The Content of His Character

I have had a lump in my throat since last night, waiting for this moment. Like so many Americans I weep with joy and marvel at this moment.

And I'm struck by the thought that despite all the efforts of the Republican party to demonize Barack Obama, in the end Americans saw through the rhetoric and judged him on the content of his character. Just as Dr. King had hoped.

Spare me Michael Moore

I can't decide whether to be flattered or horrified that Michael Moore turned up in my "People You May Know" recommendations from Facebook this week. He's many degrees too rabid (to say nothing of factually unreliable) for my measured, though liberal, political approach. I hate Gotcha Journalism.

Bob Herbert - She’s Not Ready - Op-Ed - NYTimes

Op-Ed Columnist - She’s Not Ready - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

Editorial - Gov. Palin’s Worldview - Editorial - NYTimes.com

Editorial - Gov. Palin’s Worldview - Editorial - NYTimes.com

Op Ed by Sarah Palin

Bearing Up - New York Times:
What is justified is worldwide concern over the proven effects of climate change.

Gail Collins/NYTimes: McCain’s Baked Alaska

Op-Ed Columnist - McCain’s Baked Alaska - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com:
This year, Hillary Clinton took things to a whole new level. She didn’t run for president as a symbol but as the best-prepared candidate in the Democratic pack. Whether you liked her or not, she convinced the nation that women could be qualified to both run the country and be commander in chief. That was an enormous breakthrough, and Palin’s nomination feels, in comparison, like a step back."

Stranger in a Stadium

The dissonance that Barack Obama felt growing up is now shared by many voters, writes Timothy Egan in this New York Times blog.
Stranger in a Stadium - Timothy Egan - Op-Extra Columnist - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Can you say SUPREME COURT?

The Hillary supporters who simply won't let go are called the PUMAs (*Party *Unity *My *Ass). I suspect that most of these hangers on are from the group that Tim Russert identified as the "50-50s" - over fifty years old and earning less than 50-thousand dollars per year. These women are sick of being taken advantage of and sick of being ignored. It would be a tragedy if they supported John McCain and inadvertently supported the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

How did Nancy Pelosi get this far and not learn how to read TelePrompter?!

Anticipating Ted Kennedy

If he is breathing, he will speak. And there won't be a dry eye on the couch.

New York Times Profiles Biden

A Democratic Leader on Foreign Policy, in Iraq and the Balkans - NYTimes.com

Biden's Scranton Roots

My father's extended family (the Nealons and the O'Connors) all lived in Scranton, Pennsylvania and we reluctantly endured the 90-minute pilgrimage to Scranton several weekends every month when I was a kid. I was always vaguely embarrassed by the rough, gnarled hands and working class accents of my O'Connor uncles. They pronounced "Throop Street" as if it were spelled "Troop Street" and worse yet, pronounced "Beethoven Avenue" as....well, you guessed it. Bay-THO-ven. As a young man my father quarterbacked a semi-professional football team named after the neighborhood where he grew up - Bone Hill.

As far as I could tell back in those days, everyone in Scranton was a Catholic. We had our own personal priest, who we called "Uncle Leo the Priest" to distinguish him from the other three Leo O'Connors in the family, and we also had my father's best friend, Father Wheeler. Bill Wheeler grew up with my Dad in Scranton, and he was a rogue who decided to became a priest after promising himself to God if he lived through the assault at the Battle of the Bulge. By the time I knew him, he was a parish priest in rural Little Meadows, Pennsylvania. Fr. Wheeler was very handsome, his humor was sharp and ironic, and he was a most glamorous smoker who entertained us by blowing perfectly formed smoke rings that drifted up to the ceiling in an expanding, concentric parade. Although my father didn't allow alcohol in the house (the consequence of growing up with an abusive, alcoholic grandfather), there was always a bottle of Canadian Club tucked away for Father Wheeler's visits.

Chris Matthews told a wonderful story earlier today about young Joe Biden growing up in Scranton. As a child he had a terrible stutter, and the nun who was his teacher made fun of him in front of the class. The next day, his mother showed up at school and told the nun that if she ever spoke to her son that way again, she would "rip that bonnet right off your head."

That's the Scranton I remember and those are powerful roots. Biden is going to be a huge asset to Obama in working class Pennsylvania and right across the Rust Belt of the U.S.

Unleashing Biden

"My Barack Obama" is offering members a chance to leave a welcome message for Joe Biden. I wrote:

Welcome, Senator Biden. My whole family is happy that you are on the ticket. While I have great respect for your foreign policy experience, I am even happier to have your personality onboard. I am sick and tired of losing to the Republicans because they are tougher and fight harder than Democrats. You have my permission to get a little rough. Go get 'em!

Click on this link to leave your own message.Barack Obama | Change We Can Believe In | Share your personal welcome note

Op-Ed Columnist - Voters Want More From Obama - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

Bob Herbert, writing in today's NY Times, hopes that Obama's choice of Biden will toughen up the campaign.
A few months ago, after being asked on MSNBC about attacks on Senator Obama that were being unleashed by Senators McCain and Joe Lieberman, Mr. Biden said:

“I refuse to sit back like we did in 2000 and 2004. This administration is the worst administration in American foreign policy in modern history — maybe ever. ... Every single thing they’ve touched has been a near-disaster.”

A populist message and a willingness to take the fight to his opponent is Barack Obama’s ticket to the White House.

He’s got 10 weeks to show if he’s got the right stuff.
Op-Ed Columnist - Voters Want More From Obama - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com:

My Text From Barack

My heart leapt as if I were a teenager waiting to hear from a long-silent boyfriend. Even at 3:30 am, I jolted awake as the text came in. Great choice. Go Team!

Presidential candidates spar over space : Nature News

Presidential candidates spar over space : Nature Magazine

Exciting to see that space exploration, specifically Mars, is on Obama's agenda. Let's hope we can afford it.

TV News After Russert

TV News After Russert by On Point Webmaster — | Gather

Blogs Gain Legitimacy as the Youth Vote Increases in Importance

The importance of blogs as a source of information for young voters is legitimizing the form in this 2008 election year. See this posting from the Daily Kos
Daily Kos: Are Blogs Becoming Respectable And Legitimate?

YouTube - Ted Kennedy Endorses Barack Obama

I was deeply moved today, watching Ted Kennedy evoke his brothers' legacy. Ted Kennedy Endorses Barack Obama
I was in first grade when President Kennedy was inaugurated. He was so inspiring. When he said "the torch is passed to a new generation," I felt as though I wanted to reach out and accept it.

Watching today with my teenage daughter and hearing those words spoken again moved me to tears.

Obama has the big picture

Excerpted today from The Caucus Blog, at the New York Times:

Updated | 5:33 p.m. Mr. Obama has been talking about electability in veiled terms during his bus tour, but he mentioned Mr. Edwards and Mrs. Clinton by name during a rally today in Keokuk.

“The most recent polls show I am the only democrat who can beat every republican.” Mr. Obama said, referring to a recent Zogby survey that put him ahead of the top-tier Republican candidates nationally.

Mr. Edwards, he said, could not beat the Republican candidates because he was not tackling the same issues in the same manner as during his 2004 campaign. And Mrs. Clinton could not beat all five of them, either. “You start off with half the country not wanting to vote for her.

“That’s something you have to consider,” he continued. “I’m able to attract Republican and Independent votes despite having a progressive track record and a progressive platform.”

After nudging Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Edwards, Mr. Obama adopted a more conciliatory tone.

“This argument, the candidates are having – it’s a friendly argument. These are all fine people,” he said. “We’re all just trying out for quarterback, but after the election we’re all going to be on the same team.”

"Permalancers" Finally Take a Stand

Freelancers Walk Out at MTV Networks - NYT
This is one of the many reasons that in the end I needed to abandon the "fast track" and get back to my producing roots. If you are an executive at one of these big media companies you must enforce these policies. In the end, I couldn't live with the choices and still look people in the eye.

Tuesday :: MARTIS DIES :: Briefing

Truthdig - America in the Time of Empire

Truthdig - Liberals’ Lesson Down Under

Daily Kos: Electile Dysfunction

Once and for all, Proof that Macs are Cheaper than PCs - Salon

AlterNet: Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic

TUESDAY :: Martis Dies :: BRIEFING

Rudd win ushers in new era for Australia politics | csmonitor.com

A Muslim belongs in the Cabinet | csmonitor.com

Freakonomics: Do Not Read This If You Are Anti-Nuclear Energy

Africans join lobby for lower farm subsidies - Samuel Loewenberg - Politico.com

Cognitive Daily: What's the best way to help kids become good adults?

LORD and TAYLOR'S LILY WHITE WORLD

Posted from my mobile phone

Every train station in New York is currently plastered with billboards for Lord & Taylor's fall campaign. The scenes are very Ralph Lauren - shot on the lawn of an elegant, imposing country estate, selling a nostalgic, British-accented, invitation-only world. Though this kind of tailored clothing is not my thing, I can appreciate the powerful art direction of the campaign. They are effectively marketing a lifestyle, not just selling another tweed jacket with a velvet collar.

What is shocking, however, is that there is not a single non-white person in any of the ads. In fact, not only is everybody white, they're all Northern European and fair-skinned. I've just walked the length of the platform, scrutinizing all 8 scenes, certain that I'd eventually come across a suitably snooty, long-necked, stunningly beautiful equestrienne of African-American descent...or a Latino rugby player handsome enough to rival Reynaldo...but no. Nada.

Who exactly do the geniuses at Lord & Taylor think lives in New York? Have they paid any attention to the list of young, affluent, minority professionals who contributed the initial cash that jump-started Barack Obama's campaign and vaulted him into the position of being a credible, national contender? For goodness sake - look at the cover of Oprah's "O" magazine. She's living the landed gentry lifestyle that they're simulating in their ads.

These billboards reek of nostalgia for the days when the "club" was exclusively White. They are an insult to everyone who lives in our rich, diverse city. I'm disgusted.

Composer Mackey "reviews" my Review!

A couple of days ago I posted a review of Lois Hicks-Wozniak's premiere performance of John Mackey's CONCERTO FOR SOPRANO SAX AND WIND ENSEMBLE. I am tickled that the composer not only read the review, he linked to it and posted his own comments in his blog.

John Mackey’s Blog

I particularly like the part where he writes: I’m linking to it because a) it’s well-written and she makes good points, b) even though it’s a blog-based review, her take is no less-valid than it would be had it run in the Star-Ledger or another big paper.

;-)

SAXOPHONIST DAZZLES IN MACKEY CONCERTO PREMIERE

John Mackey's latest composition, the CONCERTO FOR SOPRANO SAX AND WIND ENSEMBLE, lives up to his reputation for rhythmically challenging, jazz/dance influenced, audience-pleasing pieces for wind ensemble, and then some. Local saxophonist Lois Hicks-Wozniak rose to the challenge, playing the premiere performance of this powerful work with passion, fire and virtuosity.

Photo Credit: Matt Wozniak

Lois Hicks-Wozniak is a member of the excellent Ridgewood Concert Band, which joined with consortium of 27 bands ranging from the U.S. Navy Band to the Dallas Wind Symphony, as well as a whole slew of universities, to commission the work. Dallas had the World Premiere with the composer in attendance several weeks ago, but each commissioning ensemble gets its own "premiere," as well. On Friday night Lois did the honors for Ridgewood, with a performance so electrifying that she may well have recorded the definitive performance of this memorable new work.

Lois and I have been friends for a number of years (and in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that on occasion I sing with her in a vocal trio ensemble). One of the things I love about her as a saxophonist is the range of tone and styles that she handles with ease, ranging from classical to jazz and beyond. The Mackey piece enabled her to exhibit the full extent of her formidable technique.

