Magnolia Watch Day 13: A Turning Point?

About forty people from throughout the city showed up, despite a threatening storm, to participate in a Direct Action Training to prepare for ongoing civil resistance to the Parkside Condominiums.

People arrived in wheelchairs, on bicycle, on foot and in cars. Two squad cars drove up, parked briefly, then left. Another police officer on bicycle came by.




As the storm clouds broke, we quickly took to the front porch of our City building, filling the foyer on a holiday weekend to discuss next step actions should our city and county government fail to lift the death sentence on our treasured trees and return our public parkland intact.

"This can easily be the turning point," predicted Jim Cavener, a quaker and ACLU member from Asheville. Coleman Smith opened the gathering introducing lead trainer Abigail Singer. This was a basic introduction to Direct Action strategies to lay the groundwork for whatever acts of civil disobedience may be necessary. For some, it was the first formal introduction to principles and strategies of a direct action campaign, for others it was a refresher course. But for all, coming together was a statement of commitment to take action to thwart the abuse of power and the corporate incursion into our public parkland on the front yard of our city hall.

"This gathering is the culmination of being disgusted with the misappropriation of our park," Ed said as we introduced ourselves in a meeting open to all in a spirit of transparency, an essential of Democracy that seems to have been lost in many of our government proceedings.

"I'm tired of public servants helping the camel get its nose in the tent," Alan Robinson said, to a round of applause.

Donna Bateman, who had said she would not let them take the tree, described herself as an activist with the police, fire and parks department. She emphasized, "No violence. That defeats our purpose."

"I'm here to remind myself to get over the anger I feel about this so I can, in fact, disobey and not lash out," Frank Adams declared.

Magnolia Watch Day 12: Tenacity

Two small seeds pods I found beneath our Magnolia are on the table now as I write. Reminders that life persists.
My sweet daughter, Jessica, is heavy with child, and due sometime next week. I wonder about the world we will leave to our grandchildren if we fail to rise in defense of our urban green spaces and stop this greed-driven development.

I wandered over to Shindig on the Green before coming home after my time with our tree. The music and dance was well underway in Martin Luther King, Jr. park when Pete and I strolled through. The harmonizing Gospel sounds of one quartet, whose lead singer and banjo picker was 84, were particularly powerful. Their voices seeped into me, holding me with their depth and beauty, and tears were close. It's not just the tree, of course. Its the general climate of violence that pervades this country, and the passive indifference of the people who seem so slow to rise.

Though most of her blossoms are spent, the Magnolia in our town commons still exudes her strong aroma. Does this tree have no sense of imminent danger? Truly an example of living with the moment, spreading shade, catching cool breezes, and wafting sweet aroma on the air, while the bureaucrats who sit on Asheville's Technical Review Committee consider her fate.

Jim Brown and David were under the tree when I arrived. David reported that a maintenance man from the City of Asheville Parks and Recreation had come by. "He said we could not have political messages on the tree," David said. So he took down the leaflets that Gordon had helped hang with numbers to call city and county officials objecting to the theft of our park.

"A family came by," David said. "They had been here on the 4th and their son had taken a crystal out of the tree when he climbed. He returned it, placing it high in the branches. Many of the other gifts to the tree were missing, including the global flag. On the 4th I saw a young boy running off into the crowd grasping the flag. Also missing was the public notice of Monday's Technical Review Committee meeting. We found it tossed over the fence and onto the roof of the building below.

James Stroupe and his wife were back. "It's a nice place to sit," he said. "The air-conditioning won't cost you anything. " This veteran of three wars has brought his wry humor to add to the pleasant times under the tree.

"Where's the Mayor?" James wondered. "I can't imagine a Mayor of any town allowing a Condominium to be built in front of city hall. Why is she not coming out and stopping it?"

We took our turns approaching the steady stream of tourists passing by, all who agreed to call the city and county government and to object to the destruction of our treasured tree.

I had another look at the gnarled oak down the stairs toward Marjorie Street. It's also endangered if this condominium goes through. Unlike the Magnolia, this ancient beauty has weathered many more wounds, with her limbs sawed and her roots bound by concrete, even as it clings to a hillside. Tenacity. That is certainly a quality needed as we continue to rise in defense of our community from those that would bind our roots in concrete, sell our parkland and build massive parking decks for automobiles while the vulnerable and unhoused among us ring the city in homeless camps.

Come out SUNDAY, 3 p.m. for our DIRECT ACTION TRAINING under the Magnolia.
Come out MONDAY, 1 p.m. to pack the chambers for the Technical Review Committee.

For More Info on this issue:

• Coven Oldenwilde
• Downtown Asheville
• Scrutiny Hooligans

Magnolia Watch Day 11: Let Freedom Ring

City-County plaza was well "activated" tonight for the 4th of July celebration and fireworks. People began streaming in as early as 3 p.m. as the Ingles' grocery sponsored country music blared from the surrounding amplifiers. Folks sat mostly in family groups on blankets and in clusters of chairs throughout the park, along the streets, and under the few remaining trees.

David was at the Magnolia when I arrived, and in rapt conversation with Manoon about freedom and government, wars and merchants of death. Manoon had worked for Haliburton, he said, in the 1980s in the Swananoa area "making kits to rub on the skin when mustard gas is deployed."
Then he told us a study was done about producing the mustard gas here. "They found out that one accident would wipe out the whole Swananoa valley," he said. Another part of Manoon's work, he told us, was taking X-rays of artillery shells containing depleted uranium. Chilling conversation.

"I'm having amazing conversations under this tree with people I may never have met anywhere else," David remarked. The Magnolia has long been a front-porch to the city, but in these past ten days sitting there, the thought of its imminent destruction is deeply saddening.

Randall and Cassi stopped by, visiting from Kentucky. Cassi is a fiddle player and an Asheville native. "I've sat and played music under this tree for years," she said, as she signed the petition. [Mr.] "Coleman has systematically destroyed Asheville."

