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For those of you who knew Roger “Bones” Ranch, you understand the way that he could bring out the best in people. As the anniversary of his death passes with the winter solstice, some of us have tried to find a fitting way to remember him.

The holidays can be hard for families struggling to just pay the bills, especially if there are children who’s hopes and wishes sometimes extend past what is fiscally possible. To that end, the “Bones” Christmas Fund was created by Lennie Moren, who was likely hit worst by Roger’s passing then anyone else. You can make a contribution to it here, or by clicking on the link to your right.

The Roger “Bones” Ranch Christmas Fund is dedicated to the memory of our friend, Roger. He passed away on December 21, 2010. It is in his memory that we hope to continue making positive change in the world through the generosity and compassion he demonstrated on a daily basis.

The mission of the Roger “Bones” Ranch Christmas Fund is to adopt a family in need so they can receive gifts and needed items for the holidays. Any surplus funds will be used to purchase items like socks and shaving kits, which will be donated to the homeless in Anchorage at Bean’s Cafe.

Roger inspired those around him to embody the better aspects of human compassion and equality. May his memory continue to inspire others to improve themselves and the lives of the others.

Apologies, but we do not currently hold 501(c)(3) status, and so are unable to provide a tax receipt for donations. However, you will receive a confirmation e-mail if you make a contribution. Please forward any questions or concerns to boneschristmasfund@gmail.com.

Hold your loved ones close to you. You never know how long you’ll get to enjoy their company.

Raise a glass in celebration!

I don’t think I can contribute more to the conversation that is already happening across news channels, websites and blogs. There’s much to be said about the end of the U.S. Military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Here’s what I will contribute, with a little frustration, but mostly relief:

Finally.

It’s a step forward that I believe will have a hugely positive impact on the individual lives and overall moral of our country. A heartfelt “thank you” to those who have fought so hard and so long to end the ugliness and abuse of this policy. I couldn’t even begin to name all of the military personnel who have stepped forward and raised their voices for equality. But I will also give thanks to the members of the military who have served silently under DADT. These folks have served under a military policy that forced them to hide so much of themselves from their commanders, their fellow service members, their friends.

Thank you for continuing to keep us safe.

“What disappoints me is that there isn’t any protest music anymore.”

This was a comment made around the dinner table. It was a valid point.

Kind of.

If you turn on the radio today, you’ll hear idiots. Music is overwrought with idiots (and I was one of them) who only sang about love and loss and the oh-god-I-just-want-to-fall-in-love typology of lyrical irrelevance, there is a definite lack of content on the airwaves regarding the bigger picture. Politics is ignored by bands today (and yesterday, in my case).

A world ago.

Music served, to me, as a precursory lesson in politics before I understood how much our day to day lives depended on policy; in a time where I was young and way too self-absorbed to realize that a microphone had a certain power to it and should be used as such, and not just be a way to alleviate pain on a personal level.

I used to both joke about and fight my band mates’ positions on inserting politics in music. It was for a realistic reason: Politics doesn’t sell. Teen angst does. I was a screwed up teenager at first and jaded quarter-lifer at the end, and I sang about what I knew. And even when I wrote about frustrations regarding the music industry – this giant monopolistic profit machine that killed creativity and replaced it with Britney Spears – I didn’t realize that what I was agonizing over was, at its core, innately political.

But, the way I saw it, politics served as a death knell to a good melody. Rage Against the Machine was awesome, but how many people actually got their message, and how many people were just pissed off and identified with the angry tone? How many people just really liked that they used the F-word a lot (me!)? The reality was that the most repeated songs always consisted of lyrics that involved tragic break ups, unrequited love, and stress over failed relationships. Those are themes that every human being identifies with, and you run zero risk of alienating any portion of your fan base.

Ironically, their are ties to the tea party’s popularity there. The tea party is a populist chorus responding to a big, dumb, lovable, nonthreatening hook. They don’t care about the lyrics, but they love the hook. It just sounds so good.

I’m more about the whole song.

My time in the music industry was spent playing into the musical equivalent to lazy journalism. I had a hot microphone. But even as I was running around from city to city, watching clubs shut down and hearing stories about lost jobs, lower wages, un-affordable health care, and misery in the Middle East – what I would later realize was the beginning signs of the economic collapse – I didn’t make the connection. And, even if I had, I didn’t know enough about anything to argue a valid point.