The Concerto is in five movements, and between the Prelude and the Finale are three movements whose elemental titles suggest that we might be in a Zen monastery rather than an acoustically-optimized church sanctuary in Ridgewood, New Jersey: (II) Felt, (III) Metal, and (IV) Wood. To my ear, the Prelude was the least successful of all the movements, with Mackey writing a dense wall of sound for the wind ensemble that obscured the sound of the soprano sax. It was evident, looking at Lois, that she was playing a series of complex, powerful runs on the saxophone, but it was impossible to hear. She told me later that she said ruefully to the composer, “John, you can’t write quadruple Forte for a wind band — that’s like throwing meat to the lions.”

Fortunately, the Prelude was brief, and then we were into “Felt,” a jazzy movement that allowed Hicks-Wozniak to showcase the smoky, sultry edge that she can bring to her tone. This movement was also striking in its technical demands, as she appeared to be grabbing big handfuls of notes that covered the full range of the instrument in a single run. It ended with an abrupt, ascending run by the sax and the wind section that was almost a throwaway — seemingly casual, perfectly executed…and then silence. If there is an award for sheer numbers of notes on the page, Mackey may have garnered it for this movement, and the quality of the playing by this ensemble was flawless throughout this very difficult piece.

I suppose “Metal” received its title because it opens in classic Mackey fashion with percussion in the dominant position, in this case metallic instruments such as chimes and xylophone. However, “Metal” is an odd name for a movement that opens up into a hauntingly beautiful, heartbreakingly lyrical series of musical “conversations” between the sax and several soloists in the orchestra. The thematic statements were powerfully emotional, but never sentimental. Particularly moving were the exchanges between First Clarinetist Richard Summers and Hicks-Wozniak’s plaintive soprano sax.

As I listened to “Metal,” I began to feel that we were experiencing a breakthrough for composer John Mackey. He is still quite young — just 34 — and when music historians look back, I suspect this Concerto for Soprano Sax may be a turning point. I heard significant differences from his previous, signature work (award-winning, popular pieces such as Redline Tango and Turbine). Mackey’s earlier work is characterized by intricately difficult rhythms and huge, percussion-driven walls of sound, but to me, they are somewhat lacking in lyricism….bereft of memorable themes or melodies. That is no longer an issue. Listening to these memorable, affecting themes, I felt as though we were hearing a maturing Mackey.

“Wood” opens with a hushed, sultry exchange between the soprano sax and marimba, and it is simply an extraordinary tango. Listening, it was easy to imagine that Mackey was born and raised in Buenos Aires, rather than in New Philadelphia, Ohio. Hicks-Wozniak played the sensual melodies with relish, seeming at times to dance with her instrument. She laughed later, telling me that “For a minute, I considered bringing a rose with me onstage, to hold between my teeth.” The illusion was there, rose or no rose. And again, rather than typical Mackey fireworks, this movement ends quietly, with the marimba and double bass restating the theme a final time. Hicks-Wozniak would like to see this movement published as a reduction for piano and soprano sax. “It will get played, over and over.” She’s right.

Like the second movement, the Finale was an exercise in virtuosity, with huge cascades of notes for the entire ensemble. It appeared that balance would again be an issue, but conductor Dr. Christian Wilhjelm did a masterful job, his sensitive conducting enabling the soprano sax to be heard over the signature Mackey wall of sound. It was at times humorous to watch him — with one hand urging the ensemble into a crescendo, while the other hand, palm outstretched, gingerly pushed them back. It was an exercise in “come here/go away” that was ultimately quite successful in fine-tuning the sound.

The cadenza was brilliantly played, and in a surprising moment, ended quietly, on a half-tone dissonance held by the sax & a single, E-Flat Clarinet — a dissonance so exquisite that I felt as though I had bees buzzing in my ears as the sound gradually died away. The concerto ended with a huge, saucy blast of sound from the entire ensemble.

As the audience erupted in applause, Hicks-Wozniak turned to the band, her arms thrust above her head in triumph, acknowledging each section by pumping her fists in the air. Her instinct to acknowledge the tremendous accomplishment of her bandmates before accepting her own accolades from the audience was spontaneous and touching.

A YOUNG ARTIST ENCOUNTERS CENSORSHIP

I have been working on improving my photography skills during this "creative sabbatical" year, toying with the idea of exhibiting some of my photographs. The opportunity arose when I saw a call for entries for the annual Cornwall Photography Show, held annually at Town Hall. My 16-year-old daughter, Jules Kelly, is a good photographer, and we decided that it would be fun to enter the exhibit together. So, on Monday morning I took four of my photographs and three of hers into town.

The organizer took one look at Julia's photograph entitled "Bush Poster," and declared that it could not be hung, as "this is a government building."



I asked her to check with the Town Supervisor Richard Randazzo, since Freedom of Speech is a fundamental right in our Constitution. She did, and he also refused.

Granted, Julia's photograph is quite edgy, and it does represent her political point of view. On the other hand, art has long had an important function in our national discourse. The earliest recorded American political cartoon ran in Ben Franklin's newspaper, THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE, on May 9, 1754, accompanying an editorial by Franklin urging the colonies to unite against the British. The image effectively captured his point of view, and he used his editorial voice to advocate for independence.


I was with Julia in Amsterdam when she took the Bush photograph, and I know that one of the things that struck her was how surprising it is to see the deterioration of the United States' relationship with the Netherlands. They have always been a staunch U.S. ally, and from our many visits to Amsterdam, we know that the Dutch people typically embrace Americans. To Jules, this photograph represents not only her own feelings about Bush, but also how far we have fallen in our relationships with our European allies.

To me, the knee jerk conservative reaction of Randazzo's Town Hall is simply an extension of the national atmosphere created by the Bush administration, which is filled with political appointees who, qualified for their jobs or not, were hired because they are in lockstep with the administration's positions. We observed the consequences in New Orleans, with FEMA headed by people who didn't know how to coordinate an emergency response, and in post-war Iraq, with the reconstruction staffed with Bush loyalists who neither spoke Arabic nor had any experience with restoring a country's infrastructure. It's been well documented that people were asked about political loyalty as a condition for receiving those jobs. Somehow, in our post 9/11 world, the only way to show patriotism is to stifle dissent. This is a condition we accept at our peril, for in fact, this is contrary to how democracy is meant to work. A healthy democracy is populated by engaged citizens who have a point of view, who challenge authority when they don't agree, and who vote. If we are lucky, we will find our way back to that place, where people don't define themselves as Democrats or Republicans, but as American citizens, with all the privileges and responsibilities that it entails.

Despite this disappointment, the photography exhibit was a success. At the opening reception on Friday Jules sold her photograph entitled BREAK CONFORMITY BREAK STEEL.

Break Conformity Break Steel by Jules Kelly

She was one of two teens exhibiting there. The other, a SUNY New Paltz freshman and photography major named Emily Waterfield, also had a striking series of photographs of Adirondack chairs, photographed at the Mohonk Mountain House. The organizer is considering mounting a show next year featuring just the two of them, which was a very exciting development.

And, Jules' “Bush Poster” photograph has been hung at the 2 Alices Coffee Lounge, so despite the best efforts of the establishment, her voice has not been silenced after all.

BUILDING LEADERS OF THE FUTURE

My 16-year-old daughter is packing for a week in Washington, DC, where she will participate in the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security. They've been given a significant amount of background reading as preparation for a simulation exercise in which they will role play and debate the United States' response to a hypothetical situation in the Eastern Congo.

The rape epidemic plaguing this region is on the front page of today's New York Times.

Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War - New York Times

The whole story is horrifying, but for me, it was a tiny detail down near the end of the article that brought tears to my eyes. The U.N. peacekeepers have devised a new strategy to try to stop to the nocturnal raids on the villages. They go to a village and park their vehicles in the bush, headlights on all night, to signal that the peacekeepers are present. According to the article, sometimes in the morning they find 3,000 villagers curled up on the ground around them.

I emailed the story to Jules with this note. Honey, since your case study is about the Congo you should read this story. I am sorry to say it is very disturbing. but we need to know these things because we need to be part of figuring out a solution.
xo
mom

I'm proud that Jules is thinking about a career where she can make a difference in foreign affairs and human rights. Juxtaposed with this tragic story today is an Op Ed piece by Thomas Friedman Charge It to My Kids - New York Times. He puts an historical perspective on the Bush administration's free-spending approach to the war on terrorism, which is pushing the entire cost of the war onto future generations, with no sacrifice required of us today. As I urge my daughter to be a leader and make a difference, our commander in chief sends an entirely different message about turning a blind eye to consequences and accountability. It's an outrage.

BARACK OBAMA'S INNOVATIVE ELECTRONIC CAMPAIGN

Barack Obama is pursuing an interesting campaign fund-raising strategy this week. Between now and Sept. 30, they are recruiting new donations, which will then be matched by an Obama supporter. You have the opportunity (optional, of course) to be in email correspondence with the person you are matched with. BarackObama.com | Contribution Matching

I did both this week - I donated, and was matched by a man in Ohio. The site gave me the opportunity to sign up to match someone else, so I matched B. Todd Jones, in St. Paul, Minnesota, sending him this message. Hi. I first got excited about Barack Obama when I read his book "Dreams from my Father." I was inspired by the young man who wrestled with his lack of a father figure, and pursued his destiny as a community organizer despite many setbacks that challenged his youthful idealism. I believe our country needs a real leader - someone who, like FDR or JFK, is not afraid to tell us what we really need to know, and challenge us to do what we need to do to pull ourselves out of our national malaise. I believe Obama is the only candidate in the field who has this ability. Thank you for supporting him - I am happy to match your donation.

I got an email back inviting me to be "B. Todd's Friend" - there is a full-fledged social network on obama.com.

They've also been very savvy re mobile communication. He registered the text address is 62262 (OBAMA), and you can sign up not only to receive text when there is Obama news on specific issues, you can also download ringtones with his voice/speeches.

Whether all this will pay off is a question - this kind of approach appeals to younger voters, who are notoriously difficult to get to the polls. No matter what, it is fascinating to watch a Web 2.0 campaign gathering steam.

FRACASWELL HYMAN'S UNIQUE TAKE ON "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD"

My friend Cas Hyman is working in the theater again - and are we lucky to have him back in that genre! Cas directed a stage adaptation of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," which opened this past Wednesday night at the Intiman Theater in Seattle (Intiman wins Tony as best regional theater). I traveled to Seattle mid-week, arriving in time to catch a preview performance as well as opening night, before hopping on a red eye and heading back to NY.

I have worked with Cas on and off for many years in children's television, and one of his great strengths has always been casting and working with child actors. That talent was critical in this production, since the story is told from the point of view of 8-year-old Scout, along with her brother Jem and friend Dill. Young Kealon Whittaker shone in the role of Scout - she convincingly portrayed the cocky tomboy to frequent laughter from the audience, and was heartbreakingly bewildered as she tried to understand what was happening when the lynch mob threatened Atticus as he sat guard outside the jailhouse where the accused rapist, the Negro Tom Robinson, was being held.

Cas and scenic designer Alec Hammond went way out on a limb with the set, which was a heightened, symbolic representation of small town Maycomb, Alabama, dominated by a blood red tree and red kitchen chairs, of all shapes and sizes, suspended from the ceiling by nooses. The dangling, "lynched" chairs overhead served to pull the audience straight into the drama, which we were to be anyway, as the lawyers argued their cases to us, the jury.

I was particularly moved by the musical choices he made for the play. Hyman opened up the script to include the hymn "Blessed Assurance." We first hear it when Calpurnia (in a warm and nuanced portrayal by Josephine Howell) sings it under her breath as she folds laundry on the front porch. Rev. Sykes (William Hall Jr.) arrives to ask for extra donations to help Tom Robinson's family, and he joins in. Then the white neighbor, Maudie Atkinson (Patti Cohenour, known to Broadway theatergoers in the role of Signora Naccarelli from The Light in the Piazza), joins in from her nearby porch. Both women are powerful singers, and the moment is transcent - until they are angrily shushed by Mrs. Dubose for making so much confounded noise! Later in the play Calpurnia reprises a halting, poignant version of the song, her arms sheltering the children, when they hear the terrible news that Tom Robinson has been killed.

