The Silence of the Damned is the title of an article written by Chris Hedges yesterday. It is devastating reading. The title says it all. Here are a few excerpts.
Robert Jay Lifton in his book “The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide” writes that “genocidal projects require the active participation of educated professionals — physicians, scientists, engineers, military leaders, lawyers, clergy, university professors and other teachers — who combine to create not only the technology of genocide but much of its ideological rationale, moral climate, and organizational process.”…
There is a cost to denouncing this genocide, a cost they (U S Medical Schools and organizations) do not intend to pay. They fear being attacked. They fear destroying their careers. They fear losing funding. They fear a loss of status. They fear persecution. They fear social isolation. This fear makes them complicit…
The danger is not only that the Israeli crimes are denounced. The danger, more importantly, is that the moral bankruptcy and cowardice of the institutions and their leaders are exposed…
The dehumanization of Palestinians is lifted from the playbook of all settler colonial projects, including our own. This racism, where people of color are branded as “human animals,” is coded within the DNA of our institutions. It infects those chosen to lead these institutions. It lies at the core of our national identity. It is why the two ruling parties and the institutions that sustain them side with Israel. It feeds the perverted logic of funneling weapons and billions of dollars in support to sustain Israel’s occupation and genocide.
History will not judge us kindly. But it will revere those who, under siege, found the courage to say no.
The Silence of the Damned. Our Leading Humanitarian and Civic Institutions, Including Major Medical Institutions, Refuse to Denounce Israel’s Genocide in Gaza by Chris Hedges, Scheer Post, February 1, 2024
There is a sense of hopelessness, helplessness, and despair in the face of the horrors of the Israeli-Hamas war.
Coming of age in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, I witnessed and was part of the massive antiwar movement in this country. But for the past several decades I’ve wondered what happened to the antiwar movement. A movement sorely needed in these times. I’m beginning to understand that the antiwar movement has morphed into the movement to build resilient, Mutual Aid communities.
As I’ve been writing about resilience and Mutual Aid recently, I see more clearly that resilience is not only a way to prepare for the future but also a way to build better communities now. That includes the way to break the cycle of war.
It might seem counterintuitive to work locally in the face of global war and disaster, but I believe that is the only effective thing we can do now.
In January 2020, just before I joined, Des Moines Mutual Aid participated in a march protesting the potential for war or increased hostilities with Iran that followed the fallout of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by a drone strike in Baghdad.
Taking photos often takes me outside myself. Or makes me more aware of where I am in the moment. The Spirit is constantly moving through me, in and out, interacting with the physical world. It is much like Quaker meeting for worship, where we sit together in silence listening for the Inner Light.
I sometimes refer to photography as meeting for worship with attention to photography. I usually spend about two hours every day taking photos. Then another two or three hours editing those photos. When I’m feeling unsettled, I’ll go out to take photos.
Once while talking about photography with my friend Diop Adisa we laughed when we realized we both took mental photos when we didn’t have a camera along. We decided to call that Zen photography.
Having lived my life without a car, I’m used to having the ability to stop and look for, perhaps take a photo. I long ago developed the habit of carrying my camera with me all the time. I don’t like to have to drive somewhere to take photos, which means I often travel the same path. To and from work when I was working at Riley Hospital for Children in downtown Indianapolis. In Indianola, there was a nice walking trail. Or the Buxton Gardens on the campus of Simpson College were within walking distance.
Sometimes a theme emerges as it did yesterday morning. We’d had a good amount of snow. On the tips of the branches of the trees were pieces of ice as the water re-froze. You wouldn’t notice this unless you were looking up and the sun was in the right position. Once I noticed this I looked for the ice on all the trees I passed.
When I edited the photos, I had to make the sky much darker than it actually was in order for the ice to be seen. Adding a little contrast, and some sharpening made the ice crystals stand out. I thought of them as constellations of stars. That reminded me of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “starry, starry night.” So I named the series of these photos “Starry, Starry Day.”
I also remembered Don McLean’s song, “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night).” I hadn’t played it in a while and had forgotten how beautiful it was.
“Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)” Don McLean
Starry, starry night Paint your palette blue and gray Look out on a summer’s day With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills Sketch the trees and the daffodils Catch the breeze and the winter chills In colors on the snowy linen land
Now I understand What you tried to say to me And how you suffered for your sanity And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how Perhaps they’ll listen now
Starry, starry night Flaming flowers that brightly blaze Swirling clouds in violet haze Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue
Colors changing hue Morning fields of amber grain Weathered faces lined in pain Are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand
Now I understand What you tried to say to me And how you suffered for your sanity And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how Perhaps they’ll listen now
For they could not love you But still your love was true And when no hope was left in sight On that starry, starry night
You took your life, as lovers often do But I could’ve told you Vincent This world was never meant for One as beautiful as you
Starry, starry night Portraits hung in empty halls Frame-less heads on nameless walls With eyes that watch the world and can’t forget
Like the strangers that you’ve met The ragged men in ragged clothes The silver thorn of bloody rose Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow
Now I think I know What you tried to say to me And how you suffered for your sanity And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they’re not listening still Perhaps they never will
In January 2020, Des Moines Mutual Aid participated in a march protesting the potential for war or increased hostilities with Iran that followed the fallout of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by drone strike in Baghdad.
That was an example of the principle to think globally, act locally.
January 3, 2024
Now there is the tragic news of many people who attended the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death being killed by explosives.
Now there have been two explosions that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a ceremony in Iran on Wednesday to commemorate commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020, Iranian officials said, blaming unspecified “terrorists”.
Iranian state television reported a first and then a second blast after 20 minutes during a crowded fourth-anniversary event at the cemetery where Soleimani is buried in the southeastern city of Kerman.
Yesterday a US airstrike killed an Iran-linked militia commander in Baghdad
BAGHDAD — A U.S. airstrike here on Thursday killed an Iran-linked militia commander and risked accelerating the regional fallout from Washington’s support for Israel’s military operation in Gaza, even as the Biden administration scrambles to contain the bloodshed.
While the United States has targeted militia-affiliated locations in Iraq and Syria several times in recent months, an American operation in such a central location of Iraq’s capital is exceedingly rare. Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba falls under the command of the Iraqi army, which responded swiftly — and in anger — saying agreements between Baghdad and Washington had been violated.
The Biden administration has bypassed Congress twice to approve emergency weapons sales to Israel. The first instance was a sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million. The second instance involved a $147.5 million sale for equipment, including fuses, charges, and primers, needed to make the 155 mm shells that Israel had already purchased functional.
The United States killed a high-profile commander of Iran’s secretive Quds Force with a drone strike in Iraq early Friday, the Department of Defense said.
“At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad,” the department said in a statement announcing the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a commander of Iran’s military forces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere throughout the Middle East.
Now I understand that working for peace today is to work for justice in oppressed communities in our own country.
Where is the peace movement now?
After the Vietnam War, it seemed the peace movement in this country had died. Now I understand that working for peace today is to work for justice in oppressed communities in our own country. In this photo, I’m holding a sign related to Black Lives Matter (circa 2016). It took a while for others at the peace vigil to become comfortable with the divergence from the usual anti-war emphasis.
Although the West’s imperialism is not new, the U.S. is increasingly viewed as a global evil Empire. The most recent example, of course, is the Biden administration’s continuing massive support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Even bypassing Congress to send more military aid.
And on the global stage is the outrage of seeing the U.S. block the United Nations call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Des Moines Mutual Aid protests the assassination of Qassem Soleimani (2020)
A Love Letter to Y’all
One year ago yesterday Des Moines Mutual Aid participated in a march protesting the potential for war or increased hostilities with Iran that followed the fallout of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by drone strike in Baghdad.
This was our first “public” event since adopting the name Des Moines Mutual Aid, a name we gave our crew during our growing work with our relatives at the houseless camps throughout the city and our help with coordinating a weekly free grocery store that has a 50 year history, founded by the Des Moines Chapter of The Black Panther Party For Self Defense.
