Tag: Courage

What Matters Most

The house of cards is crumbling. And for many, the overwhelm is taking its toll. We’re being forced to admit that our racist and murderous history is not simply in our past, but is and has been ever present. We have a choice. Those who cheered on this grotesque turn, are either in continued support of it, or are in full blown regret. Some are paralyzed by the fear of what we’re witnessing and now reckon with their participation in creating it.

Those who rejected and continue to resist the ICE raids on families, the disappearance of children, the murder of fisherman and the dismantling of our government’s checks and balances also have choices. Paralysis is not a choice. It’s capitulation. We can give up, assuming it’s too late and too hard to change – or we can continue to resist.  

And this is the tricky part; how do we resist? 

Knowing what matters most to us as individuals and collectively is our way out. Respecting ourselves and each other, caring for and listening to each other and acting with the confidence of people who know that the power we inherently carry will triumph. 

The sun always dispels darkness. We have power that we have yet to tap. Not the power of conquistadors, but the power of seeds yet to be planted and harvested. We have all allowed this ignorance to reign and now it is our time to choose differently. We can discover and nurture our strengths. There’s great power in resilience, in clarity, in the ability to circumvent doubt. There is worthy power in aligning with compassion and empathy. And there are powers no one will ever dominate: our ability to love and to feel gratitude. These are the seeds of our becoming.

Nurture what matters most. 

The Evin Prisons Bakers’ Club, Surviving Iran’s Most Notorious Prisons in 16 Recipes by Sepideh Gholian is a hard hitting look at the life of women political prisoners in Iran – their courage, sorrows, joys and triumphs told by one who has survived and thrives.

This Changing the Narrative podcast is translated by Fatemeh Jamalpour. Reading the book and engaging in this conversation with Sepideh has deepened my humanity and encouraged my resistance. Take time with this. 

The Evin Prisons Baker’s Club with author Sepideh Gholian

Dismantling the Master’s House

When Audre Lorde wrote, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” the door opened again to the dismantling of the systems that oppress us – if we let them.

And just what is the master’s house? The patriarchy that continues to subjugate women the world over are the pillars. In the walls are hidden the abuse of women and children and the inhumane secrets of generations. The floors are made of capitalism dependent on extreme extractions of the earth and of human blood, sweat and tears.  And religions, that abandon simple truths in order to align with power, are the roof of the master’s house. The master’s house is a tight little package that we have accepted and we continue to support – until we don’t.

And what are the tools that we should not use to dismantle this prison? The lies of scarcity, that there is not enough; that life is about ‘dog eat dog’ and ‘might is right’. That heaven can only be found in dying and life is about sacrifice and pain and that we are separate from one another and all Creation.  These are the tools the master has used to build his house. 

What then are the tools to dismantle this prison? Knowing who you are is key. Recognizing the preciousness of life and the connection we all carry to our Creator and to one another sweeten the effort of dismantling. Love and compassion are our strengths. Courage and clarity are essential. And the hope that is born on this effort is never forsaken. It carries on.

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free”. Let us join the host of human beings who have traversed this course. Enough of inhumanity. It’s time we depart the master’s prison and bring the willing home. 

For inspiration, courage and clarity:

Fannie Lou Hamer – “Until I am Free You are Not Free Either”

Angelou “No One of Us is Free until Everybody’s Free“

There Are More of Us

While I was handing out “No Transmission Corridor” flyers, I learned again the adage, ‘There are more of us’. The majority of folks didn’t know about Dairyland’s proposal to bring what would be the highest transmission line in Wisconsin through the Driftless, but they were glad to find out, and thanked me for letting them know.

There were a few who didn’t care, but they learned something that will hopefully be nagging at them as they drive through our precious landscapes. And of course there were the very, very few who weren’t opposed to it – not for it, but not opposed to it. They’re the ones who don’t court independent thinking and are content not rocking the boat. But nonetheless, there it was again – that sweet knowing that we are the majority. 

We, the ones who care, the ones just waiting for that precious piece of knowledge and inclusion that allows us to stand for something. The ones who are still capable of feeling dignity and who love the earth unquestioningly. 

Corporate media has done a great job keeping us placated and ignorant. We’ve been fed lies about what is necessary and what is progress for decades. We’ve been told what is inevitable and have lost our clarity and our voice in the process. 

But now as we witness lies exposed, as we learn of neighbors viciously stripped from families and communities, as we see the extend the powerful will go to hide the grooming and raping of children, and as our earth is rocked by extraction, we are also witness to the rise of this: There are more of us. And I say bring it on.

Use time wisely. Look for people who want to know. Let’s widen the circle of our humanity with those who are waiting to be invited.

AND IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

“Another packed night, with probably over 600 people coming out in Charlotte, NC to be trained to join the safety patrols who are fanning out across the city each day to make sure that everyone can get to work and school safely… and home again at night. 
Every night, hundreds more people come out to find out how to plug in. 
And while CBP and ICE expanded their operations to other cities, so did we.” – Gwen Frisbie – Fulton

Read about the COP30 Climate Summit with over 1,000 Indigenous people registered for the event and their impact.

Survivors speak out in this video: World Without Exploitation. Bring abuse out of the shadows.

And learn more how to protect the Driftless: