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ID4...Taking Down the Tea Party

It's fitting that I sit in my office on July 1st, three days before Independence Day, working on a new and improved complaint to submit to the North Carolina Board of Elections regarding the activities of the secretary of our Wilson County (NC) Board of Elections, who is also FOUNDER and leader of the Wilson NC Tea Party (WNCTP).

I submitted a previous complaint in November with my friend and PETV: People for the Ethical Treatment of Voters founder Barbara Dantonio to the state board.  Our hearing was in December.  We had over 30 exhibits in our complaint regarding the activity of Mr. Joel Killion, said secretary of the Wilson BOE and founder and leader of the WNCTP.

In the movie Independence Day, starring Will Smith, the citizens of Earth faced an invasion of formidable aliens with superior technology.  All nations around the world mobilized against the invastion.  Addressing a rag tag group of volunteer pilots and other Americans the fictional President of the United States declared that THIS Independence Day was for the whole world.

When an alcoholic Vietnam veteran pilot and father of three sacrificed himself to kamikaze into the heart of one of the alien ships, that turned out to be the key.  Immediately, military commanders ordered that the method of "take down" be wired around the world.

Well, Barbara and I ain't about to kamikaze ourselves, but we are about to take down the leader of one of the most "admired" and imitated Tea Party groups in the nation.  Of course, we will share with you all how we do it.

The results of our new complaint will be posted here and many other places once we hear.  I must get back to crafting our new complaint.  For now, here is the video (posted by Killion in August of 2013) that will play a major role (along with other evidence) in taking down Mr. Killion and deadening the WNCTP.

Stay tuned...

On the 50th Anniversary of JFK's Murder, Who will pick up the mantle of RFK?

It's 11:03pm on the East Coast on November 21, 2013.

In less than 24 hours, it will be at the exact minute that is 50 years since someone murdered President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.  The exact details of his murder or assassination are not concrete for me or many Americans or even citizens of the world, for that matter.

There are "official reports" about his demise, but one thing is certain.  He died before he could really shine.

Many others died before they could really shine too.  Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert Francis Kennedy come to my mind, as well.  There are those that have been and continue to step up in the legacy of MLK.  Our own NC Conference of the NAACP President Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, Rev. Curtis Gatewood, Bob Zellner and Tim Tyson fight for that legacy daily.  There are others...don't think I'm not honoring you as well.  I honor all who stand up to fight for MLK and Malcolm X's legacies.

For me, I suppose I personally feel drawn to the legacy of RFK.  Weeks before his own death, Bobby Kennedy correctly predicted the election of a "negro president" some 40 years in the future.  There is a book called The Gospel According to RFK:  Why It Matters Now.  It is a collection of Sen. Kennedy's speeches on the campaign trail in the Democratic primaries for President in the Spring and Summer of 1968.  It is edited by Norman MacAfee.  It is so inspirational to me and it helps to drive my progressive activism for justice every day.

I was briefly inspired and excited by the national presence of Sen. John Edwards, who seem to be picking up the mantle of Bobby Kennedy's impassioned work for the poor, the workers, women, minorities and the sick and elderly.  The accusations and allegations of impropriety in both family and campaign finance matters shattered that vision for me and millions of others, I'm sure.

So, now we have that African American president.  Once he became President, though, President Obama was shackled by the office and by his willingness to compromise with unreasonable Republicans and Tea Party members in pursuit of the greatest good for the country.

President Obama needs help.  Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alan Grayson and others are amazing, but they cannot do this alone.

So...as the 50th anniversary of the murder of Bobby Kennedy's older brother approaches in a few hours, I ask:  Who will pick up the mantle of RFK?  His legacy must continue...

MORAL DISSENTERS

For those that want to learn more about the 3rd Reconstruction, fusion movement known as the FORWARD TOGETHER movement, sprung from the HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) movement, this is your chance.  Please listen to the whole program.  The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II gives such an extraordinarily brilliant lecture on the TRUE history of our nation.

As a White Male, I plead with you to watch:

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/5188266/events/2495417/videos/33433444

God be with us all!
Asa A. Gregory

Greedy, Nonchalant Corporations, 2; Asa's aggressive chair retaliation, 1.8...More to come...

Most who know me know my disdain for huge corporations and the passes they are given by loopholed laws and government officials that either look the other way or vote to deregulate them.  Deregulation can and has been the cause of financial and market crises.

You may also know that I feel that the fact that Wall Street and other world stock markets are inherently linked to the individual national and the worlds economies is simply a pyramid scheme.  The success or failure of the markets affects the rest of us who don't care to participate in the legalized gambling that is stock trading.

Well, after being steamrolled by two American corporations today, I about lost it, but I found a healthy response.

Here's what happened:

Last week, after realizing I need to take my destiny into my own hands after striking out on getting substitute teacher gigs so far this year and getting rejections (or no responses) from employers both public and private, I took some action on wyzant.com ("wise-ant").  Wyzant Tutoring is basically a tutoring job clearing house and I acted as a subcontracted tutor through them.  We split payments (60/40) in my favor.

Last Spring, I met with a client working to improve Praxis 1 Reading scores.  We made great progress and we enjoyed working together.  It helped bridge the gap between sub gigs and shifts at Auto Zone.

Last week, the action I took was to reply to some emails, apply for some potential tutoring jobs, take some subject certification tests online and order a background check on myself.  For that last one, I had just over $8 bucks in the bank and the background check cost about $8.  I didn't have to order it, but 8 is my favorite number and I was trying to get organized, motivated and proactive with my destiny.

A day went by and I didn't have the background check completed.  No big deal.  Then I got an email from Wyzant.com saying that my account had been deactivated due to a negative response on the background check I ordered on myself.

I'm not an idiot.  I knew I had been arrested for 3 misdemeanors this past June 3 for refusing to leave the General Assembly building in protest of, among other terrible pieces of legislation, the cuts to public education.  These cuts hurt educators, students, parents and administrators.  So, I was proud to stand with all of them when I got arrested.

Since this is America, though, I assumed that because I was innocent until proven guilty, I wouldn't have that counted against me in my background check.  Of course I was wrong.

I called Wyzant on Friday and a guy was very helpful and he asserted (after checking with supervisors) that only convictions of felonies within the last 5 years and convictions of misdemeanors within the last 3 years would call for my accout to be deactivated.  He sympathized with my situation and he advised me to call Lexis Nexis (or whatever it's called now) first thing Monday (today).

I did.

The person on the other end of the line obviously didn't care.  They told me that, indeed, my arrest on 3 misdemeanor counts in June was the cause of the "negative" rating on the background check for which I paid.  Knowing there was no reasoning with a background check robot, I said thank you in robot language and we terminated the conversation.

So, obviously, the next step was calling Wyzant.

At first I got a young lady with an accent who, bless her heart for trying, couldn't help me.  I didn't blame her and I know her position in the company.  I called back and got a young man with a midwestern to northwestern American accent.  "Score!" I thought (though I knew he was in the same position as the last person).  I realized he could only listen and give me the information he knew.

I tried to request that Wyzant communicate with Lexis Nexis (or whatever) to get the mitigating information about my negative rating.  He, along with the previous young lady, told me that they don't see the details of the background report.  They just see pass or fail.  I tried to request a refund of the $8, since I most likely will have to request another background report after my charges are dropped (as I highly anticipate them to be, since they are unconstitutionally bogus).  Like I said, he and the previous young lady are essentially cogs in a big corporate machine, so I thanked them and asked them to pass my requests and my further information along.

I was angry...of course.  Here I was trying to "pull myself up by the 'boot straps'" and work for my own successful fiscal destiny.  Then two American corporations screw me over.

I began to think about my situation and how, in my opinion, background check organizations (that make a profit on our backgrounds) are rendering many of these "negative" reports unconstitutionally.  It violates my 5th and 6th Amendment rights.

Then I thought about how I was in bed with the Gun Nut Wing of the Tea Party Rethuglicans.  I shuddered, said "Ugh!" & went to work running errands for my parents, cleaning their shower stall and cleaning/organizing their back yard.

Then, wielding a mallet hammer, I decimated three plastic yard chairs for my parents to the tunes of "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey & "Hollywood Nights" by Bob Seger.

It's a slight loss on my part, but DAMN, that felt good!

LTE in defense of the LAW known as the Affordable Care Act...Move On!!

