Chokta Lobsang: in memoriam

                                  Chokta Lobsang, a kind and warmhearted young Tibetan monk who was a writer and advocate for freedom of expression has been brutally murdered. He told me that when he was 16 going on 17, he left Tibet in winter and with a group of 56 people crossed the Himalayas through the deep snow into India. He knew his life wasn't safe in Tibet. Two of his nephews had immolated themselves, to keep out of the hands of the Chinese secret service: The ultimate form of resistance, out of free will and choice. People working for the latter dis-service raped and killed his young niece. During two PEN-Conferences I met this amazing young man and we had several warm, personal and serious conversations. He told me then that a couple of times a years - not having seen his mother for 17 years - he would call his mother. Yet then they could not speak freely, seen the aforementioned 'service' was always listening in. With a kind of code, they managed to at least a bit of personal  exchange. Probably the biggest joy for this young man was hearing his mothers voice.

He was an unwavering Vice-president of PEN Tibetan Writers Abroad always defended colleagues in trouble, literature and freedom of expression. Many of us having met Lobsang at PEN meetings over the last number of years, including the PEN International Congresses in Reykjavik (2013), the WiPC Conference in Krakow (2013) have been touched by this thoughtful and kind person. In India he was a teacher to the young monks. His murder was gruesome. And we might never know the full story of who did pull the strings. Heavy hearted, saddened yet also grateful to have been touched by this extraordinary person I want to remember our last meeting when he offered David, the then president of PEN-Flanders and myself a white scarf which we both hold dear and cherish.

Thinking of you in gratitude for having known you.

Tony Mafia, Chicago August 4 1931 - Antwerp, Hoboken, May 9 1999

Fourteen years ago Tony Mafia died after a life lived fully. With many friends he is not forgotten and his paintings still make a house a home.

This large and wonderful painting is hanging in the public entrance of the European Parliament in Brussels. Once in a while someone tells me they have seen it.

The tearful eye of god, where not only god is crying but also the guitar player, lovers, doves and a dog and a stallion all this  one can see on the painting.

Tony loved his guitars, loved Spain had been for half a year in Casares, Andalousia. A strange place where he painted the locals as he saw them. These paintings were shown at Gallery Françoise Besnard and the show sold out. Jack Nickolson, being in Canes for the film festival, came to Paris, visited the show and signed the guest book.

Hopefully soon, I hope to organize a larger exhibition of Tony's work with the help of some friends.

*



All is changed

nothing stays the same

but the street

on which the changing

walk until words

of past

hurt

for lack of a tomorrow

The fading star

of laughter lost

hears but the

murmur of memory

on rue St André des Arts

meeting Madame Françoise Besnard

Leonard Peltier 36 years in prison

Uncyia and Hakate are the heart and soul of this Leonard Peltier chapter. They work relentlessly convincing more and people that Leonard indeed is innocent: showing informative documentaries about the incident at Oglala, poetry by Native American activist authors read in translation and now this gathering to commemorate the long time Peltier spend in jail.

After the first people arrived, they waited for late comers and a tumbleweed ending up under the wrong bridge.

The demonstration started with a silent smudge ceremony, clearing our minds and our hearts.

 There were banners and people of all persuasions passing by showed interest. Information sheets were handed out to the people eating on the terraces of a more than excellent fish restaurant. The bond among the participants was strengthened once again as was the commitment to work for justice for all.

The names of 57 AIM supporters or AIM members killed by GOONS or in the presence of the  FBI or by FBI agents have been read out mentioning the place and circumstances under which they were murdered. These names were read out in many places all over he world.

We AIM not to please

                                by Dennis Banks

They call us the New Indians.
Hell, we are the Old Indians,
the landlords of this continent,
coming to collect the rent.

Leonard Peltier week end

The two organizers, Uncia and Hakate, did a wonderful job. They had an empty chair for Leonard Peltier and had choosen four documentaries which left us wiser and better informed. They  were: A good day to die, Warrior, Incident at Oglala and the movie Thunderheart. Supporters of actions could by could by CD's, T-shirts, books, jewelry and Peltier's Prison writings. 

Native American poetry was read and Dave Betts performed with his own songs and read a wonderful text by Buffy St Marie. It was a fine week end. Thank you Unciya and Hakate.

 A poem by John Trudell:



Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
How do we sell our mother
How do we sell the stars
How do we sell the air
Crazy Horse
We hear what you say

Too many people
Standing their ground
Standing the wrong ground
Predators face he possessed a race
Possession a war that doesn't end
Children of god feed on children of earth
Days people don't care for people
These days are the hardest
Material fields material harvest
decoration on chains that binds
Mirrors gold the people lose their minds
Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
Today is now and then
Dream smokes touch the clouds
On a day when death didn't die
Real world time tricks shadows lie
Red white perception deception
Predator tries civilising us
But the tribes will not go without return
Genetic light from the other side
A song from the heart our hearts to give
The wild days the glory days live

Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
How do we sell our mother
How do we sell the stars
How do we sell the air

Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
We are the seventh generation
We are the seventh generation

 From the glamor of Hollywood to the Old Historic Route 66. At first still maintained but then fallen to the wayside.


Present Past and Future is the slogan of Route 66...

 The Best Western in Bartsow with a view of the trucks going by on the I 40. Imagine the joy of a road all to oneself... In Ludlow there is a new coffee shop, its fate uncertain.

House -garage - gas station -
Ludlow café -
all derelict
publictés fanées
faded billboards
fallen by the wayside

a good life
with a real house across
at the east direction
nobody took
all went west

and needed shelter
repairs
gas
sustenance
courage for the crossing
but NO CHECKS CASHED


neither is anybody responsible
for fire or theft
of ones dreams
on Route 66.
How long before new Ludlow resembles the old
before the desert has taken back its space
before a new generation builds
a fresh watering hole for the thirsty and weary

One year after the quake- The choir of the 10.000

To commemorate the people lost in Japan last year, to struggle through grief and coming out on the side of joy the choir of the 10.000 was brought together to perform the ninth of Beethoven. The message of Schiller text seems to resonate: relearning joy, being ein Held zum ziegen, a hero who overcomes all difficulty. This performance was aired on Arte and was moving. 

Now humans cannot avoid earthquakes or tsunamis but we can avoid nuclear power to make matters worse so:

 

Stop the Belgian nuclear power plants in Doel-Antwerp and Tihange!!!

On this day, one year after Fukushima we have to spread the word to free the world of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

Although the Belgian government had decided on a moratorium for the Doel Plant, Antwerp, the new owners EDF, Electricité de France, are keeping it open. In France there are 58 nuclear plants. President Sarkozy and President Obama each have just given the green light to build new nuclear plants instead of  supporting wind and solar energy or other renewable energy sources. With nuclear energy the only thing durable is the nuclear waste.

Stop Doel and Tihange now. Remember the victims in Japan.

See: http://www.world-internet-books.com

To stay informed about actions for a nuclear free world.

The gathering for Leonard Peltier

 It was one of those miserably cold days when five layers of clothes can't  keep you warm. It was a winter day like I imagine winters to be in South Dakota. Yet a motley crew of supporters toughed it out for three hours, thinking about Leonard Peltier, talking, drumming, playing the flute, handing out information, sharing hot chocolate with nearby beggars.

Hakata and Uncyia organized this vigil and demonstration across from the US Embassy. In front of the embassy is impossible since that is American territory. I was impressed by the courteous and discrete manner of the Brussels police.

 There were banners and flags, tracks were handed out to shoppers in the center of Brussels and with some we had lengthy conversations. A tip for the Ambassador: so one knows what people really think. The sympathy clearly was for the liberation of Leonard Peltier. 36 years of imprisonment is deemed illegal in Belgium, said one of the people we talked to.

 Rousing speaches were delivered by Uncyia and poetry was read from Leonard Peltier, Denis Banks, John Trudell, Sherman Alexie, Marijo Moore, a Lakota elder

The last ones standing, quietly after everything was cleaned up and the the last drummer was tucking away his drums.

