The Pope delivered an address to authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps during his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo. He expressed his desire to be a pilgrim of reconciliation and peace for the country, which continues to suffer from conflicts, exploitation, and violence. He called on the Congolese people to revive their spirit of building a more beautiful country in peace through hard work. The Pope appealed for an end to violence and hatred, and for the exploitation of the country and continent to cease. He encouraged investing in education to empower the people and develop the nation from within.
Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta Compromise .docxjackiewalcutt
Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta
Compromise Speech
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and Citizens:
Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress.
Ignorant and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top
instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the state legislature was more sought than real estate or
industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy
farm or truck garden.
A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate
vessel was seen a signal,“Water, water; we die of thirst!” The answer from the friendly vessel at once
came back, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” A second time the signal, “Water, water; send us
water!” ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.”
And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The
captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of
fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering
their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations
with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: “Cast down your bucket
where you are”— cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom
we are surrounded.
Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in
this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it
comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man’s chance in the
commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our
greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses
of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in
proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labour, and put brains and skill into the common
occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the
substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is
as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at
the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.
To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and
habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat.
second part of the Pope Francis trip to Japan. Meetings with the emperor, diplomats, jesuits, youth, Includes mass and visit to Sophia Jesuit university.
Document A
The Cherokee Constitution of 1827
We the Representatives of the people of the Cherokee Nation, in Convention
assembled in order to establish justice ensure tranquility, promote our common welfare,
and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty, acknowledging with
humility and gratitude the goodness of the sovereign ruler of the Universe affording us an
opportunity so favorable to the design and imploring his aid and direction in its
accomplishments do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Government of the
Cherokee Nation….
Religion, Morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the
preservation of liberty and the happiness of mankind schools and the means of education,
shall forever, be encouraged in this nation….
All Laws in force in this nation at the passing of this constitution shall so continue
until altered or repealed by the Legislature except when they are temporary in which case
they shall expire at the times respectively limited for their duration if not continued by
acts of the Legislature….
Document B
Success of the “Civilizing” Project Among the Cherokee
Written by Chief John Ridge in 1826
The Cherokee Nation is bounded on the North by East Tennessee & North
Carolina, east by Georgia, south by the Creek Nation and State of Alabama___and west
by Tennessee… There are a few instances of African Mixture with Cherokee blood &
wherever it is seen is considered in the light of misfortune & disgrace but that of the
white may be as 1 to 4___occasioned by intermarriage which has been increasingly in
proportion to the march of civilization… In view of their location it readily appears that
they are farmers and herdsmen,…
Our Country is well adapted for the growth of Indian Corn, wheat, Rye, Oats,
Irish and Sweet Potatoes, which are cultivated by our people…
Cherokees on the Tennessee River already commenced to trade in Cotton and
grow it on large plantations for which they have experienced flattering profit. Preparation
is making by all those in good circumstances, to cultivate the Cotton for market which
will soon be a Staple commodity of traffic for the Nation…
The tide of white population was advancing on all sides & the Indians poor in
goods, but well supplied with the vices of their neighbors were retreating to a given point
where they would eventually be crushed in the folds of the encroaching Serpent!...
About the year 1795 missionaries were sent by… Gen. Washington who from the
Indian Testimony itself laboured indefatigably to induce the Indians to lead a domestic
life… Here they were first taught to sing and pray to their Creator, and here Gospel
Worship was first established in our nation…
It was for Strangers to effect this, and necessity now compels the last remant to
look for it for protection. It is true, we enjoy self Government, but we live in fear,…
Strangers urge our remova.
The Big Oil Reality Check report finds that the climate pledges and plans of 8 international oil and gas companies fail to align with international agreements to phase out fossil fuels and to limit global temperature rise to 1.5ºC.
Publication May 2021
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Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta Compromise .docxjackiewalcutt
Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta
Compromise Speech
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and Citizens:
Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress.
Ignorant and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top
instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the state legislature was more sought than real estate or
industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy
farm or truck garden.
A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate
vessel was seen a signal,“Water, water; we die of thirst!” The answer from the friendly vessel at once
came back, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” A second time the signal, “Water, water; send us
water!” ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.”
And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The
captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of
fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering
their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations
with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: “Cast down your bucket
where you are”— cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom
we are surrounded.
Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in
this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it
comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man’s chance in the
commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our
greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses
of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in
proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labour, and put brains and skill into the common
occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the
substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is
as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at
the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.
To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and
habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat.
second part of the Pope Francis trip to Japan. Meetings with the emperor, diplomats, jesuits, youth, Includes mass and visit to Sophia Jesuit university.
Document A
The Cherokee Constitution of 1827
We the Representatives of the people of the Cherokee Nation, in Convention
assembled in order to establish justice ensure tranquility, promote our common welfare,
and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty, acknowledging with
humility and gratitude the goodness of the sovereign ruler of the Universe affording us an
opportunity so favorable to the design and imploring his aid and direction in its
accomplishments do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Government of the
Cherokee Nation….
Religion, Morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the
preservation of liberty and the happiness of mankind schools and the means of education,
shall forever, be encouraged in this nation….
All Laws in force in this nation at the passing of this constitution shall so continue
until altered or repealed by the Legislature except when they are temporary in which case
they shall expire at the times respectively limited for their duration if not continued by
acts of the Legislature….
Document B
Success of the “Civilizing” Project Among the Cherokee
Written by Chief John Ridge in 1826
The Cherokee Nation is bounded on the North by East Tennessee & North
Carolina, east by Georgia, south by the Creek Nation and State of Alabama___and west
by Tennessee… There are a few instances of African Mixture with Cherokee blood &
wherever it is seen is considered in the light of misfortune & disgrace but that of the
white may be as 1 to 4___occasioned by intermarriage which has been increasingly in
proportion to the march of civilization… In view of their location it readily appears that
they are farmers and herdsmen,…
Our Country is well adapted for the growth of Indian Corn, wheat, Rye, Oats,
Irish and Sweet Potatoes, which are cultivated by our people…
Cherokees on the Tennessee River already commenced to trade in Cotton and
grow it on large plantations for which they have experienced flattering profit. Preparation
is making by all those in good circumstances, to cultivate the Cotton for market which
will soon be a Staple commodity of traffic for the Nation…
The tide of white population was advancing on all sides & the Indians poor in
goods, but well supplied with the vices of their neighbors were retreating to a given point
where they would eventually be crushed in the folds of the encroaching Serpent!...
About the year 1795 missionaries were sent by… Gen. Washington who from the
Indian Testimony itself laboured indefatigably to induce the Indians to lead a domestic
life… Here they were first taught to sing and pray to their Creator, and here Gospel
Worship was first established in our nation…
It was for Strangers to effect this, and necessity now compels the last remant to
look for it for protection. It is true, we enjoy self Government, but we live in fear,…
Strangers urge our remova.
Pope Francis meets the youth, catechists, priests, religious and bishops of the Congo
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Here we use recent empirical fndings from more than 1,600 regions worldwide over
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climate impacts, likely range of 11–29% accounting for physical climate and empirical
uncertainty). These damages already outweigh the mitigation costs required to limit
global warming to 2 °C by sixfold over this near-term time frame and thereafter diverge
strongly dependent on emission choices. Committed damages arise predominantly
through changes in average temperature, but accounting for further climatic
components raises estimates by approximately 50% and leads to stronger regional
heterogeneity. Committed losses are projected for all regions except those at very
high latitudes, at which reductions in temperature variability bring benefts. The
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historical emissions and lower present-day income.
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To limit the increase in global mean temperature to 1.5 °C, CO2 emissions must
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Recordings are on YouTube and the company website.
https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferschaus/videos
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Thumbnail picture is by MediaZona, you may read their report on anti-war arson attacks in Russia here: https://en.zona.media/article/2022/10/13/burn-map
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Autonomous Action
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Anarchist Black Cross Moscow
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Solidarity Zone
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Uznik Online
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Russian Reader
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ABC Irkutsk
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Send mail to prisoners from abroad:
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Russian anarchist and anti-war movement in the third year of full-scale war
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO AND SOUTH SUDAN (ECUMENICAL PEACE PILGRIMAGE TO SOUTH SUDAN)
1. The Holy See
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO AND SOUTH SUDAN
(ECUMENICAL PEACE PILGRIMAGE TO SOUTH SUDAN)
[31 January - 5 February 2023]
MEETING WITH AUTHORITIES, CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS
Garden of the “Palais de la Nation”
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
[Multimedia]
________________________________________
Mr President,
Honourable Members of Government and the Diplomatic Corps,
Eminent Religious and Civil Authorities,
Distinguished Representatives of Civil Society and the World of Culture,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I offer you a cordial greeting and I thank His Excellency the President for his kind words. I am
happy to be here in this beautiful, vast and luxuriant land, which embraces, to the north, the
equatorial forest, in the centre and towards the south, plateaus and wooded savannas, to the east,
hills, mountains, volcanoes and lakes, and to the west great bodies of water, with the Congo River
that flows into the ocean. In your country, which is like a continent itself within the greater
continent of Africa, it seems that the entire earth breathes. Yet if the geography of this verdant
lung is so rich and variegated, its history has not been comparably blessed. Torn by war, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to witness within its confines conflicts and forced
migrations, and to suffer from terrible forms of exploitation, unworthy of humanity and of creation.
