Hope vs. Hate. I know who wins.

Whoa, there is so much going on. Today’s Easy Activism starts with activism and concludes with a few thoughts.

 Activism First.

• Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist who spearheaded the school strikes in Sweden, is leading the charge of young people to save our Mother / Lover Earth. This Friday Sept 20th, Global Climate Strikes are happening worldwide. Join the youth activists as they walk out of school to wake the world up. There is only one Earth and she needs our immediate attention.

• WE THE PEOPLE marches are Saturday September 21st. Taking to the streets matters. Look at Hong Kong; they’re on week five. We can protest this criminal President in massive fashion. All it takes it saying YES, I will show up to shut this madness down.

 

• Gas boycott anyone? Wolf has been saying for years to hit them in their pocketbooks. Fossil Fuel, which is hard to escape, is the culprit. The oil greed it killing us. Here’s the idea. Gas free Friday. Fill up Thursdays. This means we don’t buy gas on Fridays. We still buy gas, as most of us need to, and we do it on any day but Friday. We can make this spread. Empty gas stations will be noticed.

 

• And then there is Kavanaugh. The lying-under-oath, sexually assaulting high school and college student (perhaps beyond) who does not deserve to be a Supreme Court Justice. He perjured himself. This is criminal. The DOJ and FBI were negligent in their pre-hearing investigations. The GOP will do anything to get their way. CALL FOR IMPEACHMENT. Click the link and call your representative. The House can start proceedings. Let’s get this going.

Lastly, over the weekend, the Black Lives Matter poster in front of house was vandalized with a Daily Stormer hate filled flyer. The flyer is explicit. I haven’t edited the images, so please note the verbiage and images are deeply upsetting.

Black Lives Matter. Period. We’ve seen the data around incarceration, targeting and being subjugated to less opportunity. Felicity Hoffman gets 14 days in prison for significant bribery. Tanya McDowell, a black women, is sentenced to five years for using her friend’s address to enroll her son in kindergarten while she was homeless. The playing field is not level.

My wife is a person of color. We are queer. We are women. I am Jewish. She is Latina. We know what it means to be othered, which is so freakily confusing as who created this manufactured concept that one person is better than another?

Black Lives Matter.

Immigrants are welcome here.

Women’s rights are human rights.

Science is real.

Water is life.

Love is love is love is love is love is love…

Our protest signs and our mass civil actions are love and hope embodied.

Our hope is that by standing united, we level the field.

Their hate wants to tear us apart.

I know love wins.

And to win we must show up in mass, as Love Activists, showing the world that there is another, more just, more loving way.

See you out there!

In love and gratitude –

:: Genessa

***Please share with your community. Spreading the word, creates the change.

****Apologies in advance for typos. I really need a proofreader.

RALLYING CRY.

Okay friends, it’s time. I’m digging back in with the intention to (re)activate and grow a network of humanity driven warriors.

This is a moment in history where if we wait it out, our future will be forever altered in ways we won’t be able to restore.

Many of you have been tirelessly on the front lines of Democracy and for that, we all thank you.

I stopped activating because I fried myself. I overindulged. My anxiety increased. My ears started ringing last December and haven’t stopped. I became addicted to the Jerry Springer-esque antics of this reality TV Presidency. But this isn’t TV. This is real. This is happening in our country, to our climate, to our brothers and sisters, to our world. This is life forever changed.

I’m done with the pundits entertaining each new crime against humanity with logic. This President has asked people in his administration to break the law to get his wall built. This isn’t logical. These are criminal acts.

I’m done with the social media outrage where we vent, post and exclaim while this President goes unchecked and unabashedly destroying everything we hold sacred. He lifts restrictions on methane emissions while Africa to Alaska, areas that never burned before, are on fire.

I often say to my wife, what if this time mirrors Nazi Germany and because we’re not personally effected (yet) we go on with our lives; swimming, designing, dining out, all the while knowing families are being torn apart, children are dying in detention centers, the climate and all species are under attack, gun violence is out of control and we’re doing “okay”, so we just go on.

Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart; men, women and children separated. – Anne Frank, January 13, 1943

My wife’s El Salvadorian relatives, who have been in the United States for decades, whose children are Americans, are afraid to go to the Doctor. Her 90-year-old Aunt won’t seek medical care fearing that she and her family will be deported and her grandchildren and great grandchildren will be left alone.

The disease is running rampant.

Hurricane season is here and this president is pulling funding from FEMA for his Wall.

The Rainforest is burning and the Brazil’s President is so trumpian, he’s refusing aid while this president skips the climate talks at the G7.

This administration wants endless detention for migrants. Endless detention = concentration camps.

It doesn’t matter that I can’t stand talking about what’s happening. It doesn’t matter that my threshold has been reached. I will know longer insulate myself from inhumanity.

I can’t dismiss the actions of greed and madness while hoping, praying and voting that things will change because others are on the front lines.

I can join forces with justice warriors, without alienating those who think differently, unless they are spewing hate. Even then, I must find another way because hate begets hate. It’s been proven time and time again.

I can fund organizations that aid immigrants, women, people of color, LGBTQ people, the environment, legal rights for all humans and species. I give monthly to ensure the front lines are funded and strong.

And, we can be like Hong Kong who are unrelenting in their protests, like Puerto Rico and like South Korea who took to the streets until they overthrew corruption.

Protests are happening in England right this in response to Boris Johnson.

Here is the truth. We must be out in the streets everyday until we overthrow this Dictator. It is that serious. What are we willing to sacrifice to save humanity and Democracy?

Let’s make commitments to work for whoever the Democratic Presidential candidate is, even if that candidate is not our preferred choice. Hillary Clinton warned us and 77,000 people still voted for Jill Stein, Gary Johnson and Donald Trump because…Hillary. We can’t do that again. We must not eat our own.

Let’s try and not click on clickbait. As long as we click his name, reading the shocking, the media will continue publishing crap because they get paid to do so. The media’s dollars versus sense (yes sense) way of being is hurting us. So I’m not clicking on anything sensational. All we need is the facts.

And I must remember, that Foreign Governments used and are using our information to tip our elections. I get caught up in social media. I love sharing my dog and mother nature adventures on Instagram. Facebook and Twitter are complicit in hate speak and spreading fake news. Does it make you comfortable that billion dollar businesses like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon (trillion dollar), Google know everything about us? Perhaps we can think twice about what we share, check sources for truth before reposting and be kind when we post. It matters. 2016 was a social media blood bath.

THIS IS RED ALERT TIME.

The men controlling our government, the minority who rule the majority, win if we do nothing. Mitch McConnell is actively working to suppress votes because when we vote, he and his cronies lose. In fact, donate to Amy McGrath right now!

We are all in this together. We are interconnected. And we care.

TODAY’S EASY ACTIVISM:

1.     GIVE TO FRONT LINE ORGANIZATIONS. Here’s a few -  

a.    www.aclu.org

b.    www.plannedparenthood.org

c.     www.earthjustice.org

d.    www.unitedwedream.org

2.   LET’S ORGANIZE DAILY PROTESTS.

Who knows how to do this? Do we show up daily in city centers? I’m not talking about a weekend permitted marching down the streets. I’m talking about massive protesting that disrupts daily life until we overthrow this corruption. Please email me with thoughts.

3. Why are Democrats doing so little?

Pelosi must have a strategy but what is it? We need to know and we need them to do more. Keep calling your representatives and Nancy Pelosi - (202) 225-4965. People must be held accountable for their crimes.

With love, gratitude and an unwavering belief that we are the change we need.

:: Genessa

Please share with friends, even on social media (did I just say that?!), if you feel this blast is helpful. Thank you again.

I LOVE YOU.

