Peace Radio Interim Edition: June 7, 2020
D-Day was 76 years ago.
Juneteenth is coming up.
[heads up...youtube isn't wanting to embed for me so please click the links if there isn't a video ready to play here!!]
Please keep in mind that while Jill W is typing this up so the errors are hers, the links and any good insights belong to Jill M and DJ Sally P! We're nationwide now contributing from a hillside in the Idaho Panhandle, a house in Potlatch, and somewhere in South Dakota. Jill W strings it together as best she can, but often forgets who sent what link. Sherry Dodson is a contributor as well and Miriam Kent is kindly providing kid-friendly/family-friendly content for each blog.
Let's open with something from facebook (which I loathe but even a stopped clock is right twice a day). This is from my cousin. She is a young woman in her 20s:
https://youtu.be/CXxx5Z6URqg
You can find Jake's photos and make contact with him through his photography social media:
Thank you to Jake and EVERYONE out there and those supporting as they can.
I have bail money ready if Jake needs it! (for this sort of thing...NOT for stupid shenanigans).
Do what you can to work for what you want and the world will change.
This we can't play on the radio during the day, and yet, the language, is entirely appropriate to the topic
Please please follow the link, it refuses to embed the proper video and the watered down versions are not as good:
https://youtu.be/TeQW-9Cg8qs
And from DJ Sally P:
Here are a couple of mini-essays sent out in response to the police violence. The first is from me (Sally) sent to the peace group that I've been a part of for nearly 20 years.
Jill M shares this video, done by her intrepid husband, from the Sioux Falls South Dakota Rally:
https://www.facebook.com/
Remember the rest of the world? It's still out there beyond the unrest and the plague.
Here's something from Native America.
This song and particular video from A Tribe Called Red won't embed, please follow the link
https://youtu.be/_MD8IK19aec
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/sioux-man-empowering-standing-rock-solar-power-200520160229823.html
In American History, we're coming up on the anniversary of the announcement of the end of slavery (officially anyway) in the US.
JUNETEENTH
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
I took this from and more can be learned at: https://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
If you want to start with something remedial on Juneteenth, try this:
You can link to more sophisticated informational videos from there.
Listen to this while you read on:
Please take some time to consider the protests, the police killings of African Americans, the systemic racism and the rest of it in light of this piece of history and this time of year.
Whenever you learn a bit of history or we have a history-based holiday (e.g. D Day), please think about how it provides context for the present. For the future.
And with a day like Juneteenth, June 19th, why don't we have a national holiday? Why not for the date of the emancipation proclamation?
What about Lincoln's order allowing the hanging, knowingly unjustly, of 38 Native Americans 7 days before he freed the slaves? Context changes everything.
Where do we go from here?
How do we address racism?
My fellow hosts share this document, a working draft, on
Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources (click the title to follow the link to the whole document)
From the document: "The goal is to facilitate growth for white folks to become allies, and eventually accomplices for anti-racist work. These resources have been ordered in an attempt to make them more accessible. We will continue to add resources."
Jill M shares this music link for something relevant to current events. The language is appropriate to the passion and the topic, but would not fly on the radio during the daytime. Maybe don't play it at work without headphones...
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/04/869885640/new-music-friday-run-the-jewels/
From the files of both "What the hell?" and "How predictable"...
Here are the masks taken...coincidence????
Time for a music break!
Some info from DJ Sally P
Sally suggests you watch the movie "Just Mercy" free on line. How to is explained here:
Meanwhile in Idaho (still from Sally), Christians and Covid19:
https://friendlyatheist.
But don't worry, a very stable genius (in his own mind or what's left of it), Elon Musk, will fly you to the moon (well, Mars) where you will live happily ever after in a dream world of his creation...for a price.
If you're thinking "what? how is that a good idea?" You are not alone:
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/06/05/path-beyond-extinction-and-escape-return-earth-regenerate-and-share
How about a word on World Environment Day, June 5th, from the beloved Jane Goodall:
How does Trump do with the environment???? Well.....
Juneteenth is coming up.
[heads up...youtube isn't wanting to embed for me so please click the links if there isn't a video ready to play here!!]
Please keep in mind that while Jill W is typing this up so the errors are hers, the links and any good insights belong to Jill M and DJ Sally P! We're nationwide now contributing from a hillside in the Idaho Panhandle, a house in Potlatch, and somewhere in South Dakota. Jill W strings it together as best she can, but often forgets who sent what link. Sherry Dodson is a contributor as well and Miriam Kent is kindly providing kid-friendly/family-friendly content for each blog.
