“We been fighting for all the wrong stuff, We better fight to stay in love.” ~ Tanya Stephens.

One of my favorite stories about my childhood arrival in rural Jamaica, which I have probably told many times, is about our encounter with a snoring animal.  It was bad enough trying to adjust to the sounds of crickets and other insects as soon as the sun set, after moving from the city of Manchester, England.  But this loud noise was very disturbing.  Where could the animal be?  Was it a cow? A donkey? And off my city-born father would go, with a flashlight, to search under the house, next to the house, around the house, for the non-existent animal.  Our friendly Deacon Jackson (he of the twinkly eyes and ready smile) when asked, replied, ‘Oh, you mean the tree toad!’.  I recently googled and discovered that the Osteipilus crucialis is the Jamaican snoring frog, the largest of the tree frogs in the Western Hemisphere (can reach over three inches in length!) and is endemic to Jamaica.

As a teenager I had the lovely job of locating and catching a toad for my Biology dissection class.  Fortunately, my friend could point them out to me, they congregated (especially at night, when they would jump out at the unwary passerby) near her outside pipe.  Note that she pointed them out to me, from a distance.  She was not going to go anywhere near them! 

My appreciation for amphibians was deepened by my visit to the Virgin Islands many years ago.  The nightlife (again, full of a variety of insect driven sounds) had an even more distinctive orchestra member.  There was a sound, two toned, kinda sounded like ‘co-kee, co-kee’ with the second note higher than the first. That was the ‘coqui frog’, native to neighboring Puerto Rico.  Whenever I hear the sound I am transported back to the islands.

It has been particularly pleasing in recent weeks, to see the joy with which segments of the US population are choosing to protest some of the most cruel representations of US government policy enforcement.  It is one thing to enact your first amendment rights non-violently, it is entirely another to do so dressed in inflatable costumes while dancing, singing and playing music!  If you haven’t seen these displays of brazen happiness, use your search engine to look for the Portland Frog and you will be amused and encouraged.  In a city that has been described as a war-zone, the biggest clash has been between the brightly colored costumes on display.  This is a city that is lovingly mocked already for being a little wonky, a little quirky.  Reports of military men armed to the teeth being offered vegan, gluten-free snacks by crystal-carrying moon-worshiping Wiccans (I am conflating somewhat here) help you to understand the dynamics.  But it was the Frog-dressed protester who stood snout to face with the armed National Guardsman that has caught the eye of world.  The photo has been compared to the shot of the man in Tiananmen Square, holding two shopping bags while staring down a tank, over 35 years ago.  Iconic.  The Portland Frog story is even more endearing.  Supposedly pepper spray was shot through the vent of his costume, of which the man inside reportedly said ‘I’ve had spicier tamales!’

When we are receiving reports and seeing evidence of more and more authoritarian type activities; as it appears that more and more civil rights are being eroded; when the most vulnerable of our population are being treated like disposable rather than human beings; when acts protecting our national forests and parks are being treated as investment opportunities; it is more than heartening to realize that, each in their own way, Americans are pushing back. 

We have seen lawsuits that have successfully blocked illegal acts of government.  In Miami recently, activist and Professor Marvin Dunn brought a lawsuit against the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees who held a swift and private vote to transfer 2.5 acres of waterfront property (ironically, right next door to the ‘Freedom Tower’, a historical building linked to the welcome of Cuban refugees in the 60s).  This property was to be used for the building of our current president’s future presidential library.  Hence the irony of the location. 

In other states airports have refused to air a very partisan video created by the current secretary of Homeland Security to inform the public that delays during the government shutdown were caused by the actions of Democrats.  The administrations that refused to air it did so, not on partisan grounds, but citing their own policies (which predate the current government) and also a federal act, the Hatch Act from 1939, which prohibits civil service employees from engaging in (you have to love the alliteration ) ‘…Pernicious Political Activities…’. 

So whether it is people using the courts to protest, or using current law to correctly refuse to follow illegal directives, or simply advocating outside of federal institutions by playing Ghostbusters on a clarinet, like the tiny shoots of green on dried up winter trees, glimmers and glitters of hope are appearing across the map of these United States. 

One of the saddest commentaries that I read recently which explained the appeal of our current president for millions of citizens who voted for him, described the number of ways in which people could feel that he expressed their own personal feelings.  For those of us who are not enamored of him, we find so many of his character flaws as more than objectionable, more than reprehensible.  For a start, how could a convicted felon even be considered for such a job?  Even for a job as a courier delivering blood from the blood bank to a hospital, a convicted felon is automatically disqualified.  But, the article said, for each of his recorded ‘flaws’ (not mentioning his involvement in the Epstein files) there is a voter who relates to him.  So even if these voters don’t have everything in common, they have something in common with him.  Even if it is as minor as feeling free to use epithets to describe minorities. (See also the recently exposed group chats of Young Republicans).

We  have been told that our current state of divisiveness, of positive polarization (a term coined by Pat Buchanan to highlight how effective it was to amplify differences) is due to so-called ‘culture wars’, a phrase designed to highlight the clash between our different ways of life.  But a better phrase that I heard yesterday was ‘cultivated wars’.  Most of us, from whatever culture, who move to the US soon learn to love and appreciate the practices of other cultures.  Those who are born in the US (of whatever color) are equally happy doing the Chicken dance (most definitely a White American thing) ; joining a Conga line (many thanks, Cuban born Gloria) dancing the Electric Slide (courtesy of Jamaica’s own Marcia Griffiths); or doing the ubiquitous Cupid Shuffle dance ‘slide to the left’ (sung by African American Cupid) and more recently, Jerusalema, straight out of South Africa!  Most of us live in neighborhoods where a ‘potluck’ party will result in a multicultural array of food choices. 

But even those who live in predominantly ‘White’ neighborhoods have good relationships with those in the service industries that may have been born outside of these United States, may speak English with an accent, and are not blond and blue-eyed.  Again, even in the most homogenous districts, healthcare may be provided, babies delivered by a man or woman with a multi-syllabled last name, by a person originating from another continent on the other side of the world.  So, to pretend that we are anything other than a diverse society is pure drivel.

After a particularly outrageous display of police brutality against an African American, I remember Basketball coach Doc Rivers giving a press conference where he said (and I found the quote, thank you AI!) “It’s amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back”. For so many people, this statement resonates. The history of this country, which did not start with Columbus or the Pilgrims, is full of unloving stories, of outright aggression, oppression, enslavement and murder of groups of people who have contributed to the development, growth and wealth of this nation.  And yet these same groups of people show more respect, more forgiveness, more love for this country and its values than those currently in charge.

Many years ago I shared my Tanya Stephens album with a Haitian-American, Jamaican-wannabe co-worker.  The song quoted above spoke to him.  He had been having struggles with his girlfriend, and he kept repeating the line quoted.  It seems to be particularly applicable to the people of the US today.  We have been fighting for all the wrong reasons, pitted against each other when we could be putting on inflatable costumes and showing up for each other.  Thankfully there are those who fighting to stay in love with this country, even when they are not personally affected by some of the more cruel acts of policy enforcement. 

This Friday morning, I am taking courage from these acts, and remembering that, as the Wailing Souls once sang: “Jah Jah give us life to live, so let us live!” Regardless of what happens around us, we can be joyful, we can sing and dance, love and laugh with abandon.  And when you need cheering up, look for an inflatable frog near you!

Have a wonderful weekend, Family!

One Love!

Namaste.