Flyer from last spring by Elizabeth Barger, CODEPINK Local Coordinator and co-founding member of The Farm |
The Farm is an eco village established
decades ago by a group of idealistic, intelligent people who wanted
to learn how to be more human. My family came here to rest after the
punishing heat and militarism of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, which was
full of strip malls with recruiting offices offering “careers” to
low income youth. Their glossy posters were paid for by the
beleaguered U.S. taxpayer, who is about to pony up another $606 billion for “defense” in fiscal year 2013.
This glossy poster was given to us by
one of the Kansas City area activist artists, Marc Saviano. It was
made at his own expense and will go home to Maine to stand on the
bridge with us on Sundays – because dissent is patriotic.
Today we'll get a full tour of The Farm
including its sustainable water system, composting toilets, adobe
style buildings, and the internationally famed Midwifery Center
established by the revolutionary of humane birthing in the U.S., Ina May Gaskin. She and her husband Steven were among the
group with Eliz and Joe Barger that drove out of the SF Bay area
in the early 1970's, headed away from the mean city streets and back toward the countryside. Besides The Farm they founded Plenty, an economic justice
project, and Kids to the Country.
Yesterday we chilled out by The Farm's
swimming hole with a slew of city kids, mostly from Nashville, that
were enjoying consensual splashing while learning to swim, share, and make bead
geckos and squid. Oh, and there was also crawdad catching and a snake
watching walk. Our grandson, who is 7, was included in their games
and swimming lessons just as if he belonged to the group. Which he
did. He was recovering from a hot morning mixing straw and red clay
with the building crew, daubs of which remained after sluicing off
in a solar shower.
The Farm is a teaching center offering
all kinds of lessons in sustainable living. What I hope my grandson
takes away is the notion that children are welcome, and that everyone
cooperating makes for the best kind of life possible.
At each river or stream I've been grateful to rest beside I find Bradley Manning in my mind's eye, and I invite him to walk free with me beside the water.
Because exposing war crimes is not a crime, it is an act of courage and humanity.
Recorded interview on Press TV about Manning's imprisonment and alleged crimes.
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