I did what teenagers do: Sound angry and act accordingly. Again; echoes of the tea party.

The fact is that we need protest music. It builds movements; fuels revolutions. One only has to look at history to see the Wobblies in the 1920s, singing for union workers’ rights, or Marc Blitzsteins’ The Cradle Will Rock (which paved the way for an amazing movie adaption; one of my favorites) in the 30′s. The 40′s introduced us to the likes of Woodie Guthrie and The Weavers.

And then the sixties and seventies branded music as a social media tool. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, James Brown, Jimmy Hendrix – to name a small few surfers in a tidal wave of uprisings – afforded us a connection that wasn’t as easily accessed as facebook, but was hundreds of times more personal, more connected, and more efficient.

Facebook may link us together, but those genius musical minds turned our voices into chords. Into harmonies. Modern day social media is a phone line; music is an instrument.

The frustration prevails today that the trend of music leading the debate has failed. It has died.

I partially agree. The role Clear Channel Radio has played to the music industry is akin to what the Citizens United case has done to our dimming democracy. Condense power, condense control, restrict diversity. As old friends of mine in a band named Fingertight aptly labeled it, the result was “Blah Blah Radio.” (Ironically, they ended up getting screwed by Columbia Records.)

But to those who complain about the last couple of generations failing to produce protest music, I would offer the simple thought that what we hear on the radio is the equivalent of what we hear from politicians on Morning Joe or Fox News. It’s not reality, it’s just a filtered, concocted perception of reality.

The good stuff is out there, it’s just not mainstream. Hell, sometimes mainstream efforts even slip through; Lady Gaga and Green Day are blazing examples. And I can’t stomach listening to the Dixie Chicks, but my respect for them is etched in stone. But, largely, Mainstream wants to sell us Justin Beiber and Lil Wayne and Adele and oh-my-god-please-stop-my-ears-are-bleeding. But good music is out there, waiting to be found; waiting desperately to be noticed.

Protest music is alive and, uh, not well, but struggling and surviving. But my biggest concern is that it is terming out. The bands that survived the dumbing down of pop music and the consolidation of the music industry – NOFX, Bad Religion, Pearl Jam, U2, Rancid, to name a few – aren’t being propped up by newer bands taking on the mantle. And we may end up succumbing to Guitar Hero and allowing protest music to become the next dead romance language.

There are a few, though their numbers are dwindling and they have the roughest go of it, as they fight a repressive corporate machine while attempting to pack substance into our soundbyte, two minutes and thirty seconds, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus culture.

Bands like Strung Out, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Thrice… I know I’d be lost in the wilderness without them.

As evidence of how great things happen under the radar, and in the vein of my recent posts, I implore you to take this in and pass it on. This is a band that bucks the trend.

Rise Against.

And this might be the most powerful music video I’ve ever seen. Learn about it.

Don’t beat yourself up. Rational politics barely have a foothold anywhere in America. This is by design. De-legitimatize the executive, legislative, and even judicial functions of a democracy and the clear distinction can be made between an aristocratic rule and a landed-gentry. Between Obama’s high-flying rhetoric that no one, including Jesus Christ, could live up to, and Anthony Weiner tweeting his junk for the nation to see, and you have the breeding ground for a body politic that doesn’t get their news from their local representatives, their state delegation, or from a self-oriented critical analysis; but, instead, from the Daily Show and Colbert Report, or, unfortunately, Fox News.

When complacence and acquiescence to a system that is broken beyond a point of belief of repair rule the day, the aristocracy can rule without the worries of the populace rising up in objection.

Government becomes the comedy show, and is thus easy fodder for us to ridicule and not feel any ownership stake in.

Here’s the problem: Watching Jon Stewart point out everything that is wrong with politics as usual is hilarious and cathartic. But it doesn’t do anything to improve the situation. Our DVR boxes have afforded us the ability to fast-forward through commercials, but offers no incentive to email our representatives and point out how backwards they have been behaving. It’s self-serving, but not self-situation-improving. While pointing out the tragic pointlessness of our current government, it misses the point entirely in terms of our obligations to fix it; to be involved in it.

This past Saturday in Anchorage offered us two tragic realities.

The first reality was a tragedy on all accounts. Someone died. I use the term “someone” loosely, and for a purpose. To many, (a figure which, in a perfect world, would consist of everybody) James L. Crump was more than a somebody.

