Being a voice for the voiceless

Many times while expressing my viewpoint or speaking up for something or against something, I look inside myself to see if the action I am taking is truly honoring the voiceless, whichever voiceless I am trying to be a voice for at the moment.

How is my action or behavior actually helping the voiceless? Is it viewed positively or negatively. Would folks not necessarily in agreement with me at least ponder what I am talking about or will they just blow me off as crazy, rude, etc?

This topic is huge for me. I seldom lose sight of why I am an activist, why I think it is so important to be  a voice for the voiceless. To continually speak out against animal cruelty, bigotry, violence and recently just basic unkindness. To be a voice for liberation.

I became vegan for one reason: animal cruelty. I didn't become vegan because someone yelled at me or threatened me. It was a very personal decision based on the person I wanted to be. I loved animals. Why in the world would I want to do anything that would harm them? Although I would have picked up a stray dog or stopped someone from abusing an animal in front of me, what was on my dinner plate did not reflect my values when it came to animals.

I know that some will disagree with me, that we must do everything in our power to stop the violence and to fight for total liberation.

I would rather invite those opposed to my ideas or my way of thinking for a coffee and actually talk. This of course is not always possible. I would rather disrupt in a calm, kind voice. I have seen this in action and smiled.

I remember one day standing outside a Baptist church during a silent protest against the church taking out a full-page ad in the local paper to denounce homosexuality and make clear their stance against it. Chatting with a family on their way out I said that we all have more in common than not. We had a wonderful conversation. I am not sure if they would stand on the side of liberation and equality, yet I am pretty sure they would not demonize gay people. Perhaps that's a start.

Thanks for reading.

The JeffCo School Board fiasco Part III

This is Part III of a series of posts I am writing about our county school board.

As schools closed and students began walking out in protest of a proposed curriculum committee, all of a sudden Jefferson County Public Schools was in the news across the country.

The curriculum committee would be a form of censorship.

The board is not transparent.

The student's walking out of class are pawns of their teachers and the ever-powerful union.

Students are being manipulated.

This is all really about the teacher's union.

There are certainly no shortage of opinions. Those who have always supported public schools are voicing their opinion. Those who have always disliked teacher unions are voicing theirs.

Some are going hard core. Ross Kaminsky, an apparent conservative who does not care for teacher unions, wrote this in a recent note to our local paper: "But truth is the first casualty of war, and so it was in Jefferson County as the unions implemented their plan to use students as human shields while assailing the school board with misinformation." This was in response to a part of his note in which he wrote that the school board was really fighting censorship.

The student human shields have a lot at stake. Pawns as they might be, AP History is important to them as they can get college credit for it. (I am still learning more about AP topics so will write more in another post.)

As I watched students leaving class in protest and listened to the nationwide name calling against students in JeffCo schools, some coming from our own school board members, my first thought was that all of these name callers have never met a teenager. Pawn? Easily manipulated? Seriously?

Those who support our "reformist" school board say it's all about the money. And union power. My challenges about our new board have indeed included issues about the money. The $80,000 for an additional lawyer just for the three "reformist" board members. The huge increase in pay for the new school superintendent, especially when so many conservatives complained about the pay of our former school superintendent. $300,000 for a charter school that is struggling and money had not helped before.

And one of the semi-funny issues is the pay of the new superintendent. I listened to many folks complaining about how much our past superintendent was paid. These folks are supportive of our current board majority. Yet I didn't hear any complaining when the new superintendent was hired at a salary of about $80,000 more than the past one. 

As the new superintendent said this week, "the past week has been quiet". Indeed it has. I'm curious to see what the next steps are. I'm also looking forward to our local elections to see if tea party candidates are affected in JeffCo based on the support of the board majority. I want to see if more people start voting based on what the board is doing.  

Thanks for reading. 

The JeffCo School Board fiasco Part II

This is Part II of a series of blog posts about the Jefferson County School Board and recent student walkouts.

This month, one of the new "reformist" board members introduced a proposal to have a curriculum review committee and that the committee's first priority would be to revisit the AP History course.

Although many of the student-organized walkouts were based on the AP History portion of this proposal, including what should or shouldn't be taught in history, I am surprised that no one has brought up the process of selecting the committee.

