R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find Out What It Means to Me and Millions of Others

Imagine walking across a parking lot to do your weekly shopping. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. Your mind is on your shopping list. A person passes you by. The person is staring at you. A group of people stand near the store's entry. As you approach you feel your heartbeat quicken, your breathing is shallow, you're looking for an escape route (if only subconsciously). You feel threatened. Everyone is looking at you, intensely. Some continue to stare as you pass by. Someone makes a comment about your body. You feel angry or ashamed.

This is what women feel every day. It's called sexual objectification, and women are usually the target.

I know, V-Day is over. But, every day that a woman is alive she must protect herself. Many of us are not aware that even staring at a woman is a violation of her privacy and right to respect.

Objectification is just what it says - treating another being as an object. For me the word object means form - it is devoid of content, or it's content can be subjected to my own projection of feeling and emotion. I look at a piece of abstract art. A feeling in my body arises. It is connected to an emotion from previous life experiences. I have poured myself into the form that is expressed in the painting.

A person is not a form. Each has her/his own energy/feelings/emotions/thoughts/breath/life. The person is full, as he/she was created by Spirit/God/dess. To place our own feeling/emotion on her/him, we dis-respect that which is already there. When we stare, we are unconscious of that energy, etc., that exists in this being. We do not appreciate this unique creation called human. We do not respect the love and energy with which God/dess/Spirit has created this man/woman.

Furthermore, we disrespect ourselves. We do not appreciate the energy and love that exists in ourselves. If we did, why would we need to project it on another? We would want to honor it and share it in a way that honored others appropriately. We would have boundaries that guarded against those who are unconsciously projecting themselves on us.

Respect is a cycle. If you chose not to respect yourself, chances are others will disrespect you. If you have no boundaries, you won't be conscious of them in others. Treat yourself with respect. Set the boundaries that make you feel safe. Treat others with respect. Keep this as a constant in your life, and defend it when you need to.

Violence against women is committed many times every second somewhere in our world. Even to women who truly respect themselves. Rape is not about sex. It is about power. There are lower levels of violence, like reaching out to touch a woman who has not given you permission to do so. Every woman can tell a story of being groped or grabbed at. This is a step just below rape. Every woman can tell stories of men using their eyes to undress her. This is a step below being grabbed. Every woman can tell of catcalls and stares coming her way. This is a step below being visually undressed.

Would you rape your mother, sister, daughter? How about grabbing at her? How about visually undressing her? How about staring at her body? Violence has many forms from the subtle to the overt. It must Stop Now! Violence destroys the sheer joy with which each woman was created. Respect yourself. Respect others. Respect God/dess/Spirit. Always.


Some great websites supporting the respect of women/human beings:

http://www.vday.org/mission

http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/women

http://www.aclu.org/womens-rights

http://www.now.org/

http://www.tewawomenunited.org

http://www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/

http://www.takebackthenight.org/history.html


If you have been a victim of violence and need help:

Contact information for the Santa Fe Rape Crisis Center: http://www.nmjustice.net/nmsc/juvenile/program.php?id=6510

Contact information for the Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico: http://rapecrisiscnm.org/contact-us

Help in Lincoln and Otero, NM Counties: http://www.sexhealthnews.org/


Reports on rape & sexual violence in New Mexico:

http://www.musc.edu/ncvc/grants/50_states_reports/new_mexico.pdf

http://www.womenscommission.state.nm.u

One of my favorite feminist/activists artists, just for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv1boF2EsVU

HATE BLOCKED! - HB78 Dead!

From Somos Un Pueblo Unido:
The Conference Committee could not agree on any amendments! This means there will be no Conference Committee report to the Senate or the House which means the REPEAL BILL (SB78) IS DEAD!!!!! FELICIDADES NUEVO MEXICO!!!! AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK AND PRAYERS!!!!

Link to HB78: http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/_session.aspx?Chamber=H&LegType=B&LegNo=78&year=11

Say NO to GMO Chile - Que Viva Nuestra Cultura, Comida, Chile!!! Part 2

Despite our efforts, the Joint Memorial 26 (allowing NNMSU to research and develop a GMO chile) made it to the Senate Floor today. It passed: 26-0, with 16 excused absences, including my own Senator Richard Martinez.