As the Anchorage Assembly put it:

WHEREAS, James L. Crump, RN, worked for the Municipality of Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services and loyally served Anchorage citizens in need; and

WHEREAS, James Crump, at age 50, exemplified public service through his dedication in treating and taking care of Tuberculosis clients and their families; and

WHEREAS, through public education and TB prevention efforts, James Crump served as a health advocate for all Anchorage residents; and

WHEREAS, his enthusiasm for the department and his colleagues was evident in his valuable participating as a member of the Safety Team, a volunteer on the Holiday Committee, and his dedication to making sure every potluck celebration and meeting was successful; and

WHEREAS, on Saturday, June 25, 2011, only minutes after it began, Anchorage’s Annual Pride Parade ended in tragedy with the accidental death of James L. Crump, a loved member of the Anchorage LGBT community; and

WHEREAS, James is and will be greatly missed by all who knew him as their care-giver, colleague, and friend, along with his commitment to excellence which will not easily be replaced; and

WHEREAS, the Anchorage Municipal Assembly joins the Anchorage community in mourning his loss;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

The Anchorage Assembly remembers, recognizes and honors

James L. Crump.

The second reality is a side effect of human nature. We don’t like to stare mortality in the face, and we avoid eye contact with it whenever possible. If we are afforded the option of partying on, we party on, and put a blinder towards the sobriety of the situations that confront us. Thus was the case with much of PrideFest, though the organizers did an amazing job weighing the solemn situation they found themselves in with the nature which is Pride Fest: the day we celebrate our community; ALL of our community here in Anchorage. Even the parts of our community that don’t benefit from the protections they deserve as human beings.

Tuesday night’s Assembly meeting sought to address that, partially, in a manner which didn’t address the overarching, “quantitative” manner, but nonetheless addressed the immediate tragedy and loss of life that Anchorage residents, and Alaskans et al., were shouldered with.

I personally thank the Mayor and the Assembly for honoring this man who touched so many lives.

But there is so much more to be done; not only in his memory, but in the memory of so many others. We need to remember that we’re all in this together, and, sadly, we haven’t reached that point as of yet.

When news of this tragedy reached the internet, on websites covering it, like KTVA, comments were made. They were removed promptly, but that does not negate their existence, which bares a sad reminder of where we are as a divided community.

“Well that is what happen when you are at a dirty little Faggit event “

“Just another example that gay life style can be deadly.”

“It is sad to know where his soul may have gone. I wish all gays could see where he has gone, because gays will never enter heaven within the Lord. If only gays knew this they would turn from their shameful life style and repent. I hate to see the moral values of America rotting away.”

“IM not religious at all. And i know that it is wrong. So what are you going to say about me. Its wrong and not healthy to stick it in the wrong hole! Yet, you keep putting it in are faces everywhere. I dont want to here you are gay. I dont tell you Im straight everywhere.”

“What the hell is glee. i am sick of homos pushing their lifestyle on straight people and demanding they except it. I don’t care what you do in your home. just keep it there, and i will be ok. i don’t want my kid seeing stuff like that at a young age because i don’t agree with your lifestyle and i don’t try to force my opinion on others. If I don’t believe homosexuality is ok makes me a homophobe or a superbigot then you should pull the thingy out of your A! ADAM AND EVE DUMBASS NOT ADAM AND STEVE! HAVE FUN WITH AIDS”

I apologize for airing the grammatically embarrassing, dirty laundry of bigots, but it was requested by a friend who stressed the importance of the truth being aired. These comments, and others, were submitted to the Mayor and the Assembly. It speaks to the issue of the “quantifiable” bigotry that has been largely ignored.

We have an education problem. And I have a suggestion. Actually, not as much a suggestion  as a plea.

Thomas Jefferson was a Republican. He was far from perfect – and far beyond imagination from what the Republican Party now embodies, but I believe he got some things right. He believed that policy should be enacted at the ward level; i.e., he believed in local government. He actually believed in government at the most local level; akin to the way our municipal charter tasks us with taking part in our community councils. That’s kind of a good way to get involved.

I believe in that cause. I believe that President Obama is a really cool guy that I’d love to shake hands with and talk to about history, but I know that the reality is that Mayor Dan Sullivan and my Assemblymen, Paul Honeman and Adam Trombley, have more of an effect on my daily life than President Obama will ever have, and I beg the rest of our community to wake up to that reality too.

