Fulfilling the Dream: Completing the Undone Work of Martin Luther King Jr.

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Monday January 20, 2014 · 10:25 AM PST

2014/01/20 · 10:25

Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination was America ’s most dramatic wake up call at the time. It was especially profound and disturbing for me because it occurred in my hometown. My rabbi, James A. Wax, had been actively involved in the mediation process of the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike from beginning to end.

I happened to make eye contact with one of the workers, and he invited/challenged me to walk with him. So I walked with him for two or three blocks while he told me about working a low-paying job under brutal conditions. I sure wish I could find my “I AM A MAN” sign that I carried that day.

The Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968 was a turning point for the Civil Rights movement, the American Labor Movement, and the dynamics of municipal government.

H Scott Prosterman

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Thursday November 21, 2013 · 11:32 AM PST

2013/11/21 · 11:32

As a kid, I knew that Kennedy favored Civil Rights. I did not know he did precious little to help the movement early in his legislative career, and was a shamefully ineffective Congressman starting out. He was truly thrust into his role as guardian of the Civil Rights Movement during the last two years of his presidency, by the atrocities taking place throughout the South.

As a kid in Memphis, I was terrified by the local news broadcasts about what as happening in 90 miles away in Oxford, MS and a little farther away in Alabama. Now I know that was the last battle of the Civil War.

As a kid, I knew Kennedy was a war hero, but I didn’t know his father pulled strings to get him INTO the Navy, so that he could have a war record as a politician.

H Scott Prosterman

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Wednesday November 14, 2012 · 12:26 PM PST

2012/11/14 · 12:26

It's time for some gringo to read between the lines and call a spade a spade. It might as well be me.

This United States of America thing – it was a great idea while it lasted, but it’s time to face the fact that it isn’t working anymore.

Texas didn't want to join the Union in the first place, and undercurrents of secession have always run as strong in the Texas legislature as Texas chauvinism. Let 'em, I say.

H Scott Prosterman

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Thursday October 11, 2012 · 11:45 AM PDT

2012/10/11 · 11:45

The 23rd Song for the 21st Century

Our father who runs the Internet,
Hallowed be they mainframe.
For Kings & pawns,
Near, far and gone
On Earth and Planet Eleven.

Give us this day our daily spam,
As we forgive those who have spammed up against us.
And lead us not into frustration,
But deliver us from ignorance
In the name of Jobs, Gates and & all of our Eighth Grade English Teachers.

H. Scott Prosterman

Shana Tova - Happy New Year

H Scott Prosterman

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Monday September 17, 2012 · 11:14 AM PDT

2012/09/17 · 11:14

My Friends, Please accept my good wishes for a happy and healthy New Year for you and your families. May it bring good health, happiness, security and a sense of repose into your life.

May the New Year bring a sense of sanity to the leaders of the United States, Israel and all the nations.

May we all enjoy good friends, good food, good humor, good sex, financial security and spiritual fulfillment in general. And the floor remains open for additions and corrections.

H Scott Prosterman

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Saturday August 25, 2012 · 4:12 PM PDT

2012/08/25 · 16:12

As we honor Neil Armstrong today, everyone who was alive that magical day has a story like this one.

When I went to bed, I stayed up for a long time thinking about what happened. I finally went to sleep, sharing in a huge sense of grand accomplishments, satisfaction and historical presence. The world felt safer and smaller that night, and on that night anything seemed possible.

H Scott Prosterman

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Friday July 27, 2012 · 1:04 PM PDT

2012/07/27 · 13:04

The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to NOT offer a tribute to the Israeli victims of the 1972 Olympics massacre in Munich is wrongful, and panders to the worst political elements for all the wrong reasons.

The eleven men murdered by the Black September terrorists were athletes representing their country, not soldiers in any army. They were there for the competition, camaraderie, and Olympic spirit.

Because the nation of Israel has done many terrible things to Palestinian people, and violated international laws at the same time, most of the world's leadership endorses the human and territorial rights of the Palestinian people that Israel has denied. But to use that as warrant and justification for ignoring the very obvious opportunity to make a historical tribute to the greatest tragedy in Olympic history, is grossly misplaced anger and retribution.

H Scott Prosterman

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Friday May 11, 2012 · 12:43 PM PDT

2012/05/11 · 12:43

What a confluence.