Clay came and he and David mounted the American flag. Clay and Linda said they spent the morning at Greenlife grocery getting more signatures on the Eminent Domain Petition. Coleman [not the developer, of course] suggested "an upside down Buncombe County flag" might be an appropriate expression of dissent. As for city government, Clay said that although Mayor Bellamy ran on a leadership ticket, "her concept of leadership is maintaining Roberts Rules of Order at a meeting. She's a traffic cop at a committee meeting."

Others also were cynical and critical of city and county government and politicians in general on this 4th of July. "While we're out working trying to make a living, they're doing this!" remarked one man when we told him of the planned luxury condominiums. He and his wife eagerly signed the petition to reclaim the land, as did almost all who came by. "They should be held accountable for what they do, for what has happened to this piece of land, and for the underhanded way of doing it," he commented.

Lena stopped by with a request: "The Fourth of July should be a day to express dissent," she said. She wanted help writing a message on her body, back and front, calling for a ban on torture. She had copies of the Bill of Rights, an armful of flowers, and a flag that she held upside down. "We're a country in distress," she said. "The Bill of Rights, especially Article 8, has been turned upside down." Ronald and I agreed to accompany her through the crowd and around Pritchard Park, where Ronald joined the drum circle. Along the way we encountered some hostile reactions, but mostly indifference. A few passersby whispered "Thank you" and nods of agreement. Curious teenaged boys-- attracted more by Lena's statuesque beauty than the message she shared-- stopped to talk. One asked, "Do you believe in waterboarding? Now how do you answer that? "Why is it counter-cultural to oppose torture?" Lena wanted to know, as we walked on. Everything's upside down.

Sitting with the tree may seem to some an ineffective and sentimental response to this issue of government wrongdoing, malfeasance and complicity in corporate greed. But
when Lena and I returned to the Magnolia after sunset, the tree was swarming with gleeful children climbing high in the branches. Parents helped them get a leg up and watched from below as another generation of Asheville's youth made a Fourth of July memory in the arms of our Magnolia.

"I think at this point they must know it will really be wrong if they cut down this tree," Nancy said as she and her daughter Julia stood under the wide branches.

Direct Action Training: Sunday 3 p.m. at the Magnolia
Asheville Technical Review Committee:
Monday 1 p.m. City Hall

Let Freedom Ring!

Magnolia Watch Day 10: Playing the Law Like a Fiddle

It was a particularly hot trudge today to get to the Magnolia and I moved slowly on the uphill stretches. The bells of St. Lawrence Cathedral tolled the hour well before I passed beneath the Lexington Street bridge where the mural-in-process is coming along nicely.

Street traffic along the way was heavy, with far too many SUVs and big trucks spewing toxins. Crossing the road, even at a cross walk, feels unsafe. There was a chair in place under the Magnolia when I arrived, and it was a welcome relief to sit in this rare place of shade in a city that seems under siege with development.

David came by after a busy day working at Lowes, and then Clay pulled up a chair. "What are ya'll doing for 4th of July?" he wanted to know. He was planning to sit for a few hours tomorrow at a local grocery with petitions calling for eminent domain, and then come down. He thought it might be fun if everyone with a black dog were to bring them to the tree where Black Dog Realty has plans for its massive condominiums.

Several folks came by who had seen the news coverage on WLOS TV last night and wanted to see the Magnolia for themselves. Alan told us he had done some reading on magnolias. "This one is a Magnolia grandiflora," he said. "It is most common in the south, with a characteristic double trunk." What is most interesting, he said, is that the root system can spread as far as three times beyond the reach of the branches. "I like trees," he said, but I'm really pissed about the sale of public land. It's government corruption, and I'm really sick of it. We have to stop it here."

Gordon and Byron came, and Stack and Donna. Journey began collecting seeds from the old Magnolia, and Bruce White, an Asheville native working with the Cop Watch program tried on a new copwatch tee shirt that David brought.

Byron pulled out his guitar and sang some of his own political ballads. "I'm a closet singer songwriter," he said. Though he stays busy updating his three blogs, including Downtown Asheville and interviewing folks at the tree.

Gordon wanted to decorate the Magnolia, so Dave went to get some balloons and ribbons. Johnathan Jones stopped by to sign a petition. He said he'll be helping work the crowd tomorrow getting petitions signed at the 4th of July celebration. Coleman came by and worked out some last minute ideas for the Direct Action Training, including Gordon"s Parkside Primer to help folks understand the bureaucratic complexities.
We talked about the back and forth "eleventh hour" changes regarding the Technical Review Committee meeting on July 7, where this issue will be decided. This is explained on Gordon's blog, and on the Mountain Xpress website.

"I don't think it is accidental at all," Alan said. "The day before the holiday they tell us the TRC is back on."

"Mr. Coleman has played the law like a fiddle," Gordon remarked.

And its a sour note Mr. Coleman plays. Yet the magnificent magnolia continues to bloom.

Magnolia Watch Day 9: Do You Smell A Rat?

Eighty-four year old James Stroupe, a veteran of Korea, WW II and Viet Nam, settled into his chair at the base of the Magnolia today with his wife Francie Lanius.

"I was with the first combat troops that arrived at Nagasaki after the bomb," he told us. "Now I'm sittin' under a tree enjoying life, and they want to cut it down!"

James is a native of Cherryville, NC, and now lives off old Leicester Highway in Buncombe County.

"This tree is 100 years old, they tell me. When I get to be 100 are they going to go and cut me down? If I crawl up into it I don't think they'll have the guts to cut it down."

A WLOS Channel 13 crew stopped by for an interview and James had a lot to say about why he came to to town to sit beneath the Magnolia.

"Leave the tree alone," he told the reporter. "It's not harming anyone. Its just offering shade and a place of comfort."

"And a sweet aroma," Frank Adams added.

