The Church and Senator Barack Obama

Jane Fisler Hoffman, a white Minister in the United Church of Christ who also attends church with Barack

Obama, talks about Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago and the United Church of Christ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioaChVw_pUw&NR=1

Mike Huckabee Defends Jeremiah Wright:

"[Y]ou can't hold the candidate responsible for everything that people around him may say or do," Huck-

abee says. "It's interesting to me that there are some people on the left who are having to be very uncom-

fortable with what ... Wright said, when they all were all over a Jerry Falwell, or anyone on the right who

said things that they found very awkward and uncomfortable, years ago. Many times those were state-

ments lifted out of the context of a larger sermon. Sermons, after all, are rarely written word for word by

pastors like Rev. Wright, who are delivering them extemporaneously, and caught up in the emotion of the

moment. There are things that sometimes get said, that if you put them on paper and looked at them in

print, you'd say 'Well, I didn't mean to say it quite like that.'"

Later, he defended Wright's anger, too:

"As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say 'That's a terrible statement!' ... I grew

up in a very segregated South. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably

the only conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've got-

ta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names..."

Real Men In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not

what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," gave up his student deferment,

left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines.

In 1963, this man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines, volunteered again to become

a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.)

The man did so well in corpsman school that he was the valedictorian and became a cardiopulmonary

technician. Not surprisingly, he was assigned to the Navy's premier medical facility, Bethesda Naval

Hospital , as a member of the commander in chief's medical team, and helped care for President Lyndon

B.Johnson after his 1966 surgery.

For his service on the team, which he left in 1967, the White House awarded him three letters of

commendation. What is even more remarkable is that this man entered the Marines and Navy not many

years after the two branches began to become integrated.

While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born

the same year as the Marine/ sailor, received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and

graduate student and one for being a prospective father.

Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American youth,

used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both then avoided going on active duty

through family connections.

Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to serve his country for six years or

our three political leaders who beat the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice

something or those who merely talk about their love of the country?

After leaving the service of his country, the young African-American finished his final year of college,

entered the seminary, was ordained as a minister, and eventually became pastor of a large church in one of

America 's biggest cities.

This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.

Obama’s Pastor: God Damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11http://sweetness-light.com/archive/media-finally-notices-obamas-radical-pastor

Different Standards for Black and White Preachers

By Cenk Uygur

Posted March 19, 2008 | 11:50 AM (EST)

Rudy Giuliani's priest has been accused in grand jury proceedings of molesting several children and

covering up the molestation of others. Giuliani would not disavow him on the campaign trail and still

works with him.

Mitt Romney was part of a church that did not view black Americans as equals and actively discriminated

against them. He stayed with that church all the way into his early thirties, until they were finally forced to

change their policies to come into compliance with civil rights legislation. Romney never disavowed his

church back then or now. He said he was proud of the faith of his fathers.

Jerry Falwell said America had 9/11 coming because we tolerated gays, feminists and liberals. It was our

fault. Our chickens had come home to roost, if you will. John McCain proudly received his support and

even spoke at his university's commencement.

Reverend John Hagee has called the Catholic Church the "Great Whore." He has said that the Anti-Christ

will rise out of the European Union (of course, the Anti-Christ will also be Jewish). He has said all

Muslims are trained to kill and will be part of the devil's army when Armageddon comes (which he hopes

is soon). John McCain continues to say he is proud of Reverend Hagee's endorsement.

Reverend Rod Parsley believes America was founded to destroy Islam. Since this is such an outlandish

claim, I have to add for the record, that he is not kidding. Reverend Parsley says Islam is an "anti-Christ

religion" brought down from a "demon spirit." Of course, we are in a war against all Muslims, including

presumably Muslim-Americans. Buts since Parsley believes this is a Christian nation and that it should be

run as a theocracy, he is not very concerned what Muslim-Americans think.

John McCain says Reverend Rod Parsley is his "spiritual guide."

What separates all of these outrageous preachers from Barack Obama's? You guessed it. They're white and

Reverend Jeremiah Wright is not. If it's not racism that's causing the disparity in media treatment of these

preachers, then what is it?

I'm willing to listen to other possible explanations. And I am inclined to believe that the people these

preachers go after are more important than the race of the preacher. It's one thing to go after gays, liberals

and Muslims -- that seems to be perfectly acceptable in America -- it's another to accuse white folks of not

living up to their ideals.

