TRANSCENDER

Drafted to Serve the Campaign

2009-09-02T04:23:00.000-06:00

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.

2009-08-17T15:24:00.000-06:00

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

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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

2008-12-10T11:01:00.001-07:00

Letter to My Fellow Citizens of Wilson

2008-10-13T21:40:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-05-22T21:22:00.002-06:00

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.

2008-04-27T19:10:00.002-06:00

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!!!

2008-03-03T22:13:00.001-07:00

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?

2008-02-10T01:42:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-01-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

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...

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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
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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!

2007-10-29T11:23:00.000-06:00

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:

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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.

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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!

2006-08-22T17:10:00.000-06:00

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

2006-07-04T00:54:00.000-06:00

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

2005-12-16T23:52:00.000-07:00

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?

2005-11-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

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

2005-11-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

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

2005-10-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

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!
***************************************

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