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Some things we remember ...
Some things we remember ...
Svetlana
Why did people go to America? They wanted new land. They wanted freedom. They wanted new possibility in new life. They had different goals. They understood that only a new society can be independent of Great Britain.
Anh
The Congress declared Independence on July 4, 1776. It said the United States would like to become free among the powers of the earth, and they were created equal. They would like “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.... In that time, the U.S. had thirteen United States of America. The U.S has become a huge country in the world.
Diep
The Declaration of Independence said that the United States is no longer a colony of England. In 1776. At that time, the United States had 13 states in the north of America. I memorize it from my timeline events.
Maria
I knew the Declaration of Independence was approved in Congress on July 4, 1776. During this time, the 13 colonies united and they decided to fight for the Preamble. I knew the Preamble of the Constitution happened in 1787. I think about this because I was curious what was happening in 1776 to 1787. The 13 colonies did a good job for the United States. Before I thought, “What happened between 1776 and 1787?” Many things happened in this time for the people to put the name United States. I think more about this now.
Job
The Constitution was written in 1787 by James Madison. Eleven years after they took the independence, they decided to write it. That’s why they call him the father of the Constitution of the United States of America.
Danner
I remember reading the document about why women should have the right to vote. It was written in 1912.
Women and men are equal. Everybody has the same rights. Also women pay taxes and over five million women in the United States are wage workers, and they held of our future citizens of the endangered by every working conditions that can be only remedied by legislation. Women need it. Men need it. The state needs it.
Gregory
“I have a dream”, the speech by Martin Luther King, attracts me a lot. In the whole different documents that we read, “I have a dream” was important to me because it talked about history of Black people. “I have a dream” is a history that talks about Black people’s condition that wasn’t respected. That history talks about the fighting for the rights of those people that mention in the Constitution and used the words “cash a check.”
Walter
This year we studied the March on Washington for civil rights and the speech of Martin Luther King, “I have a dream.” What attracts me in the whole speech was the “stone of hope.” When he referred the “stone of hope,” he was trying to put unforgettable history in humans’ minds. The other part that attracts me is when he mentioned that the government offered false promise by using the metaphor a “blank check,” a check with no funds. He was saying a “blank check” because the government was a liar.
Widline
I remember the speech delivered in 1963 by Martin Luther King, “I have a dream.” For me, it was a powerful message for Black and white people to have unity together. This speech predicts a lot of dreams. I like when Martin Luther King said that one day in Alabama little black children and little white children will be able to join hands as sisters and brothers. We can’t stay with the hate because the hate drives you to the darkness. The light drives you to the sunlight, and sunlight drives you to the love. When love is in your head, the hate is already gone. I like for me at the end this speech predicts I already see. First you have the first Black president, the first Black woman as a vice-president.
Declaration of Independence
Declaration of Independence
(excerpt)
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Pursuit of Happiness
In order to reach happiness you need to be aggressive to your own person to reach where you want to go and who you want to be in life. Be yourself, trust in yourself, believe in your self.
Pursuit of happiness is what every single living creature wants in life, to be happy and to be free, doing what you need and what you want in life.
Pursuit of happiness also can be freedom of speech be saying what you're feeling and what you want, or by reaching your goals to live well.
Nobody shall pay for the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness is free. We only have to be confident and be united. The pursuit of happiness starts on us once we come to this world and we start to breathe. The creator has given the unalienable rights to all humans.
Preamble to the Constitution, 1787
Preamble to the Constitution, 1787
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
A Preamble
We, people of different color, different education, different history, different culture, in order to respect our dignity, we are meeting today at SCALE in Somerville to talk together, to share ideas in a purpose to know how are we going to live differently, how are we going to improve the education of our kids in order to have better posterity.
Years ago we came to the United States to look for a better life. The present president does not like immigrants. For that reason, we need to work harder to avoid our children's miserable life, and in the future our posterity are going to think of our memory. May God bless you all.
November 21, 2020
The First Vote
The First Vote
Amendments to the Constitution
Amendments to the Constitution
The Bill of Rights: The Original Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Six More Amendments to the United States Constitution
Amendment 13 - Abolition of Slavery
(Ratified January 31, 1865)
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment 14 - Citizenship for all born in the U.S. (including those formerly enslaved)
(Ratified July, 1868)
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Amendment 15 - Voting Rights for All Races
(Ratified February 3, 1870)
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several states, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the Congress.
Amendment 19 - Voting Rights for Men and Women
(Ratified August 18, 1920)
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Amendment 24 - Voting Rights Protected from Taxes
(Ratified January 23, 1964)
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment 26 - Voting Rights for All Citizens Eighteen or Older
(Ratified July 1, 1971)
1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Votes For Women
Votes For Women
Some Complex Sentences With the Subordinating Conjunction Because
1/ Because the coronavirus pandemic happened in 2020, my children study online.
2/ Because Coronavirus spreads from people to others, everyone should wear a mask when they go outside.
3/Because you are United States citizens, you should pay taxes and do your civic duty.
4/ Because the United States is country’s freedom, the colonists want to come here.
5/ Because I want to have a new car, I should save money right now.
6/ Because Martin Luther King fought for civil rights, he was assassinated.
