Maria Arpa
This week
“Don’t take away my words…”
Plus…
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
and
The Wednesday Whisper
Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce was a man of words. He tested the limits of free speech through his comedy, went to prison and finally died fighting for the freedom of speech that many are still struggling with today. He was a Martyr. His act was declared obscene and he was relentlessly pursued by authorities who sought to stop him.
He believed that people give words power and that the words themselves are meaningless. He wanted us to understand that it’s the intention that counts. He challenged us to think more deeply and more honestly. He wanted people to be shocked by corruption, repression, hypocrisy, racism and greed, not by four letter words, labels and sexual references. In one set he used the N word along with other racist labels, saying the words over and over again to make the point that the words are meaningless unless you give them power. He said that the word that really offended him was ‘segregation’.
He was ahead of his time and paved the way for freedom of speech, never giving up on his right to use his words and never submitting to a man with a gavel in a court room. And he was eventually granted posthumous pardon.
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
Lenny Bruce understood the power of words. Marshall Rosenberg understood the power of words. These are two of the people who inspired the Dialogue Road Map
The Wednesday Whisper
Who inspires you?
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