Two Artists Tuesday | The Direction of Intention

The Imaginary Top [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on August 19, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

This gorgeous flower that derives its name from the Greek kosmos was lying on the sidewalk. The recent incessant heat and rain and humidity had wrestled it to the ground. It was down but not defeated.

Cosmos. Another name for the vast universe and its intrinsic order. Lately on our little planet the order of the universe seems to have lost its mooring. Actually, the flora and fauna seem to still be hitched to natural cycles and patterns, it’s we-the-human-beings that have slipped away from the dock of reason.

She knelt on the ground to take the picture. “They are beautiful,” she said. From a distance it must have looked like she was bowing to the cosmos. The image and word play tickled me. I thought, “We human-beings would do ourselves a favor if we were humble and occasionally bowed to the Cosmos.” We definitely occupy a place in the order, but rather than seeing ourselves as interconnected, we invent hierarchies and place ourselves at the pinnacle of importance. We give ourselves the blue ribbon. A few more years of thousand-year storms might wake us up but I doubt it. We like believing we are at the top. We like believing that there actually is a top to be occupied – and therein lies our dis-ease. Believing that we are at the top permits the delusion that we are somehow disconnected from the rest of the Cosmos. It gives us permission to believe that everything is a resource for our use and pleasure.

That, and, as they say, hierarchies beget hierarchies. We imagine an order to the vast Cosmos in which there are winners and losers. We turn our hierarchies on each other.

Of course, we are capable of imagining a different type of order. It’s why we have stories of messiahs and buddhas. They are meant to point the way out of our delusion and toward the actual order of the Cosmos. No hierarchy. Non-separation. Illumination and brother’s keeper. A return to the garden to discover the Tree of Everlasting Life otherwise known as unity. Those wacky sages are meant to help us see beyond our illusion, beyond our bloody scramble for the imaginary top.

After the flower photo op, we were careful to step over the cosmos-on-the-sidewalk. The cosmos were a good reminder in this time of madness run amok: reason, ethic, moral compass, compassion, service, kindness…may be down, but they are certainly not defeated. In the end, they are what give order to our cosmos

read Kerri’s blogpost about COSMOS

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Filed under: Awakening, Language, Metaphor, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, compassion, cosmos, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, ethic, hierarchy, illumination, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, kindness, order, reason, sages, service, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Harvest [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on August 12, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“It is very nearly impossible to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind.” ~ James Baldwin

The first tomato of the season. We plucked it and, after its photo shoot, we split it and ate it. It tasted of the sun. We delighted in the first harvest of what we sowed.

I just read a million quotes about harvests. They all boil down to essentially the same platitude: you reap what you sow.

My favorite quote of the week is by Brian Tyler Cohen: “All of these alpha republicans instantly become beta the minute Dear Leader tells them what to do. He tells them to jump. They jump.” They swagger around, talking tough, but their actions reveal lemmings in cowboy clothes. Currently, at Dear Leader’s behest, they protect the identity of wealthy pedophiles instead of the rights of the little girls they violated. They gut social programs to give tax cuts to the morbidly wealthy. They’ve fully funded a terror squad currently plucking people off the streets and disappearing them into concentration camps. Rather than protect the nation, they are moving in lockstep to turn the military on the citizens. Do they know what horror they sow? Do they understand or even consider the crop that we will reap from such a planting?

Of course they do. It is the reason they are dismantling the Department of Education. It’s the reason that universities across the nation are under assault. It’s the reason arts funding has disappeared. It’s the reason that the free press has been cowed. It’s the reason DEI is being scrubbed and history thoroughly whitewashed. “Authoritarians despise universities, journalists, experts, artists and free thinkers – because truth is their kryptonite. Lies are the scaffolding of tyranny. A tyrant’s power is directly proportional to the population’s ignorance.” [youtube.com/@theintellectualist] This quote, by-the-way, is not a platitude. It is a siren call, an all-hands-on-deck alarm to the dismantling of democracy.

