More Recommended Reading - Love In Action

 Today I had some of the members of the Joy is an Act of Resistance group over for a potluck lunch.  Smaller group this time, but we had just as much fun and joy and terrific food.  These lunches just do a world of good for my heart.  However, today one episode has stayed with me.  We naturally veered into the world of the insane one and the word "hate" come up.  I have been trying very hard not to "hate" those involved in the chaos of their own making, but I was also surprised by the person who expressed this hate.  Not someone I would normally associate with the word.  So tonight after a failed attempt to attend a social function only to find no parking at all within a reasonable distance, I came home and picked up a book I have picked up and put down too many times to count.  But tonight it seemed like the right book for the right time.  And just reading the introduction I knew this is a book that I will indeed finish this time, but first I need to share with others.   The reason being that I really believe our chaos is caused by people who hate too much.  And when I read, "Actions rooted in love and compassion are the only way to solve the crises of the world" I decided it was important to share this book with others. 

I originally picked this book up after reading Martin Luther King, Jr.'s book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? MLK was influenced by Howard Thurman and his focus on nonviolence and Thurman was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi.  And if you aren't familiar with the writings by Howard Thurman, take some time to track down his works also.  They are important because their focus on nonviolence for the Civil Rights movement has also influenced the response in Minnesota to ICE.  I have had several conversations with others about the choice made in the Twin Cities to focus on nonviolence in the face of the extreme cruelty of ICE in Minnesota this winter.  And we did have the eyes of the nation on us as a result. Two beautiful people were killed as a result of the actions by ICE individuals and we still hope justice will eventually be served.  But in the meantime, I think we need to continue to promote the fact that love will win over hate.  Which brings me to the book I think more people need to read.  

So I will come back in a bit of time and add more to this topic, but for now, putting this book out there and would love to hear from others who take the time to find a copy and read it.

Namaste.

Recommended Reading and a clip from Bruce Springsteen in Minneapolis on March 31

 I knew it had been a while since I last wrote, but I didn't realize I missed the entire month of March.  Granted, there has been a lot going on, and nothing good really.  However, I should have at least posted after the outstanding NoKings Rally we had in Saint Paul on March 28.  And I got a lot of joy from attending the Bruce Springsteen Concert on March 31 in Minneapolis.  But between the war, ongoing ICE detentions, and of course the ongoing outrageous threats that apparently don't even cause a ripple of outrage from anyone anymore, it has been hard to sit down and find something to write about that provides hope, much less joy.  Although, attending the NoKings rally in Saint Paul with Bruce Springsteen leading off, and speakers like Jane Fonda and Bernie, and Joan Baez did give me some hope.  Turnout was huge.  And that gave me joy.  People were joyful and there were no incidents.  So that was good.  And the kickoff of Bruce Springsteen's latest tour started in Minneapolis and from the very beginning, we knew this was going to be a great concert.  Three hours. Nonstop. No breaks.  Just great political commentary and wonderful music.  You can listen to to his opening remarks and the first two songs on this YouTube clip.

This isn't the recommended reading though.  I just wanted to preserve the best opening to a Springsteen concert, ever.  Sorry, if you aren't a Springsteen fan, for these times and for someone who is poking the tiger and doing a really good job of it too, you really should embrace him.  Besides, he wrote the Streets of Minneapolis and it is truly a song that not only will help keep Renee and Alex in people's minds, it is a heartfelt tribute and a song that captures what 2026 will mean for Minnesota forever.  So, sorry for the digression, but staging a concert tour as a protest against the current regime is just something that gives me hope and joy.

So here's the recommended reading: The Beginning Comes After the End; Notes on a World of Change by Rebecca Solnit.  And the reason I am recommending it is because in a calm manner she demonstrates why we should have hope in this crazy chaos we are currently going through.  Or as I am fond of saying, the current "shitstorm."  If you are a Heather Cox Richardson fan, you will find a new person to follow in Rebecca Solnit.  In her very first chapter she discusses the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to butterfly.  "A butterfly is the end of a caterpillar. The beginning--the next era--comes after the end of the last one, and in between comes a lot of falling apart."  [p.4]. And so begins her analysis of all the social change we have been through and as you follow along she explains the backlash we are experiencing, alternative perspectives that are starting to take hold, and what and why we have to hold onto in terms of hope.  it is a short book. 130 pages.  If you pick it up and read it, you have to come back and leave a comment.  And of course there is a YouTube video of her discussing her book if you want to take a look.  It is an hour long.

What can I do to help while also feeling I am not doing enough...

Although today we have heard that ICE will be "leaving soon", I fear this is more directly related to the vote taking place tomorrow.  I hope it is true, but based on previous actions by the current regime, I have my doubts.  In the meantime, I have had several conversations lately about "not doing enough."  One was with a woman who has a 16 year old daughter who is very stressed because she doesn't feel she is doing enough.  So many young people are stressed and anxious during these days of intense ICE activity in Minnesota.   Today at my mindfulness class, our instructor read a poem from Joanna Macy's Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in with Unexpected Resilience & Creative Power.  I think it is a gentle reminder that doing just one small thing to make someone else feel loved is doing enough.  We can't all chase ICE, and volunteer opportunities exceed the available people power, so the following may help you feel that just doing one small thing on a daily basis is enough.