I really do.

I love that you care. I love that you BELIEVE things can be different. I love that you understand the interconnected of all of us. I love that you hope for better. I love that we are in this together.

I’m tired of the negative. I’m tired of the attacks. I’m tired of focusing energy on drama. I’m tired of the repetitive loop.

I believe in love. I do. I know it matters more than anything else. I know if we lead with love we can solve so many problems, maybe all the world’s problems, if love is our motivation.

It’s been over six months since I last posted. The world continues to go mad, not just in crazy but in hot, angry, boiling over, ready to blow.

This feels like an appropriate response and yet, I battle with my outrage and struggle with the right way to show up. I can’t keep perpetuating the divide, the us and them mentality, as there is no us and them. We are all the same. We want the same. Our tactics are different.

Last week I had dinner with my wife’s extended family who voted for Trump. Makes me want to hate them. This is my primal response. They are Grandparents and Great Grandparents. I want to shake and scream what the fuck is wrong with you?!!! And this gets me nowhere. This keeps stuck in the divided unsettling chaotic experience of us vs. them.

When my wife’s former Mother in Law spoke of the hatred in the world, which she did in the same way I do, as in why are people so mean, I told her we share the same values. She shook head in disbelief. I said of course we do. We simply believe there is a different path to getting there.

Is this ignorant of me? Am I being naïve?

Perhaps she doesn’t believe that I, as a Gay woman, should have the same rights as she and her husband. Perhaps she doesn’t believe that her 4-year-old grandson should have clean air breathe. Or maybe she doesn't believe science. Maybe she thinks immigrant children deserve to be ripped from their families and left to rot in subhuman conditions. Or maybe she just doesn’t care, maybe a tax-break means more to her than we do.

She has raised a beautiful son who is a wonderful man. She loves her husband. I know she means well. I know she is made of love. I imagine she thinks I’m as misguided as I believe she is. We’re divided. We can’t find each other in a moral universe. We can talk weather, movies and books but we can’t talk about leadership, right versus wrong or anything that appears remotely political even if it’s value based.

She loves my wife. I know she wants the best for her and yet she supports a group of people who want more than anything to strip us of our rights. It is so confusing and deeply painful. And I can’t make sense out of the why behind it.

Is this how Martin Luther King felt when choosing non-violence in the face of brutal life threatening discrimination? How did he show up peacefully in the face of torture, brutality, cruelty, violence and death?

When I stare at the negligence, cruelty and heartlessness of men like Mitch McConnell, who am I to say we can love our way out of this? I wish him dead. That’s not peaceful. He makes me feel so out of control and want him to suffer. This goes against everything I stand for morally and his soul shattering cruelty brings out the worst in me.

McConnell and his minions are declaring war on everything I value and yet I want to believe we can love our way out of this.

I think about peaceful protests that turn violent. I lived in Los Angeles after the Rodney King trial. I watched from my parent’s hilltop home as the city burned. Days later I drove through neighborhoods that were emotionally and physically demolished and I caught my first glimpse of no justice, no peace. No Justice, No Peace.

When you ask to be heard over and over and over and over and over and over and over again and nobody is listening, eventually you throw a brick through a storefront window and then you’re heard. And misunderstood. And judged. And cast aside in a bigger way.

Can we love our way out of this?

Can we love deep enough that we stop being shocked by the behaviors of those in charge, stop re-tweeting, stop clicking on articles of disconnected outrage to drop into our broken hearts and collective suffering? Can we turn our outrage into inspired, empowered actions that connect us through our common core of humanity? Can we be the change we want and inspire the change we need?

Can I do that? Can I look into the abyss and know that together we can? Can I sit a table of Trump supporters and find love in my heart regardless of the pain? Can I disconnect from the activities that feed this machine and participate in the imaginings that create the connected compassionate world I long for?

Here are the actions I am committed to –

• HELP IMMIGRANT CHILDREN IMMEDIATELY. This is a consolidated list of organizations we can support who are on the ground fighting for the lives of immigrant families who are unjustly suffering.

• DON’T SAY HIS NAME! On Mondays, I don’t click on articles that lead with Trump. Each time we click, we let media outlets know we want more like this. So I don’t. I sick of stories about his disease. Instead, I search for articles about heroes fighting for women’s reproductive rights, environmental health, LGBTQ activities.  I don’t retweet. I don’t participate in the trumped up frenzy. Give it a try. If you need to know what’s happening, subscribe to WTF Just Happened Today for updates. No need to click on anything to read the news.

• GET HATE SPEECH OFF THE AIRWAVES AND INTERNET. Hate networks depend on advertising dollars. I support Sleeping Giants who runs campaigns to stop advertisers from supporting hate speech. They have been incredibly affective. I highly recommend following them and doing everything they say to do - https://twitter.com/slpng_giants

• This June 27th marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. That fateful night at the Stonewall bar in the West Village, where LGBTQ people were done with being arrested and humiliated for being themselves and loving freely, they fought back and created the pathway for LGBTQ rights, Pride and Marriage Equality. Please support and love those who identify as LGBTQ. We are still fighting for our lives. Here is a list of organizations to support.

Lastly, I have to work diligently from not participating in hate. This is complex as the brutality, cruelty and neglect are so prolific. I am so outraged and disgusted by those in charge. And I am not here to perpetuate hate. I am here to bridge divides.

We must vote them out.

 

We must never be silent.

 

We must build coalitions of unity.

 

We must enact laws to protect people.

 

We must lead with our hearts. With kindness and generosity and love people into the light.

I hope I’m up for this. Throwing a brick is easier.

With love and gratitude.

:: Genessa

P.S. I am interested in going to the border to protect the immigrant children. Does anybody know of organizations that are doing this or would like to join me?

Lead with Love.

Yesterday, like so many days in this administration, was full of frustration and heartbreak. The Barr Report tells a slanted story and we deserve to know more. I find it impossible to believe there was no collusion when we heard him ask the Russians to hack her and for Wikileaks to release the emails.

We heard it. He said it publicly. He continues to cozy to Putin. This feels like the ultimate Gaslight. And it probably is.

Attorney General Barr (I see Nathan Lane playing him on SNL) is Trump’s guy. His defender. In 2018 Barr wrote a memo attacking Mueller’s investigation.

Bias and corruption are rampant in politics. The GOP is devoted to protecting a con man for more Judges, less oversight, more cash in pocket. This is the frustration. It’s so blatant. The divide is between those who see what’s happening, those who refuse to see what’s happening and those who love what’s happening.

The heartbreak is the damage caused and not knowing what to do when faced with so much disregard, suffering and pain.

Last Friday I ran to catch a train headed downtown as the doors should have been closing. Feeling lucky that I made it, I pushed my way to the center of a completely silent car. Silence isn’t entirely unusual as commute time is spent reading, devicing and with our headphones on. Yet, something was off. The doors never closed. The conductor walked the platform towards a young black man who, surrounded by women, was pouring a bottle water on his face. There was talk of an ambulance. Something bad had happened.

I asked the people around me what happened. They shrugged. We stood shoulder to shoulder, doors open, as this young man, his hands visibly shaking and coat drenched, tilted his head back to pour more water on his face.

Then the doors closed and we were off to the next station. Two women were talking and I asked them what happened. They told me a white guy was harassing a woman of color and this young man put his body between her and the white guy. When the train came to the station, the white guy maced the young man and took off.

Everybody on the train witnessed hate. And heroics. We either said nothing or whispered about it. As new people boarded at each station who had no idea what we had witnessed, things grew stranger, like what happened never happened.

I felt sick in the silence. I wondered why we were too afraid to speak out, too afraid to connect and too afraid to see. I was silent too. Why didn’t I say something?

