“The pen is mightier than the sword” were first written by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, in his historical play Cardinal Richelieu.
And he is correct. It is a short sentence I have embraced most of my life, your words hold power, they hold even more power when they are truthful and righteous and when you deliver them with confidence and peace.
I think the first time I showed up at Carnegie town hall to speak about injustice in our city was in 2003 when the council voted to shut down the LOOP. Passionate citizens voiced their opinions about it. I think I talked about my opposition to street closures (which was a failed amendment). I think speech is more powerful than guns and insurrection. Freedom is FREE, Speak Out!
When I watched these anti-democratic protesters yesterday storm the US Capital based on the lies that have been fed to them by an unqualified president, one thing came to mind;
“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?†Hillary Clinton said. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.â€
She said the other half of Trump’s supporters “feel that the government has let them down†and are “desperate for change.â€
“Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well,†she said.
The people who stormed the capital yesterday were not freedom loving Americans, they were deplorables.
While I don’t agree with many decisions made in DC, Pierre or at City Hall, I don’t take up arms or glorify one leader over another, I speak out.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Self-evident. Think about that. Reality is right in front of us, it is not created or manufactured.
If you want to make change, you do it with words. I have never accomplished change in this community with the sword, I have only done it with the pen. Condemn those who use lies and violence to push their agenda, only those who speak the truth under an olive branch deserve the power to transform our lives.