A year ago we started laying the foundation for work we had no idea what was coming.
As we were adjusting our work with the camps and grocery re-distribution in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, both that continued to grow in need and importance, the police continued their jobs and legacy of brutality and murder.
This nation exploded in righteous rage in response to the pig murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
DMMA realized we were in a position to organize a bail fund to keep our fighters out of jail, both to keep the streets alive as a new phase of The Movement was being born, and because jails are a hotspot of COVID-19 spread.
Not to mention the racial and economic oppression that is the cash bail system.
In the past year, DMMA has expanded its work in multiple directions and gained many partners and allies.
We partnered with the Des Moines Black Liberation Movement (@DesMoinesBLM) to create the DSM BLM Rent Relief initiative to help keep families in their homes in the midst of a pandemic and the winter.
The camp work has grown exponentially but is being managed with our collaboration with Edna Griffin Mutual Aid (@egma_dsm), DSM Black Liberation Movement (@DesMoinesBLM), and The Great Plains Action Society (@PlainsAction).
The bail fund remains successful because of desire from the public and a partnership with Prairielands Freedom Fund (@prairielandsff) (formerly The Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project).
The weekly free food store has maintained itself, carrying on the legacy it inherited.
Every one of our accomplishments are directly tied to the support of so many people donating time, talent, and funds to the work. We are overwhelmed with all of your support and hope you feel we are honoring what we promised.
All of these Mutual Aid projects are just a few of many that this city has created in the last year in response to the many crises we face, not only confronting the problems and fulfilling the needs directly in front of us, but creating a sustainable movement that will be capable of responding to what’s next and shaping our collective futures as we replace the systems that fail us.
These last 12 months have been wild and a real test of all of our capabilities to collectively organize.
But it is clear that we as a city have what it takes to do what is needed in 2021, no matter what crisis is next.
Much gratitude to you all. In love and rage, Des Moines Mutual Aid January 6, 2021
The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a national, nonpartisan organization that lobbies Congress for peace, justice, and environmental stewardship.
FCNL has an 80-year-old history of bringing the concerns of Quakers and Quaker meetings to the US Congress. The following four principles guide this work.
I have been blessed to be involved in the work of FCNL in a number of ways over the years. For nine years I was a member of the General Committee, which meets annually to help determine what priorities FCNL’s lobbyists should bring to Congress. One of the unique aspects of FCNL’s approach is to train Quakers and others how to lobby Congress themselves. I’m second from the right at this visit to a Congressperson’s office.
Training sessions for FCNL Advocacy are provided online monthly. The next session will be January 18, 2024. You can register here: Intro to Advocacy with FCNL
Following are several updates I’d like to share about FCNL’s work.
Join FCNL’s Lauren Brownlee and Zenaida Peterson, both members of the Steering Committee of the Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism, online for Pendle Hill’s First Monday lecture on Jan. 8, 2024.
Members of the Steering Committee of the Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism believed they had a responsibility to name the pain from patterns of white supremacy culture and racism that they have experienced, witnessed, and heard throughout the Religious Society of Friends and associated organizations. To that end, they created a guide with examples of harm and interventions towards racial justice. This guide, inspired by the work of Tema Okun and several Quaker institutions, points to the ways that they see white supremacy culture weaving its way into Quaker culture and suggests methods to disrupt it.
In this lecture, Lauren Brownlee and Zenaida Peterson will share ways that the guide has been and can be used in Quaker communities.
FCNL hosts a Virtual Witness Wednesday Silent Reflection. This event is in line with the Quaker practice of silent worship. It’s an opportunity for participants to join virtually via Zoom or by phone for a period of shared reflection.
I’ve been attending Witness Wednesday for several years, (including yesterday) and find it to be a powerful way to reflect on faith, peace, and justice work. I highly recommend it. Simply use this link to attend online any Wednesday at 4:15 pm Central time. http://fcnl.org/ww-stream
Spring Lobby Weekend brings hundreds of young adults to Washington, DC, where they learn about a specific issue, and then actually go to their Congressional offices to lobby related to that issue.