Thursday, September 19, 2013 9:36 PM No right to health care in Constitution I almost choked on my dinner this evening while I read the latest socialist ramblings of Deborah Baro. Health care is now a basic human right. Without it, Americans’ ability to pursue life, liberty and happiness is diminished. Apparently, without health care, people can’t improve their station in life. According to Ms. Baro’s letter, only the wealthy can afford health care. Needless to say, these statements are absurd. I’ve read the Constitution many times. There is no right to health care. It is typical for radial leftists like Ms. Baro to find new rights in a document that is over 250 years old. Just because certain people think they are entitled to certain things doesn’t make it so. I think all kids are entitled to a good home with two parents. I think we are entitled to be represented by legislators who vote according to their constituents’ wishes. My wishes aren’t anything guaranteed by our Constitution. Neither are Ms. Baro’s. I was told a long time ago that nothing in life is guaranteed. If you want something, you work hard in school, get a good education and find a good paying job. I was raised to believe that you earned your own way and didn’t expect someone to hand it to you. Here is where we hit the crux of the problem with the liberal left. They want the middle class to work hard and pay their taxes. Then they want to take the tax money and support those who are unwilling to make their own way in life. They not only take our taxes to pay for Obamacare, Obama phones, SNAP, WIC and the like, but borrow trillions of dollars on top of it to keep their dependency economy running. Personally, I’m tired of hearing what people in this country are entitled to have. I think you’re entitled to get off your butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society. I don’t think you’re entitled to mooch off the government when you’re perfectly capable of doing otherwise. We need to end government dependency, not increase it. We need to eliminate wasteful government welfare programs. We don’t need to add health care for the masses to the bills the government has to pay. No one in this country is denied health care service, anyway. If you go to the hospital seeking care, you are given care whether or not you have insurance. The idea that people can’t live without health insurance is ridiculous. There are thousands upon thousands of people who don’t have or want health care insurance. They don’t think the benefits outweigh the costs. What about their right to not have insurance? Did Ms. Baro ever think the mandatory edict that everyone purchase health care insurance would diminish the pursuit of happiness of some Americans? Let me answer that one for you with a quick no. The left doesn’t care how their entitlements affect the vast majority of Americans. They will allow millions of Americans to suffer just to save a few. They are like the doctor who treats a patient’s paper cut while he is dying of a heart attack. They fix small problems and allow the major problems to continue. Ms. Baro’s attack of the tea party is also straight from the liberal handbook. You call everyone who disagrees with you stupid, uninformed, racist, sexist, and any other name you can think of at the time. She says tea party members like bullet-type information with no explanations. Nothing could be further from the truth. All the letters written in response to Ms. Baro’s and Mr. Smith’s letters are full of information, explanations and research. That’s why Ms. Baro and her followers dislike the tea party so much. We have pages upon pages of facts to back up our arguments. She has none. She has made up facts, left leaning polls and name calling on her side. Take, for instance, her assertion that two thirds of Americans want Obamacare left alone. It came from a poll from MSNBC. In case anyone doesn’t know, MSNBC is the mouthpiece for the radical left. I have researched the popularity of Obamacare and, shockingly, it is in stark contrast to the single poll Ms. Baro cites. Real Clear Politics charts many polls on certain subjects and puts out an average poll based on their findings. Real Clear Politics poll says 52 percent oppose Obamacare while 38 percent favor it. Every poll used by Real Clear Politics has the majority of Americans opposed to Obamacare by at least 10 percentage points. NBC, FOX, Rasmussen, CNN and even USA Today all had recent polls that showed the unpopularity of this law. CNN, a liberal news organization, had the unfavorable rating of Obamacare at 57 percent! Yet, somehow, Ms. Baro states that two thirds of Americans want Obamacare left alone. It makes me question Ms. Baro’s research methods. I found my information with one search that took me a total of five minutes. I’m sure Ms. Baro found the same results I did. Why would she not include these polls in her letter? Could it be because these polls run contrary to her point? As the old saying goes, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story. It should be the motto of the Obama administration. Danny Ellis Sims

I’m sure Mr. Danny Ellis of Sims has long written off a strong response to his letter to the editor published on September 19. 

Since it was about the Affordable Care Act and its “constitutionality,” I figure the topic is still germane, considering the opening of the enrollment on October 1 and the efforts of the GOP members of Congress to effectively shut down the federal government based on their similar complaints about the Affordable Care Act.

I was first told of your letter, Mr. Ellis, by my independent-minded fiancée on the day it was published.  She was upset with your tone and language and I later read why.  The arrogance and vindictiveness of your language abounds.  You rant about “entitlements” and then say generally “I think you’re entitled to get off your butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society.”  How dare you talk to Ms. Baro or, really, ANY of us with that tone?  You don’t even speak with accuracy.

The U.S. Constitution is only 226 years old (from the date of its adoption by the Constitutional Convention), not over 250 years old, as you claimed.  I would imagine someone who has “read the Constitution many times” should know that.  You did/do not, however.

You also do not know (maybe realize?) that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is a phrase in the Declaration of Independence, not the U.S. Constitution…a full two major documents before the Constitution (don’t forget the failed “states’ rights” document called the Articles of Confederation). 

At this point, you probably have some “What difference does it make?” reaction. 

Let me explain to you the extremely important difference.  The founding fathers (yes, we “liberals” can do that too!) actively did not put that language in the Constitution because it was not a values/emotions document.  It was a corrective measure for the failed Articles of Confederation.

That means that the founding fathers made a mistake as a body and they corrected it.  The result has now stood for 224 plus years, with amendments, and has the respect of patriots like you and me.

I ask you to put your fork down for this one, Mr. Ellis.  I don’t want you to choke on your meal.

Now, you claim that there is NO RIGHT to health care in the Constitution.  Let’s review and analyze the preamble to the United States Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

So, this is the mission statement of the document.  This explains WHY the founding fathers scrapped the Articles and came back to draft this.  Did you catch that one word in the preamble...”Welfare.”  That’s right the right-wing, Tea Party taboo word.  Did you notice the way it was written?  It was capitalized, just like Justice, Tranquility, Blessings of Liberty, Posterity and Union.  That means they thought Welfare was a big deal.  That means they thought welfare important enough to not leave it out of the Constitution.

So, what?  Well, welfare has varying definitions, so I won’t quote one version here.  For all of us who know the English language, we should know that welfare means the general well-being, health, happiness and fortunes of any individual or group (in this case, citizens of the United States of America).
That means HEALTH CARE is a right the founding fathers believed was important before the insurance industry monolith existed.  That means they had no concept of what health insurance could be.  They did think that the health, well-being and fortunes of the citizens crucial to the survival of this republic.  That means the Affordable Care Act “jives” with their vision.  Three branches of government agree…as required by the U.S. Constitution. 

So, the Affordable Care Act is a LAW, something the GOP-controlled U.S. House doesn’t know anything about because they haven’t gotten any law passed since gaining power in January 2011.  Ineptitude in action!

Now, I’m going to get personal.  Mr. Ellis, you told me to get off my butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society.

I really take offense to that statement not just for myself, but for the countless folks that you just insulted with that language.  Personally, I am an underemployed substitute teacher who has stacks of rejections from state and federal government and other agencies, despite my vast qualifications.  Speaking to my self-esteem, I believe any organization would be quite lucky to pay me to help them with their mission.  As far as my positive contribution to society, I defer to others who know me to speak to that.

I haven’t had health insurance since May of 2006.  I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC at the time.  My wife left me, took the mail key and made me miss some important mail from BCBSNC.  They dropped my coverage without calling me and then told me I had to pay more than $800 to get back on.  My loving father wrote the check and BCBSNC rejected the check they told me I had to send them. 

Those are the games that the ACA sought to eliminate and those are the games that the ACA has often eliminated.  Because of the ACA, health insurance companies are required to spend 80% of their income on medical care.  I’m ok with that change.  Aren’t you?  If you’re not, what’s wrong with you?

You can keep having your nonchalant, vindictive and selfish views about your community.  That’s a First Amendment right.  I’ll fight to defend that right for you.  What I won’t let you do is accomplish what the “Suicide Caucus” Tea Party members of Congress sought to accomplish by allowing the federal government to be shut down Monday night.  The ACA is LAW.  Move on…

You have no clue, Mr. Ellis and I frankly feel sorry for you.  Your myopic view of the world is (I’m confident) “informed” by commercial “talking points” news agencies and like-minded folks that don’t challenge any of your comments or views.  That means you are surrounded by “yes men/women.”

I’m challenged daily by friends and strangers alike and I have looked at your side.  To quote a thoroughly brilliant friend of mine, “I could agree with you, but then I’d be wrong.”

Asa Gregory
Wilson, NC

Why I Engaged in Civil Disobedience at the North Carolina General Assembly Building

June 21, 2013 at 12:51am

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Why I Engaged in Civil Disobedience at the North Carolina General Assembly Building

A great friend and mentor asked me to write about my experience of getting arrested in the legislative building on Jones Street in Raleigh, NC on June 3, 2013.

I am disappointed in myself that I have not written anything about it until now.  However, as I tell everyone I can, the ONLY thing I get more CONSERVATIVE about as I get older is the notion that Everything DOES happen for a reason.

