Niilo, as a thanks to you for all you’ve helped us stand for, I’d like to send along these lyrics of Tommy Sands, the great Northern Irish singer and peacemaker. If anyone deserves to have them dedicated to them it’s you.
I hope they bring some comfort to those of you who are spending these days with Niilo as well.

YOUR DAUGHTERS AND YOUR SONS.

They wouldn’t hear your music
And they pulled your paintings down
They wouldn’t read your writing
And they banned you from the town
But they couldn’t stop you dreaming
And the victory you have won
For you sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

In your daughters and your sons
In your daughters and your sons
You sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

Well your weary smile it proudly hides
The chain marks on your hands
As you bravely strive to realise
The rights of every man
And though your body’s bent and low
A victory you have won
For you sowed the seeds of justice
In your daughters and your sons

Well, I don’t know your religion
But one day I heard you pray
For a world where everyone can work
And children can play
And though you never got your share
Of the fruits that you have won
You sowed the seeds of equality
In your daughters and your sons

Well, they taunted you in Belfast
And they tortured you in Spain
And in that Warsaw ghetto
Where they tied you up in chains
In Vietnam and in Chili
Where they came with tanks and guns
It’s there you sowed the seeds of peace
In your daughters and your sons

And now your music’s playing
And the writings on the wall
And all the dreams you painted
Can be seen by one and all
And now you’ve got them thinking
And the future’s just begun
For you sowed the seeds of freedom
In your daughters and your sons

–Ken Burch, 2008/05/13 at 1:28 AM