We Belong
Social History Project
Every. story. matters.
This land really is your land. You are as much an heir to the whole of America and your claim to this place is as legitimate as anyone else’s. No one can tell you to “go back where you belong” or “get back in your place”. You’re already there. Further, only you, by being authentically you, can make the difference that you can make. And given how we’re changing, you’ve never been more needed. Like Princess Leah said to Obi-Wan, “You’re our only hope.” -
This Land Is Your Land
This Land Is Your Land
Mildred and Richard Loving, who, in Lovings v. Virginia, fought all the way to the United States Supreme Court to remain married, and who won.
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The Boggs, husband and wife, African American, James and Asian American, Grace Lee -- lifelong social activists.
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We Belong
is a social history project committed to writing everyday, often unsung humanitarian heroes -- from civil rights activists and their allies to bridge-builders, from the discounted to the poor, from the erased to the ignored -- back into history. We're dedicated to telling the stories of the many people, including Mildred and Richard, Grace Lee and James, above, who, by everything from the stands they took to the lives they led, helped weave our nation's tapestry of unity.
Undiminished
"They shot my brother dead because he hated what was wrong." – Simon and Garfunkel, He Was My Brother, written for their classmate, civil rights activist Andrew Goodman, who was murdered along with James Chaney and Michael Schwerner.
“Life is to be lived to its fullest so that death is just another chapter. Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.” – Rosa Parks
"I come as one, but I stand as 10,000." – Maya Angelou
Tales of those who persisted in believing the best in us even when we presented ourselves at our worst. They're who Martin was describing when he said, “The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage they did not know they had.” Despite persecution and derision by a hostile society, their faith in humanity -- both their own and even those doing them harm -- remained unbroken. Some, like Rosa and Maya, lived to see the dawning of a better world; others, like James Chaney (21), Andrew Goodman (20) and Michael Schwerner (24), died to make it happen. But even in their dying, they remained - Undiminished.
Indivisible
We make the world in which we live, by what we gather and what we give. By our daily deeds and the things we say, by what we keep or we cast away. – Pastor Alfred Grant Walton
United States begins with "U" - This Land Is Your Land
A nation of strangers who somehow became family. That's the crux of the American story and is at the core of everything that makes us who we are. It's rooted in our very beginning, how we're a singular people comprised of peoples from all over the world, and how we forged our unity, not by eliminating diversity but by integrating it. But the progress made thus far was neither easy nor continued progress, assured. Every step forward was due to those among us who could see further, and acting upon what they saw. From hiding slaves in their barns to fighting for someone else's rights, from forging friendships they weren't supposed to forge to loving someone they weren't allowed to love, they carried us forward. In millions of small ways, they showed us, even as we resisted, what enlarging the tent and becoming one people looked like.
Army of the Kind
What this world needs is a new kind of army – the army of the kind. – Cleveland Amory
“We did not hesitate to call our movement an army. But it was a special army, with no supplies but its sincerity, no uniform but its determination, no arsenal except its faith, no currency but its conscience.” – MLK
“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But... the Good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’” – MLK
Stories, many recounted by people on the receiving end of a kind deed, often done by a stranger, including how that one act of benevolence changed them, perhaps challenging a prejudice they didn't know they held, and thus, in one small but very real way, changing the world. In the "Good Samaritan" parable Martin referenced in the above quote, they'd be the helpless, injured man on the side of the road. But these acts are equally powerful for the third-party observer, like the Tim Hortons employee who, in December, 2012, witnessed an unbroken string of 227 strangers who all bought coffee for the car behind them -- all started by one spontaneous act of goodness. Together, they prove that kindness very well might be the most potent force in the universe.
The Overcomers
"Some police officers came up and asked us whether we wanted to press charges. We said no. We come in peace, love, and nonviolence." – Rep. John Lewis, recalling his and Anglo Freedom Rider seatmate Albert Bigelow's response after being beaten for entering a "whites only" bus station lobby in Rock Hill, SC in 1961.
"We'll walk hand in hand someday. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome, someday."
We hear lots about those who embrace violence and cruelty or others who fight fire with fire. But those aren't the only stories out there. There are all kinds of people who've adopted the nonviolent approach Martin describes above and who are engaging in the work described in We Shall Overcome, the national anthem of the Civil Rights movement. Some, like John Lewis, came to this work early. Others, like Elwin Wilson, who was 22 when he assaulted a 21-year-old John Lewis in that bus station lobby, would come to it late. Elwin, at 72 years of age, along with his son, traveled to Washington DC to issue a heartfelt apology to John, one that allowed Elwin to write a different ending to his life story and brought much-needed healing to John. The two men, forging a powerful friendship, went on to make multiple appearances together, and when Elwin died four years later, John was among those who eulogized him. Both of them, in their own way, overcame.
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