From a sermon by Martin Luther King, Jr. on Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam.
Forty-one years later, in the midst of our current unjust war, the invasion and attempted occupation of Iraq, listen to Dr. King's call —
Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war.
Dr. King delivered the sermon (full text here) at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, April 30, 1967. Black Forum records, a subsidiary of Motown, released this recording, which won a Grammy in 1970 for the Best Spoken Word Recording.
Judith's email from Jerusalem sparked the video idea
[Judith attached a sound recording, and wrote:] Forget all the dark things in the news about the ME [Middle East]. This recording of my friend's nephew's little girls, Shir and Shaked, outshines them all. They go to a Jewish-Arab kindergarten in Beersheba [in Israel's Negev desert] and recorded a version of Put your hands on your head in Arabic, Hebrew, and English (in that order). Her nephew is on keyboard.
Thought you would like it. You can put it on your blog, with proper recognition of the artists!
Building around the sound recording Enchanted by their tender voices, especially the giggling, I imagined the unseen singers in the recording (and their kindergarten fellows) looking quite like their counterparts in my world. So I matched the Arabic verses with photos of my Israeli Arab friends; the Hebrew verses, with Israeli Jewish friends and family; and the English, with American friends (Catholics, Jews, Methodists, and Protestants). Thanks to Nizo's transliteration, you could follow (if you could...) one-third, two-thirds, or all the text.
Remembering Asher Green with love I dedicate this post and video to the memory of Asher Green (whose mother forwarded the sound recording). Asher's multiple talents and adventurous spirit led him to study at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York City. He had also studied stage design in London, and film and art in Jerusalem. Asher was planning to volunteer in Southeast Asia as part of a project to teach street children restaurant skills. He had hoped to open a similar program in Jerusalem for low-income Israeli and Palestinian teens.
אשר בן יהודית וג'ף. יהי זכרו ברוך Asher ben Yehudit vJeff. Yehi zichro l’vracha. Asher, son of Judith and Jeff. May his memory be a blessing.
