Piano Scribbles are three selections from various sessions between 2012 and 2013. Previously lost, these tracks were recently found – by accident – on various storage media.
Bernie Sanders, Black Lives, and Direct Democracy Reflections on Sanders at Netroots Nation 2015
A couple thoughts came to mind after watching the YouTube video of Black Lives Matter protesters making their presence known to Bernie Sanders at Netroots Nation 2015 in Arizona:
Bernie talks at people and he doesn’t know how to listen. I suspect this comes from being one of a few voices of push-back for so many years in the senate. A seed of self-righteousness will gestate in these conditions, and this can be a good thing, but not always.
Solidarity and Power Recognizing the interconnection of our grievances gives us power
This is a time of unification and power. A time where Black Lives Matter protests have erupted in Israel, where law school deans pledge real solidarity in Baltimore, and where Strike Debt is strategically staging a general Student Debt Strike in solidarity with Corinthian students already on strike. While thinking about these types of ongoing developments back in January I wrote a piece on Strike Debt’s blog about connecting our struggles – specifically speaking about how the battle against debt and the fight for systemic change waged by the Black Lives Matter movement have deep similarities.
I’ve still been thinking a lot about this – especially in relation to the ultimate power and potential of our movements. I say movements in plural because a number of us who are active still see our struggles as discrete battles, and because collectively we have not found a way to connect the overarching energy of our resistance.
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Mangoes Galore! (Or, how we learned not to look a gift horse in the mouth)
Mango season is here!
Luckily, we haven’t had to scavenge around the neighborhood for neglected fruit bearing trees: our neighbor has a massive tree and a portion of the behemoth stretches directly over our back yard. Despite only a few branches hanging overhead we have been inundated with fruit! And since we wouldn’t dare look a gift horse in the mouth, here is how we have used the fruit – along with how we are storing it for when this season becomes a fading memory.
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