Please sign the petition below to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis currently in Kentucky’s Capitol Rotunda, and replace it with a tribute to Muhammad Ali, “the Louisville Lip” and “the Greatest of All Time.”
I just heard from the Ali family: It is the Champ’s belief that Islam prohibits three-dimensional representations of living Muslims. Accordingly, I have adjusted the petition to call for a two-dimensional representation of Ali (a portrait, picture or mural) in lieu of a statue.
UPDATE (Tuesday, December 2, 2014)
In this interview with WHAS-TV’s Joe Arnold, Governor Steve Beshear endorses the idea of honoring Muhammad Ali in the State Capitol (although he disagrees with removing Davis). Arnold explores the idea further on his weekly show, “The Powers that Be.”
Click here to check out WDRB-TV’s Lawrence Smith’s coverage of the story.
And here’s my op-ed in Ali’s hometown paper, the Louisville Courier-Journal.
UPDATE (Saturday, June 4, 2016)
In the wake of the 2015 Charlestown tragedy, in which a Confederate flag-waving murderer united the nation against racism, all of the most powerful Kentucky policymakers — U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Governor Matt Bevin, Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker Greg Stumbo — called for the removal of the Davis statue from the Rotunda. Today, as we commemorate last night’s passing of Muhammad Ali, there is no better moment to replace the symbol of Kentucky’s worst era with a tribute to The Greatest of All Time.
UPDATE (Wednesday, June 8, 2016):
Great piece by Lawrence Smith of WDRB-TV in Louisville on the petition drive to replace Jefferson Davis’ statue in the Capitol Rotunda with a tribute to Muhammad Ali.
UPDATE (Thursday, June 9, 2016):
Excellent piece on the petition drive by Jack Brammer that was featured on the front page of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Highlight of the article:
Miller said he has received a few “angry comments” on his call to honor Ali.
“One of them encouraged me to kill myself,” he said. “You can quote me that I have decided not to take their advice.”
UPDATE (Friday, June 10, 2016)
The petition drives continues to show the Big Mo(hammed): check out these stories from WKYU-FM public radio in Bowling Green and WKYT-TV, Channel 27 in Lexington:
UPDATE (Saturday, June 11, 2016):
Still not convinced? Check out this excerpt from today’s New York Times:
I have a suspicion that the loathing toward John Edwards in Democratic circles is a kind of remorse toward a path that was almost taken. Another two days of campaigning in Iowa in 2004 and he might well have won there instead of coming in a close second; Iowa was in his reach again four years later and could have fallen his way had the late Obama surge been just a little weaker, or if the Jeremiah Wright tapes had more timely surfaced. Politics is made of those hair-length turns of fate; but there was more to it than some near misses with Edwards. For tantalizing moments in his career, he seemed unstoppable—a preternaturally smooth orator, but also a walking narrative of middle class aspiration who breathed passion into the old liberal idea that the powerful are lording over the powerless. The man who collapsed in a sex scandal came quite close to seducing a party to make him its savior.
Many Democrats know just how close, and in a complex way, they hate Edwards for it. The anger is compounded by the fact that part of his lie involved a marriage to a woman who died valiantly; and then there is the pathological depth of the lies, and the determined way he repeated them.
But the most legitimate disdain and righteous anger is not a calculus that should drive prosecutorial discretion. If it were, the investment banks who jiggered their books to disguise their leveraged, insecure portfolios, and who helped wreck an economy, would have long faced their day in the criminal dock. The lending institutions who subsidized loans with no documentation, and whose underlings fudged signatures, would have surely faced fraud charges. The executives who told Congress that Fannie and Freddie steered clear of subprime, the senior Goldman management team whose testimony about their securitization of risk has been so undercut by the facts, would all have been hauled off on perjury charges. The fact that the sordid trail just described has not generated one prosecution is defended, and excused, on the ground that the power of indictment is not for morally clear but gray legal areas.
Read the rest of… Artur Davis: The Troubling Choice to Try John Edwards
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue May 1, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Great moments in family conversations.