On my way home that same day, I walked past my neighbor’s house where he had placed a memorial for his brother who was murdered by the Police on March 22, 2013. This murdered happened right in front of his house, on our street, in our tight community. I’d forgotten the anniversary. I think all the neighbors did or perhaps we just want to forget. The trauma still lies within us, the violence of that day and witnessing what it means to be murdered because of the color of your skin.

The details of that day are endlessly gruesome, similar to so many stories we hear about black people being murdered by cops. As my neighbor grieved his brother, I was acutely aware that he was doing it alone, silently. His pain ignored so that we can forget and move on, move away from the trauma that we don’t want to acknowledge or see.

Or so is my summation.

I wonder, as we witness the continual crimes and denials of this administration, are we turning away so our lives still feel normal?

We’ve witnessed grotesque inhumanity, a disregard for the constitution, for the commonalities we share, for truth and good will.  I wonder how I can be part of the solution when all I want to do it look away.

When I started writing Easy Activism immediately preceding the election, it was with fervor and a belief that we can do better, we could make this better. I still believe we can, actually I know we will, yet I stopped writing regularly around six months ago as I didn’t want to see it anymore. I didn’t know how to stay well when immersed is such dis-ease and disregard.

But turning is not authentic for me. The pain is real and not seeing is not an option. We are awake, there is no way to go back to sleep.

I know I must love my way through. Grief and love are bosom buddies. Since we value love, kindness, empathy, compassion, truth, humanity, so must we stand, hearts wide open, in the face of injustice to speak truth to power. I must lend my voice so others can be heard.

TODAY’S EASY ACTIVISM

1.     Demand to see the Mueller report, not the Barr summary. Make the calls to your representatives – 1.844.332.1330.

2.     We must find a way to end the Electoral College. Gore won the popular vote. Hillary won the popular vote. 1 vote, 1 person. Here’s a light read summing up what’s in the works. Sign the petition, which will go to your legislatures. PLEASE SHARE IT TOO.

3.     Make a commitment to support whoever becomes the Democratic candidate, regardless of their humanness, flaws and perhaps things you disagree with. This is a crowded field and we must lead with compassion. No attacking. No ending friendships. No name-calling. Let’s commit to supporting each other and leading all discussions with open hearts and minds.

In love and gratitude.

:: Genessa

Exhale.

It feels good to breathe again. After two years of shallow breathes and holding my breathe, the Midterm results concluded with a giant exhale.

I know we’re breathing as we’ve taken a pause in crisis management and are talking about daily life more than political necessity. The light of humanity, diversity, inclusion, love, and hope is shining again. This is how Democracy works when people show up and vote!

115 million Americans voted in the 2018 midterms, breaking a record set 104 years ago (that seems crazy doesn’t it?!). Our 2019 Congressional Leaders are beautiful - representing the melting pot of America, resembling the true colors and nature of our country.

Idaho, Utah and Nebraska voted for the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid Expansion. Over a million Felons can now vote in the next Florida election. And if you watched Rachel Maddow since November 6, you’ll see the youngest members of Congress (women of color!), Native American members of Congress (also women!) and you’ll be reminded that THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!

Of course there is still much to do. 2020 is going to be a crowded and intense field. We’ll have amazing candidates to choose from and we’re going to have to CHOOSE. A unified choice, as in getting whole-heartedly behind whoever wins the nomination.

Our commitment to create a more whole, caring and empathetic future is working.

With the holiday season upon us, I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude and thank each of you for your activism, your commitment to progress, humanity, equality, environmentalism and, as my wife and muse says, for DOING LOVE. Love is a very active verb.

I appreciate you reading and sharing these emails. I appreciate you taking action. I appreciate the notes of encouragement and support. It’s been a heart-wrenching two years and while we’re still in the shadow of cruelty, our light is bright and we are luring people out of the darkness to come towards our light.

TODAY’S EASY ACTIVISM

• Mike Espy, Senate candidate in Mississippi faces a runoff on November 27th. His opponent talked about attending a public hanging in the front row. Espy is an African American man. Let’s help him win - DONATE if you can.

• I have made calls to support Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. I know there are other leaders who would do this job well. Nancy Pelosi got us to this point, this path where we can affect change and hold the GOP accountable. Her vilification has been manufactured by the right. Let’s not take another woman to task because they have made her a pariah. She is a strong and smart woman. Let’s support her for the next two years. She can do this job. And if you’re wavering, google her and read the endorsements of brilliant minds who trust her implicitly.

In gratitude and love -

:: Genessa

Believe in Love.

Nov 6th is always significant date for me.

This Nov 6 marks the ninth anniversary of the most profound date of my life with my now wife, Revel Wolf. It’s a long story how we met, which I’m happy to share over drinks sometime. It was pouring rain that night and she showed up in a biggest cowboy hat I had ever seen and I’ve spent time in Texas. Before speaking a word, we wrapped our arms around each other, touched foreheads, then noses and lips, which stayed locked the entire evening. It’s a bit shameless looking back. We made-out all night long in a public place, gee gawds. Each time we came up for air, there was a new group of people seated next to us. Three days prior to our date, Referendum 71 was on the ballot, the-everything-but-marriage law. I remember praying love was stronger than fear. It absolutely was that year. Ref. 71 paved the way to Gay Marriage. Gay Marriage and that first date changed my life.

November 6 is also my brother Marc's birthday. Marc has been MIA for eight years. We believe he's still alive, we just don't know where he is.

Marc came out to me at 17. I'll never forget it. We were lying on my bed and cuddling, which we did a lot as he is seven years older than me and I idolized him. I said, “Eric (our other brother) told me you’re a fag.” He said, “I prefer to call myself Gay.” He then said, “I’ll leave you alone to think about this.” I remember being in my room for about 30 seconds. I went across the hall to his room and said, “What is there to think about?” as I plopped down on his bed and was wrapped in his embrace.

In 1979 when Marc came out, my parents and the world were not supportive. People were cruel. He was tormented. He spent a lot of time away from the house or locked in his room reading. He and I took dance classes in North Hollywood. He’d then take me Hollywood Blvd where we’d walk the street hand and hand and I’d pretend he was my boyfriend. Like I said, I idolized him. I remember the Scientology building with L Ron Hubbard Dianetics plastered in the windows. We’d talk about music and movies and look at all the freaky people.

When I was applying to college, my essay was about Marc as he was the person I admired most. I wanted to do everything he did. He went to school back East so I did too. He worked in the Music Industry so did I too. He loved the Talking Heads. I loved the Talking Heads. He was Gay, I was Gay.

His absence is impossible to reconcile. I never quite know what to do with the pain my Mother carries, the pain I carry. Mostly, I will never be able to reconcile the pain Marc carries. The pain and the shame of being Gay, of watching his community die, of not becoming the icon he so dreamed of being. At least that’s what I place on his absence as I can’t ask him what happened. I do remember him being in pain. And his genius. He was always fifteen steps ahead of everybody else and knew what was coming. I bet he saw this rise of tyranny way before anybody else did.

And so, today, this Nov 6, it's Election Day, my first date anniversary and Marc’s 57th birthday. There is so much beauty and so much loss and so much love and hope and so much hurt. For me and The Wolf, Love is always stronger than Fear, even when fear is doing everything in its power to strangle love. For Marc, my dear brother, I’m not certain love is stronger. Fear seems to have gripped him awfully hard and ripped him away from all of us.

Perhaps Marc, The Wolf and I not so dissimilar to today's America. The America where so many of us believe Love is Everything and others want to smother it in Fear and Hate. Just like I do with my missing brother, I will always always always believe that Love Wins and spread that love to him and all those in pain.