The party that swaggers and follows-the-leader-who-excessively-boasts is currently fearful and hiding from their constituents. Their constituents are angry because their representatives have become the poster-children of group-think. Their representatives no longer represent them. Independent thought seems anathema to the republicans. They are all swagger and no substance. We-the-people would like to ask them if they know the corruption that they sow – but can’t because they are ashamed to face us.

Do they know? They do. That is the reason they no longer hold town hall meetings. They fear the will of the people, so rather than listen to the people they move to rig the next election. Blatant gerrymandering. Purging voter rolls. Legislating obstacles making it harder for people of color and women to vote. Sowing authoritarianism. “Authoritarians despise…free thinkers – because truth is their kryptonite.”

There is one thing we can all agree upon: the harvest of what they currently plant will taste like something other than the sun.

read Kerri’s blogpost about the FIRST TOMATO

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Filed under: Perspective, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, arts funding, authoritarianism, Bryan Tyler Cohen, cowboy, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, DEI, democracy, free press, group think, harvest, James Baldwin, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, reap, sow, story, studio melange, the melange, tyranny | 4 Comments »

The Door [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on July 29, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” ~ Joseph Campbell

We leaned an old door against the garage. The towel rack serves as an excellent perch for birds. Initially, we entertained the idea of hanging a basket of flowers from the rack but abandoned the idea. As time and weather peel back the layers and reveal the door’s history, we are delighted that we left well-enough alone. The door is beautiful and needs no adornment.

I am rereading The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell’s masterwork introducing us to the idea of a monomyth: the story-pattern found universally in folklore, myths, religious narratives…across cultures. The human journey. This time through I am slow-reading the book, taking in only a few pages a day – or sometimes if it strikes me I linger on a single paragraph. In this phase of my life I am less interested in consuming information and more wanting to savor what I read. I am not trying to “get there” or to “achieve” or ascend the heights of knowledge mountains. I am in favor of strolling and appreciating.

Sitting on the step of the deck, watching Dogga explore the crab grass, I realized that we placed the door directly opposite of Barney the piano. And, because my mind is savoring mythic journeys I was amused at the creation of our unintentional sculpture. Music is Kerri’s bliss. Since she fell and broke both of her wrists the door has been mostly closed. Recently she cleaned out her studio. It feels good in there! There’s light and space and new energy. Occasionally, spontaneously, she will run in and play for a few minutes. Dogga and I exchange a knowing look: the muse is calling.

There was certainly a departure from the known. There have been challenges – more than I care to count. Like Barney and the door, the old world collapses, layers peel away, revealing history long unattended. In the collapse the purest form emerges and finds new light. Though the journey is not yet complete, I am witness to her transformation.

We placed an old door opposite of Barney. Where once there was only a wall, I have faith that this door will open. She will return to the land of the known, and as the monomyth foretells, she will bring with her a boon, a special gift gained from her arduous journey.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE DOOR

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Filed under: Art, Awakening, Heroes, Metaphor, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, folklore, Joseph Campbell, journey, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, monomyth, muse, music, myth, narratives, story, studio melange, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, the melange, transformation | 1 Comment »

Especially Now [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on July 22, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Dear You,

we are trying to regroup, rethink and refocus our melange blogpost writing a bit. we – like you – know what is really happening in our world and do not need one more person – including ourselves – telling us the details of this saddest of descents destroying democracy and humanity. though we know our effort will not be 100% – for there is sooo much to bemoan in these everydays – we have decided to try and lean into another way – to instead write about WHAT ELSE IS REAL. this will not negate negativity, but we hope that it will help prescribe presence as antidote and balm for our collective weariness. ~ xoxo kerri & david

***

Sometimes what we see is obvious. Sometimes it is not. We showed this photo to 20. Kerri told him it was a painting. I told him it was a granite counter top. He narrowed his eyes. He knows us too well. It could be a photograph taken by the Webb telescope: the surface of an unknown planet or a particular slice of the galaxy analyzed through a monochromatic lens. What else could it be? A satellite image of earth’s weather pattern? A microscope image of lymph moving in the body?

