A Chance of Inspiration with a Steady Downpour of Frustration by Nightfall

Rest in peace, Marla Ruzicka. My coworker M. remembered you fondly-- he organized your first trip to Cuba, when you were 17. Your friends at Global Exchange are gathering today to share memories about you. I don't think I ever met you, but I very well might have-- and that is something I can be proud of: we ran in circles not that far afield from eachother. Although, reading about you, I must say your field looks like it was always a helluva lot more dangerous than mine. But I was a early-teen visitor of nonprofit offices and collector of pamphlets and subscriber to The Nation and The Economist and Greenpeace and Amnesty International-- but I couldn't get started as fast as hard as you did, since I was living in North Nosebleed, and you were in Northern California. You will be remembered among the bright young stars that fell on my watch:

Terry Freitas who died helping the U'wa defend themselves against big oil while volunteering for Project Underground, where I was also then a volunteer; and

Rachel Corrie, another SF Bay Area leftie -- she died when she tried to stop an Israeli bulldozer; and

...the not-yet-gone:

Lori Berenson - who was a roommates with a dear friend of mine when she was in college. I imagine her decorating her jail cell in Peru and thinking about her dorm room at MIT... how far she has gone to stick to her beliefs.

Tonight: more inspiration from the Goldman Awards! Where (as per usual) my organization "knows" some of the awardees.