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| Amy Goodman was the first journalist at the Standing Rock protest in 2016 |
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| One of countless times that I have seen Amy Goodman |
The Documentary Steal the Story, Please is playing nationwide, including right now in Portland at Cinema 21. Please go here to see times/dates and to purchase tickets for Portland's showing and also to find times in your area: https://stealthisstoryplease.official.film/.
I've known that Amy Goodman would be touring with the documentary and am deeply disappointed that I have missed the window to buy tickets to see her here in Portland today. I try to never miss Amy when she comes to town! That said, I am also so excited that Ron and I will be seeing this film Monday night. I know that it will be excellent!
I have been listening to, watching, and reading Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! for decades. Amy is a national and international treasure and is among those human beings who I most admire, respect, am grateful for, and love. I love her. I love the profound difference that Amy has made across our nation and world. I love her courage and integrity, her brilliance and wisdom, her utter and profound commitment to truth, her unrelenting commitment to going to where the silence is, and to exposing and holding the powerful accountable rather than being their voice pieces. Amy is not bought, not in the pockets of anyone, and is exemplary and not rivaled in the excellence of her independent journalism. Few people have inspired, informed, and empowered me more than Amy Goodman and the countless voices that she has brought forward on Democracy Now! — https://www.democracynow.org/.
This was also illuminated in the 30 year anniversary celebration of Democracy Now! that occurred on March 23rd. So incredibly inspiring! I wrote about and shared this amazing celebration of independent global news here: https://mollystrongheart.blogspot.com/2026/03/excellent-and-highly-recommended.html.
The contrast between independent global news and corporate funded mainstream American media is stark. I am aware that many believe that they are hearing everything that they need to know to be informed by listening to or watching NPR/OPB, MS Now, CNN, ABC, CBS, etc. However, what I have learned over time — and especially since the horrors of 9/11 threw me into my own profound search for truth — is that any resource which is in any way connected to corporate funding is compromised and limited in bringing us the deeper truths and facts that are essential for us to know.
We would not be experiencing endless wars, endless catastrophic climate crises, excruciating and ever growing poverty and wealth inequality, the dehumanization and brutal oppression directed at immigrants and other minorities, epidemics of houselessness and addictions and depression, and the many faces of suffering and trauma and violence that are so prolific in American culture and beyond had we been truly informed over the past many years.
Instead we humans would have gathered together in powerful and fierce solidarity to say NO MORE! and act to stop the insane madness.
Just imagine how different our world would be today had we been empowered decades ago to recognize the links of so many resources of information — to Wall Street and the Big Banks, to the fossil fuel industry and the military industrial complex, to the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, to the prison industrial complex and the animal agricultural industries, to AIPAC and Israel, to the politicians in both major political parties who are in the pockets of their wealthy donors, and on and on. Just imagine how we would be changed, transformed, gathered in solidarity rather than polarized if we actually recognized the forces that were screwing us over! Again and again and again!
Amy Goodman and the countless other people she has had on Democracy Now! have had a radical influence on my life. So many of those who she has profiled — like Jeremy Scahill, Chris Hedges, Naomi Klein, Arundhati Roy, Jason Stanley, Timothy Snyder, George Monbiot, Norman Solomon, Ibram X Kendi, Henry Giroux, Angela Davis, countless worldwide indigenous voices, and on and on — are rarely and most often never heard or seen on corporate mainstream media because of their threat to the toxic status quo.
Quotes to reflect on:
- Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. —Albert Einstein
- One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. — Carl Jung
- During times of universal deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary. — George Orwell
- The most violent element in society is ignorance. — Emma Goldman
- Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. — Paulo Freire
- The day we see the truth and cease to speak it is the day we begin to die. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Radical simply means grasping things at the root. — Angela Davis
It is my ongoing hope and prayer that more and more of us will come to courageously embody a profound commitment to truth. This is what Amy Goodman and many other amazing human beings have inspired me to embrace for so many years now. And it is knowing these deeper truths that inspires me to do my part in exposing the forces of delusion, hatred, and greed that cause so much profound suffering in our world and to act to alleviate the suffering of our planetary sisters and brothers by how it is that I live my life. I am filled with eternal gratitude.
We all need each other. We are all in this together. May we increasingly recognize that which keeps us impaired in our capacity to be informed, to act, and to care so deeply about the welfare of us all. This takes a lot of effort and courage in a society which chronically and dangerously works to keep us distracted, disinformed, and divided. We can change this. We can transform ourselves individually and collectively and the dangerous trajectory that we are on. We can join together in solidarity in the great universal struggle for a just, peaceful, equitable, and caring world. May it be so. 🙏
Bless us all, no exceptions...
Molly
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