I think there is another factor at play as well. The media is deathly afraid of calling out preachers of any

stripe for insane propaganda from the pulpits for fear that they will be labeled as anti-Christian. But

criticism of Rev. Wright falls into their comfort zone. It's easy to blame him for being anti-American

because he criticizes American foreign and domestic policy.

If Rev. Wright had preached about discriminating against gay Americans or Muslims, there probably

would not have been any outcry at all. That falls into the category of "respect their hateful opinions

because they cloak themselves in the church."

But one thing is indisputable -- the enormous disparity in how the media has covered these white

preachers as opposed to Rev. Wright. Have you ever even heard of Rod Parsley? As you can see from

what I listed above, all of these white preachers have said and done the most outlandish and offensive

things you can imagine -- and hardly a peep.

If the disparity in coverage isn't racist, then what is it?

IRS investigates Obama's denomination

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_CHURCH_IRS?

SITE=SCCHA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Senator Obama's Presentation at General Synod, 2007

http://www.ucc.org/synod/video-archive.html

Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Senior Retiring Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNEfEBYIZs

Rev. Otis Moss III, Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ,

Barack Obama's Pastor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfnxiKrQ49k

Interview of Rev. Otis Moss III

http://podcasts.ciweb.org/chautauqua-podcasts/2007/8/21/rev-otis-moss-iii.html

NCC, WCC Launch Year-Long Effort to Overcome Violence in the U.S.

at January 12 Service Honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 13, 2004, NEW YORK CITY - (WCC) Representatives from Christian faith communities around

the globe launched a year-long effort to confront and overcome violence in the United States during a

worship service commemorating the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The service, held January 12 in the Chapel of The Interchurch Center in New York City, marked the

opening of a year dedicated to strengthening and resourcing churches and movements working for peace

in the United States.

Under the theme "The Power and Promise of Peace," the focus on the United States in 2004 is part of the

World Council of Churches' (WCC) Ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV). The U.S. focus is

being coordinated by the U.S. DOV Committee under the auspices of the U.S. Office of the World

Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches U.S.A. The U.S. DOV Committee, made up

of U.S. denominational representatives, is meeting in New York January 12-13.

"We are gathered as peacemakers from various regions of the world to launch this year-long focus in the

United States by lifting up the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose work and ministry has inspired

peacemakers around the globe," said Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, archpriest, Orthodox Church in

America, and moderator, U.S. Conference of the WCC, in opening remarks at the service.

In a multimedia presentation, members of the congregation watched graphic images of violence,

destruction, and war on a large screen as the DOV's coordinator, the Rev. Hansulrich Gerber, presented the

goals of the Decade to Overcome Violence, which is to be one of "Churches Seeking Reconciliation and

Peace."

NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE

"It is a contradiction of life to put peace ahead of justice," said the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., the pastor of

the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, in his sermon. "There will be no international

peace until there is international justice," he said, quoting Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion.

Dr. Moss, a friend and associate of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., urged members of the

congregation never to forget the lessons of history as they pursue both peace and justice. "To forget is

exile," he said, "to remember is redemption." Dr. Moss warned the congregation to never forget "the

moans and groans of countless millions of human beings" who were imprisoned on slave ships and "who

were fed to sharks if they died on passage, or served up to slave masters if they survived."

Yet Dr. Moss also cited some redemptive historical developments during the past half-century, including

the passage of the GI Bill in1944 that opened educational and career opportunities to millions of

disadvantaged veterans. In addition, he said that the establishment of the United Nations and the World

Council of Churches were important international milestones on the way to universal peace and justice.

Dr. Moss also pointed to national and international liberation movements - beginning with the

independence of India in 1947 - as redemptive signs. "When Indiagained independence, the British

Empire had a nervous breakdown and the rest of western colonialism had a heart attack," Dr. Moss said.

by

MMMMyyyyeeeekkkkaaaa

The Key To Self-Knowledge, Self-Love, Self-Control & Personal Liberation

FROM LUNATIC TO LUNAQUEEN

Self-knowledge is essential to the establishment of nurturing relationships, strong families, healthy children,

and sovereign societies. It is the cornerstone of society and the foundation of civilization. The knowledge of

self provides us with a root system through which to anchor ourselves into our Source. It gives us the power

to make primary decisions and choices like whether to achieve or avoid conception.

