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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Related quotes
As a civil rights leader, Mrs. King's vision of racial peace and nonviolent social change was a fortifying staple in advancing the civil rights movement.
quote by James T. Walsh
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The E.U. is more than just a trade organization or a common market; it is a guarantee of democracy, freedom, justice, and human rights. Nations cannot stay in the E.U. if they do not respect these guarantees.
quote by John Bruton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments ar
quote by Thomas Jefferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Freedom Rises
Freedom rises
Without accords
From our John Hancock’s
Freedom roars
Spread the news
From shore to shore
In an instance
Freedom pours
From words until
All men are created equal
Endowed with inalienable rights
To life liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness
Now floods the barren shores
poem by Brian Kilpatrick
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I’d like to see our politics begin to return to the purposes and practices that distinguish our history from the history of other nations. I would like to see us recover our sense that we are more alike than different. We are citizens of a republic made of shared ideals forged in a new world to replace the tribal enmities that tormented the old one. Even in times of political turmoil such as these, we share that awesome heritage and the responsibility to embrace it. Whether we think each other right or wrong in our views on the issues of the day, we owe each other our respect, as long as our character merits respect, and as long as we share, for all our differences, for all the rancorous debates that enliven and sometimes demean our politics, a mutual devotion to the ideals our nation was conceived to uphold, that all are created equal, and liberty and equal justice are the natural rights of all. Those rights inhabit the human heart, and from there, though they may be assailed, they can never be wrenched. I want to urge Americans, for as long as I can, to remember that this shared devotion to human rights is our truest heritage and our most important loyalty.
quote by John McCain
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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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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This Struggling Earth
If there is a creator, he’s a very sad sack
As he sees what is happening and then looks back
To notice history is again repeating.
Instead of his plan of peace and love for each other,
The religions are competing!
The holy land that once was is now nothing but dirt
Where hatred is rampant and people are hurt.
Christians, Jews and Arabs all lay claim
To common sand loaned by their creator since they were once the same.
But books written by men profess to be God,
Proclaiming rights not right on their common sod.
Hunger for power and wealth sadly determine worth.
The creator’s peace and love are farther away than ever on this struggling earth.
poem by Gregory Huyette
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Democracy is the common pursuit of mankind, and all countries must earnestly protect the democratic rights of the people.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
quote by Thomas Jefferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Symbol For Peace, Freedom And Justice
To want freedom and justice for his people was Mandela's only crime
And his freedom taken from him and in jail he spent his prime
But the first democratically elected President of South Africa not one to hold a grudge
His former oppressors he's forgiven he does not condemn or judge.
The now ex President of South Africa is a legend in his time
His potrait painted by famous artists and he's inspired the bards to rhyme
His fame has spread around the World far distant from his Country's shore
And the name of Nelson Mandela destined to live forever more.
He was wrongfully imprisoned yet a grudge he does not hold
And his life well documented and his story often told
In his old age quite a hero and so many he inspire
And a fellow like Mandela is so easy to admire
One of the few inspirational figures in the history of human
kind
And his equals are not many people like him hard to find
A symbol for peace, freedom and justice he is one who can forgive
And the name of Nelson Mandela forever is destined to live.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Today, we stand as a united country and are much closer to the ideals set forth in our Constitution that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Dont You Think It's Time?
children have rights,
women have rights.
lovers have rights.
people of all religions,
and even atheists have rights.
people of all colors,
speaking every language have rights.
trees and rivers have rights.
cats and dogs have rights.
cattle have rights,
homeless people have rights.
prisoners have rights.
democrats and republicans have rights,
even socialists have rights.
the jobless have rights,
old people have rights...
and the hungry have
the right to be fed!
damnit! dont you think it's time?
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Darwin and Lincoln - an ovation
Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln
Are, this year, two hundred years old.
Darwin’s theory shocked the religions.
Lincoln’s democracy shook the nations.
Darwin and Lincoln have made their enemies,
Who survive them to keep them alive.
Darwin and Lincoln made their theories,
Which survive them to keep them alive.
Darwin liberated us from ignorance
Let the vested interests die with age
Lincoln abolished slavery by law.
Let the spirit of tolerance rise to match.
