Memorial Service December 21, 2010 City and County Building Denver 5:30 p.m. “We Will Remember 150 who died long before their time on the longest night, a national day of remembrance.

Last night, “Scum of the Earth,” held a memorial for those who have died, flying a banner, which read, “There are many who do not have a place at the inn.” We know that many of those who have died lived harsh lives and died long before their life expectancy. We have been mourning their passing every night during this season for twenty-five years for an hour after sundown at the City and County Building. The night before the Sisters of Loretto held a memorial prayer vigil.

Every year a group from the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless reads the names and we say after each,
We will remember.” Many of my friends have died and many have died this year. Joe Pelham is one who we will honor. He was the mainstay of the Catholic Worker House and lived on the doorstep for years at the Catholic Worker Soup Kitchen. Finally, this July he died at a tender age in robust health coming back from fishing, which he loved. Joe was my roommate at the Catholic Worker House in the basement he lived across the hallway in 2000. He was a gentle, compassionate neighbor and we held a ceremony for him with his family at the St. Francis Center this summer.

Many of those who die none of their relatives know that they’ve died. We used to run articles in the Denver Homeless Voice that listed those who died and often we reunited loved ones with their families. Many who are homeless are filled with anxiety that they will die and no one will know.

This year we will read nearly 150 names. This has been a steady scroll for the last eight years. When we began this there were fewer but one of the cynical ways to solve homelessness is through attrition.
We know that the average age of people who are homeless is nine. We know that many veterans from the armed forces continue to die on the street. We know that housing is a healthcare issue. We know that there will be many more names that are read throughout Colorado, In Boulder, in Colorado Springs, in Pueblo, in Fort Collins and across our fair countryside. We call on the people of Colorado and across the land to raise the funds necessary to create a permanent, lasting memorial for those citizens who have been homeless in our land and who died before their time.
Here is what I will read to start the event in twelve hours:

“Let Us Rise”

Where we stand we peer into the mouth of the gaping storm swirling round carrying us up in the vortex of a funnel

We wait standing beneath trembling, huddled together in silence calling for the Great Spirit

By my side a hand reaches clasping a twisted shoulder murmuring, “Let US RISE!”
In chorus the echo reverberates across vast open terrain and in our heads, from our lips together

We awaken from deep repose gazing into a furnace of deep longing

innocently coddling us from remembering where we lost our poise.

Heartily a painted clad warrior revels in lifting us from the depth of despair

Makes a way for us, she rejoins fiercely, “Let US RISE!” WE UNDERSTAND nodding ascent to this plaintive chorus
We MUST stir or be swallowed by the torrent washing us away
Our feet are set on unsteady ground shaking,
Loosening stumbling forward as voices rise “LET US RISE, LET US RISE, LET US RISE, LET US RISE!”

We hearken to the beating rhythm, pressing on, holding one another realizing all we ever had is grace, humility, resilience, perseverance

WEEE RISE! We await an uncertain tomorrow resigned, determined, unflinching in stillness carrying forth the blessing of those who have come here before on this harrowing journey.
We acquiesce that this is not our end; we’re safe and sound, fixed in our stance
WE RISE, WE RISE, WE RISE, WE RISE
AWARE THAT NO WALLS, NO STORM WITHIN withstands clasping hands on twisted shoulders binding together the people
WE’RE HOME NO MATTER who or what MAY PASS!

WE WILL RISE greeting scattered foreboding tempests with circumspect love
Sanctifying what HOMES WE HAVE,
In a CHURNING SEA of EXPECTATION
DISPELLING DOUBT, LOSS, LIVES PASSED

Our spirits soar above the din of the thundering, crackling lightening.
We’re joined by our ancestors, even those yet to come
Seeing herein that we’ve come to fertile ground benefiting EVERY ONE
MINDFUL presence offers stillness inside
Arraying this world brilliantly, abundantly
KNOWING our bursting hearts overflowing, spilling upon the horizon
Whispering “LET US RISE, LET US RISE, LET US RISE!”

Confined Utterly

Through a prism darkly

gazing at refracted light

penetrating a leaf upon leaf spent

that turns over
over
over
without remorse
awaiting destiny

realizing kaleidoscope imaging

comes as close as one will come

gentle
touch
smell
taste
radiant
quaffing down life's mead

breath taking
sensuous
dreams
made by

gathering courage

let's out a great rush

of furious sound

bellicose surrounding

shrouding

enveloping

what carnage wrought

crescendos in the cavern of darkness

trembles
shakes
swoons

loses consciousness

fallen goose down to the floor of silence

in the dank cellar of doubt
stirs
rising questions of veracity

if one knows anyone

touched
smelled
tasted
held
caressed
lapped fragrant waters
lay a head down
gingerly

furtively

kissed

made love

surrendering

in a cavalcade of purloined

forgotten

bereft visions

once on the edge

then

at once

in the pit

soaring above the canyon

plummeting as a wind swept boulder

cracking on the edge of the rim

an egg shell

translucent

veering away from seeing

expecting the blinding night light

searing

telling everything that has gone awry

left to one's senses

ache
writhe
twist
creak

twisted eviscerated limping joints

croak

moaning
wind

howling through

through

touching vaulted canyon's sheer walls

ravines rising forever

slipping out

sheering off the uppermost cliff

pulverized by sun

wind

evaporating

drying out

withered

ah

alone

dissipating

dust storm
immortal penitentiary

oh
spirit

ridding all illusions

beseeching all

lie down

be still

be heartless

that sparkling sunny days

clear sunsets

full moons

serenades

will ever

pierce

pumping fist

heart

throbbing
silhouettes

of maudlin
dawn

Poverty and Work, Earning an Income, Being Vital, Living Fully as a Citizen, as a member of the Community, as a Person, Being a Steward of the Earth, We remember, we know that these gnarled, aching, arthritic hands once helped and we long to help to know that we are worthy, loved, cherished, regarded with loving and grace.

ALL I WANTED WAS A JOB, a place of my own, not a benefit and certainly not to be pitied or looked at as anything less than a participating member of society. Society provided nothing for me to take care of myself. They provided a subsistence wage and little employment and expected me to live off the scraps, the paltry benefits that are offered to the vulnerable and the fragile members of our society. But I would not tolerate being looked down on or objectified as needy.

I would not stoop to kiss the feet of the benevolent benefactor that made it possible to cradle me and keep me out of harm's way. I lost everything again and again and my children felt insecure and unsafe and I looked crest fallen that they suffered in a world that had so much to offer and many opportunities for people to scratch out an existence. I wanted to be highly trained and to offer my services so that I would never look back again, I wanted to feel good about my role in the community and that it made a difference that I could pay my way.

Yet, that was fleeting and unattainable. I looked haggard and slowly but surely gave in to escaping and forgetting where I had come from and what I had. I lost my library, my works, my writing, my serenity and dignity, I could not look sleek and well rested because I slept on the floor in someone else's living room, on the floor in backyards, on porches, in gardens, in alleys, underneath bushes and with tarps on the garden shed floor. I was used to losing everything I had and slowly and surely I lost my way. I forgot to take care of my teeth, they fell out, I forgot to cook, to clean, to take time to be comforted and calm. I did not want a soul to look at me, to caress me, to touch me, to hold me in their vision and regard me with anything other than disdain because I felt lost.

I snapped out and muttered to myself, I looked the other way when a person looked at me and when people were talking I shuddered and felt that surely they were talking about me. I was afraid of the police and I looked for a way to keep from them and be still. I was afraid that I was going to die and lose everything left.

