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Natural
Resistance: Crossing Divides: It is a time to
love beyond borders.
Viewpoint:
All We Are Saying: Remembering the peacemakers, artists and
dreamers.
Living Out: One World: Even during mourning
we can celebrate our community and our connection.
Letters:
EW readers sound off.
Crossing
Divides:
It
is a time to love beyond borders.
Sept. 10, 4 am, Idaho. A wolf howled as Orion lay glittering on
his enormous side in the black sky, above the
meadow's black spruce border. This had been a lifetime dream of mine:
to hear a wolf call in its own, wild lands.
The wolf was almost certainly a member of the so-called
Chamberlain Pack that works, plays, and raises young in the wild Chamberlain
Basin of northern Idaho. But only recently. After wolves were entered
onto the list of U.S. endangered species, the Idaho Legislature forbade
Idaho Department of Fish and Game from reintroducing wolves to Idaho.
The Nez Perce Tribe stepped into Idaho's Euro-American void, saying
they would accept responsibility for wolf reintroduction, because
they felt connections with the wolf. The response of wolves has been
joyful.
Sept. 11, 6 am, Idaho. People were dying in
New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania as I was making my way
down to the Salmon River through dawn and grasses of a 1,000-foot
slope. I didn't hear these 6,000 people dying. I didn't hear them
phoning. But they did make a connection with all of us.
Sept. 24, Boston. A chemicals policy strategy
meeting has brought toxics reform activists from around the country.
These activists are not mentioning other species. When I question
this, they say the people among whom they organize care about humans.
The cover of one organization's pamphlet features American children's
hands. The organizer says she wants to distance her campaign from
people advocating for endangered species, because some people don't
like that.
A memory appears in my mind from five years earlier:
A large black-and-white photo of a newly-hatched shorebird, standing
to face the water's edge. I had been watching and liking the photo,
when I suddenly noticed that the little shorebird had no eyes. It
had been born, an American child, among California's Central Valley
farming toxics. There are many ways to not see.
Sept. 25, Washington, D.C. On an airport TV,
a man is talking about the brother he lost while I was hiking down
that Idaho slope. Photos of his smiling, happy brother are being displayed.
I think, what would happen to war if people from a country we were
bombing could talk with us each night on TV, about the brother, the
child, the girlfriend they had just lost? They would show us photos
of their loved ones on their birthday, standing by a lake, smiling.
What would happen to our toxics campaigns if we acknowledged
that wolves and shorebirds are our brothers?
There are things we must draw upon in our country
right now:
A differentiated imagination. Author-therapist
James Hillman refers to this as polytheism, the imagination of many
gods. Imagining from the other side of divides. Watching ourselves
from an Afghan desert, an Idaho forest basin, a Central Valley wetland.
Knowing there are multiple kinds of evil, and there are many ways
to be terrorists.
Our gut knowledge that everyone is connected.
We are connected to the feelings of people in an Afghan desert and
a shorebird who cannot see. We are connected to giant buildings and
wolves. We are connected to poverty that devours hope and consumption
that devours life. We are connected to the disappearance, the extinction
of every being. We are connected to the ways we love, and to those
we have forgotten to love.
A will to speak out and act on the basis of
history and ecology. The history of America as written by an Idaho
wolf, a Palestinian youth, a child who lost a parent Sept. 11. The
ecology of hope and violence. The ecology of world trade and wetlands.
The history of being composed of both stardust and microorganisms.
The history and ecology of how all these are connected.
It is not a time to forget history and ecology. It
is not a time to fail to hear those who live across any divide, because
they are calling. It is a time to love beyond borders.
One world, indivisible, for all: wolves, shorebirds,
Arabic people, Native Americans, Euro-Americans, and spruce.
Mary O'Brien has worked as a public interest scientist
for the past 20 years. Her new book, Making Better Environmental Decisions:
An Alternative to Risk Assessment, has been published by The MIT Press.
She can be reached at mob@efn.org
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All
We Are Saying
Remembering
the peacemakers, artists and dreamers.
Tuesday, Oct. 9 will be John Lennon's 61st birthday.
