2005: Rae Says No to Antibiotics

2005 marks the first year of my life that I have not been on antibiotics for chronic sinusitis and other health issues. This is my most exciting accomplishment this year. Well, that and trying to stop the war...

A quick update about my life: I am living and working in San Francisco. I started traveling and doing election work with CODEPINK in the fall of ‘04, spent two months organizing in NYC in the spring of this past year, and was on the road for much of the following months working on various projects addressing the local cost of war, countering military recruiters in schools, and general grassroots organizing. After the September 24th peace demonstration in DC (where I was arrested outside the White House—My first arrest, and joyous it was—singing and dancing all the way to the jail house!), I began working as the national coordinator of CODEPINK’s local chapters. This gives me the opportunity to work closely with women around the country (in over 230 cities!) and in England, Ireland, Brazil, and soon to be Figi (where a new chapter just started yesterday!). I hear inspiring stories about what’s going on in small towns and in big cities to spread awareness about this war and the current administration, like tales of Peace Picnics in the park in London, held in lieu of protests, which have been banned within 1 km of the Parliament; stories of demolition and rebuilding in New Orleans in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; and accounts of street theater actions outside military recruiting centers in which actor-activists dramatized the lies military recruiters spin to convince predominately underprivileged youth to sign up for travel, adventure, cash bonuses, job training, education, and honor.

At the start of December, I had the opportunity to journey to Italy for a speaking tour with a group called Donne di Pace (Women of Peace)--we toured the northern part of the country, speaking to high school and college students, the general public, and the government—it was an incredible experience. I wrote all about this trip, my summer road trip from Atlanta, GA, to Los Angeles, and so much more in my online blog at http://ravenjournal.blogspot.com/. I’ve done some writing this year, including: a counter-recruitment article published in LoudMouth, a feminist zine (see pp.10-11 of the downloadable .pdf file at http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/loudmouth/loudmouth.swf); a chapter on non-military alternatives in a forthcoming book entitled 10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Army; a poem that will appear in a women’s anthology called Sisters Singing; and some minor news pieces. I am currently making a hot pot of Sonya’s homemade chai tea, and in the coming weeks, I will be working to assisting our local groups in planning actions for International Women’s Day, March 8. If you are interested in planning something where you live, please let me know and I will help in any way I can.

I am settling into the pace of life in the Bay Area—reconnecting with friends from high school, staying in touch with the East Coast crew and the post-college diaspora, creating a strong community of friends here in SF including the ever-inspiring and dynamic Art in Action folks, and spending time in my hometown with my parents and with my cousin who just moved to the wild west from Kansas City. My stepdad is teaching me how to surf and this morning I actually stood up for a few breaths ;-) When not donning pink wigs, hanging out of a window doing a banner drop, or else mass emailing, I find myself hiking in the redwoods, cooking portabello mushrooms and roasting marshmallows on the gas stovetop, playing balderdash, fighting parking tickets, writing poems on scraps of paper, singing with friends, learning how to use my iBook and iPod (after being a pc person forever), and watching movies and reading books (current recommendations include Control Room, Hero, and the all-time favorite, Out Cold; books—The Kite Runner and Seymour Hersh’s Chain of Command). I’ve broken my heart open to so many new dreams and sensations, and I find myself awestruck by it all.