Code Pink Journals CodePINK Journals

Work 4 Peace,Hold All Life Sacred,Eliminate Violence! I am on my mobile version of the door-to-door, going town-to-town holding readings/gatherings/discussions of my book "But What Can I Do?" This is my often neglected blog mostly about my travels since 9/11 as I engage in dialogue and actions. It is steaming with my opinions, insights, analyses toward that end of holding all life sacred, dismantling the empire and eliminating violence while creating the society we want ALL to thrive in

Friday, June 24, 2016

Billboards usa




When I was traveling thru Cuba, I wanted to make a picture book of Cuban bus stops, they were so interesting, sometimes colorful, unique.

When traveling thru the usa, I've always wanted to make a picture book of billboards, they are so interesting, absurd, and reflective of u.s.ofa. mentality.

Leaving and then re-entering Georgia yesterday, I see a huge:

TRUMP

spread in Black letters across a white background, and scrawled across the length of the bill board underneath was written:

Pray for our nation: Take our country back

Passing thru an especially industrial area of Nashville Tennessee, this is a kinda good one catches my eye:

“Buying girls on line?
Real men don’t do it”

Although it should say “Buying girls on line? Fuckin go to JAIL for LIFE!” Well, life might be too expensive, given our jails are money makers for private corporations now. 25 years.

And now, leaving Freeport, Il, heading down a 2 lane 'highway' that runs north/south thru the state and will connect me with I80, I pass through a scattering of small 5-10 street towns with 550 people to a couple larger ones, maybe 2,245 people. These are the typical old towns I used to love to cautiously stop in - at yard sales, thrift shops, antique stores and hunt for treasures.

Today, just south on the outskirts of one such small town, I see this homemade huge billboard dominating the huger front yard, green grass brought to you by roundup I'm sure.






"Enemy's Like"???? Is that the like of the enemy? The Whites....hmmmm

Cell phone protection:



I often tell ‘people’ – meaning white people – shocked by the extent of police violence against Black people, the only difference between what the police are doing today and 50, 100, 150 years past is the cell phone!

And I’ve often used the cell phone to ‘protect’ me – as when someone is trying to run me off the road, or driving aggressively, which I’ve done once already on this trip. I merely hold the phone up and pretend I’m taking pictures or videos. Usually the site of the phone is enough to make the driver take off.

Tonite, or should I say in the wee hours of the morning around 3:00am I head to the bathroom at the very quiet and dark rest stop. I am aware of a young white man walking behind me and assume he will head to the opposite side of the building to go to the men’s room.

He doesn’t drop off but makes like he’s going to enter the women’s room right behind me. I stop, examine the ‘women’ sign again to confirm I’m going into the women’s room, and then silently point it out to him, thinking he’ll be embarrassed but will head in the right direction.

This guy is tall, average build, with short black hair, blue eyes wearing jeans and a blue and white plaid shirt. He peers at the “women” sign and then defiantly proclaims he is a woman. I have been holding my cell phone in my hand and now I pretend to be videoing him. He rushes to declare he is a “trans” woman and he’s allowed to use the women’s room in this state.

I glare at him, my mama bear anger rising to take care of me. I tell him I’m live now on facetime (I’m not even sure that’s the right program) and I tell him I’m happy to broadcast his choice of bathrooms over the internet. I ask him to tell me his name and where he’s from – but I’m asking a rapidly retreating back.

I follow him out of the building and down the sidewalk, watching – and pretending to film – all the way to his truck, which he has jumped into and started up. I walk faster to get his license plate but he has taken off – it’s too dark anyway. I see him head back onto the highway and figure I’m safe to pee now – it would take him quite awhile to make a u-turn on the freeway and get back to this rest stop.

But I don’t spend the night here. As tired as I am, and as sure as I am that the cell phone protected me this time, I don’t want to be sleeping here if he returns.