Gunfire at the Whidbey 50501 Protest
81-year-old Susan Jensen teaches me something about heroism.
So last Saturday, April 19th, Whidbey Island took part in the 50501 protests. My peace-loving nature sanctuary where I have felt incredibly safe and secure since I first came to know this place in 1998. A small group of peaceful protesters gathered at Bayview Corner (not ten minutes away from where I live), holding up their signs, smiling at the honking cars driving by. There weren’t even any yelling chants. Just a group of humans showing up to be counted.
Then the gunshots went off.
No one was harmed, the guy was shooting his gun in the air, directly across the street. But in this day and age, that alone should land him in jail. I was so filled with outrage when I heard about this.
But here’s what I learned from reading Susan Jensen’s post about it. I assume she’s the one who took this video. In her post about it, she says, “I’m 81 years old. If I’m shot, I died for a good cause. I won’t quit protesting.” That fired me up. Made me want to follow her into battle.
But when I read the whole post, I realized that her true heroism was made of something much deeper. She didn’t react with outrage, disgust or contempt. She stood quietly in her wisdom. She brought forward a compassionate plea for authentic, peaceful engagement. And for that reason, she is my hero.
Here are her own words:
To the young man who fired the very loud and scary shots during the protest at the Bayview park-and-ride today on Whidbey Island:
We won’t hurt you. You don’t have to hide behind your rifle. Please, just walk across the street and talk to us.
All media is biased these days. We are all Americans trying to get to the truth of things and trying to do the right thing. We’re not going to get anywhere if we fight with each other. We have to come together and compromise on both sides and come up with a plan of government that works for all of us. And we can only do that by talking to each other.
Other countries have done it. Healthcare for all, a minimum wage that makes it so anybody who works 40 hours a week can support their family with housing and food, systems that take care of everyone including the weakest among us, etc.
Talk to us. Please don’t shoot – even up in the air. That is dangerous. Here’s some information on that
“…bullets fired upward can cause harm upon returning to Earth, though their speed is reduced by air resistance. A bullet fired straight up might travel 10,000 feet and return at about 150 miles per hour, still a significant impact. While not as fast as when initially fired, the bullet's energy can still cause injuries or even death if it strikes someone.”
I’m sure you didn’t mean to hurt someone, but you easily could. There were a lot of us there and an Easter egg hunt at Sebo’s just up the road. Or someone just going for a walk. Or a bullet could even come back at you.
I’m usually at the rallies on Saturday at 10 o’clock. I’m an 81 year-old old lady who marched in the 1960s for the same things we’re working for now and more. I’m the one wearing the Wonder Woman hat. Come sit with me and let’s talk. Please. This hate and anger on both sides has to stop. There’s solutions there somewhere for all of us. Let’s help each other find them.
Wisdom from Roshi Joan Halifax
Comedy from Tracy Ullman (Support Group for the Overly-Woke)
It’s so important to question our speech and actions, and how they affect the people around us. But it’s maybe even more important to have a good laugh at ourselves when we find ourselves beyond the outer limits of what we actually meant to do with all that conscious speech. Here’s my gift to you on this subject, courtesy of Tracy Ullman. Aaand. . .you’re welcome.