Back in the fall, I was hangin' with my friend and his 5 year-old daughter, and he asked her, "Honey, what does a superhero do?" "He fights the bad guys" she answered like any 5 year year old. This friend of mine is a very enthusiastic canvasser for an environmental non-profit. Later, we asked his daughter "What does Daddy do?", she answered "He fights the bad guys!" Daddy's in the superhero business, working to keep poop out of water and pesticides out of schools. This super-cute exchange reminded me that we all need to do our part to stop the evil forces from destroying our world.
I always dread being asked "so what do you DO?" Although they are probably referring to my job, I'm tempted to answer "Oh, you know, I'm a superhero." which then requires a little explanation, since not everyone is as concerned about the corporations and politicians that are profitting from the destruction of life around the world. Luckily, I just started waitressing again, so I'll be servin' up BBQ with a smile by day. And at night? My superhero battery needs a little recharge.
Maybe I'll start with:
Raw Dragon Rolls
1 Collard Green leaf - stalks cut off the bottom (4-6 inches long leaf)
1 Tbs. Raw Almond Butter
3 Tbs. Kimchi - preferrably fresh, without the fish
measurements can be altered to cooks preference
Lay the collard creen, darker side down.
Smear the almond butter all over the leaf.
Add the kimchi, make sure to strain the liquid back into the jar.
Roll up the leaf (fold natural end of leaf over, then roll like a little sushi roll or burrito)
Mmmm. Enjoy.
If you let these sit in a tupperwear and then eat them as a snack in the park or at work, the juice from the kimchi does a nice thing to the collards.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Originally, folks from CUSLAR (the Ithaca based Committee on US-Latin American Relations) asked me to write a reflection for their newletter on the Witness for Peace retreat I attended the first weekend of April.If you want peace and justice,you’ll have to work for it.
Witness for Peace (WfP) held it’s annual retreat deep in the Poconos Mountains of Pennsylvania. Over seventy activists and Latin America enthusiasts convened to discuss what the Obama presidency portends for U.S.-Latin America relations. In the 80’s, Witness for Peace brought hundreds of people to Nicaragua to expose the true nature of U.S. involvement in the Contra war. Today, WfP leads delegations of U.S. citizens to Latin America to witness the negative effects of U.S. military aid and trade policies on the lives of innocent people.
At the retreat, return delegates reflected on their trips. They met Colombian flower pickers that are exposed to toxic pesticides for $8 per in order to supply the U.S. with cut flowers. The coffee grower in Nicaragua complained of poverty level wages, even for coffee that is certified Fair Trade. Mexico migrants said that since NAFTA flooded the Mexican market with cheap corn, they can no longer earn a living wage growing corn and thus have to seek employment in el norte. Their stories are distinct, but their message is unified: “Please tell your government that its policies cause us great suffering.”
The retreat focused on specific policy changes we can work to achieve this year. These include: ending the travel ban to Cuba; closing the School of the Americans; debt cancellation for impoverished countries; halting military aid to Colombia, and renegotiating NAFTA and CAFTA. Although the current political climate seems favorable, significant change requires sustained efforts across the country. Witness for Peace provides the tools for citizens to inform their communities and engage their elected officials to pursue a policy in Latin America that values human rights and sustainable development.
At the recent Summit of the Americas, Obama made plans to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to discuss military aid and the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement. Colombia is the largest recipient of US military aid in the Western Hemisphere and, currently, has the world’s largest population of internally displaced persons. Through ‘Plan Colombia’, the U.S. has given over six billion taxpayer dollars to Colombia. Most of the money goes to arm and train the country's military, notorious for killing innocent civilians and then dressing them to appear to be guerrillas. Drug War policies implemented thus far have proved futile. Coca fumigation has destroyed the food crops of subsistence farmers yet, today, Colombia grows more coca than when the fumigations began seven years ago.
