Who's afraid of...

My friends are super scary, y'all. Consider this your official warning.

We are so scary that Clayton County felt the need to pass a law this week to make sure we couldn't protest there. You see, about a dozen of us held signs there a month ago asking a doctor not to participate in the execution of Troy Davis, a possibly innocent man on Georgia's death row. It was very scary.

We are so scary that the Department of Corrections turns security cartwheels when we arrive at the prison in Jackson to vigil while the State is killing a human being. As visitors, we are allowed just inside the gate (the prison itself is at least a mile back into the grounds) where we are greeted by one after another corrections officers who will check our IDs, ask which side we are on, and tie green plastic ribbons on our wrists to signify we are opposing the execution.

We then are vetted by the Canine Unit; two guards and two dogs search our cars. They are searching for bombs purportedly brought in by those of us who are there because we believe that killing in all its forms is wrong.

You never know, though our folks have been coming peacefully since 1983 to bear witness to the State's killing of 42 men, we just might decide to something do something crazy. Like maybe we'll get those fancy battery-powered candles instead of our usual match-lit ones. Tremble with fear, dudes.

See for yourselves how scary we were today in this photo by Peggy Attaway:



We marched in a funeral procession through the cold rain to deliver this casket and petitions from over 140,000 people collected by Amnesty International to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. The funeral and casket represents the metaphorical death of justice. Following that, a delegation of clergy led by the Rev., Dr. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church delivered a letter signed by 100 Georgia clergy and 400 clergy from around the world to the Governor Sonny Perdue's office.

We are so scary that when I was allowed to enter the Twin Towers building to actually deliver the petitions - this is of course after being quizzed by a Capitol police officer with four of his sergeants backing him up about our intentions - I was personally escorted by Parole Board staff. Mind you, this is the same building I eat my lunch in daily between January and April each year. He remained within inches of me the whole time. In my sparkly hat, pink scarf and drenched velvet jacket I must have been particularly scary today.

I passed one Parole Board staffer after another. I think the officers were surprised when various high-up officials at the Parole Board - including the Public Affairs officer and the Director - came out an hugged me. Why shouldn't they? We have worked together amicably for years. Nothing to be afraid of.

But yet my escort remained next to my elbow despite my warm welcome by his bosses. And the Captain of the Capitol police nervously asked me again the same questions about our intentions when I emerged and we approached the Capitol. Looking at the motley crew in plastic ponchos and green umbrellas, I thought to myself, "how strange that we make them so nervous..."

But then the moment came as we stood outside the Capitol, waiting for our Clergy friends to emerge from the Governor's office. I felt my phone vibrate and saw the text from the lawyers: "Troy has a stay from 11th circuit -- it will extend past the warrant period." This means NO execution on Monday!

As we cheered and hugged then sang and prayed it hit me: THIS is why they are afraid of us.

This post is dedicated with love, respect and gratitude to Laura Moye, a very scary person who is celebrating her birthday today.

Tonight at the Eyedrum- Ground Noise and Static: Free Speech Under Attack at the RNC

A community reportback on protests, police and arrested journalists at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul, featuring on-the-scene video coverage of protests and arrests from Submedia (Vancouver). Submedia is also known as the great filmmaker Frank Lopez, who Atlanta sorely misses. ANd its not just for his legendary "Yer Momma" Halloween costume.

PepperSpray reporters went bravely into the melee, collaborating with Vancouver’s Lopez to issue a daily video report from the streets. Both PepperSpray reporters were arrested, as were so many other media workers, but now they are back, with a terabyte of video clips. Continuing the collaboration with Submedia, they have prepared a report-back from what Republican nominee McCain dismissed as the "Ground-noise and static."

Monday, October 20, 2008. 9pm. Free. At the Eyedrum.

Vote Early, Vote Often

I learned something last week about the upcoming presidential election that I wanted to share with y'all:

Due to the influx of newly registered voters (woo hoo!) and the anticipated crowds at the polls on election day, voters are strongly encouraged to vote early so as help reduce the length of lines. The thought is that new voters may see ginormous lines and be discouraged to wait to vote.

So if you already know you're going to vote, and even if you're sick of the election talk, go do it now! I voted last week on my birthday and it took about 15 minutes and was fun. Yes I'm a geek. Georgians can vote between now and Oct 31 - locations are here.

For a good voter guide, check out: Urban Independents.
This is the voter guide that my friend Kate put out. She surveyed me and many other folks that I trust deeply to come up with these suggestions.

Carnival of the Dead

A Carnival of sorts is coming into town. Think, Ring Master.... Ring Mistress... Freak Show... Oddities... Delight... Contortionists... The Big Top.... Entertainment... Mysticism... Think......
Well, perhaps you should just go on over to http://www.carnivalofthedead.com/!