Let's open with something from facebook (which I loathe but even a stopped clock is right twice a day). This is from my cousin. She is a young woman in her 20s:
“Wait, you’re black?” “You’re only half black, so you don’t count.” “I thought you just tanned a lot..”
“I didn’t know you were black!” “At least you look like a white person.”
These are all things that have been said to me throughout my life. I am proud of who
I am as a biracial woman. Yes, I am white. Yes, I am black. I may be “white passing” but that does not
make me any less black, or any less proud of my culture. Ever since I was little, I have gotten to
see the true side of many people. They think I’m just another white girl so they say offensive things that
they wouldn’t dare say to a black person’s face. I’m also seeing a lot of this ignorant confidence on
Facebook right now, and it hit me that I may be some people’s only black “Facebook friend” or one of a few.
So to them I say this…Educate yourself. Before you get on your soapbox about the protests, the riots,
the looting, educate yourself. Try to strip off your white-privilege, and truly see the world through a POC’s
eyes. See the injustice we face on a daily basis. Think about how when we get pulled over for having
a tail light out, we don’t know if we will drive away from it or be shot by a police officer. Think about
how we can’t go on a jog on a nice day, without two men thinking we stole something and beating us to
death when we just wanted a little exercise. Think about how every time we leave our house, we always
have that thought in the back of our heads saying “Is something bad gonna happen to me today?”
Think about how WE feel. Think about a day in our lives. Now, if you imagined that, and
I mean REALLY imagined that and your feelings have not changed, I would tell you to look inward,
because something inside of you was tainted a long time ago and you need to figure out where that hatred,
racist, ignorant feelings came from and remove them from inside.
It’s not welcomed anymore in 2020, this is the end of it.
#BlackLivesMatter
“I didn’t know you were black!” “At least you look like a white person.”
These are all things that have been said to me throughout my life. I am proud of who
I am as a biracial woman. Yes, I am white. Yes, I am black. I may be “white passing” but that does not
make me any less black, or any less proud of my culture. Ever since I was little, I have gotten to
see the true side of many people. They think I’m just another white girl so they say offensive things that
they wouldn’t dare say to a black person’s face. I’m also seeing a lot of this ignorant confidence on
Facebook right now, and it hit me that I may be some people’s only black “Facebook friend” or one of a few.
So to them I say this…Educate yourself. Before you get on your soapbox about the protests, the riots,
the looting, educate yourself. Try to strip off your white-privilege, and truly see the world through a POC’s
eyes. See the injustice we face on a daily basis. Think about how when we get pulled over for having
a tail light out, we don’t know if we will drive away from it or be shot by a police officer. Think about
how we can’t go on a jog on a nice day, without two men thinking we stole something and beating us to
death when we just wanted a little exercise. Think about how every time we leave our house, we always
have that thought in the back of our heads saying “Is something bad gonna happen to me today?”
Think about how WE feel. Think about a day in our lives. Now, if you imagined that, and
I mean REALLY imagined that and your feelings have not changed, I would tell you to look inward,
because something inside of you was tainted a long time ago and you need to figure out where that hatred,
racist, ignorant feelings came from and remove them from inside.
It’s not welcomed anymore in 2020, this is the end of it.
#BlackLivesMatter
I (Jill W) did a zoom interview with a young activist I know quite well. WAY WAY back in the day, he did the Peace Radio "Presidunce" impressions of George W Bush. Now he's a grown up in Spokane working in a day job and making the world a better place in his real life.
This is Jacob "Jake" Friend who was at the Spokane Black Lives Matter Protests when police tear gassed the crowd. He shared his experience with that and some of the photographs, he's also a photographer, are below the link. If you open the video in a new tab, you can check out the photos while you listen
These photos are the sole property of Jake Friend. Contact him on his social media for permission to reuse:
Instagram: @SpokanePhotoM
You can find Jake's photos and make contact with him through his photography social media:
Instagram: @SpokanePhotoM
Thank you to Jake and EVERYONE out there and those supporting as they can.
I have bail money ready if Jake needs it! (for this sort of thing...NOT for stupid shenanigans).
Do what you can to work for what you want and the world will change.
This we can't play on the radio during the day, and yet, the language, is entirely appropriate to the topic
Please please follow the link, it refuses to embed the proper video and the watered down versions are not as good:
https://youtu.be/TeQW-9Cg8qs
And from DJ Sally P:
Here are a couple of mini-essays sent out in response to the police violence. The first is from me (Sally) sent to the peace group that I've been a part of for nearly 20 years.