"The man who owned the land gave it to the city as a park. What's complicated about that?" James said. "Mr. Coleman's trying to help the millionaires. They want to live close to the courthouse to keep controllin' them."

Before he left, the reporter gave us some important information.

"The TRC is still going to hear a presentation on Monday," he said. "Mr. Coleman will be second or third on the agenda."

Oh yeah? Earlier (dis) information had led us to believe that the Parkside Condominium issue had been taken off the agenda for the July 7 Technical Review Committee meeting pending receipt of storm water drainage reports. Not so.

"It's another of the political dodges we've encountered the whole way through," Frank Adams said. "Everyone should be down here for the hearing. We should fill the room."




Does anyone smell a rat?

Magnolia Watch: Direct Action Training

For Immediate Release - July 2, 2008

Direct Action Training to Stop Parkside Condo Project

Contact: Richard Koerber: 828-713-1944; Frank T. Adams: 828-232-0632

Buncombe County citizens announce a local training for a “Direct Action Campaign” to stop the highly controversial Parkside Condominiums, a project that would overshadow and diminish Pack Square Park.

All members of the concerned public are invited to attend this event on Sunday, July 6th at 3 p.m. at the Magnolia tree adjacent to Asheville City Hall. Direct action training will be offered again on successive Sunday afternoons as circumstances require.

“An escalating sense of urgency looms as the date for the City of Asheville’s Technical Review Committee meeting approaches,” said Frank Adams, former Director of the Highlander Research and Education Center.

“This meeting appears to be the last official hurdle before construction could begin on the Parkside Condominium project.”

Training for the direct action campaign to stop this unacceptable project will include the following components:

• Education about the project and its history

• Discussion on how to further the ongoing petitioning for eminent domain

• Discussion on the proper use of eminent domain on behalf of citizens

• Facilitated training in direct action techniques, including nonviolent civil disobedience, to prepare for immediate and ongoing resistance to any attempts for construction to proceed.

All of these activities will be conducted in the spirit of peacefully preserving the use and ownership of Asheville’s vital public heartland.

Local resident Richard Koerber stated, “My 13 year old grandson and I circulated the petition asking officials to restore the parkland by eminent domain. It was truly mind blowing that every single person we approached in just a few hours passionately signed—70 names in the drop of a hat! Public officials must listen to the concerned public; otherwise, I fear we are nearing the time when stubborn and unmoving bodies on site may be the only remaining option.”

There continues to be hope that Buncombe County and the City of Asheville will respect the wishes of George Pack’s will, his ancestors’ lawsuit in support of such, and the will of local citizens who have petitioned City Council to invoke the power and proper use of eminent domain to restore this park to the public forever as Mr. Pack clearly intended.

Eminent domain, when properly invoked, can protect public property and restore its use to the public. This was accomplished in the case of the DuPont State Forest in 2000.

We call upon our City Council to act courageously and with integrity, and soon, to reclaim our park. Otherwise, the solution to this grievous error is in the hands of the concerned public. We will act in defense of our park and for its preservation in entirety.

We call upon all such concerned people to gather in the park for direct action training on Independence weekend, Sunday, July 6th, 3 p.m. It’s urgent.

“Public Forever!” –George Pack

Magnolia Watch Day 8:

There was a lot of police presence in the area near the Magnolia today. A squad car was parked just off the pavement in front of city hall, perhaps to catch the benefit of some of the Magnolia's shade. Later, several officers passed on foot. Our presence here on the town commons is being openly watched.

Gene Hampton, of North Carolina Citizens for Quality Government sat with us awhile after finding the County Commissioners meeting canceled. Gene, from Magnolia, Mississippi, says he used to spend "all summer under a Magnolia tree." Gene's approach to this secret sale of public parkland is to petition for redress of grievance per the U.S.Constitution: "...nor shall any state deprive a person of life, liberty or property without due process of law..."

Bill Rhodes, a photographer and blogger from Ashevillian, said his family has been here for nine generations. "They came over with [Revolutionary War Gen. Griffith] Rutherford's crew. The cabin is still there, on Cane Creek, near Fairview," he said.

Such good conversations we are enjoy sitting beneath this fine old tree as we reclaim our town commons. Practicing Democracy isn't always hard work.

Among the guests to the park tonight was Pat Kelly, an Attorney from Charlotte who said he was hired by the title company to defend Black Dog Realty.

He was talking with Frank and Byron and David and Alan when I returned to the Magnolia from the Veterans for Peace vigil at Vance.

"I'm here to dialog," he told Byron, who agreed to turn off his recording device. I continued to snap a few photos and write down snippets of the conversation.

"Who are you? Who are you with, and how do you find time to sit under this tree?" he asked, his tone implying we might not be quite the class of productive consumers in the mainstream world he represents.

"The Condo's might make this a nicer park," he said, pointing to the devastated land across from the tree, laid waste and left barren in the conservancy's long-delayed attempt renovate Pack Place. Echoing the lame arguments of Black Dog Realty folk their attorney said the condo might "bring life" to the area.

To answer, I reached to a limb of the ancient Magnolia and pointed out that we were standing beneath quite an eminent and living tree, and that this park had long been a vibrant and quite lively venue with Shindig on the Green and other public gatherings in recent years and that the people were eager to return.

About 6 p.m. dozens more folks arrived from groups actively opposed to construction of the Parkside Condominiums. We continue to widen our circle and deepen our conversations about next step strategies and actions to meet this threat to our park.

Gordon, at Scrutiny Hooligans brought word from City planner Alan Glines, that the Technical Review Committee meeting has been postponed, at least for another week.

We agreed to continue the presence under the Magnolia until the TRC meeting is held.

Keep in touch. While we will continue to collect signatures on petitions calling on city government to invoke eminent domain to reclaim our park, we are also planning a facilitated training to prepare the people for next step actions. Our Direct Action Campaign will go forward after we exhaust all legal remedies.

