We Ride Bikes

Jena Six

Racism is still alive and well here in America.

This entire case was mishandled from the beginning. One of the first things that happened in this whole debacle was the hanging of three nooses in a tree on a high school campus. For future reference, I would like to state so that all school superintendents know, a noose hanging in a tree is not a prank. It is a threat. It is a threat to use fear and terror against a particular group of people. The Jena Superintendent when speaking of the incident stated, "[a]dolescents play pranks. I don't think it was a threat against anybody."

The three nooses were hung in the tree after an African American student and his friends decided to sit under the tree. That is clearly a threat.

This sort of thing saddens and inuriates me. I want so desperately for my son or daughter to see racism as a thing of the past. I want to explain to him or her that Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Dr. King, Medgar Evers, and countless others have not died in vain.

But rather, I'll do my best to teach the child the words of Mother Jones, "pray for the dead, but fight like hell for the living." And to resist with your everday actions and with all your might, that which society attempts force upon you--racism, mysogyny, heterosexism, consumerism, and so much more.

Resist.

Car-free family

Ideally, Laura and I would very much like to be 100% car-free. Right now, she owns a 1971 Ford Bronco that is pretty sweet, but it's loud, unwieldy, and frankly, not very economical. Don't get me wrong, I love that truck, but I'm also glad we don't use it very often. We recently signed up for FlexCar. We have not had the opportunity to use it yet, but wanted a safe and inexpensive way to get to around on short notice if need be. It's pretty inexpensive for how much we foresee using it, but can bump it up if we need to do so.

I've spent the past few months trying to determine how we could go about being car-free with a newborn. There's some solutions, but none are ideal. People do it, but I'm not 100% I'm prepared to go that far just yet. It is a fairly contentious and controversial topic amongst cyclists.

We've talked about saving money for a bakfiets (bahk-feets). They're not expensive if you're talking about cars vs. bakfietsen, but they're expensive if you're talking about an artist and a student. We went by the store here in Portland that sells them. They're really nice. Basically a comfy cruising type of bike, with a really nice wheelbarrow out front. Even the lock is integrated into the frame, so you don't have to carry it, or attach it to a bike rack. It just sits there, like in the picture, only it can't be moved.

Today, or rather, yesterday in a paper out of southern California is a story about a family who gave up their car cold turkey. I think it's a great article, particularly because exemplifies the mentality of setting your mind on how to do it rather than how not to do it. If you read the article and glance through the comments you'll get an idea for what I'm trying to say.

Many people will have a knee jerk reaction of, "no, it's too dangerous" or "I'm too far." These are among lots of legitimate concerns including, simply not feeling in shape enough to do it. This family had not ridden a bike in more than 2 decades. They're not the family that took bike trips on the weekends. These are, for all intents and purposes, the typical American famly.

Take a few minutes, read the article.

As I was reading this article I was remembering a few things from when I was a kid.

I remember riding in a seat on the back of bike my mom was riding. It was a tan bike, with a step through frame, maybe 3 speeds. I had to have been so little, but it was a great feeling. I remember being outside until after dark one evening while my older brother taught me how to ride a two-wheeled bike without training wheels--and how sad I was when that bike got stolen. Then there were the hills past the end of the block where my brother and I used to jump my old dirt bike. For some reason that is lost to the ages, I took the brakes off of that bike and we used to step on the wheel to get it to stop. My brother was actually tapped by a car while he was riding it in the street one day. I think there was a plane flying and he was stopped, in the street, staring at it. Rather than roll down the window and say something, or honk, they actually rolled up to him and hit him with the car.

Anyway, it took a long and winding road to get to the moral of this story which is, I can't wait to be a car-free family.

pf jones

pf jones is the pseudonym that Laura is using for her Saturday Market business. She's also making cycling caps. 

Quickening

At 18-19 weeks, the baby can hear if you talk directly to the mother's belly. We tried to get the baby's three-year-old cousin to be to say goodnight, but I don't think he fully grasps what's going on.

I've spent a few minutes each evening reading books to Laura's growing belly. I always thought that I wouldn't have a problem with this, but it took a minute the first couple of times to get beyond the initial discomfort of reading to a belly button. Last night, as soon as I started reading Laura said she could feel the baby moving.

I'm looking forward to when I'll be able to feel the movements.

A Turning Point

When I started this blog a couple of years ago, it was with the idea of working through my thoughts in words.  Nothing too cheesy, and I'm not a frustrated writer longing to put pen to paper or anything like that, I just wanted a way to think things through in a way that provided an outlet. Self-indulgent? Yes, but it worked--for a long time.

Lately, I haven't been posting, not because I haven't had anything to think or say, but because I was re-evaluating the purpose of this thing.

That being said, I've been hesitating to post about what's been going on because I wanted to make sure that most people heard the news from me and didn't read about it on my blog.

This blog is going to take, sort of, a new direction. Rather than being about me and my life and my experiences of the world around me, it will become about the "what"s, "who"s, "when"s and "where"s of a vegan, car-lite, activist family.  My girlfriend is expecting our first child in February.

I used to think that having children in this day and age was not for me.  I felt that bringing a child into a world filled with hate and violence would be somehow irresponsible.  I could not have been more wrong.

What could be more hopeful, more optimistic? 

If I am to say that humanity is inherently good, and there is in fact enough good to justify saving this planet, I have to be able to act on that statement.  I cannot imagine a better way to be the change I hope to see in the world.

