a little red hen

Approaching Occupy Portland...hearing about Vancouver, B.C.

How to support a movement seen as necessary, important, but beyond one's participation?  Since October 7 when Occupy Wall Street began, that question has been on my mind.

It was so close here in Portland, Oregon, yet so far away.  Contribute some change to Occupy Portland.  Last week Pay Pal notified me that Red Owl Media had returned the money.  There has been a problem between those who wanted Occupy Portland to become a non-profit, those opposed.  Money collected in two places.  Now returned.  It is all part of the formlessness of the effort.

Last week I left a canvas bag from the local, longtime Peoples Co-op with a miscellany--bags of millet and garbanzo flour from cooking classes at Bob's Red Mill, jar of Ron's strawberry jam, bedroom slippers I was discarding, toothbrushes from the dentist (have to stop taking these: we use electric), pony tail hair bands purchased for grandchild Zoe.  And another bag:  Keep Portland radical.  Talked with a neighbor who had purchased a blanket from our thrift shop, made the bus trip downtown and left it with someone at the edge of the encampment.  Hearing that I'd taken the short walk inside to hand over my stuff to a place about food, she asked, "How was it?" 

Smelled awful, even on a sunny day there was an overcast, scruffy feeling--people living outside for a long time, and coughing.  What could we expect?  Radical political action is not attractive.

[Problem with this report, had to take down]  By chance, what is happening in Vancouver, B.C., was broadcast as I was writing this post.  The responses to questions by a volunteer medic are worth listening to especially the hard ones about a young woman found dead at this encampment.  Is it my imagination or does this Canadian broadcaster seem far more respectful than ones in the U.S.?

Have watched the live streaming from here and NYC.  Think how different it might be in New York where people around me would be talking about frequently, arguing its merits.  In Portlande, even at Portland State University, there is not a sense in the halls that some of their peers are in tents only 10 blocks away, that what is taking place is work by those who speak for all of us who would never occupy but feel voiceless.  But maybe that's the norm in other cities where many have opted out of full engagement with any kind of politics.

Lunch today at Pearl Bakery with Alon, who taught the delightful  Sociology of the Bicycle.  He has been to GA (general assembly) meetings at Occupy Portland, works with Education and Outreach groups there.  It was good to talk with someone who has real time experience with the group.  We have been concerned that our unsolved social problems in Occupy cities--homelessness, mental illness-- street people in need of food and a roof might overwhelm the political intentions of those who began the occupations.

He is hopeful; we want to be too.  Love this video.

 

UPDATE Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, 8:15 p.m. (PST), Local TV news:

In an open letter to the Occupy Portland movement, Mayor Sam Adams said the current safety conditions at the encampment were "not sustainable," changing the previous day-by-day approach of the city.
Citing specifically increasing arrests, drug use and violent behavior, Adams said the purpose of the letter was to stress the urgency in dealing with these problems...."I have said from the beginning that I believe the Occupy movement would have to evolve in order to realize its full potential."

 

Our Bodies, Our Politics

Life has been a bit challenging for the past couple of weeks.  It began mildly enough with my very minor surgery.  Out-patient at Legacy Hospital, smiling staff, clean efficient.  Yes, the surgeon was swell.  That was Friday and the next day kidney stone pains began to re-visit Ron.  Sunday night we traveled to our friendly Legacy Emergency Room.

Discovered: a 7.5 kidney stone!  Tuesday morning it was now his turn for out-patient surgery far more serious than mine and with a positive outcome.  That should have wrapped it up.  Never that simple in latelife, however.  All of it threw my sleep pattern into chaos.  Finally out now and returning to post.

Meanwhile the world continues to turn in strange, sometimes wonderful ways.  Watching Occupy Wall Street has offered remarkable words and images.  Thoughtful thinking from observers--like many of us--from Zuccotti Square: Naomi Klein's reflections (here in text),  the Amy Goodman's program, Democracy Now include many thoughtful interviews at the Square espescially this one with Katrina van den Heuvel of the Nation magazine in the midst of the high activity.  Think it was this one where I saw my friend in peace, Joan Wile of Grandmothrs against the War, sitting quietly next to her sign.  Joan on her own blog describes what she was experiencing that day.

That's Joan in the middle on an October 7 demonstration marking the 10th anniversary of the U.S. war/conflict in Afghanistan.

