As the founder of the Jimmy Carter Jamboree, a grassroots initiative here in California to celebrate Carter, recognizing his approaches for peace, diplomacy, housing, health and much more, I want to shine a light on his farewell address when he stated that he was now entering one of the greatest roles in America, more powerful than the president himself, and this is as a private citizen.
During this time of utter conflict, protests, strikes, anger, arrests and more, I have a perspective to share as the daughter of the 1981 National Union Strike, one who experienced what it’s like to have the US Government arrest members and feel the consequences of being sabotaged by the US Government. There is another way to make your voice heard without putting yourself at risk. And it’s far more effective.
We are so divided in this country, which is not necessarily by accident. It’s by design. We need to unify. While Trump has used anger and hate to bring people together, there is another way to do the job. . . and that is by celebrating US President Jimmy Carter, bringing attention to the kind of leadership we respect, one who carries empathy, wisdom and peace.
When I talk to people I’m astounded by the hypocrisy. They say how ineffective Carter was, yet he wasn’t. He pushed major policies related to education, energy as well as expanding many of our national parks. He stood up to OPEC and sought peace without using missiles and war to solve problems. He is respected around the world, but for some strange reason not year, though the reasoning it’s so strange.
Despite the fact Carter bridged peace between Israel and Egypt, he also stood up for the Palestinian people, even going to Gaza to meet the leaders and monitor elections. He wrote a book Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid. And then during his book tour faced extraordinary opposition by AIPAC and other Jewish organizations.
The Carter Center doesn’t talk about Carter’s stand for Palestine or even his words in 2009, “Israel treats the Palestinians like animals.”
It’s time, as a nation we begin to come clean with truths and recognize since the Reagan Administration, we’ve had 40 years of trickle down economics, knock down of labor, rise of the elites and oligarchies, out of control wars and yet we raise Reagan statues and don’t hold him accountable for the disaster his policies have brought to us. It’s time to flip the table and come clean. The Reagan Era has been a disaster. ..The “Hero” of the Republican Party, Ronald Reagan and his policies and those who have been heralding him need to be called out.
And it’s high time as a nation we reflect on The Carter Administration, recognizing a generation chose not to support him, yet Carter continued to do the work despite criticism, leaving us today with a narrative of one of our greatest leaders to celebrate.
Raise a salute to Carter. .. it’s the greatest form of resistance and protest you could ever muster.
I’m one of the few daughters in the nation whose family stood in the 1981 National Strike Against the Federal Government and the “GOP Hero,” President Ronald Reagan.
We understood what was at stake – dishonest politicians who were manipulating people for power. Most of the union members of that 1981 national strike of air traffic controllers had been Vietnam Veterans who understood DEEPLY what it means when political leaders use their power against the people. Reagan had made campaign promises to the air traffic controllers and then stabbed the union in the back, terminating them, when Reagan had failed to own up to his promises. The Union, working class people, held him accountable, putting their own family, including children, on the front line of the pick lines. What and how the air traffic controllers of 1981 stood stands today as a beacon of hope and inspiration for us all. They used no violence.
For years leading to that strike, the union utilized “sick outs,” collectively calling into work sick. It was a nonviolent way to show collective power and to help steer the federal government into owning up to fair contracts and honesty.
It’s time for the American people to learn their power.
After years with this whole covid narrative, which by now most of us know and understand how likely a “bad flu” got twisted and turned into looking like a major disease, pitting people into poverty, giving power to the billionaires and traumatizing our children. Also, we know that 80% of those who faced health issues related to this “covid” had major chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes and more. In 2001 the US Surgeon General said “obesity is becoming an epidemic and it’s a pandemic in the making.” His words were visionary. Would we have had a “pandemic” if people were healthy enough to endure, as most healthy people did.
Let’s remember who was president at the time. It was Trump.
Let’s remember who drove Operation Warp Speed. It was Trump.
Let’s remember what happened those first weeks of the “pandemic” in March of 2020.
A new military art was unleashed, “Space Force”
5G was launched.
Systems for tracking and tracing procedures were quickly implemented
Free American citizens were “locked down”, a term used for prison
Weeks later, as regular citizens we were given a $700 check and told to feel good about this while corporations were being given billions in what became the largest wealth transfer in history, killing our middle class.
Friends, it’s time to end this nonsense and understand the game being played on American people. And it is a game. There is no doubt in my mind that we are facing the greatest threat to our civil liberties, democracy and safety, not just for ourselves, but for our children and future generations.
If there were ever a time in history to start collecting, it is now. Stop the petty infighting and begin locking arms, peacefully, of course. Always peacefully.
