My Latest Article in the Latest Peace Press

Supporting The Homeless Troops

Once or twice a week, I am visited at work by a client who stops in to get a cup of coffee and check in with me about how he is doing. Nick, as I’ll call him here, is a 54 year-old homeless Vietnam Veteran who has been living outside for several years. His valuables all fit into a brown backpack that I gave him two months ago and the sleeping bag and tarp he uses to protect himself against the elements every night get stashed in a plastic bag in the bushes or hidden in dry spots in vacant buildings. Nick once had his own business and a family he adored, but the untreated PTSD he suffers from, as a result of serving as a combat troop in Vietnam, led him to self medicate with alcohol and landed him homeless. He, like many of the homeless veterans I work with, chooses to sleep outdoors, away from the loudness and chaos of the overcrowded shelters because it is “too much to take.” It has taken Nick all of these years since he returned home from Vietnam to finally ask for help.

Many of the newer veterans, who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, could easily be heading down the same path. Most that I have spoken with are suffering from severe PTSD and anger at the military for the plethora of broken promises that were used to convince them to join in the first place. One young veteran that I speak with on a regular basis served three tours in Iraq, only to come home to limited employment offers and no affordable housing options. Another, who has extensive medical training, witnessed so much bloodshed as a medic in Iraq that his PTSD has made it impossible for him to ever work in the medical field again. And still another young man who served in Afghanistan is suffering from such severe anxiety attacks and PTSD that he drinks himself to sleep every night just so he can find some peace.

Most of the returning troops that I speak with have little idea of what benefits they are eligible for and many more have too much pride, shame or depression to even seek the help they deserve. There are also a growing number of young veterans who have been dismissed from the military because of “panic attacks” or “psychological disorders” and have been given an Other Than Honorable Discharge, which excludes them from many of the veterans benefits or services that they, too deserve. They are left feeling overwhelmingly frustrated, angry and wondering why it is that their grandfathers were given jobs and support upon return from World War II and they are given nothing.

It is so easy to get overwhelmed when listening to first hand accounts of what the never-ending “Global War on Terror” is doing to the world and how it is affecting the lives of so many people here in our community. I constantly have to remind myself that that there is some hope. The fact that many of these returning troops are already asking for help is a big sign that the healing and support they need will shift things into a more positive gear. Also, groups like Iraq Veterans Against The War (www.ivaw.org) are providing a forum and a safe space for many of these returning troops to discuss their experiences and to support each other through the difficult task of returning home. Hopefully with the support of the anti-war movement, these young men won’t wait 30 years to speak out and seek help like my dear new friend Nick and a growing number of men like him.

Four Years of War in Iraq- Peace March, San Francisco 3/07

africa photos by liz seward

Dani and Massai kids- Kenya January 2007

Dani at Diani Beach, Kenya February 2007

Dani, Xenia, Ava- Diani Beach, Kenya 2007

Dunia Mbadala Yawezekana

I have been home from kenya for about two weeks but in addition to adjusting to the time zone and weather differences, I am also adjusting to the cultural differences that I was so happy to escape while in Africa.

I have a lot to write about and I promise I'll have something within the next week, as I am doing a presentation at the Peace and Justice Center next Thursday, as well as at New College of California (In SF and SR) in the near future.

I will also have the rest of my photos posted at flickr by the end of the weekend! In the meantime, here are some photos to hold you over...

In Solidarity,

Dani

Dunia Mbadala Yaweezekana / Another World Is Possible

nairobi to chicago in 87637495009090000 seconds

tuesday evening was spent in the theif-trap we call the mombasa/nairobi train, that on the paricular occasion took 17 hour through the choking heat and humidity to bring us back to nairobi, where we packed and sorted our bags for a thursday afternoon departure headed back home via dubai. after 5 hours of a xanax-accompanied flight to dubai, we stopped for a few hours and headed back to nyc where the sleeping pill i popped somewhere over saudi arabia only worked- and very heavily at that- for about 3 hours before i woke somewhere over europe to our airplane bouncing along. somewhere in the 12th hour of the 14 hour flight, i began crying. i am not sure i it was from watching 'walk the line' for the 5th time, imagining myself plumeting to my death into the freezing atlantic, or the fact that i was coming home to deal with all of the shit i had so eagerly left behind. either way, i cried until landing and had to drag my zombie-lik kids through customs and immigration, with liz nowhere to be seen (hopefully not missing her connecting flight back to ca).

