1 week Ago
Nov. 5 brought about changes to our political system that will resonate for years to come. The election result sent chills through the spines of half of the country.
The other half of the country apparently took great joy in returning this “dictator” to power, even if they weren’t totally sure of what his plans might be. Here in Maine, voters went about their civic duty, showing up at the polls and voting on a number of issues in statewide and local initiatives, as well as selecting fellow citizens to represent them in Augusta and beyond. Clearly the system worked.
Not everyone got what they wanted, but that’s the way it is in a democratic vote. Irv Williams is a resident of Peaks Island. Voters made a choice in signing petitions for a citizen’s initiative to create stronger gun safety laws in our schools and communities.
Still reeling from the Lewiston mass shooting of just a year ago, Mainers had the opportunity to express their concerns about keeping our communities safe. Over 55,000 signatures were gathered on one day alone, in a clear demonstration of the rights of Maine citizens to petition their government. Nearly 75, Sen.
Margaret Chase Smith, on June 1, 1950, addressed what she saw as a growing threat to citizens’ rights in her speech that became known as the “Declaration of Conscience.” Smith said: “I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny – Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear. I doubt if the Republican Party could – simply because I don’t believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest.
” Fifty-six years ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
gave his last sermon, which has become known as “I Have Been to the Mountaintop.” It was just five short years after four little girls had been murdered by white supremacists in a Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing. King said: “The nation is sick.
Trouble is in the land. Confusion is all around ..
. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the 20th century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding – something is happening in our world.
The masses of people are rising up.” In the 1960s, the political slogan “Power to the people” began to be used in demonstrations against the war in Vietnam. Black Panther members used a variation of it, “All power to the people.
” Musicians like James Brown and John Lennon weaved the expression into popular music. For Brown, it became the slogan “Soul power,” an expression of Black pride and independence. In 1984, Charlie Howard was murdered in Bangor, Maine, for being an openly gay man.
Thrown from a bridge, he was left to drown. From his murder the beginnings of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Alliance was born and became a political movement that changed the face of civil rights for LBGTQ+ persons. In recent days the media has lit up with reports of Americans researching leaving the country, becoming “digital nomads” and, in general, retreating from the unknown political course that lies ahead for the next four (and beyond) years.
They fully acknowledge their privilege to do so by virtue of their social status and economic security. Smith, King and Howard became champions of citizen rights. They did not choose to turn their backs on injustice or threaten to leave the very country that had provided them with the advantage to do so.
They all spoke to and stood up for the rights of individuals to live their lives free from fear, free from intimidation at the ballot box, free to exercise all the rights we should have in this country. “Power to the people” is just as relevant today as it was 75 years ago. We invite you to add your comments.
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