First, I'd like to share an email sent out by a supporters of the board member, Julie Williams, who wants to create this curriculum committee:
 

This is scary. I wonder how this person thinks about the students who attend JeffCo schools. I wonder what Julie Williams thinks about gay students or students who might call themselves progressive. I wonder if the writer of this email thinks gay people are ungodly.

No matter what you think about "reformist" school board members (not just ours but those across the country), I think it's fair to say that they have an agenda. In our case, I truly believe that our school board majority has no interest in all of our students, that they only care about their agenda.

So just say it.

There are plenty of actions that "reformist" board members have taken that show me that they do not care about all students. I wonder what it's like for gay and lesbian students in the district. Or students who live in poverty.

After over a week of student protests, I also wonder how students in JeffCo feel when being called pawns, or that their actions could never have been planned by themselves but had to have been planned by the dreaded union. Newscasters have called them names. Our own board members seem to think that the students cannot critically think for themselves.

This week two high schools closed due to teacher sickouts. There were a couple of student protests but not on the level of last week. The monthly school board meeting is tonight, and the new curriculum is on the docket.

More to come.

Meanwhile, please vote. Please check out your school board.

Thanks for reading.

The JeffCo School Board fiasco - Part I

Evergreen High School students protesting the JeffCo School Board.

If you are connected with my blog on social media at all, you might already know about what is happening with our local school district. We live in Lakewood, which is part of Jefferson County, Colorado. Since last week thousands of students from high schools throughout the county have walked out of class to protest, mainly, a school board member's proposed curriculum committee that would start out by making changes to AP History.

There is no way I can give this story justice with just one post. This will be a series. My first! Seriously, this issue is of huge importance to me and as I have closely followed this I have learned  a lot that I want to share with all of you.

To give you a little background, there are five school board members and last November three new "reformist" board members were voted in. They have a majority and have used that to promote their seemingly right-wing agenda. Now there are those who say that the previous board majority did the same with a left-wing agenda, yet somehow our school district became one of the top in the country.

With each side trading barbs, this is one thing I believe everyone can agree with: That JeffCo Public Schools has a reputation throughout the country as being one of the best school districts nationally.

We are also one of the largest, 85,542 students. And unlike some school districts in Colorado that are very wealthy, ours is a for sure mixture of class, ethnicity and race. We have a very high percentage of students, 34%, who qualify for free or reduced lunch yet we also have many students who come from upper middle class and up families. About 10% of K-12 students in Colorado attended a JeffCo school.

99.86% of our teachers are considered "highly qualified" according to federal standards.

We have the third best graduation rate of the nation's 50 largest school districts.

NOTE: A lot of this information comes from last year's annual report, done before this new "reformist" majority won the election.

Jefferson County is a purple county, with one third each of Democrats, Independents and Republicans.

In January our new school board majority took over and it didn't take long to notice changes.

But before I start with all of that, I want to plug voting. And voting in local elections. And paying attention to your local school board.

This is vital. Otherwise, your local school board could look like ours, if it already doesn't. As I write about what is going on in Jefferson County, please take this to heart. Please vote. Please speak out. I totally believe that if more folks voted in the school board election last year that these "reformists" would have had no chance of winning.

Once in power, the "reformist" majority quickly hired a lawyer. The board already has a lawyer yet these three wanted their own at $80,000 a year paid by the school district.

Then they decided to give $300,000 to a charter school and in the same meeting decided that they should not fund full-day kindergarten.

Charter schools are an issue. And $300,000 is a lot of money. I have read that there are some amazing charter schools, yet I first and foremost believe in support our public schools. I do not believe that all charter schools are as supportive of all students as public schools are. AN example would be me getting calls from teachers and students at two JeffCo schools that were having a tough time from those in power when wanting to create a Gay-Straight Alliance.

So I seriously should either leave the charter school debate to those most qualified or at least wait until I learn more before I write about them.

I think now is a good time to break. While I write my Part II, here is an article from today's Denver Post that will bring you more information on what is happening: student walk outs.

Thank you for reading. I would be delighted if you shared this post with friends.