I asked Cas how he had chosen this piece of music, and he said that he'd been listening to his iPod on "shuffle," and Blessed Assurance came on, sung by Gladys Knight. "I listened to the words," he said, "and I knew that I had to use this song." He went on to say that he believed that the promise in these words would have enabled Calpurnia and other Negroes in Maycomb to endure the daily injustices and cruelty of life in the Alabama in the 1930s.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God.
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angles descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

In addition, Cas asked composer and harmonica virtuoso Grant Dermody to write an understated "Scout's theme" and other incidental music for the production. Sean Phillips, the actor who played Tom Robinson, also appeared as an anonymous harmonica player, who casually played from various spots (up in the tree, leaning on a fence) at critical moments in the story. Talking to Dermody later, I was stunned to learn that he taught Phillips how to play harmonica for this production! To hear his haunting, soulful playing, one never could have guessed that he's only been playing for a few weeks.

A word here about the Intiman Theater and its relationship to the greater Seattle community. I was invited to the opening night, pre-theater dinner, where I was seated next to actor Tom Skerritt ("A River Runs Through It"), a longtime Seattle resident and charming, if somewhat ascerbic, dinner companion! Of course, all the theater's patrons and sponsors were being feted. But also present were the members of the "Community Committee," a number of whom spoke to the assembled group. The Intiman is particularly proactive, with each of their plays, in trying to discern the core message of the work, and then reaching out to try to bring that message (along with the production) to numerous schools and other community groups. In the case of "To Kill a Mockingbird," Atticus' admonition to Scout and Jem that they need to "walk in the other person's shoes" before criticizing them is a powerful community rallying message. The passion and diversity of the committee members was moving and inspiring. I filled out my card and became an Intiman supporter right at the table.

Cas has many friends in the television industry in both NY and LA. Most of them will probably not see this production, but they would not be surprised at its excellence. I hope he is able to work in the theater again and often.

FAREWELL, MEG MURRY

It is 6am, and I write this with tears streaming down my cheeks as I've learned of the death of the brilliant writer Madelaine L'Engle, author of my favorite book, "A Wrinkle in Time." It will not have escaped discerning readers that this blog, Tesseractive Pictures, derives its name from that book and the tesseract that allows Meg and her baby brother Charles Wallace to time travel as they try to save their father. I remember myself as a child, arguing vehemently with my own father, an eminently practical engineer who had no use for science fiction or fantasy. I insisted that the idea of time as the fourth dimension, accessed by "wrinkling" time, was certainly true. It had to be. The way L'Engle wrote about it in the book was so logical and compelling, I was certain that it could be proven to be true (as indeed it still may be). And besides, Mrs. Whatsit said so.

The last time I cried over Madeleine L'Engle was eight years ago, when I was reading "A Wrinkle in Time" aloud to my daughter Jules, then a second grader. We got to the part at the end when Meg is steeling herself to take on the all-powerful IT, who has captured the brain of her beloved little brother, Charles Wallace. Meg knows she has to go, but is terribly afraid, as she cannot imagine how she can overcome his power. She is a crusty underachiever who is struggling with self-esteem issues - hardly the person who is likely to be a hero, and she knows it. The stubbornness that often infuriates the people who know Meg is an asset at this moment - she simply refuses to give up.

As I was reading, I started to cry. My daughter looked at me curiously. "Mommy, why are you crying so hard?" she asked.
"I am crying because I am being Meg, and she is very afraid," I replied, and kept on reading aloud and crying.

Meg gets closer and closer to the moment of truth, still not able to think of anything that she could possibly have that would defeat IT. "WAIT! I know...I KNOW!" Jules said excitedly. "It's LOVE." Which of course, made me break down in sobs.

The climax of the final Harry Potter book turns on this same realization, as Harry defeats Voldmort through the power of love. J.K. Rowling has been widely praised for creating a mythology based on a rich and nuanced presentation of the battle between good and evil, even touching occasionally on theology. I like this very much about her writing. But, Madeleine L'Engle did it first, and she did it better.

I once attended a reading by L'Engle, in the old Brentanos Bookstore, on Fifth Avenue. I perched on the edge of a bookcase in the children's section, behind the kids sprawled all over the floor, listening to her read from her latest story. When she finished reading she talked to the children about the process of writing, and described an incident that is quoted in today's NY Times obituary. She was in the habit of reading aloud to her son whatever she had written while he was at school each day. On this particular day, she was reading the chapter from "The Arm of the Starfish" in which the character Joshua dies. Her son started to cry, and insisted that she needed to go back and re-write it so that Joshua wouldn't die. She told him that she couldn't - "that was simply what had happened, and there was nothing I could do to change it."

L'Engle's writing had a searing, enduring impact on my way of thinking about myself, first as a young girl who was often as complicated and prickly as Meg, then as a woman and mother (Meg's mother, a beautiful scientist absent-mindedly cooking dinner on a bunson burner, has long been my idealized role model!). She also inspired me to continue to be a dreamer, a woman of faith, and to eventually become a writer. As I learn of her death, I thank her, once again, for these gifts.
Madeleine L'Engle - New York Times Obit

WAL-MART HEIRESS's MUSEUM UNNERVES ART ELITE

Wal-Mart Heiress's Museum Unnerves Art Elites -
Newsweek Entertainment - MSNBC.com


I am not a fan of Wal-Mart. I find their stores to be overcrowded and disorganized, with not a single helpful person in sight. And, as a media producer, I am well aware of their massive economic power as the major "buyer" of creative content. The conservative political views of the Wal-Mart corporation, combined with their influence in the buying chain, means that unless we, the consumers, start to pay attention, we may find ourselves struggling to access any content that does not meet Wal-Mart's conservative "moral" standards.

All that said, I applaud Alice Walton's investment in the arts. And, I was taken aback at the vicious, racist tone of the comments on the article above. People seem to think that Wal-Mart is solely responsible for American workers being downsized, outsourced, and outperformed. There is a whole lot more wrong with our politics, our economic policies, and our work ethic than Wal-Mart can possibly be responsible for.

I posted this comment on the Newsweek site, hoping to bring a bit of historical perspective into the dialogue. "Ruthless Industrialists" also happen to be our most avid art patrons, and it's a good thing!

(To The Editors)
Alice Walton is following in the long, distinguished tradition of philanthropy practiced by our nation’s powerful, wealthy, industrialist families. The United States, founded on a belief in the power of hard work and entrepreneurship, has built its “culture” in the same way that it built its economy – through deliberate investment in the long term by families who believed in the value of knowledge, as well as the acquisition of wealth.

Members of the Rockefeller family founded both MoMA (New York’s unparalleled Museum of Modern Art) and the Asia Society. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (an heir to the Vanderbilt shipping/railroad fortune) founded the Whitney Museum, one of the world's foremost collections of twentieth-century American art. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles was established with his publishing/newspaper fortune. The Ford Family Foundation, whose goals are to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement, was established in the early 20th century by Henry and Edsel Ford. The list goes on and on.

The United States does not have a tradition of expansive public funding of cultural institutions, as do major European cultural centers like Britain, France, Italy, etc. We are a capitalist nation, and if developing our cultural resources and legacy depended on meeting a bottom line, we would be in trouble.

Thank goodness for patrons like Alice Walton, who recognizes that given her good fortune and great wealth, she has an obligation to give back. It seems obvious to me that all the hoopla around her art investing is pure snobbery because the Walton family is from Arkansas, and not part of the East Coast/West Coast “aristocracy.”
Liz Nealon

TUESDAY :: Martis Dies :: BRIEFING

Seung Hui Cho's isolated family -
Washington Post

WP: Obama taps two worlds for funds -
Washington Post

RoboCalls Against Iraq War - Politico.com

What's happening to the bees? | csmonitor.com

The Price of Eggs: A Leading Indicator? - Freakonomics

HEADING HOME

Final post from South Africa - online from the airport. On my wrist are a South African flag bracelet that I bought in Soweto this morning and a band from the Cradle of Mankind caves (hence the bare footprint & early homnid skull images).

It has been a busy week - I'm ready to go home and I'm happy to leave with a pocketful of cards from new friends who I feel sure I will visit again someday....
(posted from my mobile phone).

SOWETO PART 2

While in Soweto, we also visited the famous Regina Mundi church, which opened its doors to shelter four thousand children and teens during the violent Soweto uprisings in the 1970s. The authorities entered the church and fired on the children; bullet holes, the statue of Christ with its hands blown off, and the marble altar defaced by a rifle butt still stand as evidence of the violence that happened in this place.



Wonderfully, though, we visited today during a lunchtime service. The altar steps were full of children singing, dancing and praying as their teacher beat an African drum. So although this place is a National Historic Site due to the tragedy that happened here, we found an oasis full of hope and joy this afternoon.

SOWETO

I made a trip to the Soweto Township this morning, and we walked through Motswaledi, euphamistically known as an "Informal Settlement," which was established in 1993. There are about 20,000 residents here living in corrugated iron shanty houses that have no electricity, although there is access to safe, clean water at various central points in the camp. After a week of talking with South African teens about improving their prospects for the future, it was sobering to see the conditions that these preschoolers are growing up in. There is a preschool in the settlement, but the nearest primary school is a thirty-minute walk away. Children who attend there are required to wear uniforms (which are expensive) and to purchase their own books, as well. It is late autumn here, so not terribly hot, but the heat inside the metal shanty was stifling. I can only imagine that when it is cold, it is terribly cold, as well.











A sobering finish to my stay here in Johannesburg.

CALIFORNIA TEEN CHIMZAM MBELU BLOGS FROM JOHANNESBURG

KOCE BLOGGER

Chimzam was sponsored by Orange County PBS station KOCE, and she has received several hundred emails since the conference started. U.S. teens are suggesting questions for her to ask people, lines of questioning to pursue, etc.

I watched her interviewing other students - she is a very poised interviewer. I asked her mother (an attorney who is here as a chaperone for her daughter) if Chimzam wants to work in media. "No, she wants to be a dentist," her mother replied.

Go figure. Whatever she choses, I suspect this young woman will be a success!

INDIA :: CHILDREN OF NOMADS

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

Vinay and Meenakshi Rai presented an extraordinary project at the final session this morning. We saw excerpts from their award-winning film, “Children of Nomads,” in which nomadic and non-nomadic Indian children interview each other. The contrasts in their background knowledge and cultures were simultaneously funny, touching, and thought-provoking. Some excerpts from the dialogue:

Non-Nomadic Child (NN): How often do you take a bath?
Nomadic Child (NC): I take a bath every day.
NN: You don’t feel cold?
NC: Cold….what is cold?
NN: You know…..Brrrrrrrrrr……when we wear warm clothes.
NC: (duh) I take a bath in warm water.

And this one, about traveling by airplane:

NC: What do you get in an eagle-cart?
NN: Toffee, food, blankets.
NC: What do the clouds look like?
NN: White, very pretty.
NC: Do you get to see Rama?
NN: (puzzled silence)
NC: Rama…the God.
NN: No, but if I see him, what message should I give him?
NC: Tell him I need food, home, water, banana.

When the excerpt ended, to loud applause, Meenakshi Rai said: This film made us understand the difference between Literacy and Education. My child is literate but not educated. The nomadic children are educated, but not literate. This is the unique strength of nomadic culture. She added, It’s not really a film, it’s the beginning of a poem.

The pair have a broad vision plan for the next five years, in which they will be running government-sponsored media literacy workshops in which nomadic children will make films in their own voices, about the problems and issues they face. The Rais have also started creative writing projects, putting writing professionals together with these children to capture their oral history, stories, and songs. Here at the Summit, Radio JOJO in Germany has agreed to broadcast all the stories produced by the Indian nomadic children.