11.02.2009
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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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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Equal Rights,2011
equal rights to live,
equal rights to love.
equal rights to believe,
to speak out, to stand up
and be counted.
equal rights to work,
equal rights to study.
equal rights to build.
equal rights to profess faith,
equal rights to pray.
equal rights to give...
equal rights to live,
equal rights to love!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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You Are In My Vision
Fade to screens of violence
Like a tv screen but silent
Where the victims are all paid by the hour
Staring at the ceiling
That she gyrates all around me
I am trying to forget shes done this all before
Far too many people
For a quiet night with myself
Oh I could be anyone tonight
Focus on a feeling
Ive detected while Im sleeping
Sing a chorus of on broadway and deny it all
You are in my vision
I cant turn my face
You are in my vision
I cant move my eyes
You are in my vision
I cant move at all
You are in my vision
Delicate bodies
That decay beneath their clothing
Play cards in an empty house in paris
The wreckage of a hero
Lies broken in a corner
And everyone pretends they like to live that way
You are in my vision
I cant turn my face
You are in my vision
I cant move my eyes
You are in my vision
I cant move at all
You are in my vision
song performed by by Gary Numan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
quote by Thomas Jefferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson was the first great negro singer
Though through his life he knew his share of woe
In his Homeland he was treated as an outcast
But in death his legend seem to grow and grow.
Paul Robeson spoke of freedom peace and justice
And he campaigned for the black Peoples rights
But for his beliefs he was made to suffer
In a country that is governed by whites.
For his membership of the communist party
Paul Robeson an unfair price had to pay
His passport from him it was confiscated
By the authorities in the U.S.A.
Even shunned by some influential blacks in his home Country
And his basic human rights to him denied
But in Russia he was feted as a hero
And Paul Robeson he was revered far and wide.
For freedom, human rights and peace and justice
Paul Robeson so much of himself he gave
And the way he had been treated in his Homeland
Must have had Abe Lincoln turning in his grave
Paul Robeson he will always be remembered
As one of the few who sacrificed their fame
In the cause of human rights and peace and justice
And his lives on as an immortal name.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Shouldn't We Be More Republic?
Why is the fight...
For democracy
A vision to be enforced by republicans,
Who have long divorced themselves
From the needs of common people?
They are not democrats at all!
But yet they do not hesitate or stall...
To label them librals!
This they will not confess...
Even complex them in distress!
Shouldn't we all be 'republicans'?
Fighting these endless battles?
Shouldn't we all be 'republicates'
With these issues to harnest and saddle?
'I pledge alligence to the...
...and to the 'republic' for which it stands,
One nation under God,
Seems to have slipped from sliding hands! '
There is something very republic about it...
That markets a democracy it misunderstands!
Democratic they may be...
For poster displays plastered in inner cities!
But 'republicans' true they say they are...
And democracy is pursued!
But none is used by far!
For purpose and content...
Their views aren't worth the trash in cans!
If it is true they move as republicans...
Why is democracy costing lives,
By actions 'republicans' command?
'Repeat that pledge again!
This time in its entirety.'
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The New Inner-City Slave Plantation
The now-a-day slave or labor force
The ruling-class determines the course
The political master’s pastor contorts
Politics and policy aborts
The new inner city slave-plantation
Human and civil rights violation with extreme taxation
Work like a blind jackass
Support and finance the ruling class
Being bi-partisan-just a mask
Cultured career criminals civilizing crass
The new inner city slave-plantation
Human and civil rights violation with extreme taxation
The political engineers of The Greater Good own
The inner city war-zone
The psychotropic drug sets the tone
Slavery as the new world order is the throne
The new inner city slave-plantation
Human and civil rights violation with extreme taxation
Multi-tasking a labor saving device
Freedom of movement has no right
Monopolized government enslaved all might
The inner city slave- plantation private and prime
Real estate blight
The new inner city slave-plantation
Human and civil rights violation with extreme taxation
The thirteenth amendment of the constitution
On the inner city slave-plantation no social, no economical,
No educational, no political absolution
On the inner city slave-plantation, indentured servants,
Chattel slaves, still considered Black Gold
By the God Fearing slave codes used to control
The new inner city slave-plantation
Human and civil rights violation with extreme taxation
On the new inner city slave-plantation
The American Flag can not wave
Even Democracy is revered as a Black Slave
poem by Josephine DixonBanks
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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