I saw an article about a bunch of pastors that signed a letter saying that “social justice” was somehow anti-Christian. What a bunch of dicks! And Christianity at its core is essentially about not being a dick, to anyone, not ever.
The Ten Commandments
1. If you live your life chasing money and things instead of opening your heart to spirituality, you’ll end up being a dick.
2. If you become obsessed with superficiality, how things look to other people, instead of opening your mind to something deeper, you’ll end up a dick.
3. If you’re not careful with your language, use words to hurt not heal, you’ll sound like a dick.
4. If you never take time for yourself to be at peace, you’ll get worn out and treat people like a dick.
5. Even if they were dicks to you, don’t be a dick to your parents. It works out better for you in the long run.
6. Don’t kill anyone.
7. If you cheat on your spouse, you’re a dick.
8. Stealing something is a dick move. Don’t be a dick.
9. If no one can trust anything you say, they’ll think you’re a dick.
10. You will never have the perfect life you think other people have. If you become obsessed with trying to, you’ll forget about what’s really important in life and neglect the most important relationships in your life. Those people move on without you because you were a dick to them.
The Golden Rule
- Do you want someone to be a dick to you? Then DON’T …BE… A DICK.
The pastors who signed this letter are clearly dicks and by definition anti-Christian. I think that whatever faith (or no faith) you subscribe to, a good rule of thumb is choose kindness. You’ll lead a less dick-like and more peaceful existence. You just might be able to leave your little corner of the world a more peaceful/loving place. And isn’t that really what spirituality if for in the first place?
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
The Tyranny of Health Insurance
Forgive me but I am angry. God damned insurance companies get to decide what medications you get to take above the medical opinion of a DOCTOR! Everybody is so worried about socialized medicine, what about the tyranny of the capitalistic Insurance / pharmaceutical industry. At least I get to vote for the people who would be making the decisions in a single payer system. I don't get to vote for the CEO of an insurance company who gets to make medical decisions for me. AND I have to pay an arm and a leg for them to have that privilege. If someone gets between my doctor and me at least I would get a say as to who that person was ever November. When it comes to basic human rights, the introduction of a profit motive is not only immoral but also impractical. Schools, the justice system, health care, and the care of the elderly are too important to leave to the whims of market forces. URGH!!!!!!!
Friday, September 9, 2016
I Feel Sorry for Ronald Reagan.
I never though I would see a day where I would feel sorry for Ronald Reagan. The Republican nominee for president praises a former KGB agent, appears on Russian State TV and refuses to make a forceful statement regarding Russian attempts to manipulate the US electoral process. I'm pretty sure I can hear Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford and Reagan rolling around in their graves. Although, Nixon may be grateful for a dance party as he probably needs a break from the heat. In any case, once again my mouth is agape at the events of this surreal election cycle and once again I have broken my vow to not be political with my posts. But I really really feel bad for Reagan and the Republican Party....and really really think I miss the cold war.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Our Real Enemy
What fascinates me most is the direct parallels of ISIS dogma and fundamentalist Christianity which I witnessed first hand as a child. (We sang "I'm in the Lord's Army" regularly after all.) They are two sides of the same coin...Ideological brothers.
Reason, nuance, compassion, Open Minds...these are the best, most sustainable weapons against religious fanatics. Britain, Germany, France have all now approved airstrikes and War is now necessary, yes. When faced with a bully, you have to punch back. We must take a stand against ISIS but it will not win us a victory.
We will only win when religious fanaticism is rooted out of the hearts of humanity. I'm not sure that is even possible. But until we all, Republican, Democrats, Socialist, People of Faith, People of no Faith… until we ALL embrace reason, dialogue, compassion and take a stand against the religious/political fanatics amongst us, we will have to face the madmen these fanatics inspire.
Syed Rizwan Farook
Robert Dear
Eric Robert Rudolph
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Ashin Wirathu
Timothy James McVeigh
Robert Dear
Eric Robert Rudolph
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Ashin Wirathu
Timothy James McVeigh
Reason, Nuance, Compassion, Humanity, while not as sexy as bunker busting bombs, are the arms we must now take up and fight this growing threat. It is the only hope of victory we have.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
If they have no bread, let them eat cake.
