Day
37 - Sunday, March 19, 2006
White Hall / Pine Bluff, Arkansas
There are artists among us here on
the road! Dennis asked if someone could
design a new logo for Sacred Run 2006.
The plan is to make an official cloth
patch to stitch onto clothing. Dennis
had some ideas and Minoh added feathers,
Owns the Sabre worked on an initial
design, and then Joel Garber went to
work in Photoshop. With Dennis' final
approval, and many thanks to the artists,
here is the new logo.
Yesterday, some of us went for a sweat,
and others rested. This afternoon,
a reporter and camera crew from Channel
11, KTHV Little Rock filmed us
running. Reporter Stefanie Bryant said
we are likely to be on tonight's news,
right after the NCAA basketball games
(March Madness, you know) - and again
on tomorrow's THV This Morning show.
She also said the story would be available
as a video stream on www.todaysthv.com.
Check it out! |
 |
University
of Arkansas at Little Rock students Carl Hardwick
(camera) and Robbie Gill (notepad) came by
and held a long interview with Dennis Banks
for the Sequyah Research Center: American Native
Press Archives and for her Myspace profile: www.myspace.com/indiedp.
I'm not sure how long it will take Robbie to
get the interview up on Myspace, but I hope
she will let us know when she does. Robbie
is also an intern for the Ozark
Foothills Film Fest (March 24 - April 9,
Batesville, Heber Springs, Little Rock) - and
hopes to show her work there.
Top
Day
38 - Monday, March 20, 2006
White Hall, Arkansas to Star City, Arkansas
At least 38 people were killed today in
Baghdad according to the London
Free Press . And as of today, there
have been over 2300 US military deaths, over
2500 "allied" deaths, over 16,600
US wounded in action, and countless (uncounted)
Iraqi dead and wounded (Iraq
Coalition Casualty Count).
A beautiful piece was sent to us by email
from Leonid Cetan Luta on this the third anniversary
of the US invasion of Iraq.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Only Sermon
By Andrea Ayvazian, Senior Pastor at
the Haydenville Congregational United Church
of Christ, Haydenville, MA, and formerly
Dean of Religious Life at Mount Holyoke College
in Massachusetts.
if we dug a huge grave miles wide, miles deep
and buried every rifle, pistol, knife, bullet, bomb,
bayonet
if we jumped upon fleets of tanks and fighter
jets
with tool boxes, torches
unwelded them dismantled them turned them into scrap
metal
if every light-skinned man in a silk tie said
to every dark-skinned man in a turban
I vow not to kill your children
and heard the same vow in return
if every elected leader agreed to stop lying
if every child was fed as well as racehorses
bred to win derbies
if every person with a second home gave it
to a person with no home
if every mother buried her parents not her
sons and daughters
if every person who has enough said out loud
I have enough
if
every person violent in the name of God were
to find God
we would grow silent, still for a moment,
a lifetime
we would hear infants nursing at the breast
hummingbirds hovering in flight
we would touch a canyon wall and feel the
earth vibrate
we would hear two lovers sigh across the ocean
we would watch old wounds grow new flesh and
jagged scars disappear
as time was layered upon time we would slowly
be ready
to begin
Day
39 - Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Star City, Arkansas to Vicksburg, Mississippi
Today
we ran and walked over 160 miles, through southeast
Arkansas, northeast Louisiana, and crossing the Mississippi
River into Vicksburg, MS. Two outstanding feats of
endurance today: Kid Valance ran 30 miles, and Eri
Yanagiko is on the third day of her four-day fast!
If that's not enough, on yesterday's All-women Run,
K.A. Garlick did her first full marathon of 26 miles,
and Octavia Subia did her second marathon - in the
rain! The discipline and strength of Sacred Runners
and Walkers is amazing!
Yesterday
was a rough day for several of us. In the morning,
Sacred Runner George Ray had an accident on the rainy
streets of downtown Pine Bluff. No one in his truck
was hurt, but the other vehicle's driver was taken
to the emergency room with an injured hand or wrist.
George's big white pickup ran ok, but we heard from
the appraiser today that it was declared a total
loss. George is unsure at the moment whether the
insurance settlement will cover the remaining payments
he owes on the truck. In the meantime, Sacred Run
is without the significant storage space his truck
provided. WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP! Anyone in the
Louisiana/Mississippi area who has a pickup or van
you can donate to Sacred Run, or a major cash donation,
please email us at sacredrunplanners@sacredrun.org.