They are also using the award money from the film to start five culture schools in nomadic communities. Their goal is to discover and document lost music and lost traditions, which she described as crumbling under pressure of survival. And again here at the Summit, the Cairo Film Festival agreed to devote one day to screening these completed films.

As is the case at any conference like this, one is always looking for gems amidst many droning, bureaucratic presentations. We found a diamond here in Johannesburg with Children of Nomads.

MTV IN THE HOUSE

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

Having traveled the world as the Head of MTV International Programming at the birth of the global network, it was really a delight for me to see two representatives from MTV channels front and center in the AIDS/HIV panels.

Mauro Dahmer (left) is a producer with MTV Brasil who specializes in pro-social issues. We work in a developing country where young people don’t always have the right education nor even a guarantee of basic rights. Drugs, homophobia, machismo, poverty are key issues in fighting AIDS and getting results in Brasil. We have a strong connection to young people and understand our responsibility around these messages.

According to Dahmer, MTV Brasil is the most pro-social MTV, launching more issue spots and campaigns than any other territory. Their on-air commitment is impressive: 20-minutes per day on AIDS prevention programming from December through March, and 10-minutes per day the rest of the year - a huge amount of programming real estate from which to deliver these messages. In addition, all the PSAs plus their documentary “Sex-Press Yourself” (produced in Kingston, Jamaica, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro) are available for download online and available for free broadcast anywhere in the world. STAYING ALIVE

Dahmer added that Brasil is a liberal, sexual country. We try to approach these messages by talking about rights and the social aspects of prevention. The key is not to scare our audience, and preserve their right to a free sexuality, not a paranoia sexuality.

Presenter Sizwe Dhlomo (left) from MTV-Base (the African component of MTV’s global network) was also present, and was a huge draw for the teenagers present.
Dhlomo showed excerpts from the MTV campaign “Staying Alice,” an AIDS prevention campaign that is currently running on 50 MTV channels across the world – at least one primetime minute on every channel, every day. Dhlomo called on other broadcasters to join MTV. There is no vaccine available for AIDS; the only vaccine currently available is knowledge.

MTV’s approach to AIDS prevention came under some fire during the day, as people questioned how genuine their effort is, given the highly sexualized tone of their general programming mix. They were also questioned as to why their PSAs were so slick and fast-moving, rather than letting individual teens tell their stories in a more measured way.

I have always felt that MTV speaks to young people in a tone of voice that is unlike any other – and for that reason it is a powerful platform from which to do good. They are not a “public broadcaster,” nor a public service organization, and shouldn’t be expected to speak in a measured tone. While the forum may be imperfect, when MTV speaks to issues relevant to youth, they have a powerful impact.

As Dahmer put it, If we were to stop playing the videos that people say are “irresponsible,” the programming would be less interesting and you would go to other channels. We want to keep the audience and deliver a mix of socially responsible programming. It is all about finding a balance.

When I look back at my own time at MTV (1981-1990), I have always been proudest of our work internationally. In the late 1980s the broadcast universe outside of the U.S. was still dominated by huge public broadcasters (BBC, RAI, etc) and I believed that we were the instigators of a seminal cultural revolution, in which the voices of youth were recognized and respected for the first time. I was so proud this week, seeing these two men “own” MTV’s point of view in such a powerful way. Twenty-five years later, our fledging group of MTV start-ups has turned into a legitimate global voice for youth.

DAY 3 :: HIV and AIDS

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

The theme of Day 3 of the World Summit on Media for Children is Health & Wellness, which means that today was largely focused on HIV/AIDS. Dr. Gilda A. Glasinovich, UN Technical Advisor on Immigrant Populations (a well as a physician and oncologist) opened this morning’s session by saying: We are heading into the third wave of HIV, and 13-25 year olds are now the highest risk group. Two-thirds of the new infections here in African will be young women.She called out to all the teenagers and asked them to move forward in the huge lecture hall – this session is for you. Your role in society is to educate yourselves and educate others. The discussion right now is going to be on H.I.V. as it pertains to you.

Everyone moved up front, and we seemed poised for a real discussion that would involve the youngest participants. They are the constant target of HIV/AIDS public service announcements….any South African teen that you speak with will spout the SABC’s message: ABSTAIN, BE FAITHFUL, CONDOMIZE. I was hopeful that today we would get into a discussion about what is working for them, what is not, and how we can be more effective in protecting young people from HIV infection.

Early on, we heard from 16-year-old Lerato Ntuli, of the Alexander Township here in South Africa, who spoke on behalf of the organization FRIENDS FOR LIFE, which has provided support for her since she lost her mother to AIDS and became, in effect, the parent for her younger brother.

I lost my mother when I was only 6 years old…I feel like a lot has been taken away from me. I am only 16, and I am doing things that older people should be doing, because I have a younger brother. He asks me questions, and I don’t even know the answers to those questions. I told my baby brother (13) just the other day that the reason our Mom’s not with us any more is because of AIDS. He cried so much and asked me “Why have you been hiding it from me for so long?” I was trying to protect him, but actually I was shutting him out.

Lerato’s strength created a palpable swell of emotion in the teenagers in the room. She has made a conscious decision to overcome her circumstances and act as an agent for social change.

I have been neglected by a lot of people when I talk about my parents’ situation, but I realize those people don’t push me down, they make me stronger. I can prove to them that I can build myself up, make other teenagers aware that this is just a trial, there are better things to come if we all learn from it.

Unfortunately, we lost the opportunity for real dialogue created by her powerful testimony as a number of other adult speakers followed her, including a delegate from Libya who was determined to talk about a tragic, controversial incident in her country, and refused to yield the mike. By the time we got to “Question Time” for the teenagers, time was very limited and they were rushed through. Although young people came to the microphone and asked questions, the reply was basically “That’s a very good question. Next question?”

Such a missed opportunity. Here are some of the questions that were asked. Despite the fact that they were not answered in the room, we, as media producers, can certainly think about how we contribute to the answers via our work going forward.

• Sonia Antonio, who has been sponsored at this conference by Angolan Television (speaking Portuguese). I have presented a program on public television Angola for the last five years, in which we have the opportunity of dealing with various issues. I am no longer a child (24), but I remain a symbol of children’s issues in my country, because I started on television when I was very young. My question is: What can we, as producers of children’s programs, do to ensure that we sensitize children to the fact that HIV-AIDS starts with each one of us? How can we help them not contract it themselves?


• Nonhlanhla Nellovu (left), age 16, from South Africa, spoke clearly and forcefully. What are we doing about child-headed families – children like Lerato forced to find a balance between education and the sustenance of their families? The media can play an imperative role in making children aware of the resources available to them so they don’t have to resort to unfortunate measures in order to get income.

• Mollie Vincent Louis, from Haiti: Parents don’t give sexual education to their children, so they undertake sexual activity and adventures under the advice of their friends. I would like to appeal to broadcasters to come up with programs that are aimed at delivering HIV information to children. Parents must not hide facts about sex from children, because from about the age of 11, when they’re trying to find an image for themselves, it’s very important to explain to them what sex is all about.

• South African boy, name unknown. We need to go back to our traditions, and if we do, AIDS will not be a problem any longer.

• Mobile Sange Kesadin, South Africa. What about the children who are being abused by their parents, children who are being raped, children who don’t have homes, children who have no one to take care of them.? She broke down, sobbing, was embraced by Dr. Mzamane and Nonhlanhla (the girl who had just spoken about child-led families), and helped from the room.

For all of us who create media that is designed to be used with kids in classrooms, afterschool centers, or youth programs, this represented a worst case scenario – opening the door to an outpouring of feelings from children, then not being prepared to deal with their outpouring. I walked outside to talk to some of the teens that I had met earlier in the week, to get their reaction.

Nonhlanhla said angrily, What a waste of time. They have been saying since day one that they wanted to hear from us. Today is the first time we have had an opportunity to speak. I had a huge list of questions. There is no time for serious discussion.


Mpho Moshweu, age 18, of the Northern Cape, Kimberley Youth Support Program, is one of the very enthusiastic group that I met on the first day (in the white shirt, above). He was outspoken today, much more pragmatic and action-oriented than many of the adults I have talked with here. I don’t see how this can be a successful conference without any resolutions. Is there someone who is going to take this forward? We should be given tasks going forward, so that we can report when we get together again in 2010.
Mpho (pronounced mmmm-PO) also questioned the lack of connection between the conferences (the 4th World Summit was held in Rio in 2004). Where are the delegates from Brasil, telling us their conclusions? Mpho’s assessment on the abbreviated “discussion” of HIV was succinct and devastating. When you are addressing issues, you must know that time is not important. We will stay as long as the matters are being solved. What is the benefit of all those experts, if nothing is solved?

I think this raises a question, going forward, as to what is the purpose of inviting children to the Summit. Do they belong at a professional conference? If so, why are they not at a table with the adults? A mature teenager who brings real insight and potential input needs to be respected. Let’s not be guilty of killing their optimism and enthusiasm.

MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR PEACE-BUILDING

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

This afternoon was the best session that I’ve attended so far, “Media as a Tool for Peace Building.” There were many powerful speakers on the program, including my friend Dr. Charlotte Cole from Sesame Street International, L. Randolph Carter from the grass roots advocacy organization Search for Common Ground, our friend and producer Beathur Baker from the SABC, who facilitated powerful documentaries produced & directed by girls who have been victims of violence, and others, equally committed to peace building.

But for me, Sarah Crowe, who is a reporter for UNICEF Television, completely nailed the topic. She is a veteran, accomplished reporter who covers her stories with an acknowledged bias – UNICEF’s advocacy on behalf of children. In her words: Our goal is to influence the media agenda to cover children’s issues, which are often forgotten in the ‘fog of war.’ In areas of conflict, media is often used as a tool of war, spreading propaganda, division, stirring up hatred. Children are often the first to pick up on these messages…they intuitively know that they need to take a side. And, how do they flourish if they are constantly forced to flee from conflict? Do they wave a copy of the Children’s Bill of Rights when they’re being recruited as child soldiers?

What I found most eye opening was her view of the obligation that she believes journalists have AFTER a conflict has ended, and ‘peace’ is declared.

For a child to flourish in a climate of peace, more than peace is needed. The average person believes that the majority of civilian casualties are a result of conflict and violence. In fact, most of the children die from neglect, not bullets and grenades, because the war has cut them off from basic services. Diarrhea, malaria, malnutrition are the primary causes of death for children in conflict zones, and this continues after peace has broken out.

Sarah Crowe feels strongly that reporters have an obligation to continue their coverage once the guns are silent. She sees it as an often neglected duty, and believes that journalists must go back and follow up, reporting the previously unseen damage that has happened as a result of the war.

Her words reminded me of AP’s Ian Stewart earlier today, lamenting that his coverage of the society’s struggles and triumphs go unreported in the West. People so often talk about feeling helpless in the face of all the troubles in the world. Yet, no one wants to read these stories that explain the nature of the challenges, as well as how they can be overcome. We are not helpless. We are ignorant.

INFORMAL JOURNALISM MENTORING

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

Although I am still attending panels on topics of interest and networking with my peers here in Johannesburg, my attention has really shifted to all the young journalists who are here. There are several workshops scheduled for them in digital media – basic internet skills, blogging, even a mini-animation workshop. DK (no name, just DK) the hip, young Brit who runs the hot “media for teens, by teens” site Mediasnackers is here doing workshops in digital journalism. But it quickly became apparent that there wasn’t any provision for print journalism, although there are dozens of kids walking around here with cameras, notebooks and pens. So, I’ve taken it upon myself (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) to be an informal mentor for these aspiring journalists. The enthusiasm of these talented young people is irresistable!


Tasneem Amos, Josslyn Hlenti, Alfreda Rowena Nadar, and Sthabile Dlamini (above) are all from Durban, in South Africa. They told me that being here has really opened their eyes to all the different possibilities available to them in media, and they also auditioned to be on SABC’s daily program “Kids News” (which is broadcasting live from the convention center).













