007 Challenge

[AmericanTrash]

Early

Enmanuel early by 10 minutes arrives
ready to water the cilantro we planted together
before two hours of math across the hall.
He asks if I will miss him when he goes.
Surely I will miss him most of all.

 

[AmericanTrash]

that violence is the supreme authority
from which all rights are derived

I hope this was meant as a caution and not as acceptance. There are myriad proofs to the contrary. Ok maybe not myriad but a few anyway. I thought this was amusing.

13 Peaceful Protests and Whether They Worked
BY OLIVER NOBLE OCTOBER 20, 2011

© Julie Dermansky/Julie Dermansky/Corbis

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have been going on for over a month. From one side, we hear that the occupiers are a bunch of naive kids who need to change out of their hemp ponchos and take a shower if they want to be taken seriously. Others say the demonstrators are using the only means at their disposal to voice their frustrations and effect change.

To bring perspective to the debate, we've looked through the past 200 years of peaceful protests, from tragic to triumphant to just plain weird.

1. Cherokee Indian Resistance to Forced Relocation (1838)
Objective: Avoid having their land seized by the United States government

Method of Protest: Cherokees stood their ground, and made no preparations to move.

Results: U.S. troops destroyed the homes and property of the resisting Cherokees, forcing them to move west on a journey that would leave approximately 4,000 dead from disease and starvation.

Was the Protest a Success? No. The path the Cherokees took from their homes is still knows as the Trail of Tears.

2. Gandhi’s Salt March (1930)
Objective: Independence of Colonial India from British Authority

Method of Protest: To avoid paying the British tax on salt, Gandhi decided to get his own salt. To do this, he walked 240 miles over the course of 24 days, joined by a growing number of followers.

Results: Gandhi was jailed, but the protest drew national attention to his cause and he was eventually released.

Was the Protest a Success? Not immediately, but it is considered a watershed moment for India’s struggle for independence, which was finally obtained two decades later.

3. The White Rose Resistance (1942–1943)
Objective: Undermine the Nazi Rule of Germany

Method of Protest: Distributing leaflets that philosophically challenged the ideas of the Nazis.

Results: The six main members of the group were arrested and beheaded.

Was the Protest a Success? No

4. The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956)
Objective: Lessen racial segregation and inequality for blacks in the American South

Method of Protest: Montgomery’s black population refused to use public transportation.

Results: An Alabama district court ruled that the racial segregation was unlawful. The decision was appealed but upheld by the Supreme Court.

Was the Protest a Success? Yes. It also served as the impetus for the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

5. The Kent State Demonstrations (1970)


Caitlin Mirra / Shutterstock.com

Objective: Get President Nixon to stop the invasion of Cambodia and end the war in Vietnam

Method of Protest: Four days of protests and marches

Results: The National Guard fired 67 rounds into the demonstration, killing four and injuring nine.

Was the Protest a Success? Hard to say. While there were no immediate changes in U.S. foreign policy, it did spark many additional protests across the country, which may have had a hand in ending the war.

6. The Tree Sitters of Pureora (1978)
Objective: Stop deforestation of the Pureora forest in New Zealand

Method of Protest: Built tree houses, refused to leave them

Results: The Government agreed to permanently stop logging operations and the area became a park.

Was the Protest a Success? Yes. It has also inspired many other tree-sitting protests, with varying levels of success.

7. Tiananmen Square Protests (1989)
Objective: Political reform and free media in the authoritarian Chinese government

Method of Protest: Seven weeks of peaceful marches and demonstrations

Results: The People's Liberation Army of China opened fire on the protesters. The exact death toll of the massacre is still unknown; estimates range from 200 and 10,000.

Was the Protest a Success? No. The current Chinese government does not acknowledge the killings. All online information about the massacre is censored in China.

8. The Lust Lady Strike of San Francisco (1997)
Objective: Ability for strippers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady club to form a union

Method of Protest: Strippers went on strike protesting outside the club and asking patrons not to enter unless the women were allowed to form a union.

Results: After a lengthy legal battle, the dancers were permitted to form a union

Was the Protest a Success? Yes

9. The Singing Revolution (1986-1991)
Objective: Independence from the former Soviet Union for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Method of Protest: Protesters gathered in the streets where they sang songs of national pride, which had been outlawed by the Soviet occupiers.

