Hello Good People,
Like many Americans, I sat with my eyes glued to the television on Sunday night waiting for the mysterious news relating the national security, for which the president had called an unprecedented press conference. My stomach was tied in knots: are we going to war (again)? My mother is traveling abroad, will she be safe? My family is spread across the country, will we be prevented from seeing each other? Did we finally make first contact with alien life?
And then each news channel in turn began reporting that Osama bin Laden had been killed by our government. I felt deflated, and then a growing sense of disgust. I worked for two years at a disaster relief non-profit whose offices overlooked the site of the towers. I remember avoiding Church Street on my lunch breaks so that I wouldn't have to see the tourists with their Century 21 shopping bags posing for pictures with their children in front of the fence that hid what I could clearly see from the window of my 20th floor office: a gaping wound in the earth that still holds the bones of the dead. And I knew what was coming in the morning.
There would be celebrating. Hooting and hollering. Flag-waving and cheering. Everyone so full of joy at the death of a man. But when I look at the pictures and the footage of Mr. bin Laden and try to raise my anger, I find that I cannot. Yes, he masterminded a terrorist attack that almost killed my father, and succeeded in killing thousands of people. Yes, his actions and international persona gave the most powerful country in the world a face for its wars. Yes, he inspired and continues to inspire others to do violence. But I look at those pictures, and I see that footage, and I see a man. Just a man. A weak mouth, a long face, and lovely, sad eyes.
My friend said of the celebrations, "We are so attached to vengeance." And when I look at Mr. bin Laden, I see someone who was also attached to vengeance. And if that does not create room for me to see him as a frail, flawed human - now, a dead human - then what can?
Having experienced my own injustices and physical and emotional violences, I find that I can look around and see so many places in my life that I could seek vengeance. My sister asks me, "Autumn, is there room for a transformative moment in the midst of this?"
And that is the question that still stands.
In this edition of Iambrown:
- Medicine is Media! Support Scholarships for the Allied Media Conference and Buy Herbal Medicine!
- The Great Republic of Rough and Ready is back! May 16th, 2011
- Sharing and Sustainable Economies with Janelle Orsi
- Climbing PoeTree Spring Tour Schedule
- Growing Roots: Peter Maurin & Economics - July 17th--July 23rd, 2011
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Medicine is Media!: Health is Dignity, Dignity is Resistance “Herbal Care Package”
by Good Fight Herb Co.
For an exciting limited time only, donate $50 and receive a special handmade Herbal Care Package. There are only 25 gift packs available, so
order yours now by donating $50 at alliedmedia.org and writing “Healing Justice Track” in the Memo. Follow this
link to go directly to the page. Your donation will help support workshop presenters and health practitioners participate in the health and healing justice track at the Allied Media Conference 2011.
The package includes:
Sleep Tight
A blend to help unwind and get to sleep easily. (Tincture includes valerian, hops, lavender & organic grain alcohol; 15-30 drops 30 minutes before bed; repeat as needed).
Milky Oats
To nourish and restore the nervous system when feeling burned out physically & emotionally. (Tincture includes fresh milky oat tops & organic grain alcohol; 30 drops 3x day or, 30-60 drops as needed).
Say it Loud! Throat spray
(Spray includes: echinacea, goldenseal, propolis, licorice, vegetable glycerin & organic grain alcohol; 3-5 sprays on the back of the throat as needed, or 3-5x day).
Love Your Lips Balm
Protects lips from harsh weather conditions and nourishes dry, cracked and/or chapped areas. (Balm includes: calendula flowers, violet leaves & flowers, coconut oil, almond oil, vitamin E oil, extra virgin olive oil, beeswax, peppermint essential oil. Use freely!)
Donation details:
Shipping is included in the price of the package. Please allow two weeks for shipping.
Donations can be made at http://alliedmedia.org/news/2011/05/05/medicine-media-make-donation-support-healing-justice-track. Follow directions to make a secure donation through Paypal. Please be sure to put “Healing Justice Track" in the memo section. Additional donations are welcome and appreciated.
For more information about the fundraiser, contact Autumn Brown:
autumnmeghan@gmail.comInformation about the medicine maker:
http://goodfightherbco.com/?page_id=2.
Good Fight Herb Co:
http://www.goodfightherbco.com/ Cheers to healing ourselves!
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The Great Republic of Rough and Ready at Cakeshop
Great Republic of Rough and Ready is back, and marking their return to musical society with an exciting show at one of their favorite Lower East Side dives: CAKESHOP.
The Great Republic of Rough and Ready
Performing at Cakeshop
152 Ludlow Street
May 16
9:00 pm
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Sharing and Sustainable Economies with Janelle Orsi
This event and news listing comes from "the sharing lawyer," Janelle Orsi:
Please enjoy the following events and news, and pass this on to friends and colleagues, as well. Everything is just exploding in the realm of sharing and sustainable economies! It's enough to make me THRILLED to live in the future we are creating.
- May 3: Transitioning to a Sharing Economy: A national webinar presented by Janelle Orsi to Transition US, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
- May 7: SHARE San Francisco: Day-long un-conference, with multiple short presentations, sponsored by Shareable
- May 21 or 22: Sharing Economies Panel at Maker Faire, featuring Punsri Abeywickrema, Neal Gorenflo, and Janelle Orsi.