all went well in the ny airport and as i approached a taxi to take me to get my bags in brooklyn and then on to penn station, i got snubbed for some snotty women in suits. ahhhh... america.

i arrived with my sleeping beauties in penn station, several hours early for the train to sana rosa. the ticket lady loved us and gifted us with a pass to the 1st class business lounge so we could drink free soda, watch tv and sleep. the train left promptly at 4pm and after the beautiful train ride along the hudson river, an announcement comes via our sarcastic and funny train conductor, informing us that somewhere near erie, pennsylvnia there was a major freight derailment that will delay us in buffalo for about 2-3 hours. as my layover in chicago was supposed tobe 4 hours, i felt hopeful that i'd still get to visit with mickey for a few minutes and have time to catch the train to california. however, news of one derailment turns to two... followed by news of a broken track, a frozen train engine in ohio and a gas leak somwhere in indiana. the 3 hours delay turns into 8 and i no-doubt miss my train, arriving in chicago at 6:30pm instead of 10am.

lucky for me, mickey returned to the station and accompanied us to the fancy hotel that amtrak put us up in and spent the better part of the night at my hotel, watching the kids sleep and discussing death and existentialism over chicago pizza and root beer. this morning, we'll drag the kids into the freezing cold to an art museum and then i'll be on my way to the train station for my 2pm departure with the cab fare and food money amtrak also gave me. i should be in santa rosa at 8pm on tuesday.. totally exhausted and ready for my bed.

this hasbeen quite a journey that although is exhausting and frustrating at times- i am going to be sad to see end.

see you all soon. xo

mombasa

we all have horribly uneven sunburns.

my stomach hurts.

it is f-ing hot and f-ing humid.

tuk tuks are the best transportation ever.

mombasa looks and feels more like what i imagine morocco is like than what the rest of kenya is like.

liz, the kids and i are sitting in a stuffy internet place to pass time before we head back to nairobi via the sketchy ass train with no electricity and bandits climbing through windows tonight.

i have visited a tropical paradise, two hindu temples and several mombasa markets in thge last several days.

it is hard to find vegetarian food in a mostly muslim city.

however, it is easy to find vegetarian food in the hindu neighborhoods.

the water runs brown at first from the fancy hotel faucets where we were staying until this orning.

xenia wants to convert to islam so she can dress in tradition muslim dress for school when we get home.

train tonight, nairobi tomorrow, dubai the next day, then nyc, then the train to cal until monday night.

i miss my bed.
so much to tell you all.

destruction in nairobi

the rains down in africa

it hasn't rained in about a week and i am thankful for the clothes i have washed that have been allowed to dry in the scorching sun. i am also thankful for the deficit in puddles of standing water- i haven't been bitten by a mosquito in over a week! and i am super tan.

we leave tonight (friday) by train to mombasa. the irish couple we have been with since day 3, the 15 french-canadian students and the two spanish guys who shared their rosemary cheese with us will all be heading there with us. i can't wait.

