While You Were Away, Shit Got Real

I went down to the courthouse today to honor my jury summons. For those of you who don't live in Santa Cruz or haven't driven down Water street in the last 42 days, Occupy Santa Cruz is camped in the adjacent park and has erected a rather large geodesic dome. You have to walk by (at least) the camp the get to the jury assembly room.

As I was waiting in said assembly with my fellow citizens, a young man walked by somewhat loudly trying to address police about what he felt were abuses of their power. I'd heard about similar actions at other Occupy camps. Suffice it to say that I was curious. At lunch I decided to talk to one of my other fellow citizens, a protester with Occupy Santa cruz, about the police. He was very upset about their treatment and their tactics of forcibly removing protesters' tents, ostensibly stealing the belongings of folks trying to make a difference.

Back in the courtroom, I heard testimony from prospective jurors about how they felt about the homeless. Hopefully without getting into trouble I will say that the case involved an alleged homeless person. As one can guess from average Joe citizen (presumably with an address - a home - at which to receive their summons) that the view of the homeless was not kind: the are smelly, mentally ill and have chosen to be homeless in defiance of all that is good & decent. At least one person mentioned the protesters camping outside in a similar vein.

I can only hope that these people were merely trying to get out of their civic duty. I fear that they do believe what they were saying; mostly because I've heard others speak the same way candidly.

When asked about my feelings on authority, like the others in the jury box, I went on record about what I thought about the treatment of the people outside the very walls of the court. The judge visibly stifled a chortle. I also went on record to say that I was disturbed about the almost wholesale condemnation of the homeless. After more questioning of myself & others and a short deliberation later I was thanked and excused. 

It's hard to go on the record about how you really feel in an attempt to make a difference. I went to the Occupy Santa Cruz general assembly later tonight to see some of those people speak. They have an open invitation to members of the community to join on the courthouse steps @ 6pm Mon.-Sat. (2 on Sun.).

The Occupy organizers are pretty damned, well, organized. The process can be quite intimidating to join sight-unseen. But the group is very inclusive and everyone's voice is heard. Some of the people there were committed to making the 24-hour stand on public land to combat the abuse to our system.

They are concerned with the portrayal by the media of being dirty (causing taxpayers to pay for the cleanup) when they regularly police the area of their debris. They were concerned about continuing to keep drug use out of the camp. More immediately, though, they were very concerned about an impending raid by law enforcement.

As I write this, protesters are girding themselves for possible macing and teargas if the police show and try to dismantle their dome along with all the stations and signs they have put up. Anyone could think this is unfounded rumor unless he heard other reports of the city bagging meters to shoo away cars for a midnight "street cleaning". Or, if she didn't hear another eye-witness report of law enforcement refusing to discuss a direct question about an imminent raid.

It was only a matter of time before the powers-that-be got tired of waiting for this movement to blow-over. Protesters have already been kicked out of the park in New York by Mayor Bloomberg. This is the first time in my memory that any group has stood up to redress long-standing ills in our country and the world beyond. They have gained traction, made the voice of the little guy heard and refused to be dismissed.

If you consider yourself part of your community, you may find your time better spent connecting with those you may feel are different from you than complaining how twitters or the facebooking are isolating us. At the least, you could stand behind them instead of tearing them down.

These are some things I heard they need:

• Antacids & vinegar (to alleviate the effects of mace)
• Newspaper
• Pain killers
• Cardboard
• Food
• Poster-board
• Sticks
• Rags
• Art supplies
• You

Help Me Honor a Great Man

Giorgini
Originally uploaded by revraikes.

I was recently contacted by Mass Giorgini, a kind of real-life Buckaroo Banzai, who lives, teaches and produces music in my hometown. He and his brother, Flav (a punk-rock heavyweight & generally great human), grew up in the same tiny neighborhood as me.

Their family was the only other "weird" one on the block, other than mine. Like my mother, their father Aldo was an artist. The familiar smells of paint and thinner permeating their basement reminded me of home. Not to mention that Aldo was very nice to me. He was that way with everyone.

When his sons got into punk music, he stood by their efforts to start an all-ages club where local and touring bands could play - the only one for miles. And, no matter how freaky you looked, Aldo still treated you like a human.

Aldo passed much too early for those that loved him. He is now being honored at Ivy Tech Community College with the unveiling of one of his restored murals. It is one of those unique moments when a man of science, peace and art will be held up as an example to humanity.

Now, here's where I need your help. Mass found a raster -based artwork that I made and posted on the web (pictured above). I made it while thinking about how Aldo had inspired me to do digital art. As an engineer/artist, he used equipment at Purdue University (where he taught) to become one of the first "computer artists".

Mass would like to show my art next to Aldo's, along with another artist's from the area. I would like to donate the work already printed and framed, but am currently out of work and the best price I could find is still pretty high.

I am going to go ahead and print it to get it there on time. But, if I can cover most of the costs of printing, it would make life easier. I am not looking to make a profit on this. As soon as $89.99 is reached, I will remove the donation link seen below.

It's secure, and like I said, I'm not looking to cash-in on his memory. I just need a little help doing this well and want to honor a trailblazer's memory while giving back to my hometown community. You never know who you will inspire to reach their potential.

For transparency, this is the format and place where I am going to print.

March 4th Rally: Action for Public Education

March 4th Rally: Action for Public Education
Originally uploaded by shaire productions.

"We Have Decided Not To Die"

That was a what a banner read at one of the education rallies in this country last week. It was just b-roll, background footage not pointed out by the objective reporters on Democracy Now! where I saw the footage. But the sight of it brought amazing clarity to me to what's been going on.

I'm going to go ahead and out myself. I'm unemployed. I have been since early September of last year after WSU closed my & 9 other Learning Centers. I just thought it was because the whole country seemed to be going down the tubes and money was cut everywhere. I even started to believe that the distance education outreach and computer instruction my little outlying office provided might be superfluous. I'm beginning to believe otherwise.

Education has never really been a priority in this country, not for the masses. Well, I have heard of a time when it was inexpensive and easy to get into a State college, but not in my adult lifetime. That was in the 40's as I recall the nice lady telling me.

But the message is clear, as I sit here, cut from the only tech job that was available in the area. I must move away now. I could have built something here. I also sit, with others, unable to get an education to pull myself up by my own birkenstocks because of the bad credit and insurmountable debt from living in a system set against me - and from attaining my Associates, which is worth little more than a HS diploma in the job-search.

The facts are, teachers & staff are being cut. Students are being turned away. Distance education, something working-class folks (especially those with kids) need to be able to get a degree, is being shut down. These things speak loudly to me, all the louder that no one is saying anything.

Now for my conjecture: education stands in the way of young people feeling like they have no other choice in life but to join the military. Of course, that's not the only reason for keeping us dumb and slaves of wage. Yet - the banner I saw those students holding spoke volumes to me, since we are told that our armed forces are so thin that contractors must train any recruits that we still have.

I sit jobless, unable to bring my sharp mind to the community. I am unable to do what I love to do, to help people understand the thing that is quickly putting us behind the rest of the world. I am unable to give people the ability to access the only information they can come-by in lieu of higher education. And a war rages on, millions spent per hour, blood shed by the bucket... I.Q.'s dropping... hope fading.

Is this the world you want?