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in a short span of time but know this america they will be met further along in the 2009 posting i added this about the inauguration obama s speech was followed by a benediction from 87 year old the reverend joseph lowery from atlanta georgia whose opening words must have sounded familiar to the millions of african americans in the crowd and around the nation lowery s prayer began with the third verse of james weldon johnson s hymn lift every voice and sing which since it was written in 1920 has emerged as the national anthem of the african american community the third verse of lift every voice appears even more relevant today than it was in 2009 here are the words that begin the third verse god of our weary years god of our silent tears thou who hast brought us thus far along the way thou who hast by thy might led us into the light keep us forever in the path we pray james weldon johnson s words are significant today because pessimism surrounds the peace talks between palestine andisrael until we hear further from the negotiations participants we must wait to see how the occupier and the occupied resolve for the time being at least how they will live together it is in this time of waiting that i decided to set out on a journey that begins with johnson s hymn on the internet journey i followed a path that led to another eloquent african american author alice walker novelist and poet walker has more than thirty books the best known of which is her pulitzer prize winning novel the color purple in one of the speeches she delivered to a palestinian audience during a visit to ramallah walker described her encounter with israeli border guards when she traveled from amman to the west bank by way of the allenby bridge as the hours of interrogation dragged by at the allenby bridge walker finally asked one of the young israeli soldiers peppering her with the usual irrelevant questions have you ever heard of the novel the color purple the soldier had not heard of the novel nor the film based on the novel even though the film was directed by steven spielberg an israeli favorite after that visit which was organized by tedxramallah walker tried to enter gaza on a different mission in june 2011 walker was among 38 people aboard the ship audacity of hope one of the ships which tried and failed to sail from greece to gaza to break the israeli maritime siege of gaza israel prevailed on greece to prevent the ships from sailing in a 2011 conversation with ali abunimah walker right pointed to the parallels between the planned gaza freedom flotilla and the freedom rides during the us civil rights movement when black and white americans boarded interstate buses together to break the laws requiring racial segregation my journey following the path of alice walker turned up many examples of the gentle manner in which this remarkable woman stands for justice for the palestinian people for example she is an avid supporter of the bds boycott divestment sanctions movement finally in following the path of alice walker through the internet our journey brought me home to georgia to my own alma mater emory university alice walker placed the archive of her work in the manuscript archives and rare book library of emory university in 2008 the walker archive was opened in 2009 one video from the evening honoring walker features historian activist howard zinn who initially met alice walker at spelman college in atlanta where he was her teacher during the 1960 s to view that video click here the emory event honoring alice walker closed with the singing of james weldon johnson s life every voice and sing the african american national anthem with which we began this journey in this way the circle closes from james weldon johnson to the rev james lowrey to president barack obama and finally to alice walker the young man who leads the singing that closes the evening is an emory graduate class of 2011 his name is garrett m turner he is currently pursuing further graduate work at the university of st andrews in scotland god of our weary years god of our silent tears james weldon johnson share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in uncategorized 2 comments the straight story a film for now posted on may 2 2020 by wallwritings by james m wall a few years back phillip lee editor of media development a world association of christian communications wacc publication interviewed me during this time of self isolation i thought it was appropriate to share it phillip lee my last question has to do with your passion for cinema if you were to pick one film that has born the test of repeated viewing and still has something to say what would the film be and why james m wall emily dickinson left us a quote that i have always cherished she was something of a recluse surrounded as she put it by her kinsmen of the shelf the books that were crucial to her our topic here is films and since dvds perch on shelves around me i consider them my kinsmen on the shelf if i must select one film to be my companion isolated alone after considerable pondering with apologies to john ford and the coen brothers i choose the straight story i have a personal history with that film s director david lynch i was in hollywood for a meeting when a religious los angeles film critics group gave an award to lynch for the straight story in 1999 i ended up sitting next to lynch at lunch and told him how much i liked the film i also told him something i assumed he did not know i had written a film column in the christian century in which i praised blue velvet an earlier 1986 lynch film i called the film outstanding for its unvarnished portrait of sheer evil rooted in a small middle western community a vision that was the polar opposite of the straight story a chicago columnist had one comment for that reading from a religious writer o lordy lynch told me he had heard the strange news that a religious publication had praised blue velvet he was glad to meet me i believe lynch and i agree on one point evil and good coexist in human existence in these two contrasting works of film art blue velvet and the straight story lynch covered the extremes it is the straight stor y side of lynch that i choose for my single movie companion here is why the straight story is based on a true story which first surfaced in a news report about a 73 year old man alvin straight richard farnsworth who attempts to drive a motorized lawn mower from iowa to the wisconsin home of his brother lyle harry dean stanton as the film opens alvin lives quietly with his adult daughter rose sissy spacek in laurens iowa life is slow there one night a telephone caller tells rose that alvin s brother has had a stroke as a storm rages outside the look on alvin s face as he hears rose in the next room announces that his life will no longer be quiet there is a past to confront lynch s close up shot of alvin his face lit by lightning captured my admiration early in the film so also did the performance of richard farnsworth as he interacted with his small town retired buddies or when his daughter rose takes alvin to see a doctor alvin is a stubborn man rejecting the doctor s advice at every turn after the visit to the doctor where alvin refuses to change his habits alvin tells his daughter he will travel to see his brother rose reminds him that his obstacles are great he does not own a car and rose does not drive still alvin prepares to begin