Friends General Conference Gathering Evening Program

 Several things excite RantWoman about this year's virtual Friends General Conference gathering

--RantWoman is thrilled not to have to travel!

--RantWoman hopes many Friends will appreciate the opportunity, if one cannot devote 10 whole days to the event, to register for parts of the program one can attend.

RantWoman heartily recommends the Evening Program

Early Registration begins April 15.

David Zarembka Quaker Peacemaker, died of COVID

 RantWoman is deeply saddened by the news that David Zarembka, longtime observer and re porter of events in Kenya and Africa has died of COVID as has his wife who is mentioned in the obituary..

David Zarembka memorial

Read it. Be inspired.

or be RantWoman?

RantWoman has father envy. RantWoman's father had many ggifts. Most of the time they showed. Most of the time. And RantWoman still has father envy.

RantWoman is both awed and intimidated by Mr. Zarembka's on the ground witness.

He will be missed.

A memorial minute Walter Hinchman Sangree

 RantWoman is linking this memorial minute for the purely sentimental reason that RantWoman knew Walter's first wife.

Walter Hinchman Sangree

RantWoman finds it interesting to imagine the two of them as a couple.

Awesome FGC Gathering workshop list--and an accessibility fit.

 RantWoman would really, really, really love just to say check out this awesome list of workshops at this year's FGC Virtual Gathering.

Workshop Schedule

RantWoman especially also encourages Friends to pay attention to the 3 session in one day workshop opportunities on either end of the 5-day workshop options. RantWoman, for instance is really interested in the session on Quakers in China with Patrick Lozada

Now we come to the part where a single standard of RantWoman is causing RantWoman with a mix of care, tenderness and exasperation to need, hopefully gently, to elder the whole entire Religious Society of Friends about accessibility issues. Please, please do not take RantWoman's need to be RantWoman personally. This world is big enough for all of us and if we are lucky, RantWoman will manage to cultivate joy about sharing.

There is an accessibility page somewhere on the Gathering Site. RantWoman cannot find it just now. It talks about automated captioning and the availability of Spanish interpretation. It invites people to make their access needs known.

Automated captioning is highly imperfect. RantWoman foresees some community night business meeting skits where the recording clerk attempts to assemble sense from the automated captioning. Zoom help also has instructions for working with a human captioner; RantWoman has thought about differing scenarios where volunteer captioners might be a great help.

Back to the Workshops page, RantWoman finds the following.

All workshops will be held on video via Zoom. Some workshops leaders require participants to be able to see the Zoom video, but some workshop leaders have said participation by phone is ok, for those who don't have the ability to use Zoom and need to call in on a phone line. This is indicated in the workshop descriptions under "Audio-only participation". 

Suppose RantWoman can't see at all. Does it matter whether RantWoman participates over Zoom or by calling in?

RantWoman realizes that faceless participants deprive the sight-dependent of participants' facial expressions. Blind people, even the ones who live in two worlds because of, at one point having sight, cope with this all the time.

Suppose RantWoman can see some but for any number of reasons cannot interact with or cannot deal with screen share. Will documents to be screen shared be available as links or to download from the chat? Are presenters who want to screen share interested in suggestions about how to provide more useful narrative than "this one here and that one there?"

Hint: RantWoman is on lots of Zoom events where hardly any blind people even turn on our cameras. And RantWoman in perpetual accessibility pest mode often reminds blind people to turn on cameras in mixed meetings of blind and sighted people. Lots of sighted people rely on lipreading more than they realize.

Hint: RantWoman actually can see some, but RantWoman really likes conference calls because everyone is on the same footing visually.

PS For people who don't like moving their hands back and forth between mouse and keyboard, RantWoman knows or can point people to keyboard equivalents for things many people do with a mouse.

There.

Oops, wait. Lots of accessibility pointers and other practices not listed will be needed for all kinds of other Gathering events. Imagine some physically uncoordinated Quaker cheerleader chanting "you can do it. Friends., we can do it."