Most of my friends roll their
eyes when I start spouting off about the French Revolution, a time when money
and power were aggregated at the top of the society. Let the eye rolling
commence!
Wealth will only trickle up. It
never trickles down. It is time we end our 35 yearlong experiment with, as
George Bush Sr. called it, "Voodoo Economics". It has failed and if
we don't turn away from it, the consequences will be dire. We are already
seeing some of the societal instability that comes from wealth inequity. Riots....
Debtors’ prisons. Some would say, "Good, let the revolution come!"
I would never advocate violence. Revolutions are bloody business.
Ask Anastasia and her sisters.
It is essential that to maintaining our stable society that people from all
points on the political spectrum must start talking about Wealth Inequality. Workers who can keep a roof over there heads,
have access to healthy food/water, educate their children and can get access to
healthcare don’t storm the Bastille. I think we can still back away from the
precipice and preserve the American Dream for all. It will take cooperation
from all political parties but time is running out. #MarieAntoinetteNeverSawItComing....But we do.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Religion
I was reading a blog by Mark Morford of the San Francisco Gate. I love reading his column and always enjoy his perspective. The premise is that religion is the root of all evil in humanity and will ultimate be our undoing
Of course, this got me to thinking.
It's not the religion. It's the people. The natural instincts of humans toward “us vs. them”. At one time in the savannas of Africa that instinct served us well for survival. In fact, our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, chimpanzees have been known to murder in anger (not just kill for food) and go to war with other groups over territory. If every church were eliminated from the planet tomorrow. We will still war over natural resources, find ways to alienate each other. The highly enlightened progressives vs. the ignorant rednecks. The patriotic Americans vs. the Socialists. Civilized society vs. barbarism. Us vs. them in many forms would still be with us. It is ingrained in our animal brains, our DNA.
More specifically, Orthodoxy poisons the well of religion. Devout Buddhists are slaughtering ethnic Muslims in Myanmar, Orthodox Jews throw rocks at people driving on the Sabbath. We all know what A-holes orthodox Christians can be. Animal rights people throw blood at people that don’t agree with them. If you even hint that you support vaccines or circumcision, “Crunchy Moms” are all over you like white on organic rice. Ultra-right wingers – D*cks! Ultra-left wing...wear you down with debate till you cry "Uncle". Orthodoxy in any dogma (religious or no) is bad news. Our minds tend toward dogma but we are evolving
From the dawn of human civilization, we have had the mystics and prophet pointing us in another direction and using organized modes of worship to attempt to show us how to rise above our lizard brains. We corrupt them that is what we do. It hasn't been that long in our evolution that we branched off from our monkey cousins. But I will be willing to bet that the great Apes don't have a concept of human (for want of a better term) rights, of the sanctity of life or spirituality. So, we are evolving into mindful beings.
Mindfulness, ceremony, gathering together in prayer, community, being called to higher form of consciousness, seeing the divine in all human beings and all living things will help us combat our "natural" tendency to split into different clubs…can help call us to the better angels of our nature. Organized religions aren't necessary for that but they can help.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
No Expects the Spanish Inquisition
I have heard a lot of people bemoan the fate of the world lately. The world is a more violent and scarier than every before. I don't think that is the case. We are more televised than every before. Every atrocity every act is beamed across the globe instantly.....pontificated on rabidly to fill the airwaves. The goal, of course, to get you to catch the latest ad for the latest drug to treat erectile dysfunction.
The world is not more violent. It may be just as violent as always but not more so. It is an important distinction. I don't want to be one of the many pundits to put the blame on the media. If fact, I believe that it is the fact that we can see these horrors that we are moved to action. Perhaps if the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition had been the subject of a reality TV show or Internet meme, it would have ended sooner. There would have been a song written by Bob Geldof to raise money for its victims.
I think we are evolving as a species and are moved to action to ease the horrors in the world. Here is a list of some of the things we have accomplished as species this year. What is on your list? What makes you say "Go US!" Let me know in the comments.
Humans in Space
The world is not more violent. It may be just as violent as always but not more so. It is an important distinction. I don't want to be one of the many pundits to put the blame on the media. If fact, I believe that it is the fact that we can see these horrors that we are moved to action. Perhaps if the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition had been the subject of a reality TV show or Internet meme, it would have ended sooner. There would have been a song written by Bob Geldof to raise money for its victims.
