Ritual

Greetings!

A poetic musing...

Ritual 

She calls her brothers each night
Just hearing their voices reassures,
But the ease to her anxiety is only temporary
Requiring the next day's call for another dose of talk therapy
A daily ritual,
Not a response to news of a natural disaster
Or buzz about some mechanical mishap
A daily ritual,
A reminder that she cannot take for granted
The casual ease some others feel
And that her eyes have seen
The grieving of some victims of violence
Can be haunted by a focus on lack of perfection
A daily ritual
For nerves must be quieted for sound sleep
Imagine yourself with such an ongoing routine
As a continuing cycle of wellness calls
(That is, if you have not such a ritual already)
Now, imagine a more desirable one in its place



Read the article which inspired this here.


Related Posts: 

• Too Much Deja Vu 
• Is This Justice? 
• This Concerns ALL of US (With an Update) 

And please, if you like this post (or any other post here) please share and/or comment.  

 

Images - and Stories - of Shame Updated

I'm continually floored.  How can we, supposedly a free society, condone the militarstic over repponse to peaceful protests?  WE MUST ALL CONDEMN IT!

I first saw the report on the police over respose to recent protests at Common Dreams.  I was shocked, but if you've been following things (including some blog posts here) about the increasingly militaristic tone of policing, I guess it shouldn't be surprising.

THEN, another story, this one at The Intercept,  details some more abuses.  If you haven't seen the now famous picture of Ms. Ieshia Evans, obviously no threat, being arrested by cops in full riot gear (this was in Baton Rouge, LA), you need to.  Read about riot police storming a lady's yard to arrest protesters - where she had given them premission to be (also in Baton Rouge)!  Read about the protester arrested while giving an interview (in Rochester, NY).  We should all be outraged about this truly thuggish behavior on the part of those who should be serving and protecting US (guess we need to wonder who they are now serving and protecting).

I e-mailed the police chief in Rochester to express my dismay, and will work on some phone calls to Baton Rouge tomorrow.  I will update if I receive any responses (not likely, though).

Folks, are you not yet alarmed about the way policing is being militarized?  Are you not yet alarmed at the attack on protest and dissent?  Are you not alarmed and awake to the dangers to our democracy (or what SHOULD be a democracy)?  Well, if not, the alarms are sounding.  WAKE UP!!!

UPDATE:

I e-mailed Rochester PD and called Baton Rouge PD.  Seemed to just be getting runarounds.  So I called the mayoral offices of both cities and expressed my concerns and told them the actions toward the protesters were making their cities look bad.  I don't know if telling that to some receptionist helps in any way (that's all we seem to encounter if we want to give feedback - that or some automated phone message box or an e-mail form that may or not be read...), but at least I'm trying.  If anyone is interested, the phone numbers are:

Baton Rouge, LA  Mayor's office:  225-389-3100
Rochester, NY  Mayor's office: 585-428-7045
  
Related Posts:

•  Big Chill? - Updated

• My Update on a Classic

Human Lives Matter

I think everyone is saddened by the tragedy in Dallas.  It's a horrible taking of lives.  And one unfortunate thing about the situation is that it may take focus away from the epidemic of killings, abuse and over-militarization by police.

Speaking of over-militaristic policing, it has come out that a "killer robot" was used to kill the suspected shooter. I hope that others find this VERY alarming.  In the article, several experts raise various concerns.  To me, this thought from Marjorie Cohn,  Professor Emerita, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, sums things up nicely :

"Police cannot use deadly force unless there's an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury to them or other people. If the suspect was holed up in a parking garage and there was nobody in immediate danger from him, the police could have waited him out. They should have arrested him and brought him to trial," Cohn said. "Due process is not just enshrined in our constitution, it's also enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the U.S. has ratified, making it part of U.S. law."

We had better start being pro-active.  We have drones - so far only striking overseas but could it happen here?  We have robots which can activate water canons --- and for the first time it seems in the U. S., apply deadly force.  That better concern us and we had better stop being in denial.  This trend of LE being judge, jury AND exctutioner runs counter to what we say the U.S. should be about. We had better start demanding that HUMAN LIVES MATTER, and that technology be used to serve us, be accountable to THE PEOPLE, and used in accourdance with our civil and human rights and the rule of law.

Too Much Deja Vu

Too Much Deja Vu

Too much deja vu
Two more fatalities
Playbook we've seen before,
Way too often
Where is the lesson learned?
For after marches, studies, settlements,
After tears and red-faced bitterness,
After too little accountability and progress,
We are confronted with two more senseless tragedies
Which indict us as they ask:
When will this end?
... Rest in Peace, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

Just What IS Unity, Anyway?

Greetings.  I'm constantly shaking my head at the bigotry and divisiveness so prevalent in politics and public rhetoric today - the U.S. elections, Brexit, and the immigration crisis in Europe most alarmingly.  We so desperately need to come together to really start solving the very real problems we face.

But just what is unity, anyway (and closest to my thinking here would be choice #3) ? In these thoughts, rather than use a static definition, I'd like to offer some snapshots to suggest the essence of unity.

Unity is nexus.

I learned the vocabulary word 'nexus' because one of my all time favorite bands, Argent, recorded an album with that title. I know in one interview I read, Rod Argent said it meant people working together (interestingly, look at the word origin - it's from the Latin for 'a binding together'). I'm sure we know of many examples of folks cooperating to achieve a purpose.  I think of my graduate school class in curriculum working as one team to give our final presentation.  I think of the Abolitionists, who, Prof. Eric Foner pointed out, sometimes had different reasons for opposing slavery but came together to fight that evil. That spirit of cooperation is exactly what is needed now to address the challenges we face. We should, at the very least, pick one or two critical issues most folks can agree on and work together on solutions.  For example, shouldn't we all agree that children need a good start?  So wouldn't it make sense for all to work for things such as universal pre-K (which does seem to be gaining ground across the country)?