Here she is again on Michael Moore's blog.  On October 18, a contingent of  60 Grannies appeared at Lincoln Center to protest the way private/public spaces attempt to squelch those with political agendas.  And the police backed off! Busy month for Joan and October has another eight days.

"He's your soldier...he signed up to serve you!"

These are Tammara Rosenleaf's words, familiar with the struggles of women and men in the Army Reserves.  For me they say everything you and I need to know about  why we have to keep for elected officials to do more  for military families.   Tammara was as close as I'd been to the military since I worked with several in my practice.  We met and talked after she appeared in Home Front 911:  Military Family Monologues.

A small advertisement in a free weekly brought us to the Old Church to our attention.    Why had I not heard online? Perhaps I had the wrong connections--peace and anti-war groups.  When I became active in 2005 with New York City's Grandmothers against the War , couple of us suggested work beyond picketing, If we're using our "roles" as grandmas, wouldn't it be truly "grandmotherly  to reach out to  families of the military--those who had to live with daily consequences combat?  The dismissive response led the other woman to leave the group.Ultimately the most vocal GAW members primary believed the way to make a difference, to end the wars  was through publicity for their demonstrations.  New York, home to most of the major media outlets, is seductive in this way.

"Homefront 911" felt more anti-war than those other groups.  The message was very personal.  War has a long history in many of these women's lives as well as ours.  

"I was thirteen when I saw my uncle go to Vietnam...remember Granma saying that trouble always comes through the front door."

"The Five Stages of Becoming a Military Spouse" was next.   #1, Denial.  #2, WTF about housing ("The waiting list is how long?")  On the way to #5, Acceptance," there was the realization by some wives that they were trying to ease their pain in ways not useful  ("Doctor, Can I have a prescription for Xanax?")

"The Wedding Dress" monologue told about a wedding just before her soldier was shipped to Iraq and her decision to wear it again "when my husband came home in a coffin."

"How To Be a Boy" spoke to the problem of living in a military setting with no adult males for role models...of an 8 year old's pain as his father leaves for his fourth deployment.

Once the soldier returns home, his family finds he is never the same.  Even if he not wounded in combat.  The Oregonian ran a page one story last Sunday about a young  man who committed suicide 7 years after his return. Oregon has the largest group of  National Guard Reservists in the military and the highest number of suicides.

Another question/demand from Tammara still echoes--

  "Are we that invisible to you, don't we matter to you?  America  is not at war, WE are."

In the talk-back afterwards, the small audience was asked to stand and share their own or a family member's experience with the military during wartime.  My own experience was limited to WWII and my 8 year old's discomfort that my father  avoided the draft by taking a second job in a war plant.  With that in mind, I wonder why he did not count Peace in his many causes. 

It was a shock when a man approached the stage where the presenters were sitting.  "I was active against the war in Vietnam, now in Afghanistan, and I can tell you [he faces one woman onstage], I cannot get past the feeling of hatred toward your husband."  It was if he'd  whipped a weapon from his jacket.  But no, he was simply behaving in an inappropriate way.  While the audience was breathless, the women took his outburst in stride.

Many of us know the frustration of living with unanswered pleas for ending American wars, and the disappoinment among many Obama supporters that he has not made good on his campaign promise.  I admit to feeling righteous about my pacifism.  I wondered if relentless dedication to the cause of peace had somehow empowered this man to be insensitive to the suffering of others, to become war-like.

 Returning Veterans Project, a co-sponsor of the event, was started to fill unmet needs of military families.  Begun by therapists, RVP offers free services--mental health counseling and  other health-related services by about 60 providers.  We spoke with a couple of them at a reception afterward, learned about about their workshops for incoming volunteers.  Frustrated that not keeping our malpractice insurance up-to-date means we could not use pre-retirement skills.  We look forward to supporting their work in other ways. 

To get a sense of the event,  here's a video of Stacy Bannerman with her monlogue,  "Letter to Julie."  With women and men close to these issues, Stacy founded  The Sanctuary for Veterans & Famlies.  Founded in 2007, The Sanctuary another sponsor of the evening.  She will appear in Eugene, Oregon on October 18--back in Portland, October 19 to talk about her book,"When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families they Leave Behind."

This was the first performance by Homefront 911 and they are looking for other venues. Could there be one near you?

