Janie Rezner: The Journey Of The Soul Into The Mother

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Jan 012009
 

Word of vision from Janie “Oquawka” Rezner as we begin the New Year:

We can see how the patriarchy has taken this most precious and natural sexual connection between women and men–and perverted it into a horror on earth.   Where fathers and uncles molest and rape their own children and wives, where millions of children and women all over the world are turned into sexual slaves to be tortured,where illegal immigrant women being held in jail are raped;  the list is endless.   It happens anywhere that depraved and enraged men can rape and torture and get away with it. The possibility of rape is  feared by all women everywhere.

Although we here are among the privileged,  we are surrounded by  a violent, war-ravaged, fear driven world.  Many of  us have suffered child-abuse and sexual abuse in one form or another.  And still we  keep on going with our life’s tasks, not the least of which is to truly awaken to our enslavement by the patriarchal culture and to say, ‘no more!’.

Our birthright as creatures on earth is to live in peace, in harmony with the earth and with each other.  Our birthright is to live with open hearts and spirits,  living into our fullest potential, which is ever expanding. Our birthright is to have our ‘work’ be our own unique creative contribution – - – to the whole.

We are living at the edge of time . . .. .  .in a time like no other.  We are being guided and introduced into the greatest reality of all –that of the divine.  This is the  Journey of the Soul into the Mother  . .

One must come into a state of knowing one’s self in order for the curtain to pull  back; that   means  going deep and finding peace with and loving the inner parts of ourselves. There is no free lunch, however.  The journey for that “knowing” crosses  through the “sea of hurts and fears” that have been tucked away into the recesses of the heart. There is no way to go around it, it must be crossed.   Once one enters the seas of hurts and fears, perhaps with the help of a trusted companion, and begins to  uncover and  honor  and grieve the injustices, the shame and guilt and  the losses, amazingly the pain loses it’s grip.  The wound  becomes  soothed by a mothering hand. A healing can take place  . . a healing that opens the door to many things.  Once we have opened to our own pain, we can then  be fully present to another’s pain.

We can  begin to trust the wisdom of the Universe. We can gaze into the velvety  night sky and be touched by the beauty of the stars and planets above.  We  begin to see the amazing journey we are on and can find the courage and moral conviction to take a stand against the injustices of the world and say, “no more!”  We  begin to trust the wisdom of the Grandmother,  and our own wisdom, and can open to  what  Great Spirit has to teach us.  . . as She ushers us into this new age of Love in the Heart.

–Janie “Oquawka” Rezner
These words of vision are excerpted from Rezner’s eloquent rebuttal to the Dalai Lama’s assertion that sex spells trouble.  With her kind permission, I have posted the complete essay here.
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 Posted by Fempeace on January 1, 2009

From The Darkness: Contemplation On The Cusp Of The New Year

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Dec 312008
 

In recent years, the darkness of the Winter Solstice season has become a time that allows me the opportunity of deep reflection. Last night I lay in bed under the warmth of my Grandmother’s comforter while the winds howled outside my window thinking about the horrible irony that just a few days after the celebration of Bethlehem’s most famous birth, with the seasonal tidings of “Peace on Earth, goodwill towards man” (sic) still ringing in our ears, the Israeli government began its latest war against the Palestinian people.

And here in this country, an ecologic disaster of epic proportions is unfolding in the state of Tennessee after 2.2 million pounds (the latest number) of toxic sludge from a coal-fired plant spilled from a holding pond, covering some 300 acres of land. According to the New York Times,

(I)n just one year, the plant’s byproducts included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among other health problems.

And the holding pond, at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a T.V.A. plant 40 miles west of Knoxville, contained many decades’ worth of these deposits.

As the footage above says in a way that words cannot, the myth of clean coal is a lie, a terrible toxic lie. Just as the notion that you can win peace by waging war is a deadly lie that also endangers us all. What really can one say, except that we cannot go on like this. Each time we kill, each time we desecrate the earth, the peril grows as we draw ever closer to the precipice.