I didn't return for the 6th Wave of Moral Monday on June 10, as I intended, but I did make it to Raleigh on Monday, June 17 with my fiancée Brooke Bissette.  We made it up to the Halifax Mall for the final portion of the rally after the heroes with the green bands made their way into the legislative building to petition their state government for grievances through civil disobedience, loud singing and the displaying of (state statute prohibited) "unlawful" placards or signs.  It is, however, their (U.S. & NC) Constitutional right to do so (read both constitutions if you don't believe me).

I was disappointed that I was not there to cheer on the heroes this time as so many did last time as I walked in to certain detainment.  However, the "alumni" of Moral Monday arrestees were called to the front of the stage at the rally.  Brooke greatly urged me to go.  So, I went.

We were led in the singing of songs that were familiar to us that have already been arrested to that point.

"Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around...turn me around..."

"Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe we shall overcome someday..."

They were echoes of the civil rights movement that came before us where people gave so much more...which, in turn, was an echo of the abolitionist & suffrage movements that came before that.

It seems odd that in the 21st Century (where our criminal records are documented with laser-scanning technology and computers) that we have to stand again and sing the songs that seemed to have wrapped a good portion of the movement of the good souls to this point....

BUT...

Here we are.

I first heard of "Moral Mondays" just as I heard of HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street...which started, I should point out, when Democrats controlled all branches of state government).  It wasn't a "gimmick" phrase or brand...but it wasn't concrete either.

It wasn't until I attended the 13th Congressional District (North Carolina Democratic Party) Convention as the Former Chair of the Wilson County Democratic Party & a delegate (my parting official position with the party) that HKonJ and Moral Mondays sweetly pierced my heart.

A 92-year-old mother of a Moral Monday arrestee (and the chair of the Franklin County Democratic Party) Armenta Eaton stood up and put forth a resolution for our 13th Congressional District Convention of the North Carolina Democratic Party to support Moral Mondays.

She spoke of her daughter's arrest.  She spoke of women, elderly, minorities, children, sickly, poor; working poor...She basically spoke to my heart's core.  It is for these people that I have driven myself to work politically and within the community to make things better for all of them...all of us.  She spoke to me.  She spoke to the convention.  She spoke to the state.  She made HKonJ and Moral Mondays PERSONAL.

I agreed with her, clapping, with tears in my eyes and became resolute that I would pray on acting in civil disobedience in the legislative building very soon in my life's future.

As I mentioned before, everything happens for a reason.

I didn't go to the May 20 Moral Monday (two days after the convention).

I made sure I was off of work and my calendar was clear for June 3.  Brooke went with me and was so supportive and patient with her activist fiancé.  She even considered being arrested with me.  Her love and support was enough, though.

We made it to the debriefing and training session at a church in Raleigh just after 3pm.  The church was FULL!

There was an attempt made by (what I found out later to be) the NAACP legal team to check everyone in, but there were so many folks that were willing to be arrested.  This was "Mega Moral Monday," after all.

I found two friends from Wilson (particularly the Wilson branch of the NAACP, of which I have been and are now a member), Charles Cook and Frank Jones.  They are both very close to the Rev. Dr. William Barber who has been the rock, the fire and the calming hand on this growing storm of reaction to the regressive policies of the GOP-led North Carolina General Assembly.

I happened to be standing near Charles and Frank when there was a call for prayer.  I was honored to place my hand on Frank's shoulder before saying "Amen," and making my way to the back of the church [remember...it was crowded! :-)]

I stood at the back and listened to the testimonies, the prayers and the instructions for those that chose to practice civil disobedience.  Strips of green cloth were passed out to those that volunteered to get arrested. Soon after that, instructions were given that a bus was available to take the "heroes" to Halifax Mall.  It would return for all that needed a ride.  I met up with Brooke, gave her all my possessions (including my cell phone, wallet, "ASA" hat and buttons), and kissed her goodbye.

After grabbing a bottle of water and eating some almonds before going to the restroom, I ventured outside and spoke with some of my fellow green-banders.  I spoke at length with Chip Smith, who had been arrested once before in protest of the death penalty in Pennsylvania in 2000 before moving to the Rocky Mount area.  He heard I was from Wilson and told me that he plays bridge at the J.C. Harris Cadillac dealership.  It was a calming and emboldening conversation.

The impending arrest was becoming more real to me as the bus pulled up to the stop at Halifax Mall.  The driver was kind.  He smiled.  I smiled and said, "Thank you for the ride."  He nodded in appreciation of what we were all about to do.

I made my way out on to the Halifax Mall.  I was first met by Olivia Neeley from The Wilson Times back home.  Frank Jones had told her that some Wilson folks were there and recognized me from the stage.  She interviewed me for the article asking me why I was there and why I was about to be arrested.  I told her the story of Ms. Eaton's mother and the call within my soul to be there.  I told her that I may be a drop in the bucket, but maybe I or the person next to me might be the drop to make it overflow and bring the change needed for this state, and by influence, the nation.

Soon after that, I found Brooke.  I stood with her for a time and listened, cheered and clapped.  Then I felt the call.

I wandered to where I thought the green-banded volunteers were to go.  I ran into Jake Gellar-Goad, a friend and great Eastern Region Organizer for Democracy North Carolina.  He introduced me to his friends Evelyn Paul (already a Facebook friend for me) and Michael Schachter from New Bern.  We stood together and listened and watched and then moved to gather in line to enter the GA building.

We gathered two by two to walk in.

I noted (at least in my head...I may have said it out loud) that it was kind of like the animals gathering two by two onto the Ark before the Great Flood (which changed the world).  [Mental post note:  It is also notable that my thought pairs the word Ark with the word in the wonderful phrase:  "The Arc of the Moral Universe is long, but it bends Toward Justice."]

When I met with my mentor and friend on July 4 to discuss the possibility of him being arrested for civil disobedience the following Monday, he revealed to me a vision that he had.  He said he envisioned a woman standing with him in the "two-by-two" line.  He asked her, "Are you scared?"  She responded, "I am."  He responded, "Me too."

This reminded me that I was paired with a woman whose eyes I could shield with the evening light angle.  I did my best to shield her eyes as we walked in together.

When we got to the General Assembly building, she indicated that she needed to go to the restroom.  I tried to help her find one and then she found one on her own.  I felt tied to her and lost as I waited for her to return.  I realized I was scared without her.  She was my partner.  I waited for her as long as I could and then I realized that it was time.

The Rev. Dr. Barber asked if there were other folks that wore the green strips of cloth.  He encouraged us to move closer to the golden doors of the General Assembly.

We went in.  We gathered around the fountain.  We sang.  We prayed.  We cheered.

I looked for my partner and I couldn't make her out in the crowd.  I knew she was there, though.  I felt comfort in the 149 others that were prepared to be arrested with us.  I settled in next to a woman I recognized from a video that was made to oppose the North Carolina Amendment One.  I sang and prayed next to her.  I felt comfort in numbers.

We sang.  We prayed.  We cheered.  We prayed.



Then General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver made the announcement that we had five minutes to disperse or we would all be subject to arrest.

We continued to sing.  We continued to pray.  We continued to pray.

Then, one by one (after "one minute" and "time's up" warnings from Chief Weaver), we were led to the elevators in small groups by GAPD and Raleigh (Capital) Police.  We were then led to the basement (bowels) of the legislative building and gathered in the cafeteria.

It's at this point that I should point out that GAPD Chief Weaver, the GAPD, the RPD, the Wake County EMS, the Wake County Sheriff's Department and the CCBI treated us with the utmost grace and respect that I could have ever imagined.  I thank them for doing their jobs and treating all of us protesters with care.

We were there for about two hours (most of us) as we waited for our name to be called to be led into the next room and the next step of processing.

Along the way, I sat beside two older gentleman who both confessed that they are current Democrats, but former Republicans who agreed that the Republican Party left them behind.  I also sat near a gentleman named John Arnold, who as it turned out, was detained/arrested by a group that included his son-in-law who is an officer for the Raleigh Police Department (SWAT team too).  I, Bruce Arnold and other fellow arrestees agreed that this was the story of the night!  They took pictures that were posed greatly and are sure to be great memories for the family.

As we were moved further along in the seats, a group of very lively, happy women led us in singing of old sixties songs.  One woman in front of me was trying to remember the name of one female singer in particular.  Carole King was noted, but I was trying to remember the singer of the “Big Yellow Taxi” song with her.  I kept thinking Joan Collins, but we both remembered Joni Mitchell around the same time.

They loaded us onto inmate transfer buses in groups of 25.  Once they got us to the bottom, we walked out into the loading area and we heard chants of "Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You!" along with great cheers from the group that remained assembled after a terrible storm was unleashed onto the city.