I think we are evolving as a species and are moved to action to ease the horrors in the world. Here is a list of some of the things we have accomplished as species this year. What is on your list? What makes you say "Go US!" Let me know in the comments.
Humans in Space
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Merry Christmas ET!
I am terribly behind in everything Christmas prep and found this article while goofing off. It poses an interesting theological question. The Mormons being a recent religion have answered this for themselves and good for them!
I think that we will find a myriad of varied and rich spiritual traditions across the Cosmos. But at their fundamental core we will encounter love, care for the poor, serenity, peace and good will toward our fellows. They will have had their wars, their inquisitions, their debates, and ultimately they will come to a place of dialogue and appreciation of one another. At the end, they (and us) will finally have learned what the mystics and prophets of this planet have been trying to teach us since the dawn of conscious thought. We are all on a journey up the mountain, many paths, one destination.
So whatever path you are on, walk it, study it, let it seep into your being. Find the spiritual core at the heart of it's tenants and apply them to the here and now. Don't worry about the paths others take. Blaze your own path if you need to but keep climbing, keep your eye on the prize...The Divine Spirit at the heart of the Universe. Meet me there with ET. We will have some Egg Nog waiting for you.
Unless of course we meet the Klingons first....then we are totally screwed.
And God Bless us, Everyone!!!
From the NY Times
Do Aliens Know It's Christmas?
I think that we will find a myriad of varied and rich spiritual traditions across the Cosmos. But at their fundamental core we will encounter love, care for the poor, serenity, peace and good will toward our fellows. They will have had their wars, their inquisitions, their debates, and ultimately they will come to a place of dialogue and appreciation of one another. At the end, they (and us) will finally have learned what the mystics and prophets of this planet have been trying to teach us since the dawn of conscious thought. We are all on a journey up the mountain, many paths, one destination.
So whatever path you are on, walk it, study it, let it seep into your being. Find the spiritual core at the heart of it's tenants and apply them to the here and now. Don't worry about the paths others take. Blaze your own path if you need to but keep climbing, keep your eye on the prize...The Divine Spirit at the heart of the Universe. Meet me there with ET. We will have some Egg Nog waiting for you.
Unless of course we meet the Klingons first....then we are totally screwed.
And God Bless us, Everyone!!!
From the NY Times
Do Aliens Know It's Christmas?
Monday, November 17, 2014
The Neutral Zone
I was going to write this overly dramatic post about depression but to be frank, it was drivel. 350 million people worldwide suffer from it. There is help. See the link below.
I have discovered that my biggest problem is that I fear intense emotion... good and bad. I have always stuffed them down, hidden them away, saved them for a "convenient time". The heart of the matter is sometimes the depth of my pain scares me. When I touch it, the pain flares up like a grease fire. I was always afraid of getting burned. But what I have learned from a life lived in the neutral zone is that when you push the feelings aside, they don't really disappear. They collect and collect and collect until you are buried and have no room left for today. Passion demands the moment, the now. It screams for immediate attention. That was never my first instinct, to demand attention now. I would prefer to skulk around in the shadows. You see, I'm not overly private but somewhere along the line I came to believe that my feelings didn't deserve attention, not even from me.
That's crap, it's all crap. Today, I try to ride the rollercoaster of my emotions. Today, I savor the ups and the downs. Today, I touch the fire. I let the grease fall out of me, burn me and it hurts. But it's only just a moment, a flash in the pan really and only then I can burn away the clutter and live fully and passionately in the now. That ...or I'm being cooked alive. Either way, it's better than the icy frost that can only thrive in the Neutral Zone.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
The Ultimate Halloween Playlist [Updated]
The fall has always been a
time of magic for me. Ghosts haunt my memory as the year slowly
fades and dies away. One of these ghosts is dressed in a gray
polyester suit, sports a rockin jet black comb over and carries a well worn bible
in hand. You see, this was the time of year when a traveling
preacher would come to my Southern Baptist elementary school to warn us of the
devil hidden within the measures and bars of Rock ’n Roll
music. Every day for a week, we were dutifully marched into an assembly
to hear him make his case. The week would culminate in a vinyl bon fire in
which we would destroy the devil and save our very souls.