In preparation for the annual ‘Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia’, retreat attendees made paper dolls - each one representing one thousand of the 4 million displaced Colombians. Ben, our tireless organizer, convinced us that people around the country were making the dolls and talking to their Congressional representatives about the humanitarian crisis in Colombia. On April 20th, 2009, four-thousand dolls arrived en masse in front of the White House, asking Obama to make a “radical” change in policy towards Colombia and to help eradicate the displacement crisis. Organized advocacy efforts such as these, in conjunction with lobby visits, call-in days, letter writing, and other educational efforts, guarantee that politicians will no longer be able to feign ignorance regarding the human cost of our foreign policies.
To learn more about Witness for Peace, visit their website, www.witnessforpeace.org. It’s full of educational resources, action opportunities, and first-hand analysis of the adverse effects of U.S. policy in Latin America.
Power to the People
The progressive reforms that have coming out of Albany recently have been a long time coming. Leading up to the November election, grassroots groups across the state worked tirelessly to Get Out the Vote. Tanika Jones of Citizen Action of Syracuse will tell you, however, that “voting is just the first step. People need to take action if they want to see real change. Elected officials need to remember that they work for us.” Democrats took the majority of the state senate in January. Since, grassroots groups having been fighting to pass reforms that improve the quality of life for New Yorkers and that make sense economically.
When Governor Patterson proposed cutting healthcare and education spending by $6.5 billion, the Fair Share Coalition responded by mobilizing an army of canvassers and volunteers. Beginning late November, people around the state incessantly lobbied their Senators, wrote letters, orchestrated demonstrations and ultimately, succeeded in convincing the State Senate that New York needs fair share tax reform. The progressive income tax (PIT) will rise for those earning more than $300,000, with a further increase for those earning more than $500,000. Rolling back the tax cuts of the past 30 years, the PIT is expected to raise roughly $4 billion annually.
In 1973, New York passed what were considered then the nation’s harshest drug laws. Thirty five years of mandatory prison sentencing for non-violent drug related crimes proved to have a disproportionately negative effect on communities of color. The practice of locking up addicts has cost NY state $500 million annually. For decades, former inmates, families, and diverse advocacy groups have faught to “Drop the Rock.” A staunch advocate of drug policy reform, Governor Patterson was arrested at a 2002 demonstration in front of Pataki’s office . This year, legislators and community activists are celebrating a reform to the Rockefeller Laws that acknowledges that drug use is a public health problem and should be treated as such. Judges will have the discretion to sentence first-time non-violent offenders to treatment instead of prison.
The new Bottle Bill expands New York's bottle return law to include water bottles, a quarter of all beverages sold in New York, and is forecasted to generate around $115 million annually. It took groups like NYPIRG nine years of canvassing and lobbying to pass this common-sense legislation which will reduce litter and increase state revenues.
Unfortunately, most just causes don’t have the funding to hire talented canvassers and community organizers. For significant changes to occur, it remains up to those that recognize where the government has gone wrong to speak out. The recent reforms are proof of a political shift occurring in New York State, not just in the Senate but in the street. We the people are learning how to harness our collective power.
The progressive reforms that have coming out of Albany recently have been a long time coming. Leading up to the November election, grassroots groups across the state worked tirelessly to Get Out the Vote. Tanika Jones of Citizen Action of Syracuse will tell you, however, that “voting is just the first step. People need to take action if they want to see real change. Elected officials need to remember that they work for us.” Democrats took the majority of the state senate in January. Since, grassroots groups having been fighting to pass reforms that improve the quality of life for New Yorkers and that make sense economically.
When Governor Patterson proposed cutting healthcare and education spending by $6.5 billion, the Fair Share Coalition responded by mobilizing an army of canvassers and volunteers. Beginning late November, people around the state incessantly lobbied their Senators, wrote letters, orchestrated demonstrations and ultimately, succeeded in convincing the State Senate that New York needs fair share tax reform. The progressive income tax (PIT) will rise for those earning more than $300,000, with a further increase for those earning more than $500,000. Rolling back the tax cuts of the past 30 years, the PIT is expected to raise roughly $4 billion annually.