When we first found out, I began looking for guidance.  There's no shortage of books, websites or magazines on pregnancy and parenting, in general.  There's fewer for the first-time dad, but there's some.  So far, the best pregnancy/parenting guide I've found was a gift from my friend Matt, called PlacentaZine #1.  It's a zine put together by a midwifery student and her husband in Austin.  The birthing story and articles are incredible.  They've simply applied the same DIY, anti-authoritarian lifestyle from the punk scene to their parenting style (yes, I realize this is oxymoronic, but it seems to work). 

We have a midwife, and a birthing center.  Both of which are truly great. More to come about those.  As busy as I will be in the coming weeks, months...years, I'll try to post regularly about how things are going for us as a couple, a family, and as a first-time father.

After our first appointments I emailed friends and family to keep everyone informed.  I've edited and retroactively posted those emails so they fit chronologically within the blog.  If you would like to read them, click here and here.

Second Appointment

Laura and I just left our midwife. Today we met Stephanie, an apprentice, who will also attend the birth. For those new on this list of people getting random updates from me, Laura E., is the midwife, who will be assisted by Debbie, an interning midwife, and Stephanie, an apprentice. Evidently, Laura's insurance requires a Certified Nurse Midwife to attend the birth, so we will also have a woman named Jasmine there as well.  It is starting to sound like there will be a bit of a crowd in the birthing room, but Laura and I have yet to talk about it and may discuss some changes if it starts to seem less than ideal.  We are both wanting a serene and peaceful environment and will need to determine if this will be able to happen with so many people in the room. 

There is not much to tell today other than Laura and the baby are doing really well.  The midwives were impressed with how well Laura eats--lots of whole foods and a wide variety of different types of foods.  I was surprised because I felt we ate pretty crappy the week we were keeping track.  It was during the moving and we got pretty lazy, but it turns out Laura's diet is great.  She's also gaining about one pound a week, which is not too much, nor too little.  The baby's heartbeat is strong and about 150 bpm, which is right where it should be at this time. 

Laura E. asked if we were wanting to have an ultrasound to determine whether it would be a boy or a girl, and we are staying strong.  We will most likely have an ultrasound soon, but will not find out whether it's a boy or a girl. Our next appointment is October 5th, when Laura will be more than halfway done.  As we were leaving there was a yoga class beginning in the front room of the birthing center.  It truly is a peaceful place.  I'm excited for everyone to see it when the baby comes. 

If you'd like to read about the Birthing Center, go here: Alma Birthing Center

Institutional Racism by the numbers

Several Democratic candidates have signed a pledge refusing to campaign in states that are "leapfrogging" the traditional primary calendar.  The plan the DNC and 6 of the candidates are supporting has Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.  A couple of the states trying to diversify the pool of voters who will choose the early frontrunner are Michigan and Florida.

Some interesting data thanks to our friends at the US Census Bureau:

                                                      % "White Persons not Hispanic"                              % "Black Persons"

USA                                                            66.9                                                                  12.8

DNC Plan

Iowa                                                           91.5                                                                   2.3
New Hampshire                                          94.1                                                                    1.0
Nevada                                                       60.0                                                                   7.7
South Carolina                                             65.5                                                                  29.2

"Leapfrogging" States

Michigan                                                     77.9                                                                  14.3
Florida                                                        62.1                                                                  15.7

This, to me, looks like institutionalized disfranchisement of people of color. The beginning of the primary season is stacked against people of color who vote. Granted, South Carolina is in there, but usually by the time South Carolina comes around the nomination is all but sewn up. Far be it for me to impugn the integrity of the Democratic Party, but South Carolina is pretext--a lame attempt at 'allowing' diversity.

As far as I'm concerned this is simply another instance of how the system is broken. The Democratic Party is no longer the party of the people, if it ever truly was.

I was talking this over with a friend who seemed to be irritated that I used the phrase "institutional racism." His feeling is that it is merely strategic:  traditionally, save for many Latinos voting Republican in recent years, people of Color tend to vote Democrat; therefore, if you take that presumption and want to get an idea for how white folks are going to vote, then you campaign to a white population.

Maybe I've lost faith in the good intentions of the powerful.

I don't know if I believe there is a cabal of white supremacists out there scheming to prevent people of Color from having a say in the system, but it does look like something is up. The system is stacked against the participation of people of Color in a systemic manner. In a free thinking society that professes to abhor discrimination based on race, we should be up in arms and would want a society that could never be perceived to be racist. This data should spark concern and consternation in us to such an extreme that we demand changes. The electoral process should be so far above reprieve that there would be no question as to its fairness. Therein lies the difference in how things should be and how things are. . .

Advice for 1Ls

This should be required reading of every first year law student in the country. Nice work, Trevor.

Granted, there are lots of other things I wish I'd known before coming to law school, but this is a great overview of what to expect. This basic idea will save you a lot of grief of the "why-the-hell-am-I-reading-cases-from-1545?!" variety.

Updated 29 December 2007 with a fixed link.

Labor Day

I've posted many times over about the farce that is Labor Day. But on this particular day in Chicago in 1928, 300 musicians working in movie theaters struck to protest their replacement by motion pictures with sound or "talking pictures."

Schools is back in full swing, and I spent this last long weekend painting bikes. I'll post pics soon, I think they look great.

Happy Labor Day!