The urgency of the moment

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

 

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Fifty years ago today these words were spoken by a great man. A man who was willing to stand up for what he believed in, someone who was willing to fight for what he knew to be right in his heart and in his soul. The true greatness of this man was not in his words, or even in his actions, no, the true greatness was in the perceived lack of action. He fought not with bat or bullet. Nor with fist, or fire. He fought with a mirror, a mirror that he used to reflect the images of hate and inequality back to others in a way that stripped down all the stereotypes and fears. His use of passive non violence showed himself and his followers not as a group of attackers trying to rob others of what they already had, but as victims, who were just trying to claim what was rightfully theirs. He was able to strip away the fear and the hatred that so many wore around them like armor, he showed them that there was far more that made them similar then there would ever be that made them different. Without this fear America was able to take a step towards fulfilling our creed. We took a step that day, but sadly fifty years later there are still more steps we need to take.

 

We have taken strides towards equality but we as a society have become complacent. A cloak of apathy now surrounds us. We care more about who is playing a superhero, or what a former child star did on stage then we do about the inequality we see around us. Far too often we say things are "good enough" we look at others who are still fighting for the cause as opportunists who are trying to make up stories for their own benefit and profit. We look at the President and say "See! He is African American, that proves that racism is dead." without taking the time to really look to see if racism is truly dead.

 

Racism isn't dead so long as African American's are given less opportunities for promotions and raises at jobs. Racism isn't dead so long as minorities are stopped and searched by police, followed and shot by strangers because they "looked suspicious". Racism isn't dead as long as people are adamant about building a giant fence across Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants. Racism isn't dead, we just need to acknowledge it when we see it. Stop sweeping it under the rug. Don't let others get away with it, call people on it. Hold up the mirror and show them how truly ugly these thoughts and  actions are. Strip away the fear and hate, and help them take a step towards equality. 

 

All men are created equal... An incredible thought and a worthy goal. A world with equals, that is a world I want to live in. A world where people aren't afraid to be different. A world where people don't have to hide who they are, or who they love. A world where people don't consider suicide as a better alternative then living as a gay man or woman. A world where finding out that someone feels like they were born the wrong sex is met with understanding and kindness and not met with scorn and jokes at their expense on the internet. A world of tolerance... What a world that would be.

 

I think we have come a long way in fifty years, we have done more in the pursuit of equality after this speech  then in the 187 years of our nations history before it. I am not here to bash America, or to diminish what we have achieved but I have come to shine a mirror. To reflect back to others the view of those that are still fighting for what was promised to them at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I know my words will never reach as many as Dr. King's and I am ok with that. I don't have to touch millions, I just have to touch one. If one person takes a second look at the world around them, I have achieved my goal, if one person struggling to find acceptance reads my words and is given new strength knowing that others fight for them, I will have achieved my goal. I seek to shake off the cloak of apathy, to focus on the urgency of the moment, for that is all we truly have, one moment, the here and the now. We can learn from the past but can't change it. We plan for the future but can't predict it. We have one moment to change the world. One chance to create a world of Hope. That is the world I want to live in. That is the world I will work for in every moment I have left. I might never see this world, but I will make sure that my children will live in a world that is at least a little closer to the world I see each night in my dreams.

 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

 

 

Troy Mangum



=

When the Sun rises,

It rises for Everyone.

 

= This is what I have fought for, this is what I will continue to fight for. The right to be equal. The right to be who you are. The right to not be bullied, or attacked. The right to not be afraid.

 

Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, labeling it unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment which guarantees citizens protection from being deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process. Liberty... that which we fought so hard to gain at our nation's birth still eludes some of us today, but thankfully we took a step forward yesterday. The Supreme Court ruled that we cannot discriminate against a group of citizens without giving them their due process, and in so doing opened up the door to marriage for Gays and Lesbians all over this great nation.

= We are not there yet, I know that, but for the first time I can honestly say it will happen in my lifetime, and for that I rejoice. I have championed the cause of Gay rights my entire adult life, not because I knew people who were Gay or Lesbian, but because I knew what was right. This fight hasn't been an easy one, I have been called names by intolerant people, I have lost friends who couldn't look beyond themselves long enough to see the suffering in others. I am often asked why I fight so passionately for rights that do not affect me. For as a straight white man why would I care about Gay rights? Or minority rights? Or women's rights? Why fight if I already have the rights what benefit do I gain? My reply is simple, I do benefit. I benefit in a world where I won't have to explain to my children why some people are treated differently because they love someone. I benefit in a world free of intolerance and bigotry. I benefit in a world where children don't commit suicide because they are different. I benefit, and so does the world as a whole.

