Thanks so much! Many, many of us were brought up in families in which the New Deal was held sacred. Our fathers left their homes to fight in a world war, an incredible thing to ask of young men who had grown up in the Depression. But when they returned to civilian life, the GI Bill provided many of them with paths to education and housin…
Thanks so much! Many, many of us were brought up in families in which the New Deal was held sacred. Our fathers left their homes to fight in a world war, an incredible thing to ask of young men who had grown up in the Depression. But when they returned to civilian life, the GI Bill provided many of them with paths to education and housing which would not have existed without the protections of the New Deal. Lots of us white kids who are now on Medicare grew up in homes built with GI mortgages, with Dads in good Union jobs, attending excellent public schools and enjoying what American freedoms were supposed to feel like. Unfortunately, these benefits were not for all Americans - black or mixed neighborhoods were redlined, de facto school segregation was rampant in the North, and the tremendous opportunities available to the white population were denied to Blacks. Interstate highways tore through minority communities, inner city schools were allowed to deteriorate physically and educationally, and a hopelessness reciprocal to the enthusiasm of us white kids embedded itself in at the lives of our Black citizens. So it is with great faith in the basic goodness of humanity that we approach Wednesday, when we can believe again that We the People - ALL of us this time - through our government, can attempt to rebuild what was right, and to correct the very wrong. Thank you, Dr. Richardson, for being such an incredible teacher, always prepared to lead the discussion and to prod us to something beyond this incredible anger so many of us hold in our souls.
Jeff, folks have complained that Democrats fall short on their slogans. In my opinion your words, "We the People - ALL of us this time," really captures what this country can become. With your permission, I would like to spread these words around wherever I can. Thank you, again, Jeff Cartwright.
Nicely done, Jeff. I love the way you gave it a context that enlarges the meaning and makes it less a "slogan" and more a defined goal. I am not a person who cares much for slogans, because they so often substitute for actual discussion and meaningful action ("Look at ME: I am so woke!") But this one, with your artistic treatment, evokes something much more profound, and reminds us both of our history and what still needs to be done. Thank you.
Thank you Jeff! What a lovely surprise. Your work is beautiful! Thoughtful slogans are powerful tools. Quick reminders of what is important. This one is important... and now beautiful. I’ll be using this often.
You rock, Jeff! Don't know where this is going but I already sent it in response to a Biden questionnaire I received. I will re-post on tomorrow's Letter from Dr. R, too.
Are you on FB and Twitter? If so, I posted your words prior to the link to HRC's letter I shared to Twitter and again at the end of my post sharing HRC's letter on FB.
I’ll repeat what I posted earlier about the Canadian use of “mosaic” vs melting pot:
Mosaic is brilliant. Each tessera keeps its shape and color but together they are transformed into a beautiful image which is far more than the individual pieces. Yet if one piece is omitted the image suffers
Thank you. I missed that earlier (so many posts, I don't get to them all some days. Thank you for repeating.) It's quite a beautiful perspective. In melting pot, what bothered me was that the characteristics of the various elements disappear and everything becomes uniform, static. I do think that stewpot does suggest something that a mosaic is missing: the ability to accept new elements and allow them to flavor the whole, which can nourish us all. But like all metaphors, both mosaic and stewpot help us understand the potential of the thing we refer to. One: the beauty of the whole that is incomplete without every piece present. And the nourishment and richness of flavor of different elements mingling.
I think melting pot concept is problematic and I'm glad to see it go. It meant that everyone became like the people already here. Stewpot: all the different flavors that together make something rich and nourishing and full of all of us.
I don't think of cooking when I use the term melting pot. Rather metallurgy. Raw ingredients mixed together do not make a strong substance. Forming an alloy such as steel creates a much stronger product. Think e pluribus unum not a stew pot.
Read further. Metaphors are useful in getting across the essence of something but they all have limits in how far you can stretch them. Each metaphor stands by itself, not in comparison.
Can any of us truly imagine what is possible if everyone is supported and given opportunity? When you think of all the people left out to dry by the past ideologies but still found ways to create and succeed, what endless possibilities if they aren’t held down! George Floyd as a child wanted to be a Supreme Court Judge. Imagine if society had encouraged that, instead of putting a knee on his dreams. Broader more inclusive society has such a greater potential. Hope I get to see it!