Females have not been self-definers for the last 5,000 years. As a whole females continue to operate

solely under the definitions established by males. These definitions do not take into account the femi-

nine spirit, in that males were born and raised by mothers who had and have a low estimate of them

self. Therefore the definitions inherently limit and restrict us to function as males operating from the low con-

sciousness of their mothers. It is not incorrect for males to define themselves and anything else that accepts their

definitions, it is however incorrect for females to believe and act as if these definitions are sufficient and meet

our needs.

Defining the self means charting a new frontier, going where no female has gone before in feeling and thought.

It means trusting our intuition and risking being wrong, with the knowledge that we can correct any

wrong. Defining ourselves does not mean being antagonistic or combative with males, it means, accepting the

truth of our being and having the courage to stand alone while maintaining principle, until another can

accept, acknowledge and understand our stance. It means giving up the old taboos surrounding things

like menstruation which has caused us to feel dirty and soiled, and has created low self-worth and an

unhealthy self-image. It means healing the traumas of our past.

Throughout history, women have been denied access to the fundamental sciences governing their bodies by

the instillation of shame or the promotion of ignorance surrounding natural biological function. This lack of

knowledge has had a devastating effect upon the state of our social structures. Among the problems associ-

ated with a lack of self knowledge are a lack of self-esteem, self-worth and insecurity which are directly re-

lated to the amount of abuse that females endure. The information contained in the LunaQueen System was

once forbidden knowledge. Women were killed, tortured and hunted like animals when they sought to use and

teach this knowledge. Females were suppose to be ignorant and thus easier to control. The less females knew

about themselves, the fewer options they had to escape a world of exploitation, abuse, manipulation, hatred,

irresponsibility, ignorance and fear. Now for the first time in over 12,000 years, this knowledge is made avail-

able without the threat of death.

Unwanted children from unplanned pregnancies are a primary problem that stems from a lack of self-

knowledge. This has created a social imbalance. Unwanted children to often result in either abortions, or-

phans, physical, emotional and mental abuse or infanticide. Those that make it are often objects of financial

stress and parental burdens, in that they were unplanned. The high level of unwanted children strain the edu-

cational system and creates a host of physical ills, psychological and emotional problems and social misfits.

As we approach the new dispensation, females must free themselves to love, respect, honor, protect and

know themselves and each other. In order to do this tools must be forged to assist in this endeavor. The Lu-

naQueen System is specifically designed to meet these needs individually for every woman in the world. Each

and every person alive is a complicated system of inter-related body clocks, ebbs and flows, timetables, pat-

terns, cycles, energy levels, intensities, body levels and consciousness. Females have the inborn ability to be

consciously aware of the depths of these changes and can teach it to their sons. Never before has there been such

a complete recording device as the LunaQueen System provides through its calendars, with space to record

a woman's rhythmic changes, functions and growth at the spiritual, mental, emotional and biological level.

As the old taboos and fears are lifted and done away with, females will finally be able to take responsibility

for themselves and their actions. Their self-image will improve and they will define themselves with honor, dig-

INTRODUCTION

nity and self-respect, and teach their children to do likewise. Females will take a more active and positive role

in seeing to it that all females are properly educated with biological knowledge, so that they can naturally and

consciously plan or postpone pregnancy at will; prevent and eliminate disease by early detection and learn the

science of motherhood. With the LunaQueen System, it will be easy to know when ovulation takes place, and the

symptoms of developing diseases can be noted and accurately reported to physicians for early detection and pre-

ventative care. The knowledge of self will cause a female to see herself with value and cause her to engage in

meaningful, loving, community supported relationships. Whole life awareness, fertility literacy and pro-creative

choice are of major significance to the health and well-being of each of us, and we must begin now to take re-

sponsibility for this. We can’t afford to allow another year to go by without knowing ourselves and defining our-

selves, thus regaining the power that is inherently ours when we operate from a position of love and truth.

"My people perish from a lack of knowledge."

It is a fact that 75% or more of pregnancies are unplanned, for married and unmarried couples. This tragic fact

is evidence of a need for people to learn the knowledge taught in the LunaQueen System. This knowledge

learned, will create a paradigm shift as souls are welcomed into the world as a result of being planned, wanted

and loved. With this shift, love can flourish and pain and suffering can cease on the planet.