This year's Day of the Dead/ Halloween celebration will be like no other!!! The space is unlike any I have ever seen-- a club opening by artists for artists. I can't even begin to describe it all here.... you will have to just take this Ring Mistress' word for it and be there yourself!

For $10 (buy online at http://www.carnivalofthedead.com/) you will receive a door prize ticket, unlimited beer and wine, food, access to a variety of carnival delights and all sorts of entertainment..... A portion of the proceeds will go to a fantastic non-profit... Check out the website for more information.

Fire Breathing Diva starts at 10:30. Costume Contest is at 11:30. Feel free to distribute far and wide! All are welcome at the Carnival of the Dead!

Just Lovely!

I had a wonderful birthday week and I am so grateful. It was kicked off by a visit from my parents to Atlanta. We had a weekend filled with beautiful flowers, delicious food, great companionship and even a visit to the Aquarium. My parents are my heroes; I got this great slice of time, lovely natural picture of them at the Botanical Gardens:



Mom took this slice of time of me and Eek in the afternoon sun:



My birthday itself was warm and lovely. My day started with two different bunches of flowers; one was sent by Sandy and the others by Reem and Emil. My siblings note referenced one of my all-time favorite Simpson's songs:



Later that evening, I was surrounded by friends. Mohammad called from the West Bank. Ela, Mica, Sandy, Carrie, Marie and Kirsten came over to my house and we drank too much champagne. Then we went to Solstice Cafe for dinner -- lovely Shelley and Becky joined us there. Our soundtrack was music by my Atlanta favorite DJ Swivel. He indulged me with some Arabic music mixed in.

The strawberry on top of this wonderful evening was that Mica made me my favorite, a beautiful pink cake (not too unlike the one I made her in July). Yes, you counted right- 33 candles - one for good luck of course!:



Thank you all for helping me kick off year 32 with love, laughter and hope!

Atlanta Skyline - October Sunset

Taken at Freedom Parkway and Boulevard. You can see Dr. King's profile in the sculpture at the center of the image.

San Francisco in September #2: the Delicious Food

Mom and I had a marvelous trip to San Francisco in mid-September- this is the second installment of our tales and today I'm focusing on the amazing food we ate- complete with pictures of course.

We got great tips before we left- I relied on the two folks in my life who are San Francisco experts, Mica and Sandy. Mica sent me a list of her suggestions, Sandy lent me what wound up being an invaluable resource, the Slow Food Guide to San Francisco and we made our dining choices with these as our guides. As a result, we consistently had delicious food, saw lovely places, and experienced San Francisco's culinary offerings quite well for a 5 day trip.

Our first lunch was at Sliding Door, a great Vietnamese restaurant in the Ferry Building that Sandy took me to on my last trip here where we dined on Vietnamese spring rolls and crepes.



That night we ate at an absolutely lovely Basque restaurant recommended by Mica and her Mom called Piperade. We ate the most delicious salmon ever- it came with a tomato and onion sauce (a little reminiscent of the Iraqi style of preparing whitefish) and on the side was a fried chick pea and tofu patty- the combinations together are permanently impressed upon my tongues memory.



We had a great lunch from a Japanese Deli inside the Ferry Building called DELICA rf1 - this is spinach with tofu, green beans with carrots and sesame, and a tofu hijiki patty.



Another of my favorites from the Ferry Building were the macarons from Miette, a delightful bakery. Mom loved the chocolate ones but I couldn't get enough of the Rose Geranium ones. They were delicate, flaky and gently sweet. We went back twice for more.



In the middle of our day trip through the vineyards, we stopped in Sonoma for lunch and enjoyed this Tuna Tartine with yellow tomatoes at Girl & the Fig restaurant.



My favorite meal was dinner at Brindisi Cucina di Mare. It started with the best Manhattan I've ever had - made with sweet instead of dry vermouth. It followed with seared tuna and avocado bruschetta:



Our entrees were Gnocchi with Braised Duck Ragout and Pecorino Sardo and Risotto with salmon and green peas, saffron broth, mushroom sauce. Both absolutely melted in our mouths. We ate as Sandy would say, like piglets.





During our walk in the Mission, we stopped to try one of the purported "best veggie burritos in San Francisco" at Taqueria Cancun, a bright and festive stop on our journey. We found out about this place in this great article from the New York Times about the Mission. The burritos are huge and delicious- we should have ordered just one and split it.



Our final night was spent at Mela Tandoori Kitchen, another spot that Sandy and I found during my last trip to San Francisco. I can't recommend this restaurant more- its top notch Indian food and is inexpensive to boot. We gorged on Chicken Tikka Masala, Daal Gosh and Matter Paneer. I should have skipped the filling but fabulous mango lassi at the beginning of the meal.





As you can see, we ate some damn good foods, y'all! At least we walked pretty much everywhere so were constantly working off all that we ate. That's the story I'm sticking with anyway.