On the way to the Wake County Detention Center, we stuck our zip tie cuffs out the windows and sang "This Little Light of Mine," along with some other songs that we had sung inside the General Assembly building.

When we got to the detention center, we were ordered on benches, searched one by one and our possessions were placed into our envelopes that were set up at the General Assembly.  In lieu of a body cavity search, they had a chair we sat on to determine if we had metal hidden in our bodies.  A rolling of our face on a mark on the top of the chair determined if we had metal in our mouths/faces.

After this, it was a waiting game.  It was a long waiting game.  Our bus arrived at the detention center at around 8:45 or so.

I had great conversations with doctors, pastors, professors, retired individuals (such as Bruce Alexander).  I was very grateful for the wisdom and comradery that I received from those that chose to be arrested on the same day as me.

We cheered those that moved into the next room that was the City-County Bureau of Identification (CCBI) when their name was called.

I did not get in to the CCBI room until about ten 'til 4am.  We were interviewed about our name, address, occupation, etc. and then our prints and mug shots were taken.  My mug shot (attached here on my poster) wasn't taken until 4:15am.

I finally saw the magistrate with those that would be the final four with me just before 5am.  Lawrence, Robert, Carlton, thank you for keeping me together in that final hour.

I walked out on my own written promise to appear in court at about 5am.  Most of the well-wishers had left.  It was a long night for the processing of 151 + people.  Those that remained, though, were fellow arrestees, the NAACP NC Conference legal team and Senator Earline Parmon.  Senator Parmon was so kind and so proud of all of us.  I was quite amazed that she was there at 5am to welcome the final four out.

She is a fine example of a representative that cares about all North Carolinians.  Her colleagues have a lot to learn from her!

Having no cell phone and having not set up a ride to get back to Wilson (about an hour away), I set off for downtown Raleigh with the hopes that I could find a pay phone and make a collect call home and get Brooke to come pick me up.  I walked about 3 miles towards Raleigh and I came across a BP station.  The owner wasn't there yet.  I tried my parents' number.  They had collect calls blocked.  I tried Brooke's Mom's number.  She accepted my call.  Brooke was there and made plans to come get me.

In the meantime, the News & Observer had been delivered to the store.  I opened it up and scanned the headline and read the article about Moral Monday.  Then I re-bound the papers and walked to the edge of the parking lot when the owner arrived.  Not too long after I had set up the arrival of Brooke to take me home, the owner of the BP kicked me off his property and told me he couldn't have me sitting there like that.  It was a slap in the face, but that's life.

Brooke arrived about an hour and a half later and I was on my way home to Wilson with her.  I told her about the night and the sights I had seen and the sounds I had heard.  I told her about the wisdom of my fellow arrestees and I realized that this was the absolute right time, right place and right action to take. I was grateful to be back in Wilson with Brooke and enjoy a breakfast before I finally slept at 10am.  I was home.

On June 17th, on our way to Halifax Mall when we returned to Moral Mondays, I ran into Pastor Lawrence Womack, who was one of the final four released from the Wake County Detention Center on June 3, along with Pastor Robert Hood and Pastor Carlton Eversley and me (Preacher's Kid).  The joy I saw on his face and the joy I felt inside were incomparable.  I wondered if this was how the "Brothers in Arms" from the Dire Straits song felt when they saw each other alive again.

I introduced him to Brooke and I shook hands with another fellow arrestee from Pastor Womack's county, Pastor Williard Bass.  I wished them peace and Godspeed and we passed along with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts.

When we returned to the area across from where they loaded the inmate transfer buses after the rally, I found one aspect to be telling of the whole HKonJ and Moral Monday/Witness Wednesday movement.

You see, there's one aspect of my history that I'm leaving out.  My Dad is the Rev. Henry Duval "Greg" Gregory IV.  That indicates history just by his name.  Our story spans back a few more generations that are peppered with pastors, theologians and servants within the Presbyterian Church (USA) faith.

When Toussaint L'Ouverture was leading the Haitian Revolution that would lead to the independent nation of Haiti, my family was a family of sugar planters on the island of San Domingue.

When Toussaint's right-hand man, General Dessalines, led the violent portion of the revolution, my family was murdered, first with the head of the household being poisoned.  The whole family succumbed to death, except for a boy named Caspar Ramsey Gregoire.

He encountered a former family slave in the streets of Port-au-Prince.  Instead of killing him, the family slave negotiated his passage on a boat piloted by Captain Jones.  Captain Jones delivered Caspar to Philadelphia, where he was taken in by a Presbyterian family.  We have been Presbyterian ever since.

As I have argued in a Senior Religious Studies seminar at East Carolina University, "...we are, by debt, pacifists."

It was also telling that I ran into my friend David LaMotte, who told me that he had been arrested the week before.  He also informed me that his father was being arrested this time.  David and his father come from the Presbyterian Church and I am so proud of both of them for standing in their faith against the cruelness of this GOP-led regressive legislation.

He told me he had never been more proud of his father with a huge, peaceful smile on his face.  That rings true.

When I was carried off in a bus, I heard "Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You!"  Two weeks later, when I returned to support the heroes, we chanted "Thank You!  We LOVE You!"

That's the essence.  That's the spirit.  That's why I was arrested on June 3.

If these NC legislators understood that, we wouldn't be practicing civil disobedience and gumming up the court calendars with our physical petitions of grievance.

UPDATE: Armenta Eaton's 92-year-old mother, Rosa Nell "Rosie" Eaton, decided that she had had enough and was arrested earlier tonight on June 24, 2013.

She is inspiration enough for the continuation of the FORWARD TOGETHER movement (she inspired me!!!)!  :-)

Drafted to Serve the Campaign

My good friend, Rev. Alonzo Braggs, called on me to write this as a step to my next calling in this life. Many thanks, Alonzo!

Drafted to Serve the Campaign

In April of 2008, I lost my second source of income when Ritz Camera closed shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I resigned my position as Educational Assistant at Vision Quest Alternative Middle School and began packing up my previous eight months of New Mexico life.

With an old friend and co-worker (Matt Morace) from a Ritz Camera that also closed in Greenville, North Carolina a few years ago, I packed up my cat Ringo and all of my belongings and began the journey back to North Carolina. Two and a half days later, I arrived in Wilson around noon on April 11, 2008. Dad left instructions for me to unload my car from the trailer and head to the Obama headquarters on Tarboro Street and meet with Field Organizer for the primary, Anna Scott.

My Mom helped me get my car off. I drove to the headquarters and met Anna. She charged me with the mission of heading to the Piggly Wiggly on Nash Street to register voters before the voter registration deadline at 5pm that day. After an hour and a half of talking with customers leaving the store, I had a stack of 13 new voter registrations. Noting the deadline, Anna asked me to meet her at the Wilson County Board of Elections.

We met, reviewed the registrations for error and successfully submitted all but one of the registrations. The adrenaline rush of the quick experience had me hooked for the next four weeks. The culmination of my work on the phone banks, neighborhood canvassing and volunteer/office organizing with Anna and other paid Obama operatives and volunteers was the primary victory for Senator Barack Obama on my 31st birthday, May 6.

After a summer of service at a Presbyterian Conference Center for youth conferences in the mountains near Asheville, my Dad again called me to meet the new Wilson Field Organizer for the General Election campaign. His name was Jon Dynes, a 19 year old dynamite recent super volunteer that delayed entry to Ball State to work in Wilson County. August was filled with canvassing and phone calls in the temporary Obama office in Rep. G.K. Butterfield’s old office building on Jackson. As the Democratic National Convention approached, Jon mentioned the desire to organize an Obama acceptance speech watch party.

My Dad, who had also been highly energized and involved in the early stages of the General effort, was happy to suggest we host the party. My Mom and I agreed emphatically. On August 28, we gathered about 14 people in my parents’ living room. A reporter for the Wilson Daily Times was invited by Jon and he interviewed the diverse group of people before taking a group photo that wound up on the front page with the story. The photo of the group, which was mostly African American, proved to be an uncomfortable sight for the parishioners of my Dad’s country church. It was never stated outright, but my family overwhelmingly felt that racism was in play in the termination of Dad’s relationship with the church he served for fifteen years.

This outcome was indicative of many obstacles that I and so many others would encounter along the two month fall campaign trail here in Wilson. Obama signs were stolen or defaced (three from my parents’ side lot) all over the town. It became very personal for me when someone left a note on my windshield that read:

After reading your stickers…wish your mother believed in abortion! Don’t you[?]

Opponents of the Obama campaign amped up their efforts locally as the election drew closer. Their actions were, in most cases, obviously racially motivated or at least dripping with fear.