It may well be that we have gone beyond the point where the damage done is fixable or even manageable in some livable way. But if we are to find a path towards sustainable survival, what we must understand is this–the killing in Gaza and the poisoning of the earth in Tennessee are not separate, unrelated events. They are both part of the toxic belief system that claims that empowerment comes from exerting power over land and people. If we are to truly be empowered, we would do well to head these words of Starhawk,

“Justice is not a question of one side defeating the other, but of finding the dynamic balance between them that generates the energies that sustain the world.”*

May this be our resolution for the New Year.

*These excellent words come from a statement by Starhawk that is included in the 2007 We-Moon calendar.

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 Posted by Fempeace on December 31, 2008

Financial Crisis Declaration From The World March Of Women

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Nov 122008
 

From the World March Of Women:

Another World Is Necessary And Possible

“In a context of patriarchy and neo-liberal economics, the banking and finance system is in collapse. Attempts at recovery to improve its functioning only worsen the situation. The stock markets of the world are in free-fall; the crisis is growing and cannot be hidden. The consequence of the non-redistribution of wealth is massive impoverishment of populations, and of women in particular. This system favours the development of war as a tool to acquire the resources of the South and to develop the arms industry. In the midst of these military conflicts, women suffer unacceptable and inhuman violence.

The colossal gains of the speculators and stockholders have been privatised while the enormous losses of the system have been nationalised, i.e. paid for by all us, men and women, through our States.

We, women of the world, are the first to be affected by run-away unemployment, by the loss of food autonomy, by the commercialisation of common goods. This financial crisis is closely linked to all the other crises: climate change, and the food, energy, and work crises.

The countries of the South are pillaged for their riches; their food habits modified to benefit the agro-food transnational corporations. They have been suffocated by the weight of debt and by the lack of transparency in the use of loans from international organisations.

In the face of the bankruptcy of the only model of globalised economic organisation, we activists of the World March of Women, gathered in Vigo, Galícia, from 14th – 21st October 2008, re-affirm our anti-liberal position and demand the transformation of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Central Bank and the World Trade Organisation, as well as the Development Banks. We vigorously denounce all free trade agreements, especially the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) – such as the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) – and the General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS). We demand the end to fiscal paradises that hide drug money and corruption; we demand control of all movement of capital.

It is clear that we need another economic system; we need to develop the creation of economic solidarity structures, autonomous production cooperatives, as well as a Bank of the South to support development that is ecological, egalitarian, and sustainable.

We want transparency regarding the use and administration of public funds.  We want the resources of the people to be allocated to meet their essential needs first and foremost.

Our States are responsible; they owe us accounts.  It is their duty and obligation to regulate the economic system and protect citizens from financial sharks. The costs of the crisis should be assumed by the stockholders and by those who have grown rich from the speculation.

Other rules for the distribution and use of money should be defined in a democratic and participatory manner, together with the populations, social movements, and feminist organisations. The definition of budgets should take into account the preservation of common goods and the development of public services.  All of us, all men and women of the world, have the right to a healthy diet, decent housing, health care, education, a decent job, transportation, and culture.

Together we can build a world where our values of justice, peace, equality, solidarity, and freedom are given priority.”

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 Posted by Fempeace on November 12, 2008

Post Election Dissections

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Nov 072008
 

We just heart Buzzflash for their efforts before the election to visibilize the many qualified and capable women who should be considered for cabinet posts in the Obama administration.

“In all the discussions of what an Obama cabinet might look like, we feel something is missing. In a letter: “X.” That’s right; we feel the speculation has been a little heavy on the Y chromosome.”

“We’re not saying Obama should exclusively choose women for his cabinet. But, in this day of supposed gender equality, could we expect an enlightened man such as Obama to at least consider one woman for each position in his cabinet search? We think the possibility is more reality than dream.”