THIS IS A MANDATE!

Our leaders don't care to protect our way of life. Politics haven't cut it. We're on our own. We have got to take measures to ensure we and all our neighbors are using traditional seeds!

Please see a previous post on my blog, "Do You Love New Mexican Food" for my solutions to this SERIOUS PROBLEM! What are yours?

A link to how each Senator voted: http://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/11%20Regular/memorials/senate/SJM026SVOTE.pdf

Are We Florida or New Mexico? Voting Heats Up with Threats of Dropping Voters from the Rolls II

From: http://www.newmexicoinfocus.org/inFocus/archives/1879

Former elections director says SOS allegations ‘premature’

By Gwyneth Doland

A former New Mexico elections director says it’s too soon for Secretary of State Dianna Duran to claim she’s found of foreign nationals voting in New Mexico elections.

“This is a good start…but her information is incomplete and it’s premature to be releasing information at this time,” Ivey-Soto said today.

The Motor Vehicle Department’s database includes people who got driver’s licenses without using a Social Security number but could be legally allowed to vote, Ivey-Soto said,

“There are people in New Mexico who have a firm belief that New Mexico elections are fraught with fraud, when in fact, any time anyone provides details and we are able to investigate, it turns out not to have been fraud. And this simply perpetuates these myths,” Ivey-Soto said.

Are We Florida or New Mexico? Voting Heats Up with Threats of Dropping Voters from the Rolls

Thanks to Enrique Cardiel for the head's up on this issue:

"New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran said she has proof that foreign nationals and possibly illegal immigrants have cast ballots in elections in the state." - Dianna Duran, NM Secretary of State from http://www.koat.com/news/27213016/detail.html

Are we looking for any reason to drop voters from the rolls - any at all? Mistaken identities will do! This crew of Republican misfits will cook up anything to continue their shenanigans! In this case, we've got a double whammy - immigrant rights and the right to vote! If Dianna has her way, we'll be back in the suffrage movement again! Iron Jawed Angels Unite!

Email or Call Dianna Duran and let her know that you do not appreciate her prejudiced tactics that disenfranchise New Mexico voters! Tell her to stop harassing immigrants! Tell her to keep her big nariz where it belongs - at work - FOR THE PEOPLE!

Phone: 827-3600 Email: diannaj.duran@state.nm.us

NM Secretary of State website: http://www.sos.state.nm.us/index.html

Say NO to GMO Chile - Que Viva Nuestra Cultura, Comida, Chile!!!

Yes, friends, another last minute request. The fight for our traditional seeds/crops/foods continues. Thank you Estevan Arellano for providing us with this information!

Please CALL and/or EMAIL SENATORS, ask them to vote NO on HJM 26!

(HJM 26 - Disease-Resistant Chile Development: Rep. Donna Irwin – D) - what this really means is development of GMO CHILE, folks!!!

HJM 26 will be heard Tomorrow, Wednesday - March 16th,
...in Senate Rules, Room 321 – 8:00 am

WE need to PACK the room!

These are the SENATORS you need to CALL and/or EMAIL:


Senator Room Extension 505-986 x
Linda Lopez - Chair - D 320 4737
George Munoz - Vice Chair - D 416G 4387
Dede Feldman - D 300A 4482
...Stuart Ingle - R 109A 4702
Timothy Jennings - D 105 4733
Gay G. Kernan - R 415E 4274
Michael Sanchez - D 119 4727
Peter Wirth - D 416B 4276
Kent L. Cravens - Ranking Member - R 414A 4391

Email – cut and paste: linda.lopez@nmlegis.gov, munozgeo@gmail.com, dede.feldman@nmlegis.gov, stuart.ingle@nmlegis.gov, timothy.jennings@nmlegis.gov, ggkern@valornet.com, senatormssanchez@aol.com, peter.wirth@nmlegis.gov, klcravens@alphagraphics.com


This House Joint Memorial states that the Legislature request
the Board of Regents of NMSU be:

“requested to assist farmers with the development of
disease-resistant strains of chile using any promising
... technology and methods.”