And So I stopped the misery and the bleeding, I stopped the crying to sleep, I lay down and curled in a tight ball, I pulled my feet to my chest and pretended that I was invisible and to the world that hurt and that suffered I was forgotten and unforgiven. I was nothing, a pest, a nuisance, an aberration of the way people are supposed to live and take care of the world in which they are accustomed to living in a rich and formidable world like this.

Peering out from your cave in the blinding light you see blurry shadows and memories of those who, like you have fallen, You recognize their names and places that you cherished, times that you gathered together and handled the adversity. You remember little things like a hand that reached out to help you up, a shared food and drink, a gift that someone thought you would appreciate, a cigarette, a hug, that elusive tough tugging you to come along, a visit in the middle of the night, snuggling under the worn, tattered blanket that you shared and that girded you from the blinding truth of solitary confinement in the prison of your spirit, the blurry dizziness of recalling them, who had walked here and now were but lingering shadows, whispering , when it is your turn to disappear. You feel a pang of relief and grief that you are here among the living and they have gone on. marching on, on and on in a tortured litany of faces and you pause to rest, weary and stunned that so many died.

I Was at the bottom of the ladder, groping in the darkness for a refuge. I did not know that this place is always within and never in fear of loss and diminishment, living on the edge, precariously hanging on to breath, and any morsel of loving kindness, regard, safety, presence of someone who recognized you as a person,

but instead, in the companionship of others and the closeness, the richness of devotion to ritual, to patterns of health and well being, to stillness and calmness that comes from deep within. AND no where else.

THERE IS NO WHERE but this place and moment where we dwell within. There is nothing as all falls away and we realize that this is enough, this whisper, this spark of the divine, this presence, it is we who lift up our heads and wager a bet that we will rise and we will be here for good.

We murmur and stagger on into that good night, we lie restless looking up at the Milky Way. We belong, as we did all along. We count. Everyone.

"I Watch In Horror," From Ken Gordon
Two pregnant women, a teenage girl, a police officer and his brother were shot on February 12[2010] when US and Afghan special forces stormed their home... NATO h
ad initially claimed that the women had been dead for several hours…, but later admitted responsibility for all the deaths. "US special forces soldiers dug bullets out of their victims’ bodies in the bloody aftermath of a botched night raid, then washed the wounds with alcohol before lying to their superiors about what happened,”

The above is one of more than 100 entries at Wikipedia’s, “Civilian casualties of the War in Afghanistan.”
Lyndon Johnson actually had very little interest in Southeast Asia. He was focused on passing the bills that comprised the “Great Society.” All he wanted in Vietnam was to make it go away without a loss of American prestige. As he committed more troops, he thought he could end the war if it looked like it wasn’t going to turn out well.
Too late he realized that he had created a self-perpetuating momentum. Once an American had died we needed to “win” so that the death was not in vain.
We fundamentally misunderstood the enemy and their motivation. They were much more committed to the war on their home soil than the Americans ever would be, and so our attempt to “win” was doomed, and sending more troops was not going to result in success.
It was only going to result in death.
We currently have troops stationed all over the world at an unaffordable cost. Americans spend more money on “defense” than all the rest of the world put together. We are under the delusion that we can control events if we just have enough soldiers and aircraft carriers spread around. The efforts that we take seeking an illusory control actually deny us security.
There are two major problems with our strategy. First having our troops fight in foreign countries helps incite the people of those countries against us. Second the cost of this military establishment means that other countries, like China, who do not spend as much on a military, can spend more on education and the development of new technology. If our economy falters because of lack of investment, our military will falter soon thereafter.
And our military spending is frequently motivated by pork. A Congressman with a shipyard in his district will always vote for another aircraft carrier.
When we put our troops to war in an asymmetrical battle against terror they will inevitably kill innocent civilians. It takes a fairly high degree of justification to engage in a project with that consequence. It isn’t someone else’s job to evaluate the justification.
It is ours.
I remember that in 1968, after a two-credit class on the history of Vietnam, I felt that I had a better understanding of the nationalist character of the Vietnam War than Secretary of Defense McNamara did.
In a documentary called the “The Fog of War” he later confessed that he had misunderstood the nature of the war in Vietnam.
He thought that the North Vietnamese would engage in the same cost-benefit analysis that he had learned at Harvard Business School.
We need to oppose those who actually do attack America. But preemptive war creates the environment for more attacks on the U.S.
I watch in horror as my country squanders treasure in misguided military adventures which kill large numbers of “collateral” civilians in my name.
It is exactly the mistake we made once before in my life. Here is the White House contact site

