“…with malice toward none,
and
charity for all,
with firmness in the right
as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the work we are in,
to bind up
the nation’s wounds, …”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS
+
“…We are not enemies, but friends.
We must not be enemies.
Though passion may be strained,
it must not break our bonds of affection.
The mystic cords of memory will swell
when again touched
as surely they will be
by the better angels
of
our nature…”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS
+
I WISH I KNEW CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 2011
+
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S
SOTU ADDRESS
12 FEBRUARY
“Together,
we have cleared away
the rubble of crisis,
and
we can say with
renewed confidence
that the
state of our union
is
stronger.”
“It is our unfinished task
to restore the basic bargain
that built this country..
The idea that if you work hard
and
meet your responsibilities,
you can get ahead,
no matter where you come from,
what you look like,
or
who you love…
It is our unfinished task
to make sure
that this government
works on behalf
of the many,
and
not just the few…
that it encourages
free enterprise,
rewards individual initiative
and
opens the doors of opportunity
to
every
child
across this great nation
of
ours…”
“In the two months since Newtown,
more than a thousand
birthdays,
graduations
and
anniversaries
have been stolen
from our lives
by a bullet
from a gun.
They deserve a vote.
They deserve a vote.
They deserve a vote.
Gabby Giffords
deserves a vote.
The families of Newtown
deserve a vote.
The families of Aurora
deserve a vote.
The families of Oak Creek
and
Tucson
and
Blacksburg
— and the countless other communities
ripped open by gun violence
— they deserve a simple vote.”
+
THE BACKGROUND OF I WISH I KNEW SERIES:
http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?rid=280660
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WAS MY HERO
AS
A
CHILD.*
FOR ME, HIS LIFE REMAINS
A TEMPLATE OF A HERO
– THE CAPACITY TO SEE BEYOND THE HORIZON LINES;
TRANSCENDING PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BARRIERS,;
EMPATHY AND FAITH TOWARD ALL HUMANITY;
THE WISDOM TO SEEK OUT WORLD VIEWS
COUNTERING/CHALLENGING HIS OWN,
THE ABILITY AND PRACTICE TO LISTEN DEEPLY TO ALL PEOPLE-
TO ACKNOWLEDGE
AND
DIGNIFY
THE WIDE ARC OF HUMANITY
AND
BELIEF IN THE PRACTICE/RIGHT
OF
FREEDOM
FOR
ALL;
–NO BOXES,
NO RANKING OF HUMANITY
-all equally created by God;
NO FEAR;
PERSEVERING FORTITUDE;
FIERCE COMPASSION AND resilient COURAGE TO UPHOLD HIS VALUES;
AND
THE CONVICTION
IN MOVING FORWARD,
KNOWING THERE
WILL BE BLOOD,
RESISTANCE
AND
HATERS
WITH
ALL LIVING
UNDER
ONE
SKY.
* My beloved Dr. Mark B. Coventry offered the life of Lincoln as one to aspire to as I faced down challenges
as a child bound to a bed.
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FIRE: CRESCENT XIII Catherine L. Johnson 2014
CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 