A Nation Of Immigrants ... Updated

The Obama Era Continues (Now let the Republican games begin!) 

This from Politico today:
"President Barack Obama will announce Thursday that he is shielding about 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation, according to sources familiar with the planning.

In calls to immigration reform proponents Wednesday, senior administration officials said the executive actions will cover 4 million undocumented immigrants who would qualify for deferred deportations by using criteria such as longevity in the United States and family ties, according to sources briefed on the discussions.

Another 1 million would receive protection through other means, two sources said.

Obama will promote the executive actions at an event in Las Vegas Friday."


"I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.” Ronald Reagan (1984 debate with Mondale)

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 brought almost three million people “out of the shadows” of fear and exploitation into the hopeful daylight of American life. In contrast to the lamentations of certain conservative voices that the Act failed in its promise to stem the flow of “illegals” across our porous borders, we might look at its benefits to the economy and the fact that in the “land of the free” millions were liberated from the exploitation of those who prey on the vulnerable who had no status to demand any Rights. Since 1986 no less than another three million persons have received amnesty under various extensions of the IRCA.

Throughout our history people have come to this country in pursuit of a better life. Some come to escape wars and famine, others just in search of greater freedom and better economic opportunity. For whatever reasons...this is a land of immigrants, by immigrants, for immigrants. We come here and we give our talents and our blood and the blood of our children to build and to secure the “land of the free and home of the brave”. The absence of homogeneity is what makes us unique as a nation. We are more than “a people”. America is a product of the whole human experience, offering the richness of what it means to be a person to all who are courageous enough to venture into the formative splendor of its melting pot.

As Americans we have a duty to cultivate a vision of our society that is greater than that which is reflected in the convenient political opportunism that colors the ambitions of myopic individuals. Those who want to close the door behind them once they and their households are in will find that door constantly battered by the winds of human opportunity that brought the first ships to these shores. This country is a force of nature powered by the aspirations and the inspirations of the immigrant. Ours is a hope hinged on the hopes of those who dare to rise up against hopelessness.

According to our census experts there are close to 12 million people living illegally in the USA. They build our houses. They help us care for our children. They do our landscaping. They work in our restaurants and hotels. They do our dry cleaning. They work in our livestock industry. They raise and kill and pluck the chicken that is an irreplaceable staple of our daily diets. They do the work that many of us think is too hard. They are forced into prostitution. We underpay them because they are afraid to speak out against exploitation. They are forced to forego any recourse to Justice because of fear. And they are not the factor that they should be in the tax base that goes toward the building of a more viable society.

We are a nation of laws, but we must be more than that. Laws evolve. Let us be a nation of Justice. Let us author laws that nurture the hopes and dreams of the widow and the orphan. This nation must continue to be a refuge for those who seek safety from cruelty and famine. Let us be fair to those whose only transgression is seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

President Reagan knew in his heart that to maintain the status quo with regard to the undocumented immigrant was wrong. IT WAS WRONG THEN, IT IS WRONG NOW. We need to be guided now by the magnanimous-ness of Reagan's vision. We are called to abandon the blithe-full political rhetoric that reflects an impotent view of American possibility. Justice dictates that the time is ripe now to grant another amnesty.

A State Of Emergency... Parochialism And The Corrupting Of Justice In America

The over-municipalization of counties in many U.S. states, most with their own city hall and police force, is an issue that has gone unaddressed for the most part. It is a development that has taken place 'under the radar' of our political consciousness so to speak. This issue needs to be looked at not just because of the lack of viability that is a built-in feature of this reality, but also because of how this lack of viability impacts on the distribution of Justice among the citizenry.

The funding of these ever-multiplying municipalities is a challenge that has been forced to the back seat in the arena of the political consideration of a not too involved citizenry; most of which is not involved in the critical votes that result in such divisions. The all important question of how to fund these entities are never fully exposed to the inhabitants of these new political entities. Many end up relying on revenue essentially generated from oppressive fines which unequally target the already disadvantaged in many of our metropolitan areas.

A study by the St. Louis nonprofit Better Together, shows how some of these municipalities depend for their economic lives on the misplacement of policing priorities as a result. Former state senator Jeff Smith in a New York Times op-ed points out the following:

“Ferguson, Missouri receives nearly one-quarter of its revenue from court fees; for some surrounding towns it approaches 50 percent. Municipal reliance on revenue generated from traffic stops adds pressure to make more of them. One town, Sycamore Hills, has stationed a radar-gun-wielding police officer on its 250-foot northbound stretch of Interstate.”