Those that I worked with on the campaign were very resilient and inspired me every day. Virginia Williams, E.D. Arrington, Anthony Williams, Everette Speight, Don Moos, Bettie Lucas, Jon Dynes, Hart Bailey, Sean Respass, Torey Newton, Khalid Hudson, Sybill Sutton, Candance Sutton Sauls, John and Emy Hinnant, Reid Johnson, Maria Albani, Norman Johnson, Gov. and Carolyn Hunt, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield, Melanie Mauzé, Blake Segers and many others (forgive my memory) were all key players in the pushback against the attacks on our campaign. They registered voters, had productive conversations with undecided voters, drove voters to the polls, and got out the vote in the final couple of weeks.

I don’t like to single out people above the rest, but I was especially touched and inspired by the efforts of Virginia Williams. From meeting her at the Obama speech watch party, I knew that Virginia was a special woman. I had no idea just how much one person could do to help elect a president. Virginia was a tireless, amazing volunteer. In addition to her extensive ministry work in the neighborhoods of Wilson, she added long days of voter registration drives at grocery stores and simply walking in the streets armed with stacks of voter registration forms. As a group, we registered approximately 1,600 new voters in Wilson County. Virginia had to have done 200 or more single-handedly over the course of two months. Her work and our work paid off when Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States.

Virginia remained in contact with my Mom by phone throughout September through January. The last we heard from Virginia was a call to Mom in early January. “I’m going,” she said. “Going where,” my Mom asked. “I’m going to the Inauguration!”

My Dad read a very short obituary in the paper shortly after that that mentioned the death of Virginia Williams of Daniels Street. I stopped in my tracks in the kitchen and hung my head and wept. If there was anyone who deserved to witness Obama’s inauguration, I would have said it was Virginia Williams. I went to the Inauguration with my Dad, oldest brother and my nephew (all officially named Henry, 4-6). In my left inside coat pocket, as cheers and my gaze went up to the sky after “…so help me, God," was an article that appeared in the Wilson Daily Times about Virginia’s work feeding the poor and homeless during the holidays. It was printed when staff of the WDT realized they had let her passing slip past even them. That was how Virginia would have wanted it, though. She did everything in life and for the campaign to the glory of her Lord.

The long hours, the extremely hot and cold days of the campaign were only the beginning in my eyes. I was in shock in the days after the election. Mom snapped a picture of me sitting in my former seat at the headquarters as I took a break from cleaning up with Hart, Bettie and other volunteers. That picture was the capturing of the first moment in two and a half months that I realized I could rest. Frankly, I didn’t like it.

I hunger for more. I know more work is ahead. More people need to be educated about their rights and get registered to vote. There is more discrimination and marginalizing of so many Americans. There can be no complacency and apathy. We need to keep moving…for the Abrahams, Fredericks, Harriets, Medgars, Jacks, Malcolms, Martins, Bobbys, Cesars, Rosas, Pauls and now Teddys. They are out there…just waiting to be reached and called to serve in specific active roles. I’ll be looking for them for the rest of my life for I am grateful for the Fall of 2008 as the overt call to my soul.

Letter to the Obama Administration, Concerning Health Care Reform.

Below is a letter I just submitted to the Obama Administration.

**********************************

Dear Mr. President and the administration:

I have been a steadfast defender of you and your policies with everyone, even my girlfriend. We most recently got into a debate about the Health Care Reform process.

I defended the president and said that he is going around the country to build support for his plan for Health Care Reform. The members of Congress are the lawmakers now, I told her, so they have to be convinced by their constituents (us) to build the right plan. I told her that President Obama is trying to build support for just that.

HOWEVER...

At this point, you stand on the edge of losing progressive and liberal supporters like me when it comes to Health Care Reform.

First, I heard of a deal with the drug companies to reduce price increases by 2% over the next 10 years. That is something, but my question to that is...Aren't we trying to keep them in check in the first place? Why would we even allow them to raise prices in the near future anyway?

Second...This is MOST CRUCIAL...

Now I have heard that the White House is backing away from the public option, which would force the private insurers to seek honest practices if they wished to remain in the black ink zone.

President Obama, you and members of your administration (cabinet) are saying that the public option is not a crucial part of or is not the only part of Health Care Reform legislation.

My question to all of you in response to that notion is: What are you offering us as a means to stop the gross profiteering of the private insurance and drug companies?

How will you keep the private corporations in check and make them realize that they are in the Health CARE industry, not the Health for PROFIT industry?

How can you let Health Care Reform legislation be continually watered down to the point where, ultimately, the corporations and their profits win and the American people who are struggling and need this (myself included) don't.

I worked very hard to elect you, Mr. President. I know of so many people who did just the same. We believed in you and your ability to bring change to DC. You called on us to believe in our ability to bring change, as well.

So, as a progressive, liberal, uninsured American who believed in you, I call on you to help us believe in you again!

Please bring back the public option and stand strong for those who cannot stand against the giants without hearts!

Hoping for a principled response,
Asa Abraham Gregory

Transcender

Letter to My Fellow Citizens of Wilson

As a longtime resident and citizen of Wilson County, I feel the need to write this letter to my fellow citizens of Wilson.

In the last month two of my family's Obama signs have been either defaced or eventually stolen. This apparently has been a common thing as I have heard from fellow supporters that they have experienced the same thing.

As I was replacing the last stolen sign, a gentleman and fellow supporter stopped in front of my family's lot and asked me where I got my sign. I told him it was one from the primary and I got one for him. A long conversation followed and I talked to him about the importance of registering voters and volunteering for the Obama/Biden campaign. He got some registration forms from me and registered more than 25 voters.
 
This past Thursday, October 9, I was walking to my car on Barnes Street to move it to a new spot. I saw what I thought to be a parking ticket on my windshield. It was, rather, a note written on a torn piece of an envelope.


The note read as follows:

After reading your stickers…wish your mother believed in abortion!  Don't You[?]


The stickers they referred to were Obama stickers, other Democratic candidate stickers, messages of Peace, my First Presbyterian Church sticker and a "Vote the Environment" sticker.

The person who wrote this note sought to affect me with their words. They did not affect me in the way in which they sought. After seeing this note, I went canvassing for Obama and registered a voter and collected a check from a supporter.

To the fear- and hate-mongers of Wilson County, I have a strong message. If you keep up your antics, you will only further motivate those of us who strive to work for the betterment of this state and this country. You are not cutting us down, you are building us up. We grow stronger and closer together as citizens every day.

Contrary to what you may believe, the people of Wilson County (no matter what their party or affiliation) are good, hard-working people who love their country. We are focused on the true problems of our state and country like the economy, health care, smart energy plans, the country's infrastructure, better benefits for our veterans and more jobs.

If you put as much energy into working for the good of our great nation as you do into spreading your messages of fear and hate, then together we could make this nation strong and prosperous once again.

Asa A. Gregory
1003 Nash Street N
Wilson, NC
asagregory@hotmail.com

I STAND ON INTEGRITY!

Some of you may peruse my Facebook or MySpace profile and get confused. He's for Kucinich. He's for Obama. He enjoyed Bill Clinton's book "My Life." Is he a "flip-flopper?"

No, I'm not a flip-flopper. I discern very early who I find to have the most integrity. I'm also smart, though. I get behind the candidate that has the best chance to be the nominee AND have the most integrity and connection to the common people.

So! In 1992, I like Paul Tsongas, but I was behind Tom Harkin. Bill Clinton ended up being the Democratic Nominee. Go figure. I was 15.

Then came 2004. Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio was the candidate for me, but I didn't make it to vote in the NC Primary. So, I had picked Kerry to be the nominee. I was right. I worked hard...and was disappointed...again!

So, then comes the 2008 cycle. My father and I BOTH were starstruck with the potential presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

I was linked through my gut with John Edwards for his fight against poverty and Dennis Kucinich for his strong and solid/consistent stance against the War in Iraq.

Then Governor Bill Richardson of the New Mexico entered the race. He stood against the war and he had diplomatic experience in the area in question.

So, what was a Southern Liberal to do???

Well, here's what I did:

I worked one day for Bill Richardson's campaign gathering info. about the health care and retirements of fire fighters and police men and women. Then I got a bad taste in my mouth....it HAPPENS in politics!

Then I ordered my true colors from www.kucinich.us. Dennis Kucinich was my candidate of conscience and personal integrity. I stuck with him until the end...when my heart was broken...seriously!

The logical transition was to the historic and obviously full-of-integrity campaign of Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

I haven't regretted a moment since. It's good to vote your conscience twice (once in New Mexico for Kucinich and once in NC for Obama) and then the third time this November!!!

I challenge ALL of you to go to www.barackobama.com and www.johnmccain.com and just PAY ATTENTION to what's going on and then tell me if you can honestly and with the full integrity of self vote for Senator John McCain!

I imagine most of you will have that nagging feeling. Barack Obama is the real deal. He's human. He's flawed....but he stands for ALL of us. If you stand on your integrity too, you'll vote for the truest change of your lifetime and vote OBAMA in November!

