IMPORTANT NOTE: Monthly Meetings are at the BCC

Hey y’all,

I decided to scrap my 4th of July email and check in with you today. Since the news broke that the House of Representatives passed The Big Ugly Bill my group texts have resembled nothing so much as the swamps of sadness and it’s gut-wrenching. Some are raging, many are frantic to know what this will mean for their benefits, jobs, loans; the activists are committed to screaming into the void or crawling under the covers to rewatch our favorite media today so we can fight again tomorrow. All are grieving.

For those who are disgusted that people calling themselves Christians would pray for something so grotesque, something so devoted to harm, I have offered The Beatitudes. Which amuses those who know I am an atheist, but I wasn’t always, and – apparently unlike the Republicans in Congress – I have read the book. Matthew 5:4-7 is my favorite section of The Sermon on the Mount:

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” 

May we always be merciful.

We’re supposed to celebrate the independence of our nation on Friday and I encourage you to do so in whatever way suits you best. Because we are the patriots who remember the point was NO KINGS. And we are the patriots who know a people is only as strong as its weakest member, so we are the patriots who know that when we win and claw back every harm that has been delivered to us today and every day prior? Even the jerk down the street in his red hat is going to be guaranteed a roof over his head and food in his belly and medical care when he needs it. Hopefully then we will also be the patriots who remember the importance of recognizing and repairing the wrongs inflicted by our founding fathers to the indigenous and enslaved peoples on this continent. I believe we will.

No matter how you ultimately process the breathtaking evil inflicted on the American people today – whether it’s compartmentalizing, geeky media, laughter, tears, genuine prayers, a long run, (maybe skip alcohol) – all I can do in the moment is assure you that we are none of us alone. 

We’ll be at the BCC on Thursday the 10th for our monthly meeting from 6:30-8pm. Please come join us, being together is always a goodness.

We’ve donated more than 200 pounds of food to FISH so far and I’d love to see if we can double that this month. The Broomfield Housing Stability Task Force will be sharing their work with us and asking for your input, I’ll have an update from the elections division, and we’ll make most of the time for Community Joy. We will still have food, we’re just not sure what yet. 🙂

Hang in there, friends. I’ll leave you with this quote that was *just this moment* shared with me, and then I think I’ll go listen to my audiobook version of Murderbot and finish my LEGO Milky Way that’s been on hold since November 6th. I hope to see you next Thursday. — Sasha Davis, Chair

From an interview Shirin Shirin did with activist Dennis Brutus before his death:

Shirin: You’ve lived through World War II, through the Cold War, you’ve been part of the struggle against apartheid, you’ve seen that regime come and go, you’ve seen many American presidents come and go, and yet throughout all these years — you’re now in your 80s — you’ve managed to keep a sense of optimism. What gives you hope?

Brutus: Well, it certainly helps to be able to have a sense of humor, so you survive various catastrophes with a laugh or two. Secondly, I think we’re always winning small victories. They’re happening all the time. Here in Durban, we challenged the city council because they’ve cut off people’s water because they can’t pay. There are always grounds for at least a little cheerfulness and a little optimism. If you have a sense that there is this global struggle going on, where one is winning little victories in a number of places, then the real question in my mind should be how do we combine all these successes and develop them into a powerful force. But it certainly seems to me that the mere fact that one is occasionally winning a few victories, however small they might be, it is one way to keep going.”

https://fpif.org/a_fond_farewell_to_dennis_brutus/