[photo at top, Damon Winter/the New York Times, June 27, 2010]

 

Aug. 5

Aug. 5

When a man is asked to sing of his anger

the risk is that without remorse virtue dies

War then is in the face, in this homelessness,

the despair which couldn't wait couldn't ask for

 

We don't talk to each other anymore

email global reach managed minutes morning

to noon in the hospitals we are all old

forbidden to talk of lost sons, asked to smile

 

Enough, they'll hear the news, men in photographs

die and nothing will seem simple, their faces

especially where sorrow stretched everyhing

 

Maps point to? and defeat looms where? out there where?

Here the naked body is where terror lies

Guilt builds monuments, the way we spend our time

-ELENA RIVERA

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Seeing this poem two years ago in  The Nation startled me.  Why did the poet chose this particular date, my birthday?  It was published on March 31, 2010.   Saved it on my bulletin board because it intrigued me.  Never a notable date, I recall one factoid, a kind of Chinese fortune cookie one:   the transatlantic cable was laid.   Yes, Wikipedia confirms that happened August 5, 1858, though it was not a particularly successful or long-lasting effort till later.

That engineering feat was not important enough for Wikipedia's BIG list for my birth date.  With an odd synchronicity, on my birthday (and this time I was around for these in the 1970s) less creative history took place:

Congress placed a $1 billion dollar limit on military aid to South Vietnam in 1974.  Five years later in 1979, again on August 5, Maoists attempted a military uprising in Afghanistan.  What is it about the summer?

August 6, the anniversary of U.S. dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and August 9, the day the next bomb devastated Nagasaki, will be commenorated nationwide.  Sunday here in Portland, Oregon, Physicians for Social Responsibility and other peace groups will gather at the Japanese American Historical Plaza.

It will be a three-hour fair with speakers, informational booths "...to engage participants in learning about, and taking action for, a world free of both nuclear weapons and nuclear power."

How will we remember, have our voices heard?  Rhetorical questions, an opportunity to speak again once more of my wish, along with yours, for peace in our time.

 

 

Transforming Enemies into Friends: Cyprus Friendship Program

Earlier this week, Ron and I had an unusual experience.  A notice with the provocative title, "Transforming Enemies into Friends," appeared on bulletin boards where I live and gave a brief descrpition of the Cyprus Friendship initiative for teenagers from that troubled country.

The 90-minutes  program was a boost for the 75 senior Americans in the meeting room, all of us overstimulated by bad news on the economy, the future of social security, the British tabloid mess.

Six young women, 16 and 17 years old, participants in this ambitious international program, told why it has been important for them to be far from their own country for a one-month stay with host families in Portland.

Three of them are from Turkish Cyprus, three from Greek controlled Cyprus.  It was painful to hear how they have to live their lives where the two factions do not interact, the consequence of a war 37 years ago.  To get a sense of the ethnic division in Cyprus, a quick look at this map makes it clear that there are two distinct parts--yellow and white.  Each considers the other the enemy.

Each of the girls in the photo is sitting with her partner from "the other side" she has lived with for the past month. They spoke eloquently--and in excellent English-- about the pain of the split not only in their country but also in their families.   What had been the response among family and friends to their participation?

Some families were reluctant for their daughters to attend, even fearful or opposed.  Others were hopeful, like the teens themselves, that the opportunity to live in peaceful coexistence could be empowering for the girls and a model for a better future for Turks and Cypriotes.  How powerful social media are around the world was brought home by the young woman at the right end of the table.  On Facebook, yes, they are on Facebook, she could not believe the harsh reactions of some of her friends:  she was equated with the enemy.

What she learned is that her partner in the program would be more of a friend in her future than some of these naysayers at home. All of them want to return here for college which they find "very expensive."

What struck them most about peers in America?  That family ties were not as strong as theirs.  They were proud of the connection they had to their own families, most of whom have spent generations struggling with ethnic conflict.

After their presentations, the girls were eager to talk with us old people.  There's a surprise! Ron and I explained that the United States had its own history of people at odds with one another for reasons as unreasonable as those in Cyprus.  Immediately, two girls spoke about their visit to Canada and learning how badly the native population had been treated by white explorers in earlier times.  They were quite startled and wanted  explanation when Ron remarked, "You know, we are all immigrants here."

Being in their presence lifted our spirits away from local or national concerns.  All of us in the room expanded by sharing their hopefulness about the future.

