Quakers, social justice and revolution

I awoke this morning with a strong leading to issue a call to action to Friends and all who care to proclaim the water situation in Flint, Michigan, has to be addressed immediately. Every minute children are exposed to that poison.   Unfortunately this is not an isolated situation. But it is an acute situation that has the focus of the nation, and if some kind of progress can be made in Flint, we can use that success in these other situations. Rachael Maddow’s show will deal with this, bring further attention.
Please, if every Friend could bring this disaster to their Meeting for action, if every Friend could write a letter to their local paper, these would be steps to engage to end environmental racism.

Another thing Friends can do and encourage others to do is sign the petition from Color of Change to Congress to restore funding for the Center for Disease Control Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention program in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

This is a prime time for us to be talking about racism in our meetings.

Randy Gene Porter was born in Hawaii on January 26,1960, and left us December 26, 2011.

I first met him and the Porter family in 1971 when I moved into the other side of a double that was owned by Second Friends Church, which was next door.  You probably remember his expressive face, and I can’t count how many times I caught him looking at me with an expression that said, “I just can’t figure this guy out.”  We were so different in so many ways.  I wasn’t even 21, yet, a Quaker farm boy from Iowa who didn’t have a clue about the big city.  He was very good at figuring people out, even then, and I think I was a challenge to him.  He taught me so much about life.  The title reflects one thing I resisted.  But he called me bro all the time, and I liked that a lot.  He eventually wore me down, and I started calling him bro, too.  When he came back from his tour around the world when he served in the U.S. Navy, he wrote this, which says “Friend”.

“Friend”

I think it is true that people who are different from each other often have long, strong friendships, because the variety is what keeps things interesting.  He became my best friend, and was ALWAYS there for me.  Anyone who knew Randy knew he was one of those special people who would absolutely never hesitate to help anyone in need.  He was a simple person in the very best sense of the word.  He knew what was important in life, and didn’t waste his time on the rest.

In 1977 I moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, to work in a Neonatal ICU there.  I worked the evening shift, and he liked to mess with me.  He’d wait until my Friday shift was almost over, before calling to say whether he could come visit that weekend.  I’d drive the 2 hours to Indy, and we’d get back to Champaign-Urbana around 4 am.  We’d go to movies, eat, and play soccer.  I missed him during the week.  One way I spent the time was by trying to learn how to draw.  Here is one I did of Randy from a photo.

Randy Porter

Drawing of Randy Porter by Jeff Kisling

I sure miss you, bro.

This picture of the water coming out of the tap in Flint, Michigan, says it all.  For two years, ever since immediately after the city water supply was switched to save money, this is what Flint residents have had to deal with.  The economic privilege of those who made these decisions and refused to address the consequences is morally bankrupt.

And yet the U.S. Congress just passed legislation to block the implementation of the Clean Water rules.  GOP Senator Ernst says “We all want clean water.  This rule is not about clean water. Rather, it is about how much authority the federal government and unelected bureaucrats should have to regulate what is done on private land.”   GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan just wrote an editorial about this being an example government overreach.  Fortunately we have a President who cares about the less privileged, and vetoed that.

The necessity of Black Lives Matter could not be clearer, nor could the blindness of the privileged.

Imhotep Adisa, Director of the Kheprw Institute (KI) in Indianapolis, often says conversation is overrated and I have found that he is correct.  KI has been holding monthly book discussions for several years, which anyone is welcome to participate in.

At one point these discussions were used to teach the KI interns how to think critically, and to develop their leadership and speaking skills by having the interns lead the discussion.  For the discussion of “The New Jim Crow”, Rasul and Keenan would read a couple of chapters, and then write a blog post related to that.  Those blog posts were available for everyone to read prior to the discussion.  Then when the community got together, Rasul and Keenan led the discussion.