We were told that the very structure of the music, with it’s repetitive lyrics and syncopated rhythms, were designed to lull the subconscious into a hypnotic state. (I remember wondering about how people could drive with their radios on and be hypnotized.) Evil messages were implanted in the music which could be heard only when playing the record backwards. A technique everyone knows is the most efficient way to implant suggestions in the mind of the young.
However, sometimes those messages were explicit. KISS = Kids in Satan’s Service . Don’t Fear The Reaper…he is your friend. I Write the Songs…..Yes, everyone knows that the devil was originally the angel of music before his spectacular Fall. Yes, EVERYONE knows that Barry Manilow sings I Write the Songs because he is the devil. (Polyester Preacher may have been onto something with this one.)
By Friday, we were ready to do anything, burn any record to save our selves from this spiritual danger. The preacher would mount the stage, position himself at the pulpit and call to us, red faced and teary eyed, to bring these instruments of damnation to the altar of God. They would later be burned in order to destroy the evil spells housed within.
I watched as they filed up and laid the albums down. I, however, did not have any records of my own to burn. The only music my grandmother played in our house were 8 track tapes of Camelot, The Sound of Music, etc. I, also, was the sole Roman Catholic in this school and as such it was common knowledge that I wasgoing to hell anyway. In a rare moment of uncharacteristic rebellion, I quickly made a move. I asked the girl next to me if I could have her 45 of Bat out of Hell since it was only going to get burned up anyway. And just like that , it was spirited away, in my purse and my long love affair with Halloween and Halloween music began.
So, in honor of the ghosts of fall and all things devil-y, I have compiled the Ultimate Halloween Playlist. Which ones would you add? What songs thrill you as the chill in the air grows and the moon waxes full? What songs do you use to drown out the inane ramblings of the Polyester Preacher in your head? I’d love to know.
1. Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
2. Sinnerman - Nina Simone
3. I Put a Spell on You - Nina Simone
4. Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde
5. Murder of Crows - Lindi Ortega
6. The Devil Went Down to Georgia - The Charlie Daniels Band
7. The Majestic Tale (of a Madman in a Box) - Murray Gold
8. Joan Crawford - Blue Oyster Cult
9. Burning for You - Blue Oyster Cult
10. A Night on Bald Mountain - Leopold Stokowski & The Philadelphia Orchestra
11. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
12. Devil’s in the Jukebox - Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs
13. The Headless Horseman - Bing Crosby
14. Hedwig's Theme - Harry Potter soundtrack
15. Dragula - Rob Zombie
16. Living Dead Girl - Rob Zombie
17. Pet Cemetery - Ramones
18. I Put a Spell on You (feat. Screamin' Jay Hawkins) - Screamin Jay Hawkins
19. The Ghost of Tom Joad (Live) [feat. Tom Morello] - Bruce Springsteen
20. Enter Sandman - Metallica
21. This is Halloween - The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack
22. Hell Raiser - Ozzie Osbourne
23. Zombie Stomp - Ozzie Osbourne
24. Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
25. Timewarp - Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack
26. Devil’s Dance - Metallica
27. Ghost Town - Shiny Toy Guns
28. Haunted when the minutes Drag - Love and Rockets
29. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
30. Thriller - Michael Jackson
31. Zomieland - T-Bone Burnett
32. Hunting for Witches - Bloc Party
33. Magic - Olivia Newton-John (yes....Olivia Newton - John....What of it!)
34. Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: In the Hall of the Mountain King
35. Carmina Burana: O Fortuna
36. Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
37. Imperial March - Metallica
38. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
39. The Monster's Loose - Meatloaf
40. Fresh Blood – Eels
41. Helter Skelter – The Beatles
42 Beast – Nico Vega
43. Witch Doctor – Sha Na Na
44. (Ghost) Riders in the Sky – The Outlaws
Stay creepy, my friends.
We were told that the very structure of the music, with it’s repetitive lyrics and syncopated rhythms, were designed to lull the subconscious into a hypnotic state. (I remember wondering about how people could drive with their radios on and be hypnotized.) Evil messages were implanted in the music which could be heard only when playing the record backwards. A technique everyone knows is the most efficient way to implant suggestions in the mind of the young.