This health recording calendar is designed to teach females the rudiments of using a true lunar/solar female

calendar. After thirteen months of charting, the following skills will be learned by female participants and any

males who choose to participate: 1. How to use cycle days as the measurement for a lunar calendar: 2. How to

determine the length of the individual female monthly moon cycle: 3. How the moon corresponds to the indi-

vidual female cycle and how to use it to regulate the period: 4. How to chart your sexual experiences: 5. The

ability to predict upcoming moon times (menstrual period) in advance: 6. How to spot changes in the cycle that

may be precursors to illness for prompt reporting to health care providers; 7. How to chart mucus type, the

most accurate means for determining fertility: 8. How to know and utilize seven natural signs of fertility liter-

acy: 9. How to predict the monthly seven day window of fertility: 10. How to predict the onset of PMS: 11.

How hormones create sexual desire, and how to control these urges: 12. How to eliminate toxic emotions: 13.

How to design and create a true lunar/solar calendar.

Utilizing the LunaQueen System is a life time adventure of self-discovery. It will allow users to deal with

the cause of problems so that the effects can be eliminated, instead of complaining about the effects with no

power to change anything. LunaQueen will also deliver you from the exploitative forces that feed on

your ignorance. It's time for a change, don't you agree?

As we seek peace, prosperity, happiness and fulfillment, it is essential that females understand them self. This

program is designed to assist females in the process of learning about their femininity, embracing their femi-

ninity and fulfilling their Divine purpose as females on earth. This knowledge of will empower females and

develop in them self-knowledge, self-love, self-control and personal liberation and give them the power to be

individually responsible. This program learned will prevent unwanted and unplanned pregnancy by over 90%

and raise the quality of life on this planet, by ushering in an age of Conscious Conception. Motherhood will

thus be raised to the level of a most revered profession, that is designed to create peaceful, loving, creative,

principled, caring, prosperous citizens. Won’t you do your part in making this a reality?

To pre-order an autographed copy of LunaQueen: The Divinely Feminine Art of Lunar Charting, The Key

to Self-Knowledge, Self-Love, Self-Control and Personal Liberation, send your PayPal payment of $24.99

to sheawakening@yahoo.com. You can place a telephone order by calling 301.778.7011.

A series of camps are being scheduled for 2009 featuring Myeka as guest lecturer. These camps are designed

to enhance the development of personal liberation, homemaking, mothering and fertility awareness skills. For

more information send a email request to sheawakening@yahoo.com.

“Know Thyself”

-The Inscription at the Delphic Oracle

“No man is free who is not master of him/herself.” —Epicetus

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”—Socrates

“He who knows the nature of self and understands how the

senses act, finds no room for selfishness,

and so he well attain peace unending.”—Buddha

“You are your own obstacle to freedom, and merely wishing for

freedom is not enough. When you surrender falseness with

yourself, you shall inherit the truth that you are.” —Meher Baba

“What is happening in your innermost self is

worthy of your entire love; somehow you must find a way to

work at it, and not lose too much time...”

—Rainer Maria Rilke

“If a man assumes a posture that corresponds in him, to a feel-

ing of grief or dejection, then within a short time he will actu-

ally feel grief or dejection.” —George Gurdjieff

“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever

bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” —Marcus Aurelius

“He who knows others is clever; He who knows

himself has discernment.” —Lao-Tzu

We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we

stop trying to conform to our own or to other peoples' models,

learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open. —Shakti Gawain

“The first thing that helps us to remove old attitudes is to accept

oneself. Self-remembering means acceptance of oneself,

of others, of all that is.” —Rodney Collin

“A little less hypocrisy and a little more tolerance towards one-

self can only have good results in respect for our neighbor; for

we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and

violence we inflict upon our own natures.” —Carl Jung

“Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.” —Seneca

“People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge

waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast com-

pass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.” —St. Augustine

“One may conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, yet he is the best conqueror who conquers himself.”—Buddha

Divine Power cannot be conferred on people who have no con-

trol over their emotions, or understanding of their self.

—Ra Un Nefer Amen

When I'm trusting and being myself... everything in my life re-

flects this by falling into place easily, often miraculously.

—Shakti Gawain

Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.