Hundreds of heavily armed responsible Idahoans filling the streets of downtown Coeur d'Alene in a show of force to help prevent the likelihood of riots and looting. No heated arguments, No shots fired, Just Americans refusing to let hate, division and anarchy destroy their city. This is why we have AR-15s tucked away under the bed or in the gun safe for when everything falls apart and government either can't fix it or is downright responsible for it".
This was a facebook post by a Potlatch friend (saintly mother, father retired 6th grade teacher and a bit of a doofus), and was followed by 46! pictures of heavily armed white men carrying weapons of war on the streets of a small Idaho town. His post has been shared widely and commented on by many local people that JOhn and I know and live next to. We are living in such an alternative universe, and I have no idea how to deal with this. Talk? Reason? Confront?
The poster is someone who I've talked to a couple of times about his gun love, and we had plans to meet for coffee, but the virus intervened.
Anyway, these people are so entrenched in their anti-government, anti-science lives, that they freely meet, while those of us who read and study are cowering in our homes staying safe from the pandemic.
Maybe it's time to start gathering again. Safely, of course.
But I need you all. I'm lonely and depressed. It would be a shame to let all we know and have learned over our (very!) long lives go to waste while the men with guns take over and control the conversation and our lives.
Thoughts?
The second is from my daughter, Maggie. Much more thoughtful, passionate, loving than the one I sent. She lives in a mixed race neighborhood and sees/experiences racial and economic tension every day of her life.
I have never been pulled over. Not once. As a 37 year old white woman, I pose a threat to no one. I can freely walk down the street anywhere without people even looking twice at me or wondering about my intentions. This is privilege at its peak.
As our nation spirals out of control - protests in the midst of a global pandemic, looting and rioting, police officers shooting with the approval of the highest office in our land - I struggle with what to do with my privilege. I want to amplify the voices of our friends of color. And yet, I do not want them to have to do the heavy work of crafting the narrative, of putting themselves out there in harm’s way as I know how TIRED they are of carrying the burden, of pleading for their very lives. Some have words to share. I respect this. Some simply need a break. This makes perfect sense to me.
8 minutes. That’s the length of time George Floyd spent on the ground with a knee on his neck. 8 fucking minutes. The cruelty of this astounds me. This is not simply a split moment decision. No, 8 minutes is an active choice to ignore someone’s humanity, to turn a deaf ear to the pleas.
We have to do better.
We simply cannot live as though some lives matter and others do not.
We cannot let the color of our skin, or the size of our bank accounts, or the prestige of the jobs or the advanced degrees that we hold determine who gets to live and who does not.
This world is upside down. The God of the Bible cares desperately for the downtrodden, the sick, the poor, the minority. The ones deemed “essential workers” when it suits, and expendable when it does not.
The fear is literally making people I love sick.
God, where are you? If there was ever a time where we need You, now is it. It is hard to see a way out. It is hard to hold onto hope when our cries seem to fall on deaf ears. How long, oh Lord, will you forget us? My brothers and sisters need You. I need You.
Jill M shares this video, done by her intrepid husband, from the Sioux Falls South Dakota Rally:
https://www.facebook.com/
Remember the rest of the world? It's still out there beyond the unrest and the plague.
Here's something from Native America.
This song and particular video from A Tribe Called Red won't embed, please follow the link
https://youtu.be/_MD8IK19aec
The Sioux man 'empowering' Standing Rock with solar power
Cody Two Bears, who is behind North Dakota's first 300-kilowatt solar farm, is bringing power to Standing Rock.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/sioux-man-empowering-standing-rock-solar-power-200520160229823.html
In American History, we're coming up on the anniversary of the announcement of the end of slavery (officially anyway) in the US.
JUNETEENTH
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
I took this from and more can be learned at: https://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
If you want to start with something remedial on Juneteenth, try this:
You can link to more sophisticated informational videos from there.
Listen to this while you read on:
Please take some time to consider the protests, the police killings of African Americans, the systemic racism and the rest of it in light of this piece of history and this time of year.
Whenever you learn a bit of history or we have a history-based holiday (e.g. D Day), please think about how it provides context for the present. For the future.
And with a day like Juneteenth, June 19th, why don't we have a national holiday? Why not for the date of the emancipation proclamation?
What about Lincoln's order allowing the hanging, knowingly unjustly, of 38 Native Americans 7 days before he freed the slaves? Context changes everything.