the bulldozers came again on wednesday night. this time, they took down EVERYTHING in the settlement across the fence and even re-bulldozed the first batch of homes in order to break up the metal and wood to prevent people from rebuilding. they arrived with a truck of about 16 people with guns and sticks, who beat residents down from the entrance to get in. they then stood on buildings with their giant guns and people had no choice but to leave. the most consistent estimate of the span of inhabiting this plot of land is 20 years. twenty years of building a community and 1000 people are displaced. unbelievable. the woman i spoke to the night of the infamous teargassing was there in the morning yesterday when i walked over with reporters from the bbc. i, along with several independent journalists and a housing advocate from the national lawyers guild in seattle interviewed her and a handful of others and this is the story we got:
the people living there were PAYING RENT. yes, they were living there LEGALLY. apparently, the owner is some elderly woman whose children have been managing the property for her. when the property sold to the new owner, he gave them 30 days to vacate... and sent the police in with bulldozers the next day. some women were threatened with arrest when they returned to gather belongings for their children, who can no longer go to school because they have been displaced, dispersed, seperated from their community. several people are still staying in the rubble because they have nowhere else to go.

i visited again last night and was invited into one of the few remaining and more permanent homes. i met a young girl's sick aunt (i later found out the woman was the original owner of the property)who was bed-ridden and could not be moved because of her illness. they are all worried that the bulldozers will be back and thet they will not have time to get friends to help move the old woman out of the home before the bulldozers get to her. heartbreaking, sickening and outrageous.

there is so much more going on here than i even have time to process or write about. most of it good but some of it obviously horrible. the people in kenya are amazingly wonderful to us (except for one of the cooks at the hostel who hates all of the vegetarians that the forum brought to town). matatu rides are the most frightening and fabulous thing in the world. the pineapple here is the best thing i have eaten in my entire life. candy is cheap. about 80% of kenyan women want to keep ava. exhaust fumes from deisel buses hurt your feet. giant tortoises can eat through nylon tents. the power goes out a lot. police carry huge guns. everything can be bargained down- even taxis.

i need to get out and start my day (it is about 6:30am here). i heard more bulldozers last night and want to go check on my friend flozy before i leave town. we are also visiting kibera today- the biggest slum in kenya which houses over 1 million people. it was made 'famous' by "The Constant Gardener" and we are going to check out some projects they have going there.
sorry this is so disjointed. i am sleeeepy and anxious to be on the beach.

xo

nairobi after dark

the forum has been both amazing and disappointing.

after i last wrote, the 20+ of us activists who witnessed the madness just over the fence we all call our temporary home, headed to the forum with naive hopes about gaining massive publicity for the destruction of the neighborhood next door. surely, as the world fricking social forum is being held in nairobi, the attendees would be interested in hearing of this horrible situation and would be motivated to do something to help, right? over and over again we were told that "this happens all of the time here." well, isn't this issue painfully similar to nearly everything else we 100,000 people are discussing here? isn't the purpose of this venue to work together to change these issues? some folks from independent media outlets were interested, and footage from someone stying here (the daughter of the woman from mill valley) was handed over to a media source who is supposed to air it sometime today (wednesday).

last night, after another full day of being reminded over and over again that the usa is involved with every single horrible thing going on in the world (either directly, or by modeling for others or supporting others who are oppressing people), and also being inspired by 3 women nobel peace laureates, we all congregate like we always do and share tea, chocolates or beer after the kids go to bed. a couple of american girls who had been filming and interviewing come back and explain that another slum is going through the eviction process and the people who are now homeless because of the destruction across our fence, have somehow aquired an attorney to help stop the bulldozing from demolishing the few homes left and to seek damages from the property owner for losing everything they owned. apparently, the property was sold to some asshole who wants to build a big hotel... surely to house western tourists behind a big fence.

at some point, the usual laughter and joking between the french canadians, us and our new spanish friends switched and we were informed that the bulldozers were returning again... and that this time, the people were being supported by their lawyer in blockading the street. about 10+ of us head outside our massive gate into nairobi after dark- something westerners are instructed NEVER to do. we had all been staying so long here, that the locals new a lot of us by name- especially ava's- and we had all grown to feel safe around here inlight of the police presence.

so folks head down the street about a block, to where the entrance to the 'informal settlement' is and the street was full of people discussing whether to help one another move their belongings out, or to stand together and block the entrance. within moments, the crowd began cheering and word spread that they had decided to block the streets. the lawyer informed us that he had instructed people to start big bonfires at the entrances, to keep the police out and people started getting really excited, regardless of the truckloads of police just across the street from where people were all gathered. they just wanted to buy time while their papers went through and it was great to see them working together.

