Inspired by Rosa Parks’s Courage and Sitting on the Bus: (v.4)
How to Find Inspiration For Our Difficult Times
Rosa Parks’s Poetry of Courage and Redemption
US 1Blossoms and Harvest Delights Series
In appreciation of
California’s Multi-ethnic Groups, Cultures, Wine,
Fruits, Beaches and Landscape
To the diversity and beauty of the United States of America!
Multicultural Writer and Author: Joseph J. Charles
http://poetrybusinessblog.blogspot.com
And
http://bestsellerpicks.blogspot.com
ISBN:
978-1-257-08365-7
Dedication and Thanks
This book would not be possible without the dedication and hard labor of our farmers, growers and the various organizations that advocate on behalf of California agriculture. I want to give thanks for all the juicy and beautiful fruits we have come to expect every year. The Central Valley of California is the “fruit basket” of the world.
This book is a tribute to the stewardship and sustainability spirit that most Californians possess. I have learned that to better appreciate California one has to be an outdoors person. Think about the sun, sand, sea, mountains and snowfields, dunes, orchards, wildlife and the vast expanse of farmland that the Golden State proudly and generously offers to the tourist. How about Highway 99? Who can forget all the little towns that you meet along the way? You can decide to go to Yosemite, Kings Canyon or Napa Valley, Santa Barbara, San Diego or Pismo Beach.
This book is dedicated to everybody who loves California, eats the fruits of the Central Valley, enjoys her famous recreation sites such as Yosemite, Hollywood, Santa Monica, LA area, Squaw Valley, Santa Barbara and many more.
I thank all my readers who, after reading “The Long Lost Garden of Eden” have told me about their interest in my second book. So here it is.
This book is dedicated to Caleb, Cassandra and Colby. Caleb, this is your book!
Thanks for allowing me to give you my interpretation of what it is like to live in California.
Thanks to Florence and Felicia Paredes, Arthur Okumoto, Gudo Hallstone, Sonja Sher, Ramona Noriega and countless others for their support.
Finally, this book is dedicated to the diversity of the United States of American that makes this country stronger!
Table of Contents
Dedication and Thanks
Temporary Problems, Eternal Glory
Bridges of California
Pastoral Delights
Gold Nuggets
The Walls of Jerusalem, The Walls of Fresno
Hypergraphia
This Land Is Our Land
Such Delights Of The Granadas
Pho Soup Fusion
All of a Sudden, Rapture
Abrahamic Promise
Autumn’s Bare Limbs
Sticks in the Land
Wine and Worms
Influx of Cheap Labor
Freeway and Highway Crosses
Decadence
Superb Bowl or Super Bowl Hyperbole
Every Inch and Each Act
Island Figs
Firefighters and the Big One
Cry Over Manzanar
Open-field Nuts Check
Half-life of Parents
Harvest Display
Harvesting Delights of the Garden
Odes to Kings River
Liquid Gold, Sierra Snowpack
Lite Lit Bites
Lost Meditations
Open Range, More Steak Please
Peach and Nectarine Bites
The Good Life. Go Nuts! Will You?
Poetry Like Water
Roosting Marvels, Roosting Headache
Spirit Fog
Tamales For The Holidays
The Redeemer and the Redeemed
Head to Big Sur For Romance and Meditation
College Reality on Alcohol Abuse
Farming Waste Comes With The Territory
California Outdoors Cooking
Summer Grilling in California
Teach Your Kids The Right Way
Obsession and Addiction to Cleaning
Fresno’s Hip Spots
Los Angeles and Jay Leno’s Cars
What’s Special About California’s Multiethnic, Multifaith….
The Museum of Tolerance
Pismo Beach, California Central Coast
Sacramento, The State Capital of California
San Francisco, The City By The Bay
Santa Monica, The Liveliest City on Highway 1
The Unfinished Business, The Vacuum Job
A Living Testament To Our Heroes
The American Good Life
The Migration To The North
Clovis, California
A Brand New Day In San Francisco
Water and the Blossom
Blooming Orchards
Harvest Ladder
Golden Vineyards
Sanger, CA
The Vast Wilderness
Convivialis: Food and Romance
Chili on top of Hot Dogs
Fallen Angels
Prophecy and Revelations
Copyright 01-17-2011 Joseph Jony Charles
http://bestsellerpicks.blogspot.com
No parts of this book can be copied or reproduced without the written authorization of its author.
Mr. Charles is the author of the well-acclaimed “The Long Lost Garden of Eden,” a tribute to the farmers, growers, farmworkers and consumers of California-grown fruits. It’s available at http://shopnowshop.tripod.com, http://bookstore.shopnowshop.com, amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders and many other booksellers.
Once more, Central Valley residents , thanks for your support and encouragement!
Happy Reading!
Rosa
Sat Down
Rosa
sat so
Martin
Luther could walk
[She
was tired of giving in for far too long]
Martin
walked so Obama
could run
[Martin
walked and marched with his followers. He was a true leader]
[Without the works of those leaders laboring even during slavery,
1950s, 1960s, Obama would not be able to be where he is at right
now]
Obama
ran....so our
Children
could fly
[Without
the sacrifices of Medgar Evers,Emmet Till, Martin Luther King and
countless others, the greatest chapter of world history and transfer
of power would not be written]
So it is up to us to keep the flames of freedom and liberty going
By investing in our kids, the future of this great nation!
