts Is Essential to Repairing Our Country”
Marianne Williamson on Trump’s Day in Court
Marianne Williamson on NewsNation – 08/25/23
Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Joins NYC’s March to End Fossil Fuels
Marianne Williamson on Your World – 10/6/23
Marianne Williamson’s “Radical Idea” of Putting People First
Marianne Williamson: “We Need to Disrupt the Corrupt”
“We Are Surging”
“Let the People Decide”: Marianne Williamson on the DNC’s Efforts to Deny and Suppress the Democratic Process
Democratic Presidential Debate: Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips – 1/8/24
The Democrats Challenging Biden
Bannering for Marianne
Campaigning for Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire – Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Marianne Williamson: “I Have Decided to Continue”
Marianne Williamson in Nevada – 2/4/24
Forever Grateful
What Marianne Williamson Learned from Running for President
Marianne Williamson: Playing It Big
Minnesotans Launch Super Tuesday Push for “Suspended But Not Ended” Candidate Marianne Williamson
A Welcome Return
This Super Tuesday, Don’t Be “Uncommitted” . . .

See also:
Marianne Williamson: “We Must Challenge the Entire System”
Marianne Williamson on the Current Condition of the U.S.
Marianne Williamson’s Politics of Love: The Rich Roll Interview
Now Here’s a Voice I’d Like to Hear Regularly on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
Marianne Williamson on the Tenth Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street
“Two of the Most Dedicated and Enlightened Heroes of Present Day America”
Deep Gratitude
“A Beautiful Message, So Full of Greatness”
Marianne Williamson: “Anything That Will Help People Thrive, I’m Interested In”
Caitlin Johnstone: “Status Quo Politicians Are Infinitely ‘Weirder’ Than Marianne Williamson”

Images: Michael J. Bayly.


Monday, March 04, 2024

This Super Tuesday, Don’t Be “Uncommitted” . . .


Vote for the “ceasefire candidate,”
Marianne Williamson





During the current U.S. presidential primary season, the “uncommitted” movement is encouraging Democrats to check “uncommitted" on their primary ballots as a way of registering a protest vote against incumbent President Joe Biden for his refusal to demand a ceasefire in the Israel/Gaza conflict.

I believe a better way to go is to vote for the “ceasefire candidate” who is on the ballot in the majoroity of states. That candidate is author, activist, and progressive Democrat Marianne Williamson.

Following is what Marianne said just over a month ago about both the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza and the “uncommitted” movement. It should be noted that at the time of this interview, Democratic voters were being encouraged to write-in “ceasefire” so as to counter the Biden write-in campaign in the New Hampshire primary. In the recent Michigan primary and the primaries going forward, there is the option of checking “uncommitted” rather than voting for Biden.

Marianne’s message about the then ceasefire write-in campaign is just as applicable to the “uncommitted” option of today. And that message is this: a vote for her, an actual candidate committed to an unconditional ceasefire and a whole host of other progressive issues and policies, is a much stronger statement than any kind of write-in or “uncommitted” vote.

[U]nless we nominate someone, like myself, who’s been very clear about all this from the beginning [a large number of voters, young people especially, will turn away from this election].

You know, the president showed great moral clarity on October 7th, but he needs to show the same moral clarity regarding what has happened to the Palestinians. I think young people, particularly, see a deep injustice there. And yeah, I think that’s a good reason for the Democrats to nominate somebody who represents a stand for not just greater justice for the Palestinians, but for bold American leadership, to make sure that we are robustly and equally committed to the peace, safety, security and sovereignty of both peoples, both Israeli and Palestinian.

I believe that if we’re really concerned about the citizens of Gaza, if we’re most deeply concerned about what action would most get Joe Biden’s attention and make him actually reconsider his policies, I think it would be voting for a candidate who actually stands for a ceasefire. I would think that my getting a lot of votes, given the fact that I, in fact, do stand for a ceasefire, would get more of a raised eyebrow from the president than would a write-in campaign for “ceasefire.”

But like in all of these things . . . the citizen, the voter gets to make their decision for themselves. I hope that people who are considering writing in “ceasefire” from that position, which I know is a sincere desire to help the people of Gaza, I hope they will consider the possibility, which I believe is the reality, that a vote for me would be a stronger statement.


Also, let’s not forget that if Marianne gets enough votes, she’ll get delegates which she’ll then be able to use as leverage at the convention to make the Democratic party’s national platform as progressive as possible.