In 1973, New York passed what were considered then the nation’s harshest drug laws. Thirty five years of mandatory prison sentencing for non-violent drug related crimes proved to have a disproportionately negative effect on communities of color. The practice of locking up addicts has cost NY state $500 million annually. For decades, former inmates, families, and diverse advocacy groups have faught to “Drop the Rock.” A staunch advocate of drug policy reform, Governor Patterson was arrested at a 2002 demonstration in front of Pataki’s office . This year, legislators and community activists are celebrating a reform to the Rockefeller Laws that acknowledges that drug use is a public health problem and should be treated as such. Judges will have the discretion to sentence first-time non-violent offenders to treatment instead of prison.
The new Bottle Bill expands New York's bottle return law to include water bottles, a quarter of all beverages sold in New York, and is forecasted to generate around $115 million annually. It took groups like NYPIRG nine years of canvassing and lobbying to pass this common-sense legislation which will reduce litter and increase state revenues.
Unfortunately, most just causes don’t have the funding to hire talented canvassers and community organizers. For significant changes to occur, it remains up to those that recognize where the government has gone wrong to speak out. The recent reforms are proof of a political shift occurring in New York State, not just in the Senate but in the street. We the people are learning how to harness our collective power.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Finally, a taco stand with vegetarian possibilities.
I love Mexican food.
No surprise there, considering the number of times I catch myself talking about tacos everyday. The beauty of the taco is in the simplicity and the versatility to carry within its soft and sweet folds any combination of meat, veggies or dairy products. On the main highway headed from Mahahual to Chetumal, there are little goat tacos, tacos de borrego. The owners raise the little animals out back and their overseer is a little monkey on a chain. To be sure that nothing is wasted, you can order eye tacos, brain tacos, tongue tacos, liver tacos. Don't worry about the texture or flavor, you can just drown the chewy organs in spicy salsa. Meat is disgusting, though unfortunately, it still looks like food to me at times. I'm thankful to the new taqueria for their sauted mushroom taco.
No surprise there, considering the number of times I catch myself talking about tacos everyday. The beauty of the taco is in the simplicity and the versatility to carry within its soft and sweet folds any combination of meat, veggies or dairy products. On the main highway headed from Mahahual to Chetumal, there are little goat tacos, tacos de borrego. The owners raise the little animals out back and their overseer is a little monkey on a chain. To be sure that nothing is wasted, you can order eye tacos, brain tacos, tongue tacos, liver tacos. Don't worry about the texture or flavor, you can just drown the chewy organs in spicy salsa. Meat is disgusting, though unfortunately, it still looks like food to me at times. I'm thankful to the new taqueria for their sauted mushroom taco.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Berlin on New Years Eve is a war zone. It seems that anywhere is acceptable to set off a firecracker, in the street, on the train tracks, inside the underground train. I was not impressed by the people throwing firecrackers from their windows as I was walking to my Silvestern party spot, Dumpling. Dumpling, the coolest cafe im Berlin, is owned by Tracie and Marge, who with an eye for beauty and talent, asked me to perform some songs to say goodbye to 2008. It was a short but rousing performance and the crowd took over the singing. A great way to kick off my 2009 No Trouble World Tour. I'd like to thank the staff of Curry 66 for preparing my first meal of the New Year, french fries with curry ketchup and mayonnaise, and Felix, the organic farmer, who helped us order our food and provided some much needed inspiration for the walk home.
Berlin, glorious in it's greyness. Someone described it to me as "the trashy girl you don't want to take home to mom." I took a walk to the Wall this afternoon, to walk-off the toxic remnants of my New Years Eve celebration. There were lots of tourists out with me, taking in the vibes of the Wall. I love the Berlin Wall. It's grey, ugly, covered in graffiti, and it stands as a monument to people power (I also have a fascination with communist relics.) So didn't feel much of anything, not even my toes, as I walked along the 1.5km stretch that is the Eastside gallery. I just let myself walk, breathe and enjoy the murals that have been been peeling since 1990. The deep reflection could come later
Walls, like borders, are man-made, meant to divide, conquer, and control. Like unjust laws, walls will only come down if people come together break them down. Reflecting on the Berlin Wall today, January 1st 2009, stands as a reminder of political tyranny and of the need to resist the oppression that walls create. While the political maneuvers that brought the end of the Cold War can be discussed and debated, the people did not love the communism that Mother Russia had force-fed them since World War II. They resisted and resisted, were terrorized, tortured, arrested, and disappeared. But the people kept on coming together, and demanding justice and a political system that they could have a voice in, and they grew strong, like Solidarnosc in Poland, and the USSR got weaker and weaker.
