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| Angela Davis- liberate minds as well as society |
A few moments after posting that, I received this in my inbox, from a wonderful woman named Karen Sue Gaddy. I asked her if I could mention her name and post her message.
Just saw your post w Angela Davis
I was not much more than 20. They were goin up the jersey tp minding their own business. State police stopped their car. Think they had Lewis or Newton in the car. Angela went to prison pg. I sat in my upstairs window and wept as men with guns walked the fields and woods around my house. They came on the radio and told us to stay inside and lock our doors. There had been a shoot out on the jersey tpk around mile market 8 or 8A between Black Panthers and popo.
I had already seen what the establishment was doing to stop the uprising. Those of us who craved change read the "underground" newspaper and just knew that most of what the establishment was printing was lies. If you gotta stuff a gag in a man's mouth in court, you must be afeared of losing control. (In them days, the popo would stop any hippie or weirdo in a desolate part of the Garden State in the A.M.,rip your ride apart, seats and all, throw it out on the side of the highway and leave you there at the mercy of the night to put your shit back together.)
So, I did not lock my doors. I opened all my windows and doors and prayed they would make it to my house and I could have helped them in some way. I just played "Four Way Street" full blast on the outdoor speakers, blasted it across the fields and woods and awaited the inevitable. They did not make it to my house.
Carry on. Stay kind. Always there is a movement.
"Those of us who crave change." If you are reading this, then there is a good chance you are one of those people. Change must happen, and the change requires that we each look at our lives and do things differently. I love this quote by David Suzuki- it says so much-
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| David Suzuki- Re-examine our lifestyles is right! |
This revolution has elements that none other has had before. The enemy is not only without. There is a complacency that has infiltrated our minds, or homes, and our lives, that is the biggest obstacle in this movement. If we could overcome that obstacle EN MASSE- it would be a powerful, even unstoppable force. There are more of us than of them. And by them, I mean the shareholders and those who make money on the bones of our children's children. Those who profit from our illnesses. Those who package food "products" to make them tempting, add chemical flavorings to induce cravings, all the while knowing that these diets create obesity, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, all sorts of maladies for which they also provide a plethora of pharmaceuticals- BIG PHARMA. And BIG AGRA, they are all for the GMOs, tout them as being the solution to world hunger, meanwhile American grocery stores are 80% full of GMO tainted products, and people are still starving in the world. This isn't new information, but how many of you have changed your eating lifestyle radically in lieu of this information? How many people, when presented with images of the plastic garbage vortex in the Pacific Ocean- larger than the state of Texas- stop using single use plastic items entirely, things like water bottles, cups from coffee shops, plastic bags at grocery stores, lighters? I know that when you read about this stuff, it bothers you. But for most, it doesn't bother them enough, and that's the biggest enemy we face. The apathy, the complacency. that is why this revolution IS primarily an internal one. At least, it begins there, and then it manifests in your life.
Once you start to do things differently, you want to talk about it. You want to have a community around you of like minded people. You tolerate ignorance less. You prefer to learn to be sustainable, to rely less and less on this very flawed system full of sleeping sheep people. You might learn to grow food, or shop at the farmer's markets. You might march at rallies, write blogs, create groups in your community, work with non-profits, learn about beekeeping, help plant urban farms, grow your own food, build a solar panel, create a non profit, write a cookbook of the new recipes you are learning to create in place of processed foods. You might feel healthier, sexier, people might say, "Wow, you look great, are you in love?" You might be less stressed, moody, prone to anxiety. You might be more present in all your relationships. You might be EXCITED- for no reason and for every reason. You might feel like part of a movement. You might sense the presence of greater alternatives opening up for the future of humanity. You might feel like one of the good guys. You might love yourself for it. This is the revolution. The enemy is apathy. Learn to recognize your enemy in your life, and maneuver around it, or kill it dead, but don't let it stop you. OCCUPY YOURSELF!
I loved what Karen Sue Gaddy sent so much. I love how she felt impelled to write to me, a total stranger, and give me a glimpse into a moment and time in her life and her own revolutionary heart. Above all, I love how she signed off. Carry on. Stay kind. Always there is a movement. Thank you, Karen!!
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| OCCUPY YOURSELF xoxo, Ashley Dane Shake the Hive |
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