Thursday afternoon esteemed professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Noam Chomsky traveled to Hartford to deliver a lecture entitled “The Obama Transition: Crises, Challenges, Opportunities.” Over 200 mostly college aged people packed an auditorium on the campus of Trinity College to hear him speak.
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This Earth Day…
This Earth Day let’s explore, I mean really explore the Earth. Most Earth Day activities center on informational tabling, vending of green products and alternative energies, fun games (for the kids) and perhaps picking up some litter. As I’ve strolled around most Earth Day festivals I feel like I’m more at a home show or a kids fair than an Earth celebration. Is there anything wrong with that? Well I feel the answer is yes, and no. Some of us like to be kept abreast of the latest eco products, our public spaces certainly do need some tending to, and who doesn’t like a good crafts table! However, I feel there is quite a bit missing. Where are the public conversations? Where are the public rituals that connect us to the Earth? Where is the touching of this so-called Earth? (I say “so-called” because the Earth has become largely hypothetical.)

Are we really in touch with the Earth when we learn about more “green” ways to spend our money? Well again, yes, and again no. We are in touch (of a sort), a more limited touching that yes, could inspire more thoughtful connection, but for the most part just appeals to a casual relationship. Sexual metaphors aside, we need to give the Earth some serious touch! Hug a tree, dip your feet into a river not out of refreshment, but as a way of reverence, dance upon the Earth not as a mother to step on, but as yourself awakening your own heartbeat!

And leaving out any anthropocentrism (human-centeredness)- the Earth is alive. The Earth is a living organism, supporting many living ecosystems, which is supporting many living beings- not just humans. We like to talk about how we want the Earth to be here for the next generations (our offspring). What about other species, ecosystems and the Earth itself? This egotism isn’t just misspeaking. It is a symptom of an unconnected culture.

From our mythical or literal (whatever you believe) monotheistic beginnings, humans and more correctly, men were designated as “stewards” of the Earth. But if we think of ourselves as stewards, we are nothing more than caretakers for someone or something else that ‘owns’ or possesses it, limiting the relationship between the caretaker and the “thing” that’s being taken care of as well as the “unearthly power” that has bestowed this responsibility. We are nothing more than the next link in a chain of command.

If we could only realize that in oppressing the Earth (and other forms of nature; humans, animals and even our bodily functions) we have oppressed our inner nature. This Earth Day, find it!

We need to realize that our concept of environmental pollution goes beyond the toxicity of our physical surroundings. It is embedded within every aspect our culture.

If you do just “one thing” this Earth Day imagine yourself as a pagan! No, what I’m really trying to say is to connect to the world you live in.

And if this seems confusing, this is what I mean:

Close your eyes and imagine-
Be born again; (not forgetting your biological mother) of the Earth, not on top of the Earth
Imagine a world where you are a part of the Earth and the Earth is a part of you
Every rock, every animal, every stream, every insect
Imagine that you are here not be superior, but to just be
Like everyone else (by everyone, I also include everything)
Imagine that every action you take affects everything (by everything, I also include everyone)
Every mouthful of murdered animal, every child abused, every person discriminated against,
Every person jumped on the street because our society labels them as “different”
Nothing is below you since your roots are so deep
And nothing is above you because your branches are so long

Now, open your eyes. And keep them open!

CNN: The FBI for the first time has placed an animal rights activist on the bureau’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list.  Daniel Andreas San Diego, 31, may appear to be out of place on a terrorist list with familiar names like al Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Adam Yahiye Gadahn. The “strict vegan,” according to the FBI, is charged with bombing two corporate offices in California in 2003…Authorities allege San Diego bombed facilities in Emeryville and Pleasanton, California, because he believed the Chiron and Shaklee Corporations had ties to animal-testing labs.  (full story)

RadioActive hosts a community conversation with Shirene Brown, business owner, loan officer, and real estate agent, and Monique Jarvis, educator and spoken word artist.

Click here to download the MP3

Tonight, I along with two other people who are involved in Food Not Bombs in Hartford, went to speak to some high school kids as part of Learning to Repair the World, a program sponsored by the Charter Oak Cultural Center and HartBeat Ensemble. The young people in the program have discussions with community members about social justice topics and then make a play about it. (The play will be performed on Thursday, April 23 – more details here.)

I was struck by these students as they took part in our discussion, which covered issues of poverty, homelessness, hunger, and the problems inherent in a capitalist society. I found that these students, who ranged in age from around 13 to 17, had a pretty sophisticated awareness of things. For example, the youngest of the group at one point made a concession to the media’s influence on her thinking and presented an even-headed reason as to why people get trapped in poverty.

I guess it was not so much the answers themselves, but also the open-minded and thoughtful way that they approached new ideas that impressed me. The questions they raised about decision-making in a way that does not promote majority rule, for instance, were really valid points; so were their questions about how representation in an anarchist system would be different than representation in the system we have now.

Anyway that is just my piece of commentary for today – I’m feeling optimistic about the possibilities of education. Having a small discussion like this was really cool. And I was wondering do you feel like kids these days have a more sophisticated understanding of things these days? I for one feel like these three kids knew a whole lot more than I did at that age.

New!  Saturday Academy

5 weeks Starting May 2 for youth and adults

So you want to act…..

an exciting new course for 5th-8th graders 10:30am-11:45am

Create your own interview-based theater

a new course for adults and teens 12pm-1:15pm

HartBeat Studio • 233 Pearl Street, 2nd floor, Hartford • Fee: $75

To register, or for more information

contact Julia Rosenblatt at 860.548.9144, ext 113

or email julia.rosenblatt@hartbeatensemble.org