In Peace Always,
Asa A. Gregory

Time to Grow Up.

On this past Tuesday night, April 22, I watched the opponent of my candidate increase her lead in percentage of votes to ten percent in the Pennsylvania Primary returns. One might think that would be enough to get my night out of whack. One would be wrong.

I then had the misfortune to hear about the outstandingly irresponsible commercial that the North Carolina Republicans announced they were going to air. They officially say that it is not a direct attack on Senator Barack Obama because they are questioning Gubernatorial candidates Richard Moore and Bev Perdue for their endorsements of Obama. They question them because of people in Obama's past such as Rev. Wright or Tony Rezko.

Do they think the voting public is stupid? Wait! Of course they do. They have assumed they could trick unsuspecting voters with their false rubbish for years. They associate with the RNC & President Bush and Vice-President Cheney.

How dare they assume we are stupid?! How dare they question "Obama's past" and any other person he might have smiled at on the street?! How dare they be irresponsible and endorse a disastrous war and equally disastrous domestic economic policies which exclude the majority of the population and reward the few rich of our nation and then question OUR(Liberals, Democrats, Patriots as well...) integrity and reliability and commitment to the USA?!

Wake up North Carolina Republicans! No, wait...GROW UP NC Republicans. It's time to assume the responsibility of your horrible mistakes and quit pointing the finger elsewhere like some selfish and naive child.

WE MUST PREPARE FOR NOVEMBER IN NEW MEXICO NOW!!!

Yesterday I had two new friends, Deb and Doug, join me in making calls to Texas to persuade people to get out and vote twice for Obama in both the primary and the subsequent caucuses. Between Doug and I, we contacted a third of our targeted voters and got word that they are pledging support for Obama. This is great news!!!

I think that in order to prepare for the conservative, right-wing Republican attacks that are just waiting in the wings for when Obama is officially the nominee we need to get organized and unified together here in Albuquerque and New Mexico in general. New Mexico played a small but major part in the last two presidential elections. We are neighbors to the homestate of the obvious Republican nominee, so we can logically expect a hailstorm of Republican efforts here.

I met with someone today who is connecting me to others who are working in the grassroots with organizations like moveon.org to mobilize a strong united force here in New Mexico (which we can safely call a battleground state now). I will be posting more information in the coming week and weeks about opportunities to turn back the horrendous tide of the last 7 years of lies and dirty tricks.

There are enough of us out there that if we all come forth and work and contribute our talents and passion energy, then we can be the change we have been waiting for and we need not worry that first Tuesday in November!

Thanks for reading!

In Peace Always,

Asa A. Gregory

Ordinary People?

Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X and George Washington...

Those are pretty impressive and "untouchable" names in history, right? WRONG!

Most of these people were citizens of the British Empire and then of the newly and courageously formed United States of America. Others were citizens of the Western Hemisphere who saw that great change was needed and answered a call to the greatness within themselves and those around them.

How do they relate to you, to me and to people who join our country every day, every and every year?

They relate very closely, I tell you...

These were ordinary people who made something of themselves against all odds of the time. They sought something greater...within themselves, within their community and within their country and, ultimately, their world.

They got educations and military honors or just simply spoke out and took a bold stance in the face of something more powerful and daunting than themselves. They faced treason and certain death and they did not take "NO" or apathy itself as an answer on how to live and survive.

That is how you and I and new residents and citizens of the United States of America and the world relate to these seemingly out of reach and out of touch echoes of history.

We are the makers of our own world. We are the champions of what we KNOW to be right.

You are no ordinary citizen of this world, unless you doom yourself to be so.

Elections of our U.S. government officials are seemingly only elected through channels of money and corporations, but the people are always more powerful than the money that claims to have a hold on the future of our country and the world. We as a collective, but certainly as strong and inspired individuals, have the grip on the lever that determines our future.

The power to vote is a power that has long been forgotten and ignored through oppression and apathy, but it is ALWAYS your power to exercise. Not just your vote, but your voice, your actions and your will to survive and change will make the world as we understand it should be.

So, don't feel that your mind, your voice or your importance is being crushed by the evils and the powerful money influences of the world.

You and I and Us and We are the only ones who can set us free...SPEAK OUT and ACT!

Demos, HEAR YOUR VOICE!

Last week I went to sleep with the prayer in my mind that I may be more diligent in pursuing my passions and my goals and my talents.

I woke up with probably the best letter to the editor in my mind that I've ever written. I felt revolutionary. I felt like my letter could change the minds of voters on the fence in Democratic primaries all over this nation.

Below is the letter I woke up with resonating in my head:

Man of Integrity

12:05am Wednesday, Jan 23

The following is a letter I wrote to the "editor" which I forwarded to several newspapers around the country to raise awareness about the man who I believe should be President, despite the naysayers and the chronic annoying doubters...

***********************

Deciding to run for president is by no means a light decision for
anyone brave enough to join the race. It even sometimes comes with
death threats. Ask Abraham Lincoln, Jesse Jackson or Bobby Kennedy.
For years we have listened to the major candidates on either side of
the aisle, while Third Party Candidates such as Ross Perot or Ralph
Nader have never had a true chance.

We now live in an age where corporations and the national media truly
decide what voices we hear when making our choice for "the leader of
the free world." The state of our democracy is decidedly worse than at
any other point in history.

A national media network owned by a major corporation (whose stocks I
sadly own) locked out a particular candidate in a recent debate, after
extending him an invitation and letter of congratulations.The candidate
of whom I speak is Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of
Ohio.

Dennis has my vote because he stands on the shoulders (and pages) of
history with integrity, courage, passion and especially because he
truly defends the U.S. Constitution.

I urge the voters of this country to vote their conscience or at least
find out who truly represents their conscience and values, instead of
voting for the corporate appointed poster boy or girl of their party.

We MUST see a person of integrity leading the people of this country
in the White House. Vote your conscience. Vote Dennis Kucinich. I am
sure James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington would
applaud you.

-Asa A. Gregory
Albuquerque, New Mexico
asagregory@hotmail.com
**************************

I was floored, however, when my mother told me two days later that Dennis Kucinich (the man on whose behalf I had written the letter) had withdrawn from the race. I honestly don't think I'm over it yet, though I FULLY understand why he transitioned back to his Congressional Re-Election campaign.

The message of that letter was that our democracy was in a terrible state and Dennis, I believed, was the voice of the people to lead us back to the greatness that the founding fathers foresaw through the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Dennis Kucinich is still the voice of the people...most specifically the people of the 10th Congressional District of Ohio. Those people need to re-elect that voice, so that we all will have a true voice of conscience on the war, health care, the environment and so many other issues.

Do what you can to help Dennis keep his seat. Then think about who speaks for you in your home district and help them get elected or re-elected! If WE THE PEOPLE don't speak out with our vote, then THEY, THE "REPRESENTATIVES" in Washington don't speak for us.

So, stand up, speak out and go volunteer, contribute and VOTE!!!

In Peace Always,
Asa A. Gregory

TURN AROUND!

Alright...

I grew up in a Christian household, the son of a Presbyterian minister and a devout former Baptist convert to Presbyterianism. I saw all the bullshit in the Church as my Dad was forced out here, forced out there and our family was shuffled all over the Southeast due to "calls" that my Dad received.

So, I know about the dark, evil shadows of "THE CHURCH." I also am aware of the seeming inconsistencies and contradictions in both Church Dogma and in "The Word," which is The Bible.

I have been listening to a discourse on religion, spirituality and the railings against both my whole life. Most recently, the debate over "Intelligent Design" and "Evolution" has come up in regards to science courses in the school systems across the country.

I address this following mental image example to ALL Christians, Atheists, Buddhists, Jews, Taoists, Shintoists, Agnostics, Hindus, Muslims, Rastas, Native American Spiritualists, Confucianists, Wiccans, etc:

**************************

*********************************************************

Imagine the people of the world are standing in a circle, as though they would if they were going to hold a parachute and bounce a ball around.

The people standing in the West can try to explain, cajole, plead and argue with the people standing in the East that a purple sun is rising in the East. The people standing in the East, facing the people in the West, can argue that there is no way that there is a purple sun rising in the East.

"Everyone knows that the Sun is either orange, red, or yellow, depending on the progression from the horizon."

On the same token, the people standing in the East can try to convince, cajole or twist the people standing in the West that a green sun is setting in the West. The people standing in the West, facing the people standing in the East, might put forth a similar argument about the setting sun that the people standing in the East put forth about the rising sun.

"You are NUTS! There is NO WAY that the setting sun is green. Everyone knows that the Sun is yellow, orange or red as it sets.


In both cases, the people are making arguments based on years of understanding and find the people directly opposite of them crazy for believing what they believe from their point of view.