The book of course is just the vehicle to generate discussion, and fascinating conversations occur.  People are very respectful of what each other have to say, and everyone has great stories and thoughts to share.  The photos below are from the latest discussion, which was of “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver.  I really enjoyed the new things I learned about food and the environment.  I had been so focused on Keystone and extreme extraction up until now, and was delighted to read these stories of creating local sources of food, and the interrelationships between food and the environmental impacts of growing and transporting it.

North Meadow Circle of Friends is piloting a new program from the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) called the Quaker Social Change Ministry program.  The idea is to find a community that is experiencing injustice, and accompanying them.  Accompany is used to try to avoid the mistakes of the past when Quakers would tend to try to help such communities, but tended to offer help from their perspective, not realizing that perspective is often part of the problem rather than the solution.  Accompaniment acknowledges that those experiencing injustice have a much better idea of the factors involved, and are either working on solutions already themselves, or at least have ideas of what the solutions look like.

In the process of doing these things, such as having these underrated conversations, we are all growing together into Martin Luther King’s vision of a beloved community.

KI community discussion

KI community discussion

Even with the wind chill of 7, people came out to march and rally for Bernie Sanders in downtown Indianapolis today.  I rode my bicycle so I could keep up with the marches while taking photos.  http://1drv.ms/1JY4OzY

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see so many friends from Indiana Moral Mondays, Black Lives Matter and protests for a living wage, and protests against the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) at the march and rally supporting Bernie.  But there were also a great diversity of people who I hadn’t seen on the streets previously.

In a different sense, although we have never met, Bernie is an old friend of mine in that he was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War.  I was granted conscientious objector status, but decided to resist the draft instead, and returned my draft cards.  This shows how long and how deeply Bernie Sanders has been involved.

Climate change threatens the very survival of the human race.  You would think that would be the primary issue in the U.S. Presidential campaign.  That the Republican candidates continue to refuse to even acknowledge climate change makes it difficult to understand why anyone would vote for them.  Voting for them means you don’t care about the current terrible conditions of our air, water, and much of our land, and the increasingly extreme threats we face.

Their differences related to climate are one of many the reasons I support Bernie Sanders instead of Hilary Clinton (the primary reason is because his campaign is about the political revolution that we so desperately need).  He has a comprehensive plan to move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, which is our only hope.

“Right now, we have an energy policy that is rigged to boost the profits of big oil companies like Exxon, BP, and Shell at the expense of average Americans. CEO’s are raking in record profits while climate change ravages our planet and our people — all because the wealthiest industry in the history of our planet has bribed politicians into complacency in the face of climate change. Enough is enough. It’s time for a political revolution that takes on the fossil fuel billionaires, accelerates our transition to clean energy, and finally puts people before the profits of polluters.” — Senator Bernie Sanders

Hilary Clinton is not making this a priority,  as seen in this infographic.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/28/3684667/omalley-vs-clinton-vs-sanders-climate-plans/

Environmental politics also come into play in Indiana and Iowa.  Yesterday a Federal Appeals Court rejected the efforts of a number of governors, include Indiana’s Governor Pence, to block the implementation of the Clean Power Plan.  Our governor continues to support the coal industry over the health of Hoosiers and all of the benefits, including health, more jobs and jobs of the future, and lower costs, of moving to renewable energy.  This is a perfect example of the corruption of politics by money.

And this week fortunately President Obama vetoed legislation related to the Waters of the United States rule which Congress tried to block.

The sponsor of the resolution, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said she would continue to look for ways to undermine the rule.  “We all want clean water,” Ernst said in a statement. “This rule is not about clean water. Rather, it is about how much authority the federal government and unelected bureaucrats should have to regulate what is done on private land.”

That is a perfect example of doublespeak.

Recently experiencing a couple of recent acts of generosity made me think more about that concept, especially in todays often ugly social climate.  I was surprised to find this among the definitions of generosity: “freedom from meanness or smallness of mind or character. “

One act occurred when I lost the screw to my eyeglass frames at work.  Although I was uncomfortable doing so, the glasses were a distraction, so I went to the eyeglass shop Riley Hospital has for its patients.  The person there was very friendly and gladly replaced the screw without charge, and said “come back any time” with a big smile.