We need you.

Not just once every four years; not just to gripe about what should happen.

Make it happen.

Here’s one of the bravest people I know, and someone I am beyond honored to call a friend:

From my heart, thank you Chris. I know I told you that earlier, but as Shannyn Moore pointed out on her show earlier: “He showed up. He totally showed up.”

There’s no better fitting description of you. And there is no more important duty tasked to any individual who hopes for change.

Anchorage is a beautiful place to live, filled with the most amazing people I have been privileged to call as friends. But rigid divisions remain, and we need to man up and address them. It’s easy to sit at home and make fun of the brazen idiocy of how politics works. But policy is different than politics, and politicians are different than statesmen. It’s time we demanded one over the other, in every category; in both parties, and beyond.

What happens if we stand up together? The future is ours. We just have to start showing up and claiming it.

Otherwise, Dan Fagan wins. And we all know what that means. Boo-burgers everywhere.

Photo courtesy of Scribbit. Logo by Spencer.

On Friday afternoon, the Anchorage Public Library and the Anchorage Rotary Club proudly announced the grand opening of the Teen Underground at the Loussac Library. Tucked in a corner of the Loussac’s third floor, the Underground is the new home to the library’s Young Adult section as well as a collection of new technology never seen at an Anchorage library before. The space contains ten iPad 2s, ten MacBook Pros, a Xbox 360, a Playstation 2, and an LCD SmartBoard – the first in Alaska, and one of just a handful across the country. The room is also outfitted with two separate speaker systems that can be connected to computers or music players, along with appropriately soundproofed glass walls.

Billed as a revolutionary new space designed to engage youth who have grown out of the children’s section but have not reached college yet, the Library and the Rotary both described the space as a way to bring teens back into the library system. Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan seems to have missed that memo, though – he lauded it not as an important step for making Anchorage more youth-friendly, but rather as an example of successful public-private partnerships. In not so many words, Sullivan added that thanks to his budget cuts, he sees the city needing to engage in more of these partnerships in the future.

During the opening ceremonies, speakers kept mentioning how expensive the space and its technology were, and how creating the Underground would not have been possible without substantial support from grants and community foundations. That much was clear just looking at the room and the amenities offered within. What is less clear, though, is how much teens will actually be able to take advantage of the space.

While grants and foundations provided the capital money to create the Underground, it does not appear that the library has any money to keep the space fully open. The library is already woefully understaffed and underfunded, and it takes two people to supervise the space when the technology is in use, one of whom must be a library employee. The Alaska Teen Media Institute has some grant funding to do workshops and provide technical assistance, which will allow teens to use the computers and other equipment for a few hours a day – I’ll be helping out with this while I’m in town. The rest of the time, the Underground will simply be an expensive new room for a section of the library collection.

What struck me the most about the space’s grand opening is how unprepared the library seems to take on this new responsibility. Following a disorganized opening ceremony in which a room full of young people were repeatedly referred to as abstract “kids,” it was unclear what hours the space would be staffed. Theft prevention for the expensive new devices is limited to the same security strips used on library books, and their current procedures require teens to have a library card before they can use a laptop or iPad – something they can’t get without their parents. On top of all this, management of the space falls under the library’s Youth Services division, which appears poised to use the Underground for children’s programs during off-peak hours – risking alienation of the very teens they seek to serve.

Overall, the Teen Underground has a lot of potential to make Anchorage a slightly more youth-friendly place to live, but it remains to be seen whether the program will be successful or not. The project organizers did amazing work raising capital funds to create a cool and tech-savvy new part of the library, but without the staffing and procedures necessary for the space to run properly, the Underground is nothing more than a very expensive room. If the Municipality wants the Teen Underground to make a difference in the lives of young people, or even to be a successful example of public-private partnerships, they need to get their act together on how the space is going to function – and who is going to pay for it.

–

Tonei Glavinic is an Alaskan student activist and a rising senior at American University in Washington, DC. For more information or to contact Tonei, visit www.frozenactivist.net.

In 2008 I first met the Honorable George “Rithm” Martinez. He possessed the same intense vision that I possessed: one that said the American Dream was for all Americans – no matter where they happened to reside in the Americas! I was taken aback by how BOLD a vision he possessed. It was (is) bigger than mine. Since I believe in allowing Americans to speak for themselves, I would like to introduce you to my friend, RITHM.