7/ Because I want to go to college, I should study hard and work carefully step by step.
8/ Because It is winter, you should wear coast.
9/ Because you don’t understand clearly the news on television, you should read books and listen to the news many times.
10/ Because the soldiers died in military service, we should celebrate Memorial Day.
Harlem by Langston Hughes
Harlem by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Maya Angelou, 1928-2014
March on Washington, 1963
March on Washington, 1963
A Stone of Hope
People's life has always been a struggle and will always be a struggle. Sometimes life is like you look for something important and difficult to find. If you see that, always it is difficult to reach, but you hope to have it anyway. Martin Luther King in his speech used this metaphor, "with this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope." In that speech, a mountain was used like a dark view, a hard and difficult situation for the people at that time, but Martin Luther King got a powerful word to keep them strong and give them hope that they'll rise, "hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope."
Let's analyze a bit two words in that sentence, mountain and stone. When you have a walk to do and you have to climb a mountain, that's the hardest part in your walk. That means the mountain always represents a problem. A stone is a material from the earth. It’s strong, hard, and important in a construction. That's why in the Bible Jesus said, ”On this stone I will build my church" because Peter said a strong word that Jesus compared like a stone. As a pastor, Martin Luther King knows that word, and as a pastor he knows how to keep people in faith. He would like the people to have that hope as strong as a stone in their mind and as long as a stone's life.
"I Have a Dream," Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Author:
King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
Date:
August 28, 1963
Location:
Washington, D.C.
Genre:
Audio Speech
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [applause]
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves [Audience:] (Yeah) who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. (Hmm)
But one hundred years later (All right), the Negro still is not free. (My Lord, Yeah) One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. (Hmm) One hundred years later (All right), the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later (My Lord) [applause], the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. (Yes, yes) And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence (Yeah), they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men (My Lord), would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. (My Lord) Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds. [enthusiastic applause] (My Lord, Lead on, Speech, speech)
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. (My Lord) [laughter] (No, no) We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. (Sure enough) And so we’ve come to cash this check (Yes), a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom (Yes) and the security of justice. (Yes Lord) [enthusiastic applause]
We have also come to this hallowed spot (My Lord) to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. (Mhm) This is no time (My Lord) to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. [applause] (Yes, Speak on it!) Now is the time (Yes it is) to make real the promises of democracy. (My Lord) Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time [applause] to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time (Yes) [applause] (Now) to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent (Yes) will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. (My Lord) 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. (Yes) And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. [enthusiastic applause] There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. (My Lord, No, no, no, no) [applause] We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. (My Lord) Again and again (No, no), we must rise to the majestic heights (Yes) of meeting physical force with soul force. (My Lord) The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people (Hmm), for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny [sustained applause], and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” (Never) We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. (Yes) We can never be satisfied [applause] as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. [applause] We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. (Yes) We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating for whites only. [applause] (Yes, Hallelujah) We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. (Yeah, That’s right, Let’s go) [applause] No, no, we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters (Yes) and righteousness like a mighty stream. [applause] (Let’s go, Tell it)
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. (My Lord) Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. (My Lord, That’s right) Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution (Yeah, Yes) and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith (Hmm) that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi (Yeah), go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities (Yes), knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. (Yes) Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. (My Lord)
I say to you today, my friends [applause], so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow (Uh-huh), I still have a dream. (Yes) It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. (Yes)
I have a dream (Mhm) that one day (Yes) this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed (Hah): “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” (Yeah, Uh-huh, Hear hear) [applause]
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia (Yes, Talk), the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream (Yes) [applause] that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice (Yeah), sweltering with the heat of oppression (Mhm), will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream (Yeah) [applause] that my four little children (Well) will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. (My Lord) I have a dream today. [enthusiastic applause]
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists (Yes, Yeah), with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” (Yes), one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. [applause] (God help him, Preach)
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted (Yes), every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain (Yes), and the crooked places will be made straight (Yes), and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed [cheering], and all flesh shall see it together. (Yes Lord)
This is our hope. (Yes, Yes) This is the faith that I go back to the South with. (Yes) With this faith (My Lord) we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. (Yes, All right) With this faith (Yes) we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation (Yes) into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. (Talk about it) With this faith (Yes, My Lord) we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together (Yes), to stand up for freedom together (Yeah), knowing that we will be free one day. [sustained applause]
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children (Yes, Yeah) will be able to sing with new meaning: “My country, ‘tis of thee (Yeah, Yes), sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. (Oh yes) Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride (Yeah), from every mountainside, let freedom ring!” (Yeah)
And if America is to be a great nation (Yes), this must become true. So let freedom ring (Yes, Amen) from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. (Uh-huh) Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. (Yes, all right) Let freedom ring (Yes) from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. (Well) Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. (Yes) But not only that: (No) Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. [cheering] (Yeah, Oh yes, Lord) Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. (Yes) Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. (Yes) From every mountainside (Yeah) [sustained applause], let freedom ring.
And when this happens [applause] (Let it ring, Let it ring), and when we allow freedom ring (Let it ring), when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city (Yes Lord), we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children (Yeah), black men (Yeah) and white men (Yeah), Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics (Yes), will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! (Yes) Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” [enthusiastic applause]
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