so how was your day?
i went to this amazing speech that some friends insisted i attend. it was all about what we can do versus what we actually do. before you think i'm getting my head shaved, grabbing a tamborine and hitting the airports, let me explain that is was about ways to protest the occupation.
if i had to boil it down to 1 thing it would be this, you know what you need to do. the woman took all these questions from people and they were basically all 'i think i should ___' and the woman would smile and not answer just go on to the next question.
at the end of this, about 30 people, she said 'you are asking me what to do and asking for my permission when it sounds like each of you has an idea of 1 thing you could do.' the point was that you do what you can. it might just be a letter to a senator or it might be taking part in a protest or it might be boycotting those who profit from the occupation but we all know something we can do, we just aren't doing it.
we need to bring energy and creativity back into the peace movement to get it going again.
and to do that, we need to be willing to not just think 'i guess i could do this' but to think 'i can do this.'
you should have seen the effect the woman's words had on everyone. it was like all these light bulbs going off at once. you do your 1 thing and then you get another idea. because peace isn't a 1 time thing but a continous movement.
there was this weirdo that we all thought was fbi because he started trying to bring up violence and was talking like he was jerry garcia when he couldn't have been more than 32. and she kept cutting him off saying she was committed to peace and nonviolence. she used to be a nun and i wondered if that was why she looked and sounded so smooth. even with the weirdo, she didn't lose her cool.
i found her and the speech inspirational.
i'll also recommend 2 pieces from c.i. the 1st is breaking down the 'oh! the horror! poor judy!' miller story. the second 1 is about the operation happy talkers.