RITHM Martinez - First MC elected to Political Office

Hon. George RITHM Martinez: In 2002, I became the first Hip-Hop artist elected to poIitical office in New York, and the first active Hip-Hop artist/activist elected in the country. I then became the Assistant Director of Intergovernmental Relations for the NYS Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer. In 2006, I was appointed by the US State Dept as a Cultural Envoy to Latin America, after being recommended by the first Hip-Hop US Cultural Envoy, Toni Blackman and H2A Founder, Martha Diaz in 2006.

In 2007, I served on my first envoy mission to Bolivia, and have since traversed the western hemisphere as the leading Hip-Hop Cultural Envoy, or Hip-Hop Ambassador in Latin America, having personally conducted over 13 sponsored missions to over 10 countries. The bulk of my work has been in high crime, drug and transnational gang areas, like San Salvador within MS 13 communities or in Managua where Mara 18 dominate. My objective has been simple although the odds have been long: to Use Hip-Hop to inspire peace, unity and social empowerment. I imagine hip hop as a tool – as an alternative to drug abuse and gang violence. I use it to train local and national police on community relations, educators in the classroom and political officials around innovative approaches to community empowerment and democracy building. So far, I and those who think like I do, have been very successful.

Towards this objective we have created the GLOBAL BLOCK.

Interestingly, while most of my fellow citizens have no idea that this type of diplomacy is even possible, in 2008, Congress approved $1.6billion for the Merida Initiative and in 2010 another $165million for CARSI, Central American Regional Security Initiative, through which some of my work has been funded.

Since 2009, Global Block Foundation® has become the hub of my Cultural Diplomacy work in partnership with the State Department, USAID, DoD (Department of Defense) and recently the UNAOC. We have since begun to expand our work to other parts of the world including Asia, Africa and the Middle East. (Global Block Collective® Ambassadors include, Jelani Mashariki, Kima Hamilton, Chris Sagayo, Victor Mangrobang, Clara Guerrero, and others)

It’s my vision to create this kind of opportunity for thousands more, sending our talented youth out into the world as our ambassadors. They’ll take with them the message that America is a force for peace and sustainable development. They’ll bring back the broad horizons and understanding of other cultures that our nation needs to maintain leadership in the global village.

Cultural Envoys

RITHM Martinez performing before Sage Francis in Anchorage, Alaska (May 2011)

are American performance/visual artists, arts managers and educators who travel abroad for short-term residencies. They conduct workshops (and/or master classes), present seminars, or deliver lectures. These activities are conducted in diverse fields, which include, but are not limited to the breadth of intellectual property rights. Think film, video art, sculpture, painting, cultural preservation and heritage, conservation, museum administration, theater, modern dance, music. The goal is to USE arts management and education to build and strengthen relationships between U.S. and foreign countries.

Envoys are sent abroad in response to requests from U.S. embassies and consulates. Envoys work with the host institution for residencies of ten days to six weeks. The Cultural Envoy program enables Americans to develop lasting relationships with specific cultural institutions. They function as much more than a performer, or traditional teacher. As specialists, they are expected to impart a combination of practical and theoretical expertise in their fields. Each program is developed in close cooperation with a U.S. embassy and consulates and a host-country cultural institution, with a focus on introducing counterparts to American artistic techniques and cultural values.”

Of course, RITHM accomplishes all this while maintain his active rap career.

Befitting the memory of Mr. Charles Peterson, Food Bank of Alaska (FBA) launched Summer Foods in Alaska from the Fairview Recreational Center on June 1, 2011.  This is very serious business. FBA estimates 33,000 children face hunger when school is not in session.  Through a network of grassroots-based distribution centers, Summer Foods attempts to fulfill that need.

Like ALL other anti-hunger networks hit hard by the Recession, FBA is in need of greater resources on all fronts.  I learned last week from Dallas-based activist, Sa’tori Ananda, that the federal government did not make things any easier with budget cuts to WIC – Women Infants and Children – amounting to $800 million.  Since WIC’s 9 million “customers” overlap with the 19.5 million children the government serves for School Breakfast and Lunch, I became emotional over such news.  Boys and Girls Club Director Dave Barney had to caution me for cussing. (I was in front of MENO’s house so I did not feel bad.  I had to buy his new album with Jah on it.)

