INTRODUCTION

FLORIDA JUSTICE FORUM: NOVEMBER 2008

INTRODUCTION

If you are reading this, thank you for time and attention. I hope to have earned the generosity of your intrepid curiosity some day. The Florida Justice Forum was created in November 2008 to explore and reflect on issues of justice, values, equality, human rights, and freedom. It is inspired by the countless acts of generosity and (formal and informal) public service I have seen. I am indebted to too many people to name. In this blog, essays on social justice issues can be found. My name is Eduardo Hernandez (most people call me Eddie) and I am the founder of this forum and I am the sole author of the essays that appear here regularly under my name.
The focus is on issues that effect the Florida community (what I know) and people beyond it (what I am learning about everyday). Wherever you may read this, there are things everyone can relate to in their own way even if it is not coming from the place they are in. Many people write about social justice and it appears in various areas of the media. My hope is to provide some depth and some exploration on topics both large and small. Some are obvious and there are some that are not so obvious. I have no pretensions. I have hope.

I do not use this forum to endorse political candidates, to promote any product, to sell any service, to deal with personal matters, or espouse one religion or world view over another. I simply reflect on issues I see or have read about or heard or imagined or thought about. I may be wrong about something, I may be right. My views might even change over time. I might even learn something.

I welcome comments, responses, feedback, social justice related event announcements, and other points of view. Unfortunately, I can not answer every response to an essay for various reasons and I have to admit that it may be wise not to even if I could. It is a forum but it is a forum for the community and not necessarily for this individual beyond the contribution of an essay (my small act for the sake of social justice).

I am also not responsible for the views or actions of other parties who may respond to this blog and converse electronically or interact with others. Their views and actions are their own. I neither bless, condone, judge, censor, punish, or condemn. I leave that to the rest of you. I simply hope everyone is civil, respectful, and kind and that you may contribute in your own way to social justice in your lives. I simply write essays in my informal way. Nothing less. Nothing more.

The essay is a form to cherish and I ask that you peruse as many from the authors that abound us as you can. It helps if you too add to the treasure by putting forth your own. There are some expectations you may have about the style of essay that may appear in this forum. I am concerned about current events but I try not to be dated and the fact is that most social justice issues are battles from the past, that are fought again in the present and have to continuously be refought in the future. Thus dates, references, personalities, fads, and trends are not at the forefront of my thinking unless they have some clearly historical significance and overriding community interest. I avoid the specific and strive for the metaphoric. I may write a timely essay. I aspire for timelessness.

I know I am in a public forum. Please share these words if you wish. Do not distort them. Honor their intentions even if the quality of their manifestations did not meet them. Make strong their weaknesses with your insight put to action in your own context. Make any humble thought, inspiration, or aspiration you may see in them a better good for a better world in your own special way.

Essays appear on average once for each week of the year but I might write more or even less. They may appear on a shifting schedule. So for example, there is an essay for each week of November but they may not have appeared weekly and several may have even been introduced to the blog on the same day. You may simply look back on previous essays on your own schedule as you await for new ones to appear.

I am an essayist and they have been around since the beginning. Years ago essays were solely in minds and words, and then they moved to parchment, and then paper and now they are in this medium that many did not imagine. It has been said that the medium is the message. Despite this, many ideas have not really changed all that much. It is only the form and the context. In this case, the medium is not the message. Things change. If the medium changes, look for the message elsewhere. Seek the light wherever you can.

Again, thank you for your time and attention.

Eddie Hernandez