My performance of "The Dead: A Stream of Consciousness"

A performance of my original poem "The Dead: A Stream of Consciousness" was recorded on July 10, 2020, at the What Matters Now live, global, online event. You can watch it through this link.

The statement below is a transcript of my introduction to the poem (which you will also hear on the link):

I wish I could make words as instantaneously descriptive as images, which of course they can never be. But words are what I've got. I'm asking you to fill in the blanks.

"The Dead: A Stream of Consciousness" consists of words that I've been experimenting with during the ongoing protests against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police.

The words are inspired by the righteousness and manifold beauties of the protesters and by their courage, strong against the backdrops of a global pandemic and continuing state-sanctioned, state-sponsored violence against people of color.

I want to remember those who've died during this dark time, and those who live on, hoping and working and fighting for a future time of light.

I wish for us to be in solidarity and to share strength with one another.


Please check out the other amazing What Matters Now speakers/performers here. I wrote a short post about the program here.

What Matters Now

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I would be reading a poem as part of the What Matters Now online, global event.

UPDATE: It happened, and it was fantastic!

Not only did I have a blast sharing my poem, but every single talk and performance in the program—I think there were 18 five-minute presentations in all—was compelling and inspirational.

Topics ranged from innovative programs to keep library patrons engaged during COVID to native, perennial food production in the Sahel region of Niger; Wikipedia's response to COVID to decolonizing museums; fighting against disinformation in advance of the US's upcoming presidential election to uniting the divided island of Cyprus through music; and so much more.

You can watch the talks and performances here.

What Matters Now?

On July 10, 2020, between noon and 1 pm. EST, I will share my new poem "The Dead: A Stream of Consciousness" as part of  What Matters Now.

What Matters Now is a free, online, global event to address our options and obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing protests against systemic racism and police brutality.

All are welcome. I hope you can join us!

For more information, and to register, please follow this link.

Rumors of War, by Kehinde Wiley

Rumors of War by Kehinde Wiley
Photo: LSE

I've listened to Bob Marley's song "War" many times, but I never paid particular attention to the phrase "rumors of war" until today, when I went to Richmond, Virginia, to see Kehinde Wiley's Rumors of War. It stands in front of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, on Arthur Ashe Boulevard.

The statue has been described as a response to the many Confederate war monuments that still stand in Richmond and other places around the U.S. (An equestrian statue of Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general, stands just a few blocks away.)

Wiley's gorgeous and imposing statue portrays a contemporary African-American man riding a horse in this same European/American equestrian tradition. The artist's website says that the statue, along with a series of paintings also called Rumors of War, reflects "Wiley's interest in the aestheticization of power and masculinity." 

According to Wikipedia, Wiley took the title "Rumors of War," from a bible verse. But I know the phrase from Bob Marley's classic song, and I wonder whether Marley took it from that same verse.

The lyrics of "War" consist almost entirely of a near-quote from Haile Selassie I's 1963 speech before the United Nations, in which he advocates for an end to international exploitation (particularly of Africa), equality for all, and nuclear disarmament. From what I can tell, the phrase "rumors of war" wasn't in his speech; Marley added it to the song.

Taken together, the phrase "rumors of war," its (possible) biblical source (Matthew 24:6-13), and the song's initial strident, minor riff create an air of prophetic doom -- but also some of the same militancy that I see in the statue.

"War" by Bob Marley

Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior

Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned

Everywhere is war

Me say war.

And until there's no longer first class and second class citizens of any nation

Until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes

Me say war

Until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race

Dis a war

Until that day

The dream of lasting peace

World citizenship

Rule of international morality

Will remain but a fleeting illusion

To be pursued

But never attained

Now everywhere is war

War

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola

In Mozambique, South Africa

Sub-human bondage

Have been toppled

Totally destroyed

Everywhere is war

Me say war

War in the east

War in the west

War up north

War down south

War, war

Rumors of war

And until that day the African continent shall not know peace

We Africans will fight we find it necessary

And we know we will win

As we have confidence in the victory

Of good over evil...

War, war. Rumors of war. 

I'm afraid that the growing disregard for human rights during the last few years has brought the possibility of war closer in this country. 

Justice will not be put off forever. I begin to understand the power and the dread of the phrase "rumors of war."

But I also get chills whenever I hear that last verse. 

Back view of Rumors of War by Kehinde Wiley.
Photo: LSE

Seeing Jane Fonda

Actress, philanthropist, and activist Jane Fonda was arrested on the steps of the Capitol yesterday, demanding that our political leaders take action on the climate crisis through what she is calling "Fire Drill Fridays", which she has organized with Code Pink.

Ms. Fonda has been an activist—anti-war (Vietnam, Iraq), civil rights (women, African-Americans, Native Americans), pro-environment, and more—for about fifty years now.

Jane Fonda at an anti-war conference in the Netherlands, 1975
Photo by Mieremet, Rob / Anefo - [1] Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANeFo), 1945-1989, Nummer toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer 927-6990, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32335035.

Ms. Fonda's actions have often been controversial, and I imagine there's a fair amount of cynicism swirling about as she embarks upon this new project. I was a bit cynical myself. But then I had the opportunity to see her in person at U.S. Representative Don Beyer's Fifth Annual Women's Conference: Nevertheless, She Persisted.

Jane Fonda has been a force since the 1960s, through her talent, her hard work, and her dedication to her art and to social justice. Still, her gravitas took me by surprise. I was also surprised to feel myself identifying with her so strongly.

It occurred to me that she has lived a life similar to my own—that of an American, white, middle to upper-middle class woman; daughter, wife, mother—only she has had to live it under intense public scrutiny since childhood.