Do not hesitate to write back with comments or questions, although I have to admit that I sometimes get more than I can promptly respond to. I do read everything that comes in.
Feel free to forward or republish this in any format.
I hope you are well.
Sincerely,
Ken Gordon
Former Majority Leader Colorado Senate
P.S. I am working on a project to try to reduce the influence of special interest money in American politics. I will be writing to you about that soon.
P. P. S. I have recently added a number of people to this email list. I don’t want to send emails to people who do not want to get them. So if you are in that category go to the bottom of this email and unsubscribe.

Web: www.kengordon.com

DAME MARGARET OF DuSABLE’S COURT
A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE DR. MARGARET TAYLOR GOSS BURROUGHS

By Helen L. Burleson, Doctor of Public Administration

There she stood in all her splendor
Uniquely garbed, slight and slender.
Intricate head gear, proudly wrapped
Upon her hair with its natural nap.

An Original, a style all her own,
As is deserving, became well known.
She had long –range vision,
Unobtrusively fulfilling her mission.

They gossiped, obstructed, thought it couldn’t be done.
Despite their envy and deterrents, determinedly, she won.
A meager grassroots operation,
Humble beginnings, at its inception.

The faithful, the believers, the Dreamers
Quietly moved the earth, excluding the screamers.
Always a willing servant, exalting the Lord,
Uniting His people, as befits His reward.

Seeing a void in the recordings of man,
Directed a self-perpetuating caravan.
God made us all in His reflected glory,
She corrected the myths in the recounting of His story.

The American of African descent so long enslaved,
Obscurity, benign neglect, denied what he gave.
His blood and sweat have nourished this earth.
Honesty obliges us to acknowledge his worth.

The little old coach house bulged at the seam.
Move forward, reach upward, expand the dream!
Started in 1961 at 3806 South Michigan, in Chicago, steeped with Black pride,
A place where Pullman porters had relaxed and imbibed.

A GREAT PEOPLE have great needs-
A larger showcase to display their deeds!
The Community – though, somewhat reluctant,
Petitioned the City fathers to a certain extent.

Can’t stop a landslide when impetus gathers,
Jump aboard, grab a line, NOW TIME is matters!
Throwing out the life line,
She allowed each to define
The role he’ll play in his contribution to mankind.
Altruistically, relinquishing the platform to one at a time.
Though not seeking the spotlight,
The aura around her ‘twas bright.

She’s done more than her share
To promote love, because she cared
She labored long and birthed a Colossus of a baby
In 1973, in Washington Park, to be inherited by Eternity.

As her child grows and reaches majority,
Compelling us to insure a viable entity.
We must always remember the one who delivered,
Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs, on whose shoulders it centered.

By the POWERS VESTED IN US, we, your people exhort
And elevate you, Dame Margaret of DuSable’s court.


DAME

Exemplary
a cause for humility

Life is impermanence
Life is shifting sands

In this moment there is everything
savored
in stillness

Senator-elect Irene Aguilar made this statement to all of the Committee members who were engaged in the selection of the new senator:

Irene Aguilar contact her at:

303 601 0955

www.ireneaguilar.info

ireneaguilar.md@gmail.com

“Dear Senate District 32 Vacancy Committee Members,

I want to thank you for your vote of confidence at last night's selection meeting. I am honored and humbled. And I am "off to the races" - starting right now.

