Thursday, May 15, 2014

"It should be a matter of conscience for us all"
-- Nolumbeka Project's Diane Dix in Greenfield Recorder



Dear Friends,

Within the next week the Annual Commemoration of the Infamous Great Falls Massacre of 1676 and a historic vote by the Greenfield (MA) Town Council will take place. The efforts to protect the Ancestors at White Ash Swamp hang in the balance.

This is a unique opportunity to make an important choice. We can either turn our backs on the tragic history and current reality of the encounter between our region's Native Americans and the Europeans who colonized the area -- or take action.

Please support the Nolumbeka Project in its efforts to heal the wounds of our shared past and move into a future that respects the rich cultural and spiritual legacy of New England's First Peoples.

It's time.

Join Nolumbeka Project on Saturday, May 18 at the Great Falls Discovery Center, Turners Falls, 11-3 PM for the Annual Commemoration and/or please support their efforts to pass the Native American Burial Ordinance at the Greenfield Town Council Vote on Wednesday, May 21, 7 PM, GCTV Studios, 393 Main Street, Greenfield.

I encourage you to call or write the members of the Greenfield Town Council and to attend the May 21 meeting to show your support if you can. 

For more information on each of these events and a contact list for the members of the Greenfield Town Council please visit the Nolumbeka Project website:

www.nolumbekaproject.org


Still Rambling On,
Brother Lefty

My Humble Take on the Real Deal

I believe that the movement for peace, economic democracy and social justice is a Spiritual Quest. No mean feat, what is called for is a True Revolution of the Heart and Mind--and it starts with each of us.

This revolution has to be Peaceful. The Hippies (and Jesus and Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King, et al) had it right. It really is all about Peace and Love. Besides being a total drag, violence just doesn't work. It keeps our wheels spinning in fear, anger and pain. Who needs that?

Besides some hard work, I think the Revolution also calls for dancing, plenty of laughter, and some sitting around just doing nothing. (Some folks call it meditation.)


As Stephen Gaskin, proclaimed years ago:

"We're out to raise Hell--in the Bodhisattvic* sense."

Doesn't that sound like some serious fun?

(*The Bodhisattva Vow is a set of commitments made in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. It basically says I vow to get my act together and figure it out well enough to really help out--and I ain't gonna stop until everybody is covered.

I've found that doesn't necessarily have to happen in that order. It's best to try to help out even before you have it all together! Like right now.)

-----Brother Lefty Smith, Founding S.O.B*