Bless “Said” Are the Peace Makers: An Op-Ed Article

By Dr. Clovis

Somehow I feel swept up by a whirlwind and tossed about. I’m not in America any more. And I’m certainly not in Oz. Maybe the dystopian novel 1984? Or worse yet, the 1930s.

During the 1930s, the Anti-Defamation League fought the KKK. Hitler came to power in Europe. The NAACP engaged in peaceful protests and fought legal challenges of discrimination in the courts.

But today, in 2017, we have taken a similar journey back into time. There have been about 700 hate incidents reported since the Presidential election, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama.

I am reminded of my McCloy Fellowship in Journalism in Germany that I was awarded and researched. The work is archived in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. I interviewed and photographed some of the oldest Holocaust survivors in 2000. We walked through the Dachau camp. We cried. We thought, that this can never happen again. That was the reason for documenting the events. But now, I quickly remember that the words of hate came first. Then the propaganda. And then the bystanders who said nothing.

Now, at this time of giving and gratitude, love and thanks… This needs to be said. It needs to be pointed out. For America, this is all very real for us now.

Congressman John Lewis, who lived a life of peaceful protest for Civil Rights says, “Accept a way of peace, believe in the way of love, believe in the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. Never become bitter. Never become angry.” And we are reminded by the Anti- Defamation League during its Summit on Anti-Semitism on November 16, 2016, in New York City that, “Never is Now.”

Now, test the truth in the news for yourself and do not believe in untruth and propaganda. Our personal freedoms are closely linked to freedom of the press. Freedom of press organizations help preserve our basic rights of speech.

Last, we must remember and not be deceived: A divided America is not a strong America…

This morning, I bought a cup of coffee before entering my train. I handed the cashier a dollar bill that we all use in America all the time, every day that says, “In God We Trust.”

At first, I thought, “Heaven, help us.” But then later looked up the significance of the motto in our country’s history. The phrase first appeared in 1864 with religious intent by a Pennsylvania minister. But ironically had a more significant meaning during the Cold War. The phrase was printed on all American currency in 1955 as a cold cultural war against Communism, that did not believe in a god.

Are you shivering yet?