This means any form of genetic engineering!

Many of us who know the value of our culture, seeds, and food tried to kill this Memorial. We still have a chance! Tomorrow is the last Senate Rules meeting for the session. We must STAND TOGETHER and DEFEAT this BILL!!!

CALL and/or EMAIL the SENATORS on the list ABOVE, NOW! Save YOUR CHILE!


For more on the bill and why we MUST SAY NO to GMO - CHILE:

http://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/11%20Regular/firs/HJM026.pdf

http://www.savenmseeds.org/

To find more information on the Senators above:

http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislatorsearch.aspx

IDs? We Don' Need No Stinking IDs (Not to vote anyway)!

This just in, via friend and super-guy, Robert Adams,

House Bill 577 (Rep. Brown, R, Eddy County) - Photo Voter Identification Required to vote, the sequel, is on the agenda for House Voters and Elections Committee tomorrow am (Saturday 8:30am). Please take the time to call and/or email the NM Reps who are on the committee (see below).

Let them know that VOTER IDENTIFICATION laws that are currently in place are working well! This bill is not necessary. Tell them to please VOTE NO on HB577!

Thank the Representatives who have voted already this session to table a similar bill - Chair Mary... Helen Garcia, Vice Chair Danice Picraux, Speaker Ben Lujan, Reps Madelana, Martinez, Rodella and Sandoval and ask them to VOTE NO on HB577, tomorrow.

Urge the remaining members who have supported this type of legislation to vote no! See the list below:


Mary Helen Garcia 986-4341      maryhelen.garcia@nmlegis.gov

Danice Picraux 986-4438 danice.picraux@nmlegis.gov

Thomas Anderson 986-4451 kb5ysg@arrl.net

Nate Gentry 986-4249 natefornm@gmail.com

Conrad James 986-4211 conradjamesforhd24@gmail.com

Speaker Ben Lujan 986-4782 ben.lujan@nmlegis.gov

James Roger Madalena 986-4417 jrmadalena@fsipinc.org

Ken Martinez 986-4776 mlo1@7cities.net

William "Bill" Rehm 986-4248 bill.rehm@nmlegis.gov

Debbie Rodella 986-4329 debbie.rodella@yahoo.com

Edward Sandoval 986-4420 edward.sandoval@nmlegis.gov

James Smith 986-4467 jim@jimsmithnm.com

Shirley Tyler 986-4214 sntyler@valornet.com



It's important to note that the battle for IDs in the voter registration/voting process is continuously being fought and went as far as the NM Supreme Court. New Mexico DOES NOT NEED IDs at the POLLS (voting). Our County Clerks have a very good system. We don't need a bill that further hampers our ability to cast our vote!

Many people do not have any form of ID. You don't believe this? During the same year of the Supreme Court hearing on whether a resident needed an ID in order to register to vote, I worked on a statewide voter registration project. I learned that many of our brothers and sisters who live on reservations do not have or need IDs. I learned that many who do not drive in this state do not have or need IDs. They still have the right to vote!

You're a NM resident. You registered to vote. You go to the polls. If there's a question about who you are when you sign in, the voting poll judge and the County Clerk will verify your identification.

Here's one more case of BIG BROTHER intruding into our privacy. Stop this action now, before it becomes law! CALL and/or EMAIL the legislators above, TONIGHT! Thank you!

Many thanks to Robert Adams, Bernalillo County Deputy County Clerk! Robert recently received the 2010 Distinguished Service Award from Verified Voting NM and United Voters of NM!

STOP HATE - Tell Your Legislator that All NM Residents Deserve Their Support

Call and email your NM Senators/Representatives, today! Tell them that New Mexico is not Arizona. We want the safety of ALL community members! Immigrants need NM Drivers' Licenses! Here's the link to find your legislators: http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislatorsearch.aspx CALL NOW!


