Initiative to Aid Andrea Johnson with Melissa Lussier

On Friday, December 28, an apartment complex in Minneapolis completely burned to the ground. The Star Tribune reported the story -> here.

Melissa Lussier, singer, songwriter and artist of Buffalo, NY alerted me to her initiative in regards to helping Andrea Johnson, one of the residents of the complex who lost everything.

Melissa is sending a care package to Andrea. Melissa states: "Andrea has been given many essential items such as furniture and kitchen supplies, but my idea is to send her a care basket with all those personal touches that make a house a home. I was thinking paintings, jewelry, soaps and bubble bath and other items that pamper, and if they're hand-made, all the better!" 

The Facebook Fundraiser Page is --> here. 

Please contact Melissa if you are able to donate any item to the package she wishes to send to Andrea and also, for more information at her --> Facebook Profile.

© Photos Star Tribune 

Join the Global Vigil for Peace for Pakistan and India

This event, initiated by an Aman ki Asha supporter in New Delhi, invites Indians and Pakistanis and those who want peace between the two countries, to come together in their respective cities. The purpose of the vigils is to urge the governments to continue the dialogue, and not give in to the war hype being created by some sections of sections of society. 

Aman ki Asha means  "Hope for Peace" 

---> The Facebook Event

Below are my photos from Buffalo, NY 

Peace.

                                                                         

Don't Compare Obama with MLK

by Henry Louis Taylor

First published: 

CNN

WKBW

News Tribe

WNY Media
International Organizations Desk
WGRZ

Some people will be tempted to compare Martin Luther King, Jr. with President Obama.

Don’t. 

Obama is no Martin Luther King, Jr. 

He is a politician, a liberal with moderate leanings. Like all politicians, he operates within a world of limited possibilities. His mission is to make the USA a better place, while serving the interest of the rich and powerful.

Martin Luther King, Jr., on the flip side, was a radical democrat. 

He gave his life trying to build a better world, a “good society” anchored by racial equity, participatory democracy and social, environmental and economic justice. 

King was concerned about group advancement—not just individual achievement. 

As a politician, Obama’s rise to the top of his profession, and becoming president of the United States, is a wonderful story of individual achievement. It is a story that also reflects the growing liberalization of the United States. 

But individual success stories do not CHANGE the realities of Black Americans. 

King understood this. So, he was never got sidetracked by one’s individual accomplishments. He was happy for them. But his big interest was the radical transformation of American society, so that all USA residents, especially blacks and Latinos, could live a good life. 

King did not stop there. His dream was not just an American dream. His dream was a worldwide dream. MLK said “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 

Most importantly, He understood that the “freedom fight” was a fight for the “larger freedom.” 

By “larger freedom,” I mean the battle for real heath care, good, affordable housing, great schools and neighborhoods, no prison pipelines, and places where everybody can realize their full human potential and can optimize their life outcomes.

And not just here, but everywhere, regardless of the political system under which they live. A world where societies are judge by “how well the children are doing,” and not by “how open are the economic markets.”

King knew that the “smaller freedoms” — the right to vote, eat at any lunch counter, say what you want, and live anywhere– was just “one, small step” toward the “larger freedom.”

This is NOT Obama’s dream. I’m sorry, but it is true. 

Obama is not a freedom fighter. He is a politician, who runs the country in the interest of the elites, while trying to do some good on the side and on the sly.

I’m just saying, celebrate Obama for who he is and don’t try to make him something else.

Peace