More dead Egyptians and Syrians

If you watch the national news or read any news-oriented websites you must know that in the last couple of weeks Egypt has exploded in violence that has left over 1,000 dead. In Syria, the death toll from violence since citizens began demanding the ouster of President Assad has added to the tens of thousands already killed by an attack that some say were chemical attacks leaving another 1,000 plus Syrians dead.

In the US, we are being informed about all of this, yet our nation seems to be just standing by and watching.

Believe me, I understand that both situations are complex. I also understand that, even though they won elections fair and square, many people, including many Americans, do not like the Muslim Brotherhood.

I'm also pretty sure that many in the Muslim Brotherhood and some in the Syrian resistance to not care much for gay people.

I am still sickened by all of the death.

Last week I watched as an older man, older than me, stood in front of a tank in Egypt waving his arms in what looked like an effort to stop the tank. Minutes later he was gunned down.

Yesterday I saw the video of bodies lined up in Syria after a supposed chemical attack.

I have always known that there is a lot of hate in this world.

So many viewpoints and so many things to think about.

In the midst of all of this slaughter, I don't even know what to do. Writing about it helps. Having conversation with others helps.

As a blogger who always tries to be a voice for the voiceless, I am a little puzzled. In Egypt a fairly-elected government is in jail, and when their supporters protest, they are shot dead. Yes, many refused to leave encampments, just like many Occupiers in the US refused to leave. And in Syria, how many will have to die?

Yes, both situations are complicated.

And more and more people will continue to die.

Thank you for reading.

Prairie dogs - the killing continues

When I moved to Colorado in 1998 from Virginia, I had never seen a prairie dog. I'm sure I had heard of them but honestly knew nothing about them. After a few weeks in Colorado I started seeing them as we took trips up to Boulder. They are indeed cute. And so much more.

One of my favorite colonies was one that I could watch from the highway between Denver and Boulder. I loved watching them. There is now a parking lot where they used to play, roam, nuzzle, and squeak.

One of my biggest memories of being a voice for prairie dogs was when a church north of Denver decided to kill the prairie dogs on their property. That week I stood in the middle of their property amongst beautiful creatures that, because of poisoning, had died bleeding from the inside out. It was a horrible sight. We held protests at the church and had conversations with them as we talked about animal cruelty and they talked about Jesus.

Tomorrow there is another protest against the upcoming slaughter of prairie dogs in Frederick, Colorado. Their death warrants are sealed and no doubt their fate. People will gather to protest the upcoming slaughter.

I realize this is not an easy issue. Towns and cities have concerns. There are huge environmental issues here. The bottom line for me is that we as a culture cannot continue to kill just because animals are in our way. This is a conversation that happens all of the time throughout the west. Some say that prairie dogs are pests, just rodents in the way that spread disease. They are vital part of our eco-system. To me, they are living beings that go through extreme torture and pain when being poisoned just because they live in an area that is inconvenient to humans.

This is a great example of the importance of knowing one's elected officials. People who live in Frederick and know who represents them on city council can be a great voice for the voiceless. I know that I write about this a lot, and any activist who knows who represents them, and connects with those people about issues important to them, have a stronger voice when issues like these arise. My experience is that it might not change the result, but it definitely makes people realize that there are other opinions and perhaps other ways of doing things.

For more information on prairie dogs:

http://prairiedogcoalition.org/

Thank you for reading!

Too many dead protesters in Syria

I started my path fighting to make the world a better place while spending a year in Colombia as an exchange student at age 16. My life was forever changed and I returned to the US intent on delving into human rights.

I watched with excitement as I saw protests all over the world in support of protesters in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria.

I continue to be horrified, sickened, and disgusted as I read the daily death counts in Syria. Depending on who you believe, more than 2,000 have been killed, tortured, jailed or disappeared solely for protesting against the government. As you may know, almost always these protests have been peaceful.

As these beautiful people continue to be massacred, I wanted to take a few minutes and spread the word to please remember these folks. Please talk about them, write about them, blog about them. As an activist and one who has protested since I was 16, one should be able to protest without being shot, tortured, or threatened.

Will you stand with me in solidarity with the brave protesters in Syria? They continue, against all odds, to protest and to make their peaceful argument for freedom.

