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On the passing of friends
Dec. 27th, 2008 09:18 amPre-Facebook, etc., I moved around a lot and wasn't always very good about keeping track of people. Addresses got lost, letters went astray, people got busy, you know the routine. And like most of us, I like to think that people I liked and respected are doing well and are happily plugging away out there in the world and that someday our paths will cross again. Sometimes they do, which is lovely.
Then again, sometimes they don't. Miya Rodolfo-Sioson (1968-2008) was a friend from my Iowa City days. When we first met, we were involved in various Central America solidarity projects together and knew each other from meetings and demos and such. Everything changed when a physics grad student went into the University of Iowa offices where Miya worked and shot her, along with 5 other people including himself. Miya survived but was quadriplegic as a result of her injuries. Where a lot of people would have given up at this point, she kept going. She kept working on social justice projects, adding disability rights to the list of things she wanted to change in this world.
From a personal standpoint, I was one of her fill in caregivers as well as one of the folks who fundraised for various things she needed and she was one of the folks who made me a microloan to start my feminist/left/LGBT bookstore, Grassroots Books. Fast forward a couple of years after the bookstore closed, she moved out to Berkeley to be closer to family and I moved to Minneapolis and we lost touch. Miya went on to be on the Berkeley Commission on Disability and to work on Swift USA as a home coordinator for foreign exchange students, among other things. She was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2007 and died last week. Her obituary showed up at our house the day before Christmas.
I found out about another friend the same day but this time, my news was a bit more out of date. Jon Cohen (1963-2003) was a friend from my college days. We were both active in Central American solidarity and anti-apartheid as well as general peace and social justice groups. The last time I saw him was when we were both arrested in front of the White House back in 1989 at a protest against aid to El Salvador. We had a nice chat from our adjacent cells. Jon went on to be active in groups like Brotherpeace, which works with men to stop domestic violence and rape. He was on the board for WBAI in New York as well as being heavily involved with War Resisters League. In short, he did a lot of good. He also died from cancer, sadly enough.
I'm not much for believing in an afterlife but if there's something like a heaven out there, these two earned their place in it. Go in peace, my friends. The world is a sadder place for your passing.
Then again, sometimes they don't. Miya Rodolfo-Sioson (1968-2008) was a friend from my Iowa City days. When we first met, we were involved in various Central America solidarity projects together and knew each other from meetings and demos and such. Everything changed when a physics grad student went into the University of Iowa offices where Miya worked and shot her, along with 5 other people including himself. Miya survived but was quadriplegic as a result of her injuries. Where a lot of people would have given up at this point, she kept going. She kept working on social justice projects, adding disability rights to the list of things she wanted to change in this world.
From a personal standpoint, I was one of her fill in caregivers as well as one of the folks who fundraised for various things she needed and she was one of the folks who made me a microloan to start my feminist/left/LGBT bookstore, Grassroots Books. Fast forward a couple of years after the bookstore closed, she moved out to Berkeley to be closer to family and I moved to Minneapolis and we lost touch. Miya went on to be on the Berkeley Commission on Disability and to work on Swift USA as a home coordinator for foreign exchange students, among other things. She was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2007 and died last week. Her obituary showed up at our house the day before Christmas.
I found out about another friend the same day but this time, my news was a bit more out of date. Jon Cohen (1963-2003) was a friend from my college days. We were both active in Central American solidarity and anti-apartheid as well as general peace and social justice groups. The last time I saw him was when we were both arrested in front of the White House back in 1989 at a protest against aid to El Salvador. We had a nice chat from our adjacent cells. Jon went on to be active in groups like Brotherpeace, which works with men to stop domestic violence and rape. He was on the board for WBAI in New York as well as being heavily involved with War Resisters League. In short, he did a lot of good. He also died from cancer, sadly enough.
I'm not much for believing in an afterlife but if there's something like a heaven out there, these two earned their place in it. Go in peace, my friends. The world is a sadder place for your passing.