Several years ago my good friend Rezadad Mohammadi attended one spring lobby weekend. The next year he organized a group of fellow students at Simpson College to attend, successfully obtaining funding from the College to help with expenses. If you know of young adults who might be interested, please share this with them.
In March 2024, hundreds of young adults will gather again for Spring Lobby Weekend—our young adult advocacy conference and day of action. This year, we’ll be lobbying Congress to address the harmful legacy of the Indian Boarding School era.
We know that our strength comes from the stories we tell and the community we build, so we hope that you will join us March 16-19, 2024—in Washington, D.C. or online—to advocate for change!
Please check this page for more updates in the coming weeks. If you are not already signed up for our Young Adult Program updates, please sign up here to receive emails about Spring Lobby Weekend 2024.
In an example of how FCNL engages with Quaker communities in this country, FCNL asked Quaker meetings about their views regarding reproductive health and abortion. This came about because there are different beliefs about abortion among Quakers, so FCNL did not have a policy related to that. But with the recent national debate about abortion, FCNL asked Quakers to share what they thought about this issue today. Following is the statement that came out of this national discussion among Quakers.
Working for peace has always been a fundamental belief among Quakers. “We seek a world free of war and the threat of war” is one of the guiding principles of FCNL.
We are heartbroken by the violence in Israel and Palestine. As Quakers, we deeply mourn the loss of all lives and pray for those who have lost loved ones due to this latest escalation. We unequivocally condemn Hamas’ attacks and inhumane treatment of civilians and call for the release of all hostages. We also condemn Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza that has claimed thousands of civilian lives. More war and weapons won’t bring peace. In the face of growing violence, lawmakers must push for a permanent ceasefire and address the root causes underlying this explosion of violence.
As we bear witness and lobby in solidarity with Native Americans, we also honor the Nacotchtank tribe on whose ancestral land the FCNL, FCNL Education Fund, and Friends Place on Capitol Hill buildings stand. They are also known as the Anacostans, the Indigenous people who lived along the banks of the Anacostia River, including in several villages on Capitol Hill and what is now Washington, D.C. By the 1700s, the Nacotchtank tribe had merged with other tribes like the Pamunkey and the Piscataway, both of which still exist today.
Yesterday a dear friend had just found out that my mom had died, and said she was sending prayers. I sincerely thanked her.
This morning I woke up at 5 am and noticed there was a lot of moonlight. It was so bright, I thought I’d try to capture it with my camera, with little success. But I couldn’t go back to sleep, and I kept looking at the light. I remember another early morning when I was led to walk to Picnic Point for photos and was blessed with a spectacular sunrise. You can see those photos on my photography website: https://jeffkislingphotography.wpcomstaging.com/2023/11/15/picnic-point-madison-wisconsin/
On that same site, there are several other albums of photos from Picnic Point. Some are in the rain, fog, or snow. I long ago learned some of my best photos were taken in such challenging conditions. There’s something about the difficulty or sacrifice that makes for extraordinary images.
So I was eager to leave at 5 am in 28-degree temperatures, hoping I would find difficult conditions again. Of course, it was completely dark, and I had no idea if there would be clouds obscuring the sunrise.
I was blessed to witness another extraordinary dawn. Those photos will also appear in the photo album link above when I finish editing all 155 of them.
I’m convinced my friend’s prayers led to the early light which awakened me and led me out into the dawn. Because prayers are not a static thing. They can lead us to act, and lead us into amazing journeys. I am thankful for the prayers.
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Meaning we need to find new paths.
What are we called to do?
Where do we look for help?
Ancestors
What things do we admire about our ancestors?
Are we living up to the lessons they provide?
What mistakes did they make that we can learn from?
Spirituality
How can we deepen faith?
What gets in the way of finding that spiritual guidance?
Do we have the courage to follow where our faith leads us?
How do we support each other to express that courage?
How do we facilitate and learn from the expression of spirituality in the wider community?
