Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a time to honor the greatest champion of racial equality who taught a nation - through compassion and courage - about democracy, nonviolence and racial justice.
quote by Mark Pryor
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Martin Luther King, Jr. didn't carry just a piece of cloth to symbolize his belief in racial equality; he carried the American flag.
quote by Adrian Cronauer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Aung San Suu Kyi
Your name means Liberty
Freedom and Equality
Just like Mandela, Gandhi
And Martin Luther King
Your name means Sacrifice
Hope and Respect for human dignity
You are the last hope for all Burmese
Your dedication is fit for a King.
The democratic world supports you
And loves you
You are the Queen of perseverance
You are fearless in front of malfeasance
Barbarism, brutality and ignorance
Dictatorship always fails
It is a matter of time
Patience always prevails
It is a matter of time.
The enemy is scared
The junta is afraid
Words can defeat bullets
Common sense always defeats bad shots
This is a decent way to phrase it
Bullies are brutal
Because they are immoral
And anti-democratic
Be strong and energetic.
Your name means Democracy
Justice for all and Courage
The lion's rage
Will fade away soon
Don't change your tune
You are like Mandela, Gandhi
And Martin Luther Junior
This is an encore
Keep at it, keep at it
Stay strong, stay fit.
poem by Hebert Logerie
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Impacted Our Lives- Rosa Lee Parks
Why was it that so many people had to hate because of different race? Well it is something that might have been seen in the past but still is true,
Not only is it is wrong, but it is a disgrace,
So many of them were left with scars and bruises that were black and blue.
A lot of this started with this poor old lady did on want to give up her seat on the bus.
All she said, "Please let me sit here because I had a hard and tiring work day" Yes, it was not right for so many to look at her and make such of a fuss.
Well this lead a man named Martin Luther King Jr. to lead a Bus Boycott her way This poor and tired woman's name was Rosa Lee Parks And she is now known for help making racial equality strides
That today we are just now seeing how this light in her is bring our nation out of the dark
And today it still shows how she impacted our lives
By Frank Pulver
poem by Frank Pulver
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Long Live Apartheid
I was feeling sad and red,
I didn’t know, which way, nation was going.
There were quotas all around,
Communal, caste, gender, language, regional and physical,
And what not, do not know.
Quota in the air, quota in the sky,
Quota in the ground,
Quotas everywhere.
We are here as in a caste republic,
Swept with the farce of equality and secularism,
Where racism is the grating roar,
Bring the eternal note of discrimination.
Alas! There was no peace,
No help for needy poor, dying farmers,
Braving soldiers and wailing widows,
Where racial leaders loot day, in and day out.
Looking high and low, reservation every where,
Merit was trampled underneath the boots,
It was wailing in the brutal world,
Humanity and merit was burning.
It was not a wild fire,
It was the fire of innocence,
Youth, merit and justice,
And knaves were counting their votes.
They were not the brokers of social justice,
They were not the paid ponies of secularism,
But it was the truth burning for justice,
It was the merit crying for honor.
The knaves were dancing on their pyre,
Waiting for another pray, to be burnt alive,
They were cruel masters and have no pain,
Butchers were shining the dagger to stab merit.
They died for justice, vultures live for injustice,
They died for merit, they live for destruction,
They died for truth, they live for farce,
They died for the nation, they live for decay.
Remember it was not a simple fire,
The hot blaze will burn the knaves,
One day the butchers will get the message,
Or else, as in the past, nation will be devoured by slavery,
Ah God we shall be true to our nation,
Long live constitution of India,
Long live our racial leaders,
Long live apartheid’
From:
DR. Yogesh SHARMA
poem by Dr. Yogesh Sharma
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.
quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.
quote by Eric Holder
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Violence
everyday i get sick
everyday people are sad
some people get worst at day's end
people who use violence
people who are useing racial terms there is currently a racial fight at my school
it needs to stop it has to stop
there is no need, if people dont want racial fights or any racial shit going on then stop
people messing up
if this is what the world has become today imagine what the world is going to be like another day
if there is love in this world i wanna find it
poem by Greg Dills
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Should we understand the last 25 years of global integration as nothing more than a detour from the previous inevitable cycle of history — where might makes right, and politics is a hostile competition between tribes and races and religions, and nations compete in a zero-sum game, constantly teetering on the edge of conflict until full-blown war breaks out? Is that what we think? Let me tell you what I believe. I believe in Nelson Mandela’s vision. I believe in a vision shared by Gandhi and King and Abraham Lincoln. I believe in a vision of equality and justice and freedom and multi-racial democracy, built on the premise that all people are created equal, and they’re endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. And I believe that a world governed by such principles is possible and that it can achieve more peace and more cooperation in pursuit of a common good. That’s what I believe. And I believe we have no choice but to move forward; that those of us who believe in democracy and civil rights and a common humanity have a better story to tell.
quote by Barack Obama
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Obama! Obama!
From Bungoma to Oklahoma
It's Obama! Obama! Our Barack Obama.
Lips and tongues ululate your name, and
Your ideology is a hot topic within the intelligentsia.
Are you the real reincarnation
Of Martin Luther and his King-size dream.
In broad daylight, Luther dreamt of no color or race.
Can you dare to dream of a paradise of all faces.
Are you, by all means necessary,
Like Malcolm with his big X on racism,
Striving and struggling for racial harmony?
Can you harmonize between the haves and the haves not?
Obama! Obama! Our Barack Obama
Before they scare you with Bin Laden Osama
Please turn into a bridge between races
And become a cauldron of peace in the Middle East.
