"I AM WITH YOU. I LOVE YOU. LEAD ON."
Dearly Beloved:
Listen to the heart of this old soldier. As with all of us the time comes
when body and mind are battered and weary. But I do not go quietly into
the night. I do not give up struggling to be a responsible contributor to
the sacred continuum of human life. I do not give up struggling to
overcome my weakness, to conform my life - and that part of my life
called death - to the great values of the human dream.
Death is not a tragedy. It is not an evil from which we must escape.
Death is as natural as birth. Like childbirth, death is often a time of
fear and pain, but also of profound beauty, of celebration of the mystery
and majesty which is life pushing its horizons toward oneness with the
truth of mother universe. The days of dying carry a special
responsibility. There is a great potential to communicate values in a
uniquely powerful way - the person who dies demonstrating for civil
rights.
Let my final actions thunder of love, solidarity, protest - of
empowerment.
I adamantly protest the richest culture in the history of the world, a
culture which has the obvious potential to create a golden age of science
and democracy dedicated to maximizing the quality of life of every
person, but which still squanders the majority of its human and physical
capital on modern versions of primitive symbols of power and prestige.
I adamantly protest the richest culture in the history of the world which
still incarcerates millions of humans with and without disabilities in
barbaric institutions, backrooms and worse, windowless cells of
oppressive perceptions, for the lack of the most elementary empowerment
supports.
I call for solidarity among all who love justice, all who love life, to
create a revolution that will empower every single human being to govern
his or her life, to govern the society and to be fully productive of life
quality for self and for all.
I do so love all the patriots of this and every nation who have fought
and sacrificed to bring us to the threshold of this beautiful human
dream. I do so love America the beautiful and our wild, creative,
beautiful people. I do so love you, my beautiful colleagues in the
disability and civil rights movement.
My relationship with Yoshiko Dart includes, but also transcends, love as
the word is normally defined. She is my wife, my partner, my mentor, my
leader and my inspiration to believe that the human dream can live. She
is the greatest human being I ever known.
Yoshiko, beloved colleagues, I am the luckiest man in the world to have
been associated with you. Thanks to you, I die free. Thanks to you, I die
in the joy of struggle. Thanks to you, I die in the beautiful belief that
the revolution of empowerment will go on. I love you so much. I'm with
you always. Lead on! Lead on!
Justin Dart
###
=====================
JUSTICE FOR ALL -- A Service of the American Association of People with
Disabilities www.aapd-dc.org www.jfanow.org
There's strength in numbers! Be a part of a national coalition of people
with disabilities and join AAPD today. www.aapd-dc.org
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"I AM WITH YOU. I LOVE YOU. LEAD ON."
Dearly Beloved:
Listen to the heart of this old soldier. As with all of us the time comes
when body and mind are battered and weary. But I do not go quietly into
the night. I do not give up struggling to be a responsible contributor to
the sacred continuum of human life. I do not give up struggling to
overcome my weakness, to conform my life - and that part of my life
called death - to the great values of the human dream.
Death is not a tragedy. It is not an evil from which we must escape.
Death is as natural as birth. Like childbirth, death is often a time of
fear and pain, but also of profound beauty, of celebration of the mystery
and majesty which is life pushing its horizons toward oneness with the
truth of mother universe. The days of dying carry a special
responsibility. There is a great potential to communicate values in a
uniquely powerful way - the person who dies demonstrating for civil
rights.
Let my final actions thunder of love, solidarity, protest - of
empowerment.
I adamantly protest the richest culture in the history of the world, a
culture which has the obvious potential to create a golden age of science
and democracy dedicated to maximizing the quality of life of every
person, but which still squanders the majority of its human and physical
capital on modern versions of primitive symbols of power and prestige.
I adamantly protest the richest culture in the history of the world which
still incarcerates millions of humans with and without disabilities in
barbaric institutions, backrooms and worse, windowless cells of
oppressive perceptions, for the lack of the most elementary empowerment
supports.
I call for solidarity among all who love justice, all who love life, to
create a revolution that will empower every single human being to govern
his or her life, to govern the society and to be fully productive of life
quality for self and for all.
I do so love all the patriots of this and every nation who have fought
and sacrificed to bring us to the threshold of this beautiful human
dream. I do so love America the beautiful and our wild, creative,
beautiful people. I do so love you, my beautiful colleagues in the
disability and civil rights movement.
My relationship with Yoshiko Dart includes, but also transcends, love as
the word is normally defined. She is my wife, my partner, my mentor, my
leader and my inspiration to believe that the human dream can live. She
is the greatest human being I ever known.
Yoshiko, beloved colleagues, I am the luckiest man in the world to have
been associated with you. Thanks to you, I die free. Thanks to you, I die
in the joy of struggle. Thanks to you, I die in the beautiful belief that
the revolution of empowerment will go on. I love you so much. I'm with
you always. Lead on! Lead on!
Justin Dart
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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