Comfortable
What are the dangers of being comfortable? I don’t believe we should be comfortable with so many things as they are now. Because so much is rooted in injustice.
Collapse
It is clear the world we grew up in is no longer. The environment is rapidly becoming increasingly chaotic. Economic and political systems are failing. Physical and social infrastructure is breaking down.
Centralized systems of government and the economy will collapse for lack of resources and the infrastructure to provide them.
Increasingly we will all be forced to reckon with disasters of all kinds. We will have no choice.
Migration
What needs to be done to prepare for climate migration.
I have become a migrant myself. Having been living with my mom to care for her, I recently needed to find a new place to live when she died. The following photos show what my possessions have been reduced to. Almost all of those boxes contain books. The plastic bags contain my clothing.
This is helping me understand what will be happening to so many very shortly. What has happened to so many already. People won’t be able to move many possessions. Transportation will be limited, and we may not know where we will end up.
Today is a day that is always remembered in Indian Country. On the day after Christmas some 160 years ago, the largest single-day mass execution in the United States occurred in Mankato, Minnesota. It is often referred to as the “Dakota 38+2” for the 38 Dakota warriors and two others who were hanged in Mankato.
As journalists, part of our job is to “write the first draft of history” with stories about what is happening among Native Americans in contemporary times. But we also feel that there are several times each year where we should be remembering the historic events that brought us here today. That is why we are sharing this story in a standalone newsletter with you on this somber day of remembrance. Because history needs to be told so it is not forgotten.
This Day in History: Dec. 26, 1862 —Most commonly revered as the United States President who freed the slaves, Abraham Lincoln is known for something different in Indian Country. On this day 160 years ago, 38 Dakota men were hanged following orders from Lincoln in the largest mass-hanging in U.S. history.
The execution happened in Mankato, Minnesota in front of some 4,000 spectators. Some historical accounts say that the men each held hands and sang a traditional Dakota song in the moments leading up to their deaths.
Often erased from history, the men’s hangings were direct consequences of the U.S. and Dakota War of 1862. The war was the result of broken treaties and broken promises from the U.S. government after Dakota land continued to be diminished.
This Day in History – Dec. 26, 1862:38 Dakota Men Executed by Order of Abraham Lincoln by Levi Ricket and Neely Bardwell, Native News Online, December 26, 2023
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, or Little Crow’s War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota collectively known as the Santee Sioux. It began on August 18, 1862, when the Dakota, who were facing starvation and displacement, attacked white settlements at the Lower Sioux Agency along the Minnesota River valley in southwest Minnesota. The war lasted for five weeks and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of settlers. In the aftermath, the Dakota people were exiled from their homelands, forcibly sent to reservations in the Dakotas and Nebraska, and the State of Minnesota confiscated and sold all their remaining land in the state. The war also ended with the largest mass execution in United States history with the hanging of 38 Dakota men.
All four bands of eastern Dakota had been pressured into ceding large tracts of land to the United States in a series of treaties and were reluctantly moved to a reservation strip twenty miles wide, centered on Minnesota River. There, they were encouraged by U.S. Indian agents to become farmers rather than continue their hunting traditions. A crop failure in 1861, followed by a harsh winter along with poor hunting due to depletion of wild game, led to starvation and severe hardship for the eastern Dakota. In the summer of 1862, tensions between the eastern Dakota, the traders, and the Indian agents reached a breaking point.
On August 17, 1862, four young native men killed five white settlers in Acton, Minnesota. That night, a faction led by Chief Little Crow decided to attack the Lower Sioux Agency the next morning in an effort to drive all settlers out of the Minnesota River valley. In the weeks that followed, Dakota men attacked and killed hundreds of settlers, causing thousands to flee the area, and took hundreds of “mixed-blood” and white hostages, almost all women and children. The demands of the Civil War slowed the U.S. government response, but on September 23, 1862, an army of volunteer infantry, artillery and citizen militia assembled by Governor Alexander Ramsey and led by Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley finally defeated Little Crow at the Battle of Wood Lake.