Agreed. I keep asking if anyone knows of a functioning democracy--present or historical--without a middle class. Doesn't democracy NEED an educated middlee class? Income inequality is killing democracy.
I agree, Denise. One of the only positives I have seen come out of the Covid pandemic is the creativity that people have employed to do things in a new way. Imagine if that creativity was nourished by all society what could become reality for so m,any.
"We the People - ALL of us this time," is brilliant, Jeff! Thank you for this emphasis on the "ALL", a small, three-letter word that encapsulates color, creed, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic standing, historical roots, completeness, and unity! My deepest gratitude to you for making me and others boxed off in similarly "othered" categories welcomed!
Mosaic is brilliant. Each tessera keeps its shape and color but together they are transformed into a beautiful image which is far more than the individual pieces. Yet if one piece is omitted the image suffers.
Jeff, you describe exactly my family's experiences, my upbringing, and my regrets about the ways in which whiteness has been privileged because of the lack of vision of the people (Truman, Eisenhower, LBJ) who developed some of the most ambitiously egalitarian programs ever in the US. With a tiny bit more imagination--such as Eleanor Roosevelt exhibited--we would have been in a much better situation in the 1970s to combat the white supremacist propaganda. FDR invented redlining; for all of his humanitarianism (my father, who fought against redlining and block-busting all his life, worshipped him) he was a racist. He should have listened more to Eleanor.
Okay, Jeff, you did it! My tears are flowing. I love the voices of HCR and this community so much in contrast to what we are seeing from the racist, hate-mongers. It manages to help me feel some strange sensation out of this five-year morass of quicksand--might that be hope? Love for our people and our ancestors and the future generations pulling one another out? Many, many thanks...
Jeff -- elsewhere I posted that your slogan "We the People - ALL of us this time" needs to go viral -- memes, t-shirts, bumper stickers, bill boards, TV ads, etc. (I see the iconic Uncle Sam surrounded by faces of every shape and color -- but I'm no graphic designer.)
Lynell Abbott suggested incorporating 2021: "We the People 2021 - All of us this time."
Penelope Simpson Adams replied that she would ask her artist friends...
Going to do a caveat on this. If it is going to be accepted, let it grow on it's own. Let people adopt it as they feel moved. Otherwise, I am afraid it will simply become a meaningless symbol of wokeness. We don't need that. We need people who are willing to get together and do the work, not just wear T-shirts with a cool logo. I got invites from two of my favorite organizations to join in redefining what we need to do, and how to do it. I'm in. I love Jeff's logo: would love to see it on a flag, for instance. But we need to look at our communities and find other people who also want to see this become a reality, not just another slogan.
I beg to differ, Lynell. We don't want to place a limit on how long it should be We the People... I do agree that it's better (but not wrong) without the comma after "us."
Thanks Jeff. Eloquent about the New Deal AND those excluded. Your phrase needs to spread widely. Thanks for the perfect graphic you posted. Need to partner the
motto with the idea of a mosaic (suggested tonight as used in as used in Canada vs melting pot) —mosaic: many different individual pieces (tesserae) that combine to produce a beautiful image. And all the pieces are necessary for the image. Peace and Courage to all
Thanks so much! Many, many of us were brought up in families in which the New Deal was held sacred. Our fathers left their homes to fight in a world war, an incredible thing to ask of young men who had grown up in the Depression. But when they returned to civilian life, the GI Bill provided many of them with paths to education and housing which would not have existed without the protections of the New Deal. Lots of us white kids who are now on Medicare grew up in homes built with GI mortgages, with Dads in good Union jobs, attending excellent public schools and enjoying what American freedoms were supposed to feel like. Unfortunately, these benefits were not for all Americans - black or mixed neighborhoods were redlined, de facto school segregation was rampant in the North, and the tremendous opportunities available to the white population were denied to Blacks. Interstate highways tore through minority communities, inner city schools were allowed to deteriorate physically and educationally, and a hopelessness reciprocal to the enthusiasm of us white kids embedded itself in at the lives of our Black citizens. So it is with great faith in the basic goodness of humanity that we approach Wednesday, when we can believe again that We the People - ALL of us this time - through our government, can attempt to rebuild what was right, and to correct the very wrong. Thank you, Dr. Richardson, for being such an incredible teacher, always prepared to lead the discussion and to prod us to something beyond this incredible anger so many of us hold in our souls.