My wife, my son (a high school senior) and I went out for dinner last night.
As is often is the case, my son and wife were having a conversation and I felt like a 6th man on the bench who may get playing time if either began to tire.
My son was excitedly—yet matter-of-factly—explaining that he was learning in school about anthropology and that polygamy was superior to monogamy as a societal partnering arrangement.
My wife, Rebecca, excitedly—yet matter-of-factly (and a little defensively)—was willing to argue for monogamy. I sat entranced though pretending to be more interested in picking through my salad.
When my son couldn’t think of the word for women having multiple husbands, I chimed in from the bench, “polyandry.”
Although neither side was tiring, I was about to get some playing time. “So, John, what do you think?” my beloved wife, Rebecca, queried with that tone that simultaneously reminded me both of the first time I heard the term “united front” and the first time I slept on the couch.
I glanced at my son who I’ve played enough basketball with to develop head signals. Although we never had a head signal for an alley-oop dunk (since neither of us can dunk), the look he gave me would have been it.
He was saying to me, “C’mon dad, I got your back. Let’s have some fun with mom.” It was a touching father-son moment but it was time for me to choose a side.
Of course, I believe in monogamy. Always have and always will. But that wasn’t the decision I was faced with.
The decision was, At what point do you make peace with the fact—even if it’s just for fun—that you will never, ever make an alley-oop dunk in life?
An Ohio former elected official is coming to work in Delaware because he was “awarded a major contract with a nonprofit group in Delaware that seeks to improve public education in that state,” according to an Ohio newspaper article.
Greg Harris, a Democrat, dropped out of running for commissioner in an Ohio county after his firm was awarded the contract, according to City Beat. The story does not name where he’s headed to in Delaware.
I was checking out his Twitter account this evening. He posts a lot about education, including Delaware news. I’m not sure where he leans in the ed reform debate, but he get a retweet from Diane Ravitch on April 2. On the other hand, he’s also tweeted links to theRodel Foundation blog.
Walking through the metal detector at the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration, I thought to myself, “Funny how just a few years ago, we never would have experienced this.” My children, 5, 7, and 9 years old, see security all the time. All our synagogue doors and Jewish agency doors are locked. You need to buzz and state your name to the camera, before you are allowed entrance. This is the only world my children will ever know.
I remember when synagogue was a safe place. I never worried about anyone bringing in a gun or explosives. I never heard the words “terrorist attack,” unless of course, it pertained to Israel. But, not in this country. Not in my home. Not in my synagogue, my school, nowhere within the community I knew. All my children will ever know, is that we need a police presence to “make sure everything is ok and that everyone is safe.”
At least, that is what I tell them. I don’t tell them about the ignorant people who hate us simply because we are Jewish. I don’t tell them about those who distort their own religious beliefs in an effort to destroy others who aren’t like them. I don’t tell them about the evil that persists in the world. I only tell them that “we are safe.” Of course, safety is relative.
They have asked me, “Why is our country at war?” “Who was Osama bin Laden?” “Why do they hate us?” I do not lie to them. I answer in age-appropriate ways, sharing just enough to satisfy their need to know. What can I really say other than, “There is no need to worry.” And, yet, I do tell them to be cautious of strangers and not to leave their brothers alone when they visit a public restroom or run with their friends in the neighborhood. I walk that fine line, trying to prepare them for the realities of life without terrifying them. But, we can’t be prepared for everything.
I know we all experience tragedy. For me, it was losing my mother to cancer way before her time. And then following her death, my father was so terrified of being alone that he made unwise, disturbing choices that separated him from his family, resulting in my losing him, too. A father I was once very close to. It is difficult learning to mourn a father who is still living.
I know that everyone’s life experiences are different. They challenge us, they strengthen us. They shape who we are and who we will become. For my children, it will be no different. Nor do I want to protect them from that journey. I have hope and faith that my husband and I are building a healthy foundation upon which they will make their choices and live their lives. And, yet, I can’t help but worry about the tragedies they will face and hope that it will not tarnish them, nor spoil them to the beauty in the world.
