impromptu
all day in the sun
then wood to a house
for bookshelves
truck lumber
and dirt in the lines of
my fingers
and some helicopters
looking for the most recent
shooter
gunman
man
always a man, isn't it?
drinking beers in the potting shed
we are talking about anarchism
and capitalism
and sweating
and tomorrow is only a dream
and tomorrow only
is real
and up high flies a
heron
clouds that are dark
and a cool night
thirsty
i am here
and i move for water
i am here
and outside
where i was
a river moves
and clouds move
and i wish for movement

what is real
and movement

bees

I don’t seem to make time to write here much lately. I feel like I have been busy, but in a good way, I think. There is a cool breeze floating in through the window this evening and it feels so good.

Last Monday I went to a presentation put on by the Beehive Collective from Maine. It was absolutely incredible. One of the individuals giving the presentation used to live here in Fort Collins and I know her from that time. It was wonderful to see what she is a part of. And inspiring. The Beehive Collective focuses on ‘free’ trade and globalization and its effects on the lives of people, especially in the global south. For example, the collective has been very active in investigating Plan Colombia (a $4 billion ‘aid’ package to Colombia). The Bees send folks to Latin America, in this case Colombia, and interview local people, asking what this economic plan means to them on an everyday level. They listen to these stories and then construct incredible, huge, mural-like pieces of art that are printed onto large pieces of fabric. These murals tell the stories of globalization and colonialism; the Plan Colombia mural begins five hundred years ago with the three ships that heralded the beginnings of colonialism in the Americas. The Bees take the murals back to the communities that provided the personal stories and ask the local people to evaluate the visual representation of their stories—to make sure they have drawn it right. Then the Bees return to North America and travel around, showing their murals and explaining in detail the stories within them.

It is just a wonderful, creative way in which to take action. There is much more to it than what I have related here. The collective has a house in Maine and the stories involved in that are very interesting as well. Another great thing is that the art is done collectively and is anti-copyright—the Beehive Collective encourages people to use any of the images in any ways they want.

By the way, 80% of the so-called aid package goes directly to the militarization of the Colombian government (helicopters, weapons, etc.), while the rest goes to companies like Monsanto, which provide the heavy duty pesticides used in the fumigation of fields, allegedly aimed at coca eradication. Some of that 20% also goes to companies like Dyncorp, a private mercenary corporation that has been involved in every U.S. military campaign since the late sixties and is heavily active in Colombia. It is important to note that many, many subsistence crops and fields are also fumigated. This practice, especially in eastern Colombia (which, interestingly, has very low coca production and a high indigenous population), has forced literally millions of people (around 3 million) into leaving their homes and once fertile fields. No longer able to be subsistence farmers, because of the toxicity of the repeatedly fumigated soils, these people become internally displaced refugees. At the same time, the land on which these indigenous people have lived for generations is taken by transnational corporations, as the indigenous folks must leave to survive. These corporations can then use the land for their cattle that are sold as cheap beef.

The stories also included stories of resistance and the development of alternatives. This inclusion of positive and hopeful actions was a breath of fresh air in the suffocating strangulation of ‘free’ trade and colonialism. Many of the murals depicted ants rising up and resisting and creating alternatives. I liked the symbolism and found it encouraging and uplifting. As the presenters said—ants, when alone, might seem small and ineffectual but when they get together they can move a lot of shit and they are STRONG!

take back the night

Tomorrow is Take Back the Night. Take Back the Night generally consists of a speak-out, march, and rally and is participated in internationally; often there is a whole week or more of activities concerning violence against women and gender violence. Take Back the Night is seen as a direct action response to violence against women. Check out takebackthenight.org for more information.