I have 4 days left of clinic and so will have limited availability on December 14, 16, 21, and 28. However, I will be checking email regularly and returning phone messages the next day.

I am very excited to be working with such a dedicated and progressive group of people. And I am going to need your help!

Susan Lontine, who is a friend and experienced aide at the legislature, will be working as my aide. In the next three weeks I want to work on organizing our community for change. I would like to make the following requests:

House and Senate District Chairs and Co-Chairs: Please make every effort to fill any and all vacant PCP slots in the next 60 days; the more hands on deck the more effective we will be; PCPs - if you have an email and phone list for the people you represent, I would appreciate your help in updating the email and phone numbers and in finding out from people what issues they are most interested in being involved with.

I would love to create a well oiled machine that can make quick outreach to everyone in the district as bills come up that are of interest to them; Everyone: know that my door is always open and that I will work as hard as possible to advance the platform of the Democratic Party this year and in the years to come.

Please Please Please let me know if I ever do anything that concerns you

- the best way for me to learn is to receive open and honest feedback from all of you; Anyone who can is encouraged to attend and bring your family, friends, organizations to Health Care for All Colorado's community organizing training event on January 8 and 9, 2011.

"Educate, Agitate, Organize - Health Care for All!". While the focus will be on health care the tools we will learn will help us in all of our efforts for change. January 8, noon to 5 p.m.

Denver North High School

2960 Speer Blvd.

Special guest: Rose Roach, Fied Director

California School Employees Association

Activist Training Sunday January 9 - Noon to 4 p.m.

Kirk at Bonnie Brae

1201 South Steele Street

Denver, 80210

Register on line at www.healthcareforallcolorado.org

Call: 303 277 8306

$25.oo after December 15. Scholarships are available!

Check out www.healthcareforallcolorado.org for more information. I plan to open up my home to celebrate this tremendous honor on Wednesday December 29th.

Details to follow.

Enjoy your Holidays. And get ready to work together to make a difference!!!”

Sincerely,

Senator-elect, Dr. Irene Aguilar

Dr. Irene Aguilar pulled off one of the most stunning victories at the vacancy committee meeting of Senate District 32, taking the seat vacated by Chris Romer so he could take a run for mayor in May, 2011. Dr. Aguilar on the third ballot captured eighty votes to Representative Beth McCann's thirty-nine votes. She increased her plurality every single time to take a position as the leader from a field of six candidates.

No one was more inspiring that Meg, Dr. Aguilar's oldest daughter who gave a stirring speech about how her mother never quits and is poised to demonstrate real leadership in the General Assembly. It was one of those moments that is never forgotten when the people rose to decide that what we desire more than anything is sincere, direct, explicit and unabashed leadership.

Dr. Aguilar's platform is simple: she wants to change the way that the Democratic Party establishes their platform, She intends to work conscientiously with all members of the policymakers, setting standards and practices for achieving fairness and balance in the General Assembly for all citizens.

As a physician, she is the only member of the Senate who is from this profession. She will give up her West Side Clinic doctor of general medicine. As she eloquently said, “Many of my patients needed psychiatric intervention and I learned to rely on colleagues in the field for advise.” She intends to take her pragmatic no nonsense style into the bastions of the Senate and in eight years, “my daughter Meg will take my place.”

One of the delegates to the vacancy committee added, “It is time that the elder leadership steps aside and allows young advocates to express their ideals.”
There were 149 possible delegates to the vacancy committee and 123 signed in for the democratic county election. It takes a majority to win the endorsement of the Democratic Party and Dr, Aguilar on the second ballot received sixty votes, two short of the majority. Every ballot she was the front runner. It was clear from the outset that she was the favorite of the vacancy committee.

Among her platform proposals is,

“transparency in governing, along with efficient and effective leadership.”
“Ensuring that the limited resources are spent wisely.”
“advancing state laws that create quality neighborhood schools and providing teachers with the resources needed to succeed.”
“Sponsoring a referendum for a graduated income tax.”

