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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

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Overstaying my welcome....

Well, this is a first for me - my white host, so excited and welcoming two weeks ago, is no longer enamored of my work nor my company.

The last straw happened this morning when we heard shouting across the alley from her house. I was going in and out of her house anyway, loading my truck so I can hit the road today. Outside I can hear clearly a womon screaming hysterically and a man bellowing loudly.

I cross the alley, recognizing the neighbors Jessa and Brian who I met my first day in the neighborhood, and I call out to her, asking her if she's okay. I want to try to separate her and the boyfriend. She is standing up a flight of stairs, crying, and telling me her boyfriend has stolen her rent money. Her boyfriend is on the landing, throwing large plastic garbage bags of his possessions over the railing to the ground below, calling her names and shouting he only put her money into his bank account for safety.

"My money," she screams "in an account I don't have access to! Now how am I gonna pay the rent due tomorrow!"

"Brian," I say, "have you paid the rent?" He starts to say "Why should I" and I say "Because your child needs a roof over her head!" He continues grabbing his stuff.

I ask Jessa again to come and talk with me, trying to get her away from a potentially volatile situation. I also call out to him and ask him to please calm down and invite them both to talk about this.

But neither are up for talking. Jessa does come down though, weeping and screaming, hurt and angry.

I ask her if she wants coffee - no, she doesn't drink it - or a cup of tea, which she accepts.

I go to the front door of my host's home and ask her if maybe I can invite her young neighbor Jessa and her baby in for a cup a tea. My host is horrified and pointedly tells me to invite her into my camper instead - which of course, I do. Actually, I get two chairs out the back and put them up on the space between the curb and the sidewalk.

Jessa and I talk some more - well I talk, telling her she's strong and capable, she doesn't need him to pay the rent, she can do this even though she feels like she can't. She's hysterical dreading being homeless, missing work, not having money to register her vehicle - until finally he's gone and she's able to calm down.

But my host, in the meantime, has become hysterical herself. I'm REALLY bummed. She has talked about pushing herself out of her comfort zone as a white womon and here she has the opportunity to extend a neighborly hand to someone - a young 24 year old Black womon and mother who is her neighbor - in crisis.

Instead, she orders me out of her home and tells me to leave immediately. I point out that I'm not in her home but on a public sidewalk and parked on a public street. OMG I've worn out my welcome...

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