Results: After four years of demonstrations, many involving song, and the deaths of 14 protesters in Lithuania, all three countries gained sovereignty.

Was the Protest a Success? Yes

10. Demonstration against Invading Iraq (2003)
Objective: Stop the United States from invading Iraq

Method of Protest: An estimated 6 to 10 million people around the world publicly protested the impending war.

Results: The invasion of Iraq happened anyway.

Was the Protest a Success? No. We still have troops in Iraq to this day.

11. The “Lactivists” at Applebee’s (2007)
Objective: Stop discrimination against public breastfeeding at Applebee’s Restaurants

Method of Protest: A “Nurse-in” was scheduled — across the country, breastfeeding mothers would nurse their infants in plain view of Applebee’s.

Results: Applebee’s put out a statement saying “This situation has provided an opportunity for us to work with our associates to ensure we’re making nursing mothers feel welcome….we will also accommodate other guests who would be more comfortable moving to another area of the restaurant.”

Was the Protest a Success? Yes

12. The Wisconsin Teachers Strike (2011)


Matt Apps / Shutterstock.com

Objective: Keep collective bargaining rights for teachers unions in Wisconsin

Method of Protest: For nearly five months, public demonstrations of as many as 100,000 protesters gathered at the Wisconsin Capitol Building.

Results: The Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, which stripped collective bargaining rights from teachers, was not repealed.

Was the Protest a Success? No, though there are still several lawsuits pending against the bill.

13. The Nuts of Jericho (2007)
Objective: Get the post-apocalyptic TV show Jericho renewed for a second season

Method of Protest: In reference to a scene in the season finale, Jericho fans sent over 20 tons of assorted nuts to the offices of the CBS executives who had canceled the show.

Results: The show was renewed for a second season.

Was the Protest a Success? Yes, though Jericho was again canceled after the second season. The third season was released as a series of comic books.

Top-Story

 

[todski28]

I hope this was meant as a caution and not as acceptance. There are myriad proofs to the contrary. Ok maybe not myriad but a few anyway. I thought this was amusing.

13 Peaceful Protests and Whether They Worked
BY OLIVER NOBLE OCTOBER 20, 2011

© Julie Dermansky/Julie Dermansky/Corbis

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have been going on for over a month. From one side, we hear that the occupiers are a bunch of naive kids who need to change out of their hemp ponchos and take a shower if they want to be taken seriously. Others say the demonstrators are using the only means at their disposal to voice their frustrations and effect change.

To bring perspective to the debate, we've looked through the past 200 years of peaceful protests, from tragic to triumphant to just plain weird.

1. Cherokee Indian Resistance to Forced Relocation (1838)
Objective: Avoid having their land seized by the United States government

Method of Protest: Cherokees stood their ground, and made no preparations to move.

Results: U.S. troops destroyed the homes and property of the resisting Cherokees, forcing them to move west on a journey that would leave approximately 4,000 dead from disease and starvation.

Was the Protest a Success? No. The path the Cherokees took from their homes is still knows as the Trail of Tears.

2. Gandhi’s Salt March (1930)
Objective: Independence of Colonial India from British Authority

Method of Protest: To avoid paying the British tax on salt, Gandhi decided to get his own salt. To do this, he walked 240 miles over the course of 24 days, joined by a growing number of followers.

Results: Gandhi was jailed, but the protest drew national attention to his cause and he was eventually released.

Was the Protest a Success? Not immediately, but it is considered a watershed moment for India’s struggle for independence, which was finally obtained two decades later.

3. The White Rose Resistance (1942–1943)
Objective: Undermine the Nazi Rule of Germany

Method of Protest: Distributing leaflets that philosophically challenged the ideas of the Nazis.

Results: The six main members of the group were arrested and beheaded.

Was the Protest a Success? No

4. The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956)
Objective: Lessen racial segregation and inequality for blacks in the American South

Method of Protest: Montgomery’s black population refused to use public transportation.

Results: An Alabama district court ruled that the racial segregation was unlawful. The decision was appealed but upheld by the Supreme Court.

Was the Protest a Success? Yes. It also served as the impetus for the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

5. The Kent State Demonstrations (1970)


Caitlin Mirra / Shutterstock.com

Objective: Get President Nixon to stop the invasion of Cambodia and end the war in Vietnam

Method of Protest: Four days of protests and marches

Results: The National Guard fired 67 rounds into the demonstration, killing four and injuring nine.