If you haven’t already, VOTE for LOVE and PROGRESS and VOTE for those whose pain scares them and keeps them from reaching out to feel our light. And encourage everybody you know to do the same.

In love and gratitude -

:: Genessa

Keep the Faith.

We’ve weathered one of the most intense two year storms.

November 8, 2016 is forever imprinted in my body. Leading up to the election, I’d been carrying a sense of dread, really since the primaries, knowing how hated Hillary Clinton was (and still is…let’s agree to stop hating a woman who’s committed her life to public service, please).

Throughout 2016, there was a sense of fear in the air. Palpable fear.

I felt at SeaTac airport days earlier when a group of women and I boarded a plane to Nevada to knock on doors. Donning our Hillary gear, we were treated as pariah. I felt it walking by the house with a confederate flag to knock on the door of their African American neighbor. I read about it online when my Bernie supporting friends plugged their noses to vote for Hillary. And it was an oddly quiet pantsuit-wearing walk through the streets of Seattle to an Election Night party. Not a high-five to be had.

We woke to trauma that’s been ingrained in our country’s history. For some of us, it was the first time we realized how marginalized too many are. We’ve been living that awakening since. And we’ve been resisting. Resisting the hate by keeping the faith and showing up for each other.

With the Midterms a day away, fear is not palpable, LOVE IS.

Love is everywhere.

Love is the conversations with strangers on planes, in the grocery store, while waiting for coffee. Love is the Muslim community who fundraised for survivors of the Tree of Life and have stood strong in front of synagogues to keep Jewish congregants safe. Love is the story I read about early voting in Georgia where when first time voters sign in, volunteers would shout this out and the entire room would erupt in applause. Love is the post from the Jewish nurse who tended the killer of the Tree of Life congregants who said,

Love. That’s why I did it. Love as an action is more powerful than words, and love in the face of evil gives others hope. It demonstrates humanity. It reaffirms why we’re all here. The meaning of life is to give meaning to life, and love is the ultimate force that connects all living beings.

This is what feels different, the humanity we are showing one another. Yes, there’s still too much hate and cruelty. Resisting the hate is so love and light. Resisting the hate are first time candidates who look like the American melting pot. Resisting the hate are first time voters showing up in record numbers. Resisting the hate are all of us who feel called to care for one another.

We are awake to the suffering of others. We know that when one person suffers we all suffer, as we are all interconnected. We are rising up to alleviate pain in ourselves, in our brothers and sisters and in our planet. WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER.

Today’s Easy Activism -

• VOTE. I know many of you already have. Here’s a wonderful tool if you’re voting tomorrow and need some help with your polling place and / or ballot.

 

• talk to five people about voting to make sure they have. Friends and family. People at the coffee shop, gas station, wherever you are, remind people to VOTE.

 

If people vote, we will win.

There are too many committed to suppressing votes and voices. Call out discrimination. Lend a hand. Stay engaged. Most importantly, lead with compassion for yourself and for others.

Tomorrow may, or may not be, the referendum we’re seeking. And we are on the course to meaningful and loving change.

Never give up.

Never give up.

Never give up.

In love and gratitude -

:: Genessa 

P.S. I am so ready to party in the streets, so let’s win this tomorrow!!!!!

Inspiring a Generation of New Leaders

When Obama was interviewed by Pod Save America about his legacy, he didn’t talk about Healthcare, Osama Bin Laden, Gay Marriage, the Iran deal or the Paris Agreement, instead he spoke of an aspiration to cultivate a generation of new leaders.

We are the leaders of right now. Our every civic action matters.

When people talk about how we’re leaderless in this moment, I think it’s true, we don’t have that one big voice guiding our way, instead we have many voices – youth voices, women, former Congressional Aides, yours and mine.

As the leaders of the Progress what are we willing and able to do in the next 11 days?

We are bombarded in brutality as tyranny attempts to plow into our Democracy. Each day we are faced with the unimaginable, behaviors that are so cruel, shortsighted and inhumane. It’s hard to imagine why anybody would behave that way and why anybody would vote for these people. Yet, they do, in lockstep.

If Progressives win Governors races, State Houses and in Congress, we can halt the hate.

We will influence the drawing of new districts in the 2020 census, which dramatically effects how legislators are elected. We will stop greed based tax cuts that benefit corporations and the ultra-wealthy by 83%. And, we will protect the civil rights of all human beings. At this moment, there is an Equality bill in Congress with the focus of protecting LGBTQ people if passed. We will enact checks and balances.

None of this can happen without our full participation.

Data shows that the GOP does better when fewer people vote and Progress does better when people show up. How can we show up and how can we inspire others to show up?

So what can you commit to in the next 11 days?

THE NEXT ELEVEN DAYS OF EASY ACTIVISM –

• CANVAS - Knocking on doors requires gumption and a companion. I do it because I believe the data, which says the most effective way to convert voters is to talk to voters face to face. It sounds worse than it is. It can even be fun. Especially in a year like this when the stakes are so high.Here’s some organizations that can direct you to canvassing opportunities in your area - Swing Left,  Indivisible or Google the Democratic Party in Your State

• PHONE BANK – It’s fun to phone bank. Seriously it is. Especially if you go to a call party where lots of people are dialing for Democracy. I made hundreds of calls last night. I helped people make decisions on how to vote. It is rewarding and it’s two hours of your evening.  Indivisible can connect you to a phone bank.

Dialers for Democracy

• WRITE POSTCARDS - My friend Hilary went to the Democratic office in LA, picked up postcards, wrote directly to voters and then dropped them back at the office where they addressed, put the postage on and mailed them. EASY.

• DONATE – I may get this wrong so don’t quote me and I believe this midterm has cost 5 billion dollars. What a waste of a valuable resource that could truly change lives. Money wasted to enact an agenda that wants fewer people voting, spreads hate and will make the rich richer regardless of the harm caused. I hate this. All that said, every donation counts and lots of candidates need help. I imagine you’re getting hit up all day long. Give where you can. Red to Blue, Emily’s List, VoteVets and many more.

• TALK TO EVERYBODY - I talk to everybody about voting. This is easy to do this. Some people feel like I’m infringing on their privacy as their vote is private. Our voting records are public knowledge. The DNC and RNC know exactly how you’ve voted. And how people vote OR if they vote affects all of us. So talk to people. Everybody. At the coffee shop. At the grocery store. At the Dentist. At school. You get the idea.

• VOTE! Early is best if it’s an option. If you don’t know all the issues on the ballot, talk to your friends, look at who backs the issues and ask do you share their values, research using progressive organizations and help other vote. 1631 in Washington State is backed by Big Oil, which means bad for the environment. Voting YES on 1631 is a no brainer although not if you’ve seen the ads. There are also plenty of progressive voter guides. And share your voting values with your friends and families.

My early voter.

The thing that keeps me motivated is realizing how easy I have it. While my rights as a Gay Jewish Woman face constant bigotry and inequality, I walk through life pretty easily. All around me are people in pain. The news cycle reflects deep personal and cultural dis-ease. If one of us is suffering, we all our suffering. We must ease the suffering of others if we can.

I do my civic duty to create wellness for all of us. This is not about me. This is about us.

We are strong, resilient people and if we have time for social media and other leisurely activities, perhaps we have time to do SOME or ALL of the above.

Lives depend upon our activism. Let’s do this. 11 days.

What can you commit too?

In love and gratitude –

:: Genessa

Sanity through Activism.

We knew it was mathematically improbable that Kavanaugh wouldn’t be nominated. Even knowing that, we fought, we called, we posted, we protested, we shared our stories and we prayed (atheist style for some of us) for our Democracy and our humanity.

