“Stubborn Ounces”

Stubborn Ounces (To One Who Doubts the Worth of Doing Anything If You Can’t Do Anything)

You say the little efforts that I make
will do no good; they will never prevail
to tip the hovering scale
where Justice hangs in the balance
I don’t think
I ever thought they would.
But I am prejudiced beyond debate
In favor of my right to choose which side
shall feel the stubborn ounces of my weight.
– Bonaro Overstreet

“the myth of no effect obscures the role we can play in the long term transformation of society…We may cling to the belief that there is nothing we can do precisely because we subconsciously know how much power we do have and are afraid to use it because people may not like it. If we deny our power to affect people, then we don’t have to worry about taking responsiblity for how we use it or, more significant, how we dont…Our silence then, isn’t because nothing we do will matter. Our silence is our not daring to matter.”
-(Alan G. Johnson) “Privilege, Power and Difference”

I just re-read this section in Privilege Power and Difference by Alan G. Johnson and found comfort in it. It is one of the best books I’ve read that deals with oppression in society. If you are looking for somethin’ to read (like we don’t have enough to do right now 😉 ) and are interested…let me know, I have a couple copies laying around….

P.S. Today is WORLD WATER DAY! WoooOoooooOo….. A “day” that was established in 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro to raise awareness of the lack of clean water throughout the world. Clean water is essential in order to alleviate hunger, disease and poverty, for sustainable development, for environmental integrity, and for human health…

http://www.worldwaterday.org/page/107

this site is very resourceful, with links to sites with useful information on getting clean water to places that need it the most.

thanks for reading…