Civil Rights Movement Snapshots: Tribute to Cong. Hero John Lewis, Time Capsules, Faces, Freedom Rides, Freedom March, Sitting-ins, and Freedom Songs

"Singing sustains and energizes us through danger and fear. Through long days and longer nights; through cold, hard winters; and hot, fierce summers, "freedom songs" nurture us, protect us, and keep us sane. They are the expression of our ideology, and the songs we sing together are the pledge of trust and committment that we make to each other."

Black History Month: Haitian Poetry For Hard Times

Soot and Blood
by Joseph J. Charles
2010

Walking among the dead and the living is not normal

But that is the new life after this vast devastation

Dead bodies litter the streets of Carrefour, Grand Rue

Cite Soleil, Champs de Mars, Nazon, Bourdon and Delmas

The earth shakes and cracks. Homes collapse in the streets

With bare hands, parents are digging their children out of the rubbles

Kids are digging their parents out of this large-scale chaos

Crying and yelling and mourning amidst the dust of the city

The cathedral and the National Palace are in ruins

The streets are filled with traffic. Life is lived in the streets

We sleep and eat on the streets. We hope and cry. We become dazed

A cloud of dust fills the sky. What we knew is no more everywhere we look

people covered in soot and blood and with broken limbs wander

through the street, cry for help

Wails come from beneath huge piles of concrete mixed with steel bars.

They become prisoners, trapped in their own homes which also become tombs for many

Yet, the ingredients for success and a new beginning lie there in


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Poem is based on the 7.0 quake that hit Haiti. Read more about it here

Egyptians Now Know Joy and Jubilation Nelson Mandela and South Africans Experienced After Apartheid

Dance! The people of Egypt are dancing all throughout the night. They are waving their flag with pride. They are happy to be Egyptians again. Hosni Mubarak has fled. Nelson Mandela is happy that he showed the world how to fight and use non-violent means to foster change in an unjust society!

Revolutions happen when the lowest groups rise and change things at the top. Countries such as Haiti, France, Russia, Egypt, and Tunisia and many others have known and gone through real revolutions.

The Egyptian revolution is largely facilitated by the emerging power of Social networks which allow many groups of people to meet up and organize themselves. Wael Ghonim, a Google Executive on leave, has known and witnessed the power of the Social networks. Imprisoned and released, he came back to energize the crows massed at Tahir Square. Twitter, Skype, Facebook, and Google allowed communications when the Eyptian government ended Internet connections.