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Thursday's letters: People need to remember King's message of nonviolence

Thursday's letters to the editor
 
Published Jan. 24, 2019

2 shot dead at gas station | Jan. 23

Nonviolence isa forgotten lesson

On Monday, the nation honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a national holiday. A fatal shooting incident on the same day shows many in the community haven't learned to practice his most dominant legacies: nonviolence. While we celebrate the life and legacy of the man who changed the course of American history by leading the civil rights movement, few people stop to think that he led a revolution that cost very few lives, as revolutions go. As King said, "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."

While most of the speeches on the holiday focus on King's "I Have a Dream" speech and how near or far we are from achieving it, too many of those who claim to be keepers of the dream have failed to emphasize his message of nonviolence.

King used it to confront a century-old, government-sanctioned system of oppression, and he prevailed. Surely young men today can use it to solve whatever petty grudges they have with some of their peers.

Joseph Brown, Tampa

It's 'where big belongs' | Jan. 22

In no need of a skyline

St. Petersburg does not need a skyline as envisioned by a New York developer. What St. Petersburg needs is adequate fresh water, and sewers that do not dump sewage into Tampa Bay every time there is a heavy rain. We need protection of our beautiful green spaces on the waterfront and from all the additional traffic and pollution that comes from overdevelopment. Our sunshine and relaxed way of life are precisely why people come here, and once it is destroyed, we can never get it back.

Janet Graber, St. Petersburg

Find a path to end shutdown | Editorial, Jan. 23

Public servants, please serve

I have had zero impact from the partial government shutdown. Although I empathize with the workers, I seriously question the need for some of those who have been furloughed.

I also believe that the FAA and TSA should adopt the Canadian model and be privatized so that vital systems get the funding needed for modernization and that air travel is not held hostage to political gamesmanship.

The political parties need to work for the American people and not against each other; right now, they are only demonstrating that they are non-essential as well. That's not a good sign for the constitutional republic that Americans have successfully lived under for 230 years.

Anne Kraus-Keenan, Spring Hill

Curbside recycling

Apartments need recycling

St. Petersburg still has no curbside recycling for multi-family properties with more that four units. The city has thousands of these properties. I live in one and schlep my recyclables over to the drop-off site nearest my home — not that close. However, I can tell you that I am one of about maybe three or four of us in our 234-unit condo that does so. Do the powers that be realize how much stuff is being sent to the incinerator that should, and could, be recycled if the city would institute curbside recycling for condos/apartments? Yes, people are lazy, but our city government shouldn't be.

Gary Betts, St. Petersburg