Rosa
Parks Sat on the Bus After a Long Journey
Martin
Luther King was a student of Henry David Thoreau
who
protested slavery and other unjust laws
Nobody
thought that the Morehouse College student
would
become a civil rights leader
Nobody
thought much about Rosa Parks either
A
seamstress who rode the public bus to and from her job
at
a local department store
Martin
L. King embraced non-violence championed by Mahatma Gandhi
Rosa
has long been a member of her local chapter of NAACP
Rosa
refused to give up her seat. She was tired of giving in
She
stared down the bus driver and the other passengers
All
of them wanted her out of the prime seat. None of them was defending
her
Change
was about to come in the 1950s and 1960s.
Who
would have thought that this single act would be
the
start of the modern civil rights movement?
Everyone
counts. Rosa sat so we can stand up together
Rosa
Parks's Montgomery Ride, Poetic History
by
JJC, Feb. 2009
Tired
and hungry, Rosa only cared about catching a ride
Her
job at the department store meant the world to her
But
she quietly cared about how her black brothers and sisters
were
being treated by the government and the Montgomery bus
officials
After
a long day and after witnessing all the hard news, she wanted to sit
down
Rosa
got on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of going to the back
of the bus
She
sat down in a front seat. All hells broke loose!
Dogs
could be unleashed on her tired and frail body. She could be flushed
out of the seat
with
powerful water hoses besides all the stares from fellow
passengers
"'Who
does she think she is to brave the front seat of the bus'"
The
bus driver got into her face and asked her to move.
But
Rosa parks refused. The news about Rosa Parks's arrest traveled
quickly
among
the Black residents of Montgomery and the Black leaders had to have a
plan
The
event of December 1, 1955 led to the December 5, 1955 Montgomery Bus
boyccott. Montgomery city officials would soon realize that if the
Blacks walked to work and school instead of riding the public bus,
the city would lose money.
Black
and White civil rights leaders gave as many rides as they could in
their own private cars. But the majority of passengers walked many
miles for many weeks.
"If
Black people could not sit wherever they wanted, then they would
refuse to take the buses."
That
peaceful protest was very successful. Driving While Black, Martin L.
King was arrested by local police who said he was speeding.
Car
pools were organized by black as well as white leaders. The boycott
lasted over a year.
Finally,
the Supreme Court of the United States proclaimed that laws
separating whites and blacks on the Montgomery buses had to end.
The
Women of NAACP: Myrlie Evers-Williams and Rosa Parks
By
Joseph J. Charles
Myrlie
Evers-Williams became a young widow
who
had three children to raise by herself
She
heeded her late husband's last word, "take care of my
children."
The
assassination of Medgar Evers, a WWII veteran who wanted to see
change
had
a lasting impact on the Evers children, Myrlie and the rest of the
country
Medgar
became a sacrificial lamb, the strong and intelligent NAACP field
director
Myrlie
was not ready to forget the seeds her husband had planted
"Evers
fought segregation of schools and public places, struggled to
increase black voter registration, led business boycotts, brought
attention to the murders and lynchings of Blacks, like the slaying of
black teenager Emmett Till, planned protest to allow negroes access
to Mississippi's public beaches...."
Myrlie
raised her children and continued to work for the advancement of
colored people
She
became the chairperson of NAACP from 1995 to 1998.
She
kept her promise to her husband, Medgar Evers who wanted to see
change in Jackson, Mississippi.
Through
the work of many others and after many years, change has gradually
come to America
"“I
am just so thankful that I have lived long enough -- and have been
able to participate in -- this change," said Myrlie
Evers-Williams.
Medgar
Evers and Martin L. King had laid down their lives for the movement
so change could occur
During
all these years, Myrlie has witnessed and kept the flames of freedom
going.
Bridges Of California
“To live, men need bread as well as beauty,
Oxygen as well as meditation.”
Why should we fear life’s restless stream?
Why should we postpone our dream?
Why should we lose faith in the face of terror,
Calamity, weapons of mass destruction, horror,
germs, biological threats and a torrid storm?
We must continue to search for answers with fervor
Don’t we still have the Golden Gate bridge?
On her wide decks, reflect on her awesome form and history
Don’t we still have the peaks of the Sierra Nevada?
Don’t we still have the Hoover Dam
Where water gets corralled to quench many a ram?
Don’t we still have the striking beauty of Yosemite,
Kings Canyon, Big Sur, the coastal range, and Sequoia Park?
As resplendent as they can be in the sizzling Summer sun,
the bridges of California still loom mountain high, full of fun
Don’t their strong piers still grip the ocean floor?
San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge, Golden Gate bridge,
Richmond-San Rafael bridge, San Mateo-Hayward bridge
We appreciate thy steel arms which support and facilitate
commerce, transportation and quality time
They connect people with people as they link shore with shore
O bridges of California, massive monuments to men’s
Technological advances, determination, and great vision
be exalted on high and break the enveloping foggy mist