Like everyone else, I've been pretty depressed
about the horrors of the past month: attacks on Washington and New
York, spiraling cycle of hatred, impending war. They arrived amid
the continuing crises: the collapse of the peace processes in Palestine
and Northern Ireland, global environmental destruction. Then there
are the tragedies most of us don't even think much about anymore:
Colombia, Congo, Tibet, and so many others.
Closer to home, our government takes from the needy
(decades of cuts in housing and other anti-poverty programs) to give
to the greedy (the tax cut that will exacerbate our accelerating inequality,
policies that encourage monopoly and oligopoly, corporate domination
of the government). Not content with abusing its own, at the behest
of Big Oil and other big-money interests, my government props up repressive
regimes in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and elsewhere, contributing to the
kind of popular anger that sparked last month's unjustifiable atrocities.
It seems like it doesn't matter how often someone
says "Love thy neighbor," or "I have a dream" or "Give peace a chance"
-- be good to each other , dammit -- someone else
raises the fist, the club, the gun. Box cutters or laser-guided bombs,
we get better at it every day.
Then a day comes along that reminds you of
one of the blessed exceptions. It happens for many at religious holidays
or Martin Luther King Day. And it happens again Tuesday. He was born
Oct. 9, 1940 -- during an air raid. No demigod, Lennon was an
imperfect guy who had the guts to face his demons and try to understand
and tame them. He was a violent young man who later confronted the
cause of his anger, and transformed it into art that touched so many
of us precisely because it acknowledged his own uncertainty, anger
and vulnerability. He didn't pretend that anger, despair and greed
didn't exist -- instead, he sought ways to express them artistically,
and overcome them.
Oh, he took his share of wrong turns. But his basic
message never wavered. He told us, for the umpteenth time in our history,
the causes of so many of our crises: "possession is nine-tenths of
the problem"; "imagine there's no countries -- nothing to kill
or die for. And no religion, too." Such sentiments got him harassed
by the FBI, and last month his visionary anthem was placed on a list
of songs considered possibly too controversial for broadcast by one
of the biggest radio conglomerates.
Yet in the midst of the numbing cynicism and suffering
of modern life, Lennon made us laugh and sing, and hope. He reminded
us of the solution: Love is all you need -- but it's the
power and money boys and the true believers who have brought us the
world we see every night on the news.
Some action against the perpetrators is going
to be necessary to achieve justice for the thousands of innocent victims
of Sept. 11, and to prevent more horrors. Although I think the killers
should be held accountable for their horrific crimes, I'm worried
about the prospect of retaliation against innocent civilians, and
about the jingoism and demonization that inevitably accompany war.
I don't want the dream of a "brotherhood of man" to be lost in the
rockets' red glare.
So Tuesday, in the midst of our fury and despair,
let's temper our actions and our anger by remembering our peacemakers,
our laughers, our singers, our artists -- our dreamers. Then,
those of us who share Lennon's dream have to come together, do the
hard work of turning ideals into action, and try to make his dream
our reality. Imagine.
Brett Campbell is a Eugene writer, editor and journalism
instructor at UO.
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One
World
Even
during mourning we can celebrate
our community and our connection.
We interrupt this column to bring you a special
report. Anybody wondering if there's a unique
lesbian take on the events of Sept. 11 will be pleased to know that,
in fact, lesbians are to blame. Yep, according to the dubiously-reverend
Jerry Falwell himself, it's our fault. No need to smoke out terrorist
enclaves and training grounds across the globe, it all happened right
here. Lesbians made God mad at the United States.
I really believe that pagans, and the abortionists,
and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians who are actively trying
to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American
Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America --
I point the finger in their face and say, "You helped this happen,"
says Jerry Falwell to Pat Robertson on "The 700 Club," Sept. 13.
Bad enough communities are splitting between cries for swift military
retaliation and pleas for peace. Along with the hawks and the doves,
the dodo birds have now taken to the skies.
How brilliant do you have to be to recognize terrorism
as a hate crime? As a lesbian and a Jew I know what terrorism feels
like. I've been personally targeted with hate letters and death threats.
