Cairo 1

I am teaching English classes on Monday and Wednesday night to men and women from Cairo, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Sudan.

Man, I wish it would rain. Somehow that really sums Cairo up for me at the moment. I guess it may also seem somehow incongruous for those of you in Worcester, which has been getting drenched as far as I can understand. But rain falling on Cairo would be…magnificent.

OK, back up. I’m not sure if these posts will even really be appropriate for pieandcoffee, as I don’t expect to write anything really socio-politically relevant. However, I do hope these posts will be interesting in one form or another or for some reason or another.

At the moment I am about mid-way through a fever which has yet to turn belligerent, lying on our uncomfortable couch typing with my housemate Simon‘s laptop, watching my other housemate Lee eat some Pizza Hut pizza, and listening to Beck’s “Lost Cause”. Lee just said “God, since I came here to, you know, ‘find myself’ I promised myself I wouldn’t party or eat Pizza Hut or anything.” Chomp.
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Fasting and Eating and Understanding

Today is Yom Kippur. It’s also Ramadan. Many are fasting today, and many who would not fast ordinarily are joining them. So if you see a bunch of people looking cranky and repentant, that’s what’s going on.

Yesterday was the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in Worcester. I’d heard of “prayer breakfasts,” but I’d never been to one, so I did a little research and found the Prayer Breakfast Network. Their website does not feature symbols of religion (Christian cross, Jewish star, Muslim crescent, Buddhist wheel) or breakfast (Northern bagel, Southern grits, Western omelette), just a bunch of American flags. Their spiritual heritage page is entirely about Anglo-Saxon Protestantism.

Maybe some towns could have a monocultural prayer breakfast like that, but not Worcester. The breakfast emcee was a rabbi, the opening prayer was by a Catholic bishop, the opening speech was by a city employee identified as a Unitarian, the keynote speaker was Bernard Lafayette (Baptist minister, among other things), and the closing prayer was by representatives from Hillel and the Islamic Society.

Then an Indian man who’d known Gandhi read a poem!

Stuff like that, and the City Council’s choosing religious tolerance over mosque wiretapping, makes me happy to be in Worcester.

Here’s another story that makes me happy to be in Worcester. It’s about some folks who decided to meet their new neighbors instead of fearing them. As told in Worcester’s Catholic Free Press:
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Social Service Siting Report and other items

The report of the “Mayor’s Social Service Task Force” is not yet public, but already plenty of folks in Worcester have their hands on it and are discussing it.

Worcester Magazine leaked the guts of the report yesterday.

Let’s look at what they said. I’ll comment in much more detail once the report is no longer confidential.
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The Re-Dedication of St. John’s Church

The first thing you’d notice upon entering the church: There’s no holy water.

The second thing: The tabernacle is wide open, empty.

Last September, the ceiling of St. John’s Church fell in.

Today, October 2, all the repairs were completed, and it was re-dedicated by Most Rev. Robert P. McManus, Bishop of Worcester.

The concelebrants were Msgr. Edmond Tinsley and Rev. John Madden, who is the administrator of St. John’s.
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Daniel Berrigan, Societas Iesu

All My Heroes Have FBI FilesFirst century Christians were seen as a threat to the powerful. Twenty-first century Christians are not. (First century Christian hipsters probably wore buttons reading: “All My Heroes Are Martyrs.”)

Last night, Father Dan Berrigan, Jesuit priest and FBI “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” laureate, read some of his poetry about war at Worcester’s College of the Holy Cross.

A noted anti-war activist, his most spectacular crimes are behind him, but his example continues to inspire others.
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Arguing against the Iraq War/SP4 verdict in

The St. Patrick’s Four were acquitted of conspiracy to impede a federal officer in connection with a nonviolent 2003 demonstration against the Iraq War. (The jury found them guilty of misdemeanor charges of property damage and trespassing.)

This means it’s still OK to demonstrate against the war.

100,000+ demonstrated against the Iraq War in DC this weekend.

I was one of 30 in Worcester demonstrating against it.

For every person demonstrating against it, probably 10 people are blogging against it.

The best “US out of Iraq NOW” posts of the weekend are from Billmon and Juan Cole. Running Scared has a good summary of the latest arguments.

I recommend these posts because they might help you articulate these “out NOW” arguments to others. Especially those who prefer: “US Out of Iraq, But Not Yet.” (Several P&C contributors are leaning that way.)

Every week in Worcester we have a demonstration against the war–it’s been going on for years. (I recall demonstrating with a “No War On Iraq” sign in May 2002; I can’t recall what news item prompted this.)

Most drivers encourage us, but people still flip us off, too. I wish I had a way to reach out to these folks. Maybe you need a 500-word essay to articulate the argument, and not a 5-word sign.

I went to jury duty today. In our state there is a “one day or one trial” policy, and since they had more than enough juries for the day, my group was sent home without ever entering a courtroom.

How to Do Outreach and Build Community

One-man or one-woman revolutions are sometimes necessary, but should never result from a failure to invite others to your demonstration.

Use e-mail, mailing lists, and phone trees from groups sympathetic to your cause. Put announcements in your local newspapers’ calendars, and put up flyers in public places.

Introduce everyone at each protest. Honor all who join you. Ask for feedback afterwards and try to keep an open mind about incorporating new ideas.

Never use us/they language. Instead, describe problems as things which everyone in the human community must solve together.

Respect for your opponents will increase the likelihood of genuine dialog and eventual alliance.

Author’s note: Before my first demonstration in 1978, I enjoyed a nonviolence training session led by seasoned activists, using a booklet filled with wisdom gained over time. Later on, when organizing protests of my own, I enjoyed the advice of civil rights and Vietnam War protestor Tom Lewis. I have also learned a few things the hard way. I hope How to Hold a Demonstration will make it easier for others to organize powerful and persuasive protests.

How to Pick a Time and Place

Select a place for your demonstration that has important symbolic value and is also visible to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

For example, you may have an arms factory located on an out-of-the-way road. In this case, an anti-war protest may have more impact at a war memorial downtown.

Symbolic dates are fine, but should not be stuck to if more people are likely to attend on a weekend.
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