Caliifornia State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: September 15, 2001
Latest Update: September 15, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Let us temper our anger with understanding
that the killing of inncocents is not the answer.

Transforming Discourse in Our Own Backyard

Journal entry by jeanne

Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors: September 2001.
"Fair use" encouraged.

My apologies to everyone. I watched the service at the Washington Cathedral on Friday morning. Closed my eyes for a few minutes. And came shakily to in the late afternoon. I will do my best to bring us up to date this weekend, but last week was a pretty hard week. I apologize to all of you who came expecting me to catch us up on Friday. Shock, I guess, takes many forms. Arnold and I are going to spend a few hours in the Getty museum this afternoon, trying to plant our feet back on the ground.

Not enough energy for teaching essays this morning. But we did a lot of planning on Wednesday and Thursday. Over the rest of the weekend I'll try to put up files as we go so you can share in the planning. jeanne at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The title of this essay refers to the extent to which we discovered on Wednesday and Thursday that the site is working as the Forum we hoped it would be. More on that soon . . .

It's 9:30 p.m. and we're home. I'm trying to clean up the current issue a little. Please bear in mind that my html editor is acting up, so I'm uploading blind, just writing and uploading it. Will clean it up as I can.

Now just a few words about this week's painting and how it comes to be here. I painted the Muslim prisoner a couple of years ago, during a horrible conflict in which Muslims were the victims. As I contemplated this weeks' events it seemed appropriate that as many of us fear the quick solution of hatred being turned against Muslims, to remind us that in the early years of this site, the Muslims, like the New Yorkers in the Twin Towers were also innocent victims.

I have here at my side some wonderful material on the ways in which Pearl Harbor led to the quick and dirty solution of blaming innocent Japanese Americans. I'll try to get it up soon. Meanwhile, I'd like to ask that we all try to remember our own humanity and that of the Other, whoever that Other might happen to be.

More soon . . . jeanne