We’re living through a time where it’s becoming increasing harder to understand and feel empathy for those excited about the direction our country is taking. Where progressive conversations are about how to play dirtier vs can we play dirty at all.

We’re outraged and enraged. We dismayed and shocked. We’re constantly playing defense. It’s true a good defense can stop an offense and yet, without playing offense, you get nowhere. So let’s play offense.

We have twenty-nine days until the midterms. TWENTY-NINE DAYS to Nov 6th. If we want a true reckoning, it’s going to take all of us. Locally and Nationally.

We need as many players as possible to tip the odds blue.

So here’s the strategy -

Determine what you’re willing to fight for and how much time you can give to that fight. Can you do an hour a week? Five minutes a day? 30 minutes? I know none of what I’m suggesting is easy and yet, taking action is much easier than what we’re enduring with soulless leaders calling the shots.

Please consider this a starter list. There are so many organizations and people to support and there are races up and down the ticket - Governor, State Houses, Congress, Senate, Judges, etc. Please email me with your recommendations.

Can you donate money? If yes, here’s a few organizations supporting progressive candidates who can use it.

• DCCC

• Swing Left

• Act Blue

• Emily’s List

Can you make phone calls? If yes, here’s a few of candidates who could use your help.

• Kim Schrier in Washington

• Lisa Ring in Georgia

• Shawna Roberts in Ohio

• Danielle Mitchell in Tennessee

• Mariah Phillips in Tennessee

You don’t have to live in their States or Districts to make calls. And their are a ton of candidates to dial for. Go to Indivisible and fill out the form. They’ll direct you. You can even TEXTBANK! AND KNOCK ON DOORS!!!

Can you talk to everybody you come across about the importance of voting and ask them if they are planning on voting?

During last years Seattle Mayoral race, I asked everybody at PCC (my neighborhood grocery store) if they had voted. I’d stand in the checkout line and have conversations with strangers (a leap for many people I know). I encountered so many people who hadn’t voted, like the checker and bagger. Our conversation inspired them fill out their ballots and drop them in the ballot box two blocks away during their break. I would have come back to collect them and drop them off.

NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW THAN GETTING OUT THE VOTE.

I believe we will win future elections and reverse terrible decisions. I believe we can help all marginalized people and advance equal rights. I believe we can have prison reform and wage equality. I believe. I believe. I believe. Just as we all believed that maybe, perhaps by the sheer consciousness of a few elected leaders Kavanaugh would be stopped. So we fought. And we will continue fighting until we elect leader who represent values of social and environmental justice. Ultimately our fervor will make us a better, stronger and more compassionate country.

We win when people vote and people vote when they are inspired. We are the inspiration.

How are you going to spend the next twenty-nine days?

I’m going to make calls. I’m going to canvas. I’m going to donate. I’m going to talk to every person I come in contact with. And I’m going to escape the mountains as often I can because nature heals.

Let’s do this!

Love and gratitude -

:: Genessa

Active Mourning (dialing for votes).

I’m crying as I write this. I’m crying for the loss of humanity. I’m crying for every person who has been afraid for his or her lives at the hand of somebody else. I’m crying in reverence for the courage so many Americans are showing, especially Dr. Ford yesterday. And I’m crying over the lack of integrity, honesty and respect those in power are exhibiting.

Like you, I am sickened, grief stricken and heartbroken. Everything we hold dear feels under siege – human rights, environmental rights and the simple moral courage to stand in ones values to ensure we are placing the best person on the highest court in our nation.

I spend a great deal of time trying to understand those who attack, belittle, obfuscate and stay silent. Our power structures are in moral bankruptcy. While we never imagined it possible that this man would hold the highest seat in our land, that cruelty, hate, attacks, lies, cheats, disregard and disrespect would be so blatant, we are here. Being here is a reckoning of all we hold sacred.

We are in the belly of the beast and yet, we will rise, we will prevail, we will advance to more just times. 

I’m not talking about party divides, because corruption exists everywhere. I’m talking about redefining and recreating what integrity is. I’m taking about reverence. I’m talking about changing the narratives for those who continue to be marginalized by false stories of gender, color, religion, and orientation making us not a valuable to our society.

I often hear we need to fight dirty. To play power dynamics that cause pain. I can’t do it. I don’t think that way. This is why I’m continually dismayed by the actions of this congress as they are so incongruent with the values I hold dear.

Even when all I want to yell, scream and call names, I cannot go to a place where I am no longer in integrity with valuing compassion, love and the belief that we are all made of love.   

And, please know, the fury overwhelms me. I am both outraged and enraged. I am not afraid of confrontation. Since 2016, I am more attuned to my rage than ever before. I feel rage when I feel out of control. And I have never felt more out of control than I did in 2016 primaries and general election, as I did on Nov 9 and the proceeding days, as I did on Jan 20, 2017 or as I did yesterday and as I do today. I feel completely out of control, like everything sacred is burning out of control, and this makes me so mad.

Yet, under the rage, is heartbreak, the heartbreak of knowing that LOVE is not being hold in the highest regard.

I believe this is why we are all so devastated. It’s not about winning or losing. Right now, we are all losing. Even when those in power who think they won, they too have lost because they have lost sight to the reverence of all humanity. They are blind to what’s vital in living a good, whole life.

I feel rage because I love so much. I love this country. I love the truth. I love my brothers and sisters. I know all people are valuable. Life lives are sacred. And I will not rest until every person is safe and protected and free.

I am an activist because I love. I show up, donate and make phone calls because I love women, immigrants, LGBTQ people, Mother Earth, Muslims, I love people and I believe the majority of people are good.

There is something incredibly confusing happening, something where the divides feel insurmountable and yet, it’s only insurmountable if we stop ourselves from loving.

We are all hurt. These actions and the repercussions will continue to ripple. Let’s stay tapped in to all we value. Let’s stay connected. Let’s keep talking. We are all made of love. Some of us lose our way. Some of us carry deep wounds. And yet, we are all here in this moment because we are being called into deep action of love, of justice, of standing and fighting for all we hold dear.

The vote is happening now. Three Senators can stop this madness. Call and ask them to vote no for the love of country and for the love of all Americans.

• Senator Collins – 202.224.2523

• Senator Murkowski – 202.224.6665

• Senator Flake  -202.224.4521.

In love, gratitude and solidarity –

:: Genessa

You Never Forget - Believe Survivors.

A woman I love dearly was raped while in High School by her Prom date.

It’s not something she shares with many people due to the shame and blame associated with it.

The shame that knowing that her first “sexual” experience was being pinned down and forcibly penetrated. The shame of being a poor judge of character. The shame at being in a situation with him that allowed him to rape her. The shame of thinking it would be fun to have a hotel room on Prom night. The shame at being naïve. The shame at not fighting back.

When she confronted him days later, his response was “you wanted it.” He was wrong. Nobody wants to be raped.  

For the last 33 years, she has blocked this event from her daily life. It shows up when least expected. It showed up the night she told me in a crowded sushi restaurant because she had to get it out of her system. It shows up when hearing about women (and men) coming forward in the #MeToo movement. How with each public statement she wants to hide even more. It showed up while filling out forms for a spiritual retreat that had a question about sexual assault. She answered honestly and then immediately tore up the pages she’d spent over an hour filling out. I thought she was going to eat the paper, just to keep her secret stuffed deep inside. Instead she held her heart, breathing heavy, trying to calm her anxiety.

She will always relive what happened to her because being raped and sexually assaulted never goes away. The actions of the assaulter FOREVER shape your relationship with yourself, connection to other people, feelings of safety, shame and blame.

She went to the Prom a handsome and popular young man. She went as a favor to him because they were friends. They had dated in her junior year. He broke up with her because she wouldn’t have sex with him. She was a Catholic girl and was saving herself. Never did she think he would attack her and force her into sex when she emphatically and repeatedly said NO.