In the same op-ed piece, the former Missouri state senator and New School professor develops on the previous point:

“When a metropolitan area is split into dozens of tiny local governments they tend to duplicate each others’ services, which is of course extremely expensive. But raising taxes so that each tiny borough can afford its own police and fire department is a nonstarter, since wealthy residents can always just move one town over. End result: You have police departments that self-fund by handing out tickets. (same thing goes for the so called war on drugs) And thanks to the delightful racial dynamics of U.S. law enforcement, black residents are disproportionately stopped and accosted, even though police in Ferguson are less likely to find contraband when they search black drivers than white drivers.”

The reality described above has unfortunately become a template for police operations in many American municipalities. What is true of places like Ferguson is replicated in almost every state in our Union. The parochial ambitions of many in small town America has led to the continued feeding of the beast of injustice. Their political ambition finds a ready and willing ally in the existing racial animus in many places in this country. The confluence of rabid political ambition perpetuated against a backdrop of economic inviability produces the kind of toxic cultural brew that poisons places like Ferguson. And the result... People are economically stressed, and in some instances killed... So that the few can maintain the political and economic dominance they seek.

Governor Nixon of Missouri is about to call out the National Guard to effect a state of emergency in anticipation of the likely response to the report of the grand jury in the Michael Brown killing by a Ferguson policeman.  What needs to be addressed, in this our country, is the perpetuation of injustice in the parochialism of states like Missouri. A parochialism that victimizes and kills citizens like Mike Brown. The real and ongoing "state of emergency" is one in which we are forced to pay for local governments and their court and police tentacles which are constantly reaching out to threaten our economic lives and our security.

Scream...

(For Someone With A Hatchet And A Gun... And Blood Dripping)

Hell hath no fury like this
And death no dread
Like this dark place to which I sink
And from which I announce my despair…and give birth
To this unholy thing... That I have borne
And of which I... Am now involuntarily delivered…

A person scorned... Must never know
This gut-wrenching…soul emptying
Unending…light-forbidding tunnel
Into which I have fallen…and am falling endlessly…
This black hole that drains… and keeps draining
My heart of its courage

I have hurt… but no more…
The hope of my pain has dissipated
Leaving me numb…and stiff
With the despair of my uncertainty

I am lost ... 
In the gateless penitentiary ... Of my lack of grasp
Of time…and space…and feeling
I would cry much louder
Except... I can’t hear myself

Trails... A Narrative Poem For Those Who Dare To Lead

(For POTUS, Barack Obama)

Excerpt from the book 'Of Scattered Seed and Broken Souls' by Roy Alexander Graham

Into the dark I venture…
Knowing and unknowing mixed…
I walk the trails... Of truth unknown
Approaching with uncommon daring
Facts uncomfortable and others…
This is a slow journey
Since I must face the suspicions…and trials… Of my alter egos…
Who…with haste…dares… Approach with that certain longing…
The many faces of self… Made ugly by the judgments of experience…

Into the night I go…
Baring the chest of my conscience
With praises…and with curses… I move loudly forward in a bid to disguise my fears…
Who can carry the weight…so unbearable
Of the basket of opposites…without complaint…
Not I or you... And so I walk…one step predicated by the step before…
Progress validated by experience
I only know what I have known
And what the hell was that ... I keep asking myself…

Such are my reflections…
I keep the company of my thoughts… As I venture further…
I see myself at times wearing the faces necessitated by circumstance.
Awkward masks… I have well known the discomfitures of shame and praise…
Deserved and undeserved…
I travel on…changing faces as needs be…
I cherish my rationalizations…
I need them to survive this dark road… With all its scares

I look deep into myself…
Seeing past the light in me through to my necessary dark self…
And if you recognize…if you can know both…you will understand how to be just…like a scale… I tell myself.




Beyond my fears I venture…
To the shadowy places which are my secrets…
I come here mostly alone…
Or with a few who know…are intimate…
With the realities of doing what must be done
Having embraced that dynamic oppositeness that reestablishes balance…
No fear…no fault…no guilt…just one…
And reconciled to the factualities of being…
No wins…no losses…no tripping…
Just the journey…and rest…and the next fate

Up hills…challenging heights that test my resolve…
Around corners that limit my view…
Down steepened grades…I struggle
Maintaining my balance over uneven surfaces…
This path…that is our experience…
Gets no easier…but I... I get harder…stronger…more versatile…
I become what I must... to overcome the many obstacles
That are present on my way to that place above it all
Where I see most clearly... The circumstances that would trap me
In the low places of despair…

Out of the dark I come
With a clarity that challenges every circumstance…
I do not require the mountains to move
For there is much to be gained on the journey up…
And there is joy up here
That I only knew as echoes in the valley…