Harry Belafonte had said the greatest power is putting a smile on your face and get dancing in the face of power, control or domination.The good news is “we, the people,” are not the bad guys. We have a government that has been abusive, manipulative and controlling, and it’s time to break free and we can celebrate that.
The elites have the reins right now. But, we do have the power. Stop going to corporate stores or depending on anything coming from them. …start creating, trading and gifting. We have everything we need if we are there for one another. Start raising each other up. Because right now, we still have each other.
This upcoming October 1 will be the 100th birthday of President Jimmy Carter, as well as the 8th anniversary of California’s “Jimmy Carter Jamboree,” a grassroots effort to honor and celebrate a president who carried bold vision for our country and stood up to OPEC and big businesses.
As the founder of this community project, I am so excited to share developments soon about how this impact project can help reshape today’s economic, political and social policies and give us all reason to oust 40 years of “The Reagan Era” and begin the next century as “The Carter Era.”
It’s high time to recognize collaboration and not competition is the cornerstone of a civilized society. It’s time to recognize humility and not big egos have been the value missing for 40 years. It’s time to see that generosity and not greed will shift the American minds, hearts and wills to regenerate all that we have lost in these last 40 years.
It will redefine what it means to have “a peanut brain,” as we’ll all be inspired by a president who stood his ground, continued powerful work after he “won” in 1981 to Ronald Reagan, and Carter showed his POWER as a regular citizen of The United States.
I had a conversation with a Jewish friend of mine recently about the Palestinian and Israeli crisis. She was raising issues that antisemitism was at play. I listened carefully, as I do dearly love my friend with whom we’ve raised children and had many good times together. Today she helps drive a vibrant homeschooling community, one that I had been involved in deeply for years which leads to my challenging mainstream education today.
After she spoke, I shared my thoughts. “You know, this has nothing to do with Judaism, Muslim faith or any religion. It has everything to do with control and power. We must seek those leaders, like President Carter who understood diplomacy and respect.
My friend was silent. She agreed. I have worked with preschoolers for years and clearly our educational system is failing when grown men have forgotten those early lessons of kindness and diplomacy. And that is our fault. We have been in a soup of a culture that glamorizes competition, rewards acts of “winning” and losing through violent sports and video games and worships those who have big money, without ever asking the question of how that money was made.
Instead we ought to be cultivating beautiful men who know how to dance, know that to work together is the greatest reward and how to put past generational issues at rest so we can collectively envision our future for our future children.
I’m always heartened to remember my former inlaws. My mother in law was a German child during WW2 who endured horror. Her father was recruited by the Nazis,even though he was an old man, and was immediately captured by The Russians. She didn’t own her own coat until she was 18 years old. Whilst my father in law had been an Italian boy during the war. And it wasn’t until his death did we learn that he was Jewish. They had been two war children on opposite sides and yet in their adult lives created the most beautiful fifty years together, putting the past behind them and setting religion aside in order to live the “now” and see each other as loving and caring humans. My father in law baked bread, gardened and always supported my own efforts with such warmth and nurturing. Their story and life give me hope for our future.
When stories of our past continue to divide us instead of “teach us” how to move forward, we must recognize the stories do not serve us and we need to create new stories to build a common thread of respect for one another.
In the name of the lives of the Palestinian children and other violence on the Israelis, I beg the world to open their eyes to the work we have before us. We are the change makers right now. Let’s start dancing with each other before it’s too late and show our children how we can make that happen.
It’s time for peace and who has the courage to make that?
I am shocked and disgusted by the San Rafael Police officers who used unnecessary force and unjustified violence against the gardener who goes by “Matteo” in Marin County, as reported by the local news.
This story brings to light the horrific treatment of our local hardworking, family oriented, trustworthy, honest and inspirational immigrants, most of whom work for substandard wages and are treated with disrespect. It’s activism I’ve been behind for years, trying to address it on a more systemic way. And when I do, I too am pushed down and told to shut up. It is time to scream justice.
Four years ago I journeyed to Guatemala to pay my respects for the death of the beautiful 20 year old Mayan Indigenous woman Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzalez who was shot dead by our border patrol in Texas, for no reason. She simply was trying to find opportunity for a better life and give back to her family. I sat with her parents in the Mayan community of Guatemala, parents who were salt of the earth and believed in dignity and honesty. Apparently I was the only American to pay my respects and apologize for the violence in my country that killed their daughter. I shared letter with them from people across the country so they knew that there were many of us trying to change a violent system and who cared about their daughter.
I continued on documenting the lives of our local and Guatemalan residents to humanize this amazing community we have in Marin County. They have been our laborers, nannies, gardeners, roofers, baristas. . . helping to raise our children and take care of our homes, often, again, below fair wages. What they have shown us is how to take care of your own, how to collaborate and that honesty and hard work will pay off. . . and it will, with our help, and if we stand by them.
