1/23
Wake up phone call from 1010 WINS news radio. And a later one from WABC. The story of the baptismal font won’t go away. And I learn from my son that the Murdoch papers are even running it in the UK. I do my best with the radio people, hoping my story comes through:
- Most of those in the church were profoundly upset
- You can’t blame the movement for not being able to deal with what the rest of us haven’t been able to deal with. At least they have tried to respond in humane and caring ways.
- No, it doesn’t change my mind. The behavior of the few does not discredit what brought them out in the first place. This incarnation of #OWS could vanish overnight and there would still be obscene income disparity and a global economy that is irreparably broken.
The entry way is filled with waking, leaving occupiers. And the Polish plumbers are moving in and out trying to get to the latest pesky leak. Danielle found someone asleep in the music closet. Uh, Rafael?
Later Rudolfo comes in looking for money for a sandwich. And he wants to show me his application for a green card. Seems he’s had a falling out with his lady on 87th. The crazy thing, he’s got a halfway decent shot at the card. Born in Cienfugos, Cuba, he’s going for refugee status. And the crazier thing is, he actually wishes they would deport him back to Cuba. My mind runs back to last week's wonderful Landmark West! Noche Havana party. Try to put that together with Rudolfo. Can't. At least there he could get a minimum amount of food without begging and his diabetes would be tended too. And at over 50, his chances at employment in this neighborhood are next to none.
The Times Square Playwrights are holding their first open reading. They make their way in through occupiers arriving at the end of the day. Tonight’s performance is Locked Doors by Shawn Belpanno. Echoes of Godot, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and Sartre’s No Exit abound. It’s a small crowd. I’m wondering what the Occupiers might have thought if they were admitted comp.
The audience members give Shawn mainly thumbs up over snacks. He’d like to go for a fully staged production and lots of ideas abound as to how to do that.
I go up to Mc Alpin to check on the Occupiers. I’m greatly relieved to find chaplain Stephanie there. Wearing her collar. I tell her I save mine for high liturgical events like protests, court and visiting the jail. We go around, visiting people, checking in.
Stan takes me aside. He is in the process of checking out alternative venues for housing. The Quakers seem promising. I tell him to check the Franciscans. And maybe Trinity Lutheran for some of the lgbtq young folks. I feel very sad. But this current reality is unworkable. He completley agrees. One major part of this for me is the interminable in group fighting. Apparently tonight there will ba an attempt to oust Jeff. Did I really say if he goes, I’m done? Well, it’s a little late now. I repeat that my issue was my wanting to make clear that ousting the point people did not mean that I had to deal with whoever emerged. Relationships, trust, mean everything.Without that, they’re done.
CBS 1010 Wins interview:
Stories from the New York Post and New York Magazine:
And finally, the best of all, the Westside Rag:
Thanks guys for the props, you made a hard day bearable...
And from ABC.....
No comments:
Post a Comment