Dena Eakles

Tenacity

It is thought that ancient Greek and Chinese philosophers agreed on this saying; “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine”.

And it is always hopeful to see the wheels turn…

After one hundred years, the last two known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 may live to see justice. A few months ago, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit brought by Viola Fletcher, 110, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109 as they sought justice in the brutal massacre they observed as children. But tenacity and justice work hand in hand and the US Department of Justice has launched a review of the two-day white supremacist massacre.

Reports in 1921 estimated thirty-six deaths, but time has a way of counting what racist cover-ups won’t allow. It’s now estimated the Black Wall Street Massacre took the lives of over 300 people and injured more than 800. Following the rampage, 35 city blocks of the Greenwood District – a thriving Black community – smoldered in flames and wiped out 1200 homes, businesses, schools and churches. The white mob who wreaked terror on the community included authorized deputies. Turpentine bombs were dropped from planes, the white mob looted the stores, and hospitals turned away the injured.

We now know that thousands of Greenwood residents were then forced into internment camps as the National Guard watched over them and as their families members were buried in mass graves. No one was arrested or convicted of the crimes. No insurance was given.

Viola and Leslie are the last known survivors of this insidious violence – one of the worst against Black people in our history. Making this grind of justice even better; it was John Lewis who ushered in the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007, allowing cold cases of violent crimes against Black people, before 1970, to be reopened.

Thank you to the love, tenacity and humanity that ensures the wheels of justice grind on.

May we all overcome the ignorance of hate.

And while we are thinking about injustice and violence – #FreePalestine

Two Wings, Same Bird

If you have not realized that the United States is completely backing Israel’s crimes against humanity that began with Gaza, moved to the West Bank and now extends to Lebanon, then I ask you to wake from slumber.

The United Nations has been consistent in its condemnation of Israel and the Biden administration has continued to use “defense” as a cover for Israel’s brutal destruction of communities and all-out murders. It has been nearly one year that we have been witness to this genocide. It has been nearly one year that the United States has given diplomatic cover and billions of dollars to the terrorist nation which Israel has become.

As we remain divided between the two wings of the same bird, we are unable to stand united against crimes against humanity. In this case, the two wings are the GOP and the Dems, and the bird is militarism. The winds that keep the wings afloat are the lobbying dollars of the war industry and of the nations who benefit from the wars of resource and land theft.

Our politicians are bought and sold while our humanity wallows in moral decay.

The political arena is a circus with celebrated clowns, including the so – called third parties that emerge every four years adding confusion to an already broken system. And if you look closely, you can see that international players choose our election cycles to wreak havoc on innocent human beings – as we willingly comply by ignoring the essential for the macabre.

And what is the essential? Essential is the recognition of the primary needs of every human being: clean food, water, air, shelter and the possibility of peace.

Polls show the majority of us want a ceasefire. It’s time we demand it.

Let us fly on the wings of peace.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for Ceasefire which the US has blocked. Now as we witness Israel’s unchecked bombing of Lebanon, the US and “allies” are calling for a three week ceasefire. We must ensure that Biden does not tell us again how “tirelessly” he is working for ceasefire. We must demand it.

“Lebanese Civilians Are Paying the Price” https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/25/lebanon_aya_majzoub

Cutting Our Ties to Terror

A new terror has descended on the world as Israel unleashed the simultaneous explosions of pagers followed by a second day of explosions of walkie talkies in Lebanon.

Israel’s defense minister claims this is a “new era” in Israel’s war effort. The simultaneous pager explosions on Hezbollah fighters killed at least thirty-seven and wounded 3400. Hospitals were overwhelmed by amputees, eye injuries and more. The second day of attacks came through walkie talkies and killed at least 20 and injured 450. And while Israel is not claiming the second round of explosions, this new form of terror and dominance is rocking Lebanon, the region and the world.

The United Nations Human Rights chief said this, “Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings… violates international human rights law and… international humanitarian law.”

And now the question falls to us, the citizens of the United States, whose government has for the past eleven months supplied Israel with war machines and money to carry out what is being denounced world-wide as crimes against humanity, what will we do?

Will we continue to allow our government free reign in support of the terrorist regime that Israel has become? Or will we demand peace? If we believe the story line that Israel needs our help in self – defense, then when do we acknowledge the need of those who are being illegally attacked as needing the same kind of defense?