i was back down the street talking the rest of our friends in front of the hostel. surely, the more white, western tourists i could send down to them, the more supported they would feel and the less likely the police would be to cross the line with force because of all of the cameras flashing away (one of my favorite people here is an italian guy who is a journalist living in columbia for the last 4 years). i am standing at the entrance of the hostel talking to the fench-canadians when i hear what sound like a gunshot. naturally, i panic because liz and all of our other friends are down at the end of the street and when i look in their direction, i see a clound of teargas crawling down the street.

everyone (including liz, who is safe) starts running our direction. one girl in her late 20's approached us coughing and rubbing her eyes so we got her some water and had her sit down to talk to us. she had lived in the neighborhood for 6 years and was lucky enough to have a friend to stay with. many were not so lucky- including many of the families, who had to leave their kids to sleep between the neighborhood bar/prostitute hang-out and the rubble of ther old homes, while they looked for a new place to live.

this is the most awful thing i have ever witnessed. the police set up camp just across the fence and several people had to move their tents because of the flying debris and the lound smashing of property that carried on all night. the usually lazy and sweet hostel dog was even so wound up that it bit a newcomer last night and would not stop barking.

i don't know what else to say other than that i am disappointed by the lack of media attention and concern by the people attending the forum. i am sure maybe we just have coincidentaly talked to the handful of random people that are too preoccupied with other things than to come out here and see the devestation themselves, but it is upsetting. i will let you know if anything makes it to the news... i keep trying to post on indymedia but the system is swamped... i found out where their tent is last night and will contact them today and update you all soon.

in other news, we are heading to mombasa on friday with about 20 other people from the forum and i can't wait to just sit in the sand.
xo

sweet jesus
i have been pondering in my head through the busy busy days of the last week, thinking about some witty and clever hideaous kinky-esque blog i should write about how my luggage was lost and how xenia had a fever so high for two days that her face rashed out bright red and we had to go to the clinic up the street (which, by the way, was better than ANY clinic i have EVER seen in the USA). i wanted to tell you all about the massai villages i saw and the massai beer i drank right outside the mara the day we headed back to civilization from our safari (where masai warriors with spears and bows and arrows guarded our camp and had to scare hyenas and lions away). it is hot as hell here, with amazingly delicious bananas and refreshing rain at night.

then the forum was kicked off yesterday, after unorganzied and hectic check-ins in downtown nairobi. there was a march from kibera (the 2nd largest slum in all of africa- over 1 million people living in extreme poverty) to uhuru park where a concert with amazing african mucic and cultural events and speakers inspired me and made me start to feel good about the world again. we walked back to the hostel where we have downsized to a tent (because of rats infesting our walls) and fell fast asleep after a cold beer and some yummy vegetables.

at about 10:15pm, i started waking to crazy sounds of women and chldren screaming and what i thought were fireworks. there was a late concert last night and i assumed people were partying out in the streets. within moments, our friend claire, from ireland came to our tent and explained that police were bulldozing the entire neighborhood just over the fence from our hostel. apparently, nearly 1000 people, mostly families with small businesess who have lived there for many years, were "squatting" on private property. the police came the day before and said to get out. they had nowhere to go, so they came for them after dark.

they smashed windows and drug sleeping women and children from their homes and demolished several homes. when they ran out of fuel for their bulldozers, they began smashing windows and kicking in doors and tearing the metal/tin roof off of the homes with people inside. they re-fueled around 1am and carried on for more than 2 hours. i had moved my kids inside to a dorm room where a woman from mill valley was sleeping and spent the night talking and planning with the over 20 activists from italy, colombia, canada, ireland, usa, uk, australia, spain, etc about what to do to help. we sent out emails, took video footage of people being nearly run down by police bulldozers and photos and made phone calls to the media. i slept on the couch in the main room for about 2 hours and woke feeling beyond horrible.