When you act on behalf

            of something greater than yourself,

            you begin

            to feel it acting through you

            with a power that is greater than your own.

            This is grace.

            Today, as we take risks

            for the sake of something greater

            than our separate, individual lives,

            we are feeling graced

            by other beings and by Earth itself.

            Those with whom and on whose behalf we act

            give us strength

            and eloquence

            and staying power

            we didn't know we had.

            We just need to practice knowing that

            and remembering that we are sustained

            by each other

            in the web of life.

            Our true power comes as a gift, like grace,

            because in truth it is sustained by others.

            if we practice drawing on the wisdom

            and beauty

            and strengths

            of our fellow humans

            and our fellow species

            we can go into any situation

            and trust

            that the courage and intelligence required

            will be supplied. 

p. 110, 3rd edition.  Poem edited by Tom Atlee, founder of the Co-Intelligence Institute.

 

 

Some encouraging news, but not about ICE

 Last night caucuses were held in Minnesota.  I hadn't attended a caucus for quite a while because the last caucus I attended was so poorly run and it was just chaos.  Not last night. Last night was very different--well organized, efficient, and a much more pleasant experience.  But what was also different? The turnout.  The number of people attending.  What was especially great was the number of younger people.  This was not just a bunch of old folks.  Not this time.  And there was diversity in my room as well.  Turnout was amazing and the reports from the DFL are as follows:

"Minnesota DFL

• Early reports from DFL officials indicate at least 30,000 people gathered across the state for in-person caucuses.
• We saw rooms filled well beyond capacity, standing room only in classrooms and gymnasiums, cars around the block, and lines stretching out the door.
• In Eagan, one site reported more than 75% first-time caucus-goers.
• In Lyon County, organizers reported record attendance for a non-presidential year, and in Fillmore County, a precinct ran out of chairs as crowds kept coming.
• Longtime organizers across Minnesota said they’d never seen turnout like this — even in presidential years.

That’s what happens when our communities refuse to be divided. That’s what our state looks like when we show up together."

When I arrived in talking to the conveners, they expected everyone would be a delegate who wanted to be a delegate, but then people just kept coming. They had never seen a turnout like last night. And I remember how crowded it was at the last caucus I went to - it was the Democratic Presidential election with Obama vs. Clinton. So, this is definitely a sign. People are ready to fight for democracy, fight for our rights, fight for the rights of immigrants, and more.

And I got to meet some neighbors I hadn't known before, but will get to know better because we are all delegates going to the next stage. It was a good night. And it not only gave me joy, it gave me hope.

Last night and today's decision by the Supreme Court to allow new California Congressional Districts to stand.

We needed some good news.

Day 22 of the Occupation - release of Streets of Minneapolis by Bruce Springsteen

 Today Bruce Springsteen released a protest song.  It is powerful.  You can listen and lyrics below.

Lyrics

Lyrics to ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ 

Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes
Against smoke and rubber bullets
By the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead
Their claim was self defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight

In chants of ICE out now
Our city’s heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

Melt the Ice Hat - Knitting Pattern

Melt the Ice Hat - https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/melt-the-ice-hat “

in the 1940’s, Norwegians made and wore red pointed hats with a tassel as a form of visual protest against Nazi occupation of their country. Within two years, the Nazis made these protest hats illegal and punishable by law to wear, make, or distribute” $5 all proceeds go to LynLake community if businesses. #melttheicehat

 

MLK - "The past is strewn with the ruins of the empires of tyranny, and each is a monument not merely to man’s blunders but to his capacity to overcome them"

 The following is an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final essay, A Testament of Hope:

People are often surprised to learn that I am an optimist. They know how often I have been jailed, how frequently the days and nights have been filled with frustration and sorrow, how bitter and dangerous are my adversaries. They expect these experiences to harden me into a grim and desperate man.

They fail, however, to perceive the sense of affirmation generated by the challenge of embracing struggle and surmounting obstacles. They have no comprehension of the strength that comes from faith in God and man.

It is possible for me to falter, but I am profoundly secure in my knowledge that God loves us; he has not worked out a design for our failure. Man has the capacity to do right as well as wrong, and his history is a path upward, not downward.

The past is strewn with the ruins of the empires of tyranny, and each is a monument not merely to man’s blunders but to his capacity to overcome them. While it is a bitter fact that in America in 1968, I am denied equality solely because I am black, yet I am not a chattel slave. Millions of people have fought thousands of battles to enlarge my freedom; restricted as it still is, progress has been made.

This is why I remain an optimist, though I am also a realist, about the barriers before us. Why is the issue of equality still so far from solution in America, a nation that professes itself to be democratic, inventive, hospitable to new ideas, rich, productive and awesomely powerful?

The problem is so tenacious because, despite its virtues and attributes, America is deeply racist and its democracy is flawed both economically and socially. All too many Americans believe justice will unfold painlessly or that its absence for black people will be tolerated tranquilly. Justice for black people will not flow into society merely from court decisions nor from fountains of political oratory. Nor will a few token changes quell all the tempestuous yearnings of millions of disadvantaged black people.

White America must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society. The comfortable, the entrenched, the privileged cannot continue to tremble at the prospect of change in the status quo.

Courtesy of Andy Borowitz