Was the Protest a Success? Hard to say. While there were no immediate changes in U.S. foreign policy, it did spark many additional protests across the country, which may have had a hand in ending the war.

6. The Tree Sitters of Pureora (1978)
Objective: Stop deforestation of the Pureora forest in New Zealand

Method of Protest: Built tree houses, refused to leave them

Results: The Government agreed to permanently stop logging operations and the area became a park.

Was the Protest a Success? Yes. It has also inspired many other tree-sitting protests, with varying levels of success.

7. Tiananmen Square Protests (1989)
Objective: Political reform and free media in the authoritarian Chinese government

Method of Protest: Seven weeks of peaceful marches and demonstrations

Results: The People's Liberation Army of China opened fire on the protesters. The exact death toll of the massacre is still unknown; estimates range from 200 and 10,000.

Was the Protest a Success? No. The current Chinese government does not acknowledge the killings. All online information about the massacre is censored in China.

8. The Lust Lady Strike of San Francisco (1997)
Objective: Ability for strippers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady club to form a union

Method of Protest: Strippers went on strike protesting outside the club and asking patrons not to enter unless the women were allowed to form a union.

Results: After a lengthy legal battle, the dancers were permitted to form a union

Was the Protest a Success? Yes

9. The Singing Revolution (1986-1991)
Objective: Independence from the former Soviet Union for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Method of Protest: Protesters gathered in the streets where they sang songs of national pride, which had been outlawed by the Soviet occupiers.

Results: After four years of demonstrations, many involving song, and the deaths of 14 protesters in Lithuania, all three countries gained sovereignty.

Was the Protest a Success? Yes

10. Demonstration against Invading Iraq (2003)
Objective: Stop the United States from invading Iraq

Method of Protest: An estimated 6 to 10 million people around the world publicly protested the impending war.

Results: The invasion of Iraq happened anyway.

Was the Protest a Success? No. We still have troops in Iraq to this day.

11. The “Lactivists” at Applebee’s (2007)
Objective: Stop discrimination against public breastfeeding at Applebee’s Restaurants

Method of Protest: A “Nurse-in” was scheduled — across the country, breastfeeding mothers would nurse their infants in plain view of Applebee’s.

Results: Applebee’s put out a statement saying “This situation has provided an opportunity for us to work with our associates to ensure we’re making nursing mothers feel welcome….we will also accommodate other guests who would be more comfortable moving to another area of the restaurant.”

Was the Protest a Success? Yes

12. The Wisconsin Teachers Strike (2011)


Matt Apps / Shutterstock.com

Objective: Keep collective bargaining rights for teachers unions in Wisconsin

Method of Protest: For nearly five months, public demonstrations of as many as 100,000 protesters gathered at the Wisconsin Capitol Building.

Results: The Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, which stripped collective bargaining rights from teachers, was not repealed.

Was the Protest a Success? No, though there are still several lawsuits pending against the bill.

13. The Nuts of Jericho (2007)
Objective: Get the post-apocalyptic TV show Jericho renewed for a second season

Method of Protest: In reference to a scene in the season finale, Jericho fans sent over 20 tons of assorted nuts to the offices of the CBS executives who had canceled the show.

Results: The show was renewed for a second season.

Was the Protest a Success? Yes, though Jericho was again canceled after the second season. The third season was released as a series of comic books.

Top-Story

From my perspective they’re exceptions that prove the rule, if those that had peacefully protested had the physical capacity to enforce their views would they still have remained peaceful?

The problem is violence and force are the necessary components to peace and prosperity, without the violence of our state we as citizens empower with violence to protect us would we still have the same abilities to peacefully organise?

The state itself is the ultimate form of empowered violence we have. It may be accountable for somethings however it is still allowed to and encouraged to use violence when necessary, without the ability to exert force the state I.e the military and police force are nothing more than paper tigers

 

[JCSTREET]

Enmanuel early by 10 minutes arrives
ready to water the cilantro we planted together
before two hours of math across the hall.
He asks if I will miss him when he goes.
Surely I will miss him most of all.