Where do we go from here?
How do we address racism?
My fellow hosts share this document, a working draft, on
Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources (click the title to follow the link to the whole document)
From the document: "The goal is to facilitate growth for white folks to become allies, and eventually accomplices for anti-racist work. These resources have been ordered in an attempt to make them more accessible. We will continue to add resources."
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/04/869885640/new-music-friday-run-the-jewels/
From the files of both "What the hell?" and "How predictable"...
Law Enforcement Seizes Thousands of Masks Sent to Protect Protesters From COVID
https://truthout.org/articles/law-enforcement-seizes-thousands-of-masks-sent-to-protect-protesters-from-covid/Here are the masks taken...coincidence????
Time for a music break!
Some info from DJ Sally P
Sally suggests you watch the movie "Just Mercy" free on line. How to is explained here:
https://www.rollingstone.com/
I won't give Jeff Bezos my info so I can't watch it there, but will find it elsewhere. Thanks for the recommendation Sally!!
We NEED these sorts of films now. Art is important.
I won't give Jeff Bezos my info so I can't watch it there, but will find it elsewhere. Thanks for the recommendation Sally!!
We NEED these sorts of films now. Art is important.
What about defunding the police? From an article in The Guardian:
Activists say the way to stop police brutality and killings is to cut law enforcement budgets and reinvest in services. Some lawmakers now agree
https://www.theguardian.com/
Activists say the way to stop police brutality and killings is to cut law enforcement budgets and reinvest in services. Some lawmakers now agree
https://www.theguardian.com/
...and what is the function of the police, really?
Chenjerai Kumanyika writes an open letter to former President Obama
Chenjerai Kumanyika writes an open letter to former President Obama
https://theintercept.com/2020/
Once again, history needs to be considered when considering the "job" of police in the US
From the letter:
The job of the modern police in America has been to reinforce a racist social order since its beginnings in the 19th century.
Once again, history needs to be considered when considering the "job" of police in the US
From the letter:
The job of the modern police in America has been to reinforce a racist social order since its beginnings in the 19th century.
Meanwhile in Idaho (still from Sally), Christians and Covid19:
https://friendlyatheist.
Speaking of the pandemic (Jill W again), what else is it doing in Native America, beyond infecting people:
https://truthout.org/articles/pandemic-and-digital-divide-threaten-accurate-census-count-of-native-populations/
It's keeping them off the census. Which is a big deal.
It's keeping them off the census. Which is a big deal.
Back to the rest of the planet which is MORE than just humans. It's other beings we're apparently trying to take down with us.
Another day, another giant a$$ oilspill
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52915807Another day, another giant a$$ oilspill
Arctic Circle oil spill prompts Putin to declare state of emergency
But don't worry, a very stable genius (in his own mind or what's left of it), Elon Musk, will fly you to the moon (well, Mars) where you will live happily ever after in a dream world of his creation...for a price.
If you're thinking "what? how is that a good idea?" You are not alone:
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/06/05/path-beyond-extinction-and-escape-return-earth-regenerate-and-share
How about a word on World Environment Day, June 5th, from the beloved Jane Goodall:
How does Trump do with the environment???? Well.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/04/13/the-trump-administration-officially-clipped-the-wings-of-the-migratory-bird-treaty-act/
A hopeful music break from someone who has been around the block...in stillettos and
a pushup bra:
Rock On Dolly!
Movies.
I, Jill W here, haven't watched anything serious or relevant. I watched, on youtube, the
Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of "The Bees". It's stupid and funny and I needed
that at that moment.
Movies that have changed my views of race and racism and race relations in the US and
elsewhere and that I recommend are myriad. Here are a few:
Killer of Sheep. 1978
Directed and Written by Charles Burnett
Set in the Watts area of Los Angeles, a slaughterhouse worker must suspend his emotions to
continue working at a job he finds repugnant, and then he finds he has little sensitivity for the
family he works so hard to support.
Rabbit Proof Fence 2002
Directed by Philip Noyce
Written by Doris Pilkington and Christine Olsen
In 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses
to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
The Business of Fancydancing 2002
Directed by and Written by Sherman Alexie
"Smoke Signals" was the easy film to watch. Try this one.
Sami Blood 2016
Directed and Written by Amanda Kernell
I could give you a summary, but it's better to see is raw, without warning.
There are so many. Look for films by and for the people they are about.
Not the easy ones made for mainstream consumption. Challenge yourself.
