thank you, once again, alice walker

one of my all time literary and personal heroes is alice walker. at 20 years old, in my first year of college, i read "the color purple", and that began my embrace of her writing and spirit that carried me all through my twenties. it has been quite a few years, however, since i have read anything from her, and likewise she has not crossed my thoughts much either. so it is with great joy that i stumbled upon a recent essay of hers about race and the obama campaign. who else but alice walker could write about this crazed campaign season with such grounded perspective and wisdom:

Imagine, if he wins the presidency we will have not one but three black women in the White House; one tall, two somewhat shorter; none of them carrying the washing in and out of the back door...

We have come a long way, Sisters, and we are up to the challenges of our time. One of which is to build alliances based not on race, ethnicity, color, nationality, sexual preference or gender, but on Truth. Celebrate our journey. Enjoy the miracle we are witnessing. Do not stress over its outcome. Even if Obama becomes president, our country is in such ruin it may well be beyond his power to lead us toward rehabilitation. If he is elected however, we must, individually and collectively, as citizens of the planet, insist on helping him do the best job that can be done; more, we must insist that he demand this of us. It is a blessing that our mothers taught us not to fear hard work. Know, as the Hopi elders declare: The river has its destination. And remember, as poet June Jordan and Sweet Honey in the Rock never tired of telling us: We are the ones we have been waiting for.

so here we are. america at a crossroads. humanity at a crossroads. what path will we choose? further destruction, death and extinction...or something else?

another author/activist who i embraced during the 90s was starhawk. one of my favorite stories is her novel "the fifth sacred thing". in this near future world, the san francisco bay area has undergone an "uprising" and has broken free from a totalitarian united states. i haven't read the book in more than a decade, and i have no idea how i would perceive it today. but here is starhawk describing what they did about defense:

After the Uprising, the city recognized that it did not have the resources to both repair its infrastructure, develop the new systems of energy and food production it needed, and mount a standing army.

“We chose food over weapons and so here we sit, lovely but as unarmed as the Venus de Milo.” p.3

They do, however, have a Defense Council, comprised of ‘nine old women who listen and dream.’ Older women were chosen because they were seen as least likely to be carried away by emotion or testosterone. They spend most of their time in deep meditation, watching the currents of probability and weaving a protective, energetic shield for the region.

when i read alice walker's essay today, i immediately imagined her being part president obama's administration, serving on the "defense council". in terms of defense of the united states, this is symbolic of course. but what a beautiful thought, to dream of a u.s. president's administration where the wisdom, courage, compassion and vision of someone like alice walker would even be valued. maybe, just maybe, in the "currents of probability" that are swirling all around us these days, the hope that alice walker would have a role to play is not such a far fetched dream.

to see alice walker speak about her support of obama, check out this video.

oregon afscme endorses obama!

afscme council 75--which represents 22,000 workers in oregon--voted today at its executive board meeting to endorse obama for president. this is a major event given that afscme international which represents 1.4 million workers endorsed hillary clinton back in october 2007. this was a difficult vote, with a lot of debate and strong opinions for and against. but in the end, the vote was nearly unanimous to support the resolution.

a pdf copy of the resolution is here. a news article about it is here.

i am humbled and proud to be a part of this.

yet another nail in the clinton coffin

in a swirl of controversy, geraldine ferraro resigned from clinton's campaign. there have been a lot of "apologists" who have been defending ferraro's comments, insisting that her 40 years of hard work as a "feminist icon" shouldn't be flushed down the toilet. and to all of that, i will just say that ferraro is a political animal, who's comments were calculated and intentional. ferraro--and the clinton campaign--made her bed so she can lie in it.

and what the heck does it mean to be a "feminist icon" in 2008? so many paleo-feminists (glorial steinem, et al) are railing against young women who are not supporting hillary as "confused" and "ungrateful" for all that feminism has given them. but it is actually the straight, rich, white women--ferraro, hillary, steinem--who are "out of touch", because many young women and men understand that in 2008 "feminism" is multi-dimensional, complex and personal, with the intersection of gender, race, socioeconomic status, education, sexual orientation, culture and many other issues. for a real example of young female empowerment, check out the movie "girls rock", which is merely one slice of the infinitely complex reality that is 21st century "feminism".

