Category: Diversity / Inclusivity
December 14th
blundersonword mentioned “Imagine” the other day in a post, and here we are on the morning of Dec. 14th. There are several items in Peace&Justice History for 12/14, including mourning the loss to the world and the effort for peace across the world, with the murder of John Lennon. 14 years later, the US acknowledged and honored New Zealand’s nuclear weapons ban, and 15 years later, the Dayton Accords were achieved, which guided the cessation of conflict between Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Progress happens.
| December 14, 1917 U.S. peace activist and suffragist Kate Richards O’Hare was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for a speech denouncing World War I. Occupying a neighboring jail cell was Emma Goldman, the well-known anarchist organizer, feminist, writer and anti-war critic was imprisoned for obstructing the draft. O’Hare was one of a number of prisoners Socialist Party leader Eugene Debs cited in his “Canton Speech” for which he in turn was imprisoned. More about activist Kate Richards O’Hare Read the speech |
| December 14, 1961 In a public exchange of letters with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, U.S. President John F. Kennedy formally announced the United States would increase aid to South Vietnam, including the expansion of the U.S. troop commitment. Kennedy, concerned with recent advances made by the communist insurgency movement in South Vietnam, wrote: “We shall promptly increase our assistance to your defense effort.”  President Ngo Dinh Diem  President Kennedy and Secretary of Defense McNamara Kennedy – Diem letter exchange |
December 14, 1980 At Yoko Ono’s request, John Lennon fans around the world mourned him with 10 minutes of silent prayer. In New York over 100,000 people converged on Central Park in tribute, and in Liverpool, England, his hometown, a crowd of 30,000 gathered outside of St. George’s Hall on Lime Street. johnlennon.com >“You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one.” Time capsules to mark John Lennon’s legacy |
| December 14, 1985 Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to lead a major American Indian tribe when she took office as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.  Wilma Mankiller on the day in 1985 when her election as chief of the Cherokee Nation was announced |
| December 14, 1994 After eight years of negotiations, the United States finally agreed to honor New Zealand’s ban on nuclear weapons in its territory. U.S. Navy ships armed with nuclear weapons no longer visited New Zealand’s ports. |
| December 14, 1995 Leaders of the states that were parts of the former Yugoslavia signed the Bosnia peace treaty, formally ending four years of bloody and vicious ethnic/religious conflict. The Dayton Accords, as they are known, committed the Balkan states of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina to accept a division of territory, a process to deal with the more than 2 million refugees, and the introduction of 60,000 NATO peacekeeping forces. The negotiations were led by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, and held principally at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton Accords |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december141980
Two ICE clips from The Majority Report.
Satan’s Evil Elves | Armageddon Update
Democrat’s Noem Humiliation Didn’t Go Far Enough
Trump’s White Supremacy On Full Display
Remember this is a US citizen being mistreated and threatened just because of his skin color. This is the world old white insecure men want. Hugs
Trump’s “Affordability Tour” Is A Cruel Joke
A Resource For Planning
When I started reading here at Scottie’s, and later posting here, the blog purpose included providing online safe space and resources for LGBTQ+ people. I try to include posts directed at that readership whenever I can. Things are changing rapidly for everyone in the U.S., but bigots have been emboldened to discriminate whenever and however they like, for sport, even, if they wish. (My own observations.)
I have read at The Order Of The Good Death for years, watching Caitlin Doughty’s videos (she’s knowledgeable and hilarious,) watching legislation primarily on my own behalf (I want a sky burial, dang it!) Last night, I saw that The Order is generating an End-Of-Life guide for LGBTQ+ people. So, here’s the scoop, click on through. They’re only beginning this project, a guide for each state of the U.S. Here’s a snippet; go see it and become involved if you can.
“Our end-of-life experiences are as unique and varied as our lives, often reflecting the same challenges we experience in life. As a result, people in the LGBTQ+ community often have their own unique set of needs at the end-of life, placing them at a higher risk for discrimination and disenfranchisement.”
Additionally, I highly recommend looking over the Louisiana guide, by Ezra Salter, linked within. It’s a PDF, but covers numerous pertinent issues people might not consider in general.