There are a million impassioned arguments for why New Mexico must remain a place of freedom. I will not make that argument (see links at bottom of page). Instead, I am going to tell a story that no more than a handful of people in New Mexico could tell. I was an Internal Auditor for the NM Department of Taxation and Revenue. I audited immigrants' driver's license applications. I know first-hand how important this documentation is.

In conducting audits, I was given copies of each piece of paperwork that was submitted by immigrants, documented and undocumented, to the NM Motor Vehicle Division to receive a New Mexico driver's license. I was able to check in with the Mexican consulate's website whether the documentation was correct. I checked documentation from other countries according to policies and procedures of the Internal Audit Division. I found that some people did not have the correct documentation. All results were reported to my supervisor through use of a spreadsheet.

As a result of the audits fraud was found in very few cases. But, the important part is that fraud was found. Without driver's licenses how will we detect this fraud? Shall we hire a league of ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers as the front line? Or, should we continue to act as a state and make our own decisions about how to handle issues regarding immigrants?

Our NM legislature has been hijacked through a campaign of hate and fear. The hijackers want us to focus on "illegal immigrants"/community members rather than what's really important - a balanced budget that includes needed services for all New Mexico residents!

You want a safe community? Then make it open, so that people aren't afraid. Require driver's licenses/State identification cards for all residents old enough to drive. Find the frauds and take care of them. Allow those who have gone through or are going through the process of becoming a legal resident/naturalized US citizen to remain, unharassed. Stop the hate! Remember, we are people of a long history of immigration. We respect and welcome all those who come here in peace and dignity. We are New Mexicans!


For more on why NO person is ILLEGAL and news on legislative action:

Somos Unidos un Pueblo's (in English, too) website: http://www.somosunpueblounido.org/

El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos's website (in English too): http://www.elcentro-nm.org/

New Mexico Legislature Headlines on Driver's Licenses for Immigrants:

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Driver-s-license-bill-back-with-a-blast

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/New-life-for-immigrant-licenses

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2006346.shtml?cat=504

Time to Smell the Lavender

How many of you are like me, sitting at a desk reading through emails, checking out Facebook, trying to find the connection to other beings who will calm you and make you feel alright? You may have a job you enjoy. You may have a great family and circle of friends. But, that doesn't do the trick. You're looking for something more. Something that will tell you that you're living in a normal world where you don't have to worry about basic survival. After all, you're beyond that. You know how to take care of yourself. Right?

This age tells us that taking care of ourselves includes lots of leisure time - time to take stress away and relax. But, are we relaxing? I often find myself needing to go online. My significant other may be sitting five feet away from me, and yet I still need more input. I need to know what others are doing in the world. Why?

We are in a time of great upheaval. We have witnessed some of the greatest revolutionary actions ever, in the last month. That which has been bubbling below the surface is erupting. Again. Our tired and huddled masses have lost their complacency. We are no longer willing to be oppressed by those in power. We want that power back. Now!

The thing is that those in power have split our lives up into sections that we can compartmentalize; which, we MUST compartmentalize in order to stay sane in this world of corporate domination. Each issue in our lives seems separate. We do not take our lives as a whole. Today, we are worried about our child's dental appointment and paying the mortgage. Or, how we can afford the rent and the light bills this week. Every day we must juggle a hundred or more things that affect our work, family, health, safety, our lives. These tasks represent our needs.

There is more to our need, though. Many of us are holding ourselves in so tightly to get everything done, that we do not recognize the true needs of the body, mind, and spirit. We have forgotten what it is to lie in a field of grass with the warm sun shining on us. Our bodies crave physical connection, yet we make so little time for the true pleasure of being touched and held. Meditation is nearly impossible with so much happening on the planet.

Robert Thurman, Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, founder and president of Tibet House New York, in "One: The Movie", was asked to show (not tell) what was happening in the world right now. He stared at the camera. After forty-five minutes of recorded staring he looked at the person conducting the interview. He said, "Did you get that?"

What is going on in the world is whatever is going on inside of you - right now. So, how can we clear our heads, and give ourselves what we really need? How we can gain a holistic focus on our lives? Let go of the unrest. Let go of the need to hold it all together. Let go of the compartmentalizing. For thirty seconds close your eyes and just try to feel your hands. Then breathe. Tomorrow, make it forty-five seconds, the next day, sixty . . .

