reposted with permission

Dr. King went to Democratic politicians for legislative support of his call for change. One of the most insightful explanations you will find on that is the one from Bill Moyers here:

By the time of his death, he and Bobby Kennedy had found themselves pretty much on the same page after LBJ withdrew from the race and Bobby entered the race for President. The energy that fateful year became palpable on the Democratic side. Then with the deaths of both Bobby and Dr. King that energy got channeled into frustration. And that contributed to the ugly scenes at the Democratic convention later that year. I am going to call that “Dream Shattered, Chaos Ensues.” Here is video of Bobby himself trying to tamp down the chaos after Dr. King’s death:

Over the last forty years, only twelve of those years have seen Democratic presidents. The Democratic Congress gradually disappeared altogether and resurfaced in 2006 as a mere shadow of its previous powerful self. The power of unions, a driving force for the Democratic Party, declined as well, with notable anti-union policies beginning with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. As the power of the unions declined, the power of corporate entities rose, again with a particular deregulatory emphasis starting during the Reagan administration in the 1980s. There is no doubt that Dr. King would have been fighting for the little man during this time, not just for civil rights for minorities but against poverty and practices that contributed to that poverty.

As we leave the desert (Nevada primary), the Promised Land (A Democratic President with a Democratic congress working on Democratic issues) is coming into view. We still have to make it through the remaining primaries and come out on the other side of those with a unified energetic party that will fight together for getting out of Iraq, universal health care and sane economic policies that do not give unfair advantage to corporate interests. I cannot help but believe if Dr. King were alive today he would be standing with us and leading the charge on all these things.

As in 1968, the energy is palpable again after our forty year wilderness journey. Everywhere there is a contested Democratic primary there is record turnout that contrasts sharply with the lackluster interest on the Republican side. History seems to be on our side. My friend Eric Massa discusses this here:

And each of the top three candidates has some connection to Dr. King’s legacy. Senator Clinton worked to bring change after his death by recruiting black students and teachers at Wellesley and has done much in her adult life that was directly inspired by Dr. King. Barack Obama has been an organizer in black communities and has a powerful gift for oratory that is reminiscent of Dr. King. More than either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama, John Edwards has a populist message that gets to the heart and soul of the Democratic party, also reminiscent of Dr. King.

As we work through these remaining primaries we must recognize that we all need each other. Each of the three bring something to the table the other does not have. Senator Clinton seems to have the support of Hispanics out west in a way that Barack Obama does not. (I grant that this is based on a limited amount of evidence. I was actually surprised by what happened in Nevada in this respect. You can read statements here and here to get a sense of what I am talking about.) Obama has the gift of oratory and energizes young and old alike but seems to especially energize the youth of America and African Americans. And in addition to reminding us why we are all here, John Edwards embodies the changes over the last few years more than anyone else in that he has dramatically shifted from a post-9/11 conservative to progressive populist. And both seem to be the right position for the time.

Let us move forward as we leave the desert of Nevada with a renewed sense of unity and optimism. Let a progressive Democratic movement pick up where it got cut off in 1968. Let’s end our forty years of wandering in the wilderness and work together to usher in a new period that works to achieve goals that Dr. King would have been happy to see realized. Let’s keep Dr. King’s dream alive. Let’s call it “Achieving the Dream 2.0.” I want to hold hands with Obama supporters and Edwards supporters and Clinton supporters and sing We Shall Overcome at the convention.

I started writing a journal when I was 13 years old.  I still have that raggedy old spiral notebook.

Here’s what I said about Viet Nam.  Please don’t hate me for my prodigy-like brilliance:

I wonder when World War III will be.  I’m almost sure there’ll be one, because of all the fighting going on in Viet Nam.  You see, it all started because we didn’t want South Viet Nam to become Communist (a form of government where the government owns and controls everything) so we fought the Communists so that Viet Nam would be a democracy (an individualistic government, where it is run by the people, for the people).

Well so far, all that has happened is a lot of killing!  Also, Presidential elections are coming up in 1968 (November).  I sure hope Johnson isn’t re-elected.  I’m rooting for Bobby Kennedy or McCarthy!  (Even though I can’t vote, I’m only 13 years old!)

I wish that wars wouldn’t “be.”  We have such a short time to live, why does it have to be spent in fighting?