Unity is peaceful.

How can we come together if we don't agree to end using violence to solve disputes?  We must find better ways of dealing with conflicts or potential conflicts.  Let's start by remembering The Golden Rule, whose essence is taught by many faiths and traditions.

Unity is not always uniform.

We are unique individuals, after all.  We are similar to some other folks in some ways,  But we all share that we are fellow humans on Planet Earth. (nod here to former colleague Dr. Fred, whose wonderful presentation I heard years ago, I still can here echoing).  I also remember the occasion when the ESL students at my college gave a play to present their English skills.  By the end, as they all stood together, holding flags of their home countries, I had tears in my eyes.  They were different, but they were united!

Unity is beautiful.

If you readers were to see a photo of a large enough group of my cousins, you might think it was a photo of a U. N. meeting.  So many races/ethnicities involved through ancestry and marriages.  Each of us is beautiful and all of us together is a beautiful sight.  We need to see the beauty in each other, even those "others" who are different from us.

Unity is freeing.

Bigotry and hate block the person holding those noxious beliefs from progressing as a full person.  They block critical thinking concerning the real problems facing us.  They build walls and encourage others to build defensive walls in return.  We need to stop that cycle.  We need to build bridges and connections instead.

Unity is solidarity.

As I've mentioned so many times on this blog, to gain progress for the 99% we need to stand together.  To get real reforms and to make things more responsive to "We, the People", we need to stand together.  We must STOP being divided and conquered!

 
Unity is the past being prologue.

We all know the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) knew the then-colonies had to unite to gain Independence and worked to accomplish that goal.  As detailed in another post (Music of the Spheres/Music From the Spheres), Dr. Kirsten Wood told us the founders knew the nation needed to find "harmony in its diversity."   She further noted they didn't pay attention to all the diversity of the nation. and that for us today, the task is "far more complicated but as urgent as ever."  We are called today to make further strides toward the destination called unity - one that Dr. King also pointed us toward.

Unity is Love.

After hearing Mr. Lin-Manuel Miranda, do you need any further proof?

Related Posts:

In addition to the post linked to above, all posts labeled 'unity' can be found by clicking on unity in the tag cloud on the right.


And please, if you like this post (or any other post here) please share and/or comment.  

Big Chill? - Updated Again!

Greetings...

Anyone there - human that is?  Found out that pageviews may not always be real pageviews but something called "referral spam."  So it would be wonderful if an actual human reader would leave a comment.  C'mon - we real people should stick together!

UPDATE: 

Well, The Intercept strikes again.  Just read this report of arrests for social media posts and felt it should be brought to anyone's and everyone's attention.  And it follows the theme of threats to things such as free speech.

Original post starts here:  Well, when I went The Intercept, I knew what the next blog post topic must be. Protest and dissent are facing increasing challenges and attacks.  Please, readers, don't just think it only applies to "them" or that Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly are so "ivory tower" that they have no relevance.  Even if they don't affect YOU directly NOW:  a) you should stand for those rights for others and b) be aware that it might come to affect you in the future - and you'd better hope it's not too late then.

Let's begin:  This report about visits to activists' homes and such in Cleveland was indeed the impetus for this post.  From the article:   “The purpose of these door knocks is simple: to intimidate the target and others in efforts to discourage people from engaging in lawful First Amendment activities,” Jocelyn Rosnick, a coordinator with the Ohio chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, wrote in a statement denouncing the home visits.

Now also consider this (again from the article): 
Maggie Rice, an organizer with Food Not Bombs, said that members of her group were visited by police but felt too “rattled” to speak to a reporter. The group is not planning to stage protests but has applied for permits to be in the RNC event zone in order to feed both protesters and Cleveland residents dealing with disruptions...  [emphasis mine]

In case you're not familiar with some background, there has been much controversy about "rules for protest"  that Cleveland drafted for the days of the  RNC (Repub. Nat'l Convention). You can read in the linked article also that the ACLU of Ohio is suing Cleveland over these rules.  One update I found was that the ACLU of Ohio is asking for a speedy resolution of this suit.

World Refugee Day

Would you believe - I was just doing an unrelated search and saw the note on Google that this is World Refugee Day.  So I absolutely have to get out a quick post.  With the curent bigoted political climate, which more than likely led to the murder of UK MP Jo Cox, we need to remembe that, in the U. S. at least, we're a nation of immigrants.  And when I hear someone disparaging 'economic refugees' I think they need reminding that most Europeans came to what is now the U. S. to better their lives.  There is a very ugly political atomphere here in the U. S. and the U. N. High Commissinoer for Refugees recently spoke of the 'climate of xenophobia' gripping Europe.

The theme this year is "We Stand Together With Refugees."  Let's hope many of us do just that.

Here is a poem which I originally posted back in November 2015.  It's appropos again now.

Reminder Needed

We forget that we are a country of immigrants
That many hands of diverse ancestry built this country
And continue to do so
It seems we forget when someone whispers, "The terrorists are coming."

 We forget things such as "Chinese Exclusion", 
The stain of Japanese incarceration,
Those against admitting Jewish refugees from the Holocaust
Have we not learned from our history?
But it seems we forget if someone intones, "The terror threat is high."

 We forget that we face risks everyday
We forget that liberty should not be sacrificed for security
But it seems civil liberties and even common sense
Seem to be discarded if someone pronounces, "We just want to keep you safe."

 We forget, but there's a certain statue in New York harbor
Which should be a reminder to us
She stands as a token of friendship and a beacon of liberty
So will we stand with her?

Related Post:
         Excursion Together