Tasneem: We haven’t heard back from Kids News yet, but I think they were quite amazed at our self confidence. I was, too.

Zodidi Dano and Nosiphino Nabata (below) are part of the group of children and teens who meet every Saturday morning at Bush Radio’s studio in Cape Town to create programs that reflect and represent themselves. The C.R.E.W. (Children’s Radio Education Workshop), which has been existence for eleven years, was born out of the South African bush radio movement, in which community activists and alternative media producers came together to utilize grassroots media to incite social change. These two young women are only part of the team that I met in Johannesburg. Every one of them is poised, well-spoken and well-versed in writing, interviewing, and technical radio production skills. As Nosiphino told me “Our job is to feed the children information that they need, that their parents don’t feel comfortable giving to them.”


The group above is from the Kimberley Youth Support Program, in Northern Cape, South Africa. As you can see by the energy of Mpho Moshweu, Stephen Hams and the others, they have brought a large helping of energy and enthusiasm to the Summit!

CULTURAL EXCHANGE IS BREAKING OUT ALL OVER!

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

The excitement of kids talking to other kids is creating an energetic buzz that we can all feel. Everyone’s first instinct seems to be to talk to other kids about who they are…..two South African girls interviewing their counterparts from Al Jazeerah Children about their Arab cultural experience for a story to run on Radio JoJo, a community radio station here in South Africa….a Japanese girl interviewing her Ethiopian peer about their different cultural experiences….young radio journalists from Bush C.R.E.W. in Capetown (English speaking) and Kid Waves in Burkina Faso (French speaking) collaborating, with the help of translators, in amending the Children’s Radio Manifesto to incorporate themes of Democracy and Peace.

Most interesting to me is a project being undertaken by IPTV Ireland, who are creating a channel totally devoted to programming created by young people. This non-profit group, based in Kildaire, have brought together two groups of kids from Ireland and Tanzania who will each be shooting a video program about their initial impressions of the other group during the week. These two groups will continue to collaborate over the next six months, via the internet, to produce video programming together. It is a global, video version of the “community radio” phenomenon that is so prevalent and empowering for youth here in Africa. And, it will be available to all teens on IPTV.

ORSIL, FROM PALESTINE

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

This morning we also heard from a teenager from the Palestinian Territories (whose name, Orsil, means “genuine”).

From the children of Palestine I bring a very short message about the suffering of the Palestinian children on a daily basis. Some of the children are still trapped in prisons or hospital beds, waiting for medication. I would like all of you to call for the end of occupation, and return of the displaced children. She started to weep as she said: We would like build bridges of peace between all the children in order to build a better future for each of us. Orsil concluded by placing her Keffiyeh (the traditional Palestinian headdress) over the shoulders of conference chairwoman Firdoze Bulbulia, who enveloped her in an embrace.

The teens who are speaking to us and reporting from this Summit are full of optimism, passion, and hope. They believe in the power of media to make a difference in the world. As the keepers of the current distribution channels, we need to nurture these young leaders, and ensure that their optimism, talent and energy are not lost.

PEACE IS MORE THAN THE ABSENCE OF WAR.....

...(peace) is about tolerance and understanding." These words were spoken by a teen, addressing a room full of journalists here in Johannesburg.

We have begun Day 2 of the 5th World Summit on Media for Children. Today's theme is PEACE BUILDING (Policy & Politics), and first up this morning was Prince Collins, a Liberian journalist. He introduced an ex-child soldier named Tipi Tappia, which whom he has been working. Liberia, a small country on West Coast of Africa, has endured fourteen years of bloody civil war, with more than 250,000 people killed. In Tipi Tappia’s own words:
I was 12-years-old when I joined the rebel force. I was taught how to shoot and kill; I was a very desperate kid during the war in my country. A volatile mix of cocaine and gunpowder is given to children to make them fear less in battle.

Because child soldiers witness death, killing and sexual violence, they suffer serious long-term psychological consequences, and often drug dependency. Re-integration is a complex process of atonement and rebuilding of communities. Tappia was accepted into a media program in which 50 former soldiers are working in radio, learning how to be journalists.

Tappia says this has saved his life. Right now we are good boys and girls, we don’t kill any more, we are free of the influence of harmful drugs. We are now doing positive things in our community, and we ask forgiveness of those we hurt during the war. Before I close, I want to appeal to all warlords to stop using us children to accomplish their inner motives. Please stop making us kill.

He was followed by American AP war correspondent Ian Stewart, who read gripping excerpts from his book "Ambushed," about being injured in Sierra Leone by child soldiers. He has reported extensively about conflict across the African continent, and also about the consequences for civilians who are tortured and children who are forcibly taken into the armies. He concluded by saying: The sad part for me is that I couldn’t get those stories into the newspapers in the West. Despite all the conflict and tragedy, there is a lot of hope in Africa. The world needs to see it.

VOICE FROM HAITI

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

Caroline Zevai, a confident, dynamic 15-year-old from Haiti, is part of a “media club,” and a radio presenter with her own program on Saturday mornings from 9:00 – 9:30. The 22 members of her club are learning computers, photography, and journalistic writing, as well as creating and performing plays for the community. Caroline appealed directly to the other children in the audience, saying:
Don’t lose heart. Take an interest in these activities so that you can influence the authorities. Tell the media: Give more room and space to children to say what they want and what they feel.”

MEET RICHMOND MOSES

This 16-year-old approached me and asked if he could interview me. I said, “You can interview me if I can interview you.” His response: “Of course, you can write about me. I am an interesting person!” Richmond is from North West Mafikeng, and journalism is his passion. “Not my talent – my talent is music – but my passion is to be a journalist.” He sings rap and hip hop music, and was delighted to meet someone “from another continent,” especially from New York. Richmond’s computer is currently broken, but we have exchanged email addresses so that he can eventually share his writing. He is, indeed, an interesting person.

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

SOUTH AFRICA :: OH, THE MUSIC!

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

We have been treated to entertainment at all the breaks, and have seen some amazing youth performance groups. These dancers were an all-male ensemble called Maganagobu'sca.

CHILD SPEAKERS AT THE WORLD MEDIA SUMMIT

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

Along with the dignitaries and media experts, three teenagers also spoke at the opening session. An 18-year-old Swedish woman named Ida told of her participation in a study in which they analyzed the portrayal of youth in four daily newspapers. Their findings:

1. Children and their views are seriously under-represented in the media.
2. When they are represented, adults are often speaking for them, denying children their own voices.
3. Teens are often portrayed stereotypically, specifically as violent, superficial, and depressed.
4. Teens are most typically presented either as victims, or as perpetrators of crimes.

Ida said that she is concerned because people who are not connected to youth are forming their opinions based on what they read. When I read about myself as part of a group that is violent, depressed and ignorant, I get very angry.

She had three recommendations for the media present in the room.
• Include our opinions in general issues affecting the community, not just youth issues.
• Avoid stereotypes of both youth and gender.
• Make sure we speak for ourselves, and are allowed to express ourselves in our own way.

This last point, that “we express ourselves in our own way” has been a recurring motif as I have talked to teenagers throughout the day.

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Posting from the World Summit on Media for Children)

The King of the Pedi People made a grand entrance, with entourage, and was seated at the head table just in time to hear Roy Disney’s keynote.

OPENING OF THE 5TH WORLD SUMMIT ON MEDIA FOR CHILDREN

Sunday in Johannesburg, and the opening session is underway. The theme of this year’s Summit is “Media as a Tool for Global Peace and Democracy.” As always, the conference is built around the idea that children are entitled to high quality media that is made specifically for them, that provides room for their opinions, and that promotes and protects children’s rights.

It was hard not to feel a little cynical, given the lofty goals, to find that our hosts were all aflutter at the magnitude of the keynote speaker – Roy Disney. How ironic that this conference would revere the Disney company, which has hardly been a champion of diversity and authentic, local experience. Rather, Disney’s “It’s a Small World” approach to global culture epitomizes the touristic, isn’t that quaint?! American view of developing countries as markets to be acquired and exploited. It is hard to imagine why that is relevant here, and it felt very sad that it was seen as a huge coup to have him. (Early on in his presentation, he actually said I believe it can be legitimately said that Mickey Mouse has been a force for Global Peace and Democracy. Adolf Hitler denounced Mickey Mouse as an enemy of the state.).

Yet, the irony of his position was not lost on Roy Disney, and he ultimately rose to the challenge. His framed his address as an appeal for improving the quality of media designated for children. I would add an adjective to your theme – “quality.” That is, quality media as a tool for global peace and democracy. Without that qualifier, media can be a repressive force or even a tool for propoganda. When held to high standards, media can be a powerful force for good.

And in closing, Disney said:
There’s tremendous opportunity for progress today. For the first time ever, we have instant, worldwide communication….Many adults are simply incapable of conquering their fears and prejudices, but the children can. If they are exposed to responsible, quality media, this can at last become the Century of Peace. This is just not another Disney fairy tale. It is up to us, one by one, to make this a reality.

Grudgingly, I must say that he was more relevant than I ever could have imagined under the circumstances.

There are 300 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 16 present here. They were addressed directly and powerfully by Dr. Mbulelo Mzamane, the South African author of "The Children of Soweto" and "The Children of the Diaspora and Other Stories of Exile" (and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare). Dr. Mzamane appointed himself the “Children’s Ombudsman” for the duration of the Summit.

You hear that children? From now on, I am your spirit medium. If anything is not going right, come to me. It’s a revolution! Make use of this opportunity.


My children, you are as helpless as you allow yourself to be. You have to remember, it is all inside you. There is a legacy in this country of child activism. In fact, in rewriting our history, as we are doing now, it is quite clear that it was at the point that children and women got involved in our revolution that decisive and qualitative changes came about. There is no such thing as “I am too young.”

The central issue for you is going to be how do you make your participation in this conference meaningful? How do you make sure that grownups have not just brought you here simply to make themselves feel good?

Are you going to let someone like Roy Disney be a ventriloquist for you? How do you participate as children in the creative process? Why don’t they ask you what you want?

We know what the problems are, children. What we want are solutions.

And finally, do not try and cleave to one another because you are from the same village, or from the same country. Mix as much as possible with other children from other countries. It is only through interaction that you grow.

Inspiring words from Dr. Mzamane.

TEEN VOICES FROM AFRICA

I AM AN AFRICAN
I am carved from the branch of the Baobab
And refreshed from the waters of the Nile
And it is below the equator where my ancestors
Chose to settle, where they chose to be African
God meant for me to be an African
Why else would my heart sound like an African drum
And my skin be kissed with the colour of her soil
Or my feet move like a stampede of wildebeest
And my voice sing like the majestic Serengeti Rains?
- Keenan Harduth, 17

I AM AN AFRICAN
I am an African because I owe my being to the blacks and the whites. I owe my being to the Zulus, Xhosas, Vendas, Tsongasan and the Pedis. I am an African because I was born in Africa. I am proud to be a child of the Dhlamini family. I am proud to be black and I am proud to be a girl.

I sing our song, I read our books and I speak our languages. I was born to be African. I was born in Johannesburg - kwa nyama ayipheli ku phela a mazinyo e ndoda (at the place where meat does not finish, but only men's teeth). Africa is a beauty of nature and a beauty of the land.
- Precious Dhlamini, 13

(Dateline: Johannesburg. Excerpted from the programme booklet for the World Summit on Media for Children)

PATTI SMITH :: Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame Inductee

I never thought that punk poet/rebel Patti Smith would make it through the lingering misogyny of the music establishment to be honored by the Hall. Last night, at age 60, she accepted with grace and humility, performing with power and passion.

Smith's raw, angry style, seemingly in-your-face lyrics with their surprising subtlety of meaning, and refusal to doll herself up in the "girl group" tradition of were so inspiring to me when I was a young woman coming of age at the height of the Feminist Movement. I even went through one summer - thankfully only one - with unshaven armpits, inspired by her Easter album cover. I'm frankly glad that she lived to see the day that she was inducted into the Hall. I remember rushing from my secretarial job at CBS Records to the the Wollman Rink in NY in the summer of 1977, arriving breathless, just in time to see her carried out, unconscious, before the show ever began. She lived life her way, all the way, in those days.

