Knit to This
Bob Dylan’s Nobel Lecture
Dear Ann,
You and I and everybody I’ve talked to is sick at heart about the public expression of hideous white nationalist beliefs in recent days, in Charlottesville and elsewhere, including our television screens. It’s a nightmare that I can’t escape even in my happy places of knitting and sewing and yapping on the phone with you. Watching the President of the United States excuse and defend the people in that torch-bearing, racist slogan-chanting mob was sickening.
Beyond contributing to organizations that fight this cancer on our country, I’m trying to figure out what else I can do. Staying quiet or “out of politics” is not something I’m considering. Any consequence of speaking out is worth it. How we respond to this is the essence of who we are.
My husband’s family survived this same evil when it raged in Germany in the 1930s, losing everything but their lives, and feeling fortunate to get away. I’ve heard firsthand stories of how people thought it might go away if they just kept their heads down and waited for it to blow over. These things do not blow over. They have to be shouted down and fought tooth and nail, or they will win.
One of the last of the German-born generation of the family, Margaret Bergmann Lambert, died a few weeks ago, at age 103. An experience she had in 1936—being kicked off the German Olympic team for being Jewish—and the life she lived after that, merited a New York Times obituary that tells the story. Successive post-war German governments honored Margaret Lambert, acknowledged the wrong, and even restored her 1936 high jump record (at age 95). What the Nazis did to her was infinitely far from the worst the Nazis did, but it was deeply symbolic.
At the conclusion of the funeral service, one of Margaret Lambert’s self-described “elderly, balding children” (I heart the family sense of humor) asked that anyone who wished to honor her memory make contributions to the ACLU. The request was consistent with the outspoken life she had led, and expressed her perspective on the events of our time. I had barely met her, but I was moved by the strength of character and the legacy implicit in that request. We can’t all march in counter-demonstrations, but we can help fund organizations that are fighting white nationalism, racism and anti-semitism, and we can speak out.
Thanks to an email from MDK contributor Alice Beltran a few weeks ago, I did find a place for 27 minutes of healing refuge: listening to Bob Dylan reading his Nobel Prize Lecture, delivered in June. Dylan’s unmistakable speaking voice, not often heard at such length, and his subject—how his music relates to literature, for which he was awarded the prize—are a balm to me in this moment. The best parts of humanity, as relief from the worst.
Don’t worry. I’m still knitting.
Love,
Kay
Dear Kay, this cheered me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvjIYl_Nlao I’ll try Dylan’s lecture now, thank you! 🙂
Dear Kaye
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this sadness and suffering. It is clear that the limited rhetoric of Trump doesn’t speak to the event and crimes of hatred
Here in Australia we have a federal government who are making much sadness and suffering on a different issue. We too are speaking out.
I am trying to remember what really matters in life are kindness, love and compassion
Knit on
Very well said
President Trump did not defend either side at Charlottsville. What he said was that both sides were wrong using violence. Out of order. Did that mean he defended the right of any group to hold a (peaceful) protest? Maybe. That is Not the same as defending one side or the other in that insane, violent, divisive display of ignorant people (all of them). Selective hearing?
Tearing down of national monuments is only another attempt to incite mindless crowds, as in previous Wars and horrors. Let’s don’t oversimplify.
You can’t erase history: you can only repeat it.
Well said …
Imagine in 2017 feeling the need to defend monuments to fighting for the right to own people.
I have co-workers who were there, both on Friday night in the surrounded church and on Saturday on the front lines in clergy collars and stoles. They know exactly what they saw and experienced in Charlottesville and it bore very little resemblance to the way the person who currently occupies the White House described it. In addition to the torches that were clearly seen on camera, that crowd also had batons and brass knuckles which they used on the college kids trying to peacefully stand up to them next to the church. It is only the fact that the two police officers inside the church wouldn’t let anyone out that no one in their group was attacked too.
On Saturday, the group that has been vilified as “the violent alt-left” was the only thing that stood in front of and protected the praying clergy from a charging, assaulting mob that was the group supposed to be marching. There were no “good people” assembled on their side to be seen.
There was not a tit-for-tat going on there, it was cause-and-effect. There was defense and protection vs. offense and assault. Talk to some people who were actually there and stop believing everything that comes out of your lying president’s lying mouth.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back to praying for my friends and co-workers who are on the front lines again here today in Boston.
Someone was murdered by one of the sides !!!!! It’s not a question of “did not defend either side” – he failed to condemn murder by a terrorist.
No. Someone with a mental illness was acting on his own and was not really a part of any side. In a mob of violence, that’s what can easily happen, things get out of hand. The practice of “causing chaos and disruption” is responsible for the violence, anger, and now this murder. I am positive that President Trump does not condone this murder and I am positive that “news clips” of what you think he actually said are always edited to change the meaning of what he said.