Another act occurred in the cafeteria at Riley Hospital yesterday.  The cash register system was down.  Rather than closing the cafeteria, someone made the decision to just give us our lunches free of charge!  I overheard someone say, “that never would have happened at….”

I see that same generosity in the way all of the staff at Riley always go out of their way to be friendly and helpful.  I always notice my colleagues squatting down and engaging our young patients wherever they met them.

It is striking that much of the political dialog could be defined as the opposite of generous.

“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”
― John Holmes

“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

“When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

“Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.  [Verse 223]”
― Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada

“For it is in giving that we receive.”
― Francis of Assisi

Muriel Bivens Mary Mendenhall Owen Crosby Helen Fawcett Ernie Beth Wilson

Indiana Moral Mondays

Congressman Andre Carson flashes me the Peace Sign

Peaceful protest

Peace Vigil

“To be Dakota is to live in peace and harmony with every living thing.”

The book we will be reading for the next monthly community discussion at the Kheprw Institute (KI) is An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (ReVisioning American History) by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

One event in that history was the Dakota War.  As series of events led to conditions in which the Dakota were facing starvation.  Armed conflict eventually occurred but didn’t last long.  Afterwards, the largest mass execution by the United States, the hanging of 38 of the Dakota warriors at the same time took place in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862, on the order of Abraham Lincoln.

To promote healing and reconciliation related to that, the Dakota created a film, “Dakota 38“,  in response to a vision that came to one of them in 2005.  To make the story widely available, the film is distributed free of charge:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pX6FBSUyQI

This is one of the most powerful videos I have ever seen.  We hear what the riders are thinking as they ride their horses on the 330 mile journey to Mankato through blizzard conditions.  Some of the modern day warriors also ran the last 90 miles.

Even though I’d heard (not from the mainstream media) of the large, enthusiastic crowds everywhere Bernie went , I was still surprised to see the IBEW Union Hall at 18th and Meridian completely filled tonight, and with such enthusiastic people of all ages, shapes and sizes.  What is really impressive is this is not a rally, this is a meeting of people who are committed to organizing and working for Bernie’s campaign.  More might have attended, but the Internet event page indicated that the maximum of 350 had been reached.

(I did get permission to use the youngest Bernie supporter’s photo below)

It seems fitting that Martin Luther King Day (today) would be when I would realize that the community we are building at the Kheprw Institute (KI) and North Meadow Friends is what Martin Luther King was referring to as a beloved community.   And isn’t that how we begin to heal and move through processing racial injustice and inequality together?  One thing that has seemed to be missing until I realized this was just what our goal, or our vision was?  Now it seems clear our goal is to fulfill Martin Luther King’s dream, and build beloved communities all over.

“As early as 1956, Dr. King spoke of The Beloved Community as the end goal of nonviolent boycotts. As he said in a speech at a victory rally following the announcement of a favorable U.S. Supreme Court Decision desegregating the seats on Montgomery’s busses, ‘the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opponents into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.'”

“In keeping with Dr. King’s teachings, The King Center embraces the conviction that the Beloved Community can be achieved through an unshakable commitment to nonviolence. We urge you to study Dr. King’s six principles and six steps of nonviolence, and make them a way life in your personal relationships, as well as a method for resolving social, economic and political conflicts, reconciling adversaries and advancing social change in your community, nation and world.”

– See more at: http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy

addendum:  I thought I’d heard the term beloved community recently, and found it when I reviewed the AFSC’s Quaker Social Change Ministry material, so that probably helped trigger this.

KI community discussion

KI community discussion

North Meadow Friends

Benches at North Meadow Friends

Weekly Peace Vigil at Federal Building, Indianapolis

Asking for civil rights protections for Indiana’s LGBT community

Taken during photography during summer camp at the Kheprw Institute