"Women Fasting for the Children of Yemen" / Fasting for the myriad of present troubles / November 14, 2018

Click on the above image if the print is too small.

Images of starvation in Yemen bring to my mind the Great Famine in Ireland, the starvation in the death camps in Nazi Germany, the starvation of the Sioux people restricted to a narrow band of land along the Minnesota River that led to the Sioux Uprising of 1862, the starvation in Ethiopia in 1984 and 1985, and the list goes on and on.

The above flyer was generated locally, before the news in the last 24 hours about a possible ceasefire in Yemen.  Of course, I am noting the timing by the current political administration in the U.S. in turning its attention to Yemen in the last days before the mid-term election, as did this spokeswoman who also noted the timing:

A spokeswoman for the International Rescue Committee, a charity operating in Yemen, said hostilities needed to end as soon as possible so aid could be delivered to those suffering the most.

"From our perspective there's a lot that could have been done before a call for this ceasefire, but [it] is a significant breakthrough in this war and a welcome recognition that the current policy is failing," Kellie Ryan said.

Although I will not be able to sit in one of the 14 chairs, I will be fasting for 14 hours on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. 

The 14 chairs idea is a visible and visceral way of bringing attention specifically to the children of Yemen and the power of women who can sit together with their intense feelings of anger and grief as they ask themselves, "What kind of response can we make to one of the greatest famines in modern times?"

I have heard that something along these lines has also been organized in New York, also prior to the news about a possible ceasefire.  Has anyone else heard about the event in New York?

As I fast on November 14,  I will be asking myself another question in addition to the one posed on the flyer, "What kind of wholehearted response can we make to the myriad of present troubles that have deep roots and touch us all?"

Whereas / Centuries of Injustice / Centuries of Resistance / Survival Against All Odds

We are not defeated.  The so-called victory of those who claim victory is hollow.  It always has been.

Excerpt from interview:

MS. LONG SOLDIER: Just briefly, in “38,” it’s written to and for the Dakota 38, who were 38 Dakota men who were hung under the orders of President Abraham Lincoln as a result of the Sioux uprising, which came at a time when Dakota people, their territory, their land, was getting smaller and smaller, and finally down to something like a 10-mile tract. And the Dakota people, did not have hunting rights beyond that. They had no store credit with the traders, and so they were basically starving. So there was an uprising, and as a result, these 38 men were hung, and then Dakota people were moved west to the South Dakota area in different — basically, they lost their land in the Minnesota region.

MS. TIPPETT: This was the largest legal mass execution in U.S. history, and it happened the same week that President Lincoln signed The Emancipation Proclamation. This history we don’t know.

MS. LONG SOLDIER: That’s right.

MS. TIPPETT: Or we don’t teach. So this emerged, your patience, writing all of this.

MS. LONG SOLDIER: Yeah, absolutely. I think that I’ve learned through writing the reward and the joy that comes out of just being really patient with a piece and patient with yourself. I think, at least, for me, the imagination is something that I really have to really respect like its own little person in me. So I can’t demand too much of it. Sometimes I have to let it take a rest and then come back and be in conversation with it again. But it’s a beautiful process that I’ve learned through writing.

We are not defeated.  We are stronger than ever.  There are more of us than ever.  We are a diverse community.  Remember that.