Wherever you are, there's a good chance that there'll be some sort of Take Back the Night event nearby; most all campuses participate, for example. Please check it out--it is up to all of us to make this a safe world for women and men. Take Back the Night can be a powerful experience--I think it is incredibly important to support it and all the people who participate. And we can all learn a lot by attending. At speak-outs, you can listen to the experiences of others and learn from them while being there to support the people speaking about their own experiences with violence or their own concerns and ideas for change. If there are marches, you can walk together in solidarity or offer your support and your voice, actively stating your opposition to sexism and violence.

I posted the following list on this blog a year ago but I feel it is important enough to post again. The list is mostly directed at males; all of us men need to remember our roles and responsibilities in the continuing violences against women. So, read it, pass it on, share it with men in your life, and let's stand against violence and start making this a better world to live in.

10 THINGS MEN CAN DO TO PREVENT GENDER VIOLENCE

Approach gender violence as a MEN'S issue involving men of all ages and socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds. View men not only as perpetrators or possible offenders, but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive peers If a brother, friend, classmate, or teammate is abusing his female partner -- or is disrespectful or abusive to girls and women in general -- don't look the other way. If you feel comfortable doing so, try to talk to him about it. Urge him to seek help. Or if you don't know what to do, consult a friend, a parent, a professor, or a counselor. DON'T REMAIN SILENT. Have the courage to look inward. Question your own attitudes. Don't be defensive when something you do or say ends up hurting someone else. Try hard to understand how your own attitudes and actions might inadvertently perpetuate sexism and violence, and work toward changing them. If you suspect that a woman close to you is being abused or has been sexually assaulted, gently ask if you can help. If you are emotionally, psychologically, physically, or sexually abusive to women, or have been in the past, seek professional help NOW. Be an ally to women who are working to end all forms of gender violence. Support the work of campus-based women's centers. Attend "Take Back the Night" rallies and other public events. Raise money for community-based rape crisis centers and battered women's shelters. If you belong to a team or fraternity, or another student group, organize a fundraiser. Recognize and speak out against homophobia and gay-bashing. Discrimination and violence against lesbians and gays are wrong in and of themselves. This abuse also has direct links to sexism (eg. the sexual orientation of men who speak out against sexism is often questioned, a conscious or unconscious strategy intended to silence them. This is a key reason few men do so). Attend programs, take courses, watch films, and read articles and books about multicultural masculinities, gender inequality, and the root causes of gender violence. Educate yourself and others about how larger social forces affect the conflicts between individual men and women. Don't fund sexism. Refuse to purchase any magazine, rent any video, subscribe to any Web site, or buy any music that portrays girls or women in a sexually degrading or abusive manner. Protest sexism in the media. Mentor and teach young boys about how to be men in ways that don't involve degrading or abusing girls and women. Volunteer to work with gender violence prevention programs, including anti-sexist men's programs. Lead by example Copyright 1999, Jackson Katz. www.jacksonkatz.com Reprint freely with credit.

audio from anarchism radio show

Here is a link for an audio file of the recent radio show about anarchism that I wrote about in the previous post:

http://www.uproot.info/~bame/ImagineAction/

The radio show is called Imagine Action and is broadcast on KRFC, a local radio station in Fort Collins.

For some reason, the above link is not working. The address is correct, so you can copy and paste it into your address/navigation bar and get to the file that way.

anarchism on the radio

On Tuesday night I took part in a radio discussion about anarchism. Besides the host of the radio show and the person running the technical stuff, there were three of us in the broadcasting room and another person joined us by phone. The person on the phone lives in Washington right now; she moved there recently from Fort Collins. The radio station is a local one that broadcasts from here in Fort Collins.

I was a bit nervous the night before the show but by the time it happened there just didn’t seem to be very much time to get nervous. And I was really excited that the show was happening at all and that I was able to be a part of a public discussion of anarchism.

It ended up going really well, I think. Hearing perspectives on anarchism from several different individuals was a great experience; every one has slightly different focuses, concerns, and interests and that helped to create a much rounder representation of an idea.