They even provide a handy list of all the cabinet positions and via Riane Eisler, here is where you can send your list directly to the Obama transition team!  And yes this is important–a list of possible 44 contenders for various cabinet positions reported by the AP today includes only 9 women!
Also kudos to Naomi Klein for pointing out that,

“The first order of business – and one that cannot wait until inauguration – must be halting the robbery-in-progress known as the “economic bailout.”

“Stopping the bailout profiteers is about more than money. It is about democracy. Specifically, it is about whether Americans will be able to afford the change they have just voted for so conclusively.”

Sadly, instead of considering someone like Klein for the position of Secretary of the Treasury, the name of Larry Summers is apparently on the short list of possible contenders.  Given Summers horrendous comments about women during his tenure at Harvard, we are just flummoxed as to why NOW’s Kim Gandy would be so timid in voicing her concerns about him:

“On Wednesday morning, National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy contacted the Huffington Post to describe her “mixed feelings” at the prospect of Larry Summers being on a rumored short list of contenders for Treasury secretary. Cautioning that the quickness of the group’s decision to drop a hint about its concern over Summers was not a formal declaration of “opposition,” Gandy nevertheless fleshed out a broad critique.

“It’s very important that whoever is in key positions understands the importance of women to this economy — and that the impact of wage inequality for women has bearing on the overall economic inequality in our society,” she said. “I don’t see [this] on the agendas of most of the candidates being suggested. While Larry Summers has talked about income inequality, he doesn’t seem to get it that a lot of that is related to the wage gap between men and women.”"

Mixed feelings??  What exactly would it take for NOW to voice a formal declaration of opposition?  More about the Larry Summers and the role of women in the Obama administration here.
Via e-mail, The World Can’t Wait’s Debra Sweet  reminds us not to get too attached to our electoral rose-colored glasses:

“What is there to celebrate in an Obama presidency? Making us feel good about the country again when Obama is trying to unite us to behind what he calls “the good war” in Afghanistan?  While people in the US were lining up to vote, a US air strike on an Afghan wedding party killed 34 civilians.  Another strike killed 7 more yesterday.

Obama, the “anti-war” candidate, wants to leave 50 to 80,000 troops in Iraq, and move more combat brigades to Afghanistan.  He promises to increase the US military by 92,000, ready to project American empire further on the lives of kids in high school now. Obama proposed sending drones and special forces into Pakistan – a sovereign country – and the Bush regime secretly began attacks on Pakistan in July, which have killed scores of civilians, as part of the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war.

How could we celebrate “national unity” when Obama’s vote for the FISA law opens the way for unprecedented political repression and spying on the people?  People expected Obama, who taught Constitutional law, to protect their rights, but Obama went out of his way to make an unpopular vote to bolster the “war on terror” and set the basis for expanded political repression.  He voted for an amended USA PATRIOT Act that had more draconian curbs on political protest than the 2001 version.

How can we feel Obama is “for the people” when he put all his backing behind the bailout of Wall Street banks, but tells the people only to have faith in their leaders? When he supports the notoriously racist death penalty, and blames Black people themselves for the huge prison population?  When he finds “common ground” with the most rabid Christian fundamentalist plans to do away with abortion and gay marriage?  The ban on gay marriage passed in California, benefiting from Obama’s expressed opposition to gay marriage.

In the face of huge crimes perpetrated by the Bush regime,.Obama said, “I think you reserve impeachment for grave, grave breaches, and intentional breaches of the president’s authority.”

Finally, many thanks to the Center For New Words for putting together a series of town hall meetings that gave women throughout the country a chance to really say what they want.  The program culminated in a post-election panel discussion that was set up in a way that allowed women from around the country to participate via the internet.  Check out the website for many excellent speakouts from women everywhere!

Postcript–Just after I posted this, I came across “Sayanora Sarah”, Katha Pollitt’s rocking feminist critique of Sarah Palin’s candidacy,

“And so we bid farewell to Sarah Palin. How I’ll miss her daily presence in my life! The mooseburgers, the wolf hunts, the kids named after bays and sports and trees and airplanes and who did not seem to go to school at all, the winks and blinks, the cute Alaska accent, the witch-hunting pastor and those great little flared jackets, especially the gray stripey one…You can snipe all you want, but she was truly God’s gift: to Barack Obama, Katie Couric–notice no one’s making fun of America’s sweetheart now–Tina Fey and columnists all over America.

