Tireless advocates for peace & justice * Sock musings * Coffeshop signs * Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter * Vol. 12 * January 14, 2011

KING HOLIDAY

IS MONDAY

Wherever you live, it's likely you can find an event this week celebrating the life and legacy of Martin Luther King. In Iowa City, events include an Interfaith Celebration on Sunday evening, Jan. 16 at 7 pm at Bethel AME Church, 411 S. Governor and an Opening Celebration on Monday evening, Jan. 17 at 7 pm in the student union on the University of Iowa Campus. For more details check this website: http://mlk.uiowa.edu/events/

MARTIN LUTHER KING
AND JANE ADDAMS

Martin Luther King and Jane Addams have a lot in common. Both were tireless
workers for social justice. Both pointed out the connections between poverty
and racism in American society. Both received a Nobel Prize. Both were
influenced by Mohandas Gandhi.

But social justice was only one half of their message. Both King and Addams
were also advocates of peace. That led them to become outspoken
opponents of many aspects of US foreign policy. Addams opposed the Spanish-American War and World War I; King opposed US involvement in Vietnam. They also tied the lack of
social justice in our communities to the lack of peace in the world.

Both King and Addams were subjected to widespread criticism for these views.
Both were told they were out of their element when discussing foreign affairs.
Also, both were called communists and traitors -- and harassed by the FBI.

In so many history books this other dimension isn't mentioned. Addams has been
reduced to a nice lady who did a few good things. King becomes a nice guy who
promoted human kindness.

But both of them were far, far more. They were powerful voices calling us to
live up to our democratic ideals. One might say that they were 20th century
prophets. The trouble with prophets, of course, is that they make us
uncomfortable. They're hard to listen to. And they're always pointing out
things we'd rather not think about.

King's birthday this week gives us a chance to remember his entire message --
and that of Addams, too.  They were trying to tell us that social justice and
peace are inextricably linked. It's a message we're still trying to learn, in
our families, our communities and our country. This holiday offers a chance to
rededicate ourselves to this "social work."

That's what I like best about the Martin Luther King holiday: the emphasis on
community and on the common good. That makes it unique among American
holidays.

If one thinks about the other holidays, the emphasis is on turning
inward, to families and friends. In may ways, that's easier to do. It is much harder to reach 

beyond the regular ties we have -- to reach across lines of race, religion and ethnicity --
and establish new friendships, new connections.The MLK holiday gives us an opportunity -- an "excuse" if you will -- to start doing that.

MARTIN LUTHER KING'S
JOURNEY TO NONVIOLENCE

Editor's note: For Martin Luther King's birthday, Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter
offers an excerpt from an essay by King on the development of his theory of
nonviolence.

One Sunday afternoon I traveled to Philadelphia to hear a sermon by D. Mordecai
Johnson, president of Howard University. He was there to preach for the
Fellowship House of Philadelphia. Dr. Johnson had just returned from a trip to
India, and, to my great interest, he spoke of the life and teachings of Mahatma
Gandhi. His message was so profound and electrifying that I left the meeting
and bought half a dozen books on Gandhi's life and works.

Like most people, I had heard of Gandhi, but I had never studied him seriously.
As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance.
I was particularly moved by the Salt March to the Sea and his numerous fasts.
The whole concept of "Satyagraha" (Satya is truth which equals love, and graha
is force; "Satyagraha" therefore, means truth-force or love force) was
profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi
my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to
see for the first time its potency in the area of social reform.

Prior to reading Gandhi, I had about concluded that the ethics of Jesus were
only effective in individual relationship. The "turn the other cheek"
philosophy and "love your enemies" philosophy were only valid, I felt, when
individuals were in conflict with other individuals; when racial groups and
nations were in conflict a more realistic approach seemed necessary. But after
reading Gandhi, I saw how utterly mistaken I was,

Gandhi was probably the first person in history to lift the love ethic of Jesus
above mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social
force on a large scale. Love for Gandhi was a potent instrument for social and
collective transformation.

It was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the
method for social reform that I had been seeking. The intellectual and moral
satisfaction that I failed to gain from the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill,
the revolutionary methods of Marx and Lenin, the social-contracts theory of
Hobbes, the "back to nature" optimism of Rousseau, and the superman philosophy
of Nietzsche, I found in the nonviolent philosophy of Gandhi. I came to feel
that this was the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed
people in their struggle for freedom...

When I went to Montgomery as a pastor, I had not the slightest idea that I
would later become involved in a crisis in which nonviolent resistance would be
applicable. I neither started the protest [Montgomery bus boycott] nor
suggested it. I simply responded to the call of the people for a spokesman.
When the protest began, my mind, consciously or unconsciously, was driven back to
the Sermon on the Mount, with its sublime teachings on love, and the Gandhian
method of nonviolent resistance.

As the days unfolded I came to see the power of nonviolence more and more.
Living through the actual experiences of the protest, nonviolence became more
than a method to which I gave intellectual assent; it became a commitment to a
way of life. Many of the things I had not cleared up intellectually concerning
nonviolence were now solved in the sphere of practical action.

OTHER PEACEMAKERS CELEBRATE
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK, TOO

Martin Luther King's actual birthday is Jan.15. (The King holiday is
celebrated on the Monday nearest that date.) Here are some other peacemakers
who have birthdays during the same week:

+ Rigoberto Menchu Tum (Jan. 9): Mayan human rights activist who received the
Nobel Peace prize in 1992.

