Always there: war in Ukraine

3/9

..

One way or another, this darkness got to give...

Honestly? It’s hard to think about anything else. But I do. We all do. The war in Ukraine is there. Always there. But like it’s happening in an alternate reality. It's still there.  And real. Very real....

Hard to think about. Where it could all lead. I’m angry that I’ve lived almost 40 years without worrying about nuclear war and here we are again. An accident or fit of pique away from mass murder. Annihilation. Life long activists committed to non-violence consider assassination. One lone Muslim friend argues that diplomacy has not yet been exhausted. And gives examples.  And others see Czechoslovakia 1938.  It’s always there. Right  under the surface.

So today I wear my latest Grateful Dead shirt with their “Steal Your Face” logo and the Ukrainian flag. Underneath the logo are the words “…one way or another this darkness got to give..” From the song “New Speedway Boogie.”   I’ve been impressed why the way the continuing Grateful Dead community has used Dead lyrics and iconography to be in dialogue with current crises.  I recall that they used this lyric in connection with the get out the vote campaign for the 2020 election.

2020 election.

Then it related to Trump.  Now to his Russian colleague Putin.  Yes, one way or another this darkness got to give..

 https://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/2020/10/living-in-coronavirusworld-194-this.html?fbclid=IwAR3A2Dqn6N1xKp2Zx812WgcEtBbLjr97RCk0OczCVRFmmUfrS3CqmLYTvxo

Warriors logo

It’s only fitting to pair the shirt with a Giants/Warriors mash up from the Bay Area.  Both have had relationships wrote and celebrated their hometown neighbors, the  Dead.

So for today, hats off to the brave people of Ukraine, holding off the Russians. And  hats on for the Golden State Warriors and the Dead. 

.....one way or another this darkness got to give..