Part Of The Declaration As Recited By Rev. Barber On MSNBC Today

[Me.]

I had completely forgotten this part

"But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world."

[Cha]

1. Mahalo for this part of our Declaration of Independence,

Me! And, Thanks to Rev Barber!

[Me.]

3. Mahalo To You Cha

and to the Rev, who is a magnificent being

[Cha]

5. Yes, Rev Barber is!

[malaise]

2. Yep - rights belong to all

Saw him - it was excellent

[Me.]

4. It Was Truly A Wow

[lastlib]

6. I memorized the whole Declaration in college--

1976, it was part of a Bicentennial celebration. Recited it at my town's July 4th wing-ding. Still remember big chunks of it, though I doubt I could memorize it all again now.

It's like eating an elephant--you do it one bite at a time.........

[DFW]

7. Fifty years ago

Dick Gregory came to my college in my freshman year and read out this passage in a speech with such fire and intensity, none present ever forgot it. He was loud, slow and deliberate with that exact phrase you put in bold letters.

Dick Gregory and William Barber came from different professions, but their orating styles were not so different. I consider myself lucky to have met both of them.

[BComplex]

8. Barber's a great leader. He started the Moral Monday protests in Raleigh (near where I live) after

NC was taken over by the Koch brothers.

[DFW]

9. I met him in Washington in September of 2015

It was at the 150th birthday party of The Nation, and it was on one of the few days a year when I was actually going to be in Washington. Usually, Katrina's things are on dates when I'm 4000 miles away.

Barber was there, and I asked him if he would be speaking at the Democratic convention the next year. He said no one had approached him. I put in a word with my DNC contact, and lo and behold, he was on the program, and was as spellbinding as always.

[Me.]

12. He Doesn't Give An Inch

and I loved hearing him yesterday

[Me.]

10. You Are REally Lucky

[DFW]

14. I have just had a few right place right time situations, that's all

I knew who Dick Gregory was because my parents introduced me to his book "From The Back Of The Bus" when I was a kid. I never dreamed I'd ever meet him in person later on. He was a pretty rousing speaker on his own, by the way.

By the time I met William Barber, I knew who he was, of course, just never thought our paths would cross. When I asked him about speaking at the convention, I just assumed he was already on the program. When he said he hadn't been approached, I asked him first for permission to propose him for the program. He said he'd be honored. A friend of mine who happened to be the DNC treasurer knew of him, and when I said Barber would be willing to speak, he said he'd put it before the convention committee. After that, I have no clue how the mechanics went. What do I know? I live in Düsseldorf, not Georgetown. But a word to the wise must have indeed been sufficient, because sure enough, he was there, and he indeed made the place tremble when he spoke. He always does.

[Me.]

15. +1

[Maeve]

11. How I memorized part of the Declaration in 1970

[Me.]

13. THat Is So Cool

I had no idea they did that