Magdaleno

DEAR SISTER AND BROTHERS

I have attached some poems to this mailing so that I could share some thoughts with you. And if you have a good poem send it my way so that I can know of your thoughts and prayers….

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a. call congress

b. south florida interfaith worker justice

c. south beach memorial

d. GPS

e. I am not a whale

f. I am not my blubbers keeper…

TIME TO CALL

Call or visit you congressional delegation

You have two good issues for discussion …

1. THE WAR IN IRAQ

Remind them that we need to get out of Iraq today.. We have lost more lives there than we did in 9-11…and this war will not keep Al Qaeda from attacking us tomorrow or in the future.

2. COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION BILL

SOUTH FLORIDA INTERFAITH WORKER JUSTICE

This is the name of the organization where I am now working. It has a small office with a grand total of two staff and one intern…we have very little money and our office is most humble..We rent a small space at a church in LITTLE HAVANA..We have to seriously count our money carefully because we live month to month. We hope to discover more funding from individuals and foundations who will embrace our vision of justice for workers.

Our office is part of a NATIONAL COALITION of some 60 plus organizations that are part of the INTERFAITH WORKER JUSTICE network which is housed in Chicago and headed by Kim Bobo who I have still to meet in person.

We do a lot to support workers and their efforts to be treated well and be respected. In fact we work a lot with unions and others who fight for justice. Go to our web page at www.sfiwj.org and learn more.

Our board is comprised of religious leaders and lay persons of all faiths …and I must tell you that this is one of the most active boards with which I have been involved in some time.. Out board prays, writes letters, fundraises, marches, protests and on occasion some have been arrested for doing CIVIL DISOBEDIANCE….and then they pray some more.

I am in my second week of work and am still on a heavy learning curve…and hopefully will be able to teach and preach more about our work in the weeks to come.

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SOUTH BEACH MEMORIAL

Saturday I went to South Miami Beach early in the morning to get some coffee and to enjoy the sun…Well the sun stayed behind some stormy rain clouds but in front of me in the park were thousands of white tomb stones. Each on representing a person who has died in the military in Iraq …it makes you stop and think …so many tomb stones so many names …so many lives …and for some awful political decision of some sick people in this administration.

Later as I drove away to my Saturday meeting I thought about how far the tomb stones would stretch down the beach if we had one for every Iraqi who has been killed..

GPS

Get me there and back

I am like some of you not very good at directions and have a tendency to get lost…I am seriously considering getting on of those GPS contraptions… there are some that you can take out of you car and that can navigate you even when you are on the last steps of journey

Please send me your thoughts about what you think is the best GPS system …I want to test all systems and see if they can find.

1. best place to have a coffee and scone
2. good place to get hot Mexican food
3. find the cheapest gas
4. get me to a place called freedom
5. get me out of depression and into the sunlight
6. help me to find sleep at night

well …as you can see I have some real tests for a GPS system…

I am not a whale nor my blubbers keeper

some of you have seen the case of the wayward whale and her calf…and how they are trying to get them back to the ocean …and I hope that this is successful …and as some of you know I am rather large and look larger when I am in the ocean..I am planning to go swimming in the ocean and do not want to be mistaken for a brown whale and redirected away from the beach by some well meaning environmentalists… While I appreciate the plight of those wayward whales I do not want to become a victim in the process…

so I am considering having a tattoo placed on my back that says …I AM NOT A WHALE ..

Perhaps you will see me and my tattoo on CNN or MSNC or hear of me on AIR AMERICA or NPR…stay tuned for more details. Don’t look on Fox TV for stories of my adventures into the ocean…

In the mean time how about reading some of the poems I have attached

My Miami Best

leno

Dreams Shattered

He was frightened

By the difference

In their language

Their dress

Their food

Nothing looked right

And everything seemed wrong

They had come from some place far away

Another land …another culture …another people…

His dreams were shattered

That spring

When the tulips were blooming

When colorful birds were singing their mating songs

His one …

His only child….

His Daughter

Fell into the deepest of love

With one of them

In spite of his strongest opposition

In spite of his greatest of fears

She would not listen….

She continued to shatter his dreams one piece at a time…

A castle he had created in his room of hopes

Was now falling apart…

Only the best for his princess

That was his ultimate desire

The dream world he had created

Eventually she married this man

From another world

From another culture

With different dreams and chants

With different ways of praying..

