What if we could have had a happier story instead of decades
of war? Just as we make progress for Indigenous Rights and build allies with
settler community, it is time to distract and build a war. That ugly little pattern plays out in history
repeatedly.
06 December 2012
Turquoise yoga mat (Originally posted August 25th, 2012)
Turquoise yoga mat
Oisin had always been so brilliant with his yoga. I walked with him to the yoga studio in park
slope when he was small, and as he reached the top of the stairs -in awe
whispered “Yooogaa!”
Today we had an impossible travel in front of us, as my
errands were put back a day for a delay in the storage unit. I had just enough to pay the storage unit
fee, and travel for the weddings. I had
been looking at these yoga bags for weeks, thinking it might be nice to give to
Oisin. Today, I thought why not. I bought the bag and mat, and after looking
for a place to sit to go over travel times and details, I found no space, and
left, only to be stopped by security. Apparently
there were some bar codes left on the yoga bag.
So the bright colorful stress reducer rewarded me with a quick search
through my bag for the bar code. I ran
out for the train, saw one closer than I normally hop, and hopped the train in
wrong direction back to Brooklyn. Then
turned around, went through the underpass and waited for a train back to
Manhattan. I got out, thinking I would
catch a rare cab to meet my boy, each one that I asked to take me to Allen
street said no. It was off duty hour for
the cabbies. Many were heading back to
Brooklyn. I ended up walking a circle
looking for a better spot to catch cab.
I walked back to pace university.
I saw a bus, and thought it might head towards Allen, though I wanted to
check the route. The bus driver said I looked too anxious and he wasn’t sure he
should let me on. He had stopped the
bus, parked it, and stepped off to take a cigarette. I asked when he might go again, no rush- he
said an hour and a half. I asked which
way to walk it, and described some fun details of trying to catch a cab at the
change of duty hour when the cabbies were heading home, and I was just trying
to get to the bus stop and meet my kid.
Steve called, and I could not answer the phone, the touchscreen
interface was not responding to touch.
The driver still on the sidewalk with his cigarette, mentioned it
sometimes works to turn off the phone and re -set it. Of course.
The driver was very nice, and finally the bus began to roll towards Allen
street, with me on board, the tiny suitcase and bright blue yoga bag, all of us
barreling towards Steve and Oisin.
I got to Oisin finally, and wanted to hand him the nifty new
yoga bag, although he looked quite ticked as he had been trying to call, and
two buses had come and gone already while he was waiting. Poor kid, we were facing a complicated trip
to begin with, hence the purchase of a yoga mat. I kept trying to charge and fix the phone- a
dismal battery life along with mysterious new ways of ceasing to function- all
while I was trying to contact family to mention that we were really delayed,
and arrange transportation to get Oisin in quick. Meanwhile, I was not talking as he still
seemed so ticked. 6 o’clock came and we
waited outside in a cue, and got notice the bus was going to be delayed. Oisin
looked so done. We waited 30 minutes,
and the bus rolled in, we boarded, and I promptly put the thin light-weight
yoga mat and bag in the overhead. I forgot about it as we rolled off finally on
our way, and I finally made contact with family. The bus arrived, we hopped off, the bright
blue yoga mat stayed tucked away in the overhead compartment. Oh boy. The moral of the story is to just let
go.
Constant expansion of the Heart
If he were to return alive, would I be aloof as always, or
hug him as if I knew what it was like to miss him living for these 6
years. Who could ever know the future
without living it step by step. The
heart breaks repeatedly, and impossibly it grows again. It is a constant expansion of the heart. To love again seems utterly impossible, and
to not do so is even worse.
To explain the life of a journalist with a heart would take
years, it has been almost 6, and we are only getting started. We are a movement of joy from the beginning
of time, resisting any and all impediments to human rights- the right to live
joyfully and raise another generation in joy and in strong cultural traditions. Who is to say they are worthy to attempt to
take that right from anyone, ever?
From "Little Love Stories that make up our Lives"
The night he was shot, I was walking south towards a central
park playground with Oisin. We were
having a good day, going to maybe play a little soccer while waiting for our
friends to join us- suddenly I felt the wind blowing up from the south and on
that warm October day, and I was instantly drained and cold- all I could do was
get Oisin into a sit-down pizza shop and order a soup to try to pull in my
draining strength. When we got home that
evening (the kids: Oisin, and my friend Sarah’s little girl Ase), my friend
Dawn Zuppelli called. She was going on
about something, I had no idea what it was- as usual she was talking so fast,
my dear Zoom -Zoom Zuppelli. She said
“Don’t tell me I am the first to tell you this terrible news, this terrible,
terrible news”…What are you on about, I was thinking, and then (as still), I just
could- not wrap my mind around it. I
laughed- “it can not be true; it is a mistake. If it were true he would have
went out as he loved with his camera in his hands”. The connection faded. I dropped the phone. I went to the door and once again that Friday
evening, the wind was blowing up fiercely from the south, I felt the Indigenous
voices on the wind, blowing the leaves on the birch trees. I cried and punched the wall. I slid to the floor and listened to the
wind. It is time to let go at the moment
of death, we can-not hold on to those who leave this earth before us. I felt his hand come close to me that night,
white and ether- real and I said to the wind: “you must go. Be at peace. “ His number is still in my
phone. I called it so many times to hear
his voice on the machine.
So many times I thought I saw him on the sidewalk. I would just expect him to turn up with a
load of unedited raw footage to ingest and edit. I do not want to write these words. I do not want to admit even now that he will
not be coming back.