Why aren't you on billboards all over America - on every TV special raising money for violets and amber

 

[AmericanTrash]

How I Adore You

patient yet busy
sober yet mischievous
hard yet silky

this is not a poem just a thank you

 

[AmericanTrash]

From my perspective they’re exceptions that prove the rule, if those that had peacefully protested had the physical capacity to enforce their views would they still have remained peaceful?

The problem is violence and force are the necessary components to peace and prosperity, without the violence of our state we as citizens empower with violence to protect us would we still have the same abilities to peacefully organise?

The state itself is the ultimate form of empowered violence we have. It may be accountable for somethings however it is still allowed to and encouraged to use violence when necessary, without the ability to exert force the state I.e the military and police force are nothing more than paper tigers

I do not have a tank. There is, I believe, power in teaching thousands to read and question.

 

[AmericanTrash]

Saw it on YouTube

Eyes shrugged at how
how to deliver the last
third of a year to our 700

across boroughs and blocks
languages and shelter beds

but never fear.

YouTube knows everything.

How to make draggable images
inset with text boxes across
saved backgrounds so the apples

grow from just counting numbers to
sorting past from the other tenses

yesterday's edges curled with fear
but now

grows current

 

[todski28]

I do not have a tank. There is, I believe, power in teaching thousands to read and question.

Teaching how to think Is better than telling them what to think, but you are definitely right on this front.

The possibilities of a violence-less world to me are simply pipe dreams it’s not how humans are wired sad to say but it’s what I’ve seen and experienced and it’s how our history has payed out one bloody battle and conquest after another

 

[AmericanTrash]

Teaching how to think Is better than telling them what to think, but you are definitely right on this front.

The possibilities of a violence-less world to me are simply pipe dreams it’s not how humans are wired sad to say but it’s what I’ve seen and experienced and it’s how our history has payed out one bloody battle and conquest after another

I wasn't born with wings, yet I (well not now with the pandemic, but usually) can board a plane. Many people have asserted that higher learning was against the "nature" of women--insisting that our ovaries would raisin. Yet I have a son and three degrees. We are agreed that the how of thinking is key.

 

[AmericanTrash]

Packaging

the myth goes that god blew hot
glass from his pipe and twisted
then pinched, her thumbs

impervious to molt

ok it isn't the myth it is one myth
which I am mything so yeah where was I?

pinched her/his thumbs together to cut
umbilically us from divine breath
then cast each bauble aside

some to smash and others to bounce
because the pinch was another word for done.

All along smashing was a possibility
beyond our control. We skate, squint, hope
for the bounce and when it comes

surely it was one's own effort, wasn't it?
Effort alone bought the bounce--perhaps
striving to know the will of those brief prints

thumbed before the throw. If I were only made
hotter, faster, thicker, brighter then surely

surely then I make the maker make me
self made survivor.

 

[AmericanTrash]

Pet Sounds

Consuela tells me her broker called
expecting some kind of bail but no.

Consuela said risk! Long odds. That
sounded to me like smart money.

Smart in the scrap metal sense: give me
your tired, your poor, your hungry

after the bonds cash.

 

[AmericanTrash]

Why aren't you on billboards all over America - on every TV special raising money for violets and amber

Shush and write a poem. I haven't seen one of your poems in too long. Gimme.

 

[todski28]

I wasn't born with wings, yet I (well not now with the pandemic, but usually) can board a plane. Many people have asserted that higher learning was against the "nature" of women--insisting that our ovaries would raisin. Yet I have a son and three degrees. We are agreed that the how of thinking is key.

I wonder though is one son enough for demographic continuity, in terms of female empowerment there is a direct correlation between female rights/education and a decline in birth-rates, which kinda proves their point lol. now I'm not advocating for these ideas I just find it amusing because both sides of the argument have valid points, i.e. you would have in the past probably had 4 children and no degree (please note this is a devils advocacy position not an "ought to be" position)

 

[JCSTREET]

patient yet busy
sober yet mischievous
hard yet silky

this is not a poem just a thank you

hard yet silky

like a boy in silk knickers

 

[JCSTREET]

Shush and write a poem. I haven't seen one of your poems in too long. Gimme.

sent you one

getting a bit loath (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE VERB 'to loathe' which most people confuse it with)

to post poetry here because it counts as publication and debars one from requests for unpublished poetry by journals divers

 

[lubricant]

Lack

I last left you feeding pigeons
in McCarren Park
some years ago,

the note I'd written in blue-black ink
held down with a bag of peanuts
on the bench next to where
you usually sat.

