The universe sometimes offers relief. Patrick and I went to hear the Havana Cuban AllStars the other night. The music drew us away from our all day political vigilance. It reminded us of our trip to Cuba and what it was like to speak to people there, who perhaps in the past had admired Castro and the “revolution”,but were tired very tired of the government’s control. These musicians were traveling in the U.S. for the first time and they were excited. They believe that change can happen. Their excitement gave us a lift. Then came a raucous family and friend filled Thanksgiving which was also hard to resist. Good to know that parts of our lives are still free and fun- filled. Let’s just hope that our country remains so.
This week’s words of the wise:
Kaethe Weingarten sent me a paper on her ideas about “Reasonable Hope”
Reasonable Hope Accommodates Doubt, Contradictions and Despair. Reasonable
hope functions in a gray zone, where doubt, contradictions and despair definitely coexist.
One can feel despair and reasonable hope simultaneously, an experience that many
people have. Reasonable hope accepts that life can be messy. It embraces contradiction.
For the unabridged version of this paper see “Hope in a time of Global Despair” at
http://www.witnessingproject.org/our-projects and Family Process: 49:5–25, 2010.
From Jim Sparks:
Following meeting with town council members and school offices in Portland Maine,
Jim wrote: “What it's (the meeting) given birth to is the notion that we will be an "advisory committee" that will continue to meet regularly about issues of marginalization and fear since the election. We will also explore creating a series of "public conversations" that take up how we might promote safety and greater understanding across differences, especially with Muslim families in town……
He ended with: “ I'm finding that the more active I am in trying to rise to this moment, the less terrible I feel.
From Gavin McCormick’s blog:
I'm paying special heed to folks familiar with authoritarian governments. Today that includes Sarah Kendzior, who's studied state power in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Her piece in the Dutch publication The Correspondent, How to be your own light in the Age of Trump, has powerful words of warning and advice for living as a dissident. She calls on us to write down our moral values, our personal codes and creeds, and to do so now, before the power transition: "Authoritarianism ... eats away at who you are. It makes you afraid, and fear can make you cruel. It compels you to conform and to comply and accept things you would never accept, to do things you never thought you would do."
From Connie Rubiano: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vu0Y0HvadMgG_LN7dF8W7M66oPCcx_nmSARQWirV7iY/htmlview?sle=true
The above link was sent to me by a friend. It has stores connected to the Trump named products. In case you might consider shopping elsewhere.
In solidarity,
connie
From the ACLU petition to protest agains Senator Sessions for Attorney from the ACLU
President-elect Donald Trump just announced he’s nominating Senator Jeff Sessions to be the country’s attorney general. We’re quite familiar with Senator Sessions – he once called the ACLU “un-American and communist” for “trying to force civil rights down the throats of people.”
The attorney general is charged with protecting the rights of ALL Americans. Yet the President-elect’s nominee is a man who failed Senate confirmation for a judgeship under President Ronald Reagan because of Sessions’ stated positions on race.
The ACLU and other civil rights organizations have consistently contested Senator Sessions’ positions on civil rights, LGBT rights, capital punishment, abortion rights, and presidential authority in times of war.
That’s why a confirmation process should examine his policy record and all of his statements in order to determine if he is the one to enforce our laws and protect our Constitution.
From Sam Tabachnik:
Paul Ryan's office is conducting a survey hoping to show a popular mandate to repeal the ACA (Obamacare). It's automated and quick. Here's what to do:
1) Call (202) 225-3031 (There could be a long silence before you get the recording)
2) Press 2 to participate in the survey
3) Press 1 to register your support for the ACA
Paul Ryan expects a certain outcome to this survey. Let's show him another.
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