+ Joan Baez (Jan. 9): Folksinger and activist

+ James Farmer (Jan. 12): A founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
whose civil rights work followed Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence.

COMING EVENTS AT

UPTOWN BILL'S

Friday, Jan. 14

Open Mic. Share a poem, read a story, sing a song. 7 to 9 pm. 

Saturday, Jan. 15

Saturday Night Music. Andrew Epstein and Friends. 7 to 9 pm

Thursday, Jan. 20

Art & Music Night. Art, music and conversation. 6 to 8 pm.

Friday, Jan. 21. 

Open Mic. 7 pm. Almost Circle plays at 9 pm.

Saturday, Jan. 22

Saturday Night Music. The Beggarmen. 7 to 9 pm. 

Tuesday, Jan. 25

Live TV broadcast of Tom's Guitar Show, 6 to 7 pm.

Wednesday, Jan. 26

Social Justice Film Series: Farmingville, 6 pm
(Also Thursday, Jan. 27, 6 pm, at Wild Bill's Coffeeshop in North Hall.)

Thursday, Jan. 27

Art & Music Night, 6-8 pm

Friday, Jan. 28

Open Mic Night, 7 pm

Saturday, Jan. 29

Saturday Night Music. Ben Schmidt and Larry Mossman, 7 pm

READERS HAVE PLENTY TO SAY

ABOUT WHERE THE SOCKS GO

It turns out that there are a lot of ideas on why socks disappear. And plenty about missing shoes. And lint, too.

Elton Davis spent a "dull Saturday afternoon" preparing a response. Among his conclusions:
1. Socks for the right foot disappear more often than those for the left foot. "There has been a whole lot of research," he says.
2. Most socks don't disappear, but are "simply stuck in the arm of a shirt or a trouser leg." Some are led by static cling to "a new life in the linen drawer where the towels sleep at night."
Finally, he suggests that some socks may want to disappear. If that's the case, "isn't it better to ask why than where?" he writes.

Molly Kellor says she's heard a theory that missing socks are sucked up into the atmosphere, along with pantyhose and similar items. This has led to a layer in the atmosphere called the "hose-zone."

Moving on to shoes, Donna Jondle says her experience confirms the experience of others who see single shoes along the road and sidewalk. She worked at the Welcome Center at Coral Ridge Mall and says that many times just one shoe was brought to the lost and found. "I know why," she writes. "It is because when little ones are riding in strollers, they kick their feet together and only one shoe comes off."

Kelly Dobson's perspective on "lost soles er, souls" comes from his work with homeless individuals along riverbanks and under bridges. He, too, has come across a single boot or shoe lying by the roadside or railroad tracks. Dobson carries pairs of shoes and boots with him as part of his ministry of feeding "tramps and campers who don't use existing social services."

As to what happened to lint before dryers, Holly Hart has an answer: "That's where we got tumbleweed." she writes.

SIGNS SEEN IN

COFFEESHOPS

Bus your dishes, go to heaven (Hard Times Cafe, Minneapolis).

Give quiche a chance (contributed by Chris Bell).

Fear change? Leave it here (Sign that used to be on tip jar at Wild Bill's Coffeeshop).

Coffee drinker parking only. Violators will be scalded (www.thisnext.com).

Jamaican me crazy (Sign on one of the coffee carafes at Daddy-O's Green Onion).

Please note: Children on the rampage will be asked to leave.

Unattended children will be given an espresso and a kitten.

Coffee so good our tea is jealous (Argo Tea Cafe).

You might not be a customer here today, but this is clearly a moment of need for you. So you are very welcome to use our bathrooms. While you're here, if you would like to buy a cup of coffee, please do. We think it's the best in town (Suggested by Claire Butterly in her weblog: the influentials.wordpress.com).

Have a favorite sign at your coffeeshop? Have you seen a good one while traveling. Send it along and we'll publish it here. Write to Tom Gilsenan at tomgilsenan@gmail.com.

_______________________________________________________

Bill's Coffeeshop Newsletter is a virtual extension of Wild Bill's Coffeeshop and Uptown Bill's Coffee House. Published since 2000, the Newsletter is written by Tom Gilsenan, a former manager of Wild Bill's and now director of Uptown Bill's. You can write to him at tomgilsenan@gmail.com

Wild Bill's Coffeeshop is a project of the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa. It has been a part of campus life in Iowa City for more than 35 years. Located in North Hall, the coffeeshop is open weekdays from 8 am. For more information, check the Friends of Bill's Coffeeshop page on Facebook. You can call the coffeeshop at (319) 335-1281. Donations to support the work of the coffeeshop may be sent to: Bill's Coffeeshop Fund, University of Iowa Foundation, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244. Contributions are tax deductible.

Uptown Bill's is the crosstown cousin of Wild Bill's. Now in it 10th year, it includes a bookstore, performance venue and other businesses in addition to a coffeeshop. Located at 730 S. Dubuque, Uptown Bill's is open every day from 8 am. For more information, check the Uptown Bill's page on Facebook. You can call Uptown Bill's at (319) 339-0401. Donations to support the work of Uptown Bill's may be sent to: Extend the Dream Foundation, Uptown Bill's, 730 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA 52240. Contributions are tax deductible.