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PROTEST POETRY AND COMMUNITY
By way of introducing myself in this first column for the About Poetry Museletter, I want to tell you a story about the poetry marathon produced by the Cinasphere back in October 2002, how it became a chapbook project, and is now in the midst of becoming the “NO BS! in Vallejo Poetry Marathon II” on January 23rd. In future columns I intend to profile writers and events from all around the San Francisco Bay Area, but by writing today about my own experiences I hope you will know something of this person writing words about poetry and poets at her desk in Vallejo, California. You will also know something about an issue that I hope to draw wider attention to, and that would indeed have a global impact.
BS IN VALLEJO
BS stands for Bechtel/Shell, two companies hoping to construct and then operate a liquefied natural gas plant on Mare Island right here in Vallejo. Mare Island used to be the home of a naval shipyard that was closed down about a decade ago. This would be the first such facility on the West coast, and would bring with it tons of new pollutants each day, in an area with an already high asthma rate. There would be continuous traffic of tankers (requiring armed guards because of the high flammability factor) along the Carquinez Straights and under the Bay Bridge.
Now I don't know about you, but when I hear “Bechtel” I think about water privatization in South America, and I get a shudder up my spine. When I hear “Shell” I immediately think of Ken Sarowiwa, a fellow writer, whose battle against Shell in Ogoni land brought him death by hanging. There are numerous sources on the Web where you can find some history about the way these companies do business. In a word, they are brutal. The two companies were in secret negotiations with the city of Vallejo for about a year before they even announced anything to the public, and they are now trying to rush a vote through the city council to allow the LNG project to go foreword. They have mounted a formidable PR campaign, while those concerned citizens opposed to the project have been racing to create a grass roots effort to educate the public about the issue.
A COMMON CONCERN
As soon as the news of Bechtel/Shell's plans broke in the local papers, poets started showing up at Listen & Be Heard (the weekly open mic event I produce at Rafael's Bar) with political poetry about Bechtel and Shell and the project. Fear was the common theme in all their poems. Glynda (our self-designated in-house poet) and I got to talking about how we had noticed the recurring theme and decided to schedule a night devoted to the subject. That night became a marathon when more than thirty poets from around the bay area answered our shout-out to read at a fundraising benefit for VCPR (Vallejoans for Community Planned Renewal). It also turned out to be our most well attended event to date. That fact has pushed me to contemplate more deeply the relationship between poetry and poets and the communities they write in and about.
I've heard more than once the complaint that open mics can be more like therapy sessions than literary ones. I might even have said it myself at one time or another. But the night of October 24th demonstrated to me the most rewarding and positive qualities of an open mic night. With a common theme for all the poets to rally around, we were raised up as a group whose many voices flowed together as one in the midst of people of our community. Many of those people were attending an open mic poetry night for the first time, drawn there by a common concern.
THE CHAPBOOK
About twenty of the participating poets also submitted their writing to us to be included in the first book published by the Cinasphere. The title, Environmental Terrorists, says something about the content and the powerful message we intend to convey. The first printing was one hundred copies. We had a chapbook release party in December, another well attended event, and were then able to print some more copies. They are being distributed for free at the local library and local businesses opposed to the project, and for each copy purchased at cost ($5) we will print another copy to be distributed for free. The book is also available online.
PEACE AND LOVE ANTHOLOGY
That brings us to the present. The issue has not gone away, and we don't intend to, either. Many people may at first say to themselves that it is simply a local issue. But if the Vallejo City Council is foolish enough to approve the project, the entire region downwind and downstream will become involved. We will hold our second marathon on January 23rd, 2003. We will be selling copies of the book to raise money to make more copies. People unable to attend the event who would like to support the project can purchase copies of the book online at the Cinasphere marketplace.
Because of my newfound exultation in poetic protest as a rallying point for a community, I have decided to continue the trend. On February 13th we will hold a Peace and Love marathon in protest of War. Poets in the Bay area and beyond wishing to participate are invited to contact us. We will again publish a chapbook anthology, and are currently accepting submissions from any region in the world to be included in the book. Please send submissions to mc@cinader.com with “Peace and Love Anthology” in the subject header.
- Vallejoans for Community Planned Renewal
- Mare Island Energy Information Project
- For ongoing online news coverage: VallejoNews.com
- For information about a similar fight at Radio Island, North Carolina: Carteret Citizens Allied to Protect the Environment
- For information about the defeat of a planned LNG storage facility at Howe Sound, British Columbia: LNG Storage Facility Howe Sound
- Books: Time Bomb, Peter van der Linde with Naomi A. Hintze (Doubleday, 1978); Frozen Fire: Where Will It Happen Next?, Lee Niedringhaus Davis (Friends of the Earth, 1979); Friends In High Places, The Bechtel Story: The Most Secret Corporation And How It Engineered The World, Laton McCartney (Simon And Schuster, 1988)
- Books available online: Riding the Dragon: Royal Dutch Shell and the Fossil Fire, Jack Doyle (Environmental Health Fund, 2002); Environmental Terrorists, edited and foreword by Martha Cinader (The Cinasphere, 2002)
Wishing each of you Peace and Poetry,
