Observations of an Iraqi blogger about the wall being built to separate Shia from Suni in Baghdad, and why she’s finally decided to leave her country:
…The wall, of course, will protect no one. I sometimes wonder if this is how the concentration camps began in Europe. The Nazi government probably said, “Oh look- we’re just going to protect the Jews with this little wall here- it will be difficult for people to get into their special area to hurt them!” And yet, it will also be difficult to get out….
I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn’t know what our neighbors were- we didn’t care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of the night…
A few days ago, we had a great discussion here on the prospect of launching a campaign for Michigan Victory Gardens. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, follow that last link.) A few of you expressed an interest in working with Amanda and me on it, and I was wondering if perhaps a real meeting might be called for… With that in mind, I’m proposing that we get together next Thursday night, May 3rd, at the Corner Brewery to discuss the project. Anyone who is interested is welcome to join us. We’ll probably get started a few minutes after 7:00 PM.
(From the door of the men’s room at the Corner Brewery.)
I wanted to hold off on this post until I had a chance to beg Linette to design a graphic, but then I realized that every day I wait the idea probably loses a little relevance. (If anyone out there would be willing to make a graphic that we could use to promote this initiative, I’d appreciate it.) Well, remember a few days ago, right after Kurt Vonnegut died, how I said that I was going to take a few of his books and leave them around town where kids might find them? I thought that it would be a fitting tribute, and quite a few of you wrote in to say that you agreed. Anyway, my friend Dan in Minnesota was among those who wrote in. He said that if my intention was really to get copies of Vonnegut books into the hands of “presently unremarkable suburban kids” (such as I once was) that he could “guarantee” it. (As a high school English teacher in the suburbs, he’s apparently tuned in to that particular demographic.) So, I’m going to mail him a few books to leave around Minneapolis, and I thought that I’d suggest that others join me. Here, with this in mind, is his address:
Mr. R
4201 Toledo Ave. S.
St. Louis Park, MN 55416
And, if anyone out there has design skills, and wants to give it a shot, I was picturing a simple little web graphic with Vonnegut’s face (perhaps in black on a field of red), Dan’s address, and the words, “putting Vonnegut books into the hands of presently unremarkable young suburbanites.” I suppose you could also say that it’s a MarkMaynard.com initiative, in case anyone who saw it wanted to find out more… Anyway, send those old books to Dan and I promise that he’ll get them into the right hands. He’s a man of his word.