LGBTQ End-Of-Life Guide
Music For Change
Sounds like activism: musicians who fight for change – in pictures
Photographer Janette Beckman and curator Julie Grahame have organized a one-time fundraiser for the ACLU that showcases images of musicians who have recorded protest songs or are known for their activism. Forty-three photographers have donated images of 50 artists, from John Lennon to Nina Simone to Bad Bunny, and 100% of the profits will go towards the ACLU and their efforts to protect equality, freedom and rights. In addition to the images there is a playlist of songs for the fundraiser.Bob Marley, who performed at Crystal Palace Bowl in 1980, is known for songs such as Get Up, Stand Up, War, Redemption Song and Concrete Jungle that advocate for social issues, human rights and resistance. Photograph: David Corio
Curated by Briana Ellis-Gibbs
(I posted a few here; go see the whole piece with all the photos. It’s motivating! A.)
Bruce Springsteen, New York, 2017
Songs such as American Skin (41 Shots), The Ghost of Tom Joad and Born in the USA highlight systemic injustice, racism and the struggles of working-class people and immigrantsPhotograph: Danny Clinch, Transparent Clinch Gallery
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Doechii, New York, 2025
She is known for songs like Anxiety that advocate for mental health awareness and has used awards show speeches to speak out against government overreach and oppression. Photograph: Sacha Lecca
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Nina Simone, London, 1968
One of Simone’s most prominent songs, Mississippi Goddam, was a direct response to systemic racial inequality in the US exemplified in the handling of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and Medgar Evers’s murder. The song became an anthem for the civil rights movement. Photograph: Michael Putland
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Dolly Parton, Tennessee, 2003
Her songs, including A Woman’s Right and Coat of Many Colors, have addressed social issues, and she has been outspoken and financially generous as a philanthropist. Photograph: Clay Patrick McBride
(snip-Go See The Rest!)
A Different Reality
I am not transgender. And, perhaps like some who read Scottie’s blog, there are times when I wonder why I am reading so much about transgender and non-binary issues, since they don’t really effect me. I’m simply me, an overweight white guy who has struggled with his orientation and confidence. Interestingly enough, I’m – as written – not Hispanic. I was born in the USA, so why should I care about some of the other posts Scottie shows on his blog about ICE/Immigration? I think you know where I am going with this.
On the first day of tRump’s occupation, he signed an executive order that the United States would no longer recognize anything but born male/born female as a gender to the applause of a disappointingly large number of people. With the literal stroke of a pen, a person’s identity was made to be unrecognized by their very own government.
And, just as he has chosen to remove men and women from our communities without the right of Habeas Corpus, one of the very principles our country was founded upon, who will be next to learn they are a non-person and suddenly unworthy of liberty? Will it be me, a struggling fat white guy who doesn’t conform to the cis ideal? Will it be when I become old and can no longer work? Will it be because I don’t agree with the Maga mantra? What will I have to fake to be still acceptable to the powers?
I’d like to paraphrase and steal another’s words here:
The Declaration of Independence identified “the pursuit of happiness” as one of our unalienable rights, along with life and liberty… Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton (spoke about what) happiness meant in their lives, how they understood the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good—the pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Among those virtues were the habits of industry, temperance, moderation, and sincerity, which the Founders viewed as part of a daily struggle for self-improvement, character development, and calm self-mastery. They believed that political self-government required personal self-government.
Now this is arguable, but I want to believe it. I want to believe and agree that the creation of this country was about more than the pursuit of power, but about the pursuit of happiness, of completion, of understanding and identity. I believe that the creation of this country was to be about self-determination and self-actualization, not conformity to some distorted and corrupted image of a diseased head of state.
It is for this reason that I embrace the rights and honor of those who are transgender, non-binary, or any who are seeking to understand that person in the mirror. In fact, I see it as a fundamental aspect of being an American that we accept those who are in the journey of self. Further, just as Jesus Christ is reported to exhort us to welcome the stranger – because it is only by befriending those different from whoever I am that I can hope to one day fully understand Randy.
I welcome respectful comments and even disagreements to this post. hugs.
Scottie's Playtime 