Newsletter
Still Evolving
Dear Friends,
As we move into the summer season during this unprecedented time in human history, let us remember that we are still evolving as a species. We are indeed among the younger siblings in the ancient story of life in the universe. We still have so much to learn about how to live in balance with our Mother Earth and with all of our relatives, human and non-human.
Allison and I continue to learn and practice this balance together, navigating the joys and challenges of partnership as we both grow and evolve. We were recently blessed with a beautiful 107 year-old house in southwest Detroit. It was no easy task to acquire a mortgage on a social worker and folk singer’s earnings. But through the generosity of the Great and Holy Spirit working through friends and family, we have become first time “homeowners.”
Yet this label seems inadequate, and is charged with an exploitative understanding of personal property rooted in the colonization of sacred land and Indigenous peoples. We are working to transform our understanding of “ownership” into a sense of “stewardship” that can be a pathway to liberation and restoration.
Just as the house came to us through the gift economy, we wish to invest our energy and creativity in making “Grandmother House,” as we have come to call her, into a home where the energy of music, mindfulness, healing, and joy can manifest freely-not only for ourselves but for the community of all beings. We have a lot to learn from Grandmother House!
We do this in gratitude and humility, thanking our Beloved Community and the many ancestors who have come before, especially our Bodewadmi family whose village was once located where our neighborhood is now.
We invite you to sing with us this summer. Sing us back to our true home in the present moment. Our true home as members of the still evolving human family. Our true home as children of our Mother Earth. Our true home as musical spiritual beings in a vast and wondrous universe.
Singing with you in the neighborhood and in the cosmos,
Joe
Reasons to Hope
Our Mother Earth rests under a blanket of snow here in Anishinaabe Aki, the land of the People of the Three Fires, Michigan. She reminds us of the importance of stillness and renewal, and gives us the hope of spring within the dormancy of winter.
We have made it to 2021, and what a journey it has been! As we grieve those who have died as well as the multitude of losses we have suffered in 2020, let us anchor ourselves in hope for the possibilities that lie ahead.
Indeed we have many concrete reasons to hope; the days are getting longer, COVID vaccinations are starting to be distributed, and we will soon witness the inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris, signaling much needed relief from the past four years of divisive and destructive politics and policies. President-elect Biden has nominated the first Native American cabinet secretary in his choice of Deb Haaland for Secretary of the Interior. Yes there are many reasons to be hopeful!
We are hopeful not only for a “return to normal,” but for new ways of living and working together that can bring healing change to our society and our world. How can we live in ways that generate justice, peace, compassion, understanding, and respect for all people and all beings?
I am excited to offer my humble contributions in this coming year to these new and old ways of being together. I have been inspired by my friend and fellow songwriter Sue Fink, in whose Virtual Dream Cafe series I will participate on January 6th, to continue to develop creative ways to share music virtually. I hope you will join us and experience the warm and intimate online musical experience Sue curates.
In that spirit I am happy to announce the launch of Children of the Earth, an online children’s music series using Zoom, which will occur every Thursday afternoon for 6 weeks starting January 14th. I am inviting families and classrooms to join me in these live and interactive virtual concerts. Come to any or all Thursday sessions and sing, dance, and play together from the comfort and safety of your home.
And in the end of January I am looking forward to teaming up with some of my fellow Earthwork Music artists for a virtual Songwriter’s Summit for Resilience. Come vision, create, write, and sing with us!
May the music remind us of the many reasons to be grateful, hopeful, and loving while staying rooted in the present moment. Let us continue to cultivate the spaciousness and possibilities for hope to bloom in this new year.
Yours in the music,
Joe
Vote for Mother Earth
Allison and I voted last week, completing our absentee ballots at the kitchen table. We first lit a candle and burned cedar, sage, sweetgrass, and tobacco. We prayed for our ancestors to help us make wise decisions in the interest of future generations. And we utilized our internet connection to research candidates about whom we knew little, doing our best to make educated choices.
In each case we chose candidates who stand for justice and whose work seems rooted in environmental and social ethics. We sealed our ballots, signed them carefully, and drove them to our city clerk’s office to drop them off. It was so easy and satisfying. Although ours are only two votes, we recognize them as important components in our work for healing and progressive change.
I vote because I care deeply about our public health and the health of our planet. I believe in environmental justice; the right for all people-regardless of race or economic status-to have a clean, healthy, and safe environment. This includes the right to safe and fair policing for communities of color and the right for all people to have food, water, shelter, and health care. My vote is rooted in love for my fellow humans and our Mother Earth, and in the courage to change the things I can.
During these past four years we have lived through a relentless onslaught of attacks on environmental policy from the Trump administration, from his pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement to his green lighting of oil pipelines through Native communities and opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. At the same time Trump’s encouragement of white supremacy has amplified the devastating effects of systemic racism on communities of color.
Our country is in desperate need for a change in leadership. We need leaders who will stand up for the health of all people and of the earth. The Biden-Harris ticket is a necessary step in the right direction. Senator Gary Peters will continue to fight to protect the Great Lakes and the people of Michigan. Who on your ballot will fight for Mother Earth and environmental justice?
I encourage you to use your voice and your vote to advocate for the issues that matter most to you. Below are some voting resources that I have found helpful in making my vote for Mother Earth. I hope they are helpful for you too.
With love and courage,
Joe