and then back to the political perspective, keith olbermann captures the issues well, better than i could say it:

the "long tail" of the internet

again and again i keep being reminded of the "long tail" of the internet, the ease with which anyone with an internet connection can search for past statements and actions of public figures. and even as i write this blog, i am conscious of the fact that every word i write is being logged in the world's largest database, courtesy of google, inc (google owns blogger). so, even though i might have only a handful of readers (thanks mom :), what i write will probably outlive me in some database somewhere...

and so it is with a smirk that i see that geraldine ferraro is being skewered by the "long tail" all across the intertubes. there was an intense exchange between the clinton and obama campaigns after ferraro was the latest political figure to show her true colors with these statements:

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

this is in march 2008, but 20 years ago, in 1988, during another presidential campaign, ferraro had this to say about another african-american candidate:

...if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race...

ouch! so, apparently, we can't just dismiss ferraro's 2008 statements as poor judgement or chock it up to a "misunderstanding" from another member of the clinton campaign (she is one of clinton's fundraisers, and speaks often on the campaign trail). no, actually given her statement from 1988, we can dismiss ferraro as one who has been bitter and divisive for decades.

so let that be a lesson to you kids: be careful what you say or write in the information age, because it can and will come back to haunt you, showing your true colors for all the world to see, and for as long as those bits are digitally archived.

has clinton crossed the point of no return?

the clinton camp has been floating the idea of a "dream ticket" with hillary as pres and obama as vp, but obama made it crystal clear yesterday that this would never happen:

"With all due respect, I've won twice as many states as Sen. Clinton. I've won more of the popular vote than Sen. Clinton. I have more delegates," he said. "So, I don't know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who is in first place."

and now nancy pelosi today has drawn a hard line in the sand with the democrats by saying this dual ticket is also impossible:

"I think that the Clinton administration has fairly ruled that out by proclaiming that Senator McCain would be a better commander-in-Chief than Obama," she said.

so, there will be no "dream ticket" with clinton/obama, putting that meme to rest once and for all. the race remains a winner-take-all, last-person-standing fight. with all of the recent statements from other prominent establishment democrats, the sharks are starting to circle, as the impression is emerging that clinton really f*!#ed herself this time by proclaiming bush-dog mccain more ready to be president than fellow democrat obama (and not only once, but repeatedly). and if her campaign keeps hitting obama with these types of attacks, not only will she lose the presidential nomination, but she may be nailing the coffin on the clinton's political career period.

and what has been clear to me and many others for a long time now, if clinton steals this thing, huge numbers of americans who are already hesitant democrats to begin with (myself included) will be willing to turn our backs on the federal democrats forever. only time will tell how this thing plays out, but i will just stay focused on obama's win, just as his campaign has always done, with a 50 state strategy, valuing every vote, every delegate, every dollar, taking nothing for granted, all the way to november.

canvassing at the edge of the world

i've done a fair amount of canvassing in my day, for lots of different issues, politicians, etc... while i can't say that i ever "love" canvassing, usually i will have a couple households that are very supportive and really energize me, and that neutralizes the much larger number of negative and unsupportive households. unfortunately, it has not been so here in texas. almost all of the canvassing i have done here is in white working class/middle class neighborhoods, and i will not sugar coat it, it has been really difficult. i have walked miles in the last couple days, and it has been lonely and discouraging. those few who do support obama tend to mention it to me in hushed tones, almost like they don't want their neighbors to know. and i am pleased to note that the republican households have been polite and respectful for the most part, and have said things like "obama seems like an honorable man, good luck" or "sorry, but i have always voted republican, so i am supporting mccain". but those two types of households have been in the minority, while the clinton supporters and outright racist anti-obama households have been more the norm. and each one of those takes a little wind out of my sails.