She was also a gift to feminism.”

Read why here.

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 Posted by Fempeace on November 7, 2008

Larry Summers—A Bad Signal To Women

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Nov 072008
 

As a friend of mine bemoaned yesterday, oh why couldn’t the honeymoon have lasted longer? But with the likes of Larry Summers being considered for Secretary of the Treasury, it is quite clear that we need to move immediately towards creating a framework where respect for women’s lives is part of the “Change” that is coming to Washington.  Summers, former President of Harvard University, was shown the door after opining that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers.  This was hardly Summers only outrageously arrogant white male spew, he is also famously known for suggesting that “under-polluted” developing countries in Africa need more toxic waste.

That Summers is even vaguely being considered for the top Treasury post indicates that the incoming Obama administration has a very status quo top down business first lack of understanding of the current financial disaster and that does not bode well for the likelihood of the necessary change that will be needed to heal the economic health of this nation.  Change that will require understanding that the needs of those at the bottom, who all too often are women and  children and people of color, must be met and that that cannot be done by pouring money into the exploitive infrastructure of Wall Street.

And while the historic candidacies not only of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin but also the two-woman Green Party ticket of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente are hugely significant, we need to not lose track of the fact that during the campaign, the human rights of women were, as is so often the case, reduced for the most part to the false linguistics of the abortion debate and the simplistic assumption that merely having women candidates regardless of their stand on issues of most concern to women was a  victory, rather than in the case of the Republican Party, the crass pandering for women’s votes that it was.

And now while we bask in the victory of the election, women are left  with little assurance that they will have an equitable place at the table let alone that their concerns will be a fully embodied part of the “Change” we purport to wish to be.

In the weeks leading up to the election, the Center For New Words held a series of townhalls asking women what they want.  In a culminating event the night after the election, women were asked to name the issues they would like to see addressed by the new administration.  In order to address that question, however, we first need to insure that it  is a priority that the voices and needs of women are an integral part of the  new administration’s agenda, something that would be far from assured with nominations such as Summers.

Secondly, we cannot consider issues such as childcare, maternity leave, reproductive rights or healthcare as separate matters, they need to be considered as interconnected parts of a comprehensive human rights agenda.  The first most critical action that must be taken in that regard is to rescind the Global Gag Rule that will allow the aid that is necessary to literally save the lives of millions of women.  We also need to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and sign off on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.  The United States is one of the few nations in the world that has agreed to abide by these critical protocols that provide the necessary framework for assuring the human rights of women.  Continued strengthening of the Violence Against Women Act VAWA)and passage of I-VAWA, an international version of the bill is also urgently needed.  Vice President Elect Joe Biden has been a long time supporter of both VAWA and CEDAW and one would hope that in his new position he would be an even stronger champion of these issues  as part of the of the agenda for change.

Finally, in the last few days, efforts have begun to make lists of women who should be a part of the new administration.  That it is necessary to make these lists is a testament to the fact that we’ve not come quite that far baby.  But necessary it is and there are way too many very capable, qualified women to mention here, but when confronted by the misogyny of the notion that Larry Summers would be an appropriate choice for Secretary of the Treasury, it feels appropriate to offer the name of Naomi Klein, author of the Shock Doctrine who is one of the few people that  seems to understand the dynamics of our economic crisis.  While she is a Canadian citizen, there does not appear to be a Constitutional requirement that Cabinet members be U.S. citizens and she would be an excellent choice if the Obama administration is truly interested in transformational change.

Update:  If you want to let President-elect Obama know that Larry Summers is an unacceptable choice for Treasury Secretary, you can sign a petition here that will be delivered to his transition team.
–Lucinda Marshall

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 Posted by Fempeace on November 7, 2008
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