—Baltasar Gracián

If I could know me, I could know the universe. —Shirley McClain

If I have lost confidence in myself, I have

the universe against me. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be interested in yourself beyond all experience, be with yourself,

love yourself; the ultimate security is found only in self-

knowledge. Be honest with yourself and nothing will betray you.

— Nisargadatta Maharaj

One of the secrets of life is to be honestly who you are. Who oth-

ers want you to be, who you used to be, and who you may some

day become ... these are fantasies. To be honestly who you are is

to give up your illusions and face today with courage.

—Bill Purdin

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind

don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

— Dr. Seuss

Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate

version of someone else. —-Judy Garland

Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is

what you know about yourself. —Lois McMaster Bujold

No bird soars too high, if he soars on his own wings.

— William Blake

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true

wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering

yourself is true power. —Tao Te Ching

I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself was more

important than how others saw me. —Anwar el-Sadat

Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness,

yet perhaps few know their own strength. It is in men

as in soils, where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not of. —Jonathan Swift

Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat. —Sun-Tzu

To thine own-self be true; And it must follow, as the night the

day. Thou can'st not then be false to any man. —Hamlet. Act I. Sc.

I must first know myself, as the Delphian inscription says; to be

curious about that which is not my concern, while I am still in

ignorance of my own self would be ridiculous. —Plato

“To study and learn how to know ourselves. This is the founda-

tion of wisdom and the highway to whatever is good.”

—Pierre Charron

The high peak of knowledge is perfect self-knowledge.

—Richard of Saint-Victor (A.D.?-1173)

Man know thyself; then thou shalt know the Universe and God.

—Pythagoras

Women are always being tested ... but ultimately, each of us has

to define who we are individually and then do the very best job

we can to grow into it. — Hillary Rodham Clinton

I believe that in our constant search for security we can never

gain any peace of mind until we are secure in our own soul.

—Margaret Chase Smith

I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing to-

wards becoming a champion. —Billie Jean King

"Observe all men; thy self most." —Benjamin Franklin

To reach Nirvana one must reach Self-Knowledge,

and Self-Knowledge is of loving deeds the child.

—H.P. Blavatsky, Voice of the Silence

Go to your bosom, knock there, and ask your heart

what it doth know. —William Shakespeare

We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of our-

selves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves.

—Abraham Maslow

PREPREPREPRE----ORDERORDERORDERORDER

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The Key to SelfThe Key to SelfThe Key to SelfThe Key to Self----Knowledge, SelfKnowledge, SelfKnowledge, SelfKnowledge, Self----Love, SelfLove, SelfLove, SelfLove, Self----Control and Personal LiberationControl and Personal LiberationControl and Personal LiberationControl and Personal Liberation

$24.99 PayPal—sheawakening@yahoo.com

Telephone Order—334.581.4078

Scheduled Date of Release: June 1, 2009

All of these significant historic developments, Dr. Moss said, were the context in which Dr. King found

his prophetic vocation.

FOLLOWING IN DR. KING'S FOOTSTEPS

"What can we do to follow in Dr. King's footsteps?" Dr. Moss asked. "We must be about the business of

building a new generation of prophets of justice. We must be disciples of love, apostles of liberation,

teachers of nonviolence, and ambassadors of reconciliation."

Such endeavors, Dr. Moss said, "will not come automatically, nor without institutional and individual

risks." And, he added, efforts to make peace would require leaders who "have the courage to lead, to mold

consensus, and to act despite the risk of being persecuted." Quoting Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Dr.

Moss described King's life and ministry as "a vision, a voice, and a way." He urged his listeners to "share

his vision, hearken to his voice, and follow in his way."

"WAR IS OBSOLETE"

Citing the anti-war sentiments of several former generals in the U.S. military, Dr. Moss asked: "If generals

of the army had that kind of insight, then what is the excuse at the White House, or your house, or my

house if the occupants of those homes do not oppose war? We must join with those former generals and

declare that 'War is obsolete,'" he added.

And in a reference to the war in Iraq, Dr. Moss chided the Bush administration for its search for weapons

of mass destruction there, when there are such weapons in the United States.

"Where are the weapons of mass destruction?" he asked. "Look around: AIDSis a weapon of mass

destruction," he said. "So is hunger, the denial of health care to the poor, illiterate and uneducated minds,

tobacco and tobacco-related illnesses, uncared-for children." All these and many other weapons destroy

the fabric of the nation, Dr. Moss contended.