Same with books. Maybe it's hard to read an African book by an African person. Try it anyway.
Do it anyway. Not just African. African American. Native American. Asian. Asian American.
I'm lacking in the African American authors realm.
I've read so little.
I know more about Native American authors.
There, There by Tommy Orange for a view of contemporary urban Native American life
Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption by Susan Devon Harness.
A view of racist adoption policies in the Northwest and across the US. 2018
Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot. The long term and personal outcomes of
long term systemic racism and oppression.
Read Sojourner Truth's speeches.
Read anything that makes you uncomfortable about race. Read and watch and listen to the the
history and current-stories that make you uncomfortable about race.
Get out of your bubble just a little bit.
Remember when people could sing together in one room?
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
MIRIAM'S STUFF
More bugs, because it rhymes with hugs and because it's spring!
But wait, spiders aren't really bugs, they're arachnids.
Two poems about spiders
The Daddy Longlegs (from Insectlopedia, poems and paintings by Douglas Florian)
O Daddy
Daddy O
How'd you get
Those legs to grow
So very long
And lean in size
From spiderobic
Exercise?
Did you drink milk?
Or chew on cheese?
And by the way,
Where are your knees?
O Daddy
Daddy O
How'd you get
Those legs to grow?
Vegetarian Spider (from The Little Buggers Insect and Spider Poems)
On the tropical isle of Grenada,
A tarantula said, "I have made a
Decision to eat
Vegetables without meat,
So please do not pass the cicada!"
A Riddle!!
What vegetable is it that you throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside, and throw away the inside?
(answer in the next blog)
Answers to last week's palindrome question...there are many many more, what did you think of.
I got these
More bugs, because it rhymes with hugs and because it's spring!
But wait, spiders aren't really bugs, they're arachnids.
Two poems about spiders
The Daddy Longlegs (from Insectlopedia, poems and paintings by Douglas Florian)
O Daddy
Daddy O
How'd you get
Those legs to grow
So very long
And lean in size
From spiderobic
Exercise?
Did you drink milk?
Or chew on cheese?
And by the way,
Where are your knees?
O Daddy
Daddy O
How'd you get
Those legs to grow?
Vegetarian Spider (from The Little Buggers Insect and Spider Poems)
On the tropical isle of Grenada,
A tarantula said, "I have made a
Decision to eat
Vegetables without meat,
So please do not pass the cicada!"
A Riddle!!
What vegetable is it that you throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside, and throw away the inside?
(answer in the next blog)
Answers to last week's palindrome question...there are many many more, what did you think of.
I got these
mom
radar
madam
-ENHANCED FAMILY TIME
Talking Circle With Whole Family: Let children pick topics.
Dreams? Pets?
A hint: Have a feather or something that the speaker holds while it is their turn. When done, pass the feather to the next person.
-HOME LEARNING
Sound Makers
Comb and wax paper kazoos: Cover the teeth of the come with a small piece of wax paper, put it in your mouth and hum.
Rubberband guitar: You need a shoe box bottom or tissue box with a hole in the top. A variety of rubberbands. Put the rubberbands on and pluck it.
Broom handle clave ("cla-vay"): A wooden broom handle, needs to be hardwood. Cut 2 pieces 5-6 inches long. Sand paper edges. Decorate (optional, but colored tape looks cool). One in each hand and hit them together to the rhythm of the music.
Jingle Bell Egg Shaker: You need a plastic egg that opens. Put a jingle bell inside then glue or clear tape it shut. Stickers make fun decorations.
-MK PICKS
Song: Kids' Peace Song by Peter Alsop from Peace is the World Smiling cd from the company "Music for Little People"
Book: Big Bad Bruce by Bill Peet.
This was my son's favorite book when he was a child. A bully meets witch!
Author: Bill Peet is one of my favorite author! His other books are funny too.
Old Movie: Fantasia. This is a Disney film with incredible music! We're talking the OLD one with Mickey Mouse, not the new brightly colored one.
Snack:
You need-
Two bowls (one for shells)
Peanuts in the shell
Raisins
How you do it-
Shell the peanuts.
Shells go in a bowl.
Peanuts go in the other bowl.
Mix raisins into the peanuts.
PS shells can be composted.
Lots of good stuff here!
ReplyDeleteJill W, I liked There, There, too. If you haven't read Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, I highly recommend it. I ordinarily read and enjoy books I can relate to, so I don't go too far afield, but some authors are pretty relatable because of their minds and writing skills. Trevor Noah is another.
ReplyDelete