yesterday, one of the out of state volunteers (peter, 23, who just graduated from columbia university) got attacked by a white supremest while canvassing. when he mentioned that he was an obama volunteer, the man yelled at him and three his beer bottle at him, shattering it on the wall. then he jumped up and chased him off his property, and even got in his car and followed him further, harassing him. but this didn't deter peter, and after a brief break to shake it off, he was back to finish his canvassing route, and he returned to the obama office and continued working with us until 1am. and he was back at the office first thing this morning, with a smile and determination.

there have been several points over the last two days where i have been walking down these quiet streets, alone and discouraged where i didn't want to continue, didn't want to face any more. i don't remember feeling so out of place, such a stranger in a strange land. walking alone in a foreign country, in a completely different culture never felt this alien to me. and i just had to take a deep breath and push on, reminding myself that the only way out is through, the only break is to finish my list of households and head back to the warm embrace of the obama office, where african american volunteers outnumber any other group and all in the room dream of a brighter future. and the irony of this situation is not lost on me, as an educated white male, a person of high relative privilege--i do not mean to sound like i am complaining. the contrast is just hard to take, and i just have to keep focused on the future and not the past.

bill clinton endorses obama!

in october 2004, bill clinton was on the john kerry campaign trail speaking about the politics of fear (george bush) versus the politics of hope (john kerry). now, it is march 2008 and the hillary clinton campaign is playing on the politics of fear, while the obama campaign is embracing hope and change. so, with a bit of editing, someone has created this nice little video where bill is clearing endorsing obama in 2008!

there will be internet in the obama office

nate from florida, wiring up the campaign
Originally uploaded by nada.cascadia

so after a brief conversation with the obama organizers back at the office, i went back to "the barking dog coffee lounge" and asked them if i could tap into their wireless and beam it over to the obama office. they might have thought i was crazy, but they were willing to let me try. next thing i was on google maps, locating a computer store, jump in the rental car, and two hours later nate and i are running wires in the cafe, and mounting a wireless access point in the window.

(as a side note, nate--in this photo--is getting his phd in engineering in florida, and at 29 he is the oldest of the obama campaign team here in beaumont. he is working on a new type of solar cells that are cheap to manufacture and mass produce, which hold the potential to revolutionize renewable energy. this is the first time he has ever gotten involved in politics. he is working on america's future in two ways, for the obama campaign and for energy independence and sustainability.)

and one block down the street, the obama campaign office is now pulling in the wireless signal that we are transmitting, with the ssid of "obama2008". a little out of the box thinking and a little determination. and after a long day of walking miles and miles, knocking on endless doors (our small volunteer team hit 1000+ doors today, and are expected to visit more than 2000 tomorrow), and some angry texans with comments like "you can tell obama to go back to africa" or "i would rather shoot obama than vote for him", it was damn nice to end our day over a couple beers and a fast internet connection. si se puede!

EDIT: a huge thanks to joey and tanya crawford for supporting the obama campaign with their internet connection, fair trade organic coffee, great music, and yummy sandwiches. i hope their new coffee shop (they have only been open 3 weeks) is successful. it is little connections like these between creative, hard working americans that will win this campaign, from the grass roots to the white house. more of this is what i want for americas future.

stumptown coffee, wireless links and barking dogs

the crawford family
Originally uploaded by nada.cascadia

when i arrived at the 2nd obama campaign office in beaumont this morning, i found a room full of phones and volunteers, but no internet connection. gasp! they had just been donated this big office, but they didn't have the time to secure an internet connection. i have been in this situation many times, so the gears in my mind started to turn...i knew there must be a way...

we went out to do canvassing in a working class neighborhood for a few hot and challenging hours. mid day we stopped back at the office, and i walked down the street to a new cafe called "the barking dog coffee lounge". i grabbed an iced americano, and began chatting the with the owner (joey crawford, in the photo with his wife tanya, co-owner, and their kids). when he found out i was from portland, oregon, he asked me about stumptown coffee (my favorite!). and then i saw that they had highspeed wireless, and the light bulb went on. there now might be a way to get internet to the obama office! to be continued...