In my anger, I contacted Don Burrell Jr.  He calmly informed me, “The budget’s passed about a month ago.  Remember when they were fighting over shutting down the government?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Well, that’s when the compromises occurred,” Don said.

“WHAT compromises? You know I scanned the material on-line,” I said.

“And, you are about to rattle off numbers,” Don sighed.

“Yes, I am!  Out of every $10 spent by the federal government last year, 30 cents went to education. $1.40 went to social services.  Our priorities are off!!! The current Administration spent somewhere around $565 per citizen – and my daughter doesn’t work! – on Iraq and Afghanistan. To save the $800 million cut from WIC all we had to do is build one less bomb.”

“I know. However, Kokayi, you were not in the room when those decisions were made. You were on a street corner,” Don said.

Which is true; so true that it hurts, on a totally different level.

I know that addressing child hunger is possible. I know that America has all the resources necessary. All that is lacking is the political will to inspire the solution.

I know this in part because I get google alerts from around the world.  Communities in Ghana and the Phillipines are choosing not to wait upon governmental structures to assist them in feeding their children.   They recognize that it is THEIR children who are hungry and not the government’s children.

That said, the only mature political response is to continue organizing with real people in real time to address this very real problem that WE FACE.  Towards this end, we are asking people to connect to us on Facebook. We have a new fan page. We are headed in a new direction. We need to support summer foods and then organize like never before during this upcoming Presidential campaign.

Afterall, We the People run America; not the politicians. We will communicate to them OUR collective will. Our children are counting on us.

Act 1. History.

First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.

The quote is from Martin Niemöller, a German pastor who spent the last seven years of Hitler’s rule as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps. His crime was not that he was a socialist, trade unionist, or Jew – as he affords us – but instead only that he was not an outspoken supporter of Hitler.

He did not play a role in opposing Hitler. In fact, he supported him. The above quote, now engraved in history and cited often, was not uttered until well after the war was over and Niemöller had been rescued from incarceration and torture, by allied troops in 1945. But freedom afforded the Lutheran pastor only a woeful, regretful retrospective on the tragic position that he found himself in – having the ability to speak up, but choosing not to do so. And he lived out the remainder of his life (39 years) chained to a resonating feeling of culpability; a burden made unimaginably heavier by the weight of his own personal scars from his memories inside Sachsenhausen and Dachau.

Act 2. The Absurd.

This past April played host to our annual municipal elections, which this year included Ballot Proposition 11. The question posed to Anchorage residents was whether or not we should require 100% card checks for liquor sales at our box stores (i.e., Brown Jug). This means, simply, if you want alcohol, you have to show valid identification proving you are over 21 and have no criminal record that would prohibit you from purchasing alcohol.

It was an advisory vote, meaning that no legislation would be enacted solely on the yes or no vote that appeared on our ballots, but instead would provide incentive and public support for the Assembly to address the issue. The intent was to help curb the increasing and ever present chronic inebriate problems in the municipality, and put one more speed bump in the road that separates a problem drinker from attaining a drink. Especially when that drinker’s next move is to place him or herself behind the wheel of a car.

I was among those who voted in favor of universal card check. I don’t mind pulling out my driver’s licence when buying alcohol. Frankly, I dodge enough erratic drivers who have mistaken their cell phones for their steering wheels. It is not my opinion that we are running impaired driver deficits, and I am all for stopping more needless tragedies in a thoroughly researched and responsibly implemented manner. And I was not in the minority. The proposition passed by a 67% to 33% vote; roughly two thirds of Anchorage voters agreed that this was a good thing. That was an even higher margin than Prop 9, which extended property tax exemptions to include all veterans. If there is such a thing, that vote is mandate territory.

There is a long expanse, however, that separates that mandate and a carefully scrutinized, functional legislative equivalent. And we are in the middle of that process right now. Testimony has opened up. The original bill extended the scope of the law beyond box stores to include bars and restaurants, causing legitimate concern among business owners worried (for themselves as well as their employees) about being held liable for things beyond their control. Two more versions of the bill have popped up to address those concerns and offer fixes.

Much of the testimony had to do with nonspecific, ambiguous language, or the thought that legislation should be restricted to box stores. Both points represent valid concerns.

However, this concern, offered by a local bar employee, is not.

I don’t spotlight this to chastise this gentleman. But I do it as a plea to those out there who do feel that they need to speak up in matters that they believe effect them.

Respect history.