So I never heard anything back.

So,

how does a muse know
She is a muse?
And what, anyway, is a muse?

Is she simply a woman I thought
looked good in a suit, reading
Sontag or Vendler in a paperback edition with a creased
spine, taking notes while she eats

the kale salad with apple, pecans, and fresh cheese
taken out from Sunday in Brooklyn?
Is she simply a woman

I thought attractive?
Or is she also a woman who writes poems
I sometimes find infuriating,
I sometimes find
overwrought, I sometimes find

well, true. Or

 

[lubricant]

Theory of Conversation

I would paste my fingerprints
like playbills

onto light poles and stop signs,

if I could get you to kiss my fingertips
or remember how I loved you
in junior high

or maybe later, when you were older,
and you told me I was obsessing about your hair.

Now it is so much later even than that
but I still think of you as a stamp
I might affix to an envelope,
self-addressed,

but one always misrouted to someplace in Nebraska,
to a farm I can only wish I lived on.

 

[lubricant]

Social Distancing

the problem is not
that I can talk to you from
six feet away

or that I want to talk to you, even
from six feet away

the problem
is that I can't touch you
from six feet away

that I can't touch you
is the problem

 

[AmericanTrash]

When the bee stings

The pile of boxes is bigger every day.
Amazon boxes. Water boxes. Chewy boxes.
Pizza boxes. Lots of pizza boxes. After all
the upper floors are all students.

So I read to my students
over the internet
"Not a Box"
blowing what little juju I have
into the notion

we can pretend to be pirates or robots or
firefighters together

even if what we say and see are further
separations from each other.

 

[AmericanTrash]

I would paste my fingerprints
.

A subtle ache. Lovely.

 

[AmericanTrash]

survival

sirens stopped being mythical
after a few weeks of eeeooo eeeoo eeeooo
along Frederick Douglas Boulevard.

None of my names none of my new names
will be mythical because eeeeoooo eeeeoo eeeooo
they peel away like all other containers

plastic and steel
melted here before

masks were commonplace
as dogshit.

Even if everything melts, no deed will catch.
Even if everything melts no debt will ash.
Nothing owned and nothing owed.

If this is the end of the world, I submit
my honor before you confidently.

 

[AmericanTrash]

The Quiet Ambulance

Sirens

used to mean sexy danger
then a week of constant sirens
pushing through traffic

stole the sexy
kept the danger.

For a week we had firecrackers
set off on Frederick Douglas Boulevard
every night.

This is the first quiet Saturday
in New York City. Even during
blizzards I could hear people skii.

Ambulances still drive and deliver
but tonight there are no sirens

and no traffic.

 

[AmericanTrash]

it's magic

Consuela sends me Alfie Kohn,
Julia Serano, and I am the grandmother
eaten by a wolf as she carried the basket.

Every morning I wake up to teeth
and lupine breath. One can actually get
used to sleeping on tongue.

Meh I figure. Could be worse until
she knocks on the door
red cape rustling

she should have stayed home of course
now I say she should have stayed
home because the wolf almost

almost has my voice. Girl I beg
Girl I kick within the small range of wolf
belly, Girl do not believe the shrouded beast

planning to feast on your bones and basket after.
Of course you are brave. Of course you
dutifully came. Alone. But only the wolf hungers.

 

[AmericanTrash]

Black Light Dance

Young Robert Wilson
art therapist was given or maybe chose
accounts are not clear on the matter

clients in iron lungs (basically coffin
style ventilators) to therapize. He studied
what parts of their bodies still moved

then he brought string, florescent paint and a black light.

Tenderly the string was wound
round toes or twitch finger. The hospital lights allowed
due rest and the black light purpled

This is the part where I wish I knew what music he played
but surely there was music as people remembered to be people
because Robert Wilson saw dancers

in iron lungs dancers. In black light the connections
neon parlays bowed and shimmied
human beings who remembered

they were human beings all because
Robert Wilson saw them as human
beings. As dancers.

 

[AmericanTrash]

sent you one

getting a bit loath (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE VERB 'to loathe' which most people confuse it with)

to post poetry here because it counts as publication and debars one from requests for unpublished poetry by journals divers

Thank you. It was wonderful.