First off, let me say that I’m not interested in starting an argument. Kay, I think this was a thoughtful and well-timed post. I just wanted to reply to KathyinDC, because I find her comment so troubling. For the record, I’m an educated white female with a very Christian extended family… I’m not rich, but I am privileged enough to have little to worry about when it comes to my belief system or my outward appearance and haven’t experienced persecution in my short lifetime. I just wanted to say that so you understand where exactly I’m coming from.
I really feel like I need to comment that it seems awfully hypocritical for you to call this guy a mentally ill individual and not a terrorist. When a Muslim commits a similar act, he is unquestionably called only a terrorist, not a mentally ill individual.
Of course a person who willfully drives a vehicle into a crowd of unarmed people whose beliefs he disagrees with has something wrong mentally!! Of course it is terrorism!! Race or religion shouldn’t have any bearing on the way we describe such heinous acts. How could you possibly be so flippant about a young life lost? How can you justify this type of act by saying things just got out of hand? I’m stupefied that this is the kind of conversation we’re forced to have in this country. Very distressing times we live in. 🙁
This is a serious question, not an argument. Where did you read or learn that the tapes we saw, of Trump’s “many sides” or other speeches, were edited before national TV broadcasts? I would like to visit the source of that info.
KathyinDC, the marchers were chanting “blood and soil” and “Jews will not replace us,” while heavily, visibly, and intimidatingly armed with torches, weapons, and Nazi paraphernalia. The President called them “very fine people” and did in fact equate both sides. I watched his entire press conference live; it was definitely not edited to please or rile the people you don’t agree with politically. In your own words, let’s don’t oversimplify. The President has made the (egregiously) wrong call here, and I hope you will seek out the full truth. It is very upsetting, but we have to face it.
Thank you for this link. I appreciate him more than ever. Dylan’s honesty and wisdom are made crystal clear in his talk.
Thank you for this essay. I agree absolutely.
Thank you for this. Part of the painful education this country is receiving at the moment is a new awareness of the values of everyone around us and those we do business with. I’m happy to be a customer of MDK.
LIKE
Thank you for speaking out. We cannot- will not- be silent.
Kay, thank you for the post. Off to read Margaret’s obituary. May her memory be a blessing.
Charlottesville is home in my heart, my place to go when I need uplifting. I watched the events of last weekend unfold in horror at the violence and hate. Trump has it wrong. Good people do not join White Supremacist, or Nazi groups. Good people do not murder.
I must knit, not to cry.
There are many things we can discuss or debate. People carrying torches, surrounding churches and synagogues and yelling “Blood and Soil!” are not up for debate.
My father and grandfather barely escaped Austria with their lives. My grandfather’s sister was pulled out of her living room, deported and shot in Riga. My great grandmother died in Theresienstadt. The consequences of this evil has affected our whole family, and we are just a small part of a bigger story.
“
Beautifully said, Kay. Thank you for eloquently expressing what so many of us are feeling these days.
So beautifully said.
Thank you Kay, this was beautifully expressed. And as we watch Nazis proudly marching down our streets, we can not sit silently.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it – George Santayana
We cannot stay quiet. Thanks for this.
Well said, Kay. We must speak out against such hate, not just in your country, but across the world. From a Canadian neighbour.
Bravo Kay. Now is not a time to be silent. If the uncompromising first amendment stance of the ACLU, which led them to sue on behalf of the Neo-Nazis right to congregate in Emancipation Park, is not to one’s liking, please consider contributing to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which specifically tracks and reports on hate groups.
I totally agree. SPLC is a great organization!
The ACLU will defend the right to free speech -even the stuff the far right is saying.
I find the far right point of view to be evil, but the bigger issue is that we continue our right to free
speech.
I intend to ignore the rallies but I expect the police to enforce the law.
We each need to find a way to spread peace
Kay, you always manage to hit the nail on the head. Thank you!!
Thank you for speaking out, it is greater than the consequences. Ignoring it is no longer an option.
Thank you, Kay.
Maybe I am naive, but I do not understand how people can hate each other. We are all people and we are all alike.
I am so sorry for the loss of a wonderful woman in your family and your lives. And grateful that you were able to know her and be a part of her story. I pray that you will find comfort during this time o; grief. Keep knitting!
Thank you, Kay. When my dad was 16, he lied about his age and joined the army to fight in World War II. Left a note to his parents on the kitchen table and off he went. He and so many other brave young men clearly saw the wrong and the hate and were willing to die for freedom and love–not just for the US but for the world. It kills me that all these years later, we are still fighting Nazis and have a president who won’t condemn them because they put him into office. Let me second what Donna said: If the ACLU causes anyone concern, the Southern Poverty Law Center is an incredible organization that is fighting the good fight for our marginalized brothers and sisters. Thank you to you and Ann for speaking out for what is right. Silence means approval–we need to be loud.
Thank you for speaking out, Kay. All of us need to find a way to use our voices, strong and clear.
Thank you for sharing this and for speaking out.
Me too. Still knitting. Thanks for this.
