Protest In The Time of Upheaval

Time at home has led to much more cooking, baking, and eating than usual.  Sadly, my expanding hips and waistline are definitive proof.  The term freshman-15 has morphed into the quarantine-15 at this stage of my life.   But, cooking and baking are comforting, an escape from the outside world.

And I have the Luxury of Being able to Escape to this Sanctuary

As I sit here penning this post I can’t help but feel guilty that I am privileged and secure enough to do this.  During the pandemic, I am one of the lucky ones that can weather staying home.  But the events of the past few weeks, (I had promised no politics On my little blog, yeah, NO…) go beyond politics and call into question our compassion, empathy, and decency towards each other.  This compelled me to venture out of my stay-at-home cocoon to voice my dissent over the actions of our government and institutions.

Our Country at a Breaking Point

The pandemic, the police & military action against Americans, the protests, a president not capable of empathy or compassion.  One that fuels the fire of division and has put us all on edge.  Shelter in place due to COVID-19 has isolated us from friends and family, our community, and exacerbated our anxiety.  This past week has been unnerving, events that I view as an attack on Americans by Americans.  How can this possibly be happening?  This has gone beyond a political divide, it is a fight for the soul of our country.

Jamie and I went to the protest rally in San Jose the other day.  A far cry from any Women’s March or Science March we have attended, this one was predominantly made up of younger folks and POC,  and a whole lot of police.

The police presence was intimidating. Dressed in full riot gear, they looked ready for a military invasion.   For the most part, the protest was peaceful, at one point some rubber bullets were fired at the crowd in response to a tossed water bottle.  I kept social distancing in mind, (after all, I am in a different demographic than most who attended) and left well before curfew.  I applaud the grassroots engagement but the overwhelming police presence was more than concerning.  The police formed a barricade with vehicles on both ends of the boulevard and, as you can see formed a single line of police in riot gear that stretched for well over a block.  They ignored chants of “Take a knee”.  I can’t help but agree that police reform is needed.  A good site for information and action for police reform is Campaign Zero, I hope you will check it out.

These kids are witnesses to the injustice happening around them and to them.  If you are not registered, please register to vote.  As you raise your voice at these rallies, remember, your vote is your voice and that will effect change.  Vote to save your future and democracy.  Vote to change the trajectory of this country.

Hope

Feeling down I retreated home.  We decided to go to a protest march planned by our local high school students the following day. I arrived a few minutes before to a crowd of hundreds.  Students, young parents with kids in strollers, old parents (like me) sporting our POD Save America or Tie-Dye Back in the Day shirts, most wearing masks, came out in full force to demonstrate in support of Black Lives Matter and police reform.

This

We walked to the grassy knoll in front of our town library, over a thousand strong. The police blocked off traffic and gave the community space for peaceful protest.  The change will hopefully follow when awareness, empathy, and moral outrage erupt across social, ethnic, and economic lines.

Now let’s continue the protest by voting for change in November.  We owe it to our kids.

Ties That Bind and Give Us Comfort

So, back to my little blog.  I hope you don’t think it is disingenuous of me to go back to blogging about food, or musing about things that may seem mundane or trivial at the moment.  I will continue to protest and work for a better world outside of this page. But I do want to get back to food-centric posts.  In some small way I view this as activism, food brings people together. It’s hard to spew angry words at someone when breaking bread together or sharing family recipes.  We share stories about food that provide insight into who we are and how we view the world.

There are those in the public eye who have managed to combine food with a glimpse into people’s lives from all corners of the globe.  Anthony Bourdain comes to mind first with Parts Unknown, if you have Netflix you can view all episodes (June 1). Roy Choi’s Broken Bread produced by KCET can be found on Hulu which combines social activism and food (I love this series).  David Chang of Momofuku touches upon issues in his podcast The Dave Chang Show. Check out this list of food policy podcasts that explore food in terms of public policy, the environment, and climate change, Food Policy Podcasts to listen to.

Thanks for reading.