Without context it is difficult – well, it is nearly impossible – to arrive at an agreement of what we see. And isn’t that the epicenter of the interesting times in which we live? Deceptive contexts. Most often dueling contexts. We do not wrangle over what we see; our fight is about context; the loss of shared context. We cannot agree on what we see.

His parents used the railing of the bridge to stretch after their walk. The young boy peered down into the water and said, “Yuck.” The family moved on. We stopped at the yuck spot and looked down. Pollen swirling in the slow moving river.

Kerri whipped out her camera whispering, “Gorgeous!”

Whose interpretation is correct? Kerri’s? The young boy’s?

Both. They share context so neither need be right or wrong. They agree on what they see just not on the aesthetics.

What else is real? It is a good question to ask. Especially now.

read Kerri’s blogpost about WHAT ELSE IS REAL

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Filed under: Perspective, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: Agreement, artistry, context, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, interpretation, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, perception, story, studio melange, the melange, truth | 1 Comment »

The Language of Flowers [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on July 15, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“In the language of flowers, the bluebell is a symbol of humility, constancy, gratitude and everlasting love. It is said that if you turn a bluebell flower inside-out without tearing it, you will win the one you love, and if you wear a wreath of bluebells you will only be able to speak the truth.” ~ Woodland Trust

Recently I much prefer the language of flowers to the language of people.

Flowers call to Kerri. “Stop! Take my picture!” So she does. I do not hear the voice of the flower but I do hear Kerri’s, “Ohhhhhh!”

When we walk the neighborhood en route to the lake we pass a house that at first glance seems overrun with flora. It is a butterfly garden. Intentionally cultivated, aesthetically chaotic and beautiful. It also encourages bees. It’s the place where Kerri heard the bluebells beckon and I heard, “Ohhhhh! Bluebells!” We stopped for an extended photo shoot. The posing bluebells wanted to make sure that Kerri captured their best side.

This morning she asked me to read something that she found disturbing. “If I have it in my mind then you have to have it in your mind, too.” It was layer upon layer of maga conspiracy theory; fearmongering deep state paranoia. At the center of it all was a dedicated victimhood. “THEY are out to get US.” The libs, the woke, the dems, blah, blah, blah, fido, fact-free, dark-mind, nonsense. The language of sad-angry-deluded-people swirled around in my mind so I walked out the backdoor to visit the day lilies. They are beginning to bloom and I love them. Vibrant orange. A few are the color of red wine. I said, “Talk to me.”

They must have said, “Go get Kerri,” because at that moment she came out the backdoor.

“Will you ask the day lilies if I should send bluebells to Washington, DC?” I asked. “They won’t talk to me.”

“What?” she wrinkled her brow.

I quoted: “…wear a wreath of bluebells you will only be able to speak the truth.”

“Ohhhh!” she said, looking over my shoulder, no longer listening to me. “I have to get my camera!” She disappeared into the house. She must have heard the day lilies because they began to primp for their photo shoot. Beauty unabashedly celebrating itself.

“Yes,” I thought, as the photo shoot commenced, “I very much prefer the language of flowers”.

read Kerri’s blogpost about BLUEBELLS

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Filed under: Language, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, beauty, bluebells, butterfly garden, conspiracy theory, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, day lilies, fearmongering, Gratitude, humility, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, language, love, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Mint And Magic [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on July 8, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

In folklore, garlic is supposed to ward off evil spirits and, according to Bram Stoker, it is especially useful at repelling vampires. I imagine that the protective properties dissolve once the garlic is sauteed with onions: evil spirits and vampires alike could not possibly be repelled by the intoxicating aroma of garlic and onions.