No other woman had such a positive impact on the City of Memphis in our generation, with her contributions to the arts, civic preservation, politics and public service.

As a member of the NAACP since her college days at Sarah Lawrence, Bert Wolff worked tirelessly with Maxine Smith on numerous education and civil rights issues. Thanks to my mother, I began going to an integrated school in the third grade.

As this is the week and the day we honor our teachers and our mothers, it is fitting and proper to call out one of the greatest.

H Scott Prosterman

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Tuesday May 01, 2012 · 11:41 AM PDT

2012/05/01 · 11:41

American labor history is full of brutal and heartbreaking episodes such as the Homestead Steelworks Strike & Riots of 1896.

The General Motors strike at the River Rouge Plant in Detroit 1941 was another tragic episode, as was the massacre of World War I veterans in Washington, DC when they were demonstrating for full compensation from their military service in 1932. America’s labor history was impacted by the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike of 1968 as much as any episode, for the gains and accomplishments that brought.

Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t make the sacrifices he did so that people like Phil Kamlarz, the recent Berkeley City Manager, could retire with a $265,000 pension.

I look forward to the day I hear about a union steward telling a worker, “Hey man, you really crossed the line and I can’t defend your position. But I’ll help you get a decent severance package and that’s it.”

H Scott Prosterman

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Tuesday April 17, 2012 · 1:00 PM PDT

2012/04/17 · 13:00

As a writer and editor in Berkeley, I have enjoyed contributing to the Daily Kos for a few years. I have also composed a considerable volume of poetry, but have been reserved in publishing most of it. This is a poem I wrote as a tribute to Earth Day, which was debuted at the Red Victorian in SF on Haight Street last weekend. It is a comprehensive and cautionary tribute to “Mother Earth & The Four Sister Elements,” with references to Judaism, Islam, politics, Traditional Chinese Medicine and that quaint old thing called “Science.”

H Scott Prosterman

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Tuesday March 20, 2012 · 11:54 AM PDT

2012/03/20 · 11:54

Ariel Kaminer writes a weekly ethics column in the New York Times Magazine, which I often enjoy. This week’s edition announces a new essay column for Times readers, inviting them to submit 600 words stating the strongest case for eating meat. You know what that makes me want to do? State my OWN case, which is now 37 years old.

The studies about red meat being bad for you have people genuflecting all over the country . . . as if this is something new?!?! Honestly, I made a choice to eat less meat in 1975 BECAUSE I saw many studies indicating it is bad for you.

Muhammad Ali, who was a vegetarian when he won the title back from George Forman in 1975. So much for the myth that one must eat meat in order to excel in athletics.

Then, I sometimes think about the story of the 4-H gal who raised her sheep with all the love and affection a child can give an animal. She came home to find that her beloved was to be dinner, didn’t eat a thing that night, and never ate any meat again.

H Scott Prosterman

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Monday March 05, 2012 · 12:48 PM PST

2012/03/05 · 12:48

Now that we’ve evolved to where medicinal and social needs get fuzzy sometimes, the etiquette calls for update and refinement:

RULE #1: If you are passed you a joint at a party or my house, DON’T SUCK ON IT 3 OR 4 TIMES AS HARD AS YOU CAN AND INCINERATE THE DAMN THING!

If I ever ran for public office I would have to admit it. - I’ve inhaled. But I’ve also exhaled and that’s important.

Marijuana can also play a role in maintaining optimal health for some people, in a variety of ways

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Fulfilling the Dream: Completing the Undone Work of Martin Luther King Jr.

Growing Up In The '60's With Camelot Mythology

SECEDE NOW -- AVOID THE RUSH!

The 23rd Song for the 21st Century

Shana Tova - Happy New Year

THANKS FOR THE RIDE NEIL ARMSTRONG

MUNICH 1972 AND THE IOC

Mother's Day & Teacher's Week

A MAY DAY REFLECTION ON THE OVERREACHING OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNIONS

MOTHER EARTH & THE FOUR SISTER ELEMENTS -- H. Scott Prosterman

NYT Essay Contest: Why Meat is Good - My Submission

Joint Etiquette Beyond "Don't You Bogart That Joint My Friend . . ." (And for Maximum Enjoyment)