However, sometimes those messages were explicit. KISS = Kids in Satan’s Service . Don’t Fear The Reaper…he is your friend. I Write the Songs…..Yes, everyone knows that the devil was originally the angel of music before his spectacular Fall. Yes, EVERYONE knows that Barry Manilow sings I Write the Songs because he is the devil. (Polyester Preacher may have been onto something with this one.)
By Friday, we were ready to do anything, burn any record to save our selves from this spiritual danger. The preacher would mount the stage, position himself at the pulpit and call to us, red faced and teary eyed, to bring these instruments of damnation to the altar of God. They would later be burned in order to destroy the evil spells housed within.
I watched as they filed up and laid the albums down. I, however, did not have any records of my own to burn. The only music my grandmother played in our house were 8 track tapes of Camelot, The Sound of Music, etc. I, also, was the sole Roman Catholic in this school and as such it was common knowledge that I wasgoing to hell anyway. In a rare moment of uncharacteristic rebellion, I quickly made a move. I asked the girl next to me if I could have her 45 of Bat out of Hell since it was only going to get burned up anyway. And just like that , it was spirited away, in my purse and my long love affair with Halloween and Halloween music began.
So, in honor of the ghosts of fall and all things devil-y, I have compiled the Ultimate Halloween Playlist. Which ones would you add? What songs thrill you as the chill in the air grows and the moon waxes full? What songs do you use to drown out the inane ramblings of the Polyester Preacher in your head? I’d love to know.
1. Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
2. Sinnerman - Nina Simone
3. I Put a Spell on You - Nina Simone
4. Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde
5. Murder of Crows - Lindi Ortega
6. The Devil Went Down to Georgia - The Charlie Daniels Band
7. The Majestic Tale (of a Madman in a Box) - Murray Gold
8. Joan Crawford - Blue Oyster Cult
9. Burning for You - Blue Oyster Cult
10. A Night on Bald Mountain - Leopold Stokowski & The Philadelphia Orchestra
11. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
12. Devil’s in the Jukebox - Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs
13. The Headless Horseman - Bing Crosby
14. Hedwig's Theme - Harry Potter soundtrack
15. Dragula - Rob Zombie
16. Living Dead Girl - Rob Zombie
17. Pet Cemetery - Ramones
18. I Put a Spell on You (feat. Screamin' Jay Hawkins) - Screamin Jay Hawkins
19. The Ghost of Tom Joad (Live) [feat. Tom Morello] - Bruce Springsteen
20. Enter Sandman - Metallica
21. This is Halloween - The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack
22. Hell Raiser - Ozzie Osbourne
23. Zombie Stomp - Ozzie Osbourne
24. Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
25. Timewarp - Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack
26. Devil’s Dance - Metallica
27. Ghost Town - Shiny Toy Guns
28. Haunted when the minutes Drag - Love and Rockets
29. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
30. Thriller - Michael Jackson
31. Zomieland - T-Bone Burnett
32. Hunting for Witches - Bloc Party
33. Magic - Olivia Newton-John (yes....Olivia Newton - John....What of it!)
34. Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: In the Hall of the Mountain King
35. Carmina Burana: O Fortuna
36. Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
37. Imperial March - Metallica
38. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
39. The Monster's Loose - Meatloaf
40. Fresh Blood – Eels
41. Helter Skelter – The Beatles
42 Beast – Nico Vega
43. Witch Doctor – Sha Na Na
44. (Ghost) Riders in the Sky – The Outlaws
Stay creepy, my friends.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Have a Joyous {insert here}
I am so sick of Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings! Wish me a Happy Christmas! I am in a festive mood and we are friends! So go ahead and do it…..I triple dog dare you! And I will wish you a Happy Hanukkah or Happy Kwanza or Merry Festivus! Whatever holiday you celebrate, I WANT to wish you to have a blessed and happy one! The joyous soul in me wants to recognize and honor that holiday that makes the spirit of light in you glow. We all share that! Enough of the bland politically correct….Happy Holidays :P. So Happy Hanuwanzativusmas to us all!!!!