This country, so immense and full of life, this diaphragm of Africa, struck by violence like a blow to
2. the stomach, has seemed for some time to be gasping for breath. Mr President, you spoke of this
forgotten genocide that the Republic of the Congo is suffering.
As you, the Congolese people, fight to preserve your dignity and your territorial integrity against
deplorable attempts to fragment the country, I come to you, in the name of Jesus, as a pilgrim of
reconciliation and of peace. I have greatly desired to be here and now at last I have come to bring
you the closeness, the affection and the consolation of the entire Church and to learn from your
example of patience, courage and struggle.
I would like to speak to you using an image that nicely symbolizes the luminous beauty of this
land: the image of the diamond. Dear women and men of the Congo, your country is truly a
diamond of creation. At the same time, you, all of you, are infinitely more precious than any
treasure found in this fruitful soil! I am here to embrace you and to remind you that you yourselves
are of inestimable worth, that the Church and the Pope have confidence in you, and that they
believe in your future, the future that is in your hands and for which you deserve to devote all your
gifts of intelligence, wisdom and industry. Take heart, my Congolese brothers and sisters! Arise,
take once more into your hands, like a pure diamond, all that you are, your dignity and your calling
to preserve in harmony and peace this home in which you dwell. Revive the spirit of your national
hymn, dreaming and putting into practice its message: “Through hard work, we will build a country
more beautiful than before, in peace.”
Dear friends, diamonds are usually rare, yet here they are abundant. If that is true of the material
wealth hidden in the soil, it is even more true of the spiritual wealth present within your hearts. For
it is from hearts that peace and development are born, because, with God’s help, men and women
are capable of justice and of forgiveness, of concord and reconciliation, of commitment and
perseverance in putting to good use the many talents they have received. Here, at the beginning
of my journey, I want to appeal to you: may every Congolese feel called to do his or her part! May
violence and hatred no longer find room in the heart or on the lips of anyone, since these are
inhuman and unchristian sentiments that arrest development and bring us back to a gloomy past.
In the light of arrested development and regression to the past, it is a tragedy that these lands, and
more generally the whole African continent, continue to endure various forms of exploitation.
There is a slogan that emerges from the subconscious of many cultures and peoples: “Africa must
be exploited”. This is terrible! Political exploitation gave way to an “economic colonialism” that
was equally enslaving. As a result, this country, massively plundered, has not benefited
adequately from its immense resources: paradoxically, the riches of its land have made it “foreign”
to its very inhabitants. The poison of greed has smeared its diamonds with blood. This is a
tragedy to which the economically more advanced world often closes its eyes, ears and mouth.
Yet this country and this continent deserve to be respected and listened to; they deserve to find
space and receive attention. Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa!
Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered. May Africa be the
2
3. protagonist of its own destiny! May the world acknowledge the catastrophic things that were done
over the centuries to the detriment of the local peoples, and not forget this country and this
continent. May Africa, the smile and hope of the world, count for more. May it be spoken of more
frequently, and have greater weight and prestige among the nations!
Room needs to be made for diplomacy that is authentically human, for a diplomacy where peoples
are concerned for other peoples, for a diplomacy centred not on control over land and resources,
expansionism and increased profits, but rather on providing opportunities for people to grow and
develop. In the case of this people, one has the impression that the international community has
practically resigned itself to the violence devouring it. We cannot grow accustomed to the
bloodshed that has marked this country for decades, causing millions of deaths that remain mostly
unknown elsewhere. What is happening here needs to be known. The current peace processes,
which I greatly encourage, need to be sustained by concrete deeds, and commitments should be
maintained. Thank God, there are those who are contributing to the good of the local population
and to a genuine development through successful projects: not merely through handouts but
through projects aimed at an integral development. I express immense gratitude to the countries
and the organizations that are providing substantial aid in this regard, helping to combat poverty
and disease, supporting the rule of law and promoting respect for human rights. It is my hope that
they can continue to carry out these efforts courageously and to the full.