If you are interested in keeping up with what is going on in Syria, from an activist's viewpoint, you can follow this guy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/MalathAumran There are also several Facebook pages written by those who are part of the protest movement.

Thanks so much for reading! I continue to be so grateful for everyone's support!

Thinking of Occupy Wall Street - Goodbye credit card

My intention was in the right place: go to the Occupy Denver march. Then it got cold. And then it rained. And rained. As I got my raincoat on and went outside to see how it felt, I realized that I did not want to go march in the cold and the rain.

The march was successful. I even saw coverage on TV. On "Sunday Morning", a news program we watch, they had a great spot about Occupy Wall Street.

Occupy Denver has a website which lets folks know what they need. I'll drop supplies off this week. I'll keep posting their hash tag on Twitter and promoting the idea that 99% of our population still have a voice. That's how I can help.

NOTE: I'm not impressed with those discounting the protests due to "lack of message". I think people get the message.

I believe that all of those protesting can go many more steps further. One of those steps would be to stop using their credit card.

WHAT!

I said it. This 45 year old gay vegan who loves to shop, loves his Mac, loves his cup of coffee and is part of the spending machine is actually suggesting that we cut up our credit cards. NOTE: If you don't have one, good for you. You can advance to another step in support of the protest.

What would it look like for the powers that be, those credit card carriers execs, although giving people money they don't have, make a fortune off of us. Me, I get it, I use a credit card to buy something I don't need. It's been a long time since I used though, and I keep thinking about what it might look like if 1,000 folks stopped using credit cards? 10,000?

A credit card burning protest? Maybe not. Yet in the quiet of one's home, with their family or a significant other, we can make a decision that will send a clear message: I'm done with you. Our relationship no longer works. The fees, the ever-changing interest rate, and your politics, no longer work for me. I want to break up.

We can start a savings account at our local credit union or local bank. I got that idea from a sign at the NYC protest. We can then use that account "for emergencies". Not a credit card that continually pays into a system that we most likely want nothing to do with.

Would anyone listen if we started to do this? Are people in a position that they can stop using their card to purchase groceries? Am I speaking from privilege when I suggest this?

I would LOVE every one's thoughts! What can we do in our daily lives to support Occupy Wall Street?

Thanks for reading.

Candlelight vigils - Part I

NOTE TO READER: This is an attempt at a two-part blog. I felt that the entire piece was too long for one post. Please enjoy Part I; Part II will be out shortly.

I was standing outside the coliseum holding my candle and my sign. I hadn’t had time to make my own sign, which is what I prefer, and was holding one that said something about elephants in chains. It was my first protest after having moved to Denver a few months earlier and I was excited to see so many people speaking for the voiceless at yet another circus demonstration against Ringling Brothers and their continual maltreatment of animals.

All across the US there were candlelight vigils going on that same night with thousands of people gathering to speak for the voiceless, well, one voiceless. These people were not protesting the maltreatment of animals in circuses yet were remembering a young college student named Matthew Sheppard who had been savagely beaten that week in Laramie, Wyoming.

I had attended a protest two days earlier at the state capitol in Denver, joined with several hundred others who were outraged by the beating. I was most likely the only person who attended both the circus protest and the gathering against hate at the state capitol. The two don’t mix. Animal rights activists speak out against torture and cruelty toward animals. Gay and lesbian activists speak out against hate crimes and violence against gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender people.

Back to the moment, I was kindly reminding people entering the circus of the lifelong saga of elephants who are kept in chains a large part of their lives. Many elephants had died in Ringling Brother’s captivity and sadder yet many of the elephants were born free, captured, and now were performing throughout the US to satisfy the entertainment needs of a carefree society.

Matthew Sheppard was 21 when he met two men at a local bar in the college town of Laramie. The two were locals, apparently had some drinks with Matthew, and then went for a ride. On the outskirts of Laramie all three got out of the truck and the two men proceeded to beat Matthew unconscious. This all happened about two hours northwest of where I was living with my male partner.

“A life in chains” I politely said as more people walked by.

“Faggot”. Faggot was a response, not common but certainly not uncommon. It seems the worst thing one can call a protestor is a faggot.

“He was a faggot,” exclaimed one of Matthew Sheppard’s torturers.

“Please don’t go in” I pleaded.