So, friends, if you consider yourself a progressive and/or an advocate for justice and peace and you live in one of the Super Tuesday states, now is your chance to “walk your talk.”

Vote tomorrow, Tuesday, March 5, for the “justice candidate,” the “peace candidate,” the “ceasefire candidate” . . . one of just two progressive candidates in the 2024 Democratic presidential race, and the one with the greatest ballot access (over 30 states). As a Democrat voting in the primary, you have absolutely nothing to lose by voting for Marianne Williamson . . . and so much to gain.


NEXT: Super Tuesday in Minnesota


Related Off-site Links:
Marianne Williamson Calls for Gaza Ceasefire on Eve of Super TuesdayForbes Breaking News (March 5, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Re-enters Race: “We Need a Real Ceasefire Candidate” – Sean Noone (NewsNation, March 2, 2024).
Why People Are Voting “Uncommitted” Over Biden in Michigan’s Primary – Mike Bedigan (Independent, February 29, 2024).
“Uncommitted”: Over 100,000 Cast Protest Vote Against Biden’s Gaza Policy in Michigan PrimaryDemocracy Now! (February 28, 2024).
Marianne Williamson Unsuspends Her Presidential Campaign After Placing 3rd in Michigan – Kyla Guilfoil (NBC News, February 28, 2024).
“It’s Not Complex, It’s Genocide”: Former Top UN Official on GazaAl Jazeera (February 16, 2024).
The Israel and Palestine Situation: Marianne Williamson in Conversation with Josh Lockman and Omar BaddarFirelight Chats (June 15, 2023).

UPDATE: Marianne Williamson Slams Biden’s “Tacit Approval of Genocide” in Gaza – Carolina Ampudia and Bobby Johnson (LA Progressive, March 5, 2024).



See also: Marianne 2024 Official Site | About | Issues | News | Events | Donate


For The Wild Reed’s coverage of Marianne Williamson’s 2024 presidential campaign, see the following chronologically-ordered posts:
Marianne 2024
Marianne Williamson Launches 2024 Presidential Campaign
Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
More Progressive Perspectives on Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Run
Ben Burgis: Quote of the Day – March 10, 2023
Despite the Undemocratic Antics of the DNC, Marianne Williamson Plans on “Winning the Nomination”
The Biblical Roots of “From Each According to Ability; To Each According to Need”
Marianne Williamson on The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton – 05/30/23
Marianne Williamson’s Economic Bill of Rights
Three Progressive Voices on the War in Ukraine
Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – June 27, 2023
Marianne Williamson on The Issue Is with Elex Michaelson – 07/20/23
Voters, Not the DNC, Should Choose the Nominee
Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire
Marianne Williamson: “Repairing Our Hearts Is Essential to Repairing Our Country”
Marianne Williamson on Trump’s Day in Court
Marianne Williamson on NewsNation – 08/25/23
Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Joins NYC’s March to End Fossil Fuels
Marianne Williamson on Your World – 10/6/23
Marianne Williamson’s “Radical Idea” of Putting People First
Marianne Williamson: “We Need to Disrupt the Corrupt”
“We Are Surging”
“Let the People Decide”: Marianne Williamson on the DNC’s Efforts to Deny and Suppress the Democratic Process
Democratic Presidential Debate: Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips – 1/8/24
The Democrats Challenging Biden
Bannering for Marianne
Campaigning for Marianne Williamson in New Hampshire – Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Marianne Williamson: “I Have Decided to Continue”
Marianne Williamson in Nevada – 2/4/24
Forever Grateful
What Marianne Williamson Learned from Running for President
Marianne Williamson: Playing It Big
Minnesotans Launch Super Tuesday Push for “Suspended But Not Ended” Candidate Marianne Williamson
A Welcome Return

See also:
Damon Linker on the Democrats’ Need to Replace Biden
Marianne Williamson: “We Must Challenge the Entire System”
Marianne Williamson on the Current Condition of the U.S.
Marianne Williamson’s Politics of Love: The Rich Roll Interview
Now Here’s a Voice I’d Like to Hear Regularly on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
Marianne Williamson on the Tenth Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street
“Two of the Most Dedicated and Enlightened Heroes of Present Day America”
Deep Gratitude
“A Beautiful Message, So Full of Greatness”
Marianne Williamson: “Anything That Will Help People Thrive, I’m Interested In”
Caitlin Johnstone: “Status Quo Politicians Are Infinitely ‘Weirder’ Than Marianne Williamson”


Saturday, March 02, 2024

Demanding Equal Airtime for All Presidential Candidates


Orson Maazel (pictured above, third from left) was one of a number of inspiring people I met when my friend Kate and I traveled to New Hampshire in late-January to campaign for and with Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.