To those out there who read this and disagree with my views or disagree with the ruling by the Supreme Court I ask one simple question... Why? Why are you opposed to allowing others the right to show their love through marriage? How does that affect you at all? I have been married for almost four years, and my marriage is just as strong today as it was last week. This ruling didn't change anything for me, it didn't decrease the importance of my marriage or what makes it special. All this ruling did was pave the way for some of my friends and family to share in the joy of marriage no matter who they fall in love with. To you who still disagree I simply say this: Spend more time being with the people that you love, and spend less time worrying about who everyone else loves. Do this and we will all take a step closer to being =

Troy Mangum

 

Father's Day

I think being a good father is the best compliment you could give to any man—and not just those who are in the process of raising kids. There are all kinds of different versions of family and fatherhood, and the love, patience and kindness that merit a good dad should be celebrated in all its different forms. Some of us are fathers to plants and animals that need us. Some of us are working with kids who have never had a chance at a life before. Some of us are watching members of our adopted families grow up, and some are just watching out for the babies that are one step away from toppling off a chair.

Whatever kind of father you are, whether you're following your own dad's example or trying to be a better man than he was, thank you. Happy Father's Day.

-Amanda

Clouds

"I want everyone to know:

You don't have to find out you're dying

to start living."

~Zach Sobiech

Today the world is a little worse off, for today Zach passed away. For those who don't know Zack was 14 when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer he spent years having treatments and surgeries trying to prolong the inevitable, but last May at the age of 17 doctors told him there were no more effective treatments left. It is how he dealt with that news that has inspired me.

 "You know most people live kind of in the middle, in between 'all your dreams come true' and 'you're dying,' and it's a very comfortable place to live. I'm living on the two extreme ends, so you have really, really good days and you have really, really bad days." Those were the words of a 17 year old who knew his days were numbered, and yet chose to make sure that he crammed as much happiness as he could into each moment that he was allowed to be here. He turned to music as a way to live on after his death, he wrote the song "Clouds" as a way to say goodbye, if you haven't seen it yet do yourself a favor and go watch it his words are much more powerful than mine.

He chose to be happy despite the tragic events of his life. How many of us would have done the same? How many of us would have instead cursed God, or fate, or luck? How many of us would have stayed in that dark and lonely hole that Zach found himself in at the beginning of his last journey? Zach was able to climb up, up, up, he somehow found his way through all the pain, and the tears and found his way to the clouds. He found his way but he didn't do it alone. He had help, friends, family, complete strangers on the internet helped him on this journey. So tonight as I sit here and feel the loss of a man I never met, I will let his spirit know that I am a better person because he was on this earth. To those who find themselves in that dark and lonely hole I ask that you let me know. I will bring the rope and help you climb up.

You don't have to find out you're dying to start living... Thank you Zach.

Troy

Love thy enemy

"The practice of forgiveness is our most important

contribution to the healing of the world"

~Marianne Williamson

 

Today's post may be controversial to some, but I felt it was a risk I was willing to take, for this story truly moved me.

 

Paul Douglas Keane is my newest hero. A 68 year old retired school teacher who I have never met has restored my faith in humanity in a time when I desperately needed it. This man has come forward and offered to donate one of his burial plots to the family of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev. For three weeks the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev has yet to be buried, as Worchester funeral director Peter Stefan has been unsuccessfully searching for a cemetery that will accept the body. Paul Keane has no connection to the Tsarnaev family, in fact two of his friends were standing within 50 feet from the bomb when it went off. He is not trying to minimize the horror and grief of the victims of the terrorist attack, he simply feels that Christianity should put its money where its mouth is. Paul Keane has stepped up and offered his plot with one condition, that he does it in the memory of his mother who taught Sunday school for forty years and taught him to love thine enemy. "Love thy enemy. That's what my mother would have done and that's what I'm doing," Keane said. "Christianity is supposed to be the religion of forgiveness. Well, lets start here."