- June 3: Presentation and workshop by Janelle Orsi and Jenny Kassan on the Legal Landscape of Social Enterprise and the Sharing Economy, sponsored by the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network (MCLE credit will be available for attorneys)
- June 18: Janelle Orsi to present keynote at The Sharing Revolution Conference, sponsored by Acterra, Mountain View, CA
In other news:
Watch SELC's new movie: If you haven't seen SELC's 9-minute cartoon,
Economy Sandwich, I encourage you to watch it and share it widely. It is, so far, the most concise way I have found to describe the sharing economy and its related legal riddles. And stay tuned, because SELC has other legal cartoons in the works, including "Local Investing in a Nutshell," staring entrepreneurial
squirrels.
The Sharing Solution: It has been wonderful to hear of many groups that are using Emily Doskow's and my book,
The Sharing Solution (Nolo Press 2009), as a study guide or conversation-starter for building community in their neighborhoods or among friends. Apologies that our blog has been a little inactive lately, but we'd love it if you would join
The Sharing Solution community on Facebook, and share your sharing experiences, thoughts, and ideas!
Forthcoming Sharing Law Book: I'm pleased to announce that Jenny Kassan and I just signed a contract to write a book for the American Bar Association, called Sharing Law: Understanding the Legal Landscape of the Sharing Economy.
SELC's new website: The Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) has launched its new website:
www.TheSELC.org
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Climbing PoeTree Spring Tour Schedule
Employing art as their weapon, medicine, voice, and vision, Alixa and Naima are the soul-sister performance duo Climbing PoeTree. With roots in Haiti and Colombia, Alixa and Naima reside in Brooklyn and track footprints across the country and globe on a mission to overcome destruction with creativity. Having blazed over 600 stages from Oakland to Atlanta, South Africa to Cuba with artists such as Erykah Badu, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Angela Davis, Alicia Keys, Danny Glover, The Last Poets, and Dead Prez, Climbing PoeTree's soul-stirring perfomance interweaves spoken word poetry and award-winning multi-media theater to expose injustice, heal from violence, and make a better future visible, immediate, and irresistible.
Spring Tour Schedule & Forecast of Upcoming Shows
(full details at
www.climbingpoetree.com click "SHOWS")
04.23.11, Madison, WI
UW- Madison Climbing PoeTree performance presented by MeCHA (Chican@ Student Movement of Aztlan) and QPOC (Queer People of Color)
04.27.11, Westchester County, NY
PACE University
Climbing PoeTree performance
04.28.11, Wellesley, MA
Wellesley College
Climbing PoeTree performs in celebration of Earth Day
04.29.11, Newton, MA
Boston College
Climbing PoeTree performance presented by the GLBTQ Leadership Council, United Front, Women's Caucus, SNAP (Society of Native American Peoples), Asian Caucus, Art Club, and African Student Organization
05.01.11, Bar Harbor, ME
College of the Atlantic
Climbing PoeTree performance
05.03.11, Machias, ME
Grange Community Center
The Beehive Collective presents Climbing PoeTree
05.14.11, Nyack, NY
Rockland Gay Pride
A Night of Performance Art at Nyack Center featuring excerpts of "Hurricane Season"
06.03.11, Brooklyn, NY
18th Annual Red Hook Waterfront Arts Festival
Climbing PoeTree performs Hurricane Season excerpts at Dance Theater Etcetera's annual celebration of community and culture At Louis J. Valentino, Jr. Park
06.11.11, Northampton, MA
Smith School for Social Work
Studens of Color Symposium
07.01.11. to 07.03.11, Big Sur, CA
ESALEN- Creative Uprising Writing and Arts Workshop
Combining storytelling, creative writing, and poetic outbursts, Climbing PoeTree will facilitate activities and shared strategies on how art and cultural work can be used at the service of a more just and sustainable world. This will be a 3 day poetry and visual art intensive.
08.03.1, Oceana County, MI
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
Climbing PoeTree will be performing as part of the 31st annual Michigan Womyn's Music Festival: a music and performing arts festival with thousands of womyn in a village inspired by feminist values and built through a unique collective ingenuity
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Growing Roots: Peter Maurin & Economics
July 17th--July 23rd, 2011
New Hope Catholic Worker Farm and Agronomic University
Our second annual, week-long Growing Roots session will focus on the life and thought of Catholic Worker co-founder Peter Maurin and how it pertains to our economic context in the 21st century. Starting on the afternoon of Sunday the 17th and ending on the morning of Saturday the 23rd, our learning will be integrated. Four hours of intellectual labor each day--via lecture, discussion and reading--will be balanced with four hours of manual labor on our 28-acre farm, home to 13 community members (by then, we hope!), a half acre of vegetables and fruits, dairy cows, chickens, bees, springs and streams. There will also be time for prayer, lively meals, rest, bonfires and music.
Guiding our study will be questions of the Life and Thought of Peter Maurin; The Development of Usury; The Spirituality of Peter Maurin; Understanding Capitalism and Globalization; Strategies of Resistance; and more. All participants should plan to bring one of Peter Maurin's Easy Essays to read aloud and discuss. Carolyn Griffeth and Colleen Kelly of the Catholic Worker village in St. Louis will present, along with New Hope Farmers Brenna Cussen Anglada and Eric Anglada. Each participant, however, will be both teacher and learner. A reading list will be sent out in the coming weeks.
All are welcome to attend--whether you live in a Catholic Worker or not.
Housing: Lots of tenting available. Let us know if you are not able to tent and we should be able to work something out.
Cost: Barter, or 50 dollars.
Space is limited. Registration is by phone or in person only:
563.556.0987. No emails.
New Hope Catholic Worker Farm and Agronomic University
6697 Mitchell Mill Rd.
La Motte, IOWA 52054
563.556.0987