The amazing video about this history, Dakota 38, is based on the vision of Jim Miller, a Native spiritual leader. “This film was created in line with Native healing practices. In honoring this ceremony, we are screening and distributing “Dakota 38″ as a gift rather than for sale. This film was inspired by one individual’s dream and is not promoting any organization or affiliated with any political or religious groups. It was simply created to encourage healing and reconciliation.” Smooth Feather
Composers Jay McKay and Jay Parrotta spent three years fusing sound and visuals into a cinematic experience that takes the viewer onto the Northern Plains and through a relentless pounding blizzard. Sound has the ability to transport, and the mix of chants, drums and melody is spellbinding.
In the spring of 2005, Jim Miller, a Native spiritual leader and Vietnam veteran, found himself in a dream riding on horseback across the great plains of South Dakota. Just before he awoke, he arrived at a riverbank in Minnesota and saw 38 of his Dakota ancestors hanged. At the time, Jim knew nothing of the largest mass execution in United States history, ordered by Abraham Lincoln on December 26, 1862. “When you have dreams, you know when they come from the creator… As any recovered alcoholic, I made believe that I didn’t get it. I tried to put it out of my mind, yet it’s one of those dreams that bothers you night and day.”
Now, four years later, embracing the message of the dream, Jim and a group of riders retrace the 330-mile route of his dream on horseback from Lower Brule, South Dakota to Mankato, Minnesota to arrive at the hanging site on the anniversary of the execution. “We can’t blame the wasichus anymore. We’re doing it to ourselves. We’re selling drugs. We’re killing our own people. That’s what this ride is about, is healing.” This is the story of their journey- the blizzards they endure, the Native and Non-Native communities that house and feed them along the way, and the dark history they are beginning to wipe away.
This film was created in line with Native healing practices. In honoring this ceremony, we are screening and distributing “Dakota 38″ as a gift rather than for sale. This film was inspired by one individual’s dream and is not promoting any organization or affiliated with any political or religious groups. It was simply created to encourage healing and reconciliation.
The day after Christmas, Dec. 26, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the largest execution in United States history — the hanging of 38 Dakota men. At the heart of this is the genocide and land theft of the tribal nations by the white settler-colonialists. #LANDBACK
“Today, all the people of the region continue to be affected by this traumatic event. We take the youth on the ride, so that they may connect with their culture in a more physical way. By being apart of the ride they are connecting themselves with their ancestors and their horse relatives. It is through the ride that they are able to see the beauty in the history and their culture.” SUNKTANKA
The Dakota 38 Plus 2 Memorial Ride is a ride that honors the 38 Dakota men who were hung in Mankato in December of 1862. The ride began from the vision of a Dakota elder and warrior. In this vision riders would ride from Crow Creek, SD to Mankato, MN. Ever since then the ride has continued to happen annually from the beginning year December 2005 to present collecting supporters and new riders along the way.
My name is Winona Goodthunder. My Dakota name is Wambde Ho Waste Win, Eagle Woman with a Good Voice. I have ridden in this ride since 2006, the second year. I was in eighth grade when I started. As the years have gone by the riders that we’ve met every year have become a part of a new kind of family. We are all different even though we are all somehow related. Those of us who are from the Lower Sioux region are used to different types of living than those who come from Canada, Nebraska, South Dakota, and other parts of the world. The differences that we have are forgotten when we come to this ride. We get up early in the morning to get our horses ready together. We ride all day together, and we eat together at night. It is then that our differences merge and we teach each other. The thing that seems to bind us the most is the fact that we can laugh. Humor may not be what is expected on a memorial ride, but it is encouraged for it is stressed that this ride is for forgiveness.
Although our group goes only for the last four days it is enough to establish that sense of family amongst each other. It is from these riders that I’ve learned most about my culture. I have read books, but they cannot foster the feeling that one gets when they are living in an experience such as the ride.
I have watched this video, “Dakota 38”, many times, and again today. My classmate from Scattergood Friends School, Lee Tesdell, taught in Mankato, and has spoken about this history with me.