Efforts to pursue peace must originate "in our commitment to break the bonds of injustice, and to bring

justice and peace into our homes, and into our collective house - the White House," Dr. Moss concluded.

"When we break the bonds of injustice and oppression, then we become God's peacemakers."

Rev. Otis Moss Jr., Olivet Institutional Baptist Church. Reverend Moss served as co-pastor with the

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr., at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjDQBURwg4c

Oprah Winfrey

WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE

In my 20s, I attended a prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C. that was sponsored by the National Black

Caucus. I had the good fortune to hear a most eloquent preacher from Cleveland—Rev. Otis Moss Jr., a

man who has since become a mentor and friend. He spoke about the advantages that we as black people

often take for granted and the price that was paid in struggle and sacrifice, in lynchings and lives, for us to

live as free people. He told a story that abides with me to this day. His father, a poor sharecropper, worked

all his life to raise and care for his family, suffering indignities and humiliations that generations before

him had long endured. For the first time, in his 50s, he went to cast his vote. On Election Day, he rose

before dawn, dressed in his best suit for funerals and weddings, and prepared to walk to the polls to vote

against a racist Georgia governor, in favor of a moderate. Six miles he walked, and when he got there, he

was told he was in the wrong place and was sent to another location. He walked another five or six miles

and met with the same denial, and he was sent to a third voting place. When he arrived at the third

location, they told him, "Boy, you are a little late—the polls just closed." After walking all day, covering

more than 18 miles, he returned home, exhausted and depleted, never experiencing the joy of voting.

He told this story to anyone who would listen, and he lived in great anticipation of his next chance to cast

his vote. He died before the next election. He never got that chance to choose. So now I do. And every

time I cast a ballot, I choose not only for myself but also for Otis Moss Sr. and for the countless others

who wanted to, but couldn't. I cast a ballot for everybody who came before me and gave their life's energy

so that yours and mine could be a force that matters today. Emancipated slave and civil rights activist

Sojourner Truth, speaking at the Women's Rights Convention in Akron 1851, said, "If the first woman

God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought

to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!" We'd see amazing changes if women took to the

polls en masse.

The most recent statistics are embarrassing and disrespectful to our female heritage—to every suffragette,

to every woman who didn't have a voice but hoped someday her daughters might be heard. There was a

time not so long ago in this country when unmarried women held no status, other than as old maids. Our

opinions and choices didn't matter because we needed a man to bring us value. Now we have the power

and have chosen not to use it. In the 2000 presidential election, 22 million unmarried women who were

eligible to vote stayed home from the polls. While 68 percent of married women voted, only 52 percent of

unmarried women did so. If single women voted at the same rate as married women, millions more ballots

would have been cast. Remember, 537 votes decided the last presidential election. We owe more—we

ought to do better and respect ourselves enough to be counted .Vote.

Trinity United Church of Christ

Barack Obama has been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ for nearly two decades. As a young

community organizer, new to Chicago, Barack met with Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Trinity’s Senior

Pastor, seeking advice. He received good counsel about the complexities of life in Chicago and the

challenges faced by residents in poor communities like South Chicago’s Altgeld Gardens. The United

Church of Christ (http://www.ucc.org), Trinity’s denominational affiliation, is “a community of faith that

seeks to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed.” It was founded in 1957 through the

union of several different Christian traditions. Not only does Trinity not exclude anyone from membership

or attendance based on race or ethnicity, but: The majority of UCC members are white; the conference

minister of the Illinois Conference of the UCC (Rev. Jane Fisler Hoffman) and her husband (both white)

are members of Trinity (You can watch a video of Rev. Hoffman speaking at Trinity about her positive

experiences there.); Trinity has been instrumental in working with and lending financial and staff support

to the development of new UCC churches in Gary, IN (with the Indiana-Kentucky Conference of the

UCC, Milwaukee, WI (with the Wisconsin Conference of the UCC), and Benton Harbor, MI (with the

Michigan Conference of the UCC). There is no anti-American sentiment in the theology or the practice of

Trinity United Church of Christ. To be sure, there is prophetic preaching against oppression, racism and

other evils that would deny the American ideal. Trinity is “Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically

Christian.”