It's the 15th anniversary of the Zapatista Rebellion and the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. I hope they partied because I did. I'd like to be optimistic, it being the New Year, but then I'll do something silly and read an article about the massacre in Gaza (http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10089.shtml) and I think to myself, Is the world in self-destruct mode? No it's not the world, it's people in it that are screwing it all up. Someone somewhere is deciding to blow up a mosques and put up walls. It's ok, because laws and institutions allow for violence to occur and oppression to continue. "Laws are made by people and people can be wrong."
My cousins asked me this morning, Ula, what do you want in life? I rambled off something about peace and happiness, for everyone! It's a new year! In 2009, I'm going to be more creative, with more outputs for all my inputs. So I'm lacking specific goals and resolutions, I'll work on those.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Circle of Hope and Thanks
I am thankful today for Hope, the hope that we can all share right now,
that love can heal our world.
And I am thankful for the love that I feel right now.
It's burning inside me, and everyone.
We need to come together, and let our love burn like a big flame.
So that everyone can feel it.
And we can heal our Earth.
Today, as most Thanksgivings, I am thankful for my amazing family and for the good fortune that fate has dealt me in this life. The idea of good fortune fits in really well with what I've been feeling since the School of the America's protest I was part of in Fort Benning, Georgia last weekend.
For blog-fans not familiar with the School of the Americas (SOA), it's a special school where the U.S. government trains Latin American cadets in the art of assassination, kidnapping, torture, and mass executions. Graduates of the school are entrusted the sacred duty of protecting free markets and wealth by murdering priests, union members, artists, and entire villages of violent Marxist revolutionary terrorists (SOA in a nutshell, find more at www.soaw.org/).
I went down to Georgia with an eclectic group of peace-lovers from Syracuse to attend this non-violent protest that drew over 20,000 people this year. It was great. All weekend long, we convened to listen to testimonies from people that have seen the true face of Free Trade. Union leaders from Colombia spoke about the murder of activists who protest the dangerous work conditions in the coal mines run by U.S. based Drummond coal. Migrant workers told the story behind their search for work in the picking fields of U.S. farms. An indigenous Guatemalan man told us how he hid during a paramiltary raid on his village, and how he was the only survivor of the massacre. And Americans spoke of what they had seen and heard from the people in their visits to Colombia and Mexico and Guatemala, and how these connections had changed the course of their lives. Recognizing the violence and injustice behind NAFTA and U.S. military aid, American citizens are the only ones who can push our government to abandon the free trade model because the costs are just too high. The policies the United States has advocated in Latin America for over a century have spilled the blood of countless innocent victims (collateral damage, right?) and we the people, knowing what we know, need to continue making our collective voice heard, louder and louder until it can't be ignored.
The weekend was serious and the discussions were heavy, but at the same time, it felt as though the majority of the people I spoke with shared the hope that things could change. And we shared a joy that we were all there, 20,000 of us, fueled by a love of life and truth. And we heard stories from individuals from the U.S. and the Latin America who were organizing for their rights, challenge the system, and and working to build peace. I listened to a member of the Coalition of Immokalee workers. his words so full of determination, "No estoy satisfecho." We are not satisfied with the status quo, and we will work together to change things for the better.
Is the country still high on Obama's change? Let's see if he closes the School of Assassins in 2009. Or maybe we can give Guantanamo back to Cuba (not before excommunicating the demons of the islands' only from the only McDonalds). As commander in chief, Obama will have choices to make, the most important one being, who he will listen to. We the people need to make sure he hears us, and he needs no reason beyond justice to guide in his decision making. I want to invite Obama to take a trip wearing only his CITIZEN chat to Colombia or Mexico or maybe Syracuse, and then start making choices that will fix the power imbalance in this world.
On the long long drive back to Syracuse, I felt like I had in August after Spanish for Activists camp. Refueled and regenerated, ready to give all my energy to the struggle. Except it's a lot colder and I can't just go around singing revolution all day long. My personal challenge in the coming days and months is going to be figuring out, What can I do for the struggle? How can I be an agent of change in this world?
