Nov. 22,1963 in Buenos Aires

Fol published in the 11/22/13 South Marion Citizen: John F. Kennedy electrified Latin America when in his inaugural address he said: "To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge – to convert our good words into good deeds—in a new alliance for progress – to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty." The world loved our charismatic president and our country which then represented peace and justice and hope for one and all. I was among the first half dozen people in Argentina to learn of the President's assassination. After my usual solitary lunch of bife de lomo or steak and kidney pie at the nearby London Grill in downtown Buenos Aires, I had been reading the English-language Herald in the American Embassy's file room before resuming my duties as communications supervisor when my “agency” counterpart came to the half door in shock. “The president's been shot!” Off I went to the code room to check for confirmation. Ambassador Robert McClintock, meanwhile, tried to call Washington on his hot line but it didn't work, forcing him to walk down several flights to use the phone in the military attaches' offices, a great indignity for the man who in 1958 called the Marines into Lebanon and the entire Sixth Fleet to the eastern Mediterranean on standby against anticipated turmoil in the Near East. Turned out his standard poodle had disconnected the phone. Grief exploded both within and without the embassy. Women wailed and men trembled as the light of hope for a better future was dimmed. Multitudes gathered in the streets to share their shock and sorrow. And for a full month thousands and thousands of people came to the embassy to sign condolence books while in the window of every boutique and restaurant and business was a photograph of the young president shrouded in black crepe or encircled with flowers and flags. The Embassy was then located in a 10-story building on Sarmiento within walking distance of the Casa Rosado on the Plaza de Mayo, where years later the mothers of those who “disappeared” would stand courageously in protest against the abductions and killings of their sons and daughters during the “dirty war” of military dictatorship which afflicted this rich and sophisticated nation of still unassimilated European immigrants from 1976-1983. Speaking at American University six months before his death, President Kennedy called for “a world in which the kind of peace which makes life on earth worth living – and the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and build a better life for their children – not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women – not merely in our time but peace in all time.” Some say that his call for world-wide nuclear disarmament in that speech sealed his fate. The world came together before its television sets to witness the end of the “one brief shining moment” known as Camelot . Unfortunately too many of us join with the Argentines and peoples everywhere in continuing to search for “a man on a white horse” to singlehandedly right all our wrongs and lead us into the promised land without the commitment and effort necessary from an educated and involved citizenry. If we are to realize the dreams of our forebears, we must, as Alice Walker wrote, understand that “ We are the ones we have been waiting for.” The John F. Kennedys ......and the Barack Obamas of the world can only light the way for us.

Culture of Violence: Newtown requires new thinking about our violent society By Delphine Blachowicz Herbert Special to the Star-Banner Published: Sunday, January 27, 2013 at 6:30 a.m. Last Modified: Friday, January 25, 2013 at 7:32 p.m. As a longtime advocate for peace and justice, I ask our elected officials to join with other civic and faith leaders, both in our local community and in Tallahassee, to begin to turn the tide against the culture of violence, which was the occasion for Florida leading the nation in calling for and implementing “stand your ground” legislation. But “stand your ground” is not merely a legal term. It is a moral imperative, which compels individuals of conscience to stand up for what they believe. I, thus, ask our lawmakers in Tallahassee to stand your ground, not by turning us all into sharpshooters but by committing themselves to work toward nonviolence as the ultimate measure of a civilized people and as an expression of the love toward one another, which all religions and moral philosophies espouse. Jesus, after all, said that those who live by the sword are condemned to die by it. Yet, it is human nature to want to protect ourselves. We must be realists and begin with legislative action both in Washington and in Tallahassee to contain the manufacture and accessibility of assault weapons. But a greater reality demands that we address the reasons we have become among the most violent societies on Earth with 2 million of us in prison, a number larger than that of China with four times our population. We cannot remain an open society by fostering a bunker mentality in which we seek to shut out the outside world, sheltering ourselves in gated communities, pistol in hand behind locked doors in subdivisions where we scarcely know our neighbors. Fear is the mind-killer which cripples us into cowardice and rejection of the unknown. We can begin by reaching out to those who seem most unlike ourselves — the “others” living in neighborhoods into which we do not customarily go and by confronting situations which we usually avoid. We can't remain sequestered in the narrow comfort of the like-minded, be they in our churches or other interest groups. Yes, there are myriad proposals for the containment of sales of assault weapons and ammunition. In Florida, we have at least five companies that manufacture the AR-15s and at least 50 that produce the bullets for them. Earlier this month, 8,000 people stood in line at a gun show in Orlando, and last month, concealed-weapon permits in Florida surpassed the 1 million mark. So who uses them? Yes, hunters, street criminals, often disposable young people unable to get jobs, who are condemned to become fodder for our “justice” system. Sometimes distraught individuals such as the young mother who saw no way out of her difficulties except to leave this vale of tears with a beautiful 6-month-old child. My heart breaks for the children in Newtown and for the idle young people who succumbed to group pressure and amused themselves by torturing to death a 15-year-old in Summerfield. I grieve for the young soldier who was laid to rest in Reddick a couple Saturdays ago upon his body's return from Afghanistan. And I grieve for veterans — often wounded in mind if not in body — who return to civilian life unable to find a place for themselves Yes, I want our children protected. I want all of us protected. I understand the wish to station police in every school, but what kind of people will we become? There is no way in a free society we can protect ourselves against every possible security risk. Pessimists say it is too late to do anything because 300 million guns already exist in this country. But as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his last book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?”: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” Delphine Blachowicz Herbert is president of the local chapter of The Interfaith Alliance, a national group of 185,000 members devoted to separation of church and state and fighting discrimination in any form. Error on line 28 position 9: 'split(...).1' is null or not an object All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.