[2008 Kajaani]
poem by Lauwo George
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shore, the scar of our racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it. Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations.
quote by John F. Kennedy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Nicky Winmar
A champion footballer
his lasting legacy
was his stand
against the onslaught
of racial abuse
from spectators
the great aboriginal hero
pulled up his St.Kilda jumper
proudly pointing to his skin
and stopped the nation.
poem by Vince Gullaci
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Black Messiah
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So dont shoot me for saying mine
Everybody talking about racial equality
cos everybodys equal in the good lords eyes
But if I told you that God was black
What would you think of that
I bet you wouldnt believe it
Theres a self made prophet living right next to me
He said the black messiahs gonna come and set the whole world free
He looked at me with his evil eye and prophesied
And he really believed it
He said a black messiah is gonna set the world on fire
And hes no liar, cos he has truly heard the word
Everybody talking about racial equality
But Im the only honky living on an all black street
They knock me down cos they brown and I white
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So dont shoot me for saying mine
Everyobody talking about racial equality
You hear everybody talking about equal rights
But whites white, blacks black and thats that
And thats the way you should leave it
Dont want no black messiah to come and set the world on fire
A black messiah is gonna come and rule the world
Everybody got to show a little give and take
Everybody got to live with a little less hate
Everybody gotta work it out, we gotta sort it out
Everbody got the right to speak their mind
So dont shoot me for saying mine
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The music field was the first to break down racial barriers, because in order to play together, you have to love the people you are playing with, and if you have any racial inhibitions, you wouldn't be able to do that.
quote by Oscar Peterson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.
quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I still think people do have racial hang-ups, but I think one of the reasons I can joke about it is people are shedding those racial hatreds.
quote by Dave Chappelle
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Still We Rise
The White House Is Still White, Hmm! , really, must be a figment or someones migration working on their concentration, collaboration of devastation trying to be an infiltrator of motivation.
Why has racial discrimination become so tenement in the white house?
A man and the people behind him made a dream reality, Martin Luther King Jr said it better one day and that day, when President Obama moved into the white house.
The white house is still white so why fight people there are enough wars going on around the world, let President Obama do his job, he cannot appease all he has to regulate one thing at a time.
Written by James Brown
poem by James Brown
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A Tribute Fits for a Great King
Bring the drums, the flute and the trombone.
Bring the clarinet, the guitars and the saxophone,
So we can honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Junior,
Who was the King of the Civil Rights Movement. No one can ignore
His sacrifices for mankind and his dedications
To world’s peace and justice. His contributions
To our world are enormous. Dr. King is still a beacon of hope,
A man who did not believe in giving up. He was the Pope
Who espoused humanity, decency and love for all.
He was not a tall man, however, he dreamt BIG not small.
Dr. King was a giant in every meaning of the word.
He was not a violent man, but his tongue was a powerful sword,
Who pierced the rhinoceros skin of racism and injustice.
Today, I feel blessed to write about this man of peace and justice,
This gentleman of tolerance and love, and this brother,
Who never ceased to inspire me, especially in my darkest hours.
Bring the children, the elders and the crippled to honor
The King of hope and perseverance. Bring the flowers of all colors,
To celebrate his insurmountable tasks and great accomplishments.
Come to shower such an icon with endearing compliments.
Bring the drums, the tuba and the trombone.
Bring the clarinet, the banjos and the saxophone,
So we can honor the King and his disciples,
Who challenged the status quo, and who won with flying colors.
Let’s have a ticker-tape parade; come and read the articles
Of the struggle. Bring the confetti, bring the flowers
To thank all brave men and women who marched peacefully
At his side. Dr. King’s legacy will live eternally,
And his dream of equality will never die.
Ring the bells. Let’s sing, let’s chant and cry
Out loud to wish Our Brother a HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
And let’s continue to hope and to pray for a better day.
poem by Hebert Logerie
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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CORY AQUINO, Mother of Philippine Democracy
CORY AQUINO, Mother of Philippine Democracy
melvin banggoollay
C-orazon C. Aquino, popularly known as Tita Cory
A symbol of truth and fearless love of country
that with her charm, she inspired the country
to fight for freedom, to restore our lost democracy.
O-n her desire to fight for justice for her Ninoy
She offered herself to be of service to every pinoy
with an antarnish honor, dignity and unselfish ploy
of serving with prudence, truth, justice full of joy..
R-ighteous was her ways with virtues of prayer
She had exemplified with undying faith forever
To the Living God she adored with faithful prayers
and untarnished service to the Filipinos as a mother.
Y-es, she is the mother of Philippine Democracy
That even upon her death, she inspired the country
to continue fighting for real justice and sovereignty
A legacy she nurtured with undying love of country.
A woman of great virtues so worthy for emulation
Blessed yet she remained simple in all occasion,
In all her ways while serving and healing this nation
from all the pains and evils of every administration.
Q-ueen of the Filipinos truly worth dying for
For she loved this nation will all faith and honor
and with unwavering love to serve with valor,
and justice upholding truth and equality for all,
U-nited this nation for a just and noble call
for the name of justice and fairness for all
that even this may cause her death or downfall
She never hesitated to stand for the Filipinos call.
I-ntegrity of this President is beyond compare
for it was sheltered with faith to serve so clear
as she always acted with prudence only to fulfill
her duties to the Filipinos even times may go uphill.
N-o one could ever be like thee in this nation's history
For you will forever be remembered by all humanity
As a mother of the Filipinos who died for democracy
As a leader with undying love for this nation's sovereignty.
O-n this day, we hail your name with all honor and glory
as we fervently pray for your eternal rest with Ninoy's company
along with the saints, angels and the Holy Mother Mary
As you will be blessed by God you have served so faitfully.
poem by Melvin Banggollay
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.
quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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