And then she retired to be a mom, raising two children with MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith (their son played rhythm guitar with his mom onstage last night).

Fifteen years ago, in the weeks while we were waiting for our own daughter to be born, Chris and I made a complilation of the best, most accessible rock songs we could think of, titled "Songs to Sing with Julia." It was to be our baby's introduction to rock 'n' roll, and it was our way of declaring that we weren't going inflict insipid "kiddie music" on our child. Rather, we would respect her intelligence and introduce to her to quality music right from the outset. The playlist began with John Lennon's "Julia" (of course) and ended with Patti Smith's "People Have the Power."

It is not her best composition, but I have always loved "People Have the Power" as an anthem for how I aspire to live my own life. And, I was always intrigued that from this dark, often angry writer came lyrics which were inspired by The Beatitudes (....Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven....blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.....etc ). Thinking about it again today, I shouldn't have been surprised at the reference. The Beatitudes, which were the opening lines from Christ's powerful "Sermon on the Mount," were designed to shock. He got his audience's attention by going completely against the prevailing belief system, describing the "citizens of heaven" as the poor, the weak, and the helpless. That instinct, to push the envelope in pursuit of social commentary, is Patti Smith's M.O. Who else could have come up with the title "Rock and Roll Nigger" as a way of expressing the isolation of the visionary?

Although it is nineteen years old, "People Have the Power" holds up both as a song and as a call to action. Its timeless relevance speaks to why this fierce yet fragile artist was inducted into the Hall of Fame last night.

PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER
I was dreaming in my dreaming
of an aspect bright and fair
and my sleeping it was broken
but my dream it lingered near
in the form of shining valleys
where the pure air recognized
and my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
that the people / have the power
to redeem / the work of fools
upon the meek / the graces show
it's decreed / the people rule.

The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power

Vengeful aspects became suspect
and bending low as if to hear
and the armies ceased advancing
because the people had their ear
and the shepherds and the soldiers
lay beneath the stars
exchanging visions
and laying arms
to waste / in the dust
in the form of / shining valleys
where the pure air / recognized
and my senses / newly opened
I awakened to the cry

REFRAIN

Where there were deserts
I saw fountains
like cream the waters rise
and we strolled there together
with none to laugh or criticize
and the leopard
and the lamb
lay together truly bound
I was hoping in my hoping
to recall what I had found
I was dreaming in my dreaming
god knows / a purer view
as I surrender to my sleeping
I commit my dream to you

REFRAIN

The power to dream / to rule
to wrestle the world from fools
it's decreed the people rule
it's decreed the people rule
LISTEN
I believe everything we dream
can come to pass thru our union
we can turn the world around
we can turn the earth's revolution
we have the power
People have the power......

Lyrics © 1988 Druse Music/Stratium Music, Inc.

THE VANGUARD OF CITIZEN JOURNALISM

In a week when it is being reported here in the U.S. that an item on a blog (The Drudge Report) had enough impact to trigger a sell-off and resulting 400-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it is interesting to see this story coming out of the U.K.

Citizen journalists are gaining broader exposure every day. It remains to be seen how that will affect the depth and quality of the information we are receiving, but it certainly is an exciting time for information junkies like myself!

Opie unveils user-generated vision for Five News
By Jules Grant
7 Mar 2007
© C21 Media 2007

The new content chief at UK terrestrial Five has outlined her future strategy for the channel, including a major overhaul of Five News, saying she wants it to be in "the vanguard of citizen journalism." Speaking at a Royal Television Society event last night, the RTL-owned channel's new MD of content Lisa Opie said that its news service would be "radically relaunched," putting user-generated service Your News at its heart. The service, which already allows viewers to send in their own filmed reports and suggestions for stories, will now "sit at the heart of what we do," she said.

Referring to news anchor Kirsty Young perching on the edge of her desk – a gimmick that prompted a raft of copycats in the 1990s – Opie said: "In the same way Five News redefined news when it launched 10 years ago I want it now to be in the vanguard of citizen journalism with more direct input from viewers. "We will integrate our news and talk programming across the day and we will be passionate and campaigning on viewers' behalf."

Other new highlights included the creation of MySpace pages for all of the commissioning team, where viewers will be able to pitch ideas and engage in a "direct dialogue" with the channel. "These pages will be promoted on air and on our website, giving viewers, for the first time, a direct line of communication with the people who make the decisions about the programmes they see," she said.

DJ - R.I.P.

Dennis Johnson, the great NBA guard, passed today.

I've always loved this quote from him, about playing in big games:
“I hate to lose,” he once said. “I accept it when it comes, but I still hate it. That’s the way I am.”

Additionally, this afternoon, I was very surprised to see how the news of his death played out on the Internet. My homepage is msnbc.com, and there was a "Breaking News" headline reporting his death, without any details. I quickly clicked on cnn.com and espn.com, neither of which anything except the headline. While I waited, I wondered how old DJ was, and decided to check Wikipedia. Amazingly, his bio there was already updated, including the date and likely cause of his death, attributed to Danny Ainge.

We are only beginning to understand the implications of this era of user choice and control, when basketball fans don't need to wait for the vertically integrated media conglomerates to report the news, because they can do it themselves. This is a very signifcant time in the development of media and how it is integrated into our lives.

SMALL TOWN DEMOCRACY and FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

I live in the Hudson Highlands, in a community that embodies the phrase "small town." There are many advantages to living in a place where everyone knows you and the sense of community is strong. There are disadvantages, too - particularly when it comes to local politics.

We have a new editor at the town newspaper, The Cornwall Local, and I have been watching with interest as she has been subjected to various intimidation tactics by the local pols. Finally, I wrote this letter to the editor, which is being published in tomorrow's edition.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To the Editor:

I was surprised to read that an elected official in the Town of Cornwall moved to decommission The Local as the official town newspaper, apparently in reaction to critical editorial coverage of the Town Board’s process in selecting a new police chief.

Editor Margaret Menge is doing a journalist’s job, reporting the facts on the front page and expressing her own viewpoint on the editorial page. Though our Board may not be happy with her questioning of their decision-making, it seems to me that the citizens of Cornwall have been well-served by her reporting of the process employed in picking a new chief.

President Bush has similar problems with the Washington Post and most likely views them with equal distaste, but he is wise enough not to forbid the paper access to his office. Our free press is a cornerstone of true democracy, as immortalized in 1789 by our Founding Fathers when they wrote and passed the Bill of Rights. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The ultimate statement on the freedom of the press comes from our founding rascal, Benjamin Franklin, who stirred up all sorts of controversy with his printing press in the early days of the Revolution. His famous editorial, “Apology for Printers,” stated: Printers are educated in the belief that when men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public; and that when Truth and Error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter.

Franklin also wrote: Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech.

We should support The Cornwall Local, and urge our editor to do the most thorough and in-depth reporting that she can with the resources that she has. Then, finally, it is up to us as citizens to read, be informed, ask questions, form opinions, and ultimately, to vote. Then, and only then, are we fulfilling our obligations as citizens of this model (if messy) democracy.

(signed)
Liz Nealon

JOURNEY'S END :: POWERFUL WWI DRAMA PACKS A PUNCH

Journey's End, the story of six British soldiers posted to the front line in WWI, opens tonight on Broadway. This revival was a hit in London's West End, and I have no doubt that it will perform similarly in New York.

The entire play takes place in a candlelit bunker as the young officers talk about rugby, cricket, and other trivial matters, staving off fear and dread as they await a major assault by the Germans, who are in their own trenches only 70 yards away. The cast is outstanding, with a particularly fine performance by Tony Award-winning actor Boyd Gaines in the role of Lieutenant Osborne. The ensemble also features the handsome young actor Hugh Dancy (tipped as the “next Orlando Bloom”) as the alcoholic, deeply conflicted, ultimately tragic Captain Stanhope. I entered the theater expecting to see a sad story about the war's terrible toll in human lives, and it was certainly that. There was no perfunctory, empty Broadway standing ovation at the conclusion of this performance. The audience remained seated, first offering hesitant, then resolute, weeping applause as the actor/soldiers stood at attention in front of a wall of names of the British war dead.

Journey's End was first produced in London in 1928, just ten years after the end of the war. The current director's notes describe the difficulty that the unknown writer, R.C. Sherriff (who went on to write classics like Goodbye, Mr. Chips), had in getting the play produced. Similar to our own feelings about 9/11, the British public felt that the subject was still too raw and painful to address in the theater. This was understandable, given that Britain had endured 700,000 deaths with another three million injured. The play was first presented simply as a staged reading in London, featuring an unknown young actor named Laurence Olivier in the leading role. Current director David Grindley writes that "despite a tremendous reaction by press and public alike," it was an uphill battle to get a commercial producer to mount a full production. Journey’s End finally opened on January 21, 1929 to poor advance ticket sales, gradually building an audience by word of mouth. By the end of the year, there were fourteen productions in English, including one on Broadway, and seventeen more in translation around Europe. The play, rather than exacerbating the pain of the post-WWI era, proved to be a cathartic experience.

Director Grindley, who also directed the 2004 London revival, has done a wonderful job with Journey’s End, which makes a powerful statement about loyalty, duty, and personal sacrifice in the face of overwhelming odds.

Journey’s End is playing at the Belasco Theater, 111 West 44th Street, New York, NY. Running time 2 hours and 35 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission. May be inappropriate for children 12 and under.

IRAQIS ON THE RUN :: WHAT THE WORLD CAN DO

As I have written here previously (Iraq War Spurs Massive Migration), I visited a preschool in the East Amman neighborhood in which Iraqi refugees are housed. Jordanian resources are strained to the limit, housing prices have gone through the roof, and since Iraqi refugees are not allowed to work in Jordan, there is no end in sight to this situation. The U.N. estimates that there are 2 million refugees in the region, with at least that number displaced inside Iraq, as well.

This editorial from the Christian Science Monitor suggests that the U.S. and the U.K. bear responsibility for helping to address the refugee dilemma. We have a long way to go. Since the war begain, a grand total of 466 Iraqis have been admitted to the U.S. as refugees (State Department report at a Senate Hearing in January). In 2007, the U.S. plans to allow 7000. In the meantime, there are many U.S. citizens of Iraqi descent who are desperately trying to get their family members to a safe place where they can work, put their children in school, recommence normal living as responsible citizens. We need a policy around this, and we need it now.

Iraqis on the run: what the world can do | csmonitor.com

LEGACY MEDIA :: DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH?

CNN.com: The demise of old media is greatly exaggerated - Feb. 14, 2007

At the Kidscreen Media Conference last week, a number of colleagues and I were discussing the hyper-critical coverage of children's media in the traditional print press. One executive suggested that print writers are threatened by digital media, and bring that bias to their coverage.

It reminded me of a quote that I've always loved from David Lee Roth, back when he was the lead singer of Van Halen. Roth said: Do you know why music critics write glowing reviews about Elvis Costello? Because music critics LOOK like Elvis Costello.

The person I read on the topic of digital/social media is Mary Hodder, founder of dabble.com. She is a big thinker.
Mary Hodder: Napsterization

THE 99 FACES OF GOD

It was a long, hot walk today in Petra. Although I was completely captivated by the beauty and majesty of the place, and the siq was eventually engulfed in shadow as the sun sank in the afternoon sky, I still could feel that my face was flushed red from the long day of hiking in the steep desert terrain.

As the sun was setting, Mr. Ibrahim drove us to a simple, sidewalk café just outside the Petra gate. The owner brought a tall jug of cold water, and we ordered two big plates of chicken and rice, hummus, yogurt & cucumbers. We sat quietly for a while, drinking and cooling off, the sound of a girl’s voice chanting the evening prayers coming from a television in the back of the shop.