"We the People - ALL of us this time." Thank you, Jeff.
Jeff, folks have complained that Democrats fall short on their slogans. In my opinion your words, "We the People - ALL of us this time," really captures what this country can become. With your permission, I would like to spread these words around wherever I can. Thank you, again, Jeff Cartwright.
Ditto! Picturing this quote going viral and on my coffee mug.
ask , and ye shall receive:
http://jcarpenterstudio.com/portfolio-portfolio/public-art-projects/we-the-people-2
Nicely done, Jeff. I love the way you gave it a context that enlarges the meaning and makes it less a "slogan" and more a defined goal. I am not a person who cares much for slogans, because they so often substitute for actual discussion and meaningful action ("Look at ME: I am so woke!") But this one, with your artistic treatment, evokes something much more profound, and reminds us both of our history and what still needs to be done. Thank you.
Thanks, Annie!
I will be using this as my Facebook cover on Inauguration Day 🇺🇸
Thank you Jeff! What a lovely surprise. Your work is beautiful! Thoughtful slogans are powerful tools. Quick reminders of what is important. This one is important... and now beautiful. I’ll be using this often.
You rock, Jeff! Don't know where this is going but I already sent it in response to a Biden questionnaire I received. I will re-post on tomorrow's Letter from Dr. R, too.
Outstanding! I shared this on Facebook, with thanks.
T-shirts!
Of course. Thank for your kind words.
Just did! Thank you, Jim Cartwright!!
(His name is Jeff!)
Thanks for catching that.
Bumper sticker!!!!
Already used these perfect words for this moment at the end of a FB post crediting Jeff! Seriously, this will catch on!
Wow! How would I find your post? (I am a Luddite, please explain it to me slowly)
Are you on FB and Twitter? If so, I posted your words prior to the link to HRC's letter I shared to Twitter and again at the end of my post sharing HRC's letter on FB.
Reminder: Unless you post to the Public, only your friends can see your posts.
And on Twitter!
Same question - but even slower, please!
Go to HRC's FB page (I assume) which is public. And look on her twitter posts. You can also search using HCR's name on Twitter. Hope that helps.
And melting pot, you don't hear much about this any more.
I’ll repeat what I posted earlier about the Canadian use of “mosaic” vs melting pot:
Mosaic is brilliant. Each tessera keeps its shape and color but together they are transformed into a beautiful image which is far more than the individual pieces. Yet if one piece is omitted the image suffers
Thank you. I missed that earlier (so many posts, I don't get to them all some days. Thank you for repeating.) It's quite a beautiful perspective. In melting pot, what bothered me was that the characteristics of the various elements disappear and everything becomes uniform, static. I do think that stewpot does suggest something that a mosaic is missing: the ability to accept new elements and allow them to flavor the whole, which can nourish us all. But like all metaphors, both mosaic and stewpot help us understand the potential of the thing we refer to. One: the beauty of the whole that is incomplete without every piece present. And the nourishment and richness of flavor of different elements mingling.
I think melting pot concept is problematic and I'm glad to see it go. It meant that everyone became like the people already here. Stewpot: all the different flavors that together make something rich and nourishing and full of all of us.
I don't think of cooking when I use the term melting pot. Rather metallurgy. Raw ingredients mixed together do not make a strong substance. Forming an alloy such as steel creates a much stronger product. Think e pluribus unum not a stew pot.
Read further. Metaphors are useful in getting across the essence of something but they all have limits in how far you can stretch them. Each metaphor stands by itself, not in comparison.
Can any of us truly imagine what is possible if everyone is supported and given opportunity? When you think of all the people left out to dry by the past ideologies but still found ways to create and succeed, what endless possibilities if they aren’t held down! George Floyd as a child wanted to be a Supreme Court Judge. Imagine if society had encouraged that, instead of putting a knee on his dreams. Broader more inclusive society has such a greater potential. Hope I get to see it!