 

Love thy enemy... what a concept. What a way to live your life. What would the world be like if we could take a page from Mr. Keane's philosophy. I think it would be a much better world. To look past the anger and grief we feel, to look past the horrible acts that others commit against us, and forgive them. To simply let go, let go of hate, of fear, of anger, to let go and grab hold. Grab hold of forgiveness, grab hold of love, grab hold of hope. For when we do this, when we turn the other cheek, when we find it within ourselves to forgive others and offer to help them...That is what I would truly call Godly. I don't know if I would have the courage to do what Mr. Keane did, to face the backlash that his act of generosity will cause him, to face the scorn, the ridicule, and the hate that others are already sending his way. This man faces all of this with three simple words taught to him by his mother, Love Thy Enemy.

 

Mr. Keane, we have never met, and we probably never will, but I want you to know that your gesture has inspired me. You have made me see the best in people, and made me see the person I want to be. Someone who does what he knows is right no matter what others may think or say. So to you I say thank you. Thank you for showing me that it doesn't matter what other people do to you, it is instead what you do for others that truly matters.

 

Troy 

 





Day of Silence

Today is a Day of Silence. It was made originally as a way for students to show their support for LGBT members, but there were so many more people suffering in silence today.

There was a seventeen-year-old boy that I love, lying in a hospital bed and sick with a disease we never talk about. He's battled depression since we were kids, and when “Suck it up” didn't work anymore he tried to end all it instead.

There was a girl at school who refused to report her sexual abuse because she didn't want to cause drama. When I promised her I would go to support her, she turned to look at me with teary eyes and said, “The last time I reported him, nothing happened. Why should I do it again?”

There was a girl who giggled in my ear to tell me that Bobby is the straightest-looking fag she's ever met, and suddenly all of this boy's anger and sarcasm made sense to me. It wasn't his personality; it was his defense.

There was a man who snorted when my friend chose to buy a large Slurpee with money she'd worked hard to earn herself. As we were leaving, he muttered, “Maybe that's the reason you're a size twenty.” She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the store before I could say anything back.

There are so, so many of us who are suffering silently every day. You're fat, you're gay, you're worthless. Don't say anything, don't respond, don't report it, don't egg them on. It will only get worse. It can only get better. Don't say anything, don't react. Don't let them know they hurt you. I chose not to participate in the Day of Silence for that exact reason: because there are so many people who don't have a voice, and I do.

-Amanda

Shining into the darkness

It's better to be good than evil,

but one achieves goodness

at a terrific cost.

~Stephen King

Today I am writing about the tragedy in Boston and what it means to me and about what it says about us all. This tragedy has shown me both good and evil, right and wrong, and the way I see the world has been forever changed because of it.

I try not to call people evil, because I don't often feel justified as I don't truly know why they did what they did. Were they misguided in their views? Did they truly feel that they were in the right? I don't know and so I try not to judge. Yesterday however I feel comfortable in calling both the act and those that did it as evil. Evil is placing two bombs filled with shrapnel at the finish line of a race that is surrounded by innocent bystanders. Evil is attacking men, women, and children, whose only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Evil is attacking not just those who felt the blast, but their loved ones who rushed to the hospitals unsure of the fate of those they love. Evil is trying to take away the innocence of a child, who after seeing what you did, can only ask "why?" "Why would someone do that?" "Why would someone try and hurt kids?"  Evil is trying to make us all afraid. Evil is trying to force us to let fear into our hearts. To whoever did this, I say two things: number one, you are evil, and number two, you failed.

You failed when men and women rushed towards the scene of the explosion not away from it. You failed when they tried to help others and not try and save themselves. You failed when runners kept running right to the hospitals to give blood. You failed when parents all across this nation talked to their children and gave them hope to defend against the fear. You failed before those bombs even went off, you failed because Good will always triumph over evil. That is what I will walk away from knowing most in my heart, and it will help me in the dark times. Good will win out in the end, it always has, and it always will.

I watched those men and women run into that smoke not caring about getting hurt, thinking only to help others. I watched doctors and nurses who thought the only thing they were going to treat that day was exhaustion and dehydration, immediately rush to provide medical care that saved many lives. I have watched the outpouring of love and support from strangers opening their homes in Boston to anyone who needed a bed to sleep in and a warm meal. I watched how in Moscow the outside of the U.S. Embassy became an impromptu memorial where people dropped off flowers and sent prayers to strangers halfway around the world.

These are the images I will keep in my heart. The images of hope, hope for all mankind. You tried to fill me with fear, instead all you did was fill me with hope, and showed me once again there are good people in this world, and that the good people far outnumber the evil. We will carry on, we will thrive in the face of adversity, we will continue to shine into the darkness and give hope to those who need it.