Earlier this month, Bloomberg’s Lynn Doan seemed satisfied with out of touch reporting, first with a paternalistic take on a day dedicated to honoring the Indigenous wisdom of the Acjachemen Nation and that of our collective Ancestors, and then reporting in a conversation dismissive of nuclear risks and threats. Here is the response from SoCal 350 member Marilyn Fuss.
The June 9, 2018 Acjachemen Wisdom Day recognized the original people of Orange County, the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians Acjachemen Nation, and the need to safely preserve their ancestral homelands for future generations.
Dear Ms. Doan:
It’s an easy swipe to ascribe the lotus eaters’ trait to us Californians. Often it is even deserved. However, the action that the Acjachemen Nation took around its precious ancestral lands (now threatened by spent uranium enclosed in sometimes wobbly 5/8-inch-thick canisters on a beach near a fault, and with rising water and storm levels earth-wide), joined by 350.org, the Sierra Club, and other environmental groups, was not lightly considered. I am not speaking officially for any of those groups, though I was and am a participant.
Having demonstrated against wars and other injustices for decades, some of us have noted that at times, it is large numbers that will get the attention of the public at large. Speeches, songs, chants, political theater, editorials, broadsheets, pamphlets, suggestions for ballot measures or candidates, the act of pulling people into some responsibility by registering them to vote…. It’s hard to know what will raise the consciousness of which individual. So we try many methods. Art in all its forms is usually a unifier, a healer, a means of growth, and often a delight. This was the aspiration of the earth-bound, meditative action you lightly dealt with in your usually more even-handed format. Thanks so much for reading this.
Sincerely,
Marilyn
See more from Acjachemen Wisdom Day on June 9, 2018, with the photo journal and video, below.