A few people called into the show. I guess it was the first time that the person doing the show (it was a weekly broadcast, although this was the first show that focused on anarchism) had people call in. So, that kinda suggests that some people were listening and interested.

The show was an hour long but it went by so fast. I think there were many things that all of us wanted to talk about that we were unable to reach simply because we ran out of broadcast time. I went into it wanting to talk at least a little about feminism in relationship to anarchism—how they are essentially the same thing (challenging hierarchy and working for alternatives). Patriarchy was mentioned at least twice, so that’s pretty good. I also wanted to mention the food co-op here in town. It is a wonderful place and an excellent model for alternatives that can exist and function in the present. While it still operates within a capitalist society, I think that it seriously challenges capitalism and is, at its heart, anti-capitalist and embodies many anarchistic values.

All in all, it was a great experience and I am very excited that it happened. And I hope similar things will happen in the future and with increasing frequency.

somalia

Did anyone hear that the u.s. bombed Somalia this last January? I just heard about it earlier this week and read some articles about it today. You would think most everyone living in this country would hear about our government dropping bombs on yet another country.

Seriously, did you know about this happening? I sure didn't. To me, it seems an incredible testament to our disempowered and distracted lives.

used underwear

I actually wrote the following last week; I have a bad habit of writing something and then returning to it, if at all, many days later. Anyway, on to used underwear (which happen to be really comfortable, as I can now attest to).

i bought my first pair of used underwear this weekend. two pairs, actually.

i have some other used underwear that my brother gave me when he was working at a laundromat. so, i guess i’ve worn used underwear before but never actually bought any.

it was a little embarrassing to look through the numerous pairs on hangers at the thrift store. i realized that i wasn’t able to recall ever having seen anyone looking through all those underwear; people seemed to avoid them, even though it is an aisle full of color and design variation….lots of selection.

well, i flipped through some of them quickly and grabbed two pairs in my size, both grey. i didn’t have anything else to get so i took them up to the cashier all by their lonesome. the checkout turned out to be fine; i had expected something embarrassing, some comment maybe that would bring attention to the used underwear lying in front of me on the counter. but it all went okay and i left the store with two fine pairs of underwear.

i have been running really low on underwear lately. some that i have had for years are getting to be more holes that fabric. but i haven’t wanted to buy new ones, especially from some sweatshop. the pairs my brother gave me helped out a lot but the time had finally come to challenge my fear of buying underwear used. and here i am today, with plenty of good underwear in which to face the world.

o bury me not on the lone prairie

an old ballad:

“O bury me not on the lone prairie,”

These words came slowly and mournfully

From the pallid lips of a youth who lay

On his cold damp bed at the close of day.

“O bury me not on the lone prairie

Where the wild coyote will howl o’er me,

Where the cold wind weeps and the grasses wave;

No sunbeams rest on a prairie grave.”

He has wasted and pined till o’er his brow

Death’s shades are slowly gathering now;

He thought of his home with his loved ones nigh,

As the cowboys gathered to see him die.

Again he listened to well known words,

To the wind’s soft sigh and the song of birds;

He thought of his home and his native bowers,

Where he loved to roam in his childhood hours.

“I’ve ever wished that when I died,

My grave might be on the old hillside,

Let there the place of my last rest be—

O bury me not on the lone prairie!

“O’er my slumbers a mother’s prayer

And a sister’s tears will be mingled there;

For ‘tis sad to know that the heart-throb’s o’er,

And that its fountain will gush no more.

“In my dreams I say”— but his voice failed there;

And they gave no heed to his dying prayer;

In a narrow grave six feet by three,

They buried him there on the lone prairie.

May the light winged butterfly pause to rest

O’er him who sleeps on the prairie’s crest;

May the wild rose in the breezes wave

O’er him who sleeps in a prairie’s grave.

And the cowboys now as they roam the plain,

(For they marked the spot where his bones have lain)

Fling a handful of roses over his grave,

With a prayer to him who his soul will save.