To make an online paypal donation, click
here.
I
said yesterday was a rough day. Sacred Run walker
Patty Berner received a phone call that her 15-year
old daughter Shayla had been in a serious car accident
in Florida. We gathered around Patty and Robert,
prayed, shared in support and hope, and today got
the good news that Shayla is back home and ok. Thank
Goodness!
In Morning Circle today, Dennis spoke to us about
all these things, about adversity and the strange
way that one's own trials can loom so large and then
in an instant seem quite insignificant in comparison
to the hardships of others.
Grief, like joy, can be fleeting, momentary, and
transformed by our attitude and awareness. Through
it all, Creator is with us, sustaining life and calling
us into the light. Like the pain of a long-distance
runner, enduring is itself becomes a blessing, and
suffering is often turned to strength and power.
These are lessons for those of us who would build
a more peaceful and loving future.
Nuno
Caetano brought news to us this morning that today
is International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination. Nuno shared a powerful document, ‘None
of us is born to hate; intolerance is taught and
can be untaught’, by United Nations Secretary
General Kofi Anan. Here's an excerpt:
The focus of this year’s commemoration, “Fighting
Everyday Discrimination”, challenges us to
take meaningful steps to fight commonplace discriminatory
practices in our societies....We must not tolerate
the creeping rot of routine discrimination. Nor
can we resign ourselves to it as a regrettable
attribute of human nature. None of us is born to
hate. Intolerance is taught and can be untaught.
Legal guarantees are a fundamental part of this
fight. But education must be its vanguard. Education
can foster awareness and cultivate tolerance. It
should begin at home -- where, after all, many
racist attitudes have their origin -- continue
in school, and become integral to our public discourse.
In this struggle against intolerance, citizens
must simultaneously be teachers and students. (the
full statement)
The
most wonderful story of this 39th day of Sacred Run
2006 centers on new Sacred Runners Robert Richardson
(the Tree Man), and Patty Berner (long time power
walker), of northern Arkansas, who announced that
Dennis Banks has agreed to perform their marriage
ceremony somewhere along the route on this Sacred
Run! Dennis was presented a pouch of tobacco in the
traditional way as a sign of intent and respect.
Robert and Patty have been together for 9 years,
and have already planned to be wed soon, but it will
be a special treat for them - and for us all - to
be married among us on the sacred road to land,
life and peace. And for Robert, who has planted
over a million trees in his lifetime, we will wish
them land, life, peace -- and trees!
Day
41 - Thursday, March 23, 2006
Natchez, Mississippi to Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Three
reflections for you today:
We had a beautiful
stay in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Our only regret is
that the old route 80 bridge over the Mississippi
River is closed, and the new bridge is an interstate,
so we weren't able to send a runner over the Mighty
Mississipp. The downtown is reminiscent of New Orleans'
French Quarter. (And for those of us who care about
such things, the whole center city is a "Wi-Fi
Zone"!)
We
stayed in the new social hall at the Wesley United
Methodist Church near downtown, where we ate pizza
and had good conversations with Constance, a reporter
from one of the Vicksburg Post who just happened
to move out of New Orleans just two weeks before
Hurricane Katrina. Early on Thursday, we hit the
road for the little town of Washington, Mississippi,
on the outskirts of Natchez. We had our first taste
of the Natchez Trace Parkway, and it was sweet! Quiet
and pretty, untarnished by gas stations, signs or
stores, mile after mile of gorgeous Mississippi rolling
countryside.
Dennis
Banks will tell the story of New
Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Washington/Natchez,
MS:
Here
in Natchez, we received our first introduction to
Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief efforts by the
people of the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church,
where we stayed for one night. Over 4,500 people
came to this church after Katrina and Rita hit the
Mississippi-Louisiana coast in August, 2005.
Deacon Johnny Jackson told us some of the history
of New
Hope Missionary Baptist Church, and how it came
into being.
The church property now houses a magnificent large
new building as well as the original wood facility.
The old building was a meeting place for the Ku Klux
Klan during the early part of the 20th century, and
the property owner was a Grand Dragon, or leader
of the Klan. When there were only a handful of founding
members of the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church,
they approached the Klansman's daughter-in-law, who
had inherited the building and had prayed for God
to send the right person to take it over. When these
new church members, who happened to be Black, asked
her if they could buy the old church, she 
refused
to sell. Instead, she offered to give them the property
outright, asking only that they agree never to sell
it.