16 November 2012
14 November 2012
12 November 2012
09 November 2012
08 November 2012
06 November 2012
01 November 2012
13 October 2012
18 September 2012
Bolivia's Latest National Treasure: Inia Boliviensis
While many continue to see the national treasure of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, led by President Evo Morales Amayra to be the constant passing of legislation and policy enacting social reform and sustainability, here is the latest: Bolivia has passed legislation declaring the species "Inia Boliviensis" to be a national treasure. Commonly known as the Bolivian pink dolphin, this species has been threatened by the mercury contamination associated with illegal gold mining operations. Progress in the form of conservation policy is a strong point of this Presidency. The upcoming "World Conference on Indigenous Peoples" in 2014, will uphold a continued focus on sustainability and inherent Human Rights of Indigenous People.
In March of 2010, President Evo Morales Amaya’s H.E. Ambassador Pablo Solon addressed a panel with Sean Sweeney of Cornell at the Martin Luther King Jr. Union Hall of SEIU 1199 with updates on climate change policies. The following year after COP17, wrote a paper on the results of the Cancun conference on climate change, titled COP17: The Great Escape III, describing how Bolivia stood alone in Cancun to defend the Rights of the Mother Earth, resisting Genocide and Ecocide. He mentioned that to do otherwise would be considered cowardly diplomacy, at a time when “350,000 people die each year from natural disasters caused by climate change. “ One can look into the recent policies of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, to find that it is simple mathematics adding up to progress: a small farmer unionist rising to the position of Presidency in a democratic election monitored by Independent third parties, including the Carter Foundation; and the only opposition in the world to this President is from multi-national stake holders who have lost out on free unlimited access of the vast Bolivian natural resources as well as the Indigenous labor of Bolivia. When a developing nation exercises the right to nationalize the natural resources of their own country, it seems then that multi-nationals jump to bang the war-drum, slandering leaders for not freely giving away their resources in exchange for starvation and exploitation of Indigenous Peoples. One can look into this Presidency and see the positive results for Indigenous People of the world, and in his Indigenous Nation. Thanks to his policies, and the writings of his Ambassadors, we are experiencing progress in the field of sustainability. At the United Nations, and the League of Nations before that, world leaders have a safe space to come together and discuss sovereignty and foreign policy.
(*) Pablo Solon is an international analyst and social activist. He was chief negotiator for climate change and United Nations Ambassador of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (2009-June 2011, now E.D at Focus on the Global South in Bangkok, Thailand). http://pablosolon.wordpress.com/
Upcoming elections in Venezuela 7 October, 2012
The upcoming elections in Venezuela, slated for 7th October 2012 will be watched intently by election monitors worldwide. The Carter Foundation led by former President Jimmy Carter was in Venezuela to monitor the last election.
Coups have been threatened in the past, and promoted in the media, an issue to be closely watched in a democracy. As the season’s elections are approaching, the debates promise to be lively and interesting. Reports that the old regime is still controlling the media coming out of Venezuela, help one to understand why brilliant stories of vast quality of life improvements for the Indigenous and campesinos of Venezuela have gone largely under-reported. The vast improvements to living standards to the poor in forms of free healthcare by qualified doctors, improved access to food and basic nutrition, increased housing and basic sanitation as well as access to education for the youth of Venezuela are not reflected in the main stream media. We are building a media team to cover this election and train community members in Venezuela with modern forms of broadcast technology. There have been reports from both election camps of blocked broadcast transmissions.
We attempt to bring adequate news coverage to the global community during this important season of upcoming elections.
15 September 2012
08 September 2012
28 August 2012
Steadfast
We do our work with happy hearts. We will not be bullied, and we will not back down. Creator put us on this Mother Earth, and our simple steadfast survival is proof that we are wanted. We have joy as we continue.
15 August 2012
New Blossoms on a strong long vine
Each day is a new mystery, full of wonder and surprise. I walk this city, always surprised at how tough Mother nature refuses to die under concrete. Jewish law is upheld in our lovely little borough, and Irish, south american, Hindu and south east asian, caribbean and african neighbors- we all live here together in what will always be Indigenous territory. My child planted tomatoes from the seeds on his dinner plate. He watered them every day at the kitchen window, saying: "I love you tomatoes! grow! grow!!" Now the yellow blossoms are bearing gorgeous red fruit for our dinner plate again. Each fruit having new seeds for new vines. They are continuing like we do, on and on into the mysterious new evening and our seed dreams of tomorrow. I have been blessed to know brilliant scientists, and brilliant farmers both, singing brilliant songs as we continue into all the good that is to be.
11 August 2012
Mike Pahios, Presente!
Mike Pahios, Presente! It has been 6 years, and I will never find another Graphics man like you, or a true blue friend to humanity. Who other than you takes a vacation to go and ease human suffering? A man with such a heart- it is cruel irony that your heart could ever stop. Presente.
30 July 2012
Little Love Stories that Make up our Lives
Little Love Stories that Make up our Lives
For the Love of a Man, for the Love of a mother’s heart,
for every child born to be a new little leaf sprouting on the family tree of our family forests,
this story is for you. This story is of the love that called you here. Love is what we are.
Love is what we will forever be, and we are free.
Free in our hearts, free in our memories, free in our aspirations.
Is it not a love story for humanity causing us to grow peace in our hearts,
grow new children in our wombs, and build bridges for peace into the forever beyond?
It is our love for you generations yet unborn inspiring us to build sustainable peace, and we do not give up a long as we live.
We do this for the love of you.
excerpt from "The Little Love Stories that Make up our Lives"
How do we come back to the land of the living and leave behind our memories of the dead? Because we must. The dead live and dance and laugh only in our memories, and our responsibility is to live joyfully and keep the goal of a just society. The dead give us no comfort except in the fact that they did live, they did laugh, they were of soft permeable flesh, and brilliant. Presente.
I will never forget you. I will not speak of you. You must rest, and I must work. I miss you madly.
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