The entire argument is insane. War will never bring peace. Supporting violence will only beget violence. The Biden administration would do well to cut ties with terror.

And we would be wise to ensure it.

By Al Jazeera English – Growing Up in Gaza, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17512081

Listen to Bernie and learn why we need to stop sending Israel supporters he introduces a resolution to block another $20 billion arms sale to Israel. He says, “We must end our complicity in the immoral & illegal war against Palestinians.”

I agree.

Where Are the Voices for Peace

Thousands of dead, millions displaced and stalled peace talks. These are the headlines out of Sudan. Aid trucks are not given adequate passage to reach innocent women and children and the story of war repeats itself ad nauseum.

The same story plays out as Israel now invades the West Bank. Palestinians refer to this as another Nakba. And the cries for ceasefire continue to be ignored and the world continues to watch and the United States continues to fund this genocide. Some watch in horror, some with disregard.

Most disconcerting are the proclamations of the leaders. In Sudan’s case, Al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army refuses to attend peace talks and has said that the fighting will continue for 100 years and there will be no forgiving the Rapid Support Forces as the civil war wages on.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Katz calls for the mass displacement of Palestinians in what had been the more secure West Bank. He wrote, “We need to deal with the threat exactly as we deal with terror infrastructure in Gaza…This is a war for everything and we must win it,”.

Somewhere, somehow, someone must find a way to stand for peace. People are following these ruthless leaders. Soldiers willingly give their time, bodies and lives for senseless power grabbing greed.

Somewhere, somehow, someone must stand for peace.

The United States has been among the many powers who have led by force. We have touted war as a means of achieving peace. There can be nothing more ridiculous and insane.

Sudanese and Palestinian people are the latest victims in the human history of conquest and violence. When we finally work as hard for peace as we do for war, this dynamic will change.

Check out these voices for peace:

The Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice – a network of over eighty organizations advancing a sustainable world free from violence and injustice.

The Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine – a coalition of over eighty organizations working towards ceasefire in Palestine and a US arms embargo to Israel.

And for a personal dive into our humanity and peace: The Prem Rawat Foundation’s Peace Education Program

You can listen to my conversation with Palestinian American Muhammad Kharbush, “And Still They Survive.” Born in 1948, the year of the Nakba, Muhammad gives his oral history of the past 76 years. Thanks to WDRT studio.

Our Diversity is Our Strength

I believe and often say, “Our diversity is our strength”. Now that has become a tag line of the Democratic Party. If you think about it, that wasn’t something that could have been said by many candidates throughout our history. It is hard to accept diversity when you are not accepting the differences among us. It is hard to champion diversity when the push towards status quo sameness is drilled into us from birth. It is impossible to honor diversity when fear of other is used from the pulpit and political soap box to provide scape goats for the powerful to hide behind.

But there it was, loud and clear, “Our diversity is our strength”. Words are easy to mimic; more difficult to understand and nearly impossible to bring to fruition. But here it is, a clarion call to the wise to recognize what Nature has always taught. We are here because of what has come before and what will come after. We’re intrinsically tied to all living things. When one is elevated, we’re all elevated. And while we may not recognize it, when one is harmed, we too, are harmed.

The United States has been an experiment in humanity and we are by all accounts in a critical moment. Can we the people, recognize the value of “the other”. Can we care for “the other”?

Our collective history is fraught with genocide of Indigenous peoples, slavery and other ongoing racial injustices. Our debates about helping immigrants is hypocritical and ironic, given the reality that most of us are born of settlers who infiltrated this land and its peoples.

Thought has its own evolution. And while the ideals of unity, compassion and caring are not new, maybe the time has come for their acceptance. Perhaps a wider audience is now ready for a new reality that’s not merely lip service. Time and actions will tell.

And high on the list must be the end of the apartheid of Palestinian people. We must end racism here and we must not support any forms of it throughout the world. Come on DNC, honor what the vast majority of our citizens want: #CeasefireNow and stop supplying Israel with war machines. Anything less is the continuation of a ruthless and inhuman history. This is now ours to change.

We are waking up.

I remain hopeful. Do the right thing.