The first open meeting will be Sunday in the park at 3 p.m. All concerned are welcome.

Magnolia Watch Day 7: Gathering Storm

Dark and heavy clouds were hanging low over the fire station as I arrived at the Magnolia today. We had about an hour of comfortable coolness as the breeze stiffened, and more and more people came to join us beneath the tree. Lindsey rode her bicycle from Enka, and later her friend arrived offering sweet, sweet peaches to everyone.

Richard came and began gathering signatures on the petition while his grandchildren each found a comfortable perch in the tree and settled in with books.

"They can't take this tree down now," he said. "Its become a nesting area for an endangered species."

David rode up on his new scooter, and Pete came soon thereafter. Frank, of course, was here, and Coleman S. and lots of young people who stopped to ask about the tree, the condominium, and the campaign to reclaim our park.

There seems to be a consensus among all I've spoken with that invoking eminent domain to reclaim the people's land is the only effective measure to remedy this wrong.

My instincts, honed long ago while living aboard a sailboat, kept me alert to the changing weather. The dark clouds were menacing and began to move swiftly our way.
The limbs of our precious Magnolia shook mightily as the storm became more aggressive. It seemed an auspicious portent to a confrontation that is "quickly moving from theory to reality," as Richard remarked.

Audrey came and retrieved her grandchilden before the rains came and the temperature dropped dramatically.

We moved to the shelter of the open foyer at the City building, spread a few blankets, and continued our conversation about next steps of action on the front porch of our city government.

Though the Magnolia held its own against the high winds today, we must muster our own power and widen the circle of those willing to speak out and act against this planned destruction.
The developers are gathering their cold, dark forces to aggressively assert their will over the will of the people.

Our public officials must take notice. We call on you, we implore you to use the power you have to act on behalf of the people and take back our public land.

Technical Review Committee Meets 1 p.m. July 7. Public comment needed.

Magnolia Watch Day 6:Sunday in the Park

A young mother and two very young children were at the Magnolia when I arrived at 4 p.m. Soon after, Frank came. Coleman (not the developer, of course) had come earlier, leaving chairs and water and literature and petitions.

I noticed a Police car cruise around the area and then stop across the park, in full view of where we sat. It stayed for about 20 minutes before moving on. The Magnolia Watch watcher perhaps?

No time for reading today. I so enjoy the stories Frank has to share from his life of activism, beginning, he said, in 1958 "when the the Virginia schools closed down rather than integrate."

A man named Ron, new to town and looking "to get back on my feet," came over, and when Frank stood to offer him a leaflet, it was Ron who helped Frank get back on his feet after he lost his footing on the mulched slope. Luckily Frank had a good hold on the overhanging Magnolia branch and didn't go down. Saved by the tree he is here to save!

The discussion went from the threatened Parkside condominium development (advertised in the $90,000 range) [oops! My late night error. That would be $900, 000] to the failing economy. "No matter what neighborhood you go in there's a lot of homeless people camped out," Ron said. He took some leaflets and a petition to gather support for saving the park and promised to return.

The firemen were gathered outside the station for a group photograph. Later, when some passed by on the way to their cars, Frank engaged them in conversation about the public park and the Parkside development. "I got one!" he said, returning to his seat, delighted to have found an ally in the nearby fire station. Frank was wearing a new hat today, with a Black Dog embroidered on the front!

Three "rising seniors," in town from Chapel Hill, stopped by, and later two young men who will be Warren Wilson students walked up. "We heard about what's happening here, and wanted to help." Ron Harayda and Journey from the Buncombe Greens arrived and pulled out drums and rattles and we made some joyous noise around and about the Magnolia. Ron has invited folks from the Friday night drum circle to come on down to the Magnolia. So the word is getting out.

Magnolia Watch Day 5: Eminent Domain?

Clouds in towering masses filled the sky around City – County plaza after the afternoon rain. It helped to clear the air, but still the earth is thirsty and the ground hard. It was another brief respite, but not enough to turn around this severe drought.

The shady space beneath the Magnolia's fragrant umbrella is sheltering, and just far enough away from the frenetic pace of Saturday night Asheville to compel relaxation.

Alan Robinson tells me that the “public commons,” historically, was the space left open to people to bring their cattle to graze . Now, of course, the only four-legged ones are canine, not bovine.

Coleman Smith (not the devious developer, of course) has been providing his truck to haul in the lawn chairs, water and other items that make the time in the park more comfortable. Today he set up a Badminton net and an Italian lawn bowling game called Bocce, a recreation dating back to the Middle Ages. Lena Feldman and a few other young women were jumping rope, but couldn't remember the chants.

The folks with PARC – People Advocating Real Conservancy, arrived with boxes of literature and a new petition to the City to file for eminent domain to retrieve the land. They were heading over to Shindig on the Green to collect more signatures. City Council members have said they are not hearing from enough people on this issue. Shindig is now held in Martin Luther King, Jr. Park after being displaced for several seasons by the devastation of City-County Plaza.

Lindsey Simmerly, former City Council candidate, came by with a small troupe of actors to perform a parody about this Parkside debacle and to share some urban gleanings prepared by Food Not Bombs!

"The Police have told us that it's now illegal to serve food in Pritchard Park without paying a fee," Lindsey said. This effort to control use of the park with ticketed events and fees seems to be an attempt to dislodge the dispossessed and unwaged folks who gather there, making the social inequities in this city all too visible.

As many as thirty folks arrived throughout the early evening, coming by bus and on bicycles (or a combination), on foot and motorcycle, and of course by car. Frank Adams took the number 4 bus in from his Kennelworth neighborhood.

"This park is big enough to hold us all,” observed Alan Robinson, a Quaker and ACLU board member.

This evening as we were packing up to leave the park, I looked back at the Magnolia and felt a wave of deep sadness. It really is hard to take in that this magnificent tree could be cut down. It is hard to realize that its "eminent domain, " its eminence, its deep-rooted claim to this spot, could be so callously disregarded.

