Thursday, October 26, 2006
Eating but still Starving…After an hour with my hunger strike family, we have come to the conclusion that it’s best that I resign from the cause. My reasons: - it has now become apparent that my vision isn’t what it used to be before the hunger strike; it’s blurry and I have to strain to read my pager. That was not the case before I gave up food. So eating again will give me the nutrition I need to maintain whatever little vision I have left for years to come. - At the 6pm FSSA meeting, I almost fell off the chair because I was becoming disoriented. The participants looked forward to my feedback and ideas but almost nothing came out of my empty mind. I know that my presence is needed at the meetings especially to speak on behalf of the Hunger Strike people and for that I need my energy from food. - The people in the hunger strike are getting weaker day by day. They probably won’t be able to give interviews to media nor communicate with the outside so they have asked me to be the middle person, relaying messages to the media, to the people out there and to FSSA. Last night was one of the emotional moments of the protest. For one, I had to explain my reasons for resigning and they all were VERY supportive, telling me how much they loved me and vice versa. We discussed issues of comfort (it was getting colder and colder as the nights went by and drones of people flowing in and out of the tents, demanding every iota of energy from the strikers), drawing up a living will. The latter was what anguished us the most – David Simmons and Al Jimenez also Debbie Potts were perfectly willing to go that far to the point where they wanted their wills to define what they wanted when it came to the conclusion where they are near-death. I cried and cried – I don’t want them to die but it’s their choice. The bond between us is incredible. I will never, ever forget the moments, the days and the cold nights we shared under one tent. The stories and the embraces we shared. As each day passes, I pray for them and for their health, especially for God to influence Jane Fernandes to see that people are dying for her to resign, literally and in the best interests of the University, the FSSA, the protesters, the Deaf communities worldwide and for the people who starve for justice she’ll realize she needs to resign. I still starve for social justice, for a true president, for linguistic minority, for shared governance, for diversity, and for the search process to be reopened. Tactile love and starve for the same but stay nourished. |