Yes, I was quite the historian and governmental expert!  lol

Two days after the assassination, I wrote this:

Two days ago, Martin Luther King a Negro “non-violentist” was assasinated[sic].  He truly believed in non-violence, and he was going to lead a peaceful protest march, when he was shot and killed.

So his Negro followers, instead of carrying on his wish for non-violence, started rioting.  The worst rioting was in Washington, D.C., and Chicago.  Of course, I am not cutting down the Negroes, or reprimanding them, but I don’t think that they should riot, at least for the sake of their departed leader!  Of course, the Negero has been a scapegoat like the Jews (which I am, Jewish, that is) and I guess if I were a Negro, I’d riot too!

Gosh, what difference does the color of their skin  make?  Prejudice[sic] people are really crazy when they condemn any race!!! Maybe if they were perfect or something, but they are far from that!  You know, the world is such a mixed up place, I wonder if it will ever improve!?

As you can see, I didn’t understand that this struggle was my struggle as well.  I didn’t even know the history of what black Americans had gone through since the days of slavery.

In my mostly white Midwest school we were told about slavery, oh sure.  We were told it was not a very good thing, while seeing photos of happy looking black folks in the fields, and how wonderful Lincoln was to free the slaves.

I didn’t even know what “Jim Crow” meant.  Or lynching.  Or much of anything else.

So it was “them,” and “their leader.”

I hope I’ve progressed a bit since then.

1. The New York Times reports Dr. King honored by Democratic presidential candidates. “The three rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination stood together on the steps of the state capitol here on Monday in a brief display of political unity as they remembered the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. With a bitter chill in the air, the candidates addressed a crowd that overflowed onto a sprawling downtown plaza, vowing to complete the unfinished business of the slain civil rights leader… As the candidates spoke, a Confederate flag whipped into the stiff wind, a poignant reminder of South Carolina’s historic racial divide that still hangs over politics here.” The Democrats are in S.C. for tonight’s Congressional Black Caucus debate on CNN at 8 p.m. Eastern.

2. AFP reports scientists have found evidence of a Massive volcano that exploded under Antarctic icesheet. “A powerful volcano erupted under the icesheet of West Antarctica around 2,000 years ago and it might still be active today, a finding that prompts questions about ice loss from the white continent… The explosive event — rated “severe” to “cataclysmic” on an international scale of volcanic force — punched a massive breach in the icesheet and spat out a plume some 12,000 metres (eight miles) into the sky”. The British scientists calculated the blast happened around 207 B.C, give or take 240 years, which is roughly during the lifetime of Alexander the Great. While volcanic heat may be the cause of some Antarctic ice melt, the scientists state warming ocean water is the primary factor.

3. The Guardian reports on the Drive to save weird and endangered amphibians. “British scientists have launched an ambitious conservation project to protect some of the weirdest and slimiest creatures on the planet from extinction. The Zoological Society of London’s Edge project has identified 100 species of amphibians that have the fewest living relatives, making them evolutionary rarities and precious examples of Earth’s biodiversity… Climate change, habitat loss and outbreaks of disease have taken their toll on amphibians around the world. Half of all amphibian species are in decline, while a third are threatened with extinction.” 2008 is the Year of the Frog.

4. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Local architects offer visions of SF in 2108. If the winning proposal of IwamotoScott Architecture vision of San Francisco’s future should come to pass, the city will “be a place where forests of towers grow algae as well as house people, and where geothermal steam baths sprout atop Twin Peaks.” The firm “said a city that produces its own energy – such as the hydrogen that would be generated by vast vertical fields of algae – and moves most travel underground shouldn’t be all that far-fetched.”

   “We were thinking of the city as an evolutionary beast,” said [Lisa] Iwamoto, a design lecturer at UC Berkeley as well as the operator, with [Craig] Scott, her husband, of a four-person firm based in the couple’s Mission District loft. “You create certain conditions, and that allows other things to happen.”

So you’ve made your first web page based on the last tutorial and now you want to know how to change it and upload it. The most important thing to remember when working with web sites, web hosts and servers is that everything is based on files and folders just like your computer. On most hosts you’ll be allowed to access the folder “www” or “public-html” in your account. This is where you’ll be doing 99% of your work (unless of course you enlist the help of a professional design agency, like MadeSimpleMedia, in which case they’ll be doing the work for you!). Inside that folder you can create unlimited new folders for various parts of your website.