Well, suppose a hang glider flies over at both points in the day and yells for the people standing in the East or the people standing in the West to "TURN AROUND!" They may or may not hear the hang glider, but if they followed the instruction and turned around, they may find what the people directly across from them had seen all along.

***********************************************************************************

One thing is for certain. We are all human beings living on this round Earth and we all breathe in and breathe out every day of our lives. Perhaps we need to take a moment between those breaths to TURN AROUND and open ourselves to the possibility that there is some common ground among all of us.

*Maybe it's not ludicrous to consider that maybe Creationism and Evolution are part of the same plan or course of nature.

*Maybe it's not ludicrous to consider that the warring factions all over this world have some common ground and can come together in peace.

*Maybe it's OK to consider that you are not in as bad a place in your life as you once imagined. Hope is not a bad thing...neither is faith...of any kind.

Open up your mind...I promise you won't be disappointed with what you will find.

In Peace Always,
Asa

p.s. Thanks for the discourse, Mike! Peace to you, Brother...keep turning!


Currently reading :
The New American Story
By Bill Bradley
Release date: 27 March, 2007

George Allen and the Cancer of the Republican Party!

So, I have started watching the Daily Show and The Colbert Report quite often now that I am out of school and I don't have much else to do (aside from CLEANING MY ROOM...AHHHH!) but watch Comedy Central and my USA Network shows (Monk, The Dead Zone and Psych). I have really enjoyed getting back into the groove with watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, especially after watching both in Maryland with my oldest brother, his family and my Mom and Dad on our recent trip after I was at Montreat.

The other night is where I first saw the recent embarassing (but very true and revealing) incident for my adoptive home state of Virginia and my Grandaddy's Republican Party.

See, I'm a very liberal Democrat in the mold of Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR, JFK, Eugene McCarthy, RFK, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Ted Kennedy, Paul Wellstone, Bill Bradley, Dennis Kucinich, John Kerry, Howard Dean and John Edwards. However, I have great respect for a few number of Republicans on the other side of the divide. Sen. John McCain, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Gov. Thomas Kean of New Jersey, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut (OOPS...:-p) are all fine examples of people to the right of me that I greatly respect in many ways. I used to have a respect for the elder President Bush, in light of his resemblance to my Grandaddy, who I think is a very fine human being! The more I learn about him, the less respect I have for George H. W. Bush. However, he still is leaps and bounds above his son...and Senator George Allen of Virginia, for example.

At a recent fundraiser gathering in Virginia, a representative for Senatorial Candidate Jim Webb was there videotaping Sen. Allen for reference, I would imagine. It's a free country, after all.

After saying that he would run his re-election campaign on positive and constructive ideas, Senator Allen introduced S.R. Sidarth, the representative for Jim Webb, in his own revealing way.

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Below I will include a quoted section from the Washington Post article on the incident (that can be found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081400589.html), written by staff writers Tim Craig and Michael D. Shear :


...At a campaign rally in southwest Virginia on Friday, Allen repeatedly called a volunteer for Democrat James Webb "macaca." During the speech in Breaks, near the Kentucky border, Allen began by saying that he was "going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas" and then pointed at S.R. Sidarth in the crowd.

"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great," Allen said, as his supporters began to laugh. After saying that Webb was raising money in California with a "bunch of Hollywood movie moguls," Allen said, "Let's give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." Allen then began talking about the "war on terror."

Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs...

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This incident resonates the arrogance and the nonchalance that many Republicans demonstrate toward the people they claim to serve. S. R. Sidarth, a Virginia resident, voter and volunteer for the Webb campaign was reduced to a throw away foreigner by Senator Allen through his comments and the subsequent laughing from his supporters. These people do not represent the Republican Party of the nineteenth century.

The Republican Party, at its inception in the 1850s, was founded on ideas such as abolition, containment of slavery, a commitment to the Federal government and a general rejection of the xenophobia (or hatred) that was represented by Allen's "macaca" comments.

The Republican Party of today does not represent the party of Senator Charles Sumner, President Abraham Lincoln, Abolitionist and Great American Frederick Douglass or Rough Rider and Environmentalist Progressive President Theodore Roosevelt.

Senator George Allen, and others like him, represent the cancer that is eating out what's left of the heart of the Republican Party. Seeing people like Senator McCain endorsing and campaigning for Senator Allen only confirms my view.

I am an outsider to the party and I have, as I mentioned before, a great deal of respect for several Republicans. If the Republican Party values the views of outsiders like me and citizens of the United States of America in general, then they should pull support for idiots and biggots like Allen.

The arrogance of those Republicans grows, and their delusion is a cancer to their party, our nation and ultimately the world. As an outsider, DEMAND that the Republican Party value all Americans, including S. R. Sidarth! As a Republican, you should want more for your party. You should want to stand on better ideas and better solutions than racial slurs and falsely justified wars. As any citizen, we should ALL demand better from most of our politicians! Believe me, I'm watching the Democrats and the Greens and the Libertarians too!

In Peace Always,
Asa A. Gregory

ONE VOTE=POWER

Recently a handful of bills and amendment proposals have been voted down by as little as one vote.. The Federal Marriage Amendment proposal (which sought to install hate and discrimination in the United States Consititution) was voted down. The Flag Burning Amendment was voted down. The Internet Pipeline issue was dismissed.

These were all close calls for the future of our country and, ultimately, our world. The United States of America sets a standard for a good portion of the world (the portion that hasn't been alienated by George Walker Bush and his associates). To pass these amendments and bills and motions would set a standard for the world and the future of our nation.

We are not inherently a nation of small minded, hateful people. Our founding fathers, though flawed, were very intelligent and very committed to make a country for the people and by the people...not to exclude anyone. Compromises were made for the U.S. Constitution between small states and large states...between free states and slave states. These compromises were made on both sides to accomodate the greater good. This is our tradition.

To pass the FMA, flag burning amendments or bills limiting access to public television channels and public internet would exclude large portions of the American people who fuel the American economy and, unfortunately, line the pockets of the fat cats who would keep us all below their glass ceiling.

As we witnessed in these Congressional votes, ONE VOTE EQUALS POWER. When it comes down to it... YOUR ONE VOTE in this Fall's CONGRESSIONAL, REGIONAL & LOCAL elections will make a difference.

Your ONE VOTE could determine whether or not that candidate that you like better gets into office. If you sit on your behind and don't make it to the polls, then your candidate won't get your vote. If you vote for who you think is going to win rather than who you think would be better for your town, county, state or country, then you may just put in the less qualified or deserving candidate by ONE VOTE!

So, get out and register to vote! November will be here before we all know it. Learn about candidates and volunteer for candidates that you believe in. Get out there and take control of your country. Don't let the fat cats decide who will decide for you. PROTECT YOUR ONE POWERFUL VOTE!!!

Sets for Press Conferences and Locked Doors in War

It's been a trip to catch glimpses of "my President" in the recent weeks. I don't have much time in between many Senior year classes and hectic hours of work, but I have had enough time to catch ole' "Dubya" in action.

It's amazing to me how still unprepared George Walker Bush is for taking his job seriously. In a teleconference with troops in Iraq, a set was designed with gold decoration and gaudy representations of "plastic patriotism" all over it. Why do you need a "set" when you have the White House, The Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, Korean War, WWII and Vietnam Monuments?

Okay, scratch the Vietnam Memorial Monument from the list. That's probably not the best place to broadcast a press/teleconference about an ongoing war in an unstable country where America is trying to influence the future of the government. I can empathize with the President on not making use of that monument.

I also was able to catch glimpses of Mr. Bush trying to exit another press conference in China when the questions just got TOO HARD. He got a funny expression when the door he chose was LOCKED!



I got a laugh out of that. However, it is quite sad that the President of the United States, a position that has become one of great power throughout the world, tries to leave a press conference, instead of holding ground on his/her positions.

I feel bad for George sometimes. I still remember seeing the video of him sitting down with James Baker and other Republican heavyweights in 1999 or so to talk about him running for President in 2000. I'm sure he thought it would be a cakewalk after the negative exploits of Bill Clinton and the sloppy Liberals.

He didn't even technically win in 2000. He barely won (if you can call it that) in 2004 and his approval ratings have slipped in the middle. I bet sometimes he wishes he lost in a landslide in 2000 so that he wouldn't have to put up with these annoying press conferences to address the issues related to the war he started in Iraq.

The bottom line is George W. Bush is the President of the United States and with that comes great responsibility to the people that ultimately put him there. He owes it to all of us, Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Moderate and Liberal, to step up to the plate and at least stand on his convictions and not try to hide behind false TV tricks ("Mission Accomplished") or try to run away from the hard part.

President Abraham Lincoln could have had thoughts of returning to Illinois and not dealing with the complex issues involved in the war that threatened his beloved country. President Lincoln continued, however, to open the doors of the White House to open houses and press conferences, despite the safety issues, through his presidency and the Civil War.

