Thread by @ad81109

#resist Day 264-10/15/18 Below is text of a talk I was honored to give last night to 77 courteous and attentive high school sophomore Confirmation students @ the Saint James campus of St Josephine Bakhita Parish in Rocky Hill. Connecticut. I wrote the text yesterday afternoon.

I would like to thank Carol Rizzo for inviting me to speak; she is a gift to her community.** “I don’t like to speak from a paper but I want to be sure that I, an old man who is in the last phase of my life, make maximum effort to connect with you, a group of teenagers with the

whole world ahead of you, about the incredible journey that has unfolded for me during the past nine months.
‘It all began on January 25th after I had been watching on C-SPAN, a public service network that televises all proceedings of the United States Senate

and House of Representatives. I had been watching C-SPAN for about three weeks as the Senate debated the budget bill; specifically, a Rider which would give legal status and a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers. DREAMers are a group of young people who came across the southern

border to the United States in the 1990’s & early 2000’s, with their parents, as minors under the age of 17, some as young as 6 months old, the average age was 3 years old. The Congress has been attempting to pass a bill, commonly known as the Dream Act, for 18 years without

success.
“During the three weeks that I was watching, they introduced five riders, all of which they knew at the outset had no chance of ever becoming law. They were using these young immigrants as pawns in their shallow battle for political leverage. I was angry, very angry

—but I was also very frustrated; I didn’t know what to do.
“Then something happened to me that has never before happened in my life. God spoke to me. God did not speak to me from a mountain, God did not speak to me from an altar. God did not speak to me from an opening in a

forest; God spoke to me from deep within my soul, from the very fiber of my being.
“And God said to me: ‘You are not a bad person, although you have done a few pretty bad things in your lifetime. You have tried to do what is right, you have tried to help other people.

You have always been on the edge of trying, trying, trying. But trying is no longer enough. It is late in the game for you, it may be your last chance. It is time for you to step across the line, to help these young immigrants who you believe are being done a grave injustice.

And strangely, at least strangely to me, God ended with the words of the fictional old Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.’
“And I replied, ‘But what can I do, a bent over 78-year-old man with a back that is always with pain, severe scoliosis, spinal stenosis and a high,

squeaky voice…’ God interrupted me, replying clearly with one, single word, ‘Walk’.
“I have been walking in my neighborhood for the past 273 days, every day since January 25th. At first for DREAMers, but after doing some research I now walk for all immigrants in America,

for refugees at the border and for parents and children who have been separated. I hope to send a message to American citizens and to the world that immigrants are not criminals, that immigrants are not welfare people, that immigrants are not responsible for all our country’s

problems. Immigrants have a lower incarceration rate than American citizens. Immigrants are hard-working, industrious citizens-in-fact if not in-law who contribute mightily—mightily—to the economic, cultural and social well-being of this nation.

“And so, I will continue to walk for immigrants until I am no longer physically able to walk. And I will leave this earth knowing that I did the right thing.” **

I walked today with my friend, Bob Garry (117 days) at 9:30am for Daniela, for Daniela's mom, for 800,000 DREAMers,

for their parents, for all who seek refuge on our border, for the reunification of parents and children who have been separated, for those whose Temporary Protected Status has been rescinded and for all immigrants in the world.