Posts Tagged ‘Peter Molenaar’
They Can’t Kill Us All
Raise Your Voice By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar This Week in Action is the weekly news digest of Take Action Minnesota, a splendid social-democratic organization which presses our concerns within and around the DFL (i.e. for the time being they do not project a fundamental socialist transformation). Nonetheless, the October 15 issue of This Week contains an article with the caption: “Late-Stage Capitalism”. Actually, I arrived at the “late stage” conclusion 50 years ago. “The universal soldier, he really is to blame” were popular lyrics at the time. But then more than a year ago, I reported to the alley about an interaction with National Guard troops gathered at the corner grocery at 26th and Cedar Ave. Their assault weapons were not pointed at me. On the contrary, they earnestly listened. Moreover, in hand is a fundraising appeal, penned by Major General (Ret.) Paul Eaton on behalf of VoteVets. The general [...]
The Forest Through the Trees
Raise Your Voice By PETER MOLENAAR Folks from this part of the world are familiar with the “signers” who regularly occupy every niche at the intersection of Franklin and Cedar avenues. For some, it is a desperate way to “make ends meet”, while others panhandle for their next “fix” of heroin. Normally, I avoid eye contact. Hey, the new land lord raised my rent by over $300.00. Social Security, plus a union pension and one “odd job” barely covers expenses. So, I grow and sell vegetables in the summer months. One day”¦ From his post at the intersection, a young mixed blood man beckoned. I recognized him from the community garden”™s homeless camp. Window down, I elaborated my refusal to support the heroin trade. Then, while rubbing the site of his war wound, he explained that he was in constant pain and hoped to be admitted to a methadone program. This soldier reminded me of the guardsmen who [...]
Beyond the 4th of July
Raise Your Voice By Peter Molenaar The 15th of every month is “alley time” for those who submit articles, yet the fire crackers persist late into the night”¦ disturbing little children and disrupting the sleep of workers. “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is the title now given to a speech by Frederick Douglass, delivered July 5th, 1852. Has the image of Frederick Douglass been embedded in every mind? Wielding the stature of a George Floyd, Douglass”™ Native-American facial bone structure shown prominently through his African-American complexion. Having escaped the illiteracy of an enslaved childhood, he rose to become an eloquent orator and esteemed author of the day. Naturally, Wendell Phillips, our neighborhood namesake, was a friend of his. Sample some of Frederick”™s words: Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of [...]
