Things are going bump in the night! Shit! Here comes the future! I am responding to fellowship deadlines like a deer in the headlights. Today was the first really craptastic rainy day in the Twin Cities, and even though i had a great time lounging around on the couch with Jon and Charles, it made me start to think seriously about what's going to happen when it's time to make like a banana and split. Actually, I still have faith that if I do not very much right now I'll still turn out okay; it's just that I don't want to neglect great opportunities like the Watson just because I couldn't get my act together.
Went to another peace protest on Sunday. Protests here in the Twin Cities are small and heartening compared to the tumultuous crowds of DC. For some reason that day I was particularly irked by the fuzzy messages sent by conflicting signs, chants having to do with fascism and flags that proclaimed nothing more than rainbows. When you are trying to convey the clear message of "bring the troops home now," I no longer feel that it is productive to use symbols like that...having rainbows on your side automatically antagonizes those with whom you're trying to reckon as "anti-rainbow." It's like responding to a fire with calls for "justice" instead of bringing water. Although I relish the motley that shows up, and the comraderie that tends to grow, I sort of would like to make certain protests a venue where the "normal" people can show their faces without being ashamed or associated with unbathed bearded men shouting profanities. I think the very "liberalness" of liberal movements stands to scare away many would-be followers. I also went to a bike film festival on Friday. There was one particularly long one that had people in black sweatshirts bike really fast through construction sites, up one way streets the wrong way, and whizzing past disgruntled pedestrians while loud punk music blared through the speakers. Don't get me wrong, it was really cool, but if the bike movement wants to be taken seriously, we can't say that "taking back the streets" means acting like a jerk. Otherwise, bikes are the shit, and even though I groan about how much time this job has taken thus far, I wear my cuts and bruises and bike grease with pride. My friend Claire, who managed to make every program she touched bloom and flourish into something incredible, is going to be biking from Santiago to Quito (4000 km) on a grand tour of schools and villages to talk about climate justice. Damn.
Went to another peace protest on Sunday. Protests here in the Twin Cities are small and heartening compared to the tumultuous crowds of DC. For some reason that day I was particularly irked by the fuzzy messages sent by conflicting signs, chants having to do with fascism and flags that proclaimed nothing more than rainbows. When you are trying to convey the clear message of "bring the troops home now," I no longer feel that it is productive to use symbols like that...having rainbows on your side automatically antagonizes those with whom you're trying to reckon as "anti-rainbow." It's like responding to a fire with calls for "justice" instead of bringing water. Although I relish the motley that shows up, and the comraderie that tends to grow, I sort of would like to make certain protests a venue where the "normal" people can show their faces without being ashamed or associated with unbathed bearded men shouting profanities. I think the very "liberalness" of liberal movements stands to scare away many would-be followers. I also went to a bike film festival on Friday. There was one particularly long one that had people in black sweatshirts bike really fast through construction sites, up one way streets the wrong way, and whizzing past disgruntled pedestrians while loud punk music blared through the speakers. Don't get me wrong, it was really cool, but if the bike movement wants to be taken seriously, we can't say that "taking back the streets" means acting like a jerk. Otherwise, bikes are the shit, and even though I groan about how much time this job has taken thus far, I wear my cuts and bruises and bike grease with pride. My friend Claire, who managed to make every program she touched bloom and flourish into something incredible, is going to be biking from Santiago to Quito (4000 km) on a grand tour of schools and villages to talk about climate justice. Damn.
posted by Sandy at 12:06 AM
1 Comments:
cognitive dissonance: When there's a fire we need water, not justice. But when there's global warming, we need climate justice? What does that even mean?
I assume it has to do with how rural (poorer) people will be more affected by rising global temperatures than urban (richer) people who depend less on the immediate environment for sustenance.
Also I'm glad we share the same opinions on peace protesters and cycling anarchists but I don't have anything clever to say about it.
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