Former President Obama Speaks at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Former President Barack Obama spoke to more than one thousand students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign this morning while receiving the here he accepted the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government. We haven’t heard much from 44 since he left the White House. It was clear today that he’d been patiently waiting to get a few things off of his chest. I suggest you get your popcorn…
Read more...Pale Blue Dot
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In an effort to add some context to a troubling day, theLeftAhead turns our thoughts to the incomparable Carl Sagan. In a public lecture at Cornell University in 1994, Sagan presented a photograph of planet Earth titled “Pale Blue Dot” that was taken on Valentine’s Day 1990 by the Voyager 1 space probe. He then delivered a brilliant, poetic speech about the photograph’s deeper meaning. For those of us who…
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President Obama’s Farewell Address to the American People
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Last night, President Barack Obama addressed the American people for the final time in office. The speech was breathtaking in its thoughtfulness, vision, humility, and, most importantly, its hopefulness. Simply put, it was majestic. Pontificating further on the speech’s merits cannot do it justice so, that being said, below is the video and full transcript of the final presidential speech of a gifted leader, generational orator, outstanding father, and model…
Read more...President Obama Speaks at the 50th Anniversary of the Selma Marches
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On Saturday, March 7th, 2015, President Obama gave a speech on the Edmund Pettus Bridge at the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches. It was an exceptional address which expressed humble gratitude for the marchers and the enormity of the history that was made on the very same bridge fifty years before on “Bloody Sunday.” The speech offered sober reflection on America’s past while challenging Americans to embrace our responsibility…
Read more...Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – “I Have a Dream” Speech
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In honor of the 50th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington, it should be on everyone’s to-do list to take a few moments and sit with Dr. King’s empowering and illuminating words today. To that end, we’re sharing the full video and text of the speech here at theLeftAhead to do our small part towards nurturing collective reflection. The march towards justice continues….
Read more...Tags:March on Washington , Martin Luther King Jr.
Reflections on Iraq – Day One (10 years Later)
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Author’s Note: I wrote the following words ten years ago today. I wrote them in a journal that I still possess and still reflect back on often. I wrote them late in the afternoon right here in San Antonio, sitting in a corner booth at Bombay’s Bicycle Club. I wrote them with a great deal of sadness. I wrote them with a great deal of determination. Today, the President of…
Read more...War Story
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War Story World War II adventures of a former Southwestern professor are published in a new book Fifty-six years after World War II ended, the wartime story of a Southwestern University professor is finally being published. Douglas Hooker served as a psychology professor at Southwestern from 1961 to 2004. Among his former students was Jake B. Schrum, who is now president of Southwestern. Before Hooker died in 2006, Schrum encouraged…
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