HASNA, the sponsoring organization has a number of other programs for women, water and agriculture in Turkey.   Their peace-building ograms in Cyprus began in 2001; there are other efforts directed to women, water and agriculture in Turkey.   Support is needed with donations and for American families to hosting pairs of girls and boys in cities around the U.S., explained in detail at the Cyprus Friendship Program.

 

"Somehow, the Unemployed became Invisible," all 14 million

From New York Times online @1 p.m PST, July 10, 2011  , "Somehow, the Unemployed became invisible," Catherine Rampell writes.  Jobless rate rose to 9.2% last month to 14,087,000.

"The United States is in the grips of its gravest jobs crisis since Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House. Lose your job, and it will take roughly nine months to find a new one. That is off the charts. Many Americans have simply given up.

 But unless you’re one of those unhappy 14 million, you might not even notice the problem. The budget deficit, not jobs, has been dominating the conversation in Washington. Unlike the hard-pressed in, say, Greece or Spain, the jobless in America seem, well, subdued."

She ends by expressing the frustration of all of us who do not have to worry about finding a job:

"The old fire has gone out."  [boldtype is mine;  the Times would not do that]

We want them to do something, don't we?  Do something we are not doing ourselves?  Would it have occurred to me during the many times I was looking for a job in the 20th century to go out on the street with a sign scolding the economy.  Never.

 Along with groups whose causes have reflected my own--peace, CHOICE-- I've carried signs.  Like this woman in wintry Madison, Wisconsin, a teacher who joined other union members, state employees to express her feelings.  A person needs others for meaningful protest.

In the July 9, NY Times, I was stopped again by anAssociated Press photo.  Don Ryan took this one that tells much about one struggling family--Matthew Weisker, his daughter Lexi, and wife Mindy at the Tualatin, Oregon Employment Center.

Where is the organization that will help them express their rage in a street demonstration?  Tualatin is a suburb not far from Portland. It never gets a mention in the frequent  Times' stories about the specialness of Portland--the great food, the many DIY creators, the burgeoning beer culture.  Tualatin's major feature is a large shopping mall, Bridgeport Village.  And it is illegal to demonstrate in shopping malls which are private property.

Looking at this picture disturbs me.  I do not know how to help this family.  Maybe I need to think whether some fire of my own has gone out rather than theirs.

Bi-partisan group of senators send Father's Day message to Obama...yours gone missing?

Senator Jeff Merkley's morning email

"I enlisted broad bipartisan support of 26 of my Senate colleagues, who joined me in calling on the President to shift his current strategy in Afghanistan by beginning a sizable and sustained drawdown of troops on the path to removing all regular combat forces there."

Signing on were the following:

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)

Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM)

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) 

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) 

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)

                   Seven signers  are women;  17 women senators currently in Senate. 

Entire text of letter HERE

JUDGMENT DAY, PEOPLE...next Saturday!

*Make Hats NOT War* Portland Peace Rally

If you were not a card-carrying member of one of the 60 or so supporting organizations,  Saturday's observance of year EIGHT of the Iraq war might have passed you by.  Having chosen our final home (without fully realizing that it was the exact correct place to live), it turns out that the woman in this photo lives in the apartment on the floor under ours.  A longtime member of WILPF, she--slightly older than me--helps me understand the ins and outs of many things Portland.

We took the bus together downtown to Pioneer Square to the rally.  As you know, the day was auspicious as the start of another "American war," this time in Libya.  Endless war unarguably is the chosen model of the ruling class in this United States.  The night before, using the idea of what we might do rather than make war, I gathered images for small signs for Ron and me to carry, "Make Hats Not War."

The most impassioned speaker was a young Iraq vet.  He literally screamed!  Should have been the only presenter.  Following him was Barbara Dudley of the Oregon Working Families Party.  A seasoned political figure, she had difficulty speaking and mirrored my own feelings as she struggled to highlight WFP's efforts to have initiate a state bank in Oregon. 

[A few days later in another demonstration Veterans for Peace came back to Pioneer Square, built a mock prison cell to protest the treatment of Wiki Leaks' Bradley Manning.]

Marginally covered by the conservative daily paper, The Oregonian, the March 19 Peace Rally attracted hundreds of people who then took their banners and signs on a walk up Broadway.  It was mostly an older crowd.  Why not:  we are the ones who actually recall a time the U.S. was not at war, maybe three years between WWII and Korea.  Perhaps younger folks do not believe that it could happen again?

International Women's Day...for the 100th time