Why is one tree, this one life, so worth fighting for? These same battles are ongoing in communities all over this country.

"The tree is dying," the developer's arborist reportedly claimed. But as Leslie Armstrong remarked, "This tree is a living being. And isn't liberty a living concept? Our Democracy? Isn't that living?"

Is it?

“Its not just about the tree,” local author and essayist Bill Branyon said tonight. "It’s a confrontation between corporate greed and Democracy. The Pack Square condo controversy is further proof that Asheville, and America, are almost totally dominated by the wolf-pack powered religion of capitalism."

Back home on Woodlawn Ave., I've claimed "eminent domain" across the street from my house, a bit of earth that has been flipped from one speculator to another, always with a profit, never with a sense of the inherent eminence of the place. So I've cleared a sunny spot, removed debris, and I fight back the invasive and quick moving kudzu every day, and tend a plot of healing herbs and tomatoes and peppers, beans and squash.

Its good practice.

Magnolia Watch Day 4: "Loitering With Intent"

The sky opened up with more rain today for our drought-weary city. Enough to cool the afternoon and give the gardens a little more to go on.

The magnolia blooms are still opening, though many are beginning to turn brown. The wide-spread branches provided just enough cover during the downpour.

I value my time here with the Magnolia and the opportunity to share leisure time with new and old friends who come by to exercise our First Amendment right to "peaceably assemble."
In fact, it could be said that we're "Loitering with Intent."

Perhaps some of the city council or county commissioners, or the TRC folk will come and sit a while with the Magnolia. It might help them with their decisions if they have a deeper sense of the place that would be forever changed if this development goes forward.

My friend Susan, a tireless peace activist, wonders why people are more upset about what is happening here than they seem to be with the carnage in Iraq. "Its just one building," she said.

But, of course, it is more than "just one building," but I understand her frustrations with our collective acquiescence to this militarism and war. I did slip away for an hour today to the weekly vigil with Women in Black where we stand in the rubble that was once the park at Vance monument. It was particularly vexing to face all the ongoing vehicular traffic as we kept our mostly-silent vigil. The streets were dangerously congested today. Such a contrast from the peaceful setting under the tree.

The afternoon Segway Tour rolled past, and Coleman (not the developer, of course) asked, "Have you got this on your tour map yet?" handing the tour leader a card with facts about the threatened development. "I believe in truth in tours!" Coleman quipped.

Most of the folks who are busy discussing strategy on how to win this park back don't seem much interested in actually spending time here. The "regular people" who do pass are coming and going from work with little time to tarry, or are tourists clutching maps and asking directions.

Perhaps sitting on a park bench (though there are none here) whiling away the day, is a thing of times past. The sad thing would be if this park were to become merely a front lawn for the wealthy owners of Stewart Coleman's condos, a leisure class who in short order would be complaining about the remnant "loiterers" in the park below their balconies.

Whatever the outcome of this epic power struggle, it is certain that whenever the public commons is diminished, and the people's right to peaceably assemble is constricted, our Democracy is in peril.

Magnolia Watch Day 3: "Magical Things Can Happen"

I arrived at the Magnolia today after a too brief, but cooling rain. I walk to the park each day, carrying as much water as I can, a folding chair, a little food, and the rather large book I'm reading for a review. Since I made the commitment to spend time with the tree while the city and county officials deliberate its fate, I have opportunity to experience some of the old fashioned pleasures of just sitting a spell on a summer's day under a shady old tree.

Coleman [not the developer] and Richard helped put up a display board and a few folding chairs.

Ian, a young man visiting from Milwaukee, came by with his canine companion. "Do you know where I can find some water?" he asked. There was no water fountain in sight in our stripped bare public park. We talked a little about the land, and the tree, the avarice of developers, the complicity of government officials, and the loss of the public commons.

"That's how it's done," he said. "Its taken away little by little, piece by piece. We live in such a compartmentalized world. But take away the common spaces, and you take away the collective consciousness."

"We've heard about Asheville in Milwaukee," he said. "I would really hope that a place like Asheville--a place that we think of as progressive with a lot of free-thinking people--would not allow this to happen.That would be so sad."

As he wandered off in search of water, a city employee stopped by to greet us. "I have my lunch under this tree everyday," she said. "It's the only shady place around. "

A woman who said she'd worked for the county 18 years pointed out across the yellowing and barren grass, once a beautiful and welcoming parkland. "We were all really unhappy to see them tear down all those trees," she said. "We complained, but they went ahead anyway. ...I'd hate to see that [Magnolia] come down. ...But he [Stuart Coleman] is gonna have his way. ...now I don't know that, but you just wait and see. He's gonna have his way."

Maybe.

A tall and personable man named Russell came by a little later and he and Richard talked for awhile. Russell is a Mars Hill student, he said, and also teaches a class in business ethics. "This would be just the place to bring the students on a field trip," Richard suggested, explaining the situation.

"I'm glad ya'll are doing this, to keep people awake," Russell said. I'm very upset with the county wasting my tax money and my land. I'll be back to sit with you," he promised. "We're all in this together. Cause if we stand divided we'll all fall united."

Jim and Alan spent an hour with us and joined in the conversation with Ian who finally found some water for his pet. "Asheville could lead by example, and show the country that money can't buy everything!" Ian suggested.

Maybe.

A woman walking her dog named Corky had a suggestion for the developer:
"You'd think that that Coleman guy would recognize what a benefactor he could be to the people, if he would just donate the land back.

Ronald came by and Coleman [not the developer, of course] returned to pack up.

"Magical things can happen," young Ian said as he headed off...

Maybe.

Keeping Watch at the Magnolia

When I crossed the public green at City-County Plaza this afternoon a little before 4 p.m., I noticed two city maintenance trucks pulled up along side the Magnolia. Two men and a woman were packing up after spreading a thick carpet of mulch around the base of the condemned tree. I noticed they had carefully replaced the crystal and other decorative objects left there.