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
The Perfect Burger
I have long searched for “The Perfect Burger”. I know...a lofty goal to be sure. But never ever EVER step into a restaurant for that one thing that you have craved, saved calories for, dreamt about eating off of Bradley Cooper’s chest unless that said restaurant takes the bun seriously. Yes the bun! No amount of Angus can make up for an inadequate delivery system....oh yes, it’s all about the bun.
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| Did I mention that the bun was perfect? |
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Hidden in Plain Site
South Florida is at its core a place of transience. Native Americans migrated from the Great Plains. Seminoles run off of their land, claimed the sawgrass as their home. Runaway slaves joined them. Migrants from the islands came to work the dark rich soil of the swamp. All came to make a living, make a home here from someplace else. In so many ways, this is the Casablanca of the Caribbean.
The history that surrounds transient Floridians every day is lost even as it stares them in the face. They drive by it on their way to work hoping that they will make enough money to go back “North” someday. Many times that history has been paved over to make way for the newest wave of migrants. Sometimes it lies buried under an open field, sometimes under a museum and occasionally under a playground.
Growing up I had heard of these places that contained the victims of a disastrous hurricane but no one ever seemed to know any of the details. So I packed up the car and went looking for them…I didn't have to go far.
Growing up I had heard of these places that contained the victims of a disastrous hurricane but no one ever seemed to know any of the details. So I packed up the car and went looking for them…I didn't have to go far.
In September of 1928, the reports started to come in from the Leeward islands that a storm was coming. It devastated the island of Guadalupe on September 12th and plowed through Puerto Rico on the 13th killing approximately 1000 people. It passed over the Bahamas on the 14 – 15th. On September 16th at 6:15pm, the center of this storm slammed into the Florida peninsula just south of the Jupiter inlet as a Cat. 4 storm with winds estimated at 140 -150 mph. The winds rammed into the lighthouse at the inlet with such force that the tower was moved 17 inches off its base and the mortar between the bricks squeezed out like toothpaste.
At the time, the city of West Palm Beach was filled with residents that worked in the wealthy homes that lined Palm Beach island. Further inland, along the shores of lake Okeechobee, farming communities dotted it's shore line. The memory of the 1926 Miami hurricane was fresh in their minds. They evacuated. However, when the storm didn't arrive inland on schedule, they went home. At 1am a 13.5 ft storm surge breached the levee on the south side of Lake Okeechobee. As the storm passed over the lake, the winds swung around and caused a breech on the north side of the lake as well. Some hid under their kitchen tables to escape damage caused to their homes by the winds, some climbed to the attic to escape the water. A small boy and his father escaped through a hole in their attic and spent the rest of the night in a tree. They never saw the rest of their family again.
When the sun came up on September 17th 1928, the towns of Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay were under water. Entire families were washed out into the Glades overnight. Some people were found wandering in the swamp days later, confused and disoriented. Other were simply swallowed up by the muck never to be seen again. It took the water days to seep back into the swamp. It took weeks to collect the dead.
When the sun came up on September 17th 1928, the towns of Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay were under water. Entire families were washed out into the Glades overnight. Some people were found wandering in the swamp days later, confused and disoriented. Other were simply swallowed up by the muck never to be seen again. It took the water days to seep back into the swamp. It took weeks to collect the dead.
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| State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/27848 |
Coffins stacked along the bank of a canal, after the hurricane of 1928 - Belle Glade, Florida
South Florida, from Lake Okeechobee to the Keys, was home to about 50,000 people at the time. Between 2500-3000 of them died that night. No one knows the exact number for sure. In many cases, there was no one left to identify the remains. There weren't enough caskets for them and they had to be buried quickly. Palm Beach was a segregated society both by color and class. Approximately 674 African American victims were dumped in an open field and the site was known afterwards on maps as Paupers Cemetery. It’s located at Tamarind Ave and 25th Street in West Palm Beach. This was the empty field I had heard of that no one wanted to build on. I found it. I found them. But I suspect the lack of interest in developing this plot had little to do with respect for the dead and everything to do with its location in the middle of an extremely impoverished area of town. There was a memorial service held for them at the time of their burial but the site was all but forgotten for decades until 1991 when a Nigerian religious ceremony was held there. The city, responding to public interest, finally acquired this land in 2000 and it was only in 2003 that this field received an appropriate memorial.
