America is a country born from protests. Remember the Boston Tea Party? Perfectly good tea sunk in the ocean to get our point across. We have been given the right to free speech and to protest to get our point across. We cannot stop the outcry that is all over our nation right this minute.
If I were 30 years younger I probably would be out there marching peacefully (but my feet hurt and I probably would break a hip if I fell). I was only 10 in 1968 – but I do remember the riots and I look now and wonder how did we get here today?
Those that look only at the looting and violence “do not get it”. People are frustrated and are not being heard. Peaceful protest was tried by taking a knee during the national anthem – but those people were ridiculed and not listened to. So here we are – is anyone listening now? Warning personal opinion coming – There has been a spark of hate ignited in this country and I believe it is fueled by our nation’s leader and his twitter account, his speeches and the lack of trust he inspires in many of us.
That is not the kind of inspiration we need right now.
We need someone like JFK who can inspire us with his speeches.
We need someone like MLK Jr. who can point to injustice and address it peacefully.
We need someone like Abraham who knew that slavery was dividing our country and fought to protect the whole Union with freedom for all.
That is why this song inspires me to look beyond these turbulent times and hope for the future that someone, anyone will stand up and INSPIRE this nation!
Confession, I recently purchased a new car with all the bells and whistles and it came with SiriumXM and I have been glued to the 70’s on 7 channel! I guess it brings me back to a time in my life that was fun and carefree.
Yesterday I heard this song by Three Dog Night “Black and White”. I have heard and sang along with this song so many times over the years, but I never really knew what it was about. You can read the specifics on Wikipedia but it was written in the 1950’s and referenced the Supreme Court Decision Brown vs. the Board of Education. If you are not familiar with this landmark case look it up, also look up information about the Central High School Crisis in Little Rock. All of it fascinating, some of it disgraceful but part of our history and every American should know about it.
I spent many years teaching in Little Rock and felt the remnants of the 1950’s crisis even 40 years later. And as I write this, America is again struggling with the topic of racism and I wonder when will we learn from our past?
In one way we are only 4 generations away from this landmark case, but in another way shouldn’t we be light years away from the archaic thinking about race? I will choose to not make this blog about racism but I will urge you to listen to the song, and take a look around as you shop, work and live in your community. We have come a long way, but we have a LONG way to go.
“Black & White”
The ink is black, the page is white
Together we learn to read and write
A child is black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight
And now a child can understand
That this is the law of all the land
All the land
The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light
And now, at last, we plainly see
We’ll have a dance of liberty
Liberty
The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight
The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light
The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight
The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light
C’mon
Get it
Get it
Ohh-ohhhh yeah
Yeah
Keep it up now, around the world
Little boys and little girls
Yeah
Yeah-eah, oh-ohhh
The original lyrics of the song opened with this verse, in reference to the court:
Their robes were black, their heads were white,
The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight,
Nine judges all set down their names,
To end the years and years of shame.
However, the version of the song recorded by Greyhound, and subsequently covered by Three Dog Night, did not include this verse – making the song more universal, but also less historically specific.
MJmusiclady 