Hearing the child's voice chanting piqued my curiosity. I told him that I knew very little about Islam, and I was curious. If I were a Muslim child, what would be the first things I would learn about my religion?

He explained one of the core tenets of Islam, The 99 Faces of God (also known as the 99 Names of God). As I understand it, Muslims believe that everything we can know about God, and ultimately everything we can know about the entire cosmos is delineated by the Names. The long list of God's faces includes Ar-Rehman (the Beneficent), Al-Malik (the Sovereign Lord, The King), Al-'Aziz (The Mighty), Al-Bari, (The Evolver), etc.

And then he put his hands on the table and turned the palms up facing the ceiling, asking me to do the same. "Now, look at the palm of your RIGHT hand. The lines in the palm of your hand (reading right to left) form the Arabic numerals 8 and 1," or 81, which in Arabic looks like this:




He traced the lines in my palm with his finger, patiently teaching me the shape of the unfamiliar Arabic symbols.

"Now," he said, "look at the palm of your LEFT hand. What do you see?" Slowly, struggling to remember the shapes of the numbers, and pausing to remember to read right to left, I responded "1 and 8....18," which in Arabic looks like this:





"That's right," he said gently, as if he were praising a young child. "And 81 plus 18 equals...?"

"99," I answered slowly, the light dawning. One of the earliest lessons for a young Muslim child is that God is with you all the time - the "99 Faces of God" are literally present in your hands.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if this simple yet vast concept could be the beginning of a solution to the huge gulf between Christian, Jewish and Muslim cultures? All three faiths started with Abraham, and it seems to me that it couldn't hurt to have us all believe that all the myriad Faces of God are present in the palms of our hands.

We could start with As-Salaam in Arabic....האלוהים של שלום in Hebrew….The God of Peace, in English.

12 HOURS IN THE ANCIENT CITY OF PETRA

I had just one free day during my business trip to Amman, Jordan, and was determined to travel to the “lost” ancient city of Petra. Inhabited by the Nabataen people from the third century B.C. until the sixth century A.D., their civilization gradually declined as the overland caravan trade routes fell into disuse. Earthquakes cut off many of the access points and eventually Petra disappeared from the map. Then in 1812 a Swiss explorer named Johann Ludwig Burckhardt made his way through the mountains and walked into the majestic ancient city. Petra was found.

I decided to forgo the buses that run daily from Amman and hire a car and driver (which my hotel happily arranged for about two hundred dollars) in order to make the most of the single day that I had. We drove for more than two hours through the hot, barren Jordanian desert, and then Mr. Ibrahim, my driver, called my attention to the curve ahead. “Watch,” he said quietly, as the landscape completely changed. Sprawled before us, as far as the eye can see, was the richly colored sandstone of the southern Jordanian mountains. Somewhere inside those peaks, I knew, was a massive cleft (“siq” in Arabic) in the formidable mountain range that had caused this location to become the crossroads of the Ancient World. Caravan trade routes linking Arabia with Gaza, Egypt, and the Mediterranean civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome all converged here. Nowadays it is modern travelers who converge in this remote corner of the Jordanian desert to see the ancient city which was literally carved out of the rock, and whose sophisticated architecture shows the influences of Assyrian, Egyptian, Hellenistic and Roman cultures.

As we headed toward the gate to the ancient city, Mr. Ibrahim suggested that I leave time at the end of the day to visit “Little Petra,” about seven kilometres to the north. “Of course, I will need to charge you an extra thirty dinar,” he said apologetically, “but it is worth it.” I wondered if this was a hustle, but then again, I knew I’d probably never visit this remote corner of the earth again. I agreed, and set off on foot into the main city, through the Bab al-Siq. This towering cleft in the rock (walls more than 300 meters high and no more than 12 meters wide) takes about 25 minutes to walk, and leads directly into the ancient city.


Although I had seen many photographs of the incredibly intricate architecture carved out of the sandstone, the towering majesty of the structures is even more impressive in person.
What I did not anticipate from the photographs is the bustle of the bazaar-like atmosphere that pervades the entire route through Petra; “guides” urging you to hire a horse or camel (“You look hot, lady”), stalls offering food and trinkets, Bedouin families selling jewelry. Though rooted in antiquity, today’s Petra has retained the energy of its trading heritage.

I hiked about a third of the way through the city, and by mid-afternoon was climbing back out through the deep siq. Mr. Ibrahim met me at the gate and we headed for Siq al-Barid — Little Petra. I wondered if it would pale in comparison to the majesty of the architecture I had just seen.


Mr. Ibrahim stopped the car, and the two of us got out and began to walk through the shadows of the towering walls of another siq into what appears to have been a residential neighborhood – a quiet village just 350 meters long. A hawk soared in the bright blue sky above Little Petra as we walked in silence, the only sound the wind blowing through the rocks, a Blue Sinai lizard scrambling for cover at our feet.

In Little Petra I had a persistent feeling that this village was still alive. It seemed possible that children were playing and goats were wandering this pathway just yesterday, rather than centuries ago. I wandered into the houses carved out of stone, imagining myself living here, hearing the murmur of voices from homes nearby after dark.

As the afternoon shadows deepened, we returned to the car, and began the drive back up the King’s Highway to Amman. As the city receded behind us, Mr. Ibrahim pulled over to the side of the road so that I could take one last photograph of the rugged stone mountain range bathed in the pink sunset light. I clamored gingerly down the rough sandstone, covered with sweat and gritty dust that I could taste when I licked my lips, making my way down a spot that was an overlook with a clear view across the valley. My guide called from the roadside above. "Your name is Nealon, correct?” I nodded, wondering why he had chosen this moment to verify my identity. “Good,” he said with satisfaction. “We will keep your name always here." Then he shouted "NEALON," and it echoed, over and over, across the rock formations of the Al-Wu'ayra.

THE COPPER CANYON :: LESS THAN PARADISE

We all piled onto a coach bus on Thursday morning and traveled to the Copper Canyon, an area of great physical beauty (a bit like the Grand Canyon, but with dense, green vegetation). It is also the home of an estimated 70,000 of the indigenous Tarahumara people, renowned for their long-distance running ability (their word for themselves, Raramuri, means runners). Most of the Tarahumara still adhere to their traditional lifestyle, inhabiting natural shelters such as caves or cliff overhangs, and they struggle with the problems of indigenous people the world over – isolation, alcoholism, poverty, depression. We visited an orphanage for Tarahumara children while we were there.

Unfortunately, what was billed as an eight-hour bus trip became thirteen hours due to many unscheduled stops to see the sights along the way. By 8pm darkness was falling fast, and the driver was having trouble finding the place where we were meant to stay. Finally, we stopped in the right lane of a two-way highway — there was no real shoulder to pull safely off the road. There was a small sign reading “Christian Center,” and a narrow rock track leading through the woods into the falling darkness. We had no idea whether we were in the right place, but the kids had had it – they all scrambled off the bus like caged animals onto a narrow strip of grass between the busy highway and an active railroad track. I was acutely aware of the parents that I left behind at home, promising that I would keep their children safe. I decided to focus on containing the damage — preventing anyone from being hit by a fast-moving, 3-ton vehicle seemed to be a practical approach for the moment.

Finally, we got word that this was the right place and they were sending vans to get our bags. We crossed the kids safely over the highway, sent them off into the pitch dark woods, and started unloading luggage off the bus. One of the drivers told me that they had cooked dinner for 35 people the previous night, and were surprised that we did not show up. Great. Wrong date. I asked, fearing the worst, if there were any beds available for this night. “Well,” he said, “there is an outbuilding that is under construction, if you don’t mind sleeping on the floor.” Mind? How could we mind? We carried all our things over to an empty brick building with a concrete floor and no electricity. The dust was horrendous as everyone settled in, throwing their packs on the floor and shaking out their sleeping bags. The particles in the air were soon so thick that soon every kid with asthma started wheezing. I made my way around the room, confirming that they had their inhalers (two didn't, big surprise), passing out antihistamines to take before bed. It was feeling less and less certain that I was doing much of a job in the “safe” department.

Finally, at 9:45 pm, the food was ready. Three women managed to muster up crispy tostadas (4-inches in diameter) with lettuce, tomato, refried beans and a sprinkling of cheese. There was just enough for each teenager to have two; the adults settled for one.

Brooding silence as we settled in for what we optimistically called “the world’s biggest sleepover.” Everyone was feeling upset, some scared, some angry, one afraid of the dark. Most were just quiet. This trip was not at all what was promised, and “nothing works, but somehow it all works out,” was not a very comforting thought as we faced a long night on the hard, damp floor.

As we settled down into our sleeping bags, a voice in the darkness started talking about Chewey, the little boy from Anapra. "He lives in a cinder block house," said one of the teen. "I bet he sleeps with a blanket on a concrete floor like this every night. And, you know he doesn't ever have much more to eat than we just did - they never have meat."

And with that, realizing that we had been handed the opportunity to live Chewey’s experience and gain a perspective on his life, everyone fell asleep.

JUAREZ: WE HAVE CONTACT

The sun is breaking through the clouds as we head for the second church that we will be painting, but there is still a huge amount of water in the streets from the storms last night. It rarely rains in Juarez and the sewers clearly aren’t equipped to handle this storm. We set off toward the highway, our vans plowing through the water like stallions fording a river.

By the time we reach Anapra, the clouds have cleared and the sun is blazing overhead. Everything we heard about the poverty here, one of the poorest barrios of Juarez, is true. The electrical wires overhead end suddenly at the outskirts of the neighborhood, rusting cars are everywhere and virtually every modest structure is constructed of naked concrete. As we are traveling, the driver of one of our vans runs over a dog in the street without even attempting to brake or swerve. The teenagers onboard are outraged, some crying after this very personal encounter with the low value placed on life in this forsaken neighborhood.

The job today is daunting. Padre wants us to put white paint on a fence that runs 300 yards around the perimeter of the church. It is constructed of crumbling, unprimed cinder block – very difficult to paint – and there is sand at the bottom of the wall that sticks to the wet paintbrushes. There is not a bit of shade. The sand is full of burrs with deep, sharp spines and is burning hot on this day, which is going to top 100 degrees by noontime.

The teens have requested that they choose the teams and set up the work plan today. They get a kick out of running the show, and enthusiastically dive into the project. As the painting teams spread out along the perimeter, carrying paint, brushes and other supplies to their workstations, a little girl climbs over the wall. She appears to be about six years old, and lives in a house nearby. As she talks with our teenagers, other little kids join her. Soon, our painting crew is supplemented by fourteen little children, all wielding paintbrushes under the tutelage of doting (and suddenly expert) teenagers. Spanish phrasebooks materialize on the steps of the church – now, no one is embarrassed to try speaking Spanish because they want to communicate with these children.

A three-year-old named Chewey steals everyone’s hearts. He is mischievous, affectionate, and funny, with black eyes so huge and limpid he might have been drawn by a Disney illustrator.
As the sun moves higher in the sky, women from the neighborhood are setting up lunch inside the church, which is at least 15 degrees cooler than the glaring sand outside. They carry in huge trays of tamales - steam-cooked cornmeal dough filled with cheese, beans and chilis, wrapped in cornhusks to retain the moisture. The kids traipse inside, hot, tired and sweating, shepherding the little ones in front of them. They sit the neighborhood children down at the table that has been set with cups of cold water and plates of food, standing behind them and waiting to eat until the little ones have had their fill. Could this possibly be the same group of teenagers who just yesterday had goofed their way through a haphazard painting job? Clearly, as our kids have fallen in love with Chewey, the severity of his circumstances has begun to sink in.

No question about finishing the job today. After a rousing soccer match with the kids, our crack painting crew finishes the task and poses for a triumphant photograph in front of the long, pristine white wall. As we pull out of the neighborhood to head back to our compound, fourteen little children are running behind the bus. There is a long silence, and more than a few tears, as we drive away.