But, as our Palestinian friend said in the wake of last week's disaster,
"I don't feel personal fear. I feel collective fear." That's what
terrorism does. When people are hated for who they are, everyone in
that group feels vulnerable and is terrified of what else is in store.
When lesbians are shot point blank in their tent,
you never want to go camping again and you look over your shoulder
before you take your lover's hand in public. When a disco in Israel
is blown up, Jews around the world feel threatened. With the huge
tragedy on the East Coast, the whole country feels attacked and fears
what might happen next. It's all based on hate.
The way I cope is to connect with people. Thank goodness I had
my writers group that morning so we could share our raw, instinctual
responses to watching the planes crash into the World Trade Center.
And how I appreciated having my Jewish study group that evening to
sort out our reactions to the day's unfolding. I am so thankful that
my being a lesbian is not an issue in either of those settings. I
am out and accepted for who I am and don't have to worry about letting
my guard down.
That's why Wifey and I went to the Eugene Celebration.
We go every year and it felt important to get out and see people.
We unfolded our chairs next to our friends' colorful blankets along
the parade route. We were in a sea of lesbian families, some old neighbors
and lots of people I hadn't met before.
Little kids swarmed around us. Humanity. What a relief
to get away from the TV for a while, to stop staring at rubble and
tragedy and white male newscasters with bad hair.
A 5-year-old friend sat on my lap for the whole parade,
her two moms and her sister on the curb in front of us. We waved our
rainbow streamers at the marching band and the Slug Queen and all
the silly, playful groups that give our town its character. We cheered
for P-Flag's "Rainbow of Love" and for all the "Peace," "One Planet,"
and "One World" signs. We gave an ovation to the international flags.
My little pal shouted "Lookit! There's a dragon! And
another one! And another one!" Her innocent happiness and excitement
reminded me of how important it is for us all to be here for the kids,
doing something fun together, celebrating life. Even during these
days of mourning and heavy hearts we can celebrate our community and
our connection to each other. We remind each other of our connection
to the whole world. Dodo birds and all.
Sally Sheklow has been a part of the Eugene community
since 1972 and is a member of the WYMPROV! comedy troupe. Her column,
which began at EW, also runs in several other newspapers around the
country.
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INNOCENT
CIVILIANS
I hear a lot of talk lately, and
in the past, about "innocent civilians." Does that mean that soldiers
are guilty? Soldiers are manipulated and pressured into fighting wars.
Civilians are manipulated and pressured into paying for them, whatever
side they're on, using whatever kinds of weapons. The issue of guilt
and innocence is much more complex. Terrorism is the weapon of the
underdog (and the buzzword of the establishment) and therefore probably
less dangerous than capitalism. I think a lot of guilt lies with those
who do the manipulating and pressuring. I think we need to resist
wearing uniforms, of all kinds.
Dan Robinson
Eugene
SUCH
OUTRAGE
George Santayama wrote something
to the effect that anyone who can offend everyone all of the time
must be a truly original and creative thinker. Perhaps not everyone,
but I certainly offended Brian and Diane Terrett (9/27) with my X-Files
parody of the alien abduction of PeaceHealth to Springfield. My goodness,
I haven't witnessed such outrage since the Rickies drove their Popemobile
through downtown Eugene!
The purpose of my satire was not to denigrate the
good works of the good Sisters (ably recited at length by the Terretts
in their letter), but to lampoon the obvious subterfuge surrounding
the PeaceHealth acquisition of the Springfield site. Think: metaphor.
I certainly apologize to anyone who took moral offense at my letter.
As for anyone else lacking a sense of humor or who took offense for
other reasons -- at least I got your attention.
I believe the Springfield caper shows that we are
all capable of good and bad acts. Even the good Sisters.
Benton Elliott
Eugene
SINCE
YOU ASKED...
Grace Smith (8/30) writes "I want
to know why Sally Sheklow finds it necessary to refer to her sexuality
... at least a half dozen times in every column?" Well Grace, since
you asked...
Let's start with the premise of the column. It's titled
"Living Out," a reference to being a "visible" LGBTQ person. I'd have
to assume that the process of employing Sally to write the column
went something like this:
Editors: "I wonder if Eugene's LGBTQ community would
enjoy seeing a reflection of their daily lives once a month. Hey Sally...
would you like to write a column about being Out in Eugene?"
