Our Present:
Chapter 10: Strive to Thrive
Proclaim, protect, prosper, as we secure just care for all.
We will lift our voices, share our stories, ayudarse unos a otros, and heal
The results:
Say what, I must leave my, ‘We?’
I do not want to leave my, ‘We.’
Want to stay, here, with my, ‘We.’
After so much, together?
I cried at the beginning,
upon the undesired disunion
from my human.
We have a right to protest for what is right.
That’s all we can do. There are people hurting,
there are people suffering, so we have an
obligation, a mandate, to do something.
–John Lewis. 1940-2020.
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.
–John F. Kennedy. 1925-1968. (A)
Now, with my spirit-sake?
It was like all the flood gates
all cracked open,
all at once,
for both
of us.
They asked me to translate
‘n share their nine signs–
–Nine, I count eight–
–You see, not ready for this mission–
–to guide us through our turbulent times.
Be the change you want to see.
–Mahatma Gandhi. 1969-1948. (A)
If you love someone, set them free.
If they come back, they’re yours;
if they don’t, they never were.
–Richard Bach. Born 1936.
Yet, the one who first approached me,
was the last one to let go of me.
I was quick to crush n Tukayo, hard,
and soon suffered unrelenting love.
Reflexively, we could not let go.
Gift Eight:
My fate.
(With just one minor adjustment.)
We are the Human Race
We may be distinguished
by four tribes, but,
We are one people.
We must heal our nation,
We must restore our environment,
We must relent to those whom we have harmed.
We are all implicated when we allow other
people to be mistreated. An absence of
compassion can corrupt the decency of a
community, a state, a nation.
–Byran Stevenson. Born 1959.
Your vocation can be found where
your greatest joy meets the world’s
greatest need.
–Frederick Buechner. 1926-2022.
Allow our darkest moments
to cultivate the courage
to share ‘n shed our pain,
to resolve our guilt,
to protect ourselves ‘n others;
to overrule injustice.
Advocate. Care. Teach.
ACT with strength
to heal,
to mend,
to love.
ACT through ART.
Discover it within,
Spread it without.
Advocate, Care. Teach.
Act with strength
to heal,
to mend,
to love.
ACT through ART.
Discover it within,
Spread it without.
Our personal, political and social actions
form our annual rings of life and loss.
Robust and polluted years mark our growth,
our history of our perseverance ‘n love.
To me, Faith is not just a noun but also a verb.
–President Jimmy Carter. Born 1924.
Learn character from trees, values from roots,
change from leaves.
–Tasneern Harneed
I declare the world is so beautiful that I can
hardly beleive it exists.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson. 1803-1882.
As with our trees,
Vital sapwood supported by pillars of heartwood
What grows below equals what grows above.
Our forest and its canopy of equity expands.
Seasons, years, decades, centuries yield
An evoiving perception ‘n practice,
a unifying, reaching system of roots, trunks,
branches and leaves.
an ecological, reinforcing, just biosphere
that informs, nourishes, protect and preserves
our democracy, until it includes ‘n serves all,
equally ‘n timely.
As our hard work to honor truth,
fairness ‘n compassion
heals us,
pride in our works
yields joy.
Ask not what your country can do for you but
what you can do for your country.
–John F. Kennedy. 1917-1963. (A)
By acting compassionately, by helping to
restore justice and to encourage peace,
we acknowledge that
we are all part of one another.
–Ram Dass. Born 1931.
Let our pain remind us of what we survived.
Let pain remind us of the need to believe
in ‘n uphold our sacred ‘n social values.
But do not allow pain to eclipse us.
Honor but shed our losses
as we expand outward toward a world
of infinite possibilities, peace ‘n prosperity.
We must stop the sacrilegious
vandalism of the Creator’s
abundant, beautiful, colorful, diverse, exquisite
creativity–concurrently and equally manifest
in our living landscapes,
in our evolving abilities, cultures, peoples,
in our politics, races, sexes, thoughts and faiths.
Endure because social justice,
the health of the human race,
and the preservation of our beautiful world,
depends upon you.
We are here to stay.
–From the Squad of Mosaic America,
U.S. Congress Women
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, born 1989;
Ilhan Omar, born 1982;
Ayanna Pressley, born 1974;
Rashida Tlaib, born 1976.
So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,
then they seem improbable, and then when we
summon the will, they soon become inevitable …
A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the
strength to persevere and endure in spite of the
overwhelming obstacles.
–Christopher Reeve. 1952-2004.
Tukayo cupped my hands to collect our tears.
On its surface, I saw my human’s face
and remebered my name.
I was made anew
with the strength necessary
for my fate ‘n my name:
I am Slanu!
We are each an integral piece
of the intricate mosaic,
the creation of life
and social solution.
Strive to Thrive through the
Collective Civic Service and Engagement,
In these days of difficulty, we Americans
everywhere must and shall choose the path of
social justice …, the path of faith,
the path of hope, and the path of love
toward our fellow man.
–Franklin D. Roosevelt. 1882-1945.
If you are brave enough to say goodbye,
life will reward you with a new hello.
–Paulo Coelho. Born 1947.
CCSE just may be the biggest meet-up, ever.
(One last poke to go.)
Their eyes reduced to tiny spots of light
as they receded far, far away.
Suddenly, they were gone
–Even the special pair
disappeared.
