A Friend's Wisdom

I don't think Kathie Piccagli would mind my crediting her with these words of wisdom, sent in an email to the OWL board members:

I misspoke.  Let's create a NEW normal.

Kathie

On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 9:33 PM Kathie Piccagli <kpiccagli@gmail.com> wrote:

At the risk of being maudlin:  Every day, sometimes many times a day, I remind myself how fortunate I am.  I have enough to eat, enough water to drink, am not homeless, live with a non-abusive partner, do not have to worry about income or a job.  I am not a migrant who had to leave my country because I might be killed or couldn't find enough food. (A migrant seeking refuge here or in some other non-welcoming country.). Better yet, I do not have kids for whom I need to provide and whom I need to protect.

On a different note, I hope we don't return to normal.  Normal is not good enough, and we have an opportunity to reset.  I hope we take it (but I'm worried.)

Kathie

Friends' Fears

Friends who were once students of mine called last night, alarmed by the looting that they personally have witnessed.  They sent me a video of 10 hooted Black men looting a gun store in Houston and expressed their fear that this was happening in our country.

Yes, there are quite a few things to concern ourselves with.  Black people have never felt safe, and now we whites feel our safety threatened too.  People play to our fears too.  But I agree with you that feeling safe is the bottom line.

I feel hope that this pandemic will end, and so will the murders of Blacks and all the looting.  

It's hard to know what to say.

Why Isn't It Black Lives Matter, Too?

Willie Brown addressed the slogan "Defund the Police," suggesting that it was the stupidest slogan ever.  I agree that it fuels the fears of Trump supporters and others.

But what about Black Lives Matter? 

I just got an email from friends who've created a graphic saying "All lives matter," and I think that's too weak.  Here's what I responded:

I wish that the original slogan "Black lives matter" had added the too.  I honestly think it would make the point clearer that for so many decades we acknowledged the worth of other lives, but not of Black ones.  I don't know why people think leaving off the too makes it a stronger statement that we've de-valued Black lives.

Leaving it off makes it sound as if those are the only ones that matter rather than those are the ones we've valued the least and the last.

Your colorful statement would work well with a graphic of masks.  It doesn't really address the racism  towards Blacks.

Love to you too....

❤️💕🌹🌈🐻

Black Lives Matter Too!

"Black Lives Matter" and "White Silence = White Violence" were two of the messages Glenda Hope, OWL's president, held when she gathered people together on Tuesday, June 9, for an hour at San Jose and Geneva. Patti Spaniak- Davidson, Chris Dillon, Barbara Fugate, and Jane Merschen are other OWL members who participated, all honoring the 6' distance and wearing masks. It was a spur-of-the-moment action.

Glenda reports, "The response we got from passing drivers and pedestrians was very good." She also confided that the wind (from nature and passing cars) was so strong that she feared it would lift her and her sign up like Mary Poppins, but she remained grounded.

Stay tuned for our July 27th Zoom meeting, when racial justice will be our topic with guest speakers Joani Marinoff and Debra Taube of SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice).

Lake Merced--one of San Francisco's Three Natural Lakes

Lake Merced is one of San Francisco's three natural freshwater lakes and was the main source of freshwater for nearly 50 years, according to the book Walking San Francisco's 49-Mile Scenic Drive by Kristine Poggioli and Carolyn Eidson. .

I walked there on Saturday, when Maxine and I (masked and at 6' from each other) started walking around the lake. It was my first time doing this, and it's lovely. But it started to rain, so we headed back after an hour or so because we weren't prepared.

But our walk prompted me to open the book "Walking San Francisco's 49-Mile Scenic Drive," which describes the tule reeds, which the native Ohlone people used to build houses and boats. I'm excited about going back and finishing the loop!

Star in the Wiindow, Star on a Podcast, Where are the Stars for Schools and Communities?First

While making a star for the person I loved who died of Covid 19 (thank you, reader Dianne Brenner,  for suggesting that we "Honor virus victims with stars" and thank you Eileen Gertz for living the life you lived, still shining),  I was listening to Joe Garopoli's podcast “It's All  Political" with guest Michael Franti and the focus positivity in politics and life, a real upper after I'd read "Fight intensifies over landmark property tax law" in reference to the Schools and Communities first. 

 Even before the pandemic, the gap between the rich and the poor was so huge that closing the corporate loophole in Prop 13 while protecting individual home owners was clearly the right thing to do.  

Now that we've had this economic crisis, how could anyone possibly "fight" against this?  Lapsley says that by the time the proposal would take effect, "budgets might be recovering in a post-pandemic world," but that's not good enough.  As Mayor Schaaf says, the measure represents a fundamental shift, and "businesspeople should be uncomfortable about the level of income inequality that we have."

Some have been generous with donations, but we need a system that doesn’t depend upon generous donations.

Open Letter to John Wildermuth for a Very Engaging Report

Dear Jon Wildermuth,

I loved your report "Face masks join front line of national political battle," which I read this morning and was just telling an Arizona friend about. 

 

Not so funny was the security guard in Flint, Michigan being shot to death in a dispute over face masks--or workers in stores threatened when the  tried to enforce the mask requirements in Oklahoma--leading to their dropping the mask requirements!

We now know that it's government mandates--not Covid 19--that people are arming against.

But some parts really sounded like a Borowitz Report, they were so funny.  Trump's getting a framed N95 mask from the CEO at the company's mask plant in Phoenix, where neither of them is wearing a mask!  

Favorite quotes:

Trump:  "It's a recommendation.  They recommend it.  I just don't want to wear one myself."

Good that Melania is wearing one and recommending it.

Good that Pence came through after going barefaced to the Mayo Clinic!  Why did they permit that?  I think it's collusion.

Yes, as you say "No Republican wants to be wearing a mask while walking behind a president who is barefaced."  

But  the best part of all were the stated reasons for not wearing a mask:

Trump says he's regularly tested for the coronavirus.

Rand Paul says that since he tested positive in March, he's now immune.

And Ohio state representative Nino Vitale  comes up with the best reason of all:  Because "we're all created in the image and likeness of God...I won't wear a mask."

I'm not going to make any snide remarks like "May he meet his maker, unmasked."

But I do want to thank you for this very engaging report!

Your reader,

Tina Martin