Friday, July 10, 2009

Dear darkaughta...

...I know you're not feeling a hundred percent right at this moment.

I realize you've taken a bit of a beating at the hands of people who clearly do not love, care for or understand you.

Please remember, this is part of what it means to wander and to seek.

We both know that us exiles end up in the strangest places, interacting with the oddest folks, encountering cultures that are mostly alien to who we are.

You do this all the time, girlfriend. This is what you seem to want for yourself, that constant searching for experiences outside your ken. It seems to drive you. You hunger for it.

Encountering ways of being that you don't get or that you find painful or uncomfortable will always be part of your journeys. As a result no one you meet is ever going to do things like relationship or friendship quite in the same way you do.

The overlap, your ways with theirs will ignite and energize you. But these frontier places are also tectonic and volatile. Interior land masses will tend to collide explosively, riding up one over the other. Collision can mean sweat, saliva, juice, semen, flesh, joy. But it can also bring misunderstanding, miscommunication, assumptions, fear and even pain.

I know you.

I know how you move.

I know you're feeling it right...now - the effects of your latest frontier collision/encounter.

There was pleasure. Much. You claimed it. Revelled in it. Wrote it. Spoke it. Held it. Touched it. Full abandon.

But now there is...head shaking, waste, avoidance, silence, turning away, shit, loss.

I see you trying to claim it.

I see you trying to not regret it.

I see you trying to make sense of it.

I see you trying to not run away from it

I see you trying to share space with it.

It rips.

It tears.

It bleeds.

It cuts.

It embarasses.

It abandons.

It touches corechildpasthurt.

It is fucking work.

darkdaughta, I feel how difficult this work is right now. You're wondering if you really need to stray so far from "home" in order to find the ones you seek.

We both know that even in the midst of your hurt, your bruised ego, your annoyance, your doubt, your anger, the answer for us is still a resounding "YES!"

Yes.

You and I will continue.

You will feel whatever it is you need to feel right now.

You will complain about the unfairness of things.

You will curl your lips at the thought of easy going, mindless pretties who do not ask questions or challenge who compete and indirectly aggress.

You will try to make it about another lost and tormented middle passage sib's stupidity and about her ability to inflict pain.

You will try to ignore his culpability and time and time again return to basic facts about who he is and what he chooses that call for him to be accountable, communicative and clear, time and time again.

You will bargain with fate and reality.

You will fantasize and tell yourself little white lies.

You will pretend.

You will struggle.

You will tantrum.

You will moan.

You will masturbate frustratedly and cum furiously.

You will sleep in and hide from the light of day.

You will behave like a baby at home and then shower, dress yourself, colour your face and leave the house each and every day looking like a woman on a mission...because you are.

You have a mission.

You Risk, you Dream, you Seek.

In time you will set whatever boundaries are necessary to offer you increased peace of mind and distance from their world and ways.

As you do, just remember you are special to me. You are deeply loved, profoundly understood, heard and held securely from within. Nothing about that changes.

Go.

Seek.

Find.

Your friend and constant companion,

darkdaughta.



gonna go chain smoke lung cancer sticks now...







The School of the Amerikkkas Watch on Honduras...

Dear darkdaughta,

I write to you today from troubled Honduras.

For the past several days, our delegation has been meeting with the people here who are struggling to peacefully resist the military coup that recently took place. Yesterday we stood with our partners at the U.S. embassy, demanding that the U.S. stop training Honduran soldiers, withdraw its ambassador from the country and pull all American troops out of bases there. You can help us continue the Honduras solidarity work. One of the members of this delegation has generously pledged to match up to $5,000 of your donations.

You have probably already been working hard to help restore democracy in Honduras. Thank you! SOA Watch helped organize a rally with twenty of our partner organizations at the Department of State and many of you joined demonstrations here in DC and around the country.

In just a few days, SOA Watch supporters like you sent tens of thousands of messages to call for the unconditional reinstatement of President Zelaya. I want to personally thank all of those who took the time to send these messages. Now you can take the next step. SOA Watch rapidly shifted gears as a result of the coup and you can contribute to keep our activities going.

