Month: June 2020

White silence

I live in Marin County. I love all the nature and beauty of the land and I happened to score a very affordable rental (for the Bay Area) years ago. It’s a very wealthy and very white place, with some pockets like Fairfax and others that are known as being progressive but, overall, same old predictable leanings in an area like this. The stark contrast is Marin City, where there is a large black community, living in government subsidized housing; just over the hill and just an exit away from Mill Valley, Sausalito and Tiburon, where luxury homes are everywhere.

I was out driving in San Rafael today, a slightly more diverse town, and saw a group of protesters marching down the street chanting “I can’t breathe!”, with a police escort in front and behind. Traffic was slowed down alongside them as they walked and I drove over and started honking my horn in unison with their chanting.

And folks, almost nobody else was honking. Possibly the easiest, no effort whatsoever way to show support, and you can’t even honk? The defeaning silence of the people in the cars spoke volumes. The black man at the head of the march was looking out at the cars, waiting to hear honking, waiting for solidarity, and he was met with practically nothing. If that doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what will. Not just disappointing and infuriating, heartbreaking.

Those without a voice

There’s a million things I can post about on social media right now, and I know that posting about the plight of animals and the consequences of our actions regarding them can get a collective “oh please, yawn, there’s so many other things to be talking about right now! This is not the time!”

It’s always the time to talk about compassion. We feel compassion for the elderly, the sick, the dying, those who are losing everything, those in the deepest stress and fear of their lives right now, these things that I am feeling on a deep level too. I have a lot of fear too, I’ve been suffering in certain ways too. No one can know the pain in another’s heart. And I hurt for all those around the world who are suffering. And thank God we are finally talking about the things that really matter to us. And if ever there was a time to say “I don’t care anymore how people are going to react to what’s in my heart and what I need to say, no matter how it’s perceived, get over yourself!” it is NOW.

This issue is just one of many passions, there is so much to love in this world, so much beauty; the beauty of animals is one of them. And they are also (like immigrants, like prisoners, like the homeless, like the poor and disenfranchised) the forgotten; dismissed, hurt and thrown away. I’m not a mother, and in lieu of my own child, animals pierce my heart just like a child does. They are innocent, they feel joy, pain and fear too. They just want to live, be free and be with their families.

What is so yearned for in these times is being honest about how we feel and what we’re going through. To say what we must say because it’s more painful not to. is  The planet needs you to be who you are, now more than ever, so that others can know that they can too. Love your fellow Human, reach out and give to your fellow Human. Love your fellow Earthling too.

And please stop eating them, and their milk that was stolen from their babies, as their babies were stolen from them. You can do this for a variety of reasons, for the environment, to prevent another pandemic, for your own health, but to do it for them is the true calling of love. The peace of knowing that you’re doing no harm, and helping Mother Earth and all its inhabitants to heal, is a great relief and empowering strength that no taste pleasure, convenience or cultural pressure can give you.

(art by Lynda Bell)