before we left for the forum this morning, i went out for bananas at a fruit stand and walked around the alley to see the damage. it was beyond anything i have ever seen in my life. everyone from the hostel (which included a couple of journalists) were taking photos and talking to people. i spoke with a man who has lived there with his kids for over 3 years. he has no place to go. he also told me that the police only got to a small portion of the neighborhood and would be coming back tonight. there is a huge garbage truck with residents piling their belongings in before their houses get smashedm parked in front of the hostel right now. i am heading over there when i am done with this to see if i can help move their things out. i keep thinking that at least these families got a warning and that i won't hear screaming all night but it is still the most heartbreaking thing i have witnessed. the alcoholic, ex-uk military guy who owns and runs this place is out on safari for a week, so i may at least 'liberate' some blankets and hand them out over the fence.

i hope you all enjoyed my super uplifting update from me. i don't have time to check in on the web much, as there is only one computer here, with 75+ people/activists and it is hard to find time to actually write without some snotty brit breathing down your throat. i miss you all, but i do not miss home at all.

I hope you are all well. don't worry about me being in danger, i feel safe here and the kenyan people are amazing and kind. i'll update more later.

ava with amy goodman

it is now official

we bought our tickets to kenya yesterday. we will be leaving on january 10th.

Update on Fundraising...

The fundraiser was over a week ago and was a great success! I had about 150-200 people there, sold almost all of the auction items, had incredible music and food and made enough for three one-way tickets to Kenya! I am very excited and am hoping to buy my tickets in the next week or so.

In the mean time, I am trying to find folks who would be into donating frequent flyer miles so I can get home (I will be returning from India). I am also pinching pennies to pay for getting the kids and I to India after my friend Liz leaves Kenya to head back to the US. Airfare is incredibly expensive when you are travelling with two extra people, regardless of how little they are. We also still need to register for the forum, find cheap accomodations and get our travellers shots and insurance.

In the meantime, I am working on overdue school papers and plugging away on my thesis so I can graduate in September. I was planning on taking an extra semester of thesis maintenance but I think I may actually finish it on time which will give me a few months to get the trip together and plan out the girls' "lesson plans" for our world-school adventures! Kenya will be an amazing experience for them and I have been preparing them with frequent trips to the library, checking out mountains of books and videos on the country. They are so excited and are really hoping to meet Wangaari Matthai at the forum!

Last minute chaos

So tomorrow is the big day. I feel like I am getting married or something, only I am way more excited about this fundraiser than I ever was about that funny little wedding I had 11 years ago.

Things are actually coming together pretty nicely, considering the fact that up until this week, I have been doing all of this madness on my own. To ease my stressed system, I have decided to make a last minute change to my thesis project and am giving up the research aspect of a cross-cultural comparison between the European witch burnings and the religious and cultural persecution of the Indigenous people of North America. Instead, I am using al of the work I have put into this fundraiser and my motivation to get to Kenya toward my project. I am going to write up a piece about community building and how it relates to the global activist movement and how I fit into it all. Melissa, if you are reading this, I was going to give you the proposal yesterday, but you were sick. ;)

Anyhow, this event will be great. It will bring together most of the most important people in my life all at one time and I am so excited to see the networking and fun and relationships that will evolve out of this! Robert and I went to the food bank via Food Not Bombs today to get all of the organic goods for tomorrow's meal and it is going to be soooo good. Cupcakes will be baked in several kitchens across Sonoma County tonight. Auction forms typed up. Wine will be dropped off. Keys to the school will be picked up. Shadow puppets will be cut out and I will get a decent night's sleep.

See you tomorrow.

Article in this week's North Bay Bohemian

Dani, Champion of the World
Forum-mania overtakes local mother!

Saturday, June 24, at the New College, 99 Sixth St., Santa Rosa. 4pm to 8pm. $20, sliding scale. www.danisavestheworld.blogspot.com.

