In the Company of Women

This past week I actually managed to get myself to a LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund) Toronto meeting after months of schedule conflicts that have prevented me from getting there and helping push along the work of this organization that has been key to so many important court decisions and educational initiatives impacting on the rights of Canadian women.

It was phenomenal to be once again in the company of a group of social-activist, intelligent and yes despite the popular misconception that feminists have no sense of humour. . . funny women.

Ideas flew fast and furious. (And NO, right-wing, anti-equity readers I’m not going to tell you what those ideas were, so you can leave now.)

I probably was perceived as a bit of a babble-head but it had just been SO LONG since I’d been in the midst of like-minded women. (Apologies for babbling to all you LEAFERS reading this.)

Our chairperson had a small baby so I’m sure that babykins thought that this group of women surrounded him with the sole purpose of a baby-admiration society. He was more interested in peek-a-boo and party than nursing, that’s for sure! It was a multi-tasking women’s ballet of baby play, supper assembly, serious social action and occasional cat-herding (real cats) as family cats stalked the buffet table lasagne.

Ah, it was an organizing meeting such as only feminists cook up. It was productive, it was fun and I felt like.. . . “I’m HOME!!”

Bread and Roses Life, L. Rogers

Michael Franti: I Know I'm not Alone

Michael Franti’s journey to the Middle East is recorded in the film I Know I’m Not Alone . His trip to play some music, chat to some people, jam with other musicians and see for himself what’s happenin’ seems like such an ordinary thing for an artist to do. However when it is the war zones of Iraq and the Gaza strip that he is touring to, the normalcy of many of his encounters seem abnormal. Yet in crossing the ocean and the barriers of war it seems that he shows the absurdity and unnecessary nature of war.

He makes it seem so easy, just take the step, reach out to individual human beings–victims of war and agressors– and make peace happen in the world.

I wiewed the film tonight at the Friends Meeting House in Toronto with some people from other peace groups. Members of Christian Peacemaker teams were there also, poignantly mourning the loss of Tom Fox in Iraq. The fact that peacemaking could also be very personally dangerous was very much in the room with the small group of about 30 gathered around the TV monitor. The film was introduced by a woman who had been in Iraq in 2004 with CPT. She struck a note that was harmonious with the film when she said that she never felt more unsafe than at times when she was near people with guns. She gave an example of travelling for a time with a NY Times reporter to report on CPT work there. The NY Times provided armed guards, a convoy of armed vehicles and everyone wore flak jackets. The site of the group travelling provoked hostile reactions and looks from many people as they travelled. Going about Iraq unarmed felt much, much safer.

I left the film wondering if a critical mass of people like Franti really could make a difference by refusing to be frightened of reaching out to those we’ve been told we should fear. I was reminded of other symbolic acts of peace that I had witnessed in my life, some even by people I was privileged to know. I don’t know if it will make a difference but it seems like the only thing that one can do. I hope Franti is right–that he is not alone.

Bread and Roses Life, L. Rogers

blogging about blogging


These days to post about my life would be to blog about blogging as I have mainly been filling my idle hours working on the PrashArt blog at http://prashart.blogspot.com

I thought I would join the 43 Things Website http://www.43things.com/ to help motivate me to do more with my life, get more organized. This site allows you to set up to 43 things you want to do, cheer others on with the same goals and give little status reports, send reminder messages.

Not being that ambitious I could only think of 6 things. What an underachiever!

My big accomplishment in the “play my cello” goal was getting the case open.
At that point, the cello, opened for the first time in ages in the dry winter air promptly developed a crack, thereby allowing me to procrastinate for several more months until I get organized to take it in to get fixed. So it wasn’t a total loss.

After awhile I wondered why I hadn’t gotten any of the motivational messages I’d set up for myself. But you see, my computer thought that these messages were spam. So I’d succeeded in spamming myself also.

Bread and Roses Life, L. Rogers

Roses


One of the roses in my life currently is artist Prashant Miranda. Prashant volunteers his time and talent for World Literacy and has become a friend. He’s currently in India where he has been doing some work with literacy programs there and also been doing some spiritual seeking of his own. From time to time he’s been emailing us some pages from his sketchbook.
On his arrival in Varanasi he wrote about the huge moon outside his window, reflected in the Ganges.

Bread and Roses Life, L. Rogers

Here from There


In the picture on the right here are some of the littlest protestors. Their signs proclaim their “Right to Play”

This photo was taken at International Children’s Day celebrations in Varanasi India. In such a world it seems hard to justify the time to blog.

Whenever anyone would talk to me about their blogs, they’d often talk about it as a way of living an examined life and a way of making sense of the past by constructing some sort of linear narrative about their life.

Makes sense. Perhaps a worthy goal but . . . Why did that make me feel tired?

I guess when you are at or past the halfway point of a lifespan as I am, you really want to live in the NOW more. You also want to look ahead and plan the best use of the future. Enough of looking back already.

Besides how much of life is linear?

Not my life. It has been one of flying off madly in all directions or gently falling from place to place in the currents of change and happenstance.

I am currently working for an organization called World Literacy of Canada. The picture above was taken at one of our programs in India. It’s a bit of a departure after having worked in the Arts exclusively for the past decade. But on the whole I am feeling more myself these days. It was one of those falling backwards by mistake into something that works, at least for a time. While I came in applying for one job and was hired for something entirely different, there’s been a lot about the past year that has been a great “fit”. I’ve met some wonderful talented and inspiring people and there have been many high points.

Right now I am really hoping that I will be able to apply for and receive funding for a pilot project that would link some literacy programs in India with classrooms in Canada. The goal would be to share stories about children’s daily lives between Canadian children and some of the poorest kids in India. The kids in WLC tutoring programs cannot afford to attend regular schooling.

So my starting point is Now.

Maybe along the way how I got here from there might be relevant.

Bread and Roses Life, L. Rogers