Prayer for my friends in Oakland

A man sits cross-legged in front of a line of police forces in downtown Oakland this Tuesday. Photo by Kim White for Reuters.

It has never been beyond the forces of the government to declare war against its own people.

To my friends in the City of Oakland, take heart even in light of the apparently brutal events of these nights. For if a city needs to bring out an army to put down non-violent protest then it seems that peaceful community is indeed a  threat to certain well-invested interests. The community that is building now resonates with so many of us in this forsaken country.

Even if I do not stand against smoke screens and rubber bullets, I stand in solidarity with you. I am occupying my space. In rural America. In the suburbs. In the altars of my own home. I occupy.

What is happening in Oakland is happening in Atlanta. It is happening in San Jose. It is Chiapas. It is Palestine. The reality is that the vested fear the strength of peace. There was nothing you did but say you shall not be moved. The city and its armed forces chose the point and time of violence.

So let any act against you by five hundred police forces or more, any grenade, any bullet, be met with the wideness of your compassion.

Let all their spears and arrows obliterate into flower petals at your touch.

Wherefore the urban farm? — Land-based organizing in urban America

Mark Medeiros, Farm Manager at Veggielution Farm, tells volunteers to take home whatever they need from the remaining harvest of the workday.

Agriculture is the backbone of a people. A people’s ability to do work and live as a healthy society rests upon its ability to feed itself sustainably. Agriculture is also the most widespread direct interface a people will make with the land. The way people grow food reveals their ability to care for the environment.

In the United States, the American people’s relationship to agriculture has changed dramatically over history. The family farm was the means by which the majority of Americans made their livelihood sixty years ago. Today only 2.2% of Americans make a living by farming. Most of us have never seen a farm let alone know where the food we pick off the grocery shelf was made and how it was brought to us.

Yet it is in this same moment that people all over the country are coming back to agriculture. Most particularly in urban areas, where we have grown disenfranchised from a healthy relationship with our environment, we are returning to the land as a place of community.

Occupy Everywhere — What a growing movement means to Everytown, USA

The occupation of San Jose, California, in front of San Jose City Hall.

Yesterday Occupy SF held a mass mobilization, bringing marchers through the financial district of San Francisco and blockading the Wells Fargo headquarters building for several hours. A few friends of mine were there, but I couldn’t be. I have been keeping up with the occupation movement anxiously, so I decided I had to check out San Jose city hall, the site of Occupy San Jose.

How to make history — Bring people together one bite at a time.

My sampling from our celebratory spread -- the fruits of Filipinos in food and farm, a plate of history in a way.

The great movements of history are not made in giant leaps, they are made by the steady coalescence of many small acts over time.

A lot of movement history is being made right now. The occupation movement is sweeping the nation, for which I will reserve my comments in another post. October is also Filipino American history month. I’ve written a little bit about the history of Filipinos in farm work before, but there is also a lot of history being made right now. This weekend I saw that, when I met some of the movers and shakers of Filipinos-and-food of the bay area.

The haphazard education of a new farmer — Everything is an experiment.

After months of reading and preparation, I finally mapped out a design for my front yard garden. I haven't even begun to make the kinds of mistakes I look forward to.

It started with a desire to grow things. I bought the tools. I took out the books. I even started volunteering on a farm. I am ripping out the weeds and succulents that have been staunch rooks of our yard for more than a decade.

I’ve done everything I can to not feel like I don’t know a lick about farming and gardening. But really what good are books and designs when your job is to coax little things to burst into life. The only way to really learn is to do it, put your hand to seed and grow.