It was the most difficult of time

The nights were too long

With mile after mile

with one question

After another….

.

Two years later to the date

He was presented

With a most special of gifts

Something he could not

Should not refuse

He was given ….

The smallest of packages…

A grandchild

With the biggest of eyes

With beautiful olive skin

And a forest of dark

Black shiny hair on her little head

This child from another moon

Reached into the deepest

And darkest part of his heart

And changed

His everything for ever….

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THE GRANDMOTHERS DANCE…..a tale from a grand daughter

She wondered late at night

Why they looked so different

Why they made her fears

Boil to the surface

Their language

Was faster then hers

At times too many consonants

Or vowels

Or was it vice a versa

They greeted each other

In ways that made her

Feel most uncomfortable

Sometimes they smiled too much

Their frowns she could not read

And wondered why

They would not look her in the eye

She often crossed the street to avoid them

As if they were a black cat

Or some other omen of bad luck

She watched them

come into the neighborhood

Renting a house

And moving in more than one family

She was worried about her children

Her mother…

Herself….

Later on one Saturday night

She gave way to her dark frustrations and fears

Controlling the language and the debate

At a large family gathering

Where everyone drank and ate

At their mother’s home

She launched her fears upon them all

Everyone was their including the children and their aging mother…

Their Mother

the spirit of the family

Sat quietly and picked at her food

Like a small humble sparrow

Not wanting to be noticed

Almost every one was astonished

As her daughter ranted and raved about those people

She got some to shake their heads

In agreement

Or was it in astonishment

As the wine was passed around

More than once

She dissected the language

Of THOSE PEOPLE

As she liked to call them

She was critical of

Their dress

Their habits

And on occasion their poverty.

Her mother listened to the passionate discussion

And attacks…holding her hands in her lap

Hiding all emotion behind a stoic look

Of eternity…

The conversation about THOSE PEOPLE got louder

And some off color jokes were released

Like so much toxic gas

Her mother slipped quietly out of the room

Magically disappeared

And her absence was soon noticed

They wanted her opinion

Her stories about THOSE PEOPLE

They wanted her to verify their assumptions

Out of nowhere she re-appeared

And swept into the room

Decorated with a colorful head band

Old jewelry on her neck and arms…

A wonderful embroidered

multi-colored dress

draped her everything

All the trappings of the grandmother

Who had been buried just months ago

The memory and pain still close to the surface…

Smiles were worn by all

As they remembered their loved one

And the way she dressed

Their mother began to move slowly around the room

Adjusting her head band

As she began to do some magical steps…

Repeating the dance of times long gone

The favorite dance of the grandmother.

She began singing

Softly at first

In the language of the old country

Raising her arms like flags

Above her head

She softly began clapping

As she moved …she increased her turns

And sang louder

Than before.

By habit the hands of all began to clap

Bringing back so many sweet memories

Of a time that had escaped.

When she didn’t stop

One by one they all stood and

Joined in the dance

Like so many sun flowers

Following the sun

Clapping.. singing..smiling

Turning like so many windmills

Their voices filled the rooms

And each others hearts

And minds..

Many long minutes later

They stopped

Hugging and kissing automatically

A few wore a headdress of beads of sweat on their foreheads

And all had brilliant smiles

They sat talking much too loudly

and in two languages

Making loud jokes

And laughing at almost anything

And passed around the wine for one last toast

Suddenly as if on cue they all noticed

That their mother had gone from the room

Disappeared once again

Leaving them all to think

and think some more

About their colorful past

And their wonderful moon

And some how all was understood

With out long speeches or confrontations

But with the reality of people

Who are people

And nothing more.

Edited 5-13

Poem by Juan Valdez

DEAR FRIENDS

The news reported that Miami is the number one city of ROAD RAGE and for bad road manners. I have seen that folks drive faster, seldom use their turn signals and are often very aggressive this causing more accidents than needed. Driving is a privilege and no one should put another in danger because of our bad habits or pseudo urgency.  If you want to be angry about some thing be angry about the poor that you are passing by on you way to your supposedly important appointment.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

 

1. Iraq protest
2. Leno’s taxi
3. Palestinians forgotten
4. Dash board protection

e.   immigration debate

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Iraq protest in Florida

Saturday I went to my first ANTI WAR PROTEST…it was in Aventura a town just north of Miami…there were plenty of thunder storms and Aventura had just been drenched before my arrival..When I got there I found only one protester standing on a busy corner of Biscayne Blvd.