Sally: "Where do I sign?"
So why did the editors think a column about being
gay in our society would attract readers? I think they realized that,
unlike heterosexual friends, I rarely see my family reflected in the
media. Look through the EW. Many ads have pictures of happy
mixed-sex couples. Many writers casually mention husbands and wives.
I grew up with images of Ma and Pa rocking on the porch at 80. I had
to seek out my own images of Ma and Ma growing old.
But why does Sally have to be so blatant, one might
ask? I suspect Sally is taking a tongue in cheek approach to the whole
thing, because after all we DO shop, eat, watch TV, and remove spiders
from the house. That the queer community has so much in common with
the community at large is obvious.
Sally also undoubtedly knows that humor often results
from absurdity. After all, just how does the label "dykely chores"
make doing the dishes any more glamorous?
Sally's monthly column encourages me to laugh about
the way our society singles some of us out.
Shasta K. Willson
Eugene
SCARRED
HEART
I cannot get past my overwhelming
sense of disappointment and disgust that our hospital has proved to
be such a disreputable organization. The single most important issue
for an institution providing health care is trust. Trust that the
patient's interests are most important. Trust that the information
told to patients about their options is truthful. Trust that institutional
interests will not be prioritized above patients'.
Unfortunately through a series of blatant, provable,
lies contained in official public statements, Sacred Heart has destroyed
this crucial trust. Making matters worse is the disreputable individual
Sacred Heart chose for their backroom dirty work. This individual,
John Musumeci, is such a spectacular example of a disreputable businessman
that a national book has been published about his deplorable business
practices. (R-G 9/22) Not very reassuring from the people with
whom we are supposed to trust our lives.
Not only did Sacred Heart allow themselves to be drawn
into Musumeci's Gang of 9 smear campaign of hard working, fairly elected
officials, the campaign was apparently created to provide Sacred Heart
cowardly cover to leave Eugene.
I feel so sickened and abused by my hospital that
I have put a card in my wallet stating the following: "In case of
emergency, do not transport me to Sacred Heart Medical Center or any
affiliated facilities." Hopefully before McKenzie-Willamette has been
put out of business by its new neighbor, Eugene will have its own
ethical, caring hospital to fill the void that Scarred Heart has left
in our community.
Rex Redmon
Eugene
RATE
SHOCK
Imagine my dismay when I received
a "legislative alert" yesterday advising me that a coalition is petitioning
the PUC to reconsider PGE's rate increase because of the "rate shock"
on businesses!
The coalition accused PGE of rate increases that "are
not fair, just or reasonable." PGE's response today was that 80 percent
of the $439 million increase is due to the increased cost of purchasing
electricity in a deregulated market.
It's not the rate increase that shocked me; it's who's
complaining. Two of the three members of this coalition are the Association
of Oregon Industries and the Citizens' Utility Board -- two of
the primary lobbyists for electric deregulation in Oregon.
What the hell were they thinking? It's like the old
Henny Youngman joke: Doctor: "When does it hurt?" Patient: "When I
do this." Doctor: "Well, don't do that."
Electric deregulation is a failure for consumers and
businesses, pure and simple. You reap what you sow.
Tony Corcoran
State Senator
Cottage Grove
A
COSMIC TEST
If and when I die, I give my friends,
loved ones, and enemies alike [permission] to dance your asses off
together, play drums till dawn, and do whatever else you have to do
to ward away the evil spirits of loneliness and despair we have surrounded
death with in this culture. I find it to be no mere inconvenient coincidence
that this shared tragedy occurred just days before the Eugene Celebration,
but more of a cosmic test. An opportunity to walk our talk, and prove
that what we are doing is real.
There was a time when music and art were actually
considered to be intrinsic to the healing life force that is at the
heart of any true culture, or family's spiritual center, not just
marginal, trivial pastimes serving to distract people from boredom.