his journey this is a trip he must make alone he and his brother are estranged now is the time to address that estrangement lynch s script writers withhold details the nature of the brothers disagreement has deep consequences but nothing earth shattering just some vague conflict which led to ugly words within the family alvin builds a trailer and attaches it to his motorized lawn mower the smile that crosses his face as he leaves town on what he hopes will be a successful 370 mile trip is the quiet smile of a man making up for lost time he sleeps in his trailer and cooks simple meals close to the highway one stop requires alvin to camp for a few days while his mower is repaired by two bickering brothers he sees them as mirror images of his own younger self and his brother director lynch filmed alvin s journey along the same route the real alvin straight travelled in 1994 the chicago tribune said of the straight story this is the most compassionate movie lynch has ever made it is also that rare film a serious adult story with touches of humour rated g imagine that a g rated film in 1999 which is not just for children that is one reason i want this side of lynch and his mower driving alvin to stay with me as blue velvet attests lynch does have a sure grip on portraying evil in contrast with his cinematic palette lynch gives us alvin straight in a story which celebrates family perseverance and love the farmland and small town scenes shot on location undergirded by a solemn musical score plus the love alvin demonstrates for his daughter and in a moment of reconciliation for his journey to see his brother all contribute to one of the finest works of cinematic art from the 20th century this is a film that is as steady as a rain storm in an iowa night or as uplifting as an early morning sunrise in wisconsin it sustains the viewer as it calls for whatever steps are needed to make amends for decisions made or not made this is a film with moments that are to be cherished and embraced like for example alvin talking his way to buying a grabber device he likes in a store or the scene where alvin s neighbour lady rushes into his kitchen to find he has fallen to the floor she grabs the telephone and shouts what s the number for 911 that is a line i reach for when i need a lift i hereby officially take rose and alvin as my companions in isolation we will together enjoy the sunset and long for the rain for companions i prefer those friends who speak a g rated language while we converse together on a stage of middle american farmland lee phillip 2017 a road movie from georgia to palestine and home again interview with james m wall media development lxiv 3 21 27 share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in uncategorized 5 comments the word that says it all posted on november 4 2019 by wallwritings by james m wall i took a three month break from blogging when i reported back to duty i found the word that says it all it is puerile which is fully explained on word genius which you may access by clicking here we have an abundance of evidence of the suitability of the term puerile to sum up the behavior of president donald trump the president faces a near certainty of congressional impeachment and potential removal from office should a few senators acknowledge their own purile lust for holding onto power the evidence against trump piles up daily starting each dawn with a twitter storm of insults falsehoods and cries of self pity surrounded by headlines that stir anticipation of only the fourth presidential impeachment in american history we must plow ahead to defend puerile as the appropriate word for what led to this moment if you have failed to read the link above here it is in part puerile pyuhr ill part of speech adjective origin latin mid 17th century 1 showing immaturity silly or juvenile 2 relating to or characteristic of a child examples of puerile in a sentence the puerile pranks earned the boys a few weeks detention on top of the punishment their parents gave them the older sister was irritated at being forced to wear a puerile outfit to match her sibling in the family photo think of it this way if a child in your care behaved in an egregious puerile manner would you allow him or her to retain the freedom to continue such behavior you would terminate that freedom immediately if that child had a fully loaded stolen gun and a twitter account that spewed lies and hatred to an audience in the millions this is no time for grounding or censure it is time to terminate that freedom for the sake of this republic on the morning i found puerile the chicago tribune announced the dismissal of mcdonald s ceo for having an intimate relationship with one of his employees his action violated company rules corporations have rules enforced by governing boards our country is a nation of laws we have an impeachment clause enforced by the people through their elected representatives no discussion of such matters would be complete without recalling the famous response attributed to benjamin franklin at the close of the constitutional convention of 1787 a lady asked him a question as he left independence hall on the final day of deliberation well doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy a republic if you can keep it share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook like loading posted in donald trump 9 comments zionist attacks continue on director ken loach posted on april 2 2020 by wallwritings by james m wall israeli politics shine no light on the darkness of oppression take the career 0f ken loach a film director who exposes injustice on and off screen he has long been a constant warrior against zionist oppression on april 1 tom suarez wrote a detailed analysis for mondoweiss that traces loach s career he begins two years ago during a talk i gave about palestine at the bath royal literary and scientific institution british filmmaker ken loach raised a most essential question paraphrasing he asked where do we go from here the gist of my reply we must first expose israel s front line weapon against justice for palestine its cynical misuse of the smear of antisemitism so long as we respond to this abuse on its own terms the weapon is foolproof it hijacks the discourse away from israel s crimes regardless of the efficacy of the smears israel s crimes and even the p word palestine or the palestinians remain off limits we must instead stop allowing israel to control the terms of our response instead we must turn the tables and accuse the accusers of antisemitism for exploiting jewish identity in the service of injustice but ken loach s own recent brush with the weapon demonstrates the barriers to speaking that simple truth for suarez full article click here https mondoweiss net 2020 04 filmmaker ken loach shows all racism the red car d loach made kes in the late 1960s which was given a limited u s release in 1973 the poster above highlights loach s focus on the oppressed early in his career the israel lobby knew of loach s political passion which could account for its limited exposure roger ebert loved kes and wrote a review which listed the honors it received in england in his review ebert continues but it was never released commercially in america for that matter it never got very good bookings in england either the distributors were afraid that audiences wouldn t understand the movie s yorkshire accents this is the typical sort of blind muddling that seems to go...