Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Celebrating The Revolutionary Spirit

Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism.
Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967

Last week, we road-tripped to Ithaca, New York to celebrate the life of Teresa Jane Shaughnessy Grady, the grandmother of our dear friend Cait De Mott Grady, a fellow Cecil Ave transplant. Here's an excerpt from Cait's eulogy, read with her 13 cousins gathered behind her:
My grandma who found cracks in empire and planted seeds in the rich and fertile soil that’s there. My grandma knew in her gut, in her bones, in her heart, in her spirit, that it is imperative that each of us say something, do something, speak from our specific position within the interlocking systems of oppression — patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, racism, militarism, materialism — systems that work to strip us all of our humanity. And that this sacred work starts with relationships.

Teresa (left), and her husband John, were part of a radical group of activists who creatively resisted war and the skyrocketing growth of the military-industrial-complex in the United States. They were both arrested many times during their well-orchestrated nonviolent protests. This faith-based activism has been passed down to their five children and many grandchildren: Cait's Aunt Mary Ann was released from prison just a few weeks ago for her ongoing involvement with "The Hancock 17," a group actively resisting the U.S. drone assassination program since 2010. According to recently leaked military documents, the Drone Papers, Washington’s use of drones for the last 14-year in a “high-value targeting campaign” has been based on faulty intelligence. In Afghanistan, 90% of those killed were not “intended targets.” This remote-control killing has exacerbated “the very threat the U.S. is seeking to confront.”

The memorial service for Teresa was held in this Catholic Church in Downtown Ithaca...


…followed by a "green burial" at a cemetery plot in the hills about 20 miles away from town. Teresa was not embalmed, on dry ice for 60 hours, buried in a small pine casket built by a couple of her grandchildren.


We spent a little time at the log cabin that Cait grew up in...


…and took in some of the beauty of Nature all around us.







We took the Canadian cut-through to save time!


Meanwhile, back in Detroit, the land kitty-corner from St. Peter's is where the old Tigers Stadium sat for decades. The stadium was removed and it has been a field open to the public since. In the never-exhausted drive for development, the city sold the land for $1 to a group that will partner with the Police Athletic League to create an artificial turf field, residential lofts and commercial storefront.


Spring is definitely here. And the pheasants know it!



Water shut-offs and foreclosures continue…


…and medical marijuana shops are popping up all over our neighborhood.


We went for a run on Belle Isle, the island in the middle of the Detroit River separating the city from Canada:



1 comment:

  1. "My Illustrated Life" by Tommy Airey. Love all the pics especially the last one of the hawt chick in the orange shorts! (Is that PC?) Now you just need to get a selfie stick. LOL Love you both!

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