Even those of us with a meditative or prayer practice may be having a difficult time clearing our heads and being "present". Write a list of what is happening right now. Look it over. Breathe. Tear up the list.

Ask yourself what would make you feel content right now. Do that. If it involves another person, don't be afraid to ask for it. Know that you have a right to peace, right now. Let the process of finding contentment be a step in breaking down the compartments and living as a full human being.

For more steps on the path of holistic living:

Robert Thurman's Home Page: http://www.bobthurman.com/

The Dalai Lama's Home Page, including "Finding Happiness in Troubled Times" webcast: http://www.dalailama.com/

Transcendental Meditation - How To - Page: http://www.tm.org

For radio shows from amazing authors: http://www.harporadio.com

Bioneers, Revolution from the Heart of Nature - Non-Profit organization, with incredible webcasts from inspiring speakers taken during their annual conference: http://www.bioneers.org/conference

"My Happiness and My Function Are One" Lesson 66 from "A Course in Miracles", published an disseminated by the non-profit Foundation for Inner Peace: http://acim.org/Lessons/lesson.html?daily_lesson=66

Please add your own favorite site or book through comments!

Vision the Hell Outta' It!

It's time for you to get out of your chair, stop reading Facebook, and dance! That's right, I said dance! Because, compadres/madres, the revolution is here!

Celebrating will put you in the mood to create - create a vision that you are willing to work for. That might mean not watching "The Office" or "Jersey Shore" this week, and perhaps for several weeks to come. But, you will have changed the world. Just by changing yourself! As a friend put it, "if it's the end of the world, then let's have a dance party sleepover!" And, that's just what I'm asking you to do!

When was the last time you felt a buzz of happiness that started as a tickle at the top of your head, stretched your lips out into the broadest smile, gave you happy butterflies in the stomach, and made your knees go weak? Well, that's just what you're gonna get when you start living your vision. How? Follow me:

1. Close your eyes and imagine that you've just woken up and the world is completely different. It's perfect - just as you'd always hoped it could be.

2. Start describing what you saw in this world. Write, draw, paint, use any creative medium to put down just what you saw in that perfect world.

3. Keep writing, drawing, etc. Give it the details that will make it full and lush! Remember, it's just as you've always known it could be.

4. Now, breathe. And, breathe some more.

5. Tell yourself that the change has happened. Believe it.

6. What do you do now in this perfect world? How do you behave? What are your thoughts and feelings? Show it in the creative medium you chose (writing, drawing, etc).

7. Breathe again.

8. Go over what you created.

9. Smile from head to toe.

10. Figure it out. Figure out what each part of your vision meant - whether it was literal or symbolic.

11. Decide which action you will be to take first. Decide to behave in the manner you described.

12. Continue each day fulfilling what you saw in your vision of the world you've always wanted. Step by step.

13. When you encounter obstacles, remember, you can always close your eyes and vision a sea of solutions.


C'mon everybody, dance! Get your vision going on! Then put it down on the ground, make it real!

"Keeping it real is keeping it real mediocre. You gotta' MAKE it real, and to make it real, you gotta' pick it up and rise above the crawl."
- Steve V. (20+ yrs. pro skater)

The Heart is the Matter

I'm 42. I've been organizing informally all my life. I was born into it. However, I received formal training in 2003. My mentor taught me techniques that were from, "La Escuelita". I've been raising hell ever since. No matter what my job is at the time, I manage to pour my activist self into it. And, now, as it has happened so many times, I am between actions. As a friend put it, I'm on the bench.

My friend taught me that being on the bench is a good thing. It's a safe place where one can regroup, recuperate, and dream of the next big campaign - for truth, justice, and sometimes just the right candidate. But, being on the bench can feel strange. It can bring on what we call, "the dark night of the soul". This happens when we must die and rise again to meet the new challenge.

Dying isn't really as bad as it sounds. One of the best parts of dying is that you learn who your friends really are. Because in the next phase, those people go on with you. And/or they are always there with you - cheering you on! Dying also helps us to get rid of all the negative energy that surrounded us as we worked for said truth and justice. It allows us to open to all the possibilities and select/be selected by the next work that will encompass the organizer's life.

