Jon Stewart Talks Political Accountability, Systemic Racism, His Movie ‘Irresistible’ + More

And there it is.

No one takes a sip of your suffering, but when it's to toast their victory, everyone wants to have a full glass."

björk : isobel (HD)

Note to Self

Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.

Louise L. Hay

An Eye For An Eye

Being thoughtful hasn't gotten me any damn where.

I'm going to start treating people the exact same way they treat me. This may disappoint more than it will please.

Mo Kolours - In Her Eyes (Funk Heart)

Quote

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

First they came for the socialists,

Martin Niemöller was born in the Westphalian town of Lippstadt, Germany, on January 14, 1892. In 1910 he became a cadet in the Imperial German Navy. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Niemöller was assigned to a U-Boat, of which he was eventually appointed the commander. Under the stipulations of the armistice of November 11, 1918, that ended hostilities in World War I, Niemöller and other commanders were ordered to turn over their U-Boats to England. Along with many others, Niemöller refused to obey this order, and was, as a consequence, discharged from the Navy.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

Pastor Martin Niemöller at his desk in his home. Berlin, Germany, ca. 1936.

• US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Sibylle Niemoeller

In 1920, he decided to follow the path of his father and began seminary training at the University of Münster.

Niemöller enthusiastically welcomed the Third Reich. But a turning point in Niemöller's political sympathies came with a January 1934 meeting of Adolf Hitler, Niemöller, and two prominent Protestant bishops to discuss state pressures on churches. At the meeting it became clear that Niemöller's phone had been tapped by the Gestapo (German Secret State Police). It was also clear that the Pastors Emergency League (PEL), which Niemöller had helped found, was under close state surveillance. Following the meeting, Niemöller would come to see the Nazi state as a dictatorship, one which he would oppose.

The Quotation
Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation :

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Museum visitors in front of the Martin Niemöller quotation

Visitors stand in front of the quotation from Martin Niemöller that is on display in the Permanent Exhibition of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Niemöller was a Lutheran minister and early Nazi supporter who was later imprisoned for opposing Hitler's regime.

• US Holocaust Memorial Museum

I saw this article, and I was reminded of those who messaged me in the wake of  George Floyd's death, to check in on me to see if I was okay; most of whom I had hardly connected with socially except for the occasional Facebook post. I've had to add Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Skype apps to communicate with my high school, college  and other friends and their families who insisted I have those apps to visually connect with them. I was really touched.