Anyone who doesn't think it possible, even necessary,
to experience joy and sorrow simultaneously should try listening to
the blues, or any kind of indigenous folk music. Music is the phoenix
that arises from the ashes of suffering. To put it bluntly, music
heals. Not anger. Not war.
If there's one thing we as a community can do, it's
take this staggeringly rich and vast (has anyone noticed?) storehold
of creativity we have in this town, nurture and grow it as much as
possible, and use it to heal the world. Like Bob Marley says, "Hit
me with the music." I think most people would agree. Possibly even
Jim Torrey, the leader of the anarchists.
Todd Richard
Eugene
WEAR
SCARVES
I am writing to share and idea of mine, in response
to the terrorist activities this month.
I have found a way to help with the potential discrimination
towards our brother and sisters that look and sound other than white
Caucasian.
I plan to wear my scarves and ethnic clothing. I do
anyway, everyday (my ears get cold and gives me a headache so when
walking I wrap my head). My idea is that if every (or lots, even some)
women in Eugene were to wear a scarf, no one would know who was of
the Islamic faith and it would be safe for the women of Islam to live
their lives as my neighbor.
This idea could be expanded on is all kinds of ways.
Places to eat, entertainment, social contact, dress, speech etc. If
an angry American can't tell by dress, skin color, vocal accent or
social activity, striking out may not happen.
Just a way that might help. Something I can do.
Mary Wheeler
Eugene
LIMITING
ANALYSIS
Although I am retired from the Air
Force, I also favor a cautious, flexible response to 9/11. The simplistic
"peace good, war bad" attitude that seems prevalent in Eugene tends
to limit thoughtful analysis.
When I told a Eugene woman that I was retired military,
her immediate reply was "Oh, you like war!" I said, "Yes, like a doctor
likes disease, a fireman likes fire or a cop likes crime!"
I called a writer at The Oregonian and asked
him why he called Hiroshima an atrocity (revisionists say it didn't
end the war) but failed to mention Pearl Harbor or Nanking. It seems
too many people blame America first for any of the world's ills. We've
obviously made our share of mistakes, but all in all, I think we've
done pretty well over the past 200-plus years.
Ken Molly
Eugene
RISE
ABOVE IT
I cannot tell our young people that
they should go off to war. A war will not stop terrible and unforgivable
attacks. We must rise to another level to achieve peace and a future
for our children.
The following suggestions I've gathered from Yes!
magazine and scholar Jean Houston.
1. Take time to commune with spiritual allies and
with nature.
2. Write letters to your congressmen, president and
local papers.
3. Gather with teacher-learning communities of wisdom
and empowerment and let everyone speak!
4. Talk to kids and let them express themselves. This
is a difficult emotional time for many and they need our help. Engage
the family in service oriented activities.
5. Show up at town meetings and sign petitions that
improve our community.
6. Give support and compassion to our Muslim friends.
7. Let your heart and senses enjoy what is best on
our planet.
Ruth Duemler
Eugene
LIGHTEN
UP
This may be a bit tardy, as the voting
has already taken place about opening up the Broadway Mall, but I
felt the need to make a comment on the limited information presented
in the Viewpoint written by Egan and Kutcher (8/30).
They point out that a good idea before voting for/against
opening up Broadway would be to look around at various other downtowns,
nearby. I can't argue with that. They also suggest that a good idea
to improve people-traffic downtown Eugene would be to allow free one-
or two-hour parking.
There is a small city right next door to Eugene, and
although the majority of the Eugene populace seem to want to forget
about it, or at the very least, mock or chastise it whenever possible,
it is still the closest city to examine when considering possible
changes to downtown Eugene.
Springfield also has a downtown, also has free two-hour
parking for anyone who chooses to patronize its downtown, and also
happens to have every street open for vehicle traffic. What better
place to look at in order to see the possible effects of opening up
Broadway?
As for myself, I often choose to shop downtown Springfield
(over Eugene), and not because I live more near to it, but simply
because the parking is free, and I don't want to have to scramble
around in my couch for change every time I want to spend some time
window shopping, or actually shopping.
As for the children/adolescents who frequent downtown
areas all over the world, I suggest that we all think on the fact
that this has been done for as long as there has been a downtown to
hang out at, and will continue to be done long after all downtowns
are raped and destroyed. Lighten up!
