The respite from exile continues…

A more current voice speaks to us today. It doesn’t diminish the power or truth of her words. Please feel free to take the concept and run with it. I would be honored to reblog such an effort. Thank you, Léa

————————————————————–

”There’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.”  – Arundhati Roy

To blog, or not to blog… perhaps a temporary respite from exile?

Despite the reasons for my long-term absence, it has become impossible to remain silent. I shall share some of the wiser words I’ve been reading. The current state of things forces me to at least offer some words that I hope will be read and reflected upon. For many, these quotes will not be a revelation. For others, they may be a bitter pill. The best thing they could be is food for thought. I shall keep to the brief quotes that I share. They will be short but rarely sweet. Perhaps some will even be inspired to expand on the thoughts I bring to the table. Thank you. Léa

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity.” – Voltaire

I’m proud. @AOC #speech

“EVERY TIME A WOMAN STANDS UP FOR HERSELF, SHE STANDS UP FOR ALL WOMEN.”                                                                                                  – Maya Angelou

“JUST THINK – GUNS HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDMENT PROTECTING THEM AND WOMEN DON’T.”  – Eleanor Smeal

 

Barb Taub

Every woman I know agrees. Every man should.

It hasn’t always been easy lately to be an American. It’s never been easy to be a woman. In 9 minutes and 42 seconds I’ll never forget,  United States House of Representatives Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gives an unforgettable lesson in how to do both. Proudly.

After fellow US Rep Ted Yoho of Florida accosted AOC on the steps of the US Capitol, calling her a “f*****g bitch”, he then failed to apologize, citing his “passion, loving my God, my family, and my country”. Here is her response.

View original post

Emma Lazarus: She spins within her tomb

 

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

“The woman power of this nation can be the power which makes us whole and heals the rotten community now so shattered by war and poverty and racism. I have great faith in the power of women who will dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to the task of remaking our society.” – Coretta Scott King

 

“I think that the roots of racism have always been economic, and I think people are desperate and scared. And when you’re desperate and scared you scapegoat people. It exacerbates latent tendencies toward – well, toward racism or homophobia or anti-Semitism.” – Henry Louis Gates    

 

The New Colossus

 

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles, From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breath free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

                            – Emma Lazarus

 

Imagine the poem she would have written had she foreseen the cages crammed with humanity seeking asylum. Her vision of America and her words do not reflect its reality. The golden door has been slammed shut in the faces of the homeless, tempest-tost and many others. Yet the welcome mat is out for criminals who can afford to line the pockets of the government. Perhaps some of you will be inspired to write what might be more realistic given the current climate in America? 

 

Bisous,

Léa

For Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892 – 1984)

What will we do on that day? That day is here.

Scribbled Verse

For Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892 – 1984)

when,

the hushed rage of prejudice rejoices in triumphant pomp and hateful ceremony,

and,

the silent dagger of complicit racism plunges deep into the soul of a world bereft of hope,

and,

the long knife of embraced apathy twists and turns,

then,

perhaps we’ll open our opaque eyes,

and perhaps then we’ll open our sewed-up mouths,

and perhaps only then will we whimper in mock shock and startled surprise,

for,

the festering hate that spirals around us,

in the fertile minds of quasi-religious bigotry,

is unafraid,

and speaks in the loudest baritone.

2.

Yet,

we accept,

we acquiesce,

we wish it all away,

but,

there will come that time when the lines are drawn,

when the purest hearts of silently smiling bigotry will hold the world in their sway,

with their cherubic, agreeable arguments sprinkled with pieces of fact that will kill, rape…

View original post 91 more words

“Think of your son. Think of your husband.” #ThrowbackThursday #MeToo

CHRISTINE IS A HERO AND THE FBI ONLY FOUND WHAT THEY WERE ALLOWED TO. THIS GOVERNMENT IS A SCAM AND CORRUPT TO THE CORE.