"We ran out of mulch," the woman landscaper said. "We'll have to come back tomorrow." I thanked her for taking care to put the tree gifts back. "They were talking about that today," she offered. "They want to keep the area clean. If anything is not here next time you come, it will be at the Parks and Rec office. We won't throw anything away."

"Will that be where you'll take me if I continue to sit under the tree?" I asked, settling into my camp chair. She didn't answer that one.
"And why," I continued, "are you mulching the tree if this land is the property of the developer, Mr. Stewart Coleman?"
"We just do what we're told," she answered "We'll keep doing it until they tell us otherwise."

A city policeman wandered over, reached for a branch and took a whiff of the low hanging blossom. He then walked slowly around the tree as I pulled out my sandwich. "I'm having a picnic," I told him.
"You go on ahead he said," and wandered off.

A little later Frank Adams arrived. He was Director of the Highlander Research and Education Center after Myles Horton's retirement. What a great opportunity to spend time with Frank and share stories in that sweetly scented Magnolia shade on a summer afternoon.
A few passers by stopped to chat. "My family has been here five generations," one woman told us. "It is sad what they have done to this park."

The center of the park, stripped of its trees and other vegetation, with the grass browning from the drought on this yellow- alert ozone day, was understandably not much used this hot afternoon. A lone woman spread a blanket for sun bathing. A skateboarder came by and several other young folks passed through. City workers streamed out of the building and down the stairs to the parking lot. One, Marie, came over to thank us for being there.

Coleman Smith a local contractor and activist with KEF pulled up and joined us, bringing an assortment of helpful items, including a soccer ball and another chair. Later Donna and Stack came and laid out a blanket. Our conversations continued as Frank gave us his eye witness account of developer Stewart Coleman's assault on Byron Belzak, a media person who tried to take the developer's photo as he left the County Commission meeting last night.

Steve Rasmussen tells me that "the Pack Square Conservancy is just about to fence the parkside parkland off with construction fencing while it works on building the new stage, etc."

The epic saga continues...so come enjoy the shade and share your stories while we can still sit where the breezes blow sweetly under the Magnolia.

Staking Our Claim: Asheville Citizens Reclaim Public Commons

Last weekend Asheville author Frank Adams approached his neighbors Jim Cavener and Alan Robinson with his concern about the sale of public parkland to private development. The conversation widened to include many others from various groups around town who have been writing and speaking out against this outrageous Parkside development deal.

After a late night of collaborative writing, a press release was issued and the call went out to the community to reclaim our public parkland.

Tonight, while County Commissioners and citizens gathered to meet, Frank Adams took decisive action, literally driving a stake into the ground bequeathed to the people by George Willis Pack as "public forever."

Gordon, over at Scrutiny Hooligans offers details of the land sale. He has been investigating this matter for months and was live blogging at the Commissioners' meeting.

What is needed now, and every afternoon for the next two weeks, is people in the park. Come join us from 4 to 7 p.m.

Bring friends, music, conversation, food and beverages to share. Let's picnic together, play ball, toss frisbees, do cartwheels, sit beneath the sweet magnolia with its gift of shade and the sweet scent of its creamy white blossoms. There is plenty of room under that tree. A magnificent beauty that has the grace to keep blooming despite death threats from the developer.
Preserving our public commons is crucial in a healthy Democracy, and honoring the inherent worth of our treasured trees is not to be scoffed at.



photo by author

"Almost Every Inch is Stained With Blood!" Longest Walk 2 in Asheville

American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis J. Banks, in Asheville with the Longest Walk 2, shared a little history of the people of the red nations with over 100 persons gathered at Asheville's Martin Luther King, jr. park on Tuesday. The group was in town for a few days of rest on the Southern route of the Alcatraz to Washington, DC pilgrimage marking 30 years since the historic first Longest Walk in 1978.

"We walk because we have to walk, Banks said. "We Native Americans have walked across this country many times, and almost every inch is stained with blood. That blood gives us strength."

Banks, his hair still thick and coal black at 75, said"I want to hand over the four staffs to the young people. I want to retire. I want to go where I want to go, do what I want to do. I want to ride a Harley and spend time with my grandchildren."

A lot of Asheville folks were on hand to help out with logistics, including food, shelter and in-town transportation for the walkers. In return, we had opportunity to walk a few miles in solidarity with this historic pilgrimage and to hear the stories and concerns first hand from representatives of America's indigenous people.

Also participating in the walk are Buddhists from the Nipponzan Myohaji order, including Jun Anju-san. This is a walking, chanting order, and they beat the small hand drums to accompany the chant Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo. Many young Japanese walkers and other supporters from throughout the country have joined the walk at various points along the route.

Burma native and monk Hla Htwe, wore a tee-shirt in support of detained leader and non-violent activist Aung San Sui Kyi, whose birthday is today, linking powerful movements for indigenous rights.

I was privileged to share some time with several walkers. One, Jack Tobaahe Gene, a Dine artist from near Winslow, Arizona. He is walking, he said to honor his brother and cousin, both who participated in the seize of alcatraz in 1969, when native Americans reclaimed the island for nearly 3ighteen months. Jack said he was only 15 when he left the Navajo reservation in search of his brother and cousin. "My parents put me on the bus to L.A. ," he told me. "But I got lost in L.A. so I turned around and went back home," Now, as a grandfather, Jack has joined the pilgrimage of Longest Walk 2, to continue the work. The landscape pictured here is his work, a view from his homeplace.

Most of the caravan stayed in tents along the French Broad river for a few nights, guests of the Southern Waterways on Amboy road. Some joined the weekly vigil of Veterans for Peace, and others enjoyed respite in the homes of Asheville folk, or visited our endangered public park and Magnolia tree to add some native strength.