The photography and especially the story, are just excellent and very moving. I’ve been learning how trauma is passed from generation to generation. The events shown in the film “Dakota 38” occurred in 1862.
“Today, all the people of the region continue to be affected by this traumatic event.” SUNKTANKA
Forgive Everyone Everything
FORGIVE EVERYONE EVERYTHING is inscribed on a bench in Reconciliation Park, Mankato, Minnesota, where the ride ends. The photo of the memorial shows a list of the names of the 38 Dakota men who were all hanged at the same time in what is now Mankato, Minnesota. A raised wooden platform, with 38 nooses along the sides, was constructed. It is said nearly 4,000 people witnessed this, the largest execution in U.S. history, on December 26, 1862.
As to who needs to be forgiven, there are many answers to that.
At the heart of this is the genocide and land theft of the tribal nations by the white settler-colonialists.
More specifically this history came about as the Dakota were forced into smaller and smaller areas of land, to the point they could not sustain themselves.
Senator Bernie Sanders introduced S.Res.504, which requests information on Israel’s human rights practices under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 that regulates the provision of U.S. foreign aid to other countries. The references to Section 502 in what follows are sections of the Foreign Assistance Act.
Although some of the following refers to Saudi Arabia, the same is being applied to Israel now.
Section 502B also allows Congress to request a targeted report on a specific country’s human rights situation and to pass a joint resolution to continue, restrict, or terminate security assistance to that country. Section 502B is a tool that Congress can use to enforce human rights standards and to re-evaluate the U.S. relationship with countries that violate them.
The central prohibition of Section 502B(a) bans the provision of U.S. security assistance “to any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” Section 502B defines gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, and the same definition applies for the purpose of the Leahy Law. Based on the Section 502B definition the State Department classifies “torture, extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, and rape under color of law” as gross violations of human rights in the context of Leahy vetting. However, Section 502B(d) includes “other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person” as a gross violation of human rights
The Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip has been unlike any other in the 21st century.
In response to the unprecedented assault by Hamas on Oct. 7, Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion that began 20 days later have destroyed large swaths of the besieged territory, killed at least 20,057 people and displaced a vast majority of the population.
The most ferocious attacks have come from the air, flattening entire city blocks and cratering the landscape.
“There’s no safe space. Period,” said Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who visited Gaza on Dec. 4. “I haven’t passed one street where I didn’t see destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals.”
The war has wounded more than 53,320 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 7,700 Palestinian children have been killed, and women and children make up around 70 percent of the dead, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which also says that 1.9 million people have been displaced, equivalent to 85 percent of the population. The vast majority of Gazan civilians fleeing the invasion are not allowed by Israel and Egypt to leave.
“The scale of Palestinian civilian deaths in such a short period of time appears to be the highest such civilian casualty rate in the 21st century,” said Michael Lynk, who served as the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories from 2016 to 2022.
Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars in Gaza. The damage in Gaza has outpaced other recent conflicts, evidence shows. Israel has dropped some of the largest bombs commonly used today near hospitals. by Evan Hill, Imogen Piper, Meg Kelly and Jarrett Ley, The Washington Post, December 23, 2023
I made these two graphics using an artificial intelligence graphics program.
(c)2023 Jeff Kisling. Artificial intelligence generated image(c)2023 Jeff Kisling. Artificial intelligence generated image
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:14
I am deeply distressed by the dichotomy between ‘peace on earth, good will toward men’ and the blatant opposition to that by the forces of global dominance. I cannot fathom the massacre in Gaza and the silence of the people in this country. The overwhelming majority of people in other countries are not silent.
This has been the pattern that began when the Europeans landed. The enslavement of those brought here from Africa continues with economic injustice and mass incarceration. White settler colonialism continues as Indigenous lands remain occupied today.
The rapid rise of authoritarianism is the next stage of dominance over us all.
The silence is astounding.
That silence is ruthlessly enforced, not only against opposition to war but also for the rape of Mother Earth. Or for a reckoning about past injustices such as the Indian schools of forced assimilation or structural racism.