I’m amazed that so many are ignorant to the fact that educating everyone and equal opportunity equals a strong and happy nation.
This is a good one, too, Elaine.
Agreed. I keep asking if anyone knows of a functioning democracy--present or historical--without a middle class. Doesn't democracy NEED an educated middlee class? Income inequality is killing democracy.
I agree, Denise. One of the only positives I have seen come out of the Covid pandemic is the creativity that people have employed to do things in a new way. Imagine if that creativity was nourished by all society what could become reality for so m,any.
"We the People - ALL of us this time," is brilliant, Jeff! Thank you for this emphasis on the "ALL", a small, three-letter word that encapsulates color, creed, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic standing, historical roots, completeness, and unity! My deepest gratitude to you for making me and others boxed off in similarly "othered" categories welcomed!
Mosaic is brilliant. Each tessera keeps its shape and color but together they are transformed into a beautiful image which is far more than the individual pieces. Yet if one piece is omitted the image suffers.
These are great resources, thanks so much, Rachel! Also, I agree that the Canadian use of "mosaic" is far more beautiful and dignified ❣️❣️
Jeff, you describe exactly my family's experiences, my upbringing, and my regrets about the ways in which whiteness has been privileged because of the lack of vision of the people (Truman, Eisenhower, LBJ) who developed some of the most ambitiously egalitarian programs ever in the US. With a tiny bit more imagination--such as Eleanor Roosevelt exhibited--we would have been in a much better situation in the 1970s to combat the white supremacist propaganda. FDR invented redlining; for all of his humanitarianism (my father, who fought against redlining and block-busting all his life, worshipped him) he was a racist. He should have listened more to Eleanor.
Jeff, "We the People - ALL of us this time" is exactly what we need right now. Thank you!
Okay, Jeff, you did it! My tears are flowing. I love the voices of HCR and this community so much in contrast to what we are seeing from the racist, hate-mongers. It manages to help me feel some strange sensation out of this five-year morass of quicksand--might that be hope? Love for our people and our ancestors and the future generations pulling one another out? Many, many thanks...
“We the People - ALL of us this time” YES! Thank you 😊
Yes, “We the People - ALL of us this time”
is the perfect slogan as we look forward to a more inclusive system of governance.
Thank you, Jeff..
Jeff -- elsewhere I posted that your slogan "We the People - ALL of us this time" needs to go viral -- memes, t-shirts, bumper stickers, bill boards, TV ads, etc. (I see the iconic Uncle Sam surrounded by faces of every shape and color -- but I'm no graphic designer.)
Lynell Abbott suggested incorporating 2021: "We the People 2021 - All of us this time."
Penelope Simpson Adams replied that she would ask her artist friends...
What do you think?
Going to do a caveat on this. If it is going to be accepted, let it grow on it's own. Let people adopt it as they feel moved. Otherwise, I am afraid it will simply become a meaningless symbol of wokeness. We don't need that. We need people who are willing to get together and do the work, not just wear T-shirts with a cool logo. I got invites from two of my favorite organizations to join in redefining what we need to do, and how to do it. I'm in. I love Jeff's logo: would love to see it on a flag, for instance. But we need to look at our communities and find other people who also want to see this become a reality, not just another slogan.
With 2021 it is just a passing political slogan, so to speak. This is everlasting. Leave it as is.
I beg to differ, Lynell. We don't want to place a limit on how long it should be We the People... I do agree that it's better (but not wrong) without the comma after "us."
Here! Here!!
Well said.
Well done.
Thanks Jeff. Eloquent about the New Deal AND those excluded. Your phrase needs to spread widely. Thanks for the perfect graphic you posted. Need to partner the
motto with the idea of a mosaic (suggested tonight as used in as used in Canada vs melting pot) —mosaic: many different individual pieces (tesserae) that combine to produce a beautiful image. And all the pieces are necessary for the image. Peace and Courage to all
Are you sure you want to share space, literal or figurative, with a Deplorable?