When Silence is Betrayal

The United States has contracted a $20 billion arms sale to Israel to be granted over the next few years. This, while Biden is “hopeful” that a ceasefire can be reached. This, while Iran and Hezbollah have said if a permanent ceasefire is reached, they’ll stop attacking. This, while Netanyahu continues his bloody rampage on innocent civilians and refuses a permanent ceasefire. A permanent ceasefire would bring the end to genocide. A permanent ceasefire would allow for the return of Palestinians who were forced to leave since the Nakba.

A permanent ceasefire would demand the Israeli troops leave Gaza and allow the Palestinian people to find their dead, bury their dead and begin to rebuild their homeland and their lives.

The indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza has been calculated and intentional. The destruction and theft of Palestinian homes in the West Bank by illegal Israeli settlers is also intentional.

The majority of the world are rejecting the genocidal extreme right-wing government of Israel. Most have recognized this onslaught of violence towards Palestinians amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Only the United States administration and Congress have remained unequivocally tied to the murderess regime. (See this map of countries that recognize Palestine statehood.)

It’s said the United States is protecting its interests. What interests are these that require the slaughter of 17,000 children – that we are aware of – and it is likely that too many more lay under the rubble that were once homes, communities, schools, mosques and hospitals.

The spin has been as intentional as the bombing. Polls show an increasing number of citizens demand a ceasefire and oppose more military aid to Israel. We are the majority and our government – all sides – would do well to oblige our demands.

May the peace talks in Doha, bring a permanent ceasefire, a return of all hostages and prisoners, a free Palestine and steps towards peace for everyone in the region.

Dance With the Land

The roosters crow and chickens run for cover. The sheep meander through the old orchard happy to find apples that have dropped. The deer also munch away putting on their winter weight. They seldom run from us now; it’s more like a saunter. The squirrels chastise my cat and dog as we walk by. They’re looking for walnuts to hide. But the pets are oblivious to their nasty banter and hurry on. Everyone has a purpose and with focused attention they get to it.

These are the simple pleasures of living on the land. This time of year, while the garden is in full production and the work is seemingly endless, a swell of gratitude begins.

The days are gradually shortening and the morning air carries a bit of crispness. The rhythm of life calls us to slow down and feel the beauty. In a blink the seasons will change and a whole new wonder will emerge.

But for now, I revel in the glory of abundance. And I cannot help but think of the people world over who are being forced from their homelands – either by Nature or by the destructive will of humankind. My compassion is aroused because I know the simple pleasures of living on the land and how each individual has their own unique dance with it, wherever they are. The feel of the earth beneath our feet, the triumph of a garden, the sweetness of shepherding life…to have that ripped away is inhuman.

Colonizers and land thieves may never know what it is to live simply. The stolen land is soaked in blood and tears and while it may produce for them, the stain of violence will linger. Generational trauma will haunt the violent perpetrators and continue to suffer the victims. And those who looked away or supported the violence will not escape the judgement of history. The guilt of association poisons.

Human hearts are not designed for duplicity. And joy cannot thrive where hatred dwells. We have yet to discover the option of peace. The option waits.

Restore Human Dignity

For decades, we allowed the narrative regarding Israel to dominate our thinking and our choices. In doing so, we allowed the humanity of Palestinians to be diminished. We have turned our eyes as Israel developed a system of control that included water rationing, check points, blocked access, settler theft of Palestinian land, homes and sovereignty, bogus arrests and mistreatment of children and so much more. Israel is and has been an apartheid state.

For the past ten months we continued our path of complicity during the inhuman and illegal crimes against humanity that Israel has waged on the Palestinian people since the horrific attack by Hamas.

The more I learn, the more painful the reality. Biden has given more military aid to Israel than any president before him. Supporting Israel’s right to defend itself does not extend to mass slaughter of civilians. As the nations of the world have increasingly moved towards censoring and boycotting Israel because of its crimes against humanity, the United States alone has declared unwavering support for the roque nation. In doing so, we condone genocide. In doing so we prolong the human misery and relinquish any path towards peace.

I am not going to quote numbers of dead, missing, or injured (but you can read it here). I have done that weekly since October. It does not seem to move our hearts, nor do we act to end the madness.

Last week far too many Congress members applauded the war criminal Netanyahu in a joint session of Congress. It seems our citizens are more concerned with bashing the Olympic opener then ending our relationship with the butcher Netanyahu. This self proclaimed “Christian nation” is awash in hypocrisy.