Being a part of our particular demographic is, of course, not the hardest lot in life—not by a long shot—but it does entail its fair share of indignities, impossibly conflicting expectations, and lots of other things that I won't rant about here. But Ms. Fonda hasn't let herself be silenced, she hasn't shrunk away in shame for her failings, she's never given up on herself. And more than most of us, she has consistently tried to use her privilege and her platform for the greater good. She'll be 82 in December, and she's still at it.

She told us—and I didn't get the exact quote, but it was something like this: It would be sad to get to the end of my life and not have figured out why I was here. 

Imagine, someone who has done as much as she has, but who is still searching. That's something to think about at any age.


P.S. Just FYI, by way of introducing Ms. Fonda, conference organizers showed the trailer for the HBO documentary, Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018). It made me curious to watch the entire film. Also, Ms. Fonda recommended that everyone read Naomi Klein's On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal. Ms. Fonda's autobiography is called My Life So Far.

P.P.S. Even aside from Ms. Fonda, there were many amazing and accomplished women at this conference, on stage and in the audience. Plan to come next year!

Striking for the Climate in Seven Easy Steps: We Are Not Alone

Climate activist Greta Thunberg began striking for the climate last year, standing alone outside the Swedish Parliament, day after day, month after month. This past Friday, she spoke before a crowd of 250,000 climate strikers in New York City.

Let us join them!

Here's the story of a strike that took place in our little community while masses gathered in New York and all over the world.

Building a climate strike--building a community--doesn't take as much as you might think.

1. A listing
A man registered a climate strike on fridaysforfuture.org.

Friday, September 20, 2019, 8 AM.

The environment is important to him, as it is to all of us humans. "I didn't know whether anyone would show up," he said. "But I just went ahead and did it."

2. A prop
As we were getting ready to go to the climate strike, the globe caught my eye. The stand had broken long ago, so only the sphere of the Earth remained, wedged between books on the bookshelf. Its political boundaries were out of date, but I hadn't wanted to just throw it away. It brought to mind the iconic Earthrise photo, taken from the moon in 1968--the one that was so important to the nascent environmental movement.

That's what we're striking for, right?
Our planet.

I grabbed it as we walked out the door.

3. An icebreaker
There were fewer than ten people standing there when we arrived at the busy intersection where the strike was to happen, but everyone wanted their picture taken with the globe. I don't like to be in pictures, but I ended up posing for a few, and I smiled. It was for a good cause.

4. An activity
As we approached the intersection, we could see a small group of people standing on the corner about a block ahead. We thought they were probably fellow strikers, but there was nothing to distinguish them from any other random group of pedestrians.

"I'm going into the CVS to buy some poster-board and markers," my husband said.

I said okay, although I have just enough social anxiety that I don't like to be left alone in a new group of people.

(See #3, An icebreaker, above.)

Of course, everyone wanted to make a sign, because who can resist poster-board, big fat markers, and the opportunity to say what's on their mind? Many of the strikers were older people, crouching on the sidewalk, thinking about what to write. "My grandchildren deserve a future." "EPA Do your F-ing Job." "Listen to the Science."

There was much discussion and shared laughter around this sign-creation. A community was born!

5. A bullhorn!
Someone brought one. It was necessary. A major intersection at rush hour is very noisy. But with the bullhorn, we could hear each other.

No more coal, no more oil, keep the carbon in the soil! We began walking around the intersection. We didn't impede traffic, we just crossed with the lights and kept moving, holding our signs up and chanting.

6. An ask
One striker made a sign instructing drivers to Honk for Climate Action. This was genius.

The honking of the cars--and even of delivery trucks and construction vehicles--electrified our little group of strikers, now maybe around 40 people.

It created a communication loop. We weren't just shouting into the noisy, smelly void of engines and combustion engine exhaust; drivers were receiving the message, responding, and then we, in response to their honking, were cheering and waving our signs. We were not alone.

We ARE not alone.

7. Youth, energy, creativity
Two bright, enthusiastic, positive young women from nearby George Mason University ventured off campus, into the unknown, to join our strike. They made signs with us and took lots of pictures.

One of them borrowed the bullhorn and began chanting: Hash-tag, Go green, Save Our Climate, Join Our Team. It was a great chant, combining some modest syncopation with a contemporary, inclusive, imperative. I asked the young woman where she'd gotten the chant, had she made it up? And she said, "we both did." Everyone loved the chant. It really brought our little group together. Chanting can do that.

We spent a little more than an hour walking around and around the intersection. I don't know how many drivers saw us and our signs, but I'd guess they numbered in the hundreds. Maybe a few of them are thinking more about the climate now. Equally important, we created a little spark of community and learned some valuable lessons.

As we walked away I remarked to my husband that it reminded me of the story of Stone Soup. Building a climate strike--building a community--doesn't take as much as you might think.

All photos by Michael Edson. Thanks, Mike!

An excerpt from Seeking the Center, in honor of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The final round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs is set to begin on Monday, May 27, between the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues. Eliminated in the previous three rounds were: the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Las Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes, and San Jose Sharks.

That’s a lot of sad hockey teams!

I'm posting an excerpt from my novel Seeking the Center in honor of all the teams that have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs—or from tournaments anywhere, of any kind. You can read the excerpt here. It's one of my favorite chapters in the novel, so I hope you enjoy it!

P.S. I plan to post an audio version of the excerpt within the next week or so.

P.P.S. You can purchase Seeking the Center directly from the publisher, Cuidono Press, here, from your local bookstore, or from the usual suspects including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indigo/Chapters.