Earlier today a protest planned and organized by Orson took place outside of the Washington, DC headquarters of CNN. Called “March in March for Equal Airtime,” this protest and march called on CNN and other media outlets to provide equal coverage to all presidential candidates. On the Democratic side, this means not just covering incumbent President Joe Biden.

Section 315 of the Communications Act, known as the equal opportunities requirement (commonly referred to as the “equal-time rule”), says that when a broadcast station allows any “legally qualified candidate” – whether for federal, state, or local office – to “use” its facilities, it must provide “equal opportunities” to all other legally qualified candidates for the same office.

It’s been obvious for almost a year now that such equal airtime has not been – and is not being – given to Democratic presidential candidates Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips. It’s a situation that profoundly undermines democracy. All the more reason, then, to be grateful for those who gathered with Orson to highlight this travesty outside of CNN in Washington, DC today.



Related Off-site Links:
The Equal Time Rule Is Anything But – Sydney Snower (Federal Communications Law Journal, January 2021).
Do the Networks Have to Give Equal Time? In a Word, No – Al Tompkins (Poynter, January 8, 2019).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Bernie Sanders and the Corporate Media
A Reign of Ignorance and Fear in the U.S.
Jeff Cohen: Quote of the Day – February 28, 2022
Amy Goodman and the “Sacred Responsibility” of Listening
Now Here’s a Voice I’d Like to Hear Regularly on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows


Remembering Dusty, 25 Years On


Today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of legendary pop/soul singer Dusty Springfield (1939-1999), widely considered one of the greatest female vocalists of the twentieth century.

Dusty’s career spanned over three decades, and included numerous hits, including “I Only Want to Be With You,” “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “The Look of Love,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” (with the Pet Shop Boys), and “In Private.” Her solo career began in 1963 and continued to 1995, four years before her death from breast cancer on March 2, 1999.

My interest in and admiration for Dusty is well documented here at The Wild Reed, most notably in Soul Deep, one of my very first posts.

Other previous posts worth investigating, especially if you’re new to Dusty, are Dusty Springfield: Queer Icon, which features an excerpt from Laurence Cole’s book, Dusty Springfield: In the Middle of Nowhere; Celebrating Dusty (2017), which features an excerpt from Patricia Juliana Smith’s insightful article on Dusty’s “camp masquerades”; Celebrating Dusty (2013), which features excerpts from Annie J. Randall’s book, Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods; Remembering Dusty, my 2009 tribute to Dusty on the tenth anniversary of her death; and Remembering Dusty, 20 Years On, my 2019 tribute on the twentieth anniversary of her death.

And, of course, off-site there’s my website dedicated to Dusty, Woman of Repute (currently only accessible through the Internet archive service, The Way Back Machine).

My website’s name is derived from Dusty’s 1990 album Reputation, and as I explain in Soul Deep, it was this album that introduced me not only to Dusty’s music but also to her life and journey – much of which resonated deeply with me. Indeed, my identification with aspects of Dusty’s journey played an important role in my coming out as a gay man.



Above: Dusty, amidst the flowing streams, standing stones and picturesque Celtic ruins of County Clare and the Galway coast for the making of the music video for “Roll Away,” a track from her last album, 1995’s A Very Fine Love. The liner notes of the 2016 2-disc expanded collector’s edition of A Very Fine Love include my reflections on this beautiful song, reflections which are also shared in the previous Wild Reed post, Time and the River.


In remembering and celebrating Dusty on the 25th anniversary of her death, I share the 2009 documentary Just Dusty, written by Julie Sawyer and directed by Daniella Wiedmann.





For more of Dusty at The Wild Reed, see:
Soul Deep
Dusty Springfield: Queer Icon
Remembering Dusty Springfield’s “Daring” 1979 Gay-Affirming Song
Remembering Dusty, 20 Years On
Remembering and Celebrating Dusty – 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019
Remembering Dusty (2018)
Celebrating Dusty (2017)
Celebrating Dusty (2013)
Remembering Dusty (2009)
Remembering Dusty – 14 Years On
Remembering Dusty – 11 Years On
The Other “Born This Way”
Time and the River
Remembering a Great Soul Singer
A Song and Challenge for 2012
The Sound of Two Decades Colliding and Nobody Getting Hurt
Home to Myself