Elsie Rea, a grandmother of 14, is walking with her friend Yolanda and her eldest son, Billy Rea. They were empowered to join the walk to represent the needs of the Quechan Indian Tribe near Yuma, Arizona. Elsie and many tribal members oppose the planned construction and debt of a new casino on sacred tribal land.

"We have diabetes bad on our reservation," Elsie told me. "There are more important issues than a casino. Our people are dying left and right," she said. "Fifty two tribal members have died this year, the highest in whole nation. We were warned not to go in there, bad things are happening"

The walkers are preparing manifestos to present to government officials in Washington, DC, outlining their concerns and demands. "Washington is hearing these drums," Dennis Banks said. "Every police department where we're going is hearing these drums."

Pardon of Innocence: Let's Help Right a Wrong

Today, if you write to Governor Mike Easley at this address: Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

You can have a hand in righting some of the egregious wrong done to Glen Edward Chapman, imprisoned and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.

Do write the governor and ask that he issue a "Pardon of Innocence" for Glen Edward Chapman.

This is necessary in order for Mr. Chapman to receive the appropriate compensation from the State of North Carolina for his unjust and unlawful incarceration per N.C.G.S.A. § 148-82-84.

Here is some of the information to use in your letter, compliments of an ACLU friend:

Glen Edward Chapman was released from Death Row on April 2, 2008. This case is about a man who was very nearly sent to his death because police detectives lied at trial, covered up the existence of a confession by the real killer, buried the results of a photo lineup in which someone else was positively identified, hid witness statements that pointed to the innocence of Mr. Chapman and the guilt of another man, and altered other witness statements to make them better fit the officers’ theory of guilt. Those fabricated statements were disclosed to the defense lawyers to throw them off the track. It is a case of official corruption that exposes striking frailties in our system of justice. The police misconduct was compounded by the complete ineptness of the lawyers assigned to defend Chapman at his trial, as well as by other flaws, including forensic medical evidence demonstrating that one of the two murder victims was not a homicide victim at all. I am very concerned that our criminal justice system lacks meaningful safeguards against the possibility that the truth-finding process will be perverted by unscrupulous officers bent on justifying an arrest, even when the result is to send an innocent man to his death in the execution chamber.

The court found that the officers had lied and concealed evidence, vacated the conviction and granted a new trial. The charges were eventually dismissed and Mr. Chapman was released after many long years on Death Row for crimes he did not commit.

Let Justice Roll Down Like Water

The afternoon rains teased my very, very dry garden today, and left a sweet, if brief, coolness in the air. My determined garden will make the most of the moisture. The heat has been so oppressive, pressed down and close.

This morning I joined about 50 others at the WNC ACLU annual meeting, held in the close quarters of Be Be theater. The highlight was presentation of the Evan Mahaney Champion of Civil Liberties Award to the determined legal team that, after years of investigative work, won the release of Glenn Edward Chapman, wrongfully convicted and held in a North Carolina prison for fifteen years awaiting state execution.

Mr. Chapman, with the help of his allies on the legal team and the good article in the Mountain Xpress, now has a home of his own in Asheville.

A victory like this one, where a once condemned man walks free in our midst, is as refreshing to the spirit as that afternoon rain, a long, long overdue grace that had me out in the street, face skyward, to feel the life nourishing flow.

Everyone present, I think, left feeling a bit more hopeful, a bit less thirsty in these times of Democratic drought and human rights oppression.

Let Justice flow down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Photo: Jim Null, Vice President, WNC ACLU
l. to r. Lenora Topp, Pamela Laughon, Edward Chapman, Frank Goldsmith,
(not pictured Jessica Leaven)

Hedges' Homeopathic Tonic to Bush's Furman Invite

Chris Hedges' speech Wednesday at Furman University provided just the homeopathic dose of truth-telling and integrity so needed to ward off the taint of murderous deceit sure to hover about the campus after the unindicted war criminal and so -called Commander in Chief, George W. Bush speaks Furman's Commencement ceremony on Saturday.

An ad hoc group of faculty and others entitled "We Object - 5/31/08 - The Carolinas Respond to Bush's Speech at Furman," or simply, the "We Object" demonstration will be on campus throughout the day Saturday as an additional reminder that Mr. Bush's presence does not meet with unanimous approval.

Hedges told of his own experiences with a hostile audience when he gave a commencement address denouncing the war at Rockford College in 2003, just 2 weeks after Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech. Hedges was greeted on the Illinois campus with boos and jeers and turned backs, had his microphones twice unplugged, and two students rushed the stage to physically remove him.

After the Rockford College Commencement, Hedges said, the New York times gave him a formal reprimand. He left the paper. "I could not muzzle myself," he said. Hedges is now associated with The Nation magazine.

Those at Rockford who stood and turned their backs engaged in an "appropriate" expression of dissent, Hedges said. "You have the right to protest," he said, "but not the right to disrupt the event," and he added, to "register our disapproval in such a way that doesn't allow us to be herded like sheep in such a way that our posture gives tacit approval."

"If only one professor (at Furman) stands up and turns his back on Saturday, that will be powerful. That will be a success. "

With the compelling topic, “The Corporate State and the Subversion of Democracy," Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, addressed about 200 people gathered in Younts Conference Center as part of a Furman faculty-sponsored panel series titled “Assessing the Bush Presidency.”

Hedges is credible and clear. He spent nearly seven years as Middle East bureau chief for the New York Times, and called the war an occupation the "worst foreign policy blunder in American history." covered the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, and was part of the New York Times team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of global terrorism.

"I used to live in a country called America...only a shell remains...it is so diminished as to be
hardly recognizable," Hedges lamented. He described the rising power of the corporate state as a "Coup de`Eta in slow motion," and called for the repeal of the NAFTA and WTO.