And one more thing RantWoman will check out: ebooks. RantWoman ain't buying print. RantWoman wonders whether there might also be interest in audio books. RantWoman is in no position to make promises, but perhaps if the idea is on the table, way will open.

Oops. Still not done.

People have really diverse accessibility needs. On one hand, RantWoman would say be open to continuing revelation.

On the other hand, it's not always and not all only about accessibility. Community, a sense of spiritual accompaniment also matter!

REACH success story from S Seattle

RantWoman permits Ambassador Thwack the badly behaved white cane to have his own Twitter account.  

The following tweet from District 2 Councilmember Tammy Morales showed up in Ambassador Thwack's tweet stream.

Tammy J. Morales (@CMTammyMorales) tweeted at 3:49 PM on Fri, Apr 09, 2021:
This morning my staff joined volunteers & REACH to provide help to unhoused neighbors facing removal from Rainier Playfield. Thanks to Yvonne from REACH, who's been working w/ these folks for months, everyone found connection to shelter. Proof that building relationships matters.
(https://twitter.com/CMTammyMorales/status/1380654052413894658?s=03)

There are an assortment of replies reflecting the same range of opinions RantWoman has seen before.

Ambassador Thwack tweeted that people camping on sidewalks are an #accessibility problem and we need more housing. RantWoman wonders who else might share both sentiments and what leadings might arise from this shared point of view. RantWoman also what other topics also need dialogue among Friends

Enemy? Accountable?

Today's prompt and query from Witness Wednesday.

Prompt for Reflection

"Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of [those] who are called the opposition...The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve."

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Query: When you hear the phrase, "it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves," what or who comes to mind?

There is no way anything coherent was going to make it out of RantWoman's mouth in worship.

RantWoman is still muddling "enemy," "opposition," and the question of how to pray around say former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

RantWoman has been meditating on the trial of Derek Chauvin. One thread comes secondhand from a young Friend. Talking to the young Friend directly right now is not happening so RantWoman asks that her words be held carefully.

Young Friend is such an ardent prison abolitionist that he reportedly would not even imprison Mr. Chauvin.

RntWoman wants to say "Come on. Derek Chauvin murdered a man in front of the whole word. He was a training officer who RantWoman imagines taught others to brutalize and break the rules. Come ON!"

On the other hand, RantWoman also wants to say "Friend, there are stories closer to home that need mending. Maybe start local."

As far as the actual #ChauvinTrial, 

RantWoman has changed her mind about the trial of Derek Chauvin the former Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd live and on many cellphone cameras. RantWoman spent some of the first days of the trial thinking "do we have to go through all this awfulness? Can't we just stipulate a bunch of facts and do a plea deal?"

RantWoman now realizes that the country needs to go through all of it.

It matters that Chauvin was fired by a Black police chief. It matters that a bunch of white officers are testifying against him, saying that what he did has no basis in their understanding of Minneapolis police department. And it matters that Derek Chauvin will never be involved in training any more police officers.

That does not mean white supremacy has been cured. It does not change the fact that police are being asked to do too many things that should be done by others in a caring society. But it matters that this reality is out there for all to see.

And for another take on all the anguish caused by Derek Chauvin's actions.

Seattle Bike Blog on reopening of streets around new Brooklyn Ave. station

 RantWoman posts this article from the Seattle Bike Blog here for future reference.

Seattle Bike Blog on Reopening streets following construction

RantWoman posts this here partly by way of of links on the page to other articles about transportation issues near Meeting.

RantWoman also posts this in her Breadcrumbs on a path meditations. RantWoman is not sure for instance whether she somehow could have spent time better interacting with even more transportation issues than she has or whether it's fine instead to have spent TWO YEARS with pleasant enough company meandering through John Woolman's journal, reading experiences with a side of midlife vision loss. Environmental Sustainability today requires a lot more intellectual engagement than in Woolman's day?