I want to let you know that we've been in touch with members of Congress and mobilized support for legislation condemning the coup. We're also helping to host a delegation of Honduran human rights leaders next week. A delegation of human rights organizations will be meeting with the Department of State in a conference that we arranged. To stand in solidarity with the people of Honduras is of the utmost importance, and with your support we can continue.

I've been inspired by our allies here in Honduras who have put so much at risk to defend their democracy, and I'm proud that SOA Watch is able to stand with them throughout their struggle. I hope that you will support us during this crucial time.

Thank you,

Father Roy Bourgeois, MM
SOA Watch



Thursday, July 09, 2009

I liked the chorus for this song...

So I tweaked it...The original "That's not my name" can't be embedded. It's here...

My version is called...


Those aren't my names

I read lots of books just to get me along
It's a gift to me and I never bite my tongue and I
I keep speaking and always be resisting
People around gotta find some new ways now

Power games, everyday the same
Don't wanna be oppressed
Just listen to me, oh yes
I write it all down again and again
But with everything considered
They forget my names ames, ames, ames

They call me bitch
They call me danger
They call me liar
They call me slut
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names

They call me loud girl
But I'm a smart girl
Maybe a weird girl
Never the same
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names

Don't play the game, they expect me to fall
I'm the one who stands back against the wall
Keep defying, their words they keep me fighting
Getting pissed off, no sitting on the fence now

Not alone all the time but I
Lock myself away
Try to listen to myself now
Although I'm dressed up, passing and all with
Everything considered
They don't know my names (ames, ames, ames)

They call me crazy
They call me danger
They call me problem
They call me harsh
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names

They call me bad girl
Never the kind girl
Don't tow the line girl
Never the same
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names
Those aren't my names

Are you calling me "wifey"?
Are you calling me minion?
Are you calling me "low class"?
Are you calling me "stupid"?





Context supplied via Code Pink...

July 9, 2009

Dear Tenacious,

As the media shines its spotlight on the death of one celebrity this week, so many other profound losses go unreported-particularly those civilians killed by unmanned US drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since 2006, unmanned drone attacks have killed at least 14 Al Qaeda leaders and approximately 700 civilians--a 50:1 ratio of innocent victims to targeted enemies
(watch Brave New Films' latest videos on civilian casualties and the impact of war on women). Since the news isn't covering this, we need to be the media ourselves.

Won't you write a letter to the editor? You can use our template or craft your own words of outrage to educate your community about drones and encourage others to speak out against their use and the tragedy and destabilization they bring to the region. Click here to get started (it will only take 3 minutes)!

And spread the message to your online community!
Tweet this: When Drones Attack ... http://twitpic.com/9pyqa
or this: Is the US flaming extremism with its drones? http://bit.ly/BHfs7
or this: Generals agree...ground the drones! http://bit.ly/RB2ee
Facebook status update: When drones attack...civilians die. http://twitpic.com/9pyqa

This week also saw the death of war criminal Robert McNamara, who lied to us into war in Vietnam. He later regretted masterminding our military involvement there, but that does nothing to heal the deep pain left in its wake. The death of seven more US soldiers in Afghanistan continues to highlight the futility of war and its horrific costs. Afghanistan and Pakistan are now Obama's wars, wars he will likely one day regret. Like Vietnam, they are wrong.

Generals and other military officials, including David Kilcullen, former adviser to General David Petraeus, have spoken out against the US use of drones. "They've given rise to a feeling of anger that coalesces the population around the extremists and leads to spikes of extremism," Kilcullen said before the House Armed Services Committee. Yet the US State Department continues to deny the attacks and our tax dollars continue to fund them! Read more about what Generals, CIA and others have been saying about drones and stability in the region.

We need to raise awareness about these inhumane, unjust military practices, funded by our taxes. Some of our brothers and sisters in the peace movement are putting not just their words, but their bodies, on the line to stop drones. On July 13, CODEPINK is partnering with other activists, including the illustrious Father Louis Vitale, to hold a Ground the Drones! vigil at the gates of Creech Air Force Base near Indian Springs, NV, where the drones are operated via remote control. To find out more click here and follow us on twitter and read our blogs!

Thank you for joining us in saying, loudly, "There's no place for drones or war in creating peace and dignity in our world!"