Barb Taub

“Think of your son. Think of your husband,” Trump continued. “I’ve had many false accusations. I’ve had so many. When I say it didn’t happen, nobody believes me.”—Donald Trump mocks Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony at Mississippi Rally

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testifying before Senate committee [Image Credit: The Cut]

I sat in front of my computer, riveted to the live feed of the hearings. I watched Dr. Ford’s gut wrenching  testimony and Brett Kavanaugh’s bewildered, infuriated response. And as the tears poured down my face, I remembered…

Events such as this happened to almost every woman of my generation. Lives were ruined, damaged, or simply never realized full potential. Overall, we got on with the business of living despite the memories we didn’t let ourselves think about.

BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT WE WANT FOR OUR DAUGHTERS AND OUR GRANDDAUGHTERS. IT HAS TO STOP.

Sure, decades have gone by since…

View original post 1,067 more words

Fancy Restaurant|رستوران مجلل

I couldn’t resist sharing this one…

A Voice from Iran

A rich man walked into a fancy restaurant and asked for the best table.

When he sat down, he saw a black woman sitting at the bar.

He didn’t like what he saw. He didn’t like to eat in a beautiful luxury restaurant and see a black woman enjoying the same place that he was. He decided to show her; where her place was and prove to her that she didn’t belong there.

He called the waiter and said: “Everyone will be my guest for dessert, except that black woman.”

The waiter brought the restaurants famous chocolate cake to every single person except the black woman.

The black woman walked to the rich man and with a kind smile, said: “Thank you.”

The rich man got angry and called the waiter and said: “Give everyone a glass of wine under my bill except the black woman.”

The waiter did what…

View original post 129 more words

World Refugee Day

“Those who cannot remember the past, are doomed to repeat it.” – George Santayana
Thanks Barb.

Thank you Barb! I won’t tell a soul… just a few blogging friends.

Fair open discussion or gender stereotyping? He has a PhD from Harvard in Systems Biology, and quotes generalities from Wikipedia. He says he understands that overall differences between men and women may not apply to differences between individual men and women, and yet he urges Google to make sweeping policy changes based on those group […]

via WTF? #Googlemanifesto — Barb Taub

…To the left

Despite the fact that I first published this here over three years ago, it seems imperative to reblog it now given current events in Virginia and elsewhere. 

“This is the biggest cemetery for Jews, Poles, Roma and Sinti. It must tell us that we have to come back here again and again. We must keep the memory of the worst crime in human history alive for those who were born later.”   –  Horst Koehler, Germany President

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”    –  Martin Niemöller 

This post is dedicated to the memories of Claire Magnani (who wanted it read but couldn’t hear it anymore), Manya and Meyer Korenblit, Chaim Nagelstein and too many others.

*

…To the left

Naked they cling to each other

Husband and wife parent to child

Lovers embrace

O mother, with infant at your breast

You must be cleansed

To the side of the large stone building

Lay the belongings

Of those who are to be cleansed

You who wear a yellow star

You shall be cleansed

Soldiers rummage through mounds of clothing

Items are catalogued

By the hundreds

They line up for the showers

Men, women, children

With paralyzing fear

They are herded through large doors

A small boy of five

With piercing brown eyes

Clutches his mother’s arm

As the gas permeates the room

Amid the screams

Comes the cry

“Hush mien kindelein hashem is with us”

And they are cleansed

And Germany is cleansed

And the ovens are cleansed

Made ready for those who will follow

Skeletal remnants of men

Must remove the remains

Of their brothers and sisters

Must pry the gold from their mouths

Must fill German coffers

Must kindle the fires with the bones

Of those they love

Germany must be

Cleansed

Purify

Pile another corpse into the ovens

Those hollow cheeks the vacant stares

Fire will purify

Cold grey ashes will not tell

Of what has been done

Thick black smoke fills the nostrils

With deaths stench

And violates the skies of Europe

Rich German soil harbors mass graves

And Germany will not be cleansed

*

NEVER AGAIN!

Bisous,

Léa