a hero of hope

November 30 is Bonifacio Day in the Philippines. Like much of our islands colonized history much of remains murky and controversial. As with Andres Bonifacio, aka Maypagasa - katipunero, revolutionary, hero - Father of the Philippine Revolution. 

Andres Bonifacio - graphic by Renz Bautista for Rappler Magazine

Was he really the first president of the Philippines? Was he unjustly killed by fellow rival Emilio Aguinaldo? After all we do have a long running history of jealous politicos killing their competition. 

I see red

"Not Forgotten" by Maxine Noel

It is Thanksgiving and I have much to be grateful for even if this is the worst year I have experienced since I relocated to the US in 2006. 

"Still Dancing" by Jon Labillois

Since I have made America my homeland I have come to love Thanksgiving even more than Christmas as a holiday of observation. 

MMIW protesters

As a practitioner of shamanism it is a tradition that is fraught with conflicting stories and sentiments. 

Diwali 2020

Diwali festivities start on November 14 this year - a five day holiday celebration. It is the Hindu festival of lights, originating in India as a harvest festival, and now celebrated all over the world.

diya palms protect a diwali flame

Diwali signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, hope over despair. With the Biden/Harris win in the US elections we have cause to celebrate all these with joyous abandon.

In 1927 the Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River opened to the public, connecting New York City and New Jersey - our home for the past decade.

We mark the occasion by lighting candles and special incense, stringing up lights and major clean ups, dressing up and offering our prayers as we celebrate with family and loved ones.

May love and light bless us and happy Diwali to all!

lies we lived

I gave myself Friday, Saturday and Sunday to revel in the US election turnout. YAY Biden/Harris team! Good riddance Trump/Pence cabal. 

I gloried in the joy of the Kamala Harris win most of all. As a woman. As a mother of my daughter. As an American. An Asian American. An immigrant. A rebel. A change warrior. 

I had the great satisfaction of being happy and hopeful once again. Not having to self talk or convince myself that things will be alright. Just being immersed in the joy and delight of what if and all its possibilities. 

All of which I was beginning to doubt as highly unlikely in the shadow of a Trumpian world - the all consuming, morally rudderless, egotistical clown bus, careening out of control. 

hopeful & happy

deluded Donald

Halloween or Day of the Dead - when it comes to Donald Trump there is no cause for celebration or honor. This man with no soul has been the worst waking nightmare for the US and the rest of the world. BOO! 

All Time Liar in Chief

END OUR NATIONAL CRISIS: 

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign poses the greatest threat to American democracy since World War II.

Mr. Trump’s ruinous tenure already has gravely damaged the United States at home and around the world. He has abused the power of his office and denied the legitimacy of his political opponents, shattering the norms that have bound the nation together for generations. He has subsumed the public interest to the profitability of his business and political interests. He has shown a breathtaking disregard for the lives and liberties of Americans. He is a man unworthy of the office he holds.

The editorial board does not lightly indict a duly elected president. During Mr. Trump’s term, we have called out his racism and his xenophobia. We have critiqued his vandalism of the postwar consensus, a system of alliances and relationships around the globe that cost a great many lives to establish and maintain. We have, again and again, deplored his divisive rhetoric and his malicious attacks on fellow Americans. Yet when the Senate refused to convict the president for obvious abuses of power and obstruction, we counseled his political opponents to focus their outrage on defeating him at the ballot box.

Nov. 3 can be a turning point. This is an election about the country’s future, and what path its citizens wish to choose. ~ The Editorial Board, New York Times

conman in chief

#CommanderInChief. . . .honestly… If I did the things you do, I couldn’t sleep

Trust in Trump?

A broad coalition of American patriots is standing up to end the suffering, end the corruption, and end the presidency of the worst "Commander in Chief" in our country's history.

Vote for change. Vote for her.

We will vote.

He will lose.

He will go.

It's America, or Trump.

Are you with us?

The Lincoln Project

a people united against oppressors

More and more communities recognize the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day - either as a joint celebration on Columbus Day or totally replace it. 

Those more conscious choose to acknowledge and honor the suffering of the colonized and not gloss over the injustices of the colonizer, especially those perpetuated by the contentious Christopher Columbus. 

Portrait of Chief Yalektit by Robert Shetterly, Americans Who Tell the Truth

Columbus may have formed part of a large narrative of American history, yet he remains emblematic to the beginnings of the mistreatment of native peoples, the indigenous slave trade, the usurpation of their lands, the deaths of their people, the destruction of their cultures, the destruction of their local way of life.