"We are maybe two terrorist attacks away from a police state," Hedges warned. "Unless we soon reverse this tide, " he said, we will become a globalized world with only masters and slaves. "There is a growing desperation across the US...the assault is nearly complete...with the rise of the corporate state comes the rise of surveillance...we are fed lie after lie to mask the destruction the corporate state has wrought."

Hedges holds a Masters of Divinity from Harvard and is the son of an "activist" Presbyterian minister. This bent toward the spiritual was evident in his remarks to questioners following his more formal address.

"As things deteriorate one has to salvage one's own integrity and trust that it means something," he said. "Taking those kinds of stances radiates outward with a power that we cannot easily dismiss. Individual acts of courage (matter) even while most people are too timid and afraid to say anything."

Hedges is not a pacifist, and has seen plenty of the ugliness of war, which he said is "a poison we must some times ingest, like chemotherapy for cancer." He spoke of his time in Sarajevo and the fear and horror when 2,000 shells a day, targeting the water taps, would "eviscerate the human body. ...I couldn't eat a piece of meat for three years after Sarajevo."

When asked "Why will our leaders not impeach?" Hedges said, "I'm not sure. My fear is that by not beginning at least an impeachment investigation, there is much we will never find out."

Hedges ended his presentation with the declaration: "If we attack Iran, I won't be paying my taxes anymore."

He received a standing ovation for his strong and clear remarks. I wish I had on hand a digital recorder to capture the powerful message.

Among those who came to hear Hedges speak was a woman with a basket of white armbands with a note attached listing the objections of Furman faculty to the actions of the Bush Administration.

Hedges is the author of several books, including War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, and I Don’t Believe in Atheists.



Photo by Susan Ohler who also provided transport to Greenville.
Folks will be meeting

Voices of Conscience

I enjoyed lots of sweet time with my daughter and grandson and family in Grapevine, Texas, after spending a weekend in Birmingham, Alabama, with my friends on the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee. We gathered for our twice annual meeting, and this time also redirected over $325,000 of refused war taxes. Most of the money went to two groups working with refugees. Direct Aid Iraq and Common Ground Health Clinic. It feels good to be among these conscientious objectors to paying for war who hold strong. The War Tax Boycott will continue, and hopefully more people who recognize that war is a crime will join us next year.

Back home I hit the ground running. Working with Easy Mark of WPVM's "Afternoon Slacken" program to produce a report on the War Tax Resistance Conference. I got some good interviews. This will probably air on his program May 27, at 2- 3:30 p.m., so check it out. You can stream from the archive at wpvm.org.

I finally read Starhawk's book, The Fifth Sacred Thing on my 24 hour bus journey from Dallas to Asheville. Rolling through Texas into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and finally, back to these good mountains. I look forward to the upcoming Southeastern Time for our Power! conference here in Asheville where she will lead workshops. We certainly need to bring in more ideas for creative nonviolence actions here.

This weekend Ann Wright spoke in Asheville. She resigned from the U.S. Diplomatic Corps in opposition to the War in Iraq in 2003. Her interview on WPVM will be aired on the Veterans Voices Program. She also spoke at the Firestorm Cafe. The local Veterans for Peace Chapter 99 and Susan Ohler of the Peace Coalition helped coordinate her visit.


Photo: Veterans for Peace Chapter 99 members Ron Harayda, Karl Odom, Jim Brown and Ken Ashe greet Ann Wright on her arrival in Asheville.

Keystone Cops, Birdnests and Notebooks Hidden in the Grass

Ah, Asheville! I missed the May Day excitement downtown, but heard several accounts. One from a friend who dropped by for a visit and shared what he had just witnessed while driving through town. A large contingent of police, a prisoner transport van and a canine unit called out to contain the May Day parade of feisty young people taking to the streets to call for real change. Later, downtown, across from Pritchard Park I spoke with a hot dog vendor. He had watched what he also thought was excessive police presence. "It was like the Keystone Cops," he told me. "The kids blocked the street, then when the police moved toward them they were up and running." They ended up in Pritchard Park for music and a gathering. Wish I'd been there!



I spoke with a police officer in the park. He was amiable and we discussed peaceful protest, and protest that breaks the law. We agreed that we have a criminal president and a complicit Congress. I told him I stand regularly with Women in Black and Vets for Peace. "Protest is good," he told me. "As long as it is not breaking the law." I told the officer as I shook his hand that we might meet again sometime on the street when I'm engaged in an acceleration of our peaceful protest against these wars and occupations. Sometimes business as usual just has to be disrupted. When its done with hula hoops, kazoos, and costumed revelers, it hardly rises to such a threat to public safety that requires the kind of police intervention that took place today.

On another note, yesterday Donna and I spent a few hours weeding and cleaning up in the Veterans Peace Park on Hilliard. Catepillar stopped by to help us move the considerable pile of invasive weeds we had pulled. In the course of the work of culling dead leaves from a huge stand of Pampas Grass, I pulled out an empty "Wild Irish Rose" bottle, then I discovered a tiny birdsnest with 4 eggs, and then I found a small plastic box with a notebook inside. Now that was a magic bush! The notebook was hidden there by an artist. It contained a tile with a yellow ribbon, and a plea to bring the soldiers home. The notebook listed the website Atlas Quest. There was another website listed, but I didn't write it down. At any rate, we wrote in the book, then Donna returned it to the pampas grass where we found it, along with the tiny bird nest.

There was a another surprise in the park, a mirrored art piece with the sign: "Will Work for Health Care"" and I have a suspicion of who added that--Ron O.?

All the while I worked, pulling some very stubborn Burdock, foot-tall wild lettuce, and sprawling chickweed, I was feeling the sadness at the toll of the occupation and wars. The recorded American deaths are over 4,050 now. While we worked we listened to WPVM and the Veterans Voices program with Kindra, Jason, Ron and Stack. We felt connected to that effort as we bent to our work. Soon the poppies will bloom in that little corner park, but sadly, the killing goes on.