We have history with those of Guatemala and Central America, dirty history that needs healing. Let us not forget the war years under Ronald Reagan who called them communists and ushered in military violence against even the Mayan Indigenous villages, slaughtering men, women and children. S. Brian Wilson, one American, continues to shed light on this with his two missing legs, given he was one to throw himself under a train filled with guns leaving California for Central America in the 1980s.
As for this county taking Human Rights issues seriously? I applied for the Human Rights Commission position this past year, driven by the fact there is no Latino voice on the commission. I come from the working class culture and I felt given many of the Latinos in this community are in a state of working class survival, perhaps I could step in and support them, given no one else on the board was doing so. I was unanimously rejected by the entire Board of Supervisors, in favor of a man who had no connection to the Latino community, leaving once again the commission without a voice for the working Latinos in Marin County.
I gave a photo exhibit at Dominican UC honoring a Latino family, showcasing resilience and beauty. Not a single Board of Supervisor showed up despite the fact the Consul General of Guatemala came. I was embarrassed by my community who could not take time out to honor resilience and welcome the new Consul General of Guatemala.
I have asked Supervisor Donnally to take the opportunity with his position and apologize to our local Guatemalan community for the war atrocities of the 1980s. He chose not to, despite the fact most in his district have deep Mayan and Guatemalan roots.
I hope Matteo and the rest of the Latino community stand up for themselves. Because as they do, they will find there are many of us behind them. They could teach us resilience, sacrifice, collaboration, nurturing qualities, friendship and so much more. They have already taught me so much.
Former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev died last Tuesday. I was very sad to hear the news as I had just been reading his book What’s Is At Stake Now , a powerful read by a great leader who had seen and experienced more than most people in this world.
I admired Gorbachev greatly and I was honored to have been given his trust a few years ago to deliver a message to President Jimmy Carter, a public birthday greeting to Carter during the 2020 California Jimmy Carter Jamboree event on Marin Television and cohosted by ABC Spencer Christian.
I hope in his death we will find reason to respect him more and also recognize the type of leadership and values he lived by. It’s far more important today than ever before. Rest in peace, great leader.
I’m not just running for the school board of Tamalpais Union High School District. I’m running with a vision to oust money from the political game and to be a stand for our teachers and youth for a new generation of learning, healing and thriving.
I learned the political game at age 13 when my family stood in the 1981 National Strike. Hard years followed when we were shamed for doing what was the right act, justified just recently by the federal courts when we won a multimillion dollar lawsuit. We stood for political honesty and fair wages. It’s time to think big, and that bigness starts in our schools.
Here are the issues I’m standing by: Health/Emotional Health Economic and Racial Integration and Diversity Environmental Responsibility Pro Union Review of History Taught
More on these soon, meanwhile you can follow my Facebook page for more announcements. Thank you!
I am pleased to announce a six week online course, hosted by Santa Rosa Junior College in Northern California, to discuss and debate whether President Jimmy Carter ultimately won the 1980 presidential election 40 years later. Join us for a vibrant reflection on Carter’s lifetime legacy focusing on energy, environmental, peace, health, human rights and housing initiatives.
A special guest from The Carter Center will join us one evening to answer questions.
This class is the first of its kind in our nation. Let’s make history! Link to register
Join our class at Santa Rosa Junior College, Northern California – ONLINE.
As we view Putin’s assault on The Ukraine and take stock in where we are in the world today with countries possessing unspeakable arsons of nuclear warheads, DEWs and other psychopathic tools to kill, maim and torture men, women and children, it’s opportunity to turn back the page forty years ago when we watched two leaders pivot the course of nuclear doom.
Those leaders, of course, were Reagan and Gorbachev, for those of us who can remember. As children of that time we practiced drills at school in case of a Soviet invasion or nuclear war. We believed the USSR to be evil because we were told they were bad. And yet, there was a Russian president we can look back on today with absolute respect. His name was Mikhail Gorbachev, who was born a farmer and rose in the ranks of the communist party to ultimately lead the Soviet people, as well as the world, during a critical time, ultimately being awarded The Nobel Peace Prize.