One sign just said GET OUT OF IRAQ and the other which he continued to hold as we protested together said HONK IF YOU WANT US OUT OF IRAQ ..We waved and smiled at all the drivers…we got honks and waves from many and no one threw us the finger.

We got honks from

1. different makes of cars
2. different ethnic groups in cars
3. taxis’
4. delivery trucks
5. a fire truck responding to an emergency
6. a police car
7. an ambulance …turned on its siren in support
8. And two young guys yelled out the car window.. HONK HONK …and then shouted that their horn was broken.
9. And many just waved, or made a fist in support.

k.   one young man waved the stump of his arm which was covered by a white gauze stocking that covered the end of his right arm where his had should have been

Yet even today there are still some that continue to support the war and we must continue to educate our communities and to urge both republicans and democrats in congress to do more to get us out of this mess.

The U.S. Government is confusing me by first admitting that most of the attacks against our troops are being done by Sunni insurgents (Bathist) and Al Qaeda who are also Sunni. Then our government is pointing to Iran as the big importer of  IED’s . Iran is a Shia government so to whom are they sending their explosives…And then the next question is who is sending IED’s to the Sunni’s ….is it perhaps our big supporter Saudi Arabia which is a Sunni power house?

 

This is from a good friend of mine ..he sent this message to all his friends

 

I am  pissed! 

 

Who the hell are Bush and Blair kidding? 

 

If Iraq is too dangerous for the Prince, why are we risking the lives of our young men and women by sending them there?

 

In my book, our young men and women are just as precious and important as the Prince! 

 

I am sending this note to everyone I know and I am not sending this for the sake of argument.  I am sending it because I am really angry! 

 

Respectfully,

 

Bob McClendon

 

PS, And, for those of you for whom it might matter, I am a veteran, I proudly served my country and I do care!

Mohamed took Leno’s Taxi

I did not have a lot of free time to advertise the sale of this gem of a vehicle before I left Seattle..…so one day when I was parking my car at the garage close to my office , Mohamed a Somali immigrant suggested that I give my taxi to him …This Garage had numerous Somali parking attendants who were all familiar with my car and they would all start yelling TAXI…TAXI …TAXI  when they saw me coming to pick up my car.  They were a fun group of attendants.

I ended up giving my Taxi to Mohamed explaining that it would take some money to fix it up enough to pass state inspection.  Nonetheless he was very happy to get it and came for the paper work hours before I would begin driving to Miami.  I could see that he was touched by my humble gift and before he left he went to his glove box of this car and pulled out a book which was his personal copy of The Quran. As he handed it too me he told me that there would lessons in this book that would help me to live a good life and be a good man..

THE PALESTINIANS ARE FORGOTTEN

With all the hot spots around the world we tend to forget the plight of the Palestinians. The middle east will never be safe and stable until we find a way and have the resolve to protect the human rights of Palestinians and secure a future for their children .

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DASH BOARD PROTECTION

Prior to leaving for my road trip to Miami I searched for an ICON for my van’s dashboard ..perhaps a plastic saint , a bobbing head of some one I loved or admired…failing at the last minute I asked Michele and Jack Storms for a picture of them and I got one with me in the middle

This photo was my magical guide and protector on my trip and it also reminded me of them and all the people that I love and appreciate in the Northwest.  When we were in down town traffic in Houston Texas a burst of wind pushed the photo out of the van and onto a busy street.. I leaped out of the car to rescue the photo and almost got hit by a beer truck…

 

IMMIGRATION DEBATE HOTTER THAN EVER

Today most sides are unhappy with the senate version.  The immigrant rights community is organizing protests, letter writing and in Seattle a number of groups are organizing a fast in front of the federal building.

As of today five cities have taken on a leadership role in the Sanctuary Movement and others are considering participation in the near future.  Miami is on of those cities which are considering this important action.

Change

Change is good in our lives and we should welcome this change and use it to help us grow. Change also gives you a chance to do even more and perhaps something new.   Open your arms and hearts to the winds of change.

My best

leno