"My name is Rob DeFrees, and I am here to recruit you."

"Transformational activism is the idea that people need to transform on the inside as well on the outside in order to create any meaningful change in the world.

Another example is encouraging choices to live in racially diverse communities. Such communities may literally "transform" communities by opening the minds of residents to new ideas, new cultures, new historical perspectives, and a broader view of life that ultimately can benefit social relations.
Another example of transformational activism is transformational economics. This is the idea that you can change the way resources flow in a society by doing inner work. People examine their emotional reactions to what their needs are. This may allow them to see that things they felt they needed are not really needed. This then alters the flow of goods in a society because of the underlying change in needs.
Tranformational politics is the field of guiding people to look inwardly what they feel is true power. They may discover that real power is seeing the deep connection of everyone with each other and of being able to tap that place. In this case power is not power over someone, but rather power to unleash collective creativity in creating a new society.
Tranformational activism is about looking for the common values underneath, and then working from there so that both parties are able to get what they want. In the process one or both parties may find their inner landscape and paradigms changing.
Transformational open-sourced activism is the idea that you can tap into the power of mass collaboration and collective creativity in a way that transforms the people involved into more loving, peaceful, compassionate states."

MOI believes that the small patch of earth lived on, is the single most important place to start with activism. That be road lived on and community a part of.

On Monday, this old geezer watched the film 'MILK', the one with Sean Penn. It brought back a flood of memories of a time that MOI had pushed into the dark corners of memories held. It was not an uplifting film for MOI to watch. Sad really.

Many in Marysville have asked if MOI knew Harvey Milk, and what was his take on the film. Before Monday, there was no answer to give.

MOI met Harvey Milk a handful of times. That is to say, was in a setting where one could hold a on-on-one conversation with. Harvey Milk and MOI were very different. Mr. Milk was hellbent on making sure that the label on the tin read 'gay' before all else. He went out of way to make sure that all knew. It defined Harvey Milk.

MOI was not a fan of then, and is not one of the many who feel that Harvey Milk is a saint in the homosexual community. Harvey Milk was no saint, he was just a man, a man who got things done. Say what you will about Harvey Milk, if nothing else, his sense of drama got folks to act and did get things to change. When elected to San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Milk went out and got the media to make him its darling. Staged a press conference to call attention to the dog poo problem in the city and got the media to film his stepping right into a hot pile of poo. Clever.

30 years ago, Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were killed at city hall by a former supervisor, Dan White. MOI was just block from city hall.

Will remember seeing 30,000 march down Market Street that night. Remember always, seeing an ocean of lighted candles filling the road and the plaza in front of city hall.

Will remember the day the verdict was read in the trial of Dan White, and the riots that took place. MOI had a building blocks from City hall and had to get employees standing with in front of building pleading with the crowd to not set fire to building. Remembers seeing the angry mob trash the doors at city hall, break windows and set fire to tens of patrol vehicles. Remember that no one was ever charged with a crime due to this act of anger. Remember the hate filled eyes on one of the leaders of the riot.

Apple and oranges. That was then and this is now.

MOI has a knack for being on the right road at the wrong time. So it was in San Francisco and so it is in Marysville. MOI lives on a road that is quite near 'Silly Hall' in Marysville. So near, that if wind blows right you could hit 'Silly Hall' with spit.

In these troubled times a 'call to arms' is needed.

Harvey Milk loved to shock folks. He had a sense of theatre. Mr. Milk used to address crowds with the following; "My name is Harvey Milk, and I am here to recruit you." Not to buggery, but to social change.

Hate is very much alive in Marysville. It is still a city that is 'A Tale of Two Cities'.  The city of the favoured few, and the not so favoured, locked out of Silly Hall.

'Silly Hall'  ignores  MOI, point of fact, Silly Hall ignores many. Lovely folks still cluck tongues about what they think of MOI and his well known sexual proclivity, even if this old geezer is a celibate homosexual. The label on the tin they view is always going to contain in large letters 'GAY' giving them the opportunity to discount. More's the pity.

There is hope. There are brilliant folks in Marysville who do not care a tick about the label applied, they try to get pass that and open the tin to see what is really inside. Some brilliant elected officials and many public employees and  coppers. Ordinary folks who have made known selves to MOI, they really care about their neighbours.

 Folks can get things done if they care enough. If they push 'Silly Hall' to remember who they work for. To question and to call to task the elected officials placed there. It is OUR city, OUR government, OUR future.

"My name is Rob DeFrees, and I am here to recruit YOU!"