As some of you know, I've been thinking about PLUR recently. If you haven't seen it yet, or haven't read it for a while, check out the story of where the term came from (hi Laura!), and some early discussion about it:

http://www.hyperreal.org/raves/spirit/plur/PLUR.html
http://www.hyperreal.org/raves/spirit/plur/PLUR_Future.html
http://www.hyperreal.org/raves/spirit/plur/PLUR_Definition.html
http://www.hyperreal.org/raves/spirit/plur/PLUR_Thread.html

Ten years of PLUR! Clearly time for a revival. *grin*

My thoughts keep leaning towards the need for PLUR in the political process. The other day I heard a story of a friend who went to a rally and got called a nazi because she didn't want to hold a sign about Rachel Corrie. Many of my friends (and I) have stopped attending the rallies sponsored by A.N.S.W.E.R. because being anti-war and anti-Bush is NOT the same as being flat-out 100% anti-Israel.

To work towards real peace, we need to start from a place of love. It's not enough to have a gaggle of people marching in the same general direction at approximately the same time -- we need unity of purpose, and unity of message. And most of all, we cannot build strong coalitions without respect for each others' viewpoints.

(Please comment/discuss/etc! This is probably just the first in a series of similar rants as I work out exactly what I'm trying to say, and what I'm actually going to do about it.)

Written after mass protests against the war in Iraq turned into attempts to block the afternoon commute in San Francisco.

When the headlines say "thousands protest in the streets," that gets a positive message across. When they say "hundreds arrested," the message is entirely different.

Not In Our Name suggests:

Saturday, March 22
March and Rally at Noon. Meet at SF Civic Center.

I admit, I don't know if this is the same kind of march and rally as the others I attended (or wanted to.) I don't know if it's indended to be peaceful and positive or angry and random. But I like to have the illusion that most Californians who're against the war are peaceful and positive people, and that most of us will be out there marching.

Today I'll be sending FAXes to my elected (and otherwise) officials, reminding them that we're all marching in part due to anger that our views are being ignored in this supposedly representative democracy. I'll send a different version to Barbara Lee, of course, and I'll most likely send copies to assorted newspapers and to NPR.