So it's Thanksgiving, and me and my mom just had a kick-ass dinner of free-range cow and fall fruits, including starring collards, sweet potatoes, acorn squash. I am very thankful this year, because I am full of the hope that our love for one another, that Namaste love that sees the light burning in everyone, that love for the Earth and all it's living things, will one day heal the world.
And don't shop tomorrow! Buy Nothing Day! We've got enough stuff.
that love can heal our world.
And I am thankful for the love that I feel right now.
It's burning inside me, and everyone.
We need to come together, and let our love burn like a big flame.
So that everyone can feel it.
And we can heal our Earth.
Today, as most Thanksgivings, I am thankful for my amazing family and for the good fortune that fate has dealt me in this life. The idea of good fortune fits in really well with what I've been feeling since the School of the America's protest I was part of in Fort Benning, Georgia last weekend.
For blog-fans not familiar with the School of the Americas (SOA), it's a special school where the U.S. government trains Latin American cadets in the art of assassination, kidnapping, torture, and mass executions. Graduates of the school are entrusted the sacred duty of protecting free markets and wealth by murdering priests, union members, artists, and entire villages of violent Marxist revolutionary terrorists (SOA in a nutshell, find more at www.soaw.org/).
I went down to Georgia with an eclectic group of peace-lovers from Syracuse to attend this non-violent protest that drew over 20,000 people this year. It was great. All weekend long, we convened to listen to testimonies from people that have seen the true face of Free Trade. Union leaders from Colombia spoke about the murder of activists who protest the dangerous work conditions in the coal mines run by U.S. based Drummond coal. Migrant workers told the story behind their search for work in the picking fields of U.S. farms. An indigenous Guatemalan man told us how he hid during a paramiltary raid on his village, and how he was the only survivor of the massacre. And Americans spoke of what they had seen and heard from the people in their visits to Colombia and Mexico and Guatemala, and how these connections had changed the course of their lives. Recognizing the violence and injustice behind NAFTA and U.S. military aid, American citizens are the only ones who can push our government to abandon the free trade model because the costs are just too high. The policies the United States has advocated in Latin America for over a century have spilled the blood of countless innocent victims (collateral damage, right?) and we the people, knowing what we know, need to continue making our collective voice heard, louder and louder until it can't be ignored.
The weekend was serious and the discussions were heavy, but at the same time, it felt as though the majority of the people I spoke with shared the hope that things could change. And we shared a joy that we were all there, 20,000 of us, fueled by a love of life and truth. And we heard stories from individuals from the U.S. and the Latin America who were organizing for their rights, challenge the system, and and working to build peace. I listened to a member of the Coalition of Immokalee workers. his words so full of determination, "No estoy satisfecho." We are not satisfied with the status quo, and we will work together to change things for the better.
Is the country still high on Obama's change? Let's see if he closes the School of Assassins in 2009. Or maybe we can give Guantanamo back to Cuba (not before excommunicating the demons of the islands' only from the only McDonalds). As commander in chief, Obama will have choices to make, the most important one being, who he will listen to. We the people need to make sure he hears us, and he needs no reason beyond justice to guide in his decision making. I want to invite Obama to take a trip wearing only his CITIZEN chat to Colombia or Mexico or maybe Syracuse, and then start making choices that will fix the power imbalance in this world.
On the long long drive back to Syracuse, I felt like I had in August after Spanish for Activists camp. Refueled and regenerated, ready to give all my energy to the struggle. Except it's a lot colder and I can't just go around singing revolution all day long. My personal challenge in the coming days and months is going to be figuring out, What can I do for the struggle? How can I be an agent of change in this world?
So it's Thanksgiving, and me and my mom just had a kick-ass dinner of free-range cow and fall fruits, including starring collards, sweet potatoes, acorn squash. I am very thankful this year, because I am full of the hope that our love for one another, that Namaste love that sees the light burning in everyone, that love for the Earth and all it's living things, will one day heal the world.
And don't shop tomorrow! Buy Nothing Day! We've got enough stuff.
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