All of this death and rebirth facilitate the necessity of strength. That is what my friends have helped me to realize in myself. They have helped me to see the beauty of who I am. Their words and their love keep my heart open even when I am most afraid. They are my treasures. I keep them glowing in my heart. This is what allows me to speak, to act, to be who I am. And, in that - I am very fortunate.

"Some prisoners spent more than ten years buried in solitary cells the size of coffins, hearing nothing but clanging bars or footsteps in the corridors. . .[they] survived because they could talk to each other by tapping on the wall. In that way they told of dreams and memories, fallings in and out of love; they discussed, embraced, fought; they shared beliefs and beauties, doubts and guilts, and those questions that have no answers.
When it is genuine, when it is born of the need to speak, no one can stop the human voice. When denied a mouth, it speaks with the hands or the eyes, or the pores, or anything at all. Because every single one of us has something to say to the others, something that deserves to be celebrated or forgiven by others. "
— Eduardo Hughes Galeano

I send you my love, my friends, compatriots, and allies. I send you my gratitude for keeping me warm on the bench. I send you my thoughts and my words as you keep my heart glowing! Thank you!

Do You Love New Mexican Food?

This is a request to everyone out there who loves New Mexican food and values non-gmo/traditional seeds for help in revving-up a movement! The NM Seed Alliance and Save NM Seeds has built the foundation of the movement by putting up bills in the NM legislature the last four years. Monsanto has blocked every bill that would give teeth to this movement. So, if our politicians won't protect our beloved food, who will? I pick you - the people!

Bills and laws are important. What we do in our own backyard is even more so. How can we stop GMO seeds from decimating our traditional crops/food/way of life? One step could be to create a movement to plant traditional/non-gmo seeds! Do you have seeds to plant this year? If not, please get your seeds from a local seed bank. Many communities have one day a year when they give out seeds. On March 26th, we have NM Acequia Association's 6th annual Pueblos y Semillas Gathering and Seed Exchange, at Northern NM College. (Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=190232330997543) If you have non-gmo seeds, please bring them and participate. This is also a great place to GET seeds.

Other places to get non-gmo seeds include online, your local agricultural extension service, farmers markets, friends and neighbors. Sharing seeds and recipes for traditional foods is something people have done for ages. Why not have a little "pre-season" seed sharing party complete with potluck of traditional foods and their recipes? Make it fun!

Focusing on the encroaching GMO seed takeover is crucial, but so is putting creative energy into local solutions. What are some of your ideas? Please comment!

Some resources:

"Genetically Engineered Crops May Ruin Chile, Farmers Say", from KOAT channel 7 news with interviews from NM farmers: http://www.koat.com/r/27065316/detail.html

Downloadable Seed Catalog: http://www.nativeseeds.org/pdf/seedlistingcatalog.pdf

Seeds of Change - a great online seed catalog based in NM: http://www.seedsofchange.com

"Green Fire Times", an independent newspaper based on sustainability: http://greenfiretimes.com/

Que Vivan las Acequias!, youth sustainability radio show via Cultural Energy, a non-profit organization always bringing you the latest news on community issues in northern NM: http://www.culturalenergy.org/acequia.htm

Information on NM bills that protect farmers and their non-gmo/traditional seed/crops: http://savenmseeds.org

For more information on what GMO seeds/foods are from GMWatch's website of videos: http://www.gmwatch.eu/gm-videos/22-gm-and-agriculture

Trailer of film on GMO chile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cETcYgOIL54

Traditional Agriculture and Sustainable Living Annual Conference put on by Native Earth Bio Culture Council, Tesuque Pueblo, and Traditional Native American Farmers' Association (w/seed exchange) each fall at NNMC: http://www.foodandseedconference.info/

NNMC's Sustainability Program, Sostenga!, where Summer 2011 INTERSHIPS are being made available: http://www.sostengalavida.com/page/page/3912967.htm

read more on the subject on this blog in past and future posts!