Yesterday in Rockaway
i was reminded of the aftermath of Katrina, the Rodney King riots and Iraq,
Afghanistan, and particularly i was reminded of Gaza and the West Bank, where
the 'aftermath' never comes, where just a continuous, unending calamity unfolds
at the hands of America's 'democracy'.
Yesterday we drove past lines of hundreds of people waiting to vote. All that
was missing was the blue ink to dip their fingers in and to hold up to the
cameras with a smile.
Yesterday we baked food to bring to hungry people who have been ignored and
forgotten by our government. Mostly they are poor people, many elderly people,
many children. We did not see a presence of the Red Cross, where millions of
dollars have been deposited in the past week. And while we saw large numbers of
cops and military convoys on the streets, we did not see them going door to
door to help people who have been stranded without power for a week, many of
whom can't escape the confines of their dark, cold homes. (This is not to say
they are not doing great work somewhere, just in our little corner of
destruction they were not to be found.) One visiting nurse told us she has been
trying for a week to get help bringing 100 elderly wheel chair bound people
down dark stairwells in a 20 story complex. Finally, when it was just too
obvious that no help would arrive, the visiting nurse organized other nurses
and residents and they carried the people down themselves. Meanwhile hundreds
of ambulances and medic crews are sitting in a staging area waiting for orders.
They have traveled from many places to help, because that is what they do.
People have traveled from around the country to help. Can i hear a "good
job Brownie" please?
Yesterday i saw hundreds of ordinary citizens taking care of themselves and
their neighbors as best they can. i have seen this in all the mayhem over all
the years and disasters in the paragraph above. It is what keeps me alive in
this world filled with so much ugliness and neglect.
i hear Obama was reelected. 4 more years of the same old thing. Over the last
year of campaigning i have come to understand that Obama is proud of what he
has done and what he has done in my name as an American and for this i feel
ashamed. And i am scared of what will come.
Today snow, rain, and wind is coming. Many people in the Rockaways are in
desperate need of blankets. The same is so in Afghanistan where babies froze to
death in their mothers arms last winter.
There are natural weather events and there are disasters. We are living in a
time of great disaster worldwide which our government seems unable to heal and
plays a great part in perpetuating.
The most common negative comment i hear about my writing is, "What
happened to you? Why do you hate your country so much?" i can only say my
government continues to fail those who depend on it the most here and around
the world and this has always been so.
And i am wondering where i can find a couple of blankets.
