Thoughts for the day....

As I watched the video made by someone from Taotoa Tano I received via email today I went through a myriad of different emotions sickness, disgust, sadness, anger...As the day went by, it really weighed heavy on my mind that someone took the time to make this horrible video and then took the time to send it to people via email...It bothered me that they would blame Pamela Mathis on the problems at CUC ?? or to say that Tina Sablan "always wanted to be a HERO"..A Hero is a person with great courage or strength a person who is honest and brave, who is noted for feats of courage and nobility of purpose. A hero is a person who acts in a way that benefits the greater good of her society. A person who inspires others. Mr. Taotao Tano videographer, Tina Sablan does not "want" to be a hero, Tina Sablan IS A HERO!

It's hard to find the words to clearly express how disturbing it is to me that someone would make a video telling me, or anyone else for that matter, that because I do not agree with PL 15-108 or because I feel that our guest workers deserve more, that I am disrespecting the " local indigenous" or that the only place I have ever known or called home, is not my island.

The more I thought about the video and tried to understand it, the more I realized that it had it's purpose in my day and there was a reason why it made its way into my email box. To make me think...about speaking up for what is right..about making our island a place where everyone can live harmoniously, equally and in peace ...about racism......about doing my part to create that tiny ripple of hope that along with other ripples will sweep down the mightiest walls of injustice...

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ~Robert F. Kennedy

As my day is coming to end, I guess I have to thank whoever made and sent out that video ...It has only helped to enforce what I have already believed in all along and has stirred in me the desire to do more to see those believes come to fruition...I need to end here as I have several letters to write to our governor, legislature and US congress..but before I end, here are a few more thoughts for the day...

"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice." ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

In world history, those who have helped to build the same culture are not necessarily of one race, and those of the same race have not all participated in one culture. ~Ruth Fulton Benedict

To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow. ~William Faulkner

Freedom is an indivisible word. If we want to enjoy it, and fight for it, we must be prepared to extend it to everyone, whether they are rich or poor, whether they agree with us or not, no matter what their race or the color of their skin.-- Wendell Wilkie

Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community. Anthony J. D’Angelo


To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. ~Confucius

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: Indeed it's the only thing that ever has. ~Margaret Mead

If you want peace, work for justice. ~Pope Paul VI

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. ~Maya Angelou