Washington DC, August 28, 2009 -- The Polish American Congress, one of thecountry’s largest umbrella groups of Polish American organizations, joinswith millions of other Americans to mourn the passing of Sen. Edward M.Kennedy, a great statesman and a tireless advocate for human rights in theUnited States, Poland and around the world.
“The memories held by many Polish Americans of Senator Kennedy are cherishedones that span his life and our own,” said PAC President Frank Spula in astatement released Friday in Washington.
When the new Pope, John Paul II, made his first papal journey to Boston in1979, it was Senator Kennedy who led a joyous throng to meet him at theairport, Spula recalled.
“Later, when Senator Kennedy was denied a visa by Poland’s communist regimebefore Christmas 1986, he persisted in his quest and just five months laterwas able to present awards to Zbigniew Bujak and Adam Michnik, organizers ofthe Solidarity movement, for their achievements in the spirit of his latebrother Robert,” Spula noted. “When he gave them the Robert F. Kennedy HumanRights Award, Edward Kennedy praised the pair for their willingness to‘speak truth to power.’
“But on that trip Kennedy’s own example of speaking truth to power camewhen, under surveillance by the communist regime, he took three of hischildren, three of his sisters, Robert Kennedy’s widow Ethel, as well asseveral of their nieces and nephews to the grave of martyred Rev. JerzyPopieluszko, who was killed two and a half years earlier under marshal law,”Spula recalled. “There he embraced Popieluszko’s elderly parents, goodpeople of the land with gnarled hands and stooped postures.”
There, as the New York Times reported, Senator Kennedy remarked that, “LikeFather Jerzy’s mother and father, my mother and father lost sons tosenseless violence. Like Father Jerzy’s brothers and sisters, I and mysisters lost brothers to senseless violence. And I know that my brothers andsisters, like Father Jerzy, would want all of us to carry on their goodwork.”
“Senator Kennedy did just that,” Spula continued. “He fought hard for therights of working men and women in the United States and across the globe;his name became synonymous with the fight for freedom and human rights.”
“You saw that in how he fought for immigration reform and how his voicethundered a resounding ‘yes’ to Poland’s accession to NATO. He was indeedthe ‘Lion of the Senate’ in Washington, but he was also fierce in hispursuit of the betterment of the lives of millions of Poles and PolishAmericans.” (MEA)
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________________Polish American Congress1612 K Street NW, Suite 410Washington, DC 20006Tel.: (202) 296-6955Fax: (202) 835-1565Web: www.polamcon.org
The republicans are in disarray bloodied by their own actions. Americans have watched as progess that took decades were flushed down the toilet, and we are angry and so're the people of the world. Berlin will be remebered as a place where the young and the hopeful, the old and the frustrated, stood shoulder to shoulder to proclaim this Bush/ Mccain era is over. Reclaiming America and our future is a moral imperative and thanks to Bush we can finally start making the profound changes our future yearns for.
This movement and its work have only began!
Obama '08
Join in asking Senator Obama to lead on Gore's challenge of 100% carbon free power in ten years.
Choose a coal-free running mate, please!
The upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is 350 ppm. We're above that now. An international grassroots climate movement, 350.org, is spreading the word: we need to get back to 350.
Everyone can help, with creative ideas, inspiring actions, beautiful art.
Comment below to join in asking: Senator Obama, what's your 350 action?
I think a strong unifying message that incorporates the notions of (a) "the fierce urgency of now" for change; (b) "the audacity of hope" that we can overcome what divides us; and (c) the achievement of a "more perfect union" that has almost evaded this generation is the message of "solidarity". Solidarity that we must stand together as a nation -- solid in our commitment to the world and our citizens with respect to civil rights and liberties; solid in our promise to our parents and our children that we will do our utmost to better our country and ourselves through hard and honest work and to preserve our planet through responsible stewardship; solid in our belief that by looking ahead at what promise to be our successes instead of turning back to relive our recent failures, we will see the America that unites us all in the simple elegant beauty of shared peace and prosperity, a beauty that the world can behold as the solitary shining beacon of light in a world struggling for enlightenment. Solidarity in America the Beautiful -- red, white, blue, black, brown, yellow, green, and purple with pride!
ok, people are adding Hussein to their names...is this solidarity or are these people undergoing some kind of transformation...?
assuming that this is an act of solidarity, would it be effective to push this envelope?...is this already an organized campaign and I'm just noticing???
MadamaAmbi
The moment is critical. We're nearing the end of a generation of back and forth rancor, defined by the tit-for-tat politics of just two elite political families. Americans are realizing we are a people capable of much more, and we deserve much better from our leaders. Many of us have immense regrets and disappointment about the past six years. Some wish we could re-do most of the last two decades. But there are no do-overs.