A WEEK VOLUNTEERING IN JUAREZ

My Episcopal church is one of three, New York-area churches that is sending a group to do Habitat for Humanity-type work in Juarez, Mexico, and I must admit, I am feeling some trepidation now that the trip is upon us. Earlier this morning, our church held a special “commissioning service,” blessing all of us who are heading off for eight days painting outpost churches in the bleak Mexican desert. A friend who often does this kind of volunteer work in Haiti told me: “We like to say that nothing works, but everything always works out. Lower your expectations…because efficiency is not going to be part of your experience in Juarez.”

Later, as we prepared to depart from the church parking lot, anxious parents thanked me for making the trip and keeping their children safe. Frankly, I am not terribly worried about security, although Juarez is a rough border town. We are staying in a locked compound, and we’re traveling with experienced, savvy, Mexican/New Yorkers – Canon Sylvia and Father Hilario, who is a towering, muscular man with a shaved head and neatly trimmed goatee. Priest or not, anyone would think twice before messing with this dignified, fierce-looking man.

I am more uneasy at the prospect of a week of physically hard work in 100-degree temperatures, using a sleeping bag in a sweltering bunkhouse, to say nothing of chaperoning nineteen teenagers. I know they are not used to this kind of hard work.

“Better you than me,” whispered one of the mothers as she reached past me to give her daughter a final hug.

BACK IN THE US of A

Having been outside of the country for a full week, I'm struck by the over-wrought tone of the American media covering the WAR IN IRAQ! The coverage is omnipresent and the push for ratings is obvious in the urgent "updates" that really contain nothing new. Even my local news radio station, WCBS, gives the time like this: "It's 6pm. That's 2am in Baghdad." It makes me remember why most of my American television colleagues didn't attend the French media conference I just returned from. The tone of the coverage makes it feel very dangerous out there....and by "out there," I mean everywhere. Even here. People are stressed out, particularly in New York.

THE NETHERLANDS WEIGHS IN

This note is from my friend Thé Lau in Amsterdam. He is a recording artist and poet, so I've been eager to hear his thoughts on the current world situation.

Liz-
At the moment I'm often invited by tv and radio-programmes to comment on this situation. What I always tell them is, listen, I think there are many Americans. In 40 years there have been 3 Texan presidents, all of whom were at war. Bush, when watching him speak (and joke) does not resemble any American I know. This might well turn out to be a new Vietnam; I remember Henry Kissinger saying 'I refuse to believe that a third-rate nation like North Vietnam can resist a superpower like the US.'


They did.


Unfortunately people like that are in power, not only in your country. It affects the whole world. These arrogant hawks. Believe me, a huge amount of Europeans can still discern, they dislike Bush, and Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitsch and all the others, but they don't dislike Americans in general.


Let's pray for those poor GI's, who have to do a stupid job, and in case things go wrong will not be thanked for it, whom nobody blames but everybody pities.

Kiss,
Thé

A BRITISH PERSPECTIVE

Annie, my friend from London, has a unique point of view on the current world situation, in several respects. As she learned at her mum`s knee, "America is family - we will always be there when you ask us for help, as you were there for us in the two World Wars. We'll never forget that. That isn't to say that there won't be anything to talk about later....believe me, we'll be talking about what you've gotten us into!" She added that the French and the Germans..."well, they're our neighbours, and we do try our best to get along with our neighbours. But, you're different. You're family."

She also opined that the world might as well acknowledge that we're living at the height of the American Empire. "I know, you don't like to hear that word applied to the United States. But that's what you are. You may not have sent armies in to conquer other nations, but you've done it with your corporations. We might as well acknowledge it and start asking the real question, which is how the world can get the United States to live up to its imperial responsibilities." If you know Annie Miles, you know that this train of thought went on for quite some time. A very thought-provoking discussion, indeed.

LES FRANCAIS E GLI ITALIANI

Today is a quiet day on the war front - activity is stalled due to dust storms. So, the networks are doing background coverage. It was so interesting to flip back and forth between stations to see how the French and the Italians led their evening news. The French angle was "Irak: La Guerre de L`Info" ---"Iraq: The War of Information"....a very controversial topic here in Europe. They presented a roundtable of serious talking heads debating the validity of American war coverage, which many here feel is simply propaganda. The Italian angle was "La Guerre Delle Mamme" --- "The war of the mothers." They did an emotional story about an NYC peace demonstration led by mothers of U.S. soldiers, with many heartfelt "mother on the street" interviews. The two cultures could not be more different, and it was perfectly illustrated by these two different takes on the events of the day.

INVESTIGATING THE OIL CARTEL

German United Distributors announced here in Cannes that they have sold a one-hour topical program called The Cartel, "investigating US president George Bush's connections to the stateside oil barons." The program has been picked up on a non-exclusive basis by a trio of French national networks, including TF1 and France5. "It's an unusual deal as programme sales are normally exclusive territory-by-territory," said GUD's Managing Director, Silke Spahr. This program is available to American buyers here, as well. I'd love to have someone pick it up, for American audiences to see/hear a European perspective.

WAR PROTESTING

Before leaving New York, Chris, Jules and I went to the Peace demonstration in New York City. It was a great day - sunny, spring-like weather...drums beating, chants raised, by a large, enthusiastic crowd. Jules is only eleven, and after we'd gotten ourselves situated among the hundres of thousands of demonstrators, she asked "So, what do we do?" I responded "This is it. You are protesting by standing here and being counted." And I was glad to be able to show her that it is indeed possible to support and pray for the safety of our soldiers while still objecting to waging the war itself.

I went straight from the march to the airport, and was having lunch with my friend Rolf from Munich what felt like just a few hours later. His big question is "what next?" Seeing the U.S. so comfortable in the role of an aggressor...people are shocked, and wondering where it stops...whom do we move against next?

We`ve done so much damage to our reputation as a model democracy based on hard won and inviolate principles of democracy and human rights. Once we`ve thrown that out the window, what next, indeed?

I was sitting in my room last night with a choice of either French or Italian news, struggling to follow the fine details of two very complex stories...the Muslim American Marine who ambushed his fellow soldiers as they slept, and the Al Jazeerah footage of our American POWs. The latter was particularly frustrating because (of course) the French announcer was translating over their voices, when I wanted so much to hear what they were saying in their own words. The translation paused for a moment, and I heard a soldier say "I`m sorry, I can`t understand you." I also heard "New Jersey." I cannot even imagine what it must be like for their families to see this footage.

I can understand why Al Jazeerah is broadcasting this footage. After the unending hours of CNN coverage of the triumphant American "March to Baghdad," American and British officers talking matter-of-factly about Iraqi troops showing no resistance, and "superior" American technology that has blanketed the airwaves (in the Gulf War, too) it has to feel unbelievably powerful to be able to broadcast the other side of the story to the Arab world....indeed, to all of us. The war of images is very sobering. I can only hope that seeing the reality of war will dampen everyone`s enthusiasm for combat as a solution of choice, rather than necessity.

WAR IS ON AND I AM TRAVELING

I will be posting for the next week from France, where I'm attending the MIP-TV conference. I was supposed to go with (and have my trip paid for by) Sesame Workshop. They, like many American companies, have cancelled out of MIP because of the war. I couldn't even imagine not going - so, I'm going on my own. I've downsized my accomodations, and I'll be there Sunday morning.

I have such a yearning to be with my European friends....it's hard to put a finger on exactly why. I suppose partly because I feel like my country has abandoned its principles.... we're acting as aggressors, instead of protectors. And, all the Americans who are meant to be at this conference are suddenly afraid to be in Europe, home of the people who refused to sanction this aggressive action in the first place! I can't bear to be one of those Americans. I want to show my face and speak with the voice of the many, many Americans who don't support this action taken in our names. As Susie said from Sydney, the world needs to hear that alternative American view as a shout. This is my shout...soon to be coming your way from the Cote D'Azur. Ciao.

BOMBS OVER BAGHDAD

The skies over Baghdad were lit up tonight with anti-aircraft fire and hundreds of exploding bombs and missiles. "Shock and Awe" has begun in earnest.

Spoke briefly to Marijke in Amsterdam, and then received this email from her.
Liz,
Don't be sorry to be an American
Neither am I sorry to be European, although I should!
we all do wrong
Let's just be human, now and forever
Pray for the kids in Iraq and their families.........

Kiss your family
xxxxxXXXxxxx
and hope/pray for a more civilised world
M.

THE PURSUIT OF LIBERTY and THE PATRIOT ACT

The Patriot Act, passed in reaction to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, gives the FBI and other federal agencies broad new powers to track down suspected terrorists by demanding records of books sold from bookshops and borrowed from libraries. Previously, Federal agents needed a court order to ask for records of books purchased or borrowed by a specific individual believed to be a security risk. Under the Patriot Act, the FBI can make a general request for customer lists, so that they can see who is reading what. According to a study by the University of Illinois' Library Research Center, 11% of the public libraries in the United States have received a request for member borrowing records since September 11, 2001.

Generally, I think the privacy advocates get a little carried away. People who refuse to use EZ-Pass at highway toll booths because they don't want the government "knowing their movements" seem silly to me. If you're not breaking the law, you don't have anything to worry about. I like the convenience of using EZ-Pass on the highway, and don't worry about the fact that there is a record of my movement in a computer file somewhere.

However, the Patriot Act feels more invasive, in a scary way. I started thinking about what I'm reading right now. Hmmmm.....likely to be a problem if someone cared to look. There are three books on my bedside table. THE QUR'AN: AN INTRODUCTION, by Mohammed Abu-Hamdiyyah. Since I believe that we must engage in dialogue to try to solve the current schism between the Muslim world and the U.S., I am seeking understanding. THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT, by Bryan Talbot - a graphic novel about a girl trying to come to terms with having been an incest victim. A partner and I are considering pitching an adaptation of this book as a youth-oriented film. SMALL WONDER: ESSAYS, by Barbara Kingsolver - many of these pieces were written in response to the events of September 11, and focus on the growing social and economic inequities that she feels contributed to these events. Heck, I subscribe to a daily emailed devotional from www.bruderhof.com, who would technically be considered a "religious sect," if one was looking for a suspicious pattern.

U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders (Indep-Vt.) has filed a bill in the House of Representatives called the Freedom to Read Protection Act. It would restore the requirement for federal agents to produce a specific warrent at to bookstores and libraries. Sanders' bill would also require government agencies to report to Congress regularly on how many bookstores and libraries have been subjected to searches for records and what the searches have yielded that has actually reduced the threat of terrorism. I'm certainly going to let Sue Kelly, my congresswoman, know that I'd like her to vote YES on this bill!

I'VE BEEN READING.....

Amazon.com: Editorial Reviews: If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State
Could it be that there is something so subtle, so magical, so intoxicating-and so dangerous-about this land that it leads parents to willingly sacrifice their children?

In 1998 Rabbi Gordis accepted a one-year sabbatical in Jerusalem, moving his wife and three children from Los Angeles. When they arrived, there was great hope in Israel that a lasting peace was finally being achieved. Things quickly deteriorated, however, and they found themselves (and their children) living in the middle of escalating violence. Amazingly, they decided to stay - they realized that they had never felt such a sense of "home" anywhere. And, despite the danger, they were captivated by the experience of living in the Jewish homeland. Gordis is a moderate - uncomfortable with the Zionist views his children are learning at school, and volunteering in Palestinian refugee camps. His voice is clear and honest, and presents a fresh point of view. I came away with a much clearer understanding of how complex the situation in Israel really is. We hear so many voices dictating "what the Israelis must do" or "what Arafat must do" to achieve peace. Seeing life through Gordis's eyes, it will never seem quite so cut and dry again. This book is a very readable way to dig for a deeper understanding of the current situation without being subjected to the rigid rhetoric that's so often present from both sides of the conflict.

My daughter Julia gave me this book for Christmas. She did the research on amazon.com and decided this was something I would be interested in. She was right. I was captivated.