Yes 36 years since his arrest, followed by a trial with dubious practices, considered by many a miscarriage of justice.
So enough is enough: Free Leonard Peltier.

International Leonard Peltier day

Leonard Peltier wrote for this occasion:

Greetings to my relations, my friends, and to my many supporters the world over.

It is that time again. Another year has passed, and on February 6th I will be marking 36 years since my arrest. During all this time, my family and allies have discovered just how far the government will go to wrongfully convict and imprison someone they know is innocent. They do this as a message— first to Indians, and further to anyone who might stand up to injustice—as if to say, “We will do as we please”.

From the day of my arrest until now, through you my supporters, I have been honored with many activist and humanitarian awards. I thank you for keeping awareness of me and my case alive. Your commitment has really been a special experience for me.

In addition many celebrities, political figures, and organizations have called for my release, including 55 members of Congress. This last November, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) passed a permanent resolution calling for my release. Well let’s hope its not that permanent. The NCAI has committed to being directly involved with my case so that the message from Washington to Indian people does not remain, “We will do as we please”.

Still, despite all this attention and with all the leaders and people of conscience calling for my release, I have been kept in this iron cage. They have even kept me longer than their own laws say they can. With evidence corroborating that I did not receive a fair trial, with proof of government misconduct, with admissions by government officials that they do not know who killed those two agents that day at the Jumping Bull property, here I sit. “We will do as we please.”

Recently, as many of you know, an act was passed and signed into law that allows for indefinite detention of American citizens without charge or trial. This is perhaps the final straw, the final nail in the coffin of American freedom, the end of habeas corpus and due process. “We will do as we please.”

We Indians said it for generations: If they can kill us indiscriminately, they will do it to anyone. If they can take our land, they will do it to anyone. If they can kidnap our children and take them to prison schools, they will do it to anyone. If they can starve us and lie to us, they will do it to anyone. If they can wrongfully imprison us, they will do it to anyone. Now, sadly, this is another Indian prophecy fulfilled. “We will do as we please.”

Our ancestors and tribal people all over the world prophesized a time of upheaval and great change. I believe that time is fast approaching. I believe a part of this is the government’s ongoing overreach of its authority—until the people rise up and tell Washington, “You will NOT do as you please! We are NOT your slaves! We will NOT be subjugated! We will NOT be ruled by an iron fist! We will NOT allow you to steal our liberty or our justice!"

My friends, my relatives, my supporters—Be a part of this latest, perhaps the last "Indian uprising". Make your voice heard! Be a part of the brave Movement to come, the Movement that will change the course of human history. Make change and hope and peace and justice a part of your personal legacy. Be the change that you envision and know in your heart must take place.

Do this, and on the day you take your last breath and prepare to meet Creator, you will know your life on this Earth was well spent. Close your eyes knowing you used your breath and energy to Creator’s good purpose. Smile as you cross over knowing you changed the world so that the next seven generations can know a good life. Do these things and know that I am with you.  I will embrace you as my relations—in this life or the next.

Mitakuye Oyasin.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier

John Sinclair

John Sinclair performs on tour with a band. The band plays according to the lyrics spoken. A lot of the poetry is influenced by Jazz, so we were treated with Monk, a bit of Coltrane, good old blues... and the words which flowed. The band prepares and then plays a set of songs, lyrics by Ken Post. After the break, after a moment of stillness and concentration, poet-activist, icon of American sub-culture performs. A love poem with a twist, a poem about being on the road and in jail with the beau of his mother and making money because the prison guards loved their performance and brought them out every night to another club.

Strong
moving
to the point
surprising
love
and struggle
freedom
and all that...
Here you see the band, Lenny on the sax had his work cut out for him.

A fun night, without any of the tediousness of officialdom.
Honest en open jazzy poetry.
If  you have a chance to see John Sinclair perform, do go and listen.
It will warm the cockles of your heart.
Read the history of his struggle for the freedom to get high.