Editing Your Page

You already know the basics of HTML if you are posting on blogs. You know how to create links and most know how to add images. How the page looks now, however, is up to you. There are a number of free web design programs but I think it is important that you know how to do coding by hand. This way you’ll be able to locate and fix mistakes later on. We understand that you might be confused by all the technical jargon that we use on the page and so instead of trying to figure this out for yourself, you may want to have a look at this web design company who can help design your website so that you have no added stress when trying to design something like a new business website. Instead, it will be done for you.

Open up your “myfirstpage.html” page which you stored on your desktop last time. Right click or double click anywhere on the page to and select “View Source” or “View Page Source”. You will see the coding you cut and pasted last time.

Now let’s personalize it:

1. In the Header section insert the following code and invent a title for your page:

2. Go into the Body section and type something you’d like to tell the world. The following tags will be helpful to you.

Largest Heading Size

Smaller Heading Size

Smaller Heading Size

Paragraph

Emphasize

Horizontal Rule

Line Break

YourLink

Includes the off tag at the end. Other tags that could be included are width height border image title and alternative text. See my example index page for help with these.

3. Once you have your page looking the way you want it, be it coded by yourself or by a company specializing in Web Design, you are ready to learn how to upload it. Save it, only this time save it as index.html Why? Folders on servers expect an index page to be the first thing presented. Your page is now your index page which means you can create new pages and link to them from your index page. And since servers expect the index page to be displayed you will only have to type in your website name to reach your index page. Meaning you don’t have to add the index.html in your browser when calling up the page to look at. I have created and uploaded an index page for you to learn from here.

4. Finding a Free Host. Most free hosts will place some ads above your content. They will also allow you to upgrade your site to a paid version without ads. So for now leave it as a free account and if you find you like designing pages and creating things online upgrade later on.

We are looking for a free host that has Cpanel included. So we type into Google “free host cpanel” and one of the nicest ones we see is http://www.000webhost.com/. They offer reasonable account space and many features you can experiment with later on. They also offer you a demo version of their Cpanel which can be found here:

http://x3demob.cpx3demo.com:20…

Towards the bottom middle of the page you’ll see File Manager, that’s where the magic happens.

So go ahead and register on 000webhost.com or a simliar host with Cpanel, your username will become the subdomain of your site usually so choose wisely. You’ll receive a confirmation email, follow the instructions and you’ll be given access to your cpanel.

5. First you’ll login to your hosting account’s Control Panel or Cpanel and click on “File Manager”. You’ll see your folders laid out. As I mentioned in the introduction you’ll be uploading files on your new host to a folder called “www” or “public-html”. So open up your folder and then it works just like adding an attachment in an email. Click on the Upload Icon at the top of the screen. Search your computer, using “browse”, for the file you’d like to upload, then click “upload” or “send”. Your new file is now available for you and the world to see on the web.

6. Play around for a while make some more edits on your page and upload it again to see the changes. For a list of all HTML tags and what they do visit WebMonkey’s HTML Cheat Sheet. Bookmark it for easy reference.

We’ll save creating tables and dividers for next time as I think this is quite enough to keep you busy.

General tips:

Create a folder on your Desktop that has the same name as your new website. Put the index.html file in that folder.

Always work on your HTML files on your own computer first, save them, and then upload them, this way you’ll always have the latest copy of your pages on your own computer for editing purposes. Editing files online should be reserved for more experienced webmasters.

Creating a new page for your site. So you have your index page…now what?! Well, create a new page and call it anything you like on your computer such as “about.html”. Tell people about yourself and what you hope to do with the website. Include a link to your index.html page called “Home” and save it. Upload about.html to your WWW/Public-HTML Folder. Then link to it from your index page. you now have a two page site. Repeat the process for any additional pages.

HEADER TAGS – Header tags are important but not for right now. We’ll discuss them in detail later on. And Until you feel comfortable creating, editing and uploading HTML files, stay out of the other areas of the Cpanel.

If you get stuck anywhere along the line go back to your coding and check to make sure your tags are formatted correctly. If it still doesn’t work for you let me know in the comments. Place a link to your new site and page that is hanging you up and what your problem is.