The nine founding members of the new church quickly
outgrew the small building, and built the magnificent
new structure in the late ninties. Finishing in 2002,
the congregation's membership now stands at 2,500.
The
power of the story is that it shows that Good will
prevail over evil. We hope that this pattern will
give us inspiration and take us into the future.
Now we will go into the path of Katrina and Rita
and New Orleans, only we will be bringing a message,
prayers, music, stories and New Hope.
- Dennis J. Banks
Why
Are You Here?
by an anonymous Sacred Runner
The old woman sat, her head bowed gently,
looking like a beautiful bird turning to
sleep.
I call out to her in more than a whisper
would have broken the sweet peace and tranquility
that her humility had brought to the young
trees around her. "Grandmother," I
wished to say, but when I opened my mouth
it was not my voice that came out. Instead
it was a message from the leaves around me
that broke the silence.
"Why are you here?" she asked
my mind, making me feel for a moment that
I had thought the words up myself. But when
I saw her look at me with a wise face as
old as the oldest trees I felt in my heart
the power of her voice. Her gray hair beautifully
mixed with soft white, danced trying to escape
their humble braids.
"Why are you here, my little daughter?" she
asked me again. I could feel her love as
if she were of my own flesh and blood and
her eyes, the color of dark earth after a
good rain flashed with understanding and
acceptance. I thought for a second, an hour,
a day, but the silence held me in its grasp
and I could only breath with lips halfway
parted. My body moved and my feet had a mission
as they gently stepped through the leaves.
I made my way to her side and sat with a
small sigh as my hands gripped the dampness
of the thick fallen tree. I turned and answered
the forest with a whisper, "To be with
you, Grandmother."
|
- by an anonymous Sacred
Runner, March, 2006 |
Top
Day
42 - Friday, March 24, 2006
Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Kenner & Raceland, Louisiana
Yesterday we made our way from Natchez, Mississippi to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Once again the United Methodist Church opened its doors to us - we stayed in Downtown Baton Rouge at the First United Methodist Church. Sacred Walkers and Runners took off super early, in order to be present for a grand welcome at the Kenner Heritage Park. We got up around 4:30am, and were on the road by 6:30am!
Our support vehicle shortage seems to have been solved - at least temporarily. Due to the loss of several vehicles, we had been making double runs each day, giving away excess items, and transporting people first, then returning to transport luggage and supplies. The gas costs and driving times were mounting up, so (thanks to a benefactor) we bought a second trailer in Natchez. Then, in Baton Rouge, we were joined for several days by Dennis' old friend Hans, who is driving a big bus, and happened to be in the area. Also, Tony and Holly and Echo rejoined us with their VW van - repaired and running well after multiple rip-offs and failed repair jobs in Oklahoma City. Yaay, welcome back!
We welcomed several new runners and walkers in the last several days, so it's great to finally have enough wheels!
About
the Cannes Brulee Native American
Village
Kenner, Louisiana
(An email from Curator Rose Behan, 2006/04/04)
 I was very pleased that Mayor Phil Capitano could come to the Cannes Brulee
Native American Village in Kenner to meet and
greet the Sacred Run when they arrived on March
24. The village was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
and the arrival and visit of the runners was a
good blessing on the grounds for the rebuilding. The village did consist of two types of houses that the Native
People of this area lived in and a large Guest Artist hut for visiting
Native American artists. I still have the fire-pit where I do cooking
demonstrations. We are fortunate to have
recieved a grant for several years from The Arts Council of New Orleans. Native People from some of Louisianas
12 tribes come to Cannes Brulee as guest artists to demonstrate their tribes
traditional arts and crafts and some contemporary. This gives the artist a
chance to educate the general public about their culture and helps them
financually. We have a collection of these arts and crafts here that I
saved from the guest artist building. Some
of those items are: Coushatta pine needle baskets,
Houma palmetto baskets,blowgun, cypress basket,
Chittamacha river cane basket, osage orange bow,
etc.
I also want to say Tuffy makes some
good frybread! And Lora made some great
alligator sauce picante! I enjoyed
the concert in Houma, we did a little
dancing!
Thank you all,
Rose Behan / Curator Cannes Brulee |