Trinity was founded in 1961 and had 87 families when Dr. Wright started his tenure in 1972. Currently, as

Dr. Wright anticipates a 2008 retirement, there are more than 8,000 members, 70 ministries, and three

Sunday worship services. You and your family can watch these services online at 7:30am, 11:00am and

6:00pm CST.

If you require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Senator Obama's office:

Devorah Adler at dadler@barackobama.com Joshua DuBois at jdubois@barackobama.com

Yours in Christ!

Obama's Sermon At Ebenezer Baptist Church

January 20, 2008

The Scripture tells us that when Joshua and the Israelites arrived at the gates of Jericho, they could not

enter. The walls of the city were too steep for any one person to climb; too strong to be taken down with

brute force. And so they sat for days, unable to pass on through.

But God had a plan for his people. He told them to stand together and march together around the city, and

on the seventh day he told them that when they heard the sound of the ram’s horn, they should speak with

one voice. And at the chosen hour, when the horn sounded and a chorus of voices cried out together, the

mighty walls of Jericho came tumbling down.

There are many lessons to take from this passage, just as there are many lessons to take from this day, just

as there are many memories that fill the space of this church. As I was thinking about which ones we need

to remember at this hour, my mind went back to the very beginning of the modern Civil Rights Era.

Because before Memphis and the mountaintop; before the bridge in Selma and the march on Washington;

before Birmingham and the beatings; the fire hoses and the loss of those four little girls; before there was

King the icon and his magnificent dream, there was King the young preacher and a people who found

themselves suffering under the yolk of oppression.

And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were still doubtful about the

possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times

mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us

today:

“Unity is the great need of the hour” is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome.

What Dr. King understood is that if just one person chose to walk instead of ride the bus, those walls of

oppression would not be moved. But maybe if a few more walked, the foundation might start to shake. If a

few more women were willing to do what Rosa Parks had done, maybe the cracks would start to show. If

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teenagers took freedom rides from North to South, maybe a few bricks would come loose. Maybe if white

folks marched because they had come to understand that their freedom too was at stake in the impending

battle, the wall would begin to sway. And if enough Americans were awakened to the injustice; if they

joined together, North and South, rich and poor, Christian and Jew, then perhaps that wall would come

tumbling down, and justice would flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Unity is the great need of the hour – the great need of this hour. Not because it sounds pleasant or because

it makes us feel good, but because it’s the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in

this country.

I’m not talking about a budget deficit. I’m not talking about a trade deficit. I’m not talking about a deficit

of good ideas or new plans.

I’m talking about a moral deficit. I’m talking about an empathy deficit. I’m taking about an inability to

recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother’s keeper; we are our sister’s

keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny.

We have an empathy deficit when we’re still sending our children down corridors of shame – schools in

the forgotten corners of America where the color of your skin still affects the content of your education.

We have a deficit when CEOs are making more in ten minutes than some workers make in ten months;

when families lose their homes so that lenders make a profit; when mothers can’t afford a doctor when

their children get sick.

We have a deficit in this country when there is Scooter Libby justice for some and Jena justice for others;

when our children see nooses hanging from a schoolyard tree today, in the present, in the twenty-first

century.

We have a deficit when homeless veterans sleep on the streets of our cities; when innocents are

slaughtered in the deserts of Darfur; when young Americans serve tour after tour of duty in a war that

should’ve never been authorized and never been waged.

And we have a deficit when it takes a breach in our levees to reveal a breach in our compassion; when it

takes a terrible storm to reveal the hungry that God calls on us to feed; the sick He calls on us to care for;

the least of these He commands that we treat as our own.

So we have a deficit to close. We have walls – barriers to justice and equality – that must come down. And

to do this, we know that unity is the great need of this hour.

Unfortunately, all too often when we talk about unity in this country, we’ve come to believe that it can be

purchased on the cheap. We’ve come to believe that racial reconciliation can come easily – that it’s just a

matter of a few ignorant people trapped in the prejudices of the past, and that if the demagogues and those

who exploit our racial divisions will simply go away, then all our problems would be solved.

All too often, we seek to ignore the profound institutional barriers that stand in the way of ensuring

opportunity for all children, or decent jobs for all people, or health care for those who are sick. We long

for unity, but are unwilling to pay the price.