Thank you for refusing to stay silent!
I also encourage people to contribute to the Southern Poverty Law Center. They have been working against hate through education as well as legal means for many years.
Thank you Kay for so eloquently expressing what so many of us feel. I sincerely hope that your children got to meet Margaret Lampert.
I just finished reading Philip Roth’s “Plot Against America,” which is scary it is so prescient. The characters in that book can be my family (the lived not eh same streets).
As one of my friends on Ravelry recently commented, our fathers did not fight for this threat to appear on our shores. We cannot remain silent. We will not remain silent.
I hope it never comes to the point where my husband and I have to think about where we need to go and live, but if we ever did, I hope we would have the strength and foresight of your husband’s family and mine.
I will continue to sew and knit and read and write.
Thank you for this.
Beautifully said. Thank you for speaking up!
Thank you, Kay! I am heartbroken to think that fighting Nazis and white supremacists is something we still must do – and that this time, the Nazis claim to be American. But at the same time, I am heartened by the fact that even my most conservative friends seem shocked by this and by Trump’s reaction to it (although as far as I know, none have professed to regretting their vote). I’ll go listen to Dylan’s lecture now. Also, I read Margaret’s obituary when it was published – she sounds like she was an amazing woman!
Thank you for speaking out against hate. It’s up to all of us to raise our voices in the service of love and equality.
well and truly said.
Thank you for this.
For what it’s worth, we’ve just switched our cell phone provider to Credo. No, I’m not getting kickbacks, nor do I have any connection to them other than as a customer and signer of their many humanistic petitions. You can read about them here: http://www.credomobile.com/ They use Verizon’s cell network as its backbone, so it’s hardly tin cans and string – although we know what we’d do with that string here. It was effortless to change, and felt good to know at least part of our bill is funding causes we believe in.
Let’s start a Humanist Party, or a Golden Rule Party. In the meantime, let’s change the world by doing the right thing by each other every opportunity. As I just read somewhere, if you think small things don’t make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room.
Dear Kay, Dear Ann: For 15 years now I’ve been reading your blog. I knew I like ya both then. Now I know I love ya.
#NEVERFORGET
Kay, your words stirred my heart, so that so much has been going through my mind. Some thoughts crashed right in, others took their time. I thought of my mom, who spoke to me of the Holocaust when I was a girl, not the same for my friends moms. When I was in my twenties, I was surprised at how many of my contemporaries said of the Holocaust that they had “no idea”. I thought of Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning, and how some excerpts from it have kind of always stayed with me. I thought of a dear friend of Austrian birth who is a Catholic monk. Just a teenager and forced to enlist in the German army during WWII, his mother hid he and his friend for several years when they ran away and deserted. I thought of my childhood friend who’s mom silenced her during the few times she brought up family members Holocaust experiences. I thought about my affinity for the quotations of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. I thought anout the time I attended a lecture by Elie Weisel at the 92nd St. Y., and also my unforgettable visit to the Holocaust Museum in DC. I thought about my gratitude for our three branches of government, and friends that I have had through the years, and the making of latkes and hamentashen and my botched attemt at making challa bread (thonk “I Love Lucy” episode). I thought about the amazing story of the man who was dubbed the Japanese Shindler. I thought of all this and more.
Trying to relay it in sort of a story, it all came out like this, instead. Sorry.
As someone had already said, Never Forget.
Glad you’re still knitting.
Thank you Kay!
We must all speak up!
This is A disgrace to our country.
Perfect late night knitting listening material. I saw him in concert once, about 25 years ago, in a great small theater – mesmerizing.
As someone once said, if we do nothing, evil triumphs. From across the pond x
Thanks for this excellent piece, Kay. I happened to see Senator Al Franken the weekend of the craziness.
He expressed what I have been feeling since the election; my grandmother’s fear. And told the crowd we have to work to stop voter suppression.
ACLU is my place to contribute to as wdll. Today I will make one in Margaret Lambert’s name.
Warm regards
Roni Sher
The President of the United States not only condemned the white nationalists, but he condemned the black terrorists and the anarchists.
Life is so much easier if you listen to what one says, rather than follow the narrative of Main Stream Media.
Consider Dylan’s very public pro Israel stance is what may have caused the rupture between him and the well known anti Semitic Nobel Prize committee.
As they continue to import Islam ideology, they will continue the crass and chilling anti Semitic views, further causing more and more European Jews to flee to Israel.
Peter Hyatt
Kay, thank you so much for this post. I wholeheartedly support anyone who speaks out against this country’s present administration of hatred and greed. Recently Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated posted her opinion of the children being ripped from their parents at the border, on IG. Tragic, simply and horribly tragic. Anyway someone responded; “I like it better when we stick to sewing.” Excuse me, but I bet the mothers who have had their children taken from them, liked it best when they could stick to sewing. We should never live our lives with our backs turned to inhumanity whenever and wherever it occurs. Viva the people who refuse to stay silent.