Stack B: A Man of Letters, & of Grand Designs
It's
a Columnist Conspiracy! Yes, I intend to
brave the perils of journaldom and suggest a Pacifist Nation column for my
local rag, the Contra Costa Times. You've already seen my
suggested first column; here's my letter to their editorial page
editor.
Wish me luck!
In
late August of 1999 I penned a letter to the
President (I dated it September 23rd in honor of the Puerto Rican
Grito de Lares celebration.) If you truly believe in liberty then
you must read and consider what my letter has to say.
It goes to the heart of need for the spiritual emancipation of our governmental representatives
from the arrogance in their tacit support for the form of slavery called colonialism.
Please click on the Puerto Rican flag and
walk with me.
In his acceptance speech, Senator Lieberman
spoke repeatedly of "Looking through the eyes of ...."
In my response, CCs of which I mailed to all my public servants, from Bill on down to
County Supervisor Joe Canciamilla, I suggested that looking through the eyes of
a Serbian or Iraqi mother would be instructive. Just a note: I have and will continue
to post letters I have written where I feel there is something worth saying
out loud, so you will see occasional duplication of thought and phrase.
I hope the gentle reader feels they bear repeating. If not, sorry 'bout that.
At the heart of Pacifist Nation is the
Millennium Jubilee Project. If the notion of a just
and peaceful world appeals to you, I
invite you to particiapte in the Project, if only in a small and simple way.
Then go on to the item below.
As they say in late night teevee, "And that's not all!" The next phase
of Pacifist Nation is my
Oratorio for a New Millennium, which I hope to produce as a digital film. Please preview it.
It combines original music, lyrics and text with my
surealistic short story, Puebla. It's guaranteed
to bend your mind. However, I caution you: if you're not accustomed to science
fiction, it might throw you a bit. I hope you find it worthy of a second reading. There's a
great deal going on there.
The Millennium Jubilee Project sugjested itself to me when I first learned of
the biblical, historical jubilee. The idea, however, was not
lost on others as well. In all ways I bow to the Jubilee
2000 campaign, a powerful,
well-organized effort to aleviate hunger and poverty by canceling
debts of poor nations whose people suffer because of them. Please give this
site your attention and particiapte however you can. A Pacifist Nation cannot
tolerate economic injustice in the face of such wealth as this nation
enjoys.
There are few who exemplify the pacifist ideal more than those conscientious objectors
who followed their beliefs to the camps and ovens of the Final Solution. It is to honor
those who have proved their courage in remarkable ways that I wish to create a Pacifist
Nation Hall of Witness. It is just in the formative stage, but
I invite you to look at the idea and perhaps help realize it.
Who do you think was
the most influential individual in the 20th
Century? TIME wanted to know. The voting has passed, but the Page is worth visiting.
Personally, as much as I
favored Mother T., John the XXIIIrd & my mama's old Harlem Ashrammate, James
Farmer, Jr., who really laid the civil rights foundation for MLKJr & Co.,
not to mention a dear family friend, Peace Pilgrim (see a pattern emerging
here?), I had t' go with that great
Skinhead for Peace – Mahatma Gi. But, hey, it's your nickel, so to
speak. Go for it, dude/dudette!
Yeah, M.K.'s m'Man!
Here's a terrific little essay on the great
Loinclothed One written by
none other than Salman Rushdie! I lifted it from the above 'site, but I don't
think they'll mind terribly. [Oh, and by the way, there's a link
at the end of the piece to the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence
(this will get you there, too.)] Mahatma! You go, guy!
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