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| Marker added to Tamarind Site in 2003 |
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| Serenity Garden added to Tamarind site in 2003 |
The white victims, about 68 of them from “downtown”, were laid to rest in the Woodlawn Cemetery, which is still a functioning cemetery near the city center.
Burial of victims of the 1928 hurricane - West Palm Beach, Florida
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| State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/30741 |
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| Current marker at Woodlawn Cemetery |
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A majority of the victims, approximately 1600, drowned when the muck levee broke on Lake Okeechobee. Many of them were black migrants with no one left to identify them. An empty plot of land was selected and in the ground they went. Perhaps because it was a close knit farming community, this location was treated with care. The property became the Port Mayaca Cemetery. It was maintained by a trust fund set up by Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay. Today it is solely maintained by the City of Pahokee and remains a functioning cemetery.
The city of Belle Glade finally memorialized them in 1976.
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| State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/108968 |
While looking for my forgotten field, I discovered that Palm Beach has a continuing tendency for being careless with their dead...
Across from the Woodlawn Cemetery is the Norton Art Museum Ralph Hubbard Norton, former head of Acme Steel Co., retired to the area with his wife in 1939. He wanted to donate his sizable art collect to his new adopted home in order "to preserve for the future the beautiful things of the past". The city selected the perfect plot of land near the water for The Norton Gallery and School of Art. The catch...this property was already occupied, but approximately 100 people who had been buried there in what was the Lakeside Cemetery. An attempt was made to contact families in order to get their permission to move the bodies across the street to the south end of Woodlawn. However, they weren't able to find all of their next of kin. Some simply refused to agree to have their relatives relocated. So the city built the museum on top of them and in 1941 they opened its doors. Pioneer Memorial Park (I'm guessing "park" must be a relative term in West Palm Beach) is the equivalent of a strip of landscaped lawn in front of the museum with a historical marker. It gives the appearance that the museum was built around the cemetery. But in 1985, three graves were found in a crawl space beneath the museum's auditorium. Danse Macabre anyone?
How many people pass this place everyday? How many transplants to South Florida attend gala openings and step over the Pioneers in this strip of land? History in this area is almost always hidden in plain site.
A few blocks south of Woodlawn and the Museum is Flamingo park. It is a shady bit of cool green space on the south side of the city. A nice place to walk your tea cup poodle and watch your nanny play with your kids play on the swing set. But if you happen to notice in the corner of the park, there is yet another historical marker....
This site was designated as the "Colored Cemetery" and development on it was attempted several times. But unlike the museum, this site was preserved (sort of) for the nearly 100 people who are buried here.
I went in search of an open field - to find the history of an un-named storm and the lives it devastated. The people in this area are transient and as a result take the history of the place for granted. But what I found was worse than that...this history is shoved aside, pushed out of the way and bulldozed to make room for the future, for the new and shiny.
I will not walk around this town (or any place) oblivious to the history around me. I will at least read every historical marker I come across. It's there. It's always there if you look for it.
I've passed the museum and Flamingo park many times. I never stopped to notice what was under the grass, never suspected what was under the playground. I will never look at an open field in quite the same way again.
Across from the Woodlawn Cemetery is the Norton Art Museum Ralph Hubbard Norton, former head of Acme Steel Co., retired to the area with his wife in 1939. He wanted to donate his sizable art collect to his new adopted home in order "to preserve for the future the beautiful things of the past". The city selected the perfect plot of land near the water for The Norton Gallery and School of Art. The catch...this property was already occupied, but approximately 100 people who had been buried there in what was the Lakeside Cemetery. An attempt was made to contact families in order to get their permission to move the bodies across the street to the south end of Woodlawn. However, they weren't able to find all of their next of kin. Some simply refused to agree to have their relatives relocated. So the city built the museum on top of them and in 1941 they opened its doors. Pioneer Memorial Park (I'm guessing "park" must be a relative term in West Palm Beach) is the equivalent of a strip of landscaped lawn in front of the museum with a historical marker. It gives the appearance that the museum was built around the cemetery. But in 1985, three graves were found in a crawl space beneath the museum's auditorium. Danse Macabre anyone?