According to some traditions, mint, in addition to fostering tranquility, also has protective properties. Instead of vampires, mint defends against “negative energies and entities”. Since we in these un-United States are awash in negative energy and ill-intended entities, I am comforted that in our herb garden the mint is exploding out of its pot.

I suppose it is a silver lining to climate change that our summers are hotter and more humid which seems to be a super-steroid for mint growth. I’m considering planting a moat of mint around our house. I’m considering sending mint to all the people I love. It seems increasingly likely that they – and we – will need to fortify ourselves against the rising tide of negative energies and the entities that the republicans recently funded. I am considering wearing a necklace of garlic to ward off Stephen Miller and Russell Vought – the first legitimate vampires I’ve witnessed. Apparently Bram Stoker wasn’t just fictionalizing things.

In magic traditions mint has healing properties and is especially useful in enhancing mental clarity and sharpening focus. It is a calming agent. For these reasons I am pondering the virtues of sending mint to maga. Hey! That’s a catchy phrase for a campaign! Mint-To-Maga. Has there ever been a group of people in the history of humanity that was in greater need of mental clarity and calming down? That would require more mint than currently spills out of our pot but in the recent decimation of green energy in favor of fossil fuels, climate change is guaranteed to roar ahead unimpeded so my sudden mint production need has an unintended boost. After my mint moat is planted I’ll start looking for a farm.

I should have sent them mint before the election. I should have known this administration would suck the life-blood from the very people who voted them into power. Well, I did know but confess that I thought it would take longer to execute. Negative entities move faster than I knew. And, now that I think about it, I should have sent garlic prior to the election though I doubt it would have done any good. Maga seems hellbent on giving their blood to the Nosferatu. By now you’d think they’d have realized that they are being fed a steady diet of red herring and are, themselves, the primary food source of the Project 2025 vampires.

Fattened as they are on lies and gleefully cheering their own demise, I doubt that any amount of garlic can now protect them. It could possibly take a mountain of mint and more than a little bit of magic to calm them enough to reclaim a modicum of mental clarity – but I think it is still worth a last-ditch effort. My Spine-for-Congress campaign was a complete failure and now that their Mega-Murder-Bill is unleashed and aimed directly at the red states – and the rest of us, Mint-for-Maga just might help the red-hat-crew open their eyes before the negative energies suck them – and the rest of us – dry.

read Kerri’s blogpost about MINT

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Filed under: Perspective, Rants, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, garlic, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life blood, MAGA, mint, negative energy, Project 2025, sarcasm, story, studio melange, the melange, tranquility, vampires | 2 Comments »

The Composition of a Life [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on July 1, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

I cut the post I wrote for today. The image of this Dianthus flower is too beautiful for the thoughts I paired with it. The color of this flower kills me. The composition of this photograph would make Georgia O’Keeffe smile.

I reminded myself to not miss the beauty-of-the-moment in the middle of the national horror story we currently experience.

Chris has been on a quest for 15 years to develop a play based on Viktor Frankel’s book, Man’s Search For Meaning. A few days ago he took another step forward. He’s knocking on the door of his dream. Viktor Frankel was a Holocaust survivor and the book is based on his experiences in the camp. He makes a distinction that is relevant for us today: we have the choice to either seek meaning from our experiences or to bring meaning to our experiences. Our chances of survival are better if we bring rather than seek meaning – especially in a time, like ours, when amorality and cruelty have the reins of power. It’s hard to find meaning in the wasteland.

It’s the reason I cut my post. I was seeking meaning from the rapid collapse of our democracy rather than bringing a greater meaning to this moment-in-time.

We put the air conditioner in the window because our old Dogga suffers in the heat. Last night he was laying in his now-usual-spot directly in front of the fan blowing cold air. I sat next to him and rubbed his ears. I cannot describe the enormity of what I felt in that moment. It was more necessary, more important than anything rolling across our screens.

