Running for the Bus!

When I moved to Mendocino County in 2010, I sold my car, knowing that I could survive among the magnificent trees up north without wheels.  I recently moved into a poor West Oakland neighborhood, where getting around without a car is slowly but surely changing me.

Public transportation in my neighborhood is quite the standard, and those of us who rely on it have become intimate with frustration and desperation.  Despite the positive aspects of  becoming adept at trip planning and learning to be flexible, the little amount of control we have to arrive at our destination at an appointed time redefines us.  Last week, a middle-aged woman got off the bus I was on and ran with all her might to catch her connecting bus, only to see it pull away.  My heart sank, and I believe that everybody on my bus who witnessed the woman literally felt her defeat. Something slowly falls apart inside when we regularly experience doing everything we can, to no avail.

Defeat.  I'm more acquainted with the word and experience now than I've ever been. Missing a bus now and then is not in itself defeating; knowing that I can do everything in my power and still miss the bus, is. This is a necessary life adjustment, yet it gives me pause about the society of low-income people we are becoming.  I won’t here repeat the oft-quoted stats about the increase of poverty in the United States; what I will say is that increasing poverty absolutely means increasing despondency. 

I honestly don't know what to say about the growing despondency.  So what's my purpose in writing this blog post?   I would just ask that all artists – critically thinking and creatively engaged people – make a conscious effort to think about what life is like for those without the comforts you may take for granted.  Then weave those thoughts and imaginings into your political discourse or abstract paintings or photography or whatever may be your particular art form.  Your personal experience and perspective are indeed precious, as is your willingness and ability to allow your artwork to reflect more than that.  I believe that in these most difficult times, we must extend beyond ourselves if we are to survive.

Copyright September 2013 by Dianne Durham

Let's Go To War!

Critical thinking will always discredit the validity of what government officials say when they’re gearing up for war.  And creative thinking will always render a war option foolish, even idiotic and diabolical.  So as artists – creatively engaged people – we must declare war on the shameful stupidity of a government that rushes to engage militarily when alternatives are available and desperately indicated.

Artists could begin a “truth campaign” in which we use creative ways to, for example, expose how the U.S. in recent years used white phosphorus (yes, a chemical weapon!) in Fallujah.¹ The U.S. military also dropped depleted uranium (DU) in Kosovo,² Iraq,³ and Libya,⁴ and of course used Agent Orange in various places during the Viet Nam war, causing serious long-term damage not only to the “enemy” but to U.S. soldiers!⁵  An artistic truth campaign might not result in immediate embarrassment and remorse among our elected officials, motivating them to change their behavior, but it would enable folks to be more clear about what’s really going on – the first step in making fundamental societal change.

Remember the song, “We Are the World,” the 1985 collaborative project  written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie and performed by 47 artists? Whether or not you liked the simple song, artists came together to make a profound statement.  Artists do have power, and I’m not just talkin’ collective celebrity power, but power to paint a different picture for all to see, images painted with indelible ink that will remain in the minds and hearts of those who partake of them.

So, let’s go to war against insanity!  Let’s embark on a mission to expose lies and tell the truth in our poems and essays, our song lyrics and theatre scripts, our murals and photography, in the stories we read to our children and grandchildren, and in our celebratory dances that exalt the human spirit.  Let us individually and collectively resolve to remain honest, untainted by the lies that would lure us into justifying the killing of people in Syria or anywhere else!

Photo:  Ede Morris singing her tribute to Trayvon Martin at an "All Humanity March" in Ukiah, CA, March, 2012.

¹ ”America’s Fallujah Legacy,” by Karlos Zurutuza. http://www.globalresearch.ca/america-s-fallujah-legacy-white-phosphorous-depleted-uranium-the-fate-of-iraq-s-children/30372

² “Uranium Risks Haunt Kosovo Survivors,” http://www.dw.de/uranium-risks-haunt-kosovo-survivors/a-16366645

³ “US Depleted Uranium as Malicious as Syrian Chemical Weapons,” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-considine/us-depleted-uranium-as-ma_b_3812888.html

⁴ “US-NATO Forces Used Depleted Uranium Ammunition in Libya. Selected Articles,” http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-nato-forces-used-depleted-uranium-ammunition-in-libya-selected-articles/24367 

⁵ “Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, increased cancer risk – study,” http://tvnz.co.nz/lifestyle-news/vietnam-veterans-exposed-agent-orange-increased-cancer-risk-study-5556223

Copyright Dianne Durham, September 2013