Brett Kavanaugh could have been her prom date.

This woman and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford are the same age. Both were attacked when they were teens. Brett Kavanaugh knew what he was doing. He locked the door. He turned up the music. He covered Dr Ford’s mouth with his hands so she couldn’t scream. He knew she was scared. He knew she didn’t want her clothes pulled off. He knew it was wrong and he didn’t stop. He didn’t care. She didn’t matter.

Like Kavanaugh, her Prom date knew what he did was wrong. He knew it when he forced himself on her. He knew it when she was crying. He knew it when he forcefully pushed her hands away from protecting her vagina. He knew it when she threw up on the side of the bed. None of that mattered. She didn’t matter. Only he mattered

Women who are raped have done nothing wrong and yet they live with the wrong doing forever.

This GOP doesn't care. They support a sexual predator President. They are jamming through a man whose actions negate the lives of every woman in our country and a lot of men too.

 

This is a reflection on how we feel about women and girls and the culture of dominance we either resist or accept.

The Supreme Court is a LIFETIME position. This is why we VOTE. We need to take a stand. NOW. Before it’s too late. 

MAKE CALLS TODAY as this confirmation is a matter of life and death.

Here are the numbers to call. Please take five minutes to demand an FBI investigation into the accusations against Kavanaugh. Their antics blocked Merrick Garland and they are pushing this man forward without proper vetting and an FBI investigation.

• Senator Grassley (R –IA) - (202) 224-3744

• Senator Hatch (R –UT) - (202) 224-5251

• Senator Graham (R-SC) - (202) 224-5972

• Senator Cornyn (R-TX) - (202) 224-2934

• Senator Lee (R-UT) - (202) 224-5444

• Senator Cruz (R-TX) - (202) 224-5922

• Senator Sasse (R-NE) - (202) 224-4224

• Senator Flake (R-AZ) - (202) 224-4521

• Senator Crapo (R-ID) - (202) 224-6142

• Senator Tillis (R-NC) - (202) 224-6342

• Senator Kennedy (R-LA) - (202) 224-4623

We are not free until we are all equal.

With love and gratitude –

 :: Genessa

Why I Write.

I write these posts asking you to take action because inaction signals we are fine with what’s happening.

I make phones calls, even when I don’t want to, because I have to do something to preserve and advance human and environmental justice.

Many people are doing much more than calling their Senators. People like Ady Barkan who has ASL, is spending the last days of his life fighting for our Democracy. This blog feels so small in the light of his courage.

I am asking you to stand against Brett Kavanaugh, because what we know of him does not align with our values (and is disgraceful) and what is being hidden could be worse. 

The highest courts changes lives. Mine was changed with the passage of Gay Marriage. Then there is Roe v Wade, Brown v the Board of Education, Loving v Virginia, Citizens United v FEC. There results which changed the course of our country.  

• Susan Collins, R-ME, (202) 224-2523

• Catherine Cortez Masto, D-NV, (202) 224-3542

• Joe Donnelly, D-IN, (202) 224-4814

• Jeff Flake, R-AZ, (202) 224-4521

• Heidi Heitkamp, D-ND, (202) 224-2043

• Doug Jones, D-AL, (202) 224-4124

• Joe Manchin, D-WV, (202) 224-3954

• Claire MsCaskill, D-MO, (202) 224-6154

• Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, (202) 224-6665

• Bill Nelson, D-FL, (202) 224-5274

• Jon Tester, D-MT, (202) 224-2644

• Senate switchboard - (202) 224-3121

Speaking truth to justice matters. As does our commitment to be courageous. It takes courage to speak truth.

Colin Kapernick and Eric Reed are courageous.

It is a fact that police in the United States are killing unarmed black people with little or zero accountability.

It is a fact that Colin Kapernick and Eric Reed wanted to change this crisis by taking a knee during the National Anthem.

It is a fact that a Green Beret suggested they take a knee versus sitting during the Anthem, as taking a knee is what is done for fallen solidiers.

It is NOT a fact that this action is done to disrespect veterans or the flag. This is an interpretation and is not the truth for Kapernick or Eric Reed.

Like Rosa Parks and the Freedom Riders before them, Colin Kapernick and Eric Reed didn’t know what could or would happen and yet, that didn’t matter. What mattered was justice.

Regardless of what you feel about Serena Williams, it was clear to me that she couldn’t bear the accusation of having her character challenged. For me, there is nothing more triggering than being accused of cheating or lying. She couldn’t drop it with the Umpire. When my character is assaulted, I too hold tight to make sure it is understood that I did not lie or cheat.

Serena said she would rather lose than cheat. Then she stood for Naomi Osaka in a circumstance that most of us can’t imagine. Like John McCain did when Obama was called an Arab even though he wanted to win, like Obama did when he said ‘don’t boo, VOTE’ even though he may have agreed with what the crowd was booing, Serena felt cheated and still stood for Naomi Osaka, giving her respect and asking us to do the same. This took integrity. It is not easy to lose at on the biggest stage. It is absolutely righteous to ask that the winner be honored.

It takes courage to show up 30-years after the fact and talk about sexual assault of a man being nominated for the highest court. Professor Christine Blasey Ford knows she will endure attacks and vitriol, perhaps even death threats, for stating her truth, that she was sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh.

This cannot be said enough, women (and men) who have been sexually assaulted, who have feared for their safety and lives, carry that experience with them for a lifetime. They never let go of an attack from high school, grade school, college, at work, at home, on date, on the playground. Sexual assault permanently changes you.

 

We are continually faced in our political landscape with what we will do in the face of lies, deceit, degradation of our moral code, cruelty and threats of assault, direct assault…the list goes on.

We have lives to live. Many of us are not directly affected of what’s happening, at least not yet. We know the psychological damage inflicted. We know the pain our children will feel. We know from history that rebuilding a nation from the ashes of a dictator, like Nazi Germany, takes several lifetimes.

We have the ability to change the direction of our country. Voting is the most profound action we can take. The midterm election is 49-days away.

We cannot be apathetic.

There is no time to be exhausted.

Social media rants are not enough.

Calls must be made. Doors must be knocked on. And thanks to the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Citizen’s United, donations must be made.

Today, say no to Brett Kavanaugh and please encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Call these Senators. Tell them your calling as an American who is concerned about the truth. Then, call your Senators and say an unequivocal No.

• Susan Collins, R-ME, (202) 224-2523

• Catherine Cortez Masto, D-NV, (202) 224-3542

• Joe Donnelly, D-IN, (202) 224-4814

• Jeff Flake, R-AZ, (202) 224-4521

• Heidi Heitkamp, D-ND, (202) 224-2043

• Doug Jones, D-AL, (202) 224-4124

• Joe Manchin, D-WV, (202) 224-3954

• Claire MsCaskill, D-MO, (202) 224-6154

• Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, (202) 224-6665

• Bill Nelson, D-FL, (202) 224-5274

• Jon Tester, D-MT, (202) 224-2644

• Senate switchboard for your Senator - (202) 224-3121

And please share share share.

With gratitude and love –

:: Genessa

Vote in Love.

I love this photo of my wife and me. It sits on my desk where I write and work. No matter how hurried, frustrated, task-oriented (or procrastinating), agitated or excited I feel, when I look at it I pause into a state of whole-heartedness.

I see Wolf's heart on her face exuding genuine and pure love. I see me, my expression so different than hers. Where The Wolf's is all heart, mine is whimsy. It's true to who we are.