He knew that he owed nothing short of his complete dedication to doing everything in his power to serve the American people, even through his own real personal tragedies and those of the country.

You'll get your break, Mr. Bush. Just remember that your job is not over and your responsibility to the people remains. January 20, 2009 is coming soon enough, thank goodness for all of us...including you, Mr. President!

Ringer for Osama bin Laden?

So, I'm doing my best to make it through my life as a husband, student, brother, son, uncle and worker. I don't agree with probably 95% of what the Bush Administration is doing, but it doesn't mean that I'm some crazy rebel terrorist who's going to try to take America down.

I believe in Peace and "The Other Way." There is always ANOTHER WAY to any seemingly dead end situation. No matter what you believe, there are always "cards" (as my History Professor likes to say--you know who you are) that you can add to or take out of your pile.

In that sense, we are all always growing, learning and becoming more and more open to what's out there...or are we?

At work last night, I was doing my best to get the photo orders done on time and make sure the lab looked straight. I very often look up to make sure no one is left standing around waiting to be helped. I noticed this one seemingly happy older gentleman staring my way.

"Could I help you, sir?," I offered.

Still smiling, he said, "You look like a million bucks!"

Thinking he meant our photo lab, I replied, "Well, thank you, sir. We appreciate it!"

He continued, "...You look like a ringer for Osama bin Laden with your beard 'n your skin 'n all..."

"Thank you, I suppose." was my reply. How do you respond to something like that?

I turned my head and made sure that he couldn't see my face, because I felt a great bit of anger rush over me...

...anger because I was compared to someone I know that everyone hates (with good reason).
...anger because that man had no regard for how that would make someone else feel.
...anger because I know his mind will never try to understand that Osama and his Al Qaeda associates do not represent Islam in its true sense.
...anger because I knew there was nothing I could do or can do.

I am part of what I believe to be the silent majority. The minority of this country (Oligarchy might be the word you're looking for) have gained control of "America" and are giving Americans new faces throughout the world. Apparently, in some small minds, my face is not one of them.

Bringing an end to American fueled war in Iraq

The War in Iraq has long been exploited by the Bush Administration. Despite a majority of voices (or at least opinions), the American-sponsored violence in the area continues.

This war is not even the war that President Bush promised the American people and, more importantly, the surviving family members of the 9/11 victims. Bush sent troops into Afghanistan to pursue Osama Bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders for their part in the deaths of many Americans and people of many other nations who died not just in 9/11 but in the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Africa and the U.S.S. Cole in the late nineties. Bush and his team have let Osama slip through by giving him many head starts and by clumsily moving through Afghanistan and diverting many resources to Iraq.

There must be an OVERWHELMING NATIONAL CALL for the END OF THE WAR IN IRAQ! I propose that those who represent the religious, educational, military and other communities who oppose the ongoing war in Iraq organize a common day to ring the bells of the respective institutions to call for the end of the Iraq War.

Each ring should represent each American death in Iraq, as well as possibly ringing the tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi lives that have been lost in the Bush War. It will take several hours to ring the numbers, and some organizations might want to read the names of the dead. Either way, the government needs to take notice of the reality of the negative impact that this war has on EVERYONE! The longer the series of rings or reading of names the more effective!!! Obviously, a shorter list of names and series of rings would be better for the notion of saving the lives of our brave women and men, as well as the innocent local lives of Iraq.

There is so much silent opposition to this war. I say that we all stand up and organize days periodically to ring the bells of this nation's institutions to remind George W. Bush and all who can make a difference of the deaths that have resulted from this self-serving military blunder! These bells should especially ring in Washington, DC to DROWN OUT ANY OTHER PROPOSITIONS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION UNTIL THEY REALIZE THAT IT'S TIME TO STEP UP TO THE REALITY, COME CLEAN and FIX IT!!!

There are enough of us to do this! Spread the word, network...we can get it done. Even if we start small. Only a handful of voices stood up against the Institution of Slavery at first and we see what happened there. Brave women kept at the government until they won the right to vote. We still have a long way to go with so many things. Think about what you can do today to work to end this war and work toward a harmonious humanity in the months and years to come!

Saint Domingue and Gregoires

August 8, 2010
American Airlines flight 822 was canceled Tuesday due to Hurricane Alex coming into the area. My tour of Robert F. Williams’ activities in Cuba was over and I had set a two day schedule to check out my connection to Haiti. Two days was definitely not enough to research the Gregoire presence in Saint Domingue. I have Alex to thank for what I discovered.

The book “Negroes with Guns” led me to “Radio Free Dixie.” The fact the author of “Dixie” just happened to be the author of “Blood Done Sign My Name” and a fellow “Preacher’s Kid” was most certainly a sign. “Blood” was an excellent book about Tyson’s father’s bold stance against the racial violence that prevailed in his hometown of Oxford, NC. Tyson’s father lost his Methodist ministry in Oxford and the family had to move on to the next calling. I felt a kinship to Tim Tyson, as my own father had taken bold stances and been forced out of churches.

I was able to get in touch with Tyson back in May. He pointed me in the right direction with regard to getting in to explore the presence of Williams on the island of Cuba. I was able to move without hassle after Tyson briefed me on how to work the Cuban government. Thank goodness I had those years of Spanish in high school and college, as well. I could almost see Williams’ ghost sitting in front of the microphone, drawing on his military training and his experience with racial oppression to force the issue of the position of the marginalized African Americans. Though Williams upset the Soviet presence in Cuba and the American Communist Party with his broadcasts, he was still able to maintain the respect of Cuban revolutionary Che’ Guevara.

An obviously conflicted man, Williams advocated near military preparation on the part of the black community. It was strange to think that Williams was in the same organization as Martin Luther King, Jr. and W.E.B. DuBois, but that’s what research is: discovering and understanding new points of view.

At the end of my time in Cuba, I was beginning to gain the introduction of the motivating factors for Williams to advocate answering violence with violence. I especially understood the notion when I began to shift gears on my flight to Port-au-Prince.

On the flight over, I thought about my family history. It’s hard for me to fathom that the Gregoire family actually were slave owners and sugar planters on Hispaniola. I couldn’t imagine how those Gregoires must have treated their slaves. In the context of my mind, however, I assumed the worst and with that I had no trouble with wrapping my mind around the notion that one of those slaves would have slit the throat of a Gregoire during the activities the Haitian Revolution.

Toussaint L’Ouverture was certainly more diplomatic than violent in his movement, but he was a talented military mind much like Robert F. Williams. General Dessalines struck me as a rightfully pissed off new Haitian. It was in his spirit of things, that most of the Gregoire family was murdered. “Kill Whitey!” was a phrase that came to mind as I sifted through my Hurricane Alex granted material. I got the impression that living as a slave under the conditions on a Santo Domingo sugar plantation was much like being crushed into disease infested mound of soil by a giant white hand. I thought that I might grab a sharpened stick and start stabbing that hand myself. Whispering injustice under those conditions would have accomplished nothing. I understood the violence motivator.

However, there he was. A slave of French Roman Catholic sugar planters found his former master wandering the streets of Port-au-Prince looking for any glimmer of hope, despite the fact that his whole family had been slaughtered. Caspar Ramsey Gregoire was found by this man in the hectic streets and it struck me to seem like one of those scenes out of a movie, where the murderous villain finds himself to be alone with his longtime rival. Surely the villain will get his due with some dramatic slit of the throat or profound puncture of the innards. This was not the case with Caspar and…there it was…The name…Alexandre! Alexandre spoke the boy’s name and escorted him to the harbor to negotiate his passage off of the violent island. Alexandre found a spot for Caspar on a boat headed for the originally Quaker city of Philadelphia. What a fitting reflection of Alexandre! Philadelphia literally means “loving people.”

Alexandre could have very easily followed the movie plot and extinguished the last of the Gregoires. He chose the less traveled path and spared Caspar. Caspar was taken in by a Presbyterian family in Philadelphia, and Gregoire became Gregory. It’s no wonder that, in the summer of 1967, my father, Henry Duval Gregory IV, found himself speaking to Martin Luther King, Jr. about working to get the United States of America out of Vietnam. As a family, we owe it to Alexandre. We are, by debt, pacifists. With one slit of the throat, I could not even be writing this today. To Alexandre go profound thoughts of gratitude!
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The preceding was my fictionalized account of the research I would very much like to accomplish in the coming years. The story of the salvation of our family is most certainly true, except for knowing the name of the Gregoire family slave. If anyone has any knowledge of the events that took place on the island of Hispaniola around the time of the Hatian Revolution, please contact me, as I wish to trace the path back!

Most humbly and peacefully submitted,
Asa Abraham Gregory