Author Archives: Starhawk

Home Again–and On To the Next Adventure!

My most immediate new adventure? Next week I’m taking an exciting course in Aquaponics—the system of integrated fish farms and greenhouses that hold immense promise for urban food production.
Posted in Uncategorized, gardens, life on the ranch, permaculture | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

US Social Forum: Resilience

Too many times I’ve sat in meetings having the same conversation, over and over again—where are the people of color? The answer is not to go comb the streets, dragging in random people to make our group look more diverse. Nor is it to stop doing what we’re doing, if it’s the work we’re called to. An effective answer involves drawing a bigger circle, like this Forum has done, that includes all of our multiple movements and issues within it as allies, and if we have resources or skills or connections, saying to our brothers and sisters, “We’re on the same mission—how can I be of service to you?”
Posted in US Social Forum, Uncategorized, gardens, political activism, social justice | 6 Comments

US Social Forum: A Confession and a Great Day

I confess to you all—I stayed so late at the party last night that I didn’t make it up for the 9 AM March for Clean Air. What can I say? I could plead age, or asthma—the march is against the world’s largest incinerator, which fills the air with toxic smells—and I’ve been staving off an asthma attack since I got here. But really I think you should just stop reading now and denounce me. Go ahead. You’ll feel better, and so will I.
Posted in US Social Forum, political activism, social justice | Tagged | 2 Comments

US Social Forum–An Inspiring Day

Listening to Grace Boggs, connecting with the wonderful people she and her late husband James Boggs collected around them, I am struck by how unafraid they are to talk about love. With all the anger, our own frustrations and the violence we face, they still put love at the heart of their work.
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US Social Forum: We Will Build a New World from the Ashes of the Old

Settling into the conference.  We get up late but I manage to catch most of a morning workshop led by an environmental network of youth—so sweet to sit in a circle with all these beautiful young people, again, so very diverse, and hear them make connections between the social justice issues and the environmental issues.  [...]
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US Social Forum–We’re Here!

The organizers of this event have really done it—they’ve brought together a truly diverse crowd. As Lena puts it—“It’s not only every type of person, but every shade and variety of every type.” Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, every race, age, style of dress and political persuasion seems represented. ..The march is a beautiful vision of what a real social movement could be. Ironically, we march through downtown Detroit, an area blasted and blighted by the city’s economic losses.
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Update on the Flotilla

Most horrifying--the autopsy report on the nine Turkish activists who were killed report that they were shot close range, several in the head and face, and multiple times.
Posted in Gaza, political activism, social justice | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Early Monday morning, at 4:30 AM local time, commandos from an Israeli military helicopter assaulted the lead ship of the Gaza Freedom flotilla while it was still in international waters. Soldiers droped from the air in full combat mode and fired live ammunition at the unarmed activists—killing somewhere between ten and twenty people and wounding dozens.
Posted in Gaza, political activism, social justice | Tagged , | 7 Comments

A Writer’s Life or Why I’ve Been a Bad Blogger

Working on something big, like a book, for me is a bit like diving underwater. It requires a kind of ruthlessness, putting everything else aside—as much as that is possible.
Posted in Uncategorized, books and writing | 7 Comments

March 16: A Sad Anniversary–On Rachel Corrie’s Death

Today, Rachel Corrie's parents are in Israel and Palestine pursuing a civil suit against the Israeli government, to hold them accountable for Rachel’s unlawful death.
Posted in Gaza, social justice | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment