bicyclemark

Space For Those Who Don’t Agree

Lisbon, March 2011 Through the numerous jobs I do as both a journalist and an editor to help fund my own work here on this site, I end up editing many documents relating to new media and its significance. Among the terms and theories that are frequently kicked around is the one about how through today’s social media applications and collective spaces on the web, like minded people can find each other and further develop their projects or networks. No doubt, this is happening and will continue to happen; yet while many celebrate this development, I’m left concerned and wondering about the flip side of this coin.

What will a world be like where for the most part like minded people find each other and communicate amongst themselves? Where you unfriend or ignore any person with an opinion that doesn’t match your own. How will future compromises and cooperation occur among people who have very different points of view about how the world works or should work?

In many ways this question has begun to be answered with every passing election in this decade. In Europe for example, increasingly you hear about increase in votes for parties on the fringe or on extreme opposite opinions from each other. The middle ground or voices that express something less pronounced or less strict positions are losing ground (of course in many cases they might also deserve it for a poor track record).

Despite the power of the internet to educate and connect people, and the tools that have made this all possible, the answer to the aforementioned question has not emerged. You can surely follow people on twitter that you agree with just as well as you can follow people you disagree with, but do we really do both? Or do we unfollow the person who’s opinion we can’t stand. After that, we may never have to hear from them and can proceed with communicating with the more pleasant people we tend to agree with.

Of course this is not the same story throughout the internet. There are plenty of people, who disagree on things, listening and communicating with each other. But as systems of social networking become more refined, catering to what you like and who you like, how do we keep the things we don’t like -but might need to live alongside, from being ignored. Are all the great developments for sharing information making sure that NON likeminded people are encouraged (or required!) to keep listening to each other? Perhaps they should, since we do still live on this earth together, and ignoring each other continues to have terrible side effects.

bmtv123 Demonstration in Lisbon

Avenida da Liberdade One Saturday in March some 200,000 people took to the streets of Lisbon to express their frustration and desperation with the government’s performance, corruption and its economic/social policies. It was in fact a beautiful day filled with creative and humorous approaches to protesting from a city (and a country) that knows a bit about taking to the streets to demand a better future.

Solidarity with Immigrants in Portugal

“The other organizations throughout Europe that work to help immigrants are in awe of what we do here, something they have been unable to do,” Timóteo explains with ethusiastic hand gestures in the air, “to run an organization for immigrants that is completely autonomous and not dependent on government or international funds.” He repeats this point to make sure everyone in the room has understood, this place and the people in it, are one of a kind in Europe and perhaps even the world. When you, as an immigrant, come to the cramped but welcoming offices of Solidariedade Imigrante in downtown Lisbon seeking help with a problem, this organization with over 19,000 members does not just feel sorry for you and start on the problem, first they explain who they are and what their mission is. They also invite that person to become a member of this multi-faceted organization, which involves getting a membership card for a 2 euro a month fee.

Timóteo Macedo, President of Solidariedade Imigrant looks me square in the eye to make sure I’m listening, “Help is a reciprocal process. We must help each other. Your problem is not unique to you, many others have gone through it, and they can now help you. Just as you can help someone else one day, or right now, you can help us pay the electric bill, for example.” He also goes over the growing force within Portugal that this organization has become, “In the late 90’s when we started, an immigrant could be stopped by the police and arrested on the spot like a criminal. That is not true anymore, now you cannot be arrested. Because we fought this policy, in the halls of government and on the streets. And the government had to take notice.”

Walking from room to room it is hard to ignore the number of people and the diversity of the faces and accents all around. Many seem to be waiting to speak with someone, perhaps about their own issues with legal documents and paperwork. Others are sitting in two’s around a table in the middle of the room, busy explaining what specific pages mean. Their Portuguese is accented and their patience and expertise indicates they themselves have been through this process at one time not so long ago. The walls have inspirational quotes in Portuguese, along with hand drawn flags; the red crescent, the globe from the Brazilian flag, the spinning wheel from the Indian flag. Every now and then a wall has an invitation to an upcoming event; debates, dinners, rallies, etc. I notice there has recently been a Hungarian night consisting of traditional music and food, a local volunteer by the name of Christof explains that members themselves take the lead for such events, “Sometimes members might decide to do their own events about their own culture, and so we might have Russian lessons or a Russian night, for example.” He goes on to explain a long list of services the organization provides, including: job training, youth counseling, housing assistance, and language instruction. As he gets into very involved and impressive details, I’m distracted by another office we’ve walked into with a bank of computers and tall book shelves adorned with signs that read “Please respect the order the books are in, they belong to all of us.”

As our meeting draws to an end Timóteo turns the conversation towards my own work and asks what I’ve been working on during this visit to Portugal. I explain my visit to the home of Aristides de Sousa Mendes and my interest in spreading the word about his story and his legacy. Timóteo nods like my words make perfect sense. “In this place we are Aristides de Sousa Mendes… we save lives everyday. First and foremost we value human lives… -The law comes second,” he smiles.

Adventures in Poultry Farming

“I was here til 4am this morning, one of the stove’s was acting up” Jorge points to the extremely long 2 story orange brick building in front of us. As he slides back a massive rust colored door he tells us to step inside and immediately our lungs are filled with the cozy smell of burning saw dust. It feels like a cross between a giant bakery and a disturbing dream, with the bright Portuguese sun filtering in through the diffused windows, the numerous stoves used for heating this huge space, and all over the floor like a moving ocean of yellow, thousands of baby chicks are heading our way. Actually they’re heading in every which way as if they have so much energy they need to move as often as possible. Elsewhere against the walls and nearer to the stove hundreds of chicks pack themselves into one giant mass as if they’re trying to stay as close together as possible. Some even seem to be forming some kind of chicken pyramid as a game. Besides the smell that makes you oddly comfortable, the sounds are this constant, though not deafening, it’s a chirping combined with traditional Portuguese folklore coming from a radio. At first I thought the music was for the chicks, they seemed to move to and fro depending on the rhythm, but Jorge crushes my theory about chicks and music “oh that’s just for me, I like having music on.” I tell him I think the chicks like it. He shoots me a look of possibility -maybe they do.

“By tonight this entire floor will be covered, they will move around and take over even more” I look left and right and notice the long pipeline that connects food and water, then there are the pillar-stoves every few steps that seem to be almost all generating warmth. Jorge watches me take pictures, he seems to understand how beautiful this workplace of his can be, he talks about how he usually starts out on the first day and how he gradually moves through the building making space for more chicks. “So last night one of the stoves went out, I had to be here to make sure the temperature stayed right.. if anything goes wrong.. It will cost me dearly.” Indeed I can only imagine as I stand there in a sea of yellow, that this is not a labor of love, but in fact his business.. and making sure these little guys live.. is tantamount to doing good business.

“Can you check the temperature remotely, like through a computer” I ask, trying to find some hope for a social life for someone in such a sensitive line of work. – Jorge seems to only hear the beginning of my question, “Oh I had a machine that would regulate the temperature.. a sort of thermostat that I could set to maintain the warmth that they need…. but it broke.. and the repairs and problems ended up costing me 2,000 euro so I gave up on it.” He takes us outside and in the open drunk of a rusting little toyota van is the small german engine, on top of a rusting pile of what looks like might have once been parts for a time saving innovation.

“Some months in the winter especially, when its too cold, I shut the place down. This year I shut down in December and I just started again a few weeks ago… its just too expensive to keep this place heated when the weather doesn’t cooperate.” I ask him how the last years have been and he indicates he has shut down at least one month every year for the past 3+ years. “I also shut down for 15 days in the summer last year.” he half smiles. I presumed he was talking about a vacation and didn’t press the issue to not look like I missed his joke.

When I met Jorge during Carnival the day before, he was wearing neat clothes and a smile, with his wife by his side greeting what seemed to be the entire town. Hearing I was a visiting journalist, he immediately invited me to come see his work. It wasn’t an overconfident invitation, it had the tone of a man who knows not everyone out there knows or see’s what he does on a regular basis. “I had to sleep there last night… had to make sure the little one’s made it through the night.. otherwise we’d be in trouble.” He explained this story to every neighbor that walked up to him and asked how he has been doing. It was like listening to a doctor who had to stay late at the hospital last night. Everyone responded with a look of respect for the good doctor.

Casa do Passal 2011

Artistides de Sousa Mendes saved the lives of over 30,000 people in Southern France in 1940. He did so in defiance of orders from the Portuguese Dictator who in turn disgraced him and blacklisted him, eventually leaving him in poverty. This included the loss of Casa do Passal his iconic family home in Cabanas de Viriato.

Only decades later was his name restored and the story of his heroic deed recognized throughout the world. However at this very moment his magnificent home continues to be neglected and teeters on the brink of collapse, waiting for a plan to be approved and carried out, to restore it as a symbol and tribute to those in this world who don’t just follow orders and who take action to help others regardless of the risk to themselves.

I had a chance to visit Casa do Passal during Carnaval in Cabanas over the past few days. The following video contains moments from that visit.

Voices of Resistance in Libya

Sometimes you’re reading a book, attending a lecture, watching a film, or listening to an interview and a voice grabs you. The story grabs you. The combination of the story, the voice, and some unknown, undetectable qualities grab hold of you and they shake you somehow. You may have been paying attention, but now you’re really paying attention. You may have cared, but now you’re passionate. You may have had ideas, but you’re inspired.

Citizen Media — Photo by Al Jazeera English on Flickr

Sarah Abdurrahman is one of those determined, inspired, and modest voices that pulled me into her world recently. A producer for On The Media, she has been heavily involved as a Libyan-American activist with the Feb 17th voices movement, or as properly known on twitter: @feb17voices. This group of people, including Sarah, are doing what they can to get real information about what is going on around Libya during this critical time. Its obviously no easy task and there is great risk for those on the ground, not to mention the fear of not succeeding that many have struggled with even before this amazing uprising.

In one poignient moment while being interviewed, Sarah speaks about her father, who decades ago was doing the exact same type of work only with different technology. She speaks about how the older generation has fought and feel that disillusioned after having not succeeded back then. She wants them to know their struggle is part of this struggle. She wants them to know what anyone who fights in this life for a better world wants to know: that they didn’t do so for nothing. That their lives have had purpose, and they are appreciated, and directly connected to everything happening now.

Do yourself a favor, be open to inspiration. Listen yourself to the fantastic Sarah Abdurrahman’s testimony. It won’t be the last time the world takes notice of her.