The archetype of marriage never appealed to me. The idea of being somebody's wife. As a young girl I never dreamed in wedding, white dresses or bridal parties. Just wasn't part of my make-up. Wolf knew this about me and yet, to her, nothing is more significant than committing to love. She is right. Where all I could see was the aged construct, she saw the value of commitment and reconstructing the original design.

We got engaged as I read her mind while embracing on the beach in Moloka'i Hawaii. I lifted my head off her shoulder and said 'yes'. She hadn't asked me the question. She'd been thinking about it. If you've been Moloka'i, you know the power of that island. If you haven't been and plan on going, be prepared. Moloka'i delivers what you need ready or not. It scares me to think about.

I share this not because I want to trip down memory lane, which is fun for me, but more because of what happens when we give ourselves permission to sink into to our truths. When we turn off the banter and bluster of social media and the news, and drop into the times we're living in.

In this time we are awake to all that is sacred - facts, black and brown lives, women's rights, immigrants rights, Orcas, ice-caps, grizzlies, wolves, federal employees, all sentient beings. 

We are awake to record corporate profits and record heat waves. Everything feels accelerated. It's challenging to stay grounded when corruption gets attention but not attended to, when judicial nominees are changing the landscape for our foresee-able future and where it's easier not to look because holy hell, I can't bear to see all the despicable and blatant disregard. 

And then there's those faces, like Wolf's does for me, that stand out as they stand up for human rights, civil rights, social and environmental justice. The faces of love, caring, compassion. The faces who are running for office and being elected in primaries all over our country. The faces advocating for our earth and our children and our immigrants and all of us.

We are those faces.

Since it's easier to not look at the destruction of this GOP and administration, the destruction of greed, let's look at each other and remember why we vote. Why we march. Why we show up and committed to reconstructing the original design.

When I vote, I'm voting for you, for your children, for our Orcas and bears and wolves and teachers and federal employees and clean energy and opportunity and graciousness and respect and humanity. I'm voting for love. 

Next week, we will feel bamboozled again with the hearings of Brett Kavanaugh. It's important that we look at the faces of love and make phone calls to Senators (click here for phone numbers). And on November 6, the anniversary of my first date with my wife, nothing is more important than voting and encouraging others to vote.  

Remember love is stronger than fear. Love floats. Fear sinks. 

Together we can.

Wishing you a happy holiday weekend.

In love and gratitude -

:: Genessa

GUILTY.

This one's super EASY. A President who broke the law and is under investigation should not get a Supreme Court seat. Or anything else. Except jail time. First things first.

CALL YOUR SENATORS!

(202) 224-3121

ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME!

SPREAD THE WORD!

JAM THE PHONE LINES!

To access your Senator's direct line, click here. 

Together we can. Yes We Can. Stronger Together. All of the above.

MAKE THE CALL. Please. For our democracy.

Peace, love and gratitude. 

:: Genessa

Made of Love.

Last week I attended Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within.

I walked on a bed of hot coals without burning my feet. I high-fived thousands of times. I jumped up and down and danced like a step-aerobics instructor. I hugged 500 strangers who, in that moment, felt like my best confidents. I cried, screamed and unleashed with 9,000 other people in a freezing cold arena.

During a peak point of intensity, where we release our limiting beliefs, the stuff that keeps us stuck, to unleash our truth, simplicity reared its beautiful head. I remembered my biggest truth, that I am Made of Love. Just like you are. We are all Made of Love. It felt so good to embrace this simple concept as fact.

I am Made of Love.

Love is my oxygen. Love is my water. Love is my primary nutrient. Love love love. I was floating on my love cloud, making my way to the Women’s Room, when I saw an elderly man stumbling down the hallway. I made my way over to him to see if he needed help when I saw the red hat. Make America Great Again. This stopped me cold. Anger flashed. The enemy was right in front of me, smearing his mean all over me. How could he be wearing that hat in this venue with these people when I’m Made of Love? I paused. I’m Made of Love. And then I realized so is he. Because we are all Made of Love.

Does it sound like I drank the koolaid? I must have. Suddenly that red hat of heartlessness stopped raging in me. It occurred to me that if we are all Made of Love then perhaps some of us are awake to this fact, while some of us are dead asleep and some of us just don’t believe we are love so we reek havoc on everybody else.

That moment happened so quickly. The elderly man passed by. I didn’t turn around to see if he needed assistance. I received the message I needed. I stayed in Love instead of moving to hate. That red hat is one of my biggest triggers and I was able to turn to compassion when I needed it most.

And now I’m going to say something holy radical, which may cause many of you pause or even greater. When I shared this with my wife she did not receive it well. Before I say it, you must know, I will never acquiesce, I will never stop fighting for rights of ALL PEOPLE, THIS PLANET AND ALL SENTIENT BEINGS. I simply believe we need a different approach.

So here goes, that truly cruel human being who is the President of the United States is fueled by our hatred. He feeds off of it. It strengthens him. We are empowering him.

Even though he only listens to Fox News as he is a complete sycophant, narcissistic, mentally unstable and ill human being who he thrives in chaos, adversary, upheaval and discord. Even though every behavior and character trait he exhibits is dangerous, abhorrent, despicable, cruel, unfathomable and inhumane…the list is endless…we must stop fueling him with our hate. Yes, he is destroying what’s vital to our humanity. Yes, he is sick and he is a monster, as are the members of congress who stand by his side.

The inhumanity in every action of this administration / GOP is an assault to all we value ---justice, freedom, wellness, preservation, and safety --- to our progress as people. We must do everything we can to preserve our Democracy and humanity. 

I say none of this lightly as the stakes are beyond repair in too many instances, and if I am Made of Love, and so are you, I believe it is our duty to live from Love and to do all we can to HEAL all of those who suffer and cause suffering.

So, here’s the radical thought that aggravated my wife, what if in our meditations, in our moments of pause, in our prayers, in our thoughts, in our intentions, we send healing to that very sick and cruel man. Healing and not hate. Healing in the hopes that something reaches him and he stops this horror show.

We know who he is yet we keep reinforcing it with disbelief and disdain. He is deranged. He needs help. If our hate fuels him, then we are giving him our power. What if our healing energy could douse the flames. There have been studies that have proven healing energy works and at this point, I will do whatever it takes to stop this madness.

Of course, none of what I’m suggesting will make a difference if people don’t VOTE. So getting out the vote remains our top priority.

Each day in my meditation when I’m sending healing out to the people I love who are suffering, to the people I don’t know who are suffering, I add a very sick and unjustly powerful man to my list. Perhaps you’ll consider doing the same.

My eyes are wide open.

And since I am truly Made of Love, I must lead with love.

Thank you for you.

Peace.

:: Genessa

FAMILIES BELONG TOGETHER - tomorrow June 30th!

Tomorrow is a day of action with marches and protest throughout our country.

Please join one.  

With all our might, we must make sure families are reunited and this barbaric treatment of human beings stops right now. Imagine if this was your child(ren). What would you do then?

If you are in the Seattle area, there is a call for experienced Peace Keepers from 9am - 2pm. Please email Charmaine Slye at cslye1@gmail.com to volunteer.

We are being called to RISE & RESIST!

Find an event near you - https://www.familiesbelongtogether.org/.

Keep the faith. Together we can.

With love and gratitude -

:: Genessa

PS - Support gun control, #SaveSCOTUS by calling Senators - (202) 224-3121 and never stop believing that love will win. In all the scary chaos, this is an invitation to action - to live by our values, to design a life filled with endless compassion, to never stop fighting for the rights of all human beings. 

FIRED UP. READY TO GO!

This is the most important moment of activism we have faced since Nov 2016.

The courts, the Supreme Court in particular, are dramatically shaped by whoever sits in Oval Office and our Members of Congress.