I told my Quaker meeting I have this sense of being threatened by simply writing about these things. Which is proof that authoritarianism is working. Quelling dissent. I wonder if I might be imprisoned one day.
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
John Lennon
The message of Christmas has traditionally involved prayers for goodwill toward all and “peace on Earth,” but through their opposition to ceasefire in Gaza, most Western Christians are affirming the opposite values: that violence, weapons and destruction are the only response to real and perceived enemies.
The U.S. Christian Palestinian communities that I am a part of are truly puzzled at the behavior of the many Western Christians who seem to see no dissonance between the message of love and peace that is at the heart of our shared religion, and their backing for Israeli’s military assault against Palestinian civilians, which has killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza alone within the last three months.
Anytime an attack occurs, or lives are lost, we are called to choose between two worldviews in our response. One worldview holds that violence, bombings and brutal force is the only method available and should be pursued relentlessly until the enemy is vanquished, regardless of the cost in lives and destruction for civilians on both sides.
But an alternative worldview insists on the way of peace, reconciliation, justice and tolerance.
United States diplomats once again held up a vote on a watered-down United Nations Security Council resolution on Wednesday aimed at bringing more aid and relief to civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip as reports of starvation, mass killings, and other war crimes allegedly committed by the Israeli military continue to pile up.
Despite massive international support for a ceasefire at the UN, on December 8, the U.S. blocked a previous attempt by the Security Council to leverage international law and secure a humanitarian ceasefire so more aid can enter Gaza.
End of the year reflections have me looking back over some of the quotations I’ve gathered along the way.
Silence, spirituality, and photography
Many of my photographs come from walks over the same path, over and over. In Indianapolis, it was walking to and from work. I lived about 2 miles from Riley Hospital for Children. I developed the habit of always carrying my camera with me. I was quite conscious of seeing more and more detail emerge from walking the same path. That made me look more closely intentionally, challenging me to look more deeply. This became a spiritual experience. I realized I was waiting in silence to be shown more clearly what I was looking at. I would look inward to help me see outward.
This helped me listen for the Spirit more closely during Quaker meetings for worship, where Friends sit in silence together. There is a circle of silence between photography and spirituality. Below are some images I made with the help of artificial intelligence to try to envision this.
Carrying my camera all the time meant others would see the War is Not the Answer button on my camera strap.
Some of my own quotes are about photography:
I listen with my eyes
Learn to see what you are looking at
Photography is a spiritual practice
Meeting for worship with attention to photography
Zen photography
I like this quote by W.B. Yeats, which I also think of in terms of photography. The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.
That stillness and vastness that enables the Universe to be, is not just out there in space…it is also within you. – Eckhart Tolle
Close your eyes and follow your breath to the still place that leads to the invisible path that leads you home. – Mirabai Starr
In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence. – Robert Lynd
We Indians know about silence. We are not afraid of it. In fact, for us, silence is more powerful than words. Our elders were trained in the ways of silence, and they handed over this knowledge to us. Observe, listen, and then act, they would tell us. That was the manner of living. -Ella Deloria
Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come.–Greta Thunberg
Mutual aid is the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world. - Dean Spade
My activism did not spring from being black. Rather, it is rooted fundamentally in my Quaker upbringing and the values instilled in me by the grandparents who reared me… Those values were based on the concept of a single human family and the belief that all members of that family are equal. – Bayard Rustin
Capitalism has violated the communities of marginalized folks. capitalism is about the value of people, property and the people who own property. those who have wealth and property control the decisions that are made. the government comes second to capitalism when it comes to power. In the name of liberation, capitalism must be reversed and dismantled. meaning that capitalistic practices must be reprogrammed with mutual aid practices. -Des Moines Black Liberation
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. -Neil Gaiman
But to do the truth, to live a life that enforces what we once had, a life and culture that made a millennia of humanity possible to thrive, is to be at war with what has defined and destroyed this world for too long. -Ronnie James
Photography and spirituality
I created these images with the help of artificial intelligence to try to express these ideas.
Quakers and Mutual Aid 