But of course, true unity cannot be so easily won. It starts with a change in attitudes – a broadening of our

minds, and a broadening of our hearts.

It’s not easy to stand in somebody else’s shoes. It’s not easy to see past our differences. We’ve all

encountered this in our own lives. But what makes it even more difficult is that we have a politics in this

country that seeks to drive us apart – that puts up walls between us.

We are told that those who differ from us on a few things are different from us on all things; that our

problems are the fault of those who don’t think like us or look like us or come from where we do. The

welfare queen is taking our tax money. The immigrant is taking our jobs. The believer condemns the non-

believer as immoral, and the non-believer chides the believer as intolerant.

For most of this country’s history, we in the African American community have been at the receiving end

of man’s inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still

sometimes plays – on the job, in the schools, in our health care system and in our criminal justice system.

And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we’re

honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s

vision of a beloved community.

We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism

has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as

competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.

Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender

and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept

into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead

of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.

So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and

minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scapegoating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others

– all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face – war and poverty; injustice and inequality.

We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to

traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must

tear down before the hour grows too late.

Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful who once sat where you do to

forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our

time, and bind up our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts.

But if changing our hearts and minds is the first critical step, we cannot stop there. It is not enough to

bemoan the plight of poor children in this country and remain unwilling to push our elected officials to

provide the resources to fix our schools. It is not enough to decry the disparities of health care and yet

allow the insurance companies and the drug companies to block much-needed reforms. It is not enough

for us to abhor the costs of a misguided war, and yet allow ourselves to be driven by a politics of fear that

sees the threat of attack as way to scare up votes instead of a call to come together around a common

effort.

The Scripture tells us that we are judged not just by word, but by deed. And if we are to truly bring about

the unity that is so crucial in this time, we must find it within ourselves to act on what we know; to

understand that living up to this country’s ideals and its possibilities will require great effort and

resources; sacrifice and stamina.

And that is what is at stake in the great political debate we are having today. The changes that are needed

are not just a matter of tinkering at the edges, and they will not come if politicians simply tell us what we

want to hear. All of us will be called upon to make some sacrifice. None of us will be exempt from

responsibility. We will have to fight to fix our schools, but we will also have to challenge ourselves to be

better parents. We will have to confront the biases in our criminal justice system, but we will also have to

acknowledge the deep-seated violence that still resides in our own communities and marshal the will to

break its grip.

That is how we will bring about the change we seek. That is how Dr. King led this country through the

wilderness. He did it with words – words that he spoke not just to the children of slaves, but the children

of slave owners. Words that inspired not just black but also white; not just the Christian but the Jew; not

just the Southerner but also the Northerner.

He led with words, but he also led with deeds. He also led by example. He led by marching and going to

jail and suffering threats and being away from his family. He led by taking a stand against a war, knowing

full well that it would diminish his popularity. He led by challenging our economic structures,

understanding that it would cause discomfort. Dr. King understood that unity cannot be won on the cheap;

that we would have to earn it through great effort and determination.

That is the unity – the hard-earned unity – that we need right now. It is that effort, and that determination,

that can transform blind optimism into hope – the hope to imagine, and work for, and fight for what

seemed impossible before.

The stories that give me such hope don’t happen in the spotlight. They don’t happen on the presidential

stage. They happen in the quiet corners of our lives. They happen in the moments we least expect. Let me

give you an example of one of those stories.

There is a young, 23-year-old white woman named Ashley Baia who organizes for our campaign in

Florence, South Carolina. She’s been working to organize a mostly African American community since

the beginning of this campaign, and the other day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went

around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss

days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when

Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what

she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches.

Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she

joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and

need to help their parents too.

So Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting

the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they

come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why

he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does

not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says

to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”

By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not

enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we begin. It is why the walls in that room began to crack and shake.

And if they can shake in that room, they can shake in Atlanta.

And if they can shake in Atlanta, they can shake in Georgia.

And if they can shake in Georgia, they can shake all across America. And if enough of our voices join

together; we can bring those walls tumbling down. The walls of Jericho can finally come tumbling down.

That is our hope – but only if we pray together, and work together, and march together.

Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone.

In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone.

In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone

In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk alone.

So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will

sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with

liberty, and justice, for all. May God bless the memory of the great pastor of this church, and may God

bless the United States of America.