Just as with Governor-elect Hickenlooper, Dr. Aguilar wants to stimulate the economy through:

“Federal funds which are earmarked for programs.”
“cash funds or fees, taxes and fines that are returned to the program from which they are collected.”
“General fund revenue which is collected through individual income tax, and corporate income tax.”

Dr. Aguilar will be the vice chair of the Business, Labor and Technology Committee. In this service she will create jobs.
“I will support small and local businesses while preventing large corporations from gaming our incentives.” “I will be sure that the insurance industry does not take advantage of consumers.”

She goes on to talk about protecting the safety net in concrete terms:

“As a member of the Health and Human Services Committee I will protect our safety net by identifying ways in which we can streamline access and decrease administrative overhead. This will allow us to use our limited resources to provide services to more people. I will be fiscally conservative, but socially just.”

She then talks about the economic constraints on state government.

“I will educate the public about the value of taxes.”
“As a member of the Local Government and Energy Committee I will hold oil and gas companies accountable. I will make sure that they pay their fair share in taxes..
“I will introduce a referendum to revise out tax structure so that 95% of Coloradans who make less than $200,000 annually no longer unfairly bear the burden of our tax base ans we can invest in our communities and create the Colorado we want for our children.”

Dr. Aguilar, spoke with simple eloquence. Her proud father Frank, her distinguished husband Tom and her eloquent daughter Meg, led the charge. When they came onto the stage in the auditorium at South High School the cheers and energy were palpable throughout the crisp clear night. No one was more moved than the officials of the Democratic Party who saw emerge one of the outstanding progressive candidates.

Dr. Aguilar insists that she will work across the aisle and invite conversation and compassion for all citizens to feel that this candidate and now elected senator will represent and listen faithfully to her constituents. And while we have lost a doctor with poise and acumen, who is beloved by her patients and friends, we have gained a true champion of the rights and privileges of elected office.

Senator-elect Irene Aguilar had this message late last night to all of the Democratic Precinct Committee members who were engaged in the selection of the new senator:

“Dear Senate District 32 Vacancy Committee Members, 

I want to thank you for your vote of confidence at last night's selection meeting. I am honored and humbled. And I am "off to the races" - starting right now.

I have 4 days left of clinic and so will have limited availability on December 14, 16, 21, and 28.  However, I will be checking email regularly and returning phone messages the next day. 

I am very excited to be working with such a dedicated and progressive group of people. And I am going to need your help!

Susan Lontine, who is a friend and experienced aide at the legislature, will be working as my aide.  In the next three weeks I want to work on organizing our community for change.  I would like to make the following requests:

House and Senate District Chairs and Co-Chairs:  Please make every effort to fill any and all vacant PCP slots in the next 60 days; the more hands on deck the more effective we will be;
PCPs - if you have an email and phone list for the people you represent, I would appreciate your help in updating the email and phone numbers and in finding out from people what issues they are most interested in being involved with. I would love to create a well oiled machine that can make quick outreach to everyone in the district as bills come up that are of interest to them;
Everyone:  know that my door is always open and that I will work as hard as possible to advance the platform of the Democratic Party this year and in the years to come. Please Please Please let me know if I ever do anything that concerns you - the best way for me to learn is to receive open and honest feedback from all of you;
Anyone who can is encouraged to attend and bring your family, friends, organizations to Health Care for All Colorado's community organizing training event on January 8 and 9, 2011.  "Educate, Agitate, Organize - Health Care for All!".  While the focus will be on health care the tools we will learn will help us in all of our efforts for change.  Check out www.healthcareforallcolorado.org for more information.
I plan to open up my home to celebrate this tremendous honor on Wednesday December 29th.  Details to follow.
Enjoy your Holidays. And get ready to work together to make a difference!!!”

Sincerely,

Senator-elect, Dr. Irene Aguilar