Since 2001, the World Social Forum (WSF) has met annually in January, right around the time that the World Economic Forum (WEF) rolls into Davos, Switzerland. What's the difference between the two forums? It depends whom you ask, but here's a start: Angelina Jolie and Bono made the pages of People magazine for appearing in Davos last year. The WSF, on the other hand, brings in speakers less accustomed to the paparazzi's flashbulbs, like Noam Chomsky.

While the WEF has invited Amnesty International, Oxfam and other high-profile do-gooders to discuss global economic and social dilemmas with big-time politicians and executives, the meeting has come under fire for prioritizing profit margins rather than human problems, and for being Western-centric. Citing that "another world is possible," the WSF emerged to come up with alternatives to neoliberalism. It, too, has come under fire: the right criticizes it for being too left-leaning, and many on the left accuse it for being all deliberation and no decision.

Regardless of these issues, Santa Rosa activist and founding member of the Mama Collective, Dani Burlison-Craft, is holding a fundraiser to attend this January's WSF in Nairobi with her two daughters. Her press materials state charmingly, if satirically, "One girl can save the world. Um, with a little help, please?"

Why should we help fund someone else's vacation to Kenya? "It seems to me that as Americans are huge contributors to international and national issues around war, poverty, consumption of resources and the growing gap between the economic conditions in the global south and western society, that Americans should be at the forefront of the growing global sustainability movement," says Burlison-Craft.

Fair enough, especially since the party, sponsored by the Sonoma County Peace and Justice Center, should be a hoot, with music by the Spindles and singer-songwriter John Courage as well as belly dancing, a political puppet show, face painting, a silent auction, vegetarian food and drinks.

If only another world really were possible (sigh). Attend the Dani Saves the World fundraiser on Saturday, June 24, at the New College. (Brett Ascarelli)

http://www.bohemian.com/calendar/northbay.html

And the fabulous article that got us to NYC

Women and Children First!: Mama Collective and kids, from left to right: Adler Blaze, Lila Cugini, Xenia Burlison-Craft, Dani Burlison-Craft, Ava Burlison, Terrie Samundra-Girdner, Ceili Samundra-Carr.

Crisis and Opportunity

Santa Rosa's Mama Collective rises to the challenge of the GOP

By Michael Houghton

The three women sitting across the table from me don't exactly look like wild-eyed radicals. But according to the mainstream media, that's what they are. Dani Burlison-Craft, Lila Cugini and Terrie Samundra-Girdner are three of the estimated 1 million liberal "fringe element" that are planning to "invade" New York City in early September to protest the Republican National Convention.

Sure, they look young and hip, with stylish hair and Portland-chic secondhand clothes. And sure, Burlison-Craft has a frenetic swirl of tattoo creeping kudzulike down her arm. But there's one thing that messes up the image. The only time they look particularly "wild-eyed" is when they're laughing about how Xenia, the oldest of Burlison-Craft's two daughters, is in the other room shouting at a broom that she's been trying to levitate with her mind, thanks to Harry Potter.

Burlison-Craft, Cugini and Samundra-Girdner are single mothers and the backbone of Santa Rosa's Mama Collective, a group they founded last year, they say, "to support single and partnered mothers who are involved in artistic expression and activism." Their first official activity has been to produce a zine by the young single mothers of the North Bay, the first issue of which will be out soon. But another, less tangible result is that, with each other's support, the Mama Collective's members are feeling more confident about taking risks--personally, artistically and politically.

"[In art and protest,] there's a lot of fear that you're going to get ridiculed and that you don't have support. You feel really alone," says Samundra-Girdner. "It can be really lonely parenting. You can feel really isolated, and it's good to have a support system."

"Part of a collective," says Cugini, "is that people individually are shy about making art or making political statements. But collectively if there's even one other person, or two other people, then there's strength in numbers; people aren't as shy."

Now that the Mama Collective has set its sights on protesting the Republican National Convention, there's just one problem. "We're single mothers," Samundra-Girdner says, stating the obvious. "We're not exactly rich."

"We need to raise money," continues Burlison-Craft, "at least for our air fare, which is going to be around $1,000."

To do so, the Mamas have planned a fundraiser for Sunday, Aug. 1. On sale will be baked goods and art, as well as a rummage sale. Tables will also offer voter registration, and of course, more information. "My main focus of going to the RNC," says Burlison-Craft, "is obviously to support the cause--to feel that sense of global community and to know that there are thousands of people out there fighting for justice right alongside me--but we're also going to document everything. The plan is to come back and report on what happened. I'll write articles, Terrie will be working on a film and we're going to have an anti-Bush art show before the November elections."

"We're also planning on connecting with other mothers' groups from different areas," says Samundra-Girdner.

The women also plan to highlight what they see as the GOP's manipulative choice of the location and timing of the event.

"This is the first time they've held [the RNC] in New York in the last 150 years," points out Burlison-Craft with obvious frustration. "And on top of that, they're holding it two months later than usual, just a week before the anniversary of 9-11. The GOP is using it as propaganda. They're playing on people's emotions and their fears; it's ridiculous how blatantly obvious what they're doing is: exploiting the grief and tragedy of 9-11--again."

But most importantly, the Mamas are going to New York because the policies of George Bush are affecting their children, now and in the future.

"There are these wars being waged on impersonal slogans like 'war on terrorism,'" says Samundra-Girdner. "I don't want to live with that fear. I'm going there as a mother because this is a burden that our children are going to carry, they're the ones who are going to have to live with it."

"The Bush administration has been a complete nightmare," adds Cugini. "A nightmare for civil rights, a nightmare for national security, a nightmare for the environment . . ."

"When Bush was the governor of Texas," adds Samundra-Girdner, "there were times when children couldn't even go out to play during recess because the air was so bad. That's why I'm going--because I want to stand up for the kind of life I want for my child."

Even closer to home, George Bush's tax cuts are directly affecting some of the Mamas' livelihoods and those social programs that help single parents.

"I was working for a nonprofit social services agency that deals directly with subsidized child's care," says Burlison-Craft. "The funding got cut so badly that they were thinking about closing the agency. I got my hours cut in half and ended up leaving. The first program to get cut was the respite program for kids that are at risk."

Burlison-Craft can literally rattle off a long list of Bush policies that are directly affecting her ability to raise her child. "The subsidized housing assistance I count on to help me to afford my house is being threatened. Medi-Cal services are getting cut way back. Public schools are constantly doing fundraising because their art programs and pretty much everything is getting cut."

But in the end, these women are going because they hope to make a difference.

"It may seem minor to some people," says Samundra-Girdner, "but it's a really big deal to us. This is what we can do on a small scale, on a local level."

"I talk to my mom a lot about what's going on," says Burlison-Craft, "and she's really freaked out about me going out to protest in New York because of what she sees all over the news about how dangerous it's going to be. I try to explain to her, it's like this Chinese proverb I have next to my desk: 'Crisis and Opportunity.' Every crisis carries two elements--danger and opportunity. No matter how bad things are, no matter what huge crisis you're in the middle of, there's always some opportunity for something good to come out of it. So for me, the fact that things are just so insane right now in our country--I think there's a huge opportunity for people to build a stronger community network and to actually do something to make a change."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just googled myself

And I found this article from a Chicago paper that I completely forgot about!


City Limits WEEKLY
Week of: September 6, 2004
Number: 450

MEDIA MISSES THE MESSAGE
What really happened at the poor people's march? > By Alyssa Katz


When a handful of demonstrators clashed with police on Monday evening near Madison Square Garden--including one who reportedly knocked a cop off a scooter and injured him--the incident and its attendant media coverage drowned out the message of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, which was marching a block behind. "None of us know who did it or what happened," said Cheri Honkala, the group's founder.
So for the record, here's what it sounded like on the group's march from the U.N., which the NYPD permitted to go down Second Avenue and west on 23rd Street: "I went down to the president's house and I/Took back what he stole from me. Took back my dignity/Took back my humanity. Cuz it's under my feet, under my feet, under my feet, under my feet/Ain't no system gonna walk all over me."

