Morning Thoughts 5

I went on a search to find out what Zodiac signs Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were. Thoreau, July 12, 1817 = Cancer. Emerson, May 25, 1803 = Gemini. Both spiritually oriented signs. Both were Transcendentalists. They sought “An ideal spiritual state that transcends the physical and empirical and can be attained by one’s intuition and personal reflection. They also believed in a deep return to nature. –Source: Wikipedia.

Then I ran into Oscar Wilde. I’m going to describe some of his beliefs and based on those, try to figure out which Zodiac sign he is…

Live in the moment, “Pleasure and Beauty are above Utilitarian Ethics”, Art and Refined Beauty, “Art is Individualism”, luxury, Machines will one day free people from work and the burden of necessity so artists can focus on creation and strive for Perfection, He was known for his character, wit, romancing language, talkative nature, lecturing, humanist approach, scholarly intellect, dramatic and commercial appeal, “Works of art are not capable of being moral or immoral, they can only be judged by how well or poorly they are made”…

I would have guessed Gemini or Libra.

Wilde, October 16, 1854 = Libra.

I found out more about him, but I can’t talk about it now. It was just like, Whoa…

I then sought out my own Pisces and found him. W.E.B. Du Bois born February 23, 1963. He was called a “Modern Day Prophet”. He Graduated from Harvard. Some called him a Headstrong Idealist. He wrote 22 books, 5 of which were novels.

Most of his writings were focused on Historical and Sociological studies of African Americans in the United States. He said, where employment and education are minimal, crime is correlated to be greater. That’s why Equality is so important.

In 1909 he founded the NAACP after having disputes with others over whether white people should be allowed to support their rights and organization. Du Bois said, Yes. In 1932 he wrote in favor of being pro-contraception in favor women’s rights. He also encouraged poetry, fiction writing, and dramatic plays from blacks. He wanted them to become stratified like the white culture so they could integrate equality naturally.

He later went on to become Publications Director for the NAACP and wrote weekly columns commenting on freely and widely on current events. He set the agenda for the NAACP. He also supported inter-racial marriages.

Martin Luther King Jr. said of him, “Greatest virtue was his committed empathy with all the oppressed and his divine dissatisfaction with all forms of injustice”.

Du Bois wrote Credo to state his beliefs on life and God, though he refused to adhere to any one religion in particular:

I BELIEVE in God who made of one blood all races that dwell on earth. I believe that all men, black and brown and white, are brothers, varying, through Time and Opportunity, in form and gift and feature, but differing in no essential particular, and alike in soul and in the possibility of infinite development.

Especially do I believe in the Negro Race; in the beauty of its genius, the sweetness of its soul, and its strength in that meekness which shall yet inherit this turbulent earth.
I believe in pride of race and lineage and self; in pride of self so deep as to scorn injustice to other selves; in pride of lineage so great as to despise no man's father; in pride of race so chivalrous as neither to offer bastardy to the weak nor beg wedlock of the strong, knowing that men may be brothers in Christ, even though they be not brothers-in-law.

I believe in Service -- humble reverent service, from the blackening of boots to the whitening of souls; for Work is Heaven, Idleness Hell, and Wage is the "Well done!" of the Master who summoned all that labor and are heavy laden, making no distinction between the black sweating cotton-hands of Georgia and the First Families of Virginia, since all distinction not based on deed is devilish and not divine.

I believe in the Devil and his angels, who wantonly work to narrow the opportunity of struggling human beings, especially if they be black; who spit in the faces of the fallen, strike them that cannot strike again, believe the worst and work to prove it, hating the image which their Maker stamped on a brother's soul.

I believe in the Prince of Peace. I believe that War is Murder. I believe that armies and navies are at bottom the tinsel and braggadocio of oppression and wrong; and I believe that the wicked conquest of weaker and darker nations by nations whiter and stronger but foreshadows the death of that strength.

I believe in Liberty for all men; the space to stretch their arms and their souls; the right to breathe and the right to vote, the freedom to choose their friends, enjoy the sunshine and ride on the railroads, uncursed by color; thinking, dreaming, working as they will in a kingdom of God and love.

I believe in the training of children black even as white; the leading out of little souls into the green pastures and beside the still waters, not for pelf or peace, but for Life lit by some large vision of beauty and goodness and truth; lest we forget, and the sons of the fathers, like Esau, for mere meat barter their birthright in a mighty nation.
Finally, I believe in Patience -- patience with the weakness of the Weak and the strength of the Strong, the prejudice of the ignorant and the ignorance of the Blind; patience with the tardy triumph of Joy and the mad chastening of Sorrow -- patience with God.

W.E.B. DuBois Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA.

I especially think it’s interesting how he Capitalized certain words he wanted to Emphasize like I tend to do…
11:37am September 19, 2011