As I write this a bird – a house finch – is scratching at the window just behind where I am sitting. It is literally six inches from my head. I can see into its eyes. And it is looking into mine.

The color of this Dianthus kills me.

I cannot stop the national slide into autocracy. I can control where I choose to place my focus and there’s so much around me that would be a shame to miss. It’s the composition of a life that would make Georgia O’Keeffe – and Viktor Frankel – nod with silent approval.

read Kerri’s blogpost about DIANTHUS

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Filed under: Awakening, Gratitude, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: appreciation, artistry, autocracy, composition, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, focus, Georgia O'Keeffe, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, meaning making, sea dog theater, studio melange, the melange, Viktor Frankl | 3 Comments »

Unlock The Door [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on June 24, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Lodgepole pine cones require the heat of fire to open and release their seeds. Fire is necessary to unlock the door to the next generation of possibility. It is the reason our dear J, as part of her wedding gift, gave us a box filled with Lodgepole pine cones . She was encouraging us to light a fire in each other. And so we have.

As part of our solstice observance, as the sun set, we started a small fire in the fire pit, selected ten pine cones from J’s box, made wishes and set intentions for the seeds-of-opportunity that the fire would unlock, and committed our pine-cone-wishes to the flames. Moving into a new stage of life, we set targets for the next generation of our possibilities.

As I stared into the waning fire, I hoped that the hot authoritarian forest fire roaring through our nation might unlock the door to the next generation of democratic possibility. I hoped that the heat of the fire might once-and-for-all clear the tangle-weeds of white supremacy and hate, remove the undergrowth of thuggery and elitism and prepare the forest floor for new seedlings of fairness, equality and the fulfillment of democracy’s promise. I hoped that it might burn away the strangle-hold private money has on our government so we might trust that our elected officials are public servants and not greedy profiteers.

Rather than repeat the cycle, yet another go-round with oligarchy and near-authoritarianism, I wished for the nation to break the cycle of denial and dysfunction and move into a new, healthier stage of life, a democracy fully committed to democracy: a government of the people that follows a single north star: liberty and justice for all.

We hold within us the seeds.

[Since I wrote this post, we entered a war with Iran. The heat of the authoritarian forest fire just escalated and somehow…somehow…the Republican Congress remains silent. Complicit. One wonders if we must become a smoldering wreckage before they remember they are servants of a Constitution and not a political party or a pariah.]

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE PINE CONE

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Filed under: Metaphor, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, fire, intention, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, metaphor, opportunity, possibility, seeds, solstice, story, studio melange, summer solstice, the melange | 1 Comment »

The Smallest of Things [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on June 17, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

We’ve taught Dogga not to bark at the dachshunds next door. He stands vigil on our bed where he can see out the window and over the fence. He waits, knowing their morning routine. When the moment arrives, when the dachshunds come outside, Dogga groans and moans – like a character in a melodrama – to suppress his bark. He leaps off the bed, turns to look at us, and vigorously complains. His indignation is among our favorite morning rituals. We giggle at his yawling discord. We tell him to, “Go get candy cane!”, his favorite toy, useful in chewing away his dissatisfaction. He races into the next room returning with his plastic candy cane in his mouth, looking somewhat like Groucho Marx gnawing on a red and white striped cigar.

In those moments I couldn’t be more in love with my life. It’s the smallest of things.

We were like small children overrun with anticipation as we awaited the blossoming of the peonies. Last fall Loida gifted Kerri with two new peony roots. Elsa Sass and Amalia Olson. We planted them with great care, following the instructions to the letter. In the spring, little green adventurers broke through the soil. Soon there were leaves and then the tiniest buds. And then, one day, the buds began to swell; nature’s Jiffy Pop. Like Dogga peering out the window, we’d race outside each morning to hold our vigil. This week, the buds burst open, radiant flowers unfolded. Kerri was beside herself. The photo session has been ongoing for days. “I just love them!” she exclaims with each and every snap.

