Lifting the Nonviolent CrossMany times in these postings I use the image of the seed dying in the soil and bringing new life. It is an image used in Christianity: in the cross we find the resurrection. Tonight it took on a new meaning when Jesse Garza, a reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, wrote me about a new blog, The Milwaukee Homicide Report. It is modeled on homicide reports in other cities and is something we have been asking for a long time here in Milwaukee. It honors and personalizes the lives of all homicide victims. The reporter who does the blog is the same one who wrote the article at the end of the year that covered our Mothers Against Gun Violence web site. I have been begging and pleading with the Journal for some time now to do something like this. Now that it is a reality I feel sad but glad. Now I feel motivated to go back to my Essay on Violence in Milwaukee and update it. Yes, even from the senseless deaths of homicide victims comes new awareness and hope that with the awareness the violence will diminish.
Speaking of dying and hope, I spent a little time today talking with a Jesuit who directs a peacemaker center at Marquette University. When I asked him what to do about the continual support of Marquette University for violence by hosting four departments of military science, he suggested that I stop the nonviolent actions against Marquette if Marquette officials will dialog with one representative from the group. I told him how long and hard we have called for a dialog on this to no avail, and that just talking with one person was not the purpose of the dialog we were calling for. He seemed more interested in stopping the nonviolent actions than a resolution of this moral issue. It was very discouraging since he and others in MU administration are persons I have considered friends and allies, and I have a very tough time of giving up seeking their support. Here is some dying that is still in progress. Stay tuned for the hope and sign the MU Peace Petition if you will.
Speaking of dying and hope, I need to spend some time cleaning the sun room and planting some new seeds. Now that we have the temperature under control and the weather will be getting warmer, it is time to plant some seeds, let them dye to grow. Heating by AIR and Sun is all fine and dandy, but growing that old fashioned broadcasting of seeds in enriched soil and care. In death we do find hope.
(Heating bill for the sun room since last night was only 30 cents thanks to sun and air.)
Time: 11:26pm, Office Temp.: 66, Sunroom Temp. Average: 55, Outside Temp.: 22, KWH: 21.46
Comments
TeganDowling — 23 February 2008, 09:51
When you go to The Milwaukee Homicide Report blog, it’s easy to miss the tiny link, up in the top-right corner, labeled “About this Blog”. If you click that, you’ll see the blog’s introduction, which concludes:
“With this Web log we hope to provide comprehensive coverage of Milwaukee murders in 2008 and present the faces, voices and emotions behind the statistics.
“We will try to report every city homicide and update each whenever further information becomes available. We will attempt to follow these cases from arrest through conviction and, when possible, include photographs of the victims and interviews with their families.
“We plan to include articles and links on subjects relating to homicide and, through our comments feature, we invite readers to join in an ongoing discussion about violence in Milwaukee.
“We welcome your feedback. We would like to have photos of all the city’s homicide victims, so we especially welcome any you can provide.”
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