Tipping the courts away from the rights of the people have and will forever change the experience of being an American.

With Gorsuch on the bench, we’re watching the erosion of civil protections for marginalized people, voter rights and laborers.

We know the danger of a conservative court. We know first hand the devastation of Citizens United, which gave corporations have the right to pollute our elections financially. Elections are the most financially wasteful expression of Americanism. 

And, we know the value of a humanly oriented court.

I will forever remember the power of the waking up on the morning of June 26, 2015 to the 5-4 vote legalizing my right to marry. I still cry each time I remember that moment of release and the oppression of marginalization lifted.

Just imagine the rawness in the rulings for Roe v Wade, Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia.

Mitch McConnell and the GOP changed the rules. They blocked Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland. They set the precedent of no vote on a justice in an election year.

While there were specifically referring to a Presidential election, we are in an election year. In four months, the citizens of our country will elect our Members of Congress and as vile as that rule change was, WE CANNOT HAVE A VOTE ON A NOMINEE UNTIL THE PEOPLE VOTE.

All 49 Democratic Senators must hold steady – West Virginia and North Dakota will be hard pressed to sway because of the demographics of their States. We need 1 Republican to recognize the value in human life. Who will have the integrity to stand with the people?

A trump nominee will permeate our country for the next 40 years. If the GOP is allowed to push through a judge who cares not about the rights of people, many of us may not be alive to see the tipping back towards humanity.

Yet, even in this devastating news, even with each daily blow, I remain hopeful. I believe we are in this chaos as an invitation to rise together, rise united in our values of the safety, protection and opportunities for all Americans.

Our role in this moment is the express the deepest compassion for all people and do everything you have the power, the energy, the fortitude to do to make sure that all people are free.

We must make our communities stronger, our country more united and our world more peaceful. This is the invitation. 

Together we are stronger and together we matter.

TODAY’S EASY ACTIVISM.

1. Call  your Senators and tell them no vote until the people have voted.

2. Then call the Republicans who could swing - Bob Corker. Jeff Flake. Susan Collins. Lisa Murkowski. Call them at  (202) 224-3121. Tell them you don’t want a vote on the next Supreme Court Justice until after the midterms, following the McConnell rule of election year confirmations.

3. Nothing matters more than VOTING! Talk to everybody you see about the importance of voting. Ask them if they are registered. Point them to how to register if they’re not. Tell them what's at stake.

36% of Americans voted in 2014 midterms. This is why we have McConnell and the other greed mongers.

We can do this. We are a good people. We value the same things. Let’s get to work! We don’t have a moment to lose.

With love and gratitude –

:: Genessa

Preaching to the Choir.

I’m preaching to the choir.

We are all in pain.

We are broken by the inhumanity on blatant display.

We are sickened and crushed by the existence of Trump’s detainment camps. 

It’s hard to imagine how we care going to overcome this time in history. How we are going to make good again? How we are going to genuinely care for one another?

Bearing witness to these atrocities is so painful.

I feel paralyzed by the pain.

I feel limited in my capacity to make things better.

I know we need to keep making calls, keep protesting, keep standing up for each other, for those who are being marginalized.

I know I need to show up as a loving person in all my interactions. Patient, gentle and assuming the best of people.

I sit here today, struggling to work, as I try to understand why we ‘other’ people. Why we judge? Why we discriminate? Why we say mean things? Why we turn a blind eye to those suffering? Why we cause suffering?

I don’t understand how people think it’s okay to tear families apart who are crossing the border looking for a safer and better life.

I don’t understand judging people by the color of their skin. I’ll never understand this. It’s outside of my scope.

I don’t understand 'othering' on the macro level and yet, I embody it on a micro level.

I want to rage at every person who voted for these monsters. I remember every friend on Facebook who said Hillary and Trump were the same. Every friend who spread fake news about the "evil" Hillary Clinton. I can name names. I loathe my friend’s parents who voted for Trump. I want to get in their faces and shame them endlessly, to make them feel our pain. I want to them to feel disgraced. 

And, with that, I am the problem. 

I crave aggression towards those who support Trump, those believe The Fox News lies, who chose Trump for a tax break or because he'd blow up the system without regard for those who would be hurt by it. 

I want them all to suffer.  

I am so angry. I am so sad. I am devastated.

And I don’t know what to do. Compassion has left me. I know hate begets hate and love begets love and what do we do when human lives are at stake? Do we go to war with our weapons and obliterate them? Or are we Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama?

Where is the line?

How can we make things better?

Do I go high or I do I go low? I just don't know.

All I know is that if we keep showing up, we keep speaking out, we stay involved and never stop, we will overcome.  History has proven this true.

TODAY’S EASY ACTIVISM from Washington State Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.

• Take action: Mobilize on June 30 at 11 a.m. at Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. There will be protests around the country. Find one here - https://www.familiesbelongtogether.org/

• Support the Congresswoman’s legislation – the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act and the Detention Oversight Not Expansion (DONE) Act – to completely overhaul our immigrant detention system with strengthened oversight and human rights standards, and to prevent the detention of vulnerable populations, including primary caregivers and asylum seekers. We need more co-sponsors for these critical pieces of legislation.

• Support the legal and humanitarian efforts of organizations like the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Kids in Need of Defense, RAICES, ProBar, and the Texas Civil Rights Project that are on the ground helping the kids and parents impacted by this policy.

And because we can and rage begets rage, feel free to call or text Stephen Miller at 202-881-8641. He’s real busy ruining people's lives so he may not answer or respond. 

With gratitude and love -

:: Genessa

Protect all Families!

This is the most urgent request I have shared.

We must MAKE CALLS, WRITE LETTERS and SHOW UP IN THE STREETS (a protest is being planned throughout the country and details will be released soon).

Families seeking asylum are being ripped apart. Children are being housed in cages. Parents have no idea whether are not they will be reunited with their kids.

TODAY'S EASY ACTIVISM

1. Pick three Republican Senators and call them. Senator Feinstein has authored a bill stopping this behavior. Not one Republican is courageous enough to support it. Pick and call any three. Phone numbers are found here.

2. Call the fucker in the White House and leave a message opposing this - 202-456-1111.

3. Considering donating to this organization as they need all the help they can get right now.

https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/leafund

Imagine yourself as a mother, father, sister, brother, child being taken from your family and locked up because you are seeking a better life.

This is horrifying.

We must stop these soulless people. November 2018 can’t come soon enough.

Love and gratitude.

:: Genessa

Senators McCain, Collins and Flake Can Do It

Over the past seven days Senators McCain, Collins and Flake have TWEETED against the actions of this administration.

Tweets, however, aren’t how laws are made (thank the heaven’s above).

Their words are important, and yet ring hollow without concrete action.

Senators McCain, Collins and Flake can form a caucus with the Democrats to stop the madness  and the inaction of everybody else in the GOP. They could effectively stop the inhumanity of migrant children being literally ripped from their parents arms at the border and protect our relationships with our allies.

Today's Easy Activism -

Please take 3 minutes to call and tweet these Senators to ask them to caucus with the Democrats to support of our allies and the basic rights of human beings. We need action. We depend on the checks and balances of Government. 

Please call or tweet at -

• Senator John McCain, AZ - (202) 224-2235, @SenJohnMcCain
• Senator Susan Collins, ME - (202) 224-2523, @SenatorCollins
• Senator Jeff Flake, AZ - (202) 224-4521, @JeffFlake

Sample Script: We appreciate the Senator's tweets and would like to encourage him / her to work across the aisle and form a caucus with the Democrats. We need to protect our allied relationships and keep families together at the border, as this is inhumane, by supporting Senator Feinstein's bill.

Together we can.

Love and gratitude.

:: Genessa