How many people pass this place everyday? How many transplants to South Florida attend gala openings and step over the Pioneers in this strip of land? History in this area is almost always hidden in plain site.
A few blocks south of Woodlawn and the Museum is Flamingo park. It is a shady bit of cool green space on the south side of the city. A nice place to walk your tea cup poodle and watch your nanny play with your kids play on the swing set. But if you happen to notice in the corner of the park, there is yet another historical marker....
This site was designated as the "Colored Cemetery" and development on it was attempted several times. But unlike the museum, this site was preserved (sort of) for the nearly 100 people who are buried here.
 |
| "Flamingo Park" |
 |
| Flamingo Park Playground |
I went in search of an open field - to find the history of an un-named storm and the lives it devastated. The people in this area are transient and as a result take the history of the place for granted. But what I found was worse than that...this history is shoved aside, pushed out of the way and bulldozed to make room for the future, for the new and shiny.
I will not walk around this town (or any place) oblivious to the history around me. I will at least read every historical marker I come across. It's there. It's always there if you look for it.
I've passed the museum and Flamingo park many times. I never stopped to notice what was under the grass, never suspected what was under the playground. I will never look at an open field in quite the same way again.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
**WARNING MAJOR SOAP BOX AHEAD***
I found the image below on Facebook. It got me to thinking...
When Jonas Salk discovered the vaccine for Polio, he refused
to patent it. It's capacity to alleviate
human suffering was greater than any profit he could get from it. Today, men
like Salk & Tesla are aberrations.
They contradict all our modern values. Not the ones we like to think we have. The values that we actually have. Are these men trailblazers showing a glimpse of what humanity is capable of? Or an anomaly A blip on the radar? Data noise? Is Tesla relegated to a footnote in history because we just don't know what to do with him?
What will happen when a scientist discovers the cure for
cancer? What happens if Novartis pays for the research? Lipitor has a markup of approximately
4000%. Is that appropriate or an
abomination? Does the CFO of Pfizer (the maker of Lipitor whisper a prayer of thanks to Tesla when he turns on his desk lamp to review the balance sheets of the company before issuing executive bonuses?
Are men like Salk and Tesla mad men or saints?
Time for a cuppa.
Have a great day.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Hope
We are almost through the holidays and I can't help but notice a subtle shift in the attitudes of the people I have encountered while racing around town. While hunting for a table in an overstuffed food court, a stranger gladly let me hover over them while they finished the last of their Orange Julius (liquid gold!) So I could grab their table when they got up. I offered them a happy holidays and got a smile back, a real smile! Not the "Oh no a strange has just spoken to me...RUN!" smile I usually get in these situations. A man seeing that I was with a hungry little one let me get ahead of him in line, so I bought his coffee. Perhaps it is just wishful thinking, maybe it is. But it seems to me the recent violence in our country and its resulting heartbreak have reminded some of the entreaty of the season... "Good will toward man" I'm also reminded of something I recently read
“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.
But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now
mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien,
“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.
But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now
mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien,
It was only a matter of time before a Tolkien quote made it into my blog. Better to get it over with sooner rather than later.
Night Night.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Punditry
Our hearts are broken tonight and the punditry will begin. My voice is only one of millions. Yet it is mine and I have to speak. And here is what I think...
We have a rot at the very core of our culture. It goes beyond gun control, beyond liberal ,beyond conservative, beyond constitutions, and beyond 2nd amendments. Simply put, we are a society that has lost empathy and are in love with violence. We have stopped seeing our fellow human beings as just that; our fellow human begins. Look at how we speak about each other. “they” are conservatives! “they” are liberals! “they” are homosexual! “they” are evangelical! “they” are atheists! “they” are aliens! “they” are taking our jobs and “they” are evil and “they” are the other and we hate them for it. In reality, we are fellow human souls sharing our time together on this fragile little planet. But we can barely look our neighbor in the eye on an elevator or check out line.
In the immediate face of tragedy, we wake up from our carefully guarded isolation. We give to telethons, give up our cans of soup and blankets. We send them prayers (do we really do that?) Then we segregate ourselves again and scream at each other in traffic and think “i hate people!”
We love violence, we lack empathy and we are armed. This cannot end well.
That is what my broken heart and lone voice has to say tonight.
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