Little kids and their moms, student volunteers, teenagers in technical schools, formerly homeless people who now run their own nationally recognized nonprofit organization--this was their song. Their message to midtown: poor people are politically active, poor people can take charge of their lives, and poor people can demand social policies that don't run them deeper into the ground.

"Under My Feet" started as the anthem of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, a Philadelphia grassroots group that has organized poor and homeless individuals and families since the early 1990s to make themselves seen and heard as a political force. Honkala has taken KWRU to New York before, as part of an ongoing campaign to get the U.S. to recognize adequate housing, health care and food as basic human rights, just like the U.N. does. In 1998, a busload of members (plus yours truly and a documentary film crew) took a cross-country ride to spread the word and come into the spotlight. This time, KWRU and allied groups have come to protest the Republican National Convention under the umbrella of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. Members camped out in Bushville, a tent city they set up in--where else--Bushwick, at Mount Zion Christian Church of Christ.

Many of the several thousand marchers who joined the midtown procession had never heard of the Philadelphia group or its national offspring. "Any march that's going on, I'm going to be there!" said Eric Pawluk, who's studying business at Fordham University. He happens to think international poverty is the more urgent problem to deal with. All the same, Pawluk sees the trouble at home: his Bronx neighborhood is full of homeless people.

Marcher after marcher had stories like this to tell. There was Lynn Fitzgerald, who works at a Yonkers homeless shelter and is appalled at the quality of that city's schools. And the flip side: California teacher Scottie Smith, who complained that many of her students can't learn because they have unstable housing and pervasive health problems in their families. And the Sonoma, California, mom who's worried that she'll become homeless again if she ever loses her federal rent subsidy. "This is very personal," said Dani Burlison, who raised money to come to the demonstrations.
The NYPD escort accompanying the march under a last-minute agreement was generally respectful and polite--perhaps because Honkala had praised the police as "brothers and sisters working without a contract." "It's great, it's really great," said Miriam Kramer, chair of the National Welfare Rights Union, remarking on the turnout of several thousand for a cause that's usually on the margins. "And the police is marching with us!" [8/31]

From www.citylimits.org

donations so far

I spent a few days about 2 weeks ago typing up and sending out about 150 letters soliciting financial donations as well as donations of auction and raffle items. Many of my amazingly creative friends are donating art, handmade clothing, wine, food, music, services (massage, haircuts, housecleaning) and TIME and I should have everything ready for the auction in the next week or two!

So far, I have received generous donations from these folks in the mail:

Hairspray Salon
Sonoma County Museum
East West Cafe
Evolution Yoga
Krishna Das
Shambhala Sun Magazine
Lagunitas Brewing Company
Orr Hot Springs
The Ram Das Tape Library
The Rialto Lakeside Cinemas
Roxy Cinemas Stadium
Free Mind Media
Occidental Art and Ecology Center (being sent)

I am also going to:
*apply for an "Adopt An Activist" grant
*do a "Dine and Donate" dinner
*possibly ask for corporate sponsorship (at least for accommodations or supplies or travelers immunization)
*ask airlines for discount vouchers
(advice?)

I am feeling a little anxious about the event. Planning something so huge, for my first time, by myself is very overwhelming. There is the music, the food, the auction items, the raffle, the wine, the kid-friendly activities, the publicity and the stress of trying to get the money raised in time to buy the tickets before they cost a million dollars. On top of this all, I am trying to focus on my last semester of graduate school, do thesis research, learn more about Kenya (including where to stay during the forum) pay the bills and do my best to be a decent mom.

I am trying to tell myself that all of my hard work and dedication to trying to "fix" the world is going to pay off instead of making me crazy and that we will make it to the forum...

And announcing...

...The event flyer!!!! Generously provided by my friend, Michael and being printed by my friend Ryan. Kick. Ass.