Saving the City

On May 21st, 2008 over 500 people marched through the streets of San Francisco’s Central City to protest Proposition 98, a measure that would destroy Rent Control. The march and rally was one of the most spirited and alive political events I have witnessed for at least five years; and an honor to co-organize. I always hesitate before I use the term “diverse” as the right-wing has learned how to mis-use that word. It was obvious however that the key organizations: Community Housing Partnership, Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, and Chinatown Community Development Center had reached deep inside their base communities, activating the passions of everyday people. At times, the march resembled more of a street party. A resident from the Senator Hotel brought his drum and the crowd collectively remixed the chants, which eventually morphed into Spanish and Chinese.

Chant #1: Save, our city, save our state: vote no on 98!

The next generation of freedom-fighters.

Norman Fong (CCDC) and Lashawndra Price (CHP) MC’d the event. This was Lashawndra’s first time as an MC for a demonstration and she rocked the house. Supervisor Peskin is in the background.

RIP-Michael Griffen

I’m only five months late here.

Back in January, Michael Griffith of Bellingham Washington DC died. Michael was a violinist and noise-maker of the finest caliber-performing with the improv duo Noggin and the hardcore band Behead the Prophet No Lord Can Live.

In the early nineties I had it in my head that I would either make it as a rock-star or a show promoter. Michael’s bands would tour often and I would book them around the SF Bay Area.  Audiences were always amazed by watching this senior citizen running around like a maniac performing with young punkers less than one-third is age. When I brought my bands (Family Home Evening and Space Masons) to the Northwest his door was always open to us. Mike’s house in Bellingham had the most amazing music room I’ve ever seen–dozens of instruments, many homemade.  In that room his love of fun, improvisation, chaos and collaboration seemed to create a timewarp. He could switch gears from frentic noise terrorist to mellow philosopher. I believe he was the one who introduced me to the writings of Freire and bell hooks.

I last saw him years ago at a show at the Cyclone in San Francisco. There’s not a whole lot else to say except that in a world where few understand the true value of play and joy, Michael got it and passed it on.

No and Yes

This week, debate about kicking the ROTC off of campuses has reached an interesting fever pitch. Here in San Francisco. As my friend, Marc Norton reports in Beyond Chron:

The San Francisco school board voted in November 2006 to end JROTC in San Francisco schools this June. Last December, the school board extended JROTC for another year, until June 2009. However, the JROTC Must Go! Coalition continues to press the board to end JROTC now. (See “JROTC Must Go Now” in the May 14 Bay Guardian

The JROTC Must Go! Coalition represents a shift in strategy for many in the anti-war left. Discouraged by large mobilizations, groups such as these have focused on the local arena: bringing creative tactics to challenge military recruiting at ROTC programs nationwide. These groups succeed in bringing essential information recruiters aren’t going to tell your kids before they sign up. Little details such as the real limits on accessing college funds, fiscal hardships, and of course risks. I have known many an ex-service person who wished they were gotten the other side of the story.

Any sports fan can tell you that any strategy only has a limited life-time. Unless it is remixed and revised, the play just dies. The other side runs interference, having studied its opponents strengths, and learning how to beat back its advances.

This well could be happening to the counter-recruitment movement in the near future. The problem is that every single ROTC program could be shut down, and kids would still turn to the military out of sheer economic necessity.

The ways in which race, class and now gender are intertwined are extremely clear in the case of military service. Approximately two-thirds of service people are working-class white people from rural areas. This is a reversal of the Vietnam-era statistics where working-class people of color from urban areas dominated. Movements such as the Chicano Moratorium and the massive GI Resistance efforts helped to reverse this, which held for many years. As the War on Terror became a disaster even by terms of US Imperial interests, the military has had to ramp up its efforts to recruit in cities, and in communities of color. Young women are being recruited into the military like never before.

So I’m wondering, if cities like San Francisco, Berkeley, and others are really interested in curbing military recruitment–why stop just saying no? What are economic strategies that would provide life-changing alternatives for young people considering military service? Should they create Urban Peace Corps where participants are paid as well, or better than soldiers? Should the anti-war movement be pushing for universal access to four-year education? Programs such as these probably would only put a dent in the conditions caused by the global economy, yet should be explored fully.

One popular left-wing slogan is “One No, Many Yesses,” yet sometimes the demands and complexity of organizing leaves us in the “no” gear for a long-time. This November, it is very possible the liberal president will be elected. This president will be able to sell incursions into Iran and other countries, even as s/he nominally ends a war in Iraq. With this at stake, it is time for us to start figuring out what we’re going to say yes to.

Those People Are Defiling Marriage!

Some thoughts on the Gay Marriage thing….

Godamn right, those people are defiling the institution of marriage!

Or maybe I should say, those straight people…us straight folks?

Two days ago, the California Supreme Court ruled that a right offered to some must be offered to all. That means that this is going to be the summer of love for hundreds of thousands of people who deserve the right to express their love in whatever way they see fit.

The right-wing talk shows were a buzz. You couldn’t turn on the television without hearing the phrase “defiling marriage,” (or similar) every few minutes.

The terrible secret is that the institution of marriage has been defiled for quite sometime now. A normal heterosexual marriage is one of the easiest places to uncover horrible acts of incest, adultery, violence, and good old fashioned dishonesty and unhapiness.

So to the GLBT community—if you can make something more of this failed institution, great! Maybe only those who have been systematically shut out can really appreciate it, reinvent it, nurture it. Heteros have handed you such a damaged, beaten and bruised prize that none of us are qualified to criticize.

I remember when my favorite Aunt and her partner had to move three hours outside of San Francisco due to an eviction. They truly had a love that did not need to be bound by church and state. However, the difference between the rights and respect granted to them in San Francisco County was virtually non-existent in Lake County. This was especially evident when her partner fell ill and needed the “system” to recognize her most loved one’s judgment and place in her life.

In the end, the gay marriage decision will make a big difference in a lot of individual’s lives, and the simple expansion of the freedom of choice is reason to celebrate. The fact that a bunch of people who have built careers on hatred and intolerance (some of them closeted gays anyhow) are reeling in their big dfeat is gratifying in and of itself.

And, as long as we’re living in a system where all human relationships get boiled down to the market place, I’d say…the smart money is on Pottery Barn stock this summer.