Up here…on this peak
I stand above every undulation…
And learn to hear myself in ways vastly different than before…
I learn to trust my voice
As shout after shout…
I declare my resolve to be the master of every choice I make…

Bouncing my words around…
I dare every challenge that once shook me…
To stand again and be crushed…
For I have faced myself with truth
And have come to know that there is indeed nothing to fear…
I…have destroyed the final blasphemy
And have known the restoration of being... In the image of the Creator…
Today I speak…needing no crutch…
For I shall stand or fall... According to the measure of my courage…Or my fear

It has been a tedious journey
But I have come to know my joys and my sorrows…
My hopes and my dreams…
My encouragements and my despairs…
As mine…mine alone…
I blame no one…and own no blame…
We live…and we learn…

'Of Scattered Seed and Broken Souls' available on Amazon Kindle

'Of Scattered Seed and Broken Souls' available on Apple iBooks

'Of Scattered Seed and Broken Souls' available on Barnes & Noble Nook

Of Memories And Dreams... 'The Legend Of Tai & Burung Elang'

Excerpt from the book 'The Legend of Tai & Burung Elang' by Roy and Monica Graham

“This Legend will awaken in you memories of things that have actually happened. In some places they continue to happen. Some of these things generate great angst, but even more important than your discomfort and mine is the reality that the lives of many are still affected by gruesome tragedies that cause terrible pain.

Those of us who are free to dream and to realize our dreams shall reach out to those who even now cannot even sleep securely. We will deliberately engage in the uncomfortable memories of our own history so that we may find the empathy to reach out to those who dream of a better life in better places. So yes…let us listen…

The voices you are hearing are those of children who have lost their parents (and parents who have lost their children) and others whom they loved to cruel invaders who descended on their homes in the dark of night. These children were forced to watch as their villages were destroyed and loved ones were brutally taken away by vile characters. Left without home and family and community, many of these children ended up in places far away from the life they once knew.

Their memories of the traumatic circumstances by which they lost their loved ones would linger on and on, creating persistent feelings of sadness and insecurity. These memories, though blunted by time and new experiences, were an important part of the reason why so many growing children had a hard time believing that their lives could be different…even better. It is difficult for any of us to believe in a great future when our faith in everything we once knew has been so terribly shaken.

The new circumstances of their lives would create new relationships with others who sometimes could not grasp the yearnings they had for a different kind of world. These other children knew no other life, and so they took for granted that the life and world that they knew was normal. Many of them lived with their parents or other close relatives, who provided a real connection to the place they had known all their lives and its history. For these children and their relatives this was, and would remain, their world.

This is the tale of two teenagers who, despite the trauma of being torn from their families by the cruel hands of heartless characters, refused to limit themselves to a life without dreams. It is the story of what happens when they, by sharing their dreams with each other, are united by the awesome power of their mutual aspirations.”

'The Legend of Tai & Burung Elang' available on Apple iBooks

'The Legend of Tai & Burung Elang' available on Amazon Kindle

'The Legend of Tai & Burung Elang' available on Barnes & Noble Nook

"A Beautiful Melody" ... A Timely Message To Our Young

Excerpt from the book 'A Beautiful Melody' by Roy and Monica Graham

“Sons and daughters everywhere... 
This is a story about being as free as the birds in a tree. Freedom is the most wonderful possession that anyone can have, because it allows us to become the very best that we can be. When we are free, our eyes and our minds open up to great possibilities. Freedom allows us to make wonderful promises to ourselves about the greatness that is deep within each of us. It opens the way so that we can keep those promises.

Think about all the things that you would love to do. Like the three birds in our story, maybe you can create a beautiful melody that brings joy to the world. Maybe you can write a great poem that everyone will remember. Maybe you yourself can, or you can inspire someone to discover the next great scientific formula. Think about the great person you can become. Freedom makes it all possible.

We have said that Freedom is the most wonderful possession we have; but did you know that not everyone is free? Sadly some people have had their freedom restricted, or taken from them altogether. This can bring about great sadness. Like the child in our story, losing our joy is a terrible distraction. In the same way, losing the joy that freedom brings renders us unable to accomplish the great things that lay deep within us.

And so this is a story about how being free, like the birds, allows us all to do wonderful things. This story also makes us think about why we should want others to have the freedom to become everything they dream of being.”


'A Beautiful Melody' available on Apple iBooks

'A Beautiful Melody' available on Amazon Kindle

'A Beautiful Melody' available on Barnes & Noble Nook

The 2014 Savannah Children's Book Festival

Join us for an enlivening experience... Click on the link for info
http://www.liveoakpl.org/SCBF/guests/coastal-writers-illustrators.php