anger

Oh hey, I was filled with anger.  Ming came home from the Las Vegas Catholic Worker soup line serving this morning and told me the cops are shutting it down.  I feel really upset that the government wins.

Homeless people are people.  The government exists for them!  How is feeding hungry people a crime?

Well, no, the government is for rich people.  Cops are to protect the rich and the property of rich.  Some mayor decided that her gift is to shaft the homeless people of Las Vegas.  So “cleaning up Las Vegas” of homeless people is her legacy.

But these are human beings who need to eat, sleep, take a shower, go to the bathroom, have health care, like anyone.  Pretending that they don’t deserve life and should be driven out of town, literally or figuratively, is enough to enrage me.

I know we face stuff like this, grieve, make a new plan, and try something new.  But dodging cops is a layer of bullshit I can’t stand.  Life is hard enough.

You really want to stop us from helping people?  How can you live with yourself, if your job is to harm?  There must be a better way to pay your mortgage and feed your kids, seriously.

anger

I feel more anger than I would prefer.  My behaviors are ok, but the anger wears me down.  I’m wearing myself down.

Doesn’t help that I’m working on day four of a headache.  Physical and emotional pain can weave together into a mat of despair.  I know the process.

cop oppression process

1. harm from cops
2. rage
3. grieve
4. plan
5. adjust
6. get into a groove of the new way
7. get knocked down again when the cops hurt us a new way
8. repeat

Strength to all of us building a better world with radical mental health, sharing resources, and doing inter-dependence.  I need a vibrant, ever-changing safety.  Living, creative safety.

Love and bodily well-being are basic needs, not strange, unreasonable demands.  We all deserve that.

I find true love in community and service.  Thank you to the friends who help me stay strong to do the work.