As we review those years and speeches by Gorbachev, we can uncover a level of propaganda we were fed in The United States, as we can see today he was a man of peace and vision. Like President Jimmy Carter who created The Carter Center to build on ideas of democracy, health and other global issues important to us all, Gorbachev created The International Foundation For Socio-Economic and Political Studies (The Gorbachev Foundation). His words:
“The XXI century will be a сentury either of total all-embracing crisis or of moral and spiritual healing that will reinvigorate humankind. It is my conviction that all of us – all reasonable political leaders, all spiritual and ideological movements, all faiths – must help in this transition to a triumph of humanism and justice, in making the XXI century a century of a new human renaissance.– Mikhail Gorbachev
These are words of a true leader. And as we refocus our lens of 40 years ago, we can see that Gorbachev had the courage and the will to listen to “the people”, opening the doors for his people to choose who they want to be, instead of aggressive controlling, building more military or launching a nuclear arsenal in order to achieve domination. He was and remains a true leader for the people, by the people and of the people.
In Wernor Herzog’s film Meeting Gorbachevwe get to pull back the proverbial curtain of 40 years of US political propaganda to actually learn about Gorbachev, as a man, and his dreams. During one interview he said “There are those who don’t understand the importance of cooperation. Such people don’t belong in politics.”
“There are those who don’t understand the importance of cooperation. Such people don’t belong in politics.” – Mikhail Gorbachev
In the book Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future, there is an entry that described a flight that Gorbachev and his wife took with the Reagans across the United States. Reagan proudly looked down at the landscape of small homes and said “one day everyone will have a swimming pool,” as an example that no one will be poor. This idea is nothing less that a promotion of utter capitalism, an idea that big money and luxury leads to happiness, security and health. Apparently these words jolted Gorbachev’s wife. And in her eyes perhaps she saw the materialistic path the United States was paving by this president, ideals very counter to their approach to helping their own country simply be healthy with what they need – food, shelter and support.
In Albania – A leader led with fear and domination, ruining the people, the land and the spirit.
I traveled through former Soviet Union in the year 2003, visiting Romania, Bulgaria and Albania, recognizing a lingering hunger as many struggled just to have food, health and a future. I stood on the concrete huts that the fear driven leader Enver Hoxca built to fight off Americans, littering their countryside into a wasteland. In Romania and Bulgaria and a few from Eastern Germany I learned of a different story than the one I was told. “We had what we needed,” I heard, as now many face other forms of corruption from a new oligarchy, as we do the same in The United States. After the fall of The Berlin Wall, the people lost everything that they had – medical care, dental care and other government support that are similar to the very services we are asking for in our country – The United States. And as we look around our own country, The US, today, we see the horror of poverty, lack of education and horrific health, including diabetes, obesity and more. We are The Soviet Union of the 1980s, ruled by elites, corrupt politicans and propaganda under the guise of capitalism instead of communism. And we don’t even have a wall locking us in these injustices. We choose to be locked into these injustices.
Five years ago, as I learned more about the failures of Reagan’s policies including his tax restructuring that have led to the power of the elites/American oligarchy and collapse of the middle class, knock down of President Jimmy Carter’s visionary environmental policies and knock down of labor (my family stood in the 1981 National Strike against Reagan, as I’ve written in my memoir documenting the journey of a working class family standing up to a president), I wanted Carter to be recognized for his leadership and visions instead of his failings, which too many people are quick to note without recognizing his speeches of “Crisis of Confidence,” which resonates boldly today, and his energy policies that could have thwarted not only our US economic and moral stability but could have mitigated the climate crisis today. So, as a teacher,
Bob Dylan, President Jimmy Carter and President of Musicares
I also reached out to Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, seeking his support, given he is a leader of peace. As a former farmer, too, his age and experience could offer a perspective on humanity and give us a glimmer of hope too, in his words, to “transition to a triumph of humanism and justice, in making the XXI century a century of a new human renaissance.” To my surprise, he responded and wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter, in my care, to deliver it, which I did, with a frame and a California Resolution honoring Carter, the first of its kind, supported by State Senator Mike McGuire and State Assembly Member Marc Levine.
An image Gorbachev sent to me to give to The Carters for 2019 Celebration of The Jimmy Carter Jamboree, supported by The California Legislation.
In my final note, why do I call Gorbachev “my friend”? It’s simple: He trusted me, a humble citizen and one of “the people”. I am not a fancy politician, business owner or tech guru. He supported me with a message and a project that had the intention of creating good will and peace. He never even met me other than to acknowledge my written words to his foundation with my request to support a celebration by the people to honor President Jimmy Carter. And this amazed me, when even my own government leaders rejected me and refused to support an intention “by the people”. Those politicans were Al Gore, Governor Jerry Brown and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi who had rejected while a Russian President stepped forward.
It taught me something about leadership – trust in “the people”.
Thank you President Mikhail Gorbachev. I do believe your inspiration will cultivate the will of a new renaissance by the people one day.
