I have safely crossed the Mason Dixon line and I write this missive from a cozy anarchist bookstore/coffee shop called Red Emma’s in Baltimore. Well, I say “safely crossed”, but I was in no more danger in the American south than in any other part of this fucked up country. In all honestly I love the south. Having lived for almost 12 years in Atlanta and having traveled extensively through Dixieland, I was able to let go of stereotypes injected into my young mind by Hollywood. Mostly fears of widespread racism and that I ran the risk of getting lynched by white hooded rednecks.
Yes there is racism and there are rednecks in the south, but the same is true of British Columbia. In all the years I lived in the ATL I experienced blatant racism twice. In the four years I lived in Boston, it was a monthly occurrence. Go figure.
Anywho, I have to offer apologies to many people I worried with my last blog entry. In my sad and lonely state I guess I was looking to talk to anyone, and in this case was my keyboard and the hundreds of people who read this. So let it be known that I am fine, I was just going through a tough time, so please don’t worry about me.
Since I wrote that, the days became sunnier and I was able to see comrades, childhood friends, high school pals and a sizeable percentage of my massive family in Puerto Rico. I also got to spend time in one of my favourite places in the world: New Orleans.
I cannot explain why New Orleans is the cats pajamas, you just have to go there and see for yourself. The city has a certain patina rarely found in North America. There’s music wherever you go, the people are friendly and easy to talk to. It’s a shame that this country abandoned this gem. Yep almost 6 years later, the damage from the breached levees still haunts parts of the city, especially the 9th ward.
My friend Flux took me on a tour of the area and it’s almost completely uninhabited. The “new” levees already show signs of disrepair and the word on the street is that they were built worse than before. No wonder people don’t want to move to this side of the canal. But you can see signs of progress within this disaster. Anarchists came here in droves and joined locals in rebuilding homes and infrastructure. I met many of the people who came here temporarily and never left. I came close.
So with that said, this is a book end of sorts as I embark in the second half of this mad tour. Many thanks to those who sent gas money and tunes. Both have been essential to making this thing happen. Please keep em coming! Also mark your calendars for May Day as I’ll unleash END:CIV on the web and I’ll need as much help as possible in spreading this meme.
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