Before you pluck some obscure quote that you might have seen on a chalkboard on television, or overheard someone say, causing you to think to yourself, “hey, I should use that,” I urge you to stop, drop, and google it. Otherwise, you might confuse your plight of having to sacrifice three and a half hours one weekend (once every three years) getting a TAM card… with living inside a Nazi concentration camp. With being a holocaust victim.

3. Perspective

I’m a big believer in allowing your arguments to stand on the weight of their own merits. Watching the following video, even as I post it again here, brings tears to my eyes and a deep wish that Mr. Crawford didn’t have this argument to offer. This community does need to sift through the debate and arrive at a fair, agreeable piece of legislation that balances the intent of the voters with a practical solution that business owners can palate. But let us, please, take this story with us into the discussion as it continues into Tuesday night’s assembly meeting, so that we don’t have to revisit anything like it again, for as long as we possibly can.

Former Rep. Harry Crawford has the floor.

I must apologize children.  Due to the lure of the internet and the assistance of several friends, I stepped away from the fundamentals of grassroots organizing.  And, it cost you dearly, children.

According to KTVA (Channel 11), your best bet to stave off hunger this summer in Anchorage is George Bell’s Children’s Meal Mission operated out of the Mountain View Boys and Girls Club.  (In rural Alaska, see Food Bank of Alaska’s Summer Foods distribution program.)  The State legislature has decided to determine whether or not it will add 35 cents to school breakfasts and 15 cents to school lunches next year. Which means another 18 months before the State steps in to assist in feeding you.

I experience emotional pain over this failure, children.  After all, the By2015:AMERICA movement supported Senate Bill 3, sponsored by Senator Bill Wielechowski.  In the Anchorage Press we published our intentions to conduct a letter campaign.  Together, with the Alaska Food Coalition we were able to inspire The Anchorage Daily News to do an expose on high school lunch before the end of the Session. All in all, I thought we did a good job of keeping the issue before the public.

However, this was not enough to communicate our will to House Finance committee for a second year in a row.  While local talk show host, Shannyn Moore, announced over facebook how $1.5 million is slated for Astroturf in the Valley and $600K for “potato seedlings,” $2 million to help school-age children get the nutrition needed to make their education worthwhile did not.

The argument presented by the House Republicans is that feeding children is the responsibility of parents, not city or state government. Yes, I agree. However, that is not the issue at hand. The issue at hand is how to fully fund food services provided by schools districts, not parents.  Somehow, we failed to communicate this.

It goes back to something the legendary organizer, Saul Alinsky taught: You cannot do anything outside of people’s experience level.  Child hunger is outside of the legislators who tabled our issue’s experience.  Hence, they can appeal to a value shared by many in our society and side-step the responsibility of the legislature insuring our educational dollars are spent on children with the capacity to absorb the education.  If a child is hungry, all available studies say – universally – a child cannot focus on the information teachers are trying to impart. Thus, it doesn’t matter how much money is spent on capital items, such as the building or textbooks, the education is wasted on a mind that cannot absorb it due to a lack of the necessary nutrients.

This is an old counter-argument. It goes back to Count Rumsford’s efforts to address hunger in the 1780s, shortly after the Revolution. Sigh.

I could get angry. Yet, I have learned that this doesn’t work. The only mature response to political failure is to organize. Or so, civil rights icon, Kwame Toure advised, which means, I must go back to the basics.

On May 14^th I was at the Mt. View Block Party, children. I met George Bell and Don Burrell Jr. there. After exchanging pleasantries I started working.  I took a few pictures with an End Child Hunger sign. Then, I seeded Price Street with copies of “Address to College America.”  On my way out of Mt. View that afternoon I seeded Richmond Street.

I did not stop. That night, Sage Francis, a conscious hip hop artist, performed at Tap Root. I was present with Rithm aka George Martinez, the first MC to be elected to political office. I got over 100 pictures before losing my camera in the crowd. So, I did the next best thing and seeded the parking lot. 350 people were exposed to our ideas that night, children.

Again, I am sorry children. From now on, I will remember that I am a grassroots organizer, not a lobbyist. While I recognize that every American citizen needs to participate in the political process, I will choose to use my time, talent and energy in a manner that I imagine best benefits you.

We will feed you, children. Because, contrary to State or Local politics, you deserve to eat. And, I have a feeling, I am not alone in this conviction.  School is out next week children. See you then.