VP Harris has distanced herself from Biden’s lock step with Israel. It is up to us to make sure that distance widens. The U.S. military aid to Israel must end quickly as Netanyahu seems determined to drive the Mideast into a regional war.

Keep applying pressure on Biden and Harris to recognize a free Palestine and to restore human dignity and independence – for all of us.

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/not-another-bomb-sign-on-letter/

NOT ANOTHER BOMB sign on letter.

Kissing a War Criminal’s Ass

The brag on Capitol Hill is that Netanyahu has now addressed the joint session of Congress more times than Winston Churchill. For nearly ten months, the extremist right-wing prime minister has extracted civilian punishment on the people of Gaza for the attack by Hamas that killed 1200 and took 240 hostages. The Palestinian death toll nears 40,000 with many believing it’s closer to 186,000.

The indiscriminate slaughter of innocents, predominantly women and children, and the very targeted murders of journalists, professors, and medical personnel along with the total destruction of infrastructure has led to the accusations of crimes against humanity.

Recently the head prosecutor of the International Court of Justice applied for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. The process could take months. But the starvation, dehydration and epidemics ravaging displaced Palestinians means the people are running out of time.

Biden has been in lock step with Netanyahu while the majority of our citizens have demanded immediate ceasefire and are now calling for an arms embargo. Yet the joint session of Congress invited this war criminal to speak. Bibi didn’t offer anything new. He didn’t accept Biden’s offer to secure a ceasefire and his cabinet last week rejected the suggestion of a two-state solution.

Kudos to the over 100 legislators who boycotted the speech. Their refusal to stand and applaud a war criminal was patriotic and human. Bravo to the thousands of humans, including the hundreds pepper sprayed and arrested, for daring to expose the depravity of genocide and our complicity with it.*

Biden still has time to rectify his inhuman support of an unhinged prime minister. He has the capacity to pressure Israel to end this madness. It’s up to each of us to demand he do so.

Since the initial writing of this piece, the main stream media news has shifted to condemn all Pro-Palestinian protesters, who stood up against our Joint Session of Congress welcoming a war criminal, and who have for the past 10 months demanded a ceasefire on innocent civilians and an end to US military support of Israel – as agents of Hamas and Iran.
These are blatant lies demonizing college students, rabbis and all people of conscience who have from the beginning challenged US complicity in this genocide – because of a few.
My writings since the horrific attack by Hamas on Oct 7, have never supported Hamas. Not will I ever support the actions of the right-wing Netanyahu and the illegal settlers that are displacing and killing Palestinian people.
We must rise to our humanity and stop allowing intentional media driven storylines to destroy the anti-violence, and anti-war – for all peoples’ sake. Palestinians, Israelis and us. We must STOP aiding Israeli military. NO MORE BOMBS for GENOCIDE.

We Are Groomed

We are groomed. From our toothpaste to our choice of presidents and everything in between we are groomed. From blue to pink, trucks and dolls, prince and princess we are sold a way of life that we accept.

The unity that everyone is suddenly seeking is not a unity of plurality. It is a unity of homogenization.

Pundits and tricksters are clever at finding weaknesses and preying on the vulnerable. We are still falling for the “pick yourselves up by the bootstraps” mentality and we are willing to line up behind those who tell us they have succeeded.

We’ve stopped teaching our children about universality and wisdom. We teach right and wrong and demonstrate that wrong is often right.

We brag about our exceptionalism, salute the flag and honor those who died for our freedom, but are quite willing to sacrifice those same freedoms to someone who willingly admits he would be an autocrat.

And of course, the flip side of the coin holds the same empty rhetoric but is geared towards those who fear evil – but not enough fear to really want to see change.

Because what would change mean?

Change would mean finding ways that work for all of us. It would mean building communities, not tearing them apart by militarized police.

Change would mean understanding we are part of a global humanity and the family of man is faced with consequences of climate change and wars that are causing migration the world over.

Change would mean recognizing that capitalism and empires have wounded us so we may begin to actively and consciously dismantle those crippling enterprises. While we’re at it, let us begin with defunding Israel and demanding the end to its apartheid regime.

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” Camus

Author: Dena Eakles