Let us think again of the diamond. Once polished, its beauty also derives from its shape, from the
harmonious arrangement of its many facets. In the same way, this country, with its precious
legacy of pluralism, has a “polyhedral” character. That richness must be preserved, avoiding any
form of regression to tribalism and hostility. A partisan spirit that stubbornly promotes one’s own
ethnic group or particular interests, thus nurturing spirals of hatred and violence, is detrimental to
everyone, since it blocks the necessary “chemistry of the whole”. Indeed, from a chemical
standpoint, it is interesting that diamonds are made up of simple atoms of carbon which, if
differently bonded, form graphite: in effect, the difference between the brilliance of the diamond
and the darkness of graphite comes from the way the individual atoms are arranged within the
crystalline network. Leaving aside the metaphor, the problem is not human nature or the nature of
ethnic and social groups, but the way in which they choose to live together: their willingness or not
to encounter one another, to be reconciled and to start anew makes the difference between the
grimness of conflict and a radiant future of peace and prosperity.
Dear friends, the heavenly Father wants us to accept one another as brothers and sisters of a
single family and to work for a future together with others, and not against others. Bintu bantu:
thus one of your proverbs eloquently states that true wealth is found in people and in their
relationships with one another. In a particular way, the religions, with their patrimony of wisdom,
are called to contribute to this richness, in the daily effort to renounce every form of aggression,
proselytism and constraint, for these are means unworthy of human freedom. When people stoop
to imposing those means through deceit and force, in an indiscriminate attempt to collect
3
4. followers, they severely wound the conscience of others and turn their backs on the true God,
because – let it never be forgotten – “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17)
and where there is no freedom, there is no Spirit of the Lord. In the effort to build a future of peace
and of fraternity, the members of civil society, some of whom are here present, also have an
essential role to play. Often they have demonstrated the ability to stand up to injustice and social
decay at the cost of great sacrifice, in order to defend human rights, the availability of a quality
education and a more dignified life for everyone. I am deeply grateful to the women and men, and
particularly to the young people of this country, who have suffered in various degrees for this, and
I pay them homage.
The diamond, in its transparence, marvellously reflects the light it receives. Many of you are
similarly “illustrious” for the role you play in society. Those holding civil and governmental offices
are called to operate with crystalline clarity, experiencing the charge they have received as a
means of serving society. Power is meaningful only if it becomes a form of service. How
important it is that civic responsibilities be carried out in this spirit, avoiding authoritarianism, the
quest for quick profit and the greed that the apostle Paul defines as “the root of all evils” (1 Tim
6:10). Likewise, that free, transparent and credible elections be promoted; even greater
participation in the peace processes be allowed to women, to young people, to different groups
and to socially marginalized groups; that the common good and people’s security be pursued,
rather than personal or group interests; that the presence of the state in every part of the territory
be strengthened; and the many refugees and displaced persons be cared for. May no one be
manipulated, much less bought, by those who would foment violence in the country, and exploit it
in order to make shameful business deals. This leads only to discredit and disgrace, together with
death and misery. It is better to stay close to people, be aware of how they live. People are
trusting when they feel the closeness of those who govern them, not out of expediency or for show
but to serve others.
What dims the light of goodness in a society is often the darkness of injustice and corruption.
Centuries ago, Saint Augustine, who was born on this continent, asked: “If there is no respect for
justice, what are states if not a great confederacy of thieves?” (De civ. Dei, IV, 4). God is always
on the side of those who hunger and thirst for justice (cf. Mt 5:6). One must never tire of
promoting law and equity everywhere, combating impunity and the manipulation of laws and
information.
A diamond emerges from the earth valuable, but rough and needing to be polished. The most
precious diamonds of these lands are the sons and daughters of this nation; they need to have
access to an education that enables them to make their innate talents shine brightly. Education is
fundamental: it is the path to the future, the road to take for achieving the complete freedom of this
country and of the African continent. It is urgent to invest in education, in order to prepare
societies that will be unified only if they are educated well, autonomous only if they are aware of
their own possibilities and capable of developing them with responsibility and perseverance. Yet
4