[nfbmi-talk] What my Faith Tells Me About Injustice

[joe harcz Comcast]

Dear Fred and All,

Thank you for sharing this sentiment and subsequent ones in subsequent 
posts.

Those who struggle for freedom come in all shapes and sizes. I have shared 
with you and others, for example that I have engaged in non-violent civil 
disobedience fighting for social justice for decades from my conscientious 
anti-war protesting to acts of direct action on behalf of all people with 
disabilities with ADAPT.

I have been arrested upon several occasions in these efforts. I have stood 
with people who make our disability look like a picnic in fighting for 
others to receive services in communities rather than being forced to live 
in institutions like animals, with the only crime being severe disabilities 
as if this were a crime in the first place. One fellow who led me through 
one of my first national actions in our nation's capitol had severe CP and 
was forced in to a nursing home for several years until he literally escaped 
with the help of a center for Independent Living. He could hardly talk and 
needed a personal care attendant. Yet, there he was at the barricades. He 
subsequently died but he died a free man, and,  indeed , before he passed, 
married a sweetheart from the same institution.

What has always motivated me in my battles for liberation of the blind is 
quite similar. For in spite of achievements of many, and in spite of the 
possibilities we all know of the bulk of those who are blind today,are 
living in horrible conditions; in mini-isolation; and at or below the 
poverty level. In other words our prospects as a whole are withering  and 
not progressing.

One of my nephews at six has RP. Where are his prospects if the current 
collapse of educational and other services here continues?

Frankly, the thought both brings me to tears and to boiling points of 
righteous outrage.

Now, again we all come in all shapes and sizes. Not all can be or should be 
warriors. All could not be Rosa Parks for example. But, all can contribute 
to the common cause of social justice and freedom, or as you often say, 
"First class citizenship".

By the way, getting back to ADAPT I remember one Washington Seminar where 
Bob Kafka and Justin Dart addressed our gathering in the mid-nineties and 
joined hands with our brotherhood in common cause.


Now, right now especially here in Michigan where economic times are so 
tough, and often desperate for so many and especially for those who are 
blind or otherwise disabled, the system such as it is uses the threat of 
service denial or of eliminating this or that job as a stick to keep us 
inline. That was the whole method of Cannon and, the hacks at MRS for that 
matter.


Most folks, including myself by the way, wish to be everyday average "Joe's" 
doing this or that job, raising a family, and simply tending our own nests.

But, let's face it. Crow's are stealing the eggs from our nests while we 
hunt for ever decreasing grubs on the forest floor.


Those who at a minimum sound the alarm and those who act in defense of the 
common good are not the cause of this situation. If the Emporor is naked it 
needs only one with child like simplicity to point the real fact of the 
matter out.

Regardless, a people united shall never be defeated.

Peace with Justice,

Joe










----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Wurtzel" <f.wurtzel at att.net>
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 10:18 PM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] What my Faith Tells Me About Injustice


> Hello,
>
>
>
> I wish to share a little of how my faith informs my choices.  Why I speak
> out and why I am an activist.  I am not trying to preach or evangelize,
> here, only to explain my motivations and what I feel I am called to do. 
> The
> following is from the Prophet Isaiah Chapter 58.
>
> True Fasting
>
> 1"Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
>
>   Raise your voice like a trumpet.
>
> Declare to my people their rebellion. . .
>
>
>
>
>
> 6"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
>
> to loose the chains of injustice
>
>   and untie the cords of the yoke,
>
> to set the oppressed free
>
>   and break every yoke?
>
> 7Is it not to share your food with the hungry
>
>   and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-
>
> when you see the naked, to clothe them,
>
>   and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
>
> 8Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
>
>   and your healing will quickly appear;
>
> then your righteousness[
>
> a
>
> ]will go before you,
>
>   and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
>
> 9Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
>
>   you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
>
>   "If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
>
>   with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
>
> 10and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
>
>   and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
>
> then your light will rise in the darkness,
>
>   and your night will become like the noonday.
>
> 11The LORD will guide you always;
>
>   he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
>
>   and will strengthen your frame.
>
> You will be like a well-watered garden,
>
>   like a spring whose waters never fail.
>
> 12Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
>
>   and will raise up the age-old foundations;
>
> you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
>
>   Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
>
>
>
> I send this with all due respect to everyone and their faith.  I am called
> to speak out about injustice and work to rebuild what is broken.  Mistakes
> have been made and more will be made.  We will continue to speak out about
> injustice and we will continue to work to build our meager man-made 
> systems
> to serve those who need help.  We will see that blind people get
> high-quality services that will bring justice and dignity.
>
>
>
> This is Lent.  A time, in my faith tradition, for introspection and
> repentence.  the above is some of what I am learning.
>
>
>
> Thank you for your indulgence.
>
>
>
> Warmest Regards,
>
>
>
> Fred
>
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