It’s the smallest of things.

This weekend, people left the comfort and safety of their homes to walk together in the streets. They showed up for each other. They showed up en masse to remind their elected leaders that they serve the public and not their party; they are meant to serve the needs of the public and not the whims of a criminal. People walked together to remind the absent/silent Republican members of Congress that they swore an oath to uphold The Constitution – and they are betraying their oath. Millions of people stepped out of their houses to walk together, to express their dissatisfaction with the brutality, the attempted authoritarian take-down of our democracy, to join together their voices to say, “We will not abdicate our responsibility to each other as you have abdicated your responsibility to us.”

It’s the smallest of things. To step out of the house. To walk with others. To speak truth to power, especially when power is a bully threatening violence.

Recently I’ve asked myself – as I’ve heard many others ask, “But what can I do?” This weekend we experienced an answer: Do the smallest of things. Step out of your house. Take a walk with your neighbors that sends a clear message to the cowards in Congress and the supremely corrupted court: The democracy that our ancestors planted here is precious and worth protecting.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE PEONY

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Filed under: Edges, Identity, Metaphor, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, authoritarian, betrayal, Congress, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, No Kings, oath, peony, power, protest, responsibility, story, studio melange, The Constitution of The United States, the melange, The Supreme Court | 4 Comments »

The Freedom To Dance [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on June 10, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

The juxtaposition was startling. At the exact moment that we were packed in a raucous dancing and cheering crowd, watching our son Craig, an EDM artist, perform at PRIDE Milwaukee, the dictator wannabe was threatening martial law and sending National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell what his toadies are trying to call “an insurrection”.

The celebration of individual freedoms meets the crushing of individual freedoms.

The language is important. By every account (except on fox news) the protests against the draconian ICE raids were mostly peaceful. The Los Angeles Police Department published a letter praising the protestors for peacefully exercising their First Amendment right. Even so, the word that the Republican administration wields is “Insurrection”. This is not an accident. It is laying groundwork for the invocation of The Insurrection Act, which “authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law…”

A protest is not an insurrection. What we witnessed on January 6, 2020 was an insurrection: a violent uprising against the government. What we are seeing in Los Angeles is a citizen’s right to protest.

The Republican administration has been paving the way for the final move in their authoritarian takeover for months, branding campus protests “illegal” and threatening to withhold funding from colleges and universities that allow “illegal” protests – meanwhile arresting and deporting international students. “The arrests and deportations of noncitizen students and scholars for expressing their political views are creating a climate of fear on campuses across the country,” said John Raphling, associate US program director at Human Rights Watch. “The Trump administration’s actions are an attack on free speech and threaten the very foundations of a free society.”

The music pulsing, the crowd reveling, I was suddenly overwhelmed. I stopped dancing and watched the people. PRIDE began as a commemoration of resistance: in The Stonewall riots and demonstrations the LGBTQ community “fought back against government sponsored persecution.” 55 years later, I recognized my privilege to stand with a community of people celebrating their individual freedom and triumph over government sponsored persecution.

What’s happening in Los Angeles and across this nation? It is the Republican-led government violently uprising against the fundamental rights of the people. It is – just like January 6th – an insurrection against our democratic institutions and ideals. Make no mistake: the people in LA are coming together to fight back against government persecution, the creation of a police state and authoritarian attack on our democracy.

I can only hope that 55 years from now, some proud father, dancing in a crowd of thousands to his son’s thunderous music in a commemoration-celebration of the people’s triumph over their government-run-amok, will, like me, be overwhelmed when he recognizes the profound meaning of the moment: the exercise of his privilege in a nation that, once, when faced with authoritarianism, vehemently defended individual freedoms, democracy and the right to protest. For a moment he will stand in awe and then, swept back into his son’s vibrant music, will give himself over to the pulse, the heartbeat, the freedom to dance.

read Kerri’s blogpost about PRIDE