Holly Ellingson
Springfield
A
BOLD MOVE
We, the members of the Lane County
Human Rights Advisory Committee, wish to thank Capt. Elvia Williams
and Capt. Becky Hanson of the Eugene Police Department for undertaking
the Racial Profiling Data Collection Project. Many communities across
the nation have experienced racial profiling. There is a critical
need to address the question of whether or not it exists in Lane County
and, if so, to what extent? Our law enforcement officials took a bold
move by signing a resolution against racial profiling. We applaud
that move. Now is the time to enhance that accountability and begin
data collection to determine what is actually occurring in our communities.
We look forward to working in partnership with the Eugene Human Rights
Commission, law enforcement officials, community leaders, and other
concerned citizens as the community collects, reviews, and determines
how to respond to all of the data and information.
It is our hope that other law enforcement agencies
in Lane County will follow the Eugene Police Department's lead and
conduct such data projects themselves.
Linda Wagner & James Mattiace
Lane County Human Rights Advisory Committee
ONE
LESS GORILLA
So the 800-pound gorilla has decided
to sit in Springfield.
It's hard to believe that the absentee owners of Sacred
Heart made the decision in such a spur-of-the-moment manner, after
years of planning for a north Eugene site.
It's much easier to imagine that the entire drama
was carefully scripted and tightly directed by the Gang of Musumeci
(the other eight are window-dressing), with a carefully scripted climax.
As for Sacred Heart's downtown Eugene property, which
it presumably will be leaving: the city of Eugene should use the power
of eminent domain to condemn it for a legitimate public purpose --
a hospital -- and sell or lease it to a non-profit, non-sectarian
entity: perhaps McKenzie-Willamette.
The city should even subsidize it; it would be cheaper
than the millions that the absentee owners of Sacred Heart were pressuring
Eugene to spend on their north Eugene site.
Jim Estes
Deadwood
PAUSE
FOR PEACE
"May we look upon our treasures,
the furniture of our houses, and our garments, and try whether the
seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions." These words
of John Woolman, an early Quaker, were shared with me during the Gulf
War. "-- In these our possessions" might also read, "--
in our policies, our actions."
Rather than retaliation, perhaps pausing, reflecting,
deepening our understanding of our effects on the planet, and of how
our "moral high ground" can help heal and lead the creatures of the
earth. Another thoughtful saying from the East is applicable now:
"Don't just do something; sit there." Doing nothing is not weakness
or appeasement. Doing nothing allows for deepened understanding and
mature responses.
Julie Rogers
Eugene
A
BEAUTIFUL MOMENT
"One step then another -- we're
learning to love each other."
Just five days after the violence in New York and
Washington, I attended my first Eugene Celebration. Although the decision
to hold the event was undoubtedly difficult, I have never felt such
a strong sense of community, never witnessed so much kindness on the
faces of people in crowded places, as I did here in downtown Eugene.
I danced on Saturday evening to a glowing Joules Graves, in a crowd
so connected we stand with one many-textured voice.
"One step then another -- we're learning to love
each other." She drummed for us a heartbeat, and we felt our own hearts
settle into the same rhythm -- one of peace, awareness, and love.
We held each other in a beautiful moment, a moment above all the ugliness
of terrorism, war and vengeance. We took the time to mourn, time to
reflect, time to feel the reality of what is happening to our world
and to our future. We took the time to pray.
"One step then another -- we're learning to love
and be loved." And we really are learning, like in the moment we look
up and see Joules sing, and instead we see her smile crack open with
pain and love -- her voice retreating to let her tears have the
stage -- and we just sing louder, a woman behind me filling in,
her voice an effortless ribbon of sound above the chorus.
Celebrate, Eugene! Celebrate the unity that can exist
despite our differences.
Thank you, Joules Graves, for giving me a forum for
my prayers. I needed that.
Elissa Kaner
Eugene
LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print
as many as space allows. Please limit length to 250 words, keep submissions to once
a month, and include your address and phone number. E-mail to editor@eugeneweekly.com, fax to 484-4044, or mail
to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401.
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