I think about my children’s future. Their children’s future. And, I’m scared. I worry. What will their world look like? Will it be safer than yesterday, or worse than today? I fear for the state of the world, and I’m concerned for my children’s personal well-being.
Only one thing is certain. All my children will ever know is that I love them. They are my priority. In a world with such uncertainty, this one thing is certain. It is everlasting. I tell them that my number one job, my privilege, is to take care of them and keep them safe. God willing, I will succeed. God willing, we will all succeed in making tomorrow better, and safer than today.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Apr 30, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Facing up to major shortcomings in what you know. And don’t know.
I like to think of myself as what I’ll call a “Mark Twain American.” An American who understands our culture in common sense terms and isn’t a person who is especially impressed with pomp and circumstance –and someone who easily amused by those who are slaves to creating impossible public images for themselves and the things they value.
Sure part of that is a surly juvenilism….but part is surely authentic, too.
An example. I know a man about my age (who shall remain nameless) who was at Keeneland the other day and was served lunch. This friend of man (err..this man…who isn’t me), was searching for his eating utensils and unraveled his table napkin and out tumbled the silverware. As people nearby stared–part perturbed; part irritated with me.
I tried quickly to organize–properly set– the forks, knife and spoon in hopes of going unnoticed. I may have gotten it right. But even a “Mark Twain American” ought to know where silverware goes on a set table. I knew they eventually went in my hands and then the food. But will research tonight where they begin our next dinner.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Apr 30, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
About a year ago I met an unforgettable fella, Saul Kaplan, from Rhode Island who visited KY to help us explore ways to help Louisville and Lexington realize their entrepreneurial potential.
He spoke in a bracing and engaging way about making cultural changes to communities that lead to an organic improvement in leadership and to an accelerated entrepreneurial culture–both in the private and public sectors.
Click here to review
I just got word earlier today that the hyper-energetic Kaplan has completed a new book titled, “The Business Model Innovation Factory.”
It will help us reingeneer business strategically to stay ahead of the trends and challenges.
I plan to buy today and hunker down for a day or two (or three) to pore over myself!
When I learned that my good friend and our contributing RP, Jeff Smith, would be the featured guest on National Public Radio’s “This American Life,” I was thrilled. My favorite radio program was taking on the story that Jeff first wrote about here at this site in a series of provocative, hilarious and sometimes moving stories.
The program exceeded all of my highest expectations. In thirty minutes, the program provides a new, independent look at the career, scandal and recovery of Jeff Smith. And, while I am obviously biased, I think it demonstrates that despite his serious setbacks, Jeff’s voice will continue to educate, provoke and make us laugh for many years to come.
We are really thrilled to report that contributing RP Jeff Smith will be the featured guest this weekend on National Public Radio’s “This American Life,” the wildly popular radio program hosted by Ira Glass.
Jeff will be discussing his unique career trajectory — from rising political star, to federal prisoner, to college professor on the journey toward redemption. It’s a journey that he first discussed exclusive at The Recovering Politician. And soon, we will expect a bestselling book on the experience.
The show sounds very interesting:
MORTAL vs. VENIAL
Religion makes it pretty clear what differentiates mortal sins from venial ones. Mortal are the really bad sins and venial the lesser ones. But in our everyday lives, it can be really difficult to determine just how bad we’ve been. This week we have stories of people trying to figure out that question.
Check your local NPR schedules this weekend for “This American Life,” and/or the podcast will be available on Sunday at 7:00 PM EDT by clicking here.
By Chris Schulz, RP Staff, on Fri Apr 27, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET
New polls show that the US is split just about evenly on energy subsidies. [latimes.com]
A slideshow of the 5 cities in the US with the highest level of air quality. [cnn.com]
Is it possible for a tribe of people and their lifestyle to be protected and preserved in today’s world?[yahoo.com]
As the popularity of urban chicken farming rises there is now the issue of “retirement” for those chickens, which can be pets as well as livestock. [nytimes.com]
Blog this!