Resilience. We need to rise. We have everything we need to create who we are and ensure our government officials see who we are.
Like you, I demand an end to the absurd mandates that have been nothing less than comical, if you can laugh at the fact that officials were clever enough to convince the American people to literally and voluntarily cut off our own oxygen supply. . . sometimes with double masking. Our children walk around with snot filled, bacteria laden rags on their faces that drop, get stepped on in the school yard and then back on their faces they go. One silver lining? Comedians will have fodder for the next 1000 years after we are done with this episode of insanity.
What’s even more maniacal? As we face an obesity epidemic with one out of three adults obese and facing horrific chronic health ailments and now one out of five children face the same fate, we can recognize that with 80% of the covid dead being such victims, we have an entirely OTHER conversation that is immediate and life threatening to us all given we see that when you have a hugely vulnerable society with a large elderly population (the baby boomers) plus a huge obese population facing life threatening status (dietary diseases are the number two killer in our country, second to smoking), we will face pandemics for years to come, just as the US Surgeon General called out in 2001 – “Obesity is becoming an epidemic and it’s a pandemic in the making.”
So, this is the time to think radically different. Here are a sampling of my ideas as Governor of California:
1) Time To End War: If leaders have a conflict, they can get into a boxing ring themselves with the other leader they have a problem with and “we, the people” will buy popcorn and watch them duke it out and see who really wants peace.
2) Transportation: Time to mandate all elected officials to take public transportation ONLY. They must get rid of their own cars and participate in our public system given they are public servants. Watch how quickly our public transportation system improves.
3) Economy: Time for cooperatives to rise. Nonprofits have served as a very good example of how to run an organization while providing a service to the people. If you want to start a cooperative grocery store, cafe or business. . . our government should support you instead of singular individuals who make grand profits while pitting their workers into poverty.
4) Infrastructure: Who really needs a huge garage to fill with junk? Let’s reimagine our neighborhoods that lack cafes and grocery stores and support homeowners to take charge of their neighborhoods to fill these needs from their own garages. Our government should provide grants and more to support such needs while also providing a seed stipend to all homeowners with a yard to start a micro farm to grow food and share with the community.
5) Health: High time to recognize we have an obesity problem in our country that is hurting us all. Let’s regenerate our schools to become working farms to help grow food for the entire community, while empowering our students to understand good food, healthy soil and the value of nurturing. We need to tackle the childhood obesity rates so the entire society can thrive and live healthy.
6) Animal Rights: End animal experiments that create harm, trauma and pain to sentient creatures. Most experiments are no longer necessary. Let’s put them out of business!
7) Food Forests: Let’s create food forests in our community. Plant a fruit tree instead of meaningless decorative trees, so everyone can eat without worry. We can harvest trees that have been forgotten – such as the oak and bay trees, which provide wonderful nutrition, helps to mitigate fires and provides a local food resource.
8) Death: Nobody should have to pay huge sums to put a loved one to rest. We can create a program to help regrow our forests while honoring our dead. Instead of expensive caskets, land and tombstones, trees can serve to honor our legacies. Given the state already has a budget for our forest lands, people can augment to initiatives into one – honoring our dead and creating national sanctuaries for us to preserve. This is already being done by private companies that charge heavy prices. We don’t to make this an elite option for the few – we need to make sure everyone has a chance to provide a respectful and thoughtful end of life act for their loved ones.
9) Elderly: We have an emerging crisis, a heavy burden on our younger generation who will be carrying the load of taking care of a large elderly society – the baby boomers. While they age and need more care in a culture that has never respected the caregiver with either proper compensation or support, now is the time to raise the level of pay and recognition. To care for others, whether you are a teacher or a care provider, is a heart filled yet demanding work. Our society must recognize that we need reshape incentives and financial compensation for these incredible people, and that work should first start with our own families, as more often than not, families will care for their elders on a much higher level if they have the support. We ought to have tax incentives, just like childcare incentives, and provide a network of home care professionals who can support the home caregivers.
Housing: We have the answers to affordable housing. Habitat for Humanity. Instead of big investors profiting off the people, we, the people can build our own houses for one another. The structure is already in place, it just takes the right energy and commitment. What’s more is it’s time to rethink housing structures and needs. Is small apartment living so bad? Could a percentage of rent be used as secure investments for future housing to help those who do not have the large initial resources and who are being stripped of their financial worth by greedy corporate landlords? Could we rethink resources used by homebuilders? Cob and adobe homes are tried and true methods for long lasting structures, reducing our need for valuable wood and transportation.
Time to think different . . . WE, THE PEOPLE, HAVE THE ANSWERS. Don’t give away our power to those who exploit us.
Barbara McVeigh 