Carla Cioffi, Television Wire

Issue 13 - Editors Letter - To Our Readers

At the massive February peace march in San Francisco just before the US military began bombing Iraq, I was amazed by the variety of creative expression. There were Butoh performers in white agonizing down the sidewalk, giant puppets of Bush and Cheney, folk singers playing their guitars and leather-clad brass bands with fierce­looking women dancing. People on stilts were dressed as white doves of peace. One woman's sign showed a naked female torso with the words "The only Bush I trust is my own." Cloaked in black and wearing giant sad-faced masks, the "Mourning Mothers" held cloth bundles representing infants. I stood teary-eyed as the march passed by, awed by the simple fact that so many people had overcome their apathy to get out on the streets. Waves of energy manifesting as slogans, songs of screams of enthusiasm pulsed through endless tides of people. The day's creativity was a life-affirming impulse in the face of the most powerful destructive machine on the planet.

A great majority of the creative expression I saw at the march that day was heart-centered, in the sense that it was rooted in compassion and the need for justice. Of central importance to the cultural transmission of beliefs and values, heart-centered creativity often highlights the gaps between a group's ideals and its reality. It provides a growing edge. By experiencing the creative endeavors of people from societies or social groups other than our own, we can briefly step into their hives mentally and emotionally. If our hearts are open, this connection can deepen the understanding of our common humanity. When we are connected to others, we can feel their suffering. More importantly, there is a natural impulse to alleviate it. The, International Longshore Worker Union motto sums up this knowledge beautifully by stating "An Injury to One is an Injury to All." That day millions of people around the world used their creativity to envision a world of peace and justice rather than war and domination.

Maybe creativity is so linked to the outcry for peace because of the qualities it develops. To continue growing in any creative discipline, it is necessary to cultivate an understanding of complexity and nuance. Villains who fascinate us usually have a few good qualities, because that's what makes them realistic. All evil all the time is predictable and flat. Storylines filled with cliches and stereotypical villains and vague abstractions would be dismissed by most thinking adults, yet our "leaders" spout them every day. In all forms of creative expression, it is the abundance of believable details that helps create reality. For a mind committed to complexity and examination of detail, government propaganda is far less likely to have the desired thought-stopping effect.

Humanitarians in every field, be it arts or activism or child raising or scholastics, are dedicated to expressing the truth as they see it. Their constant transformation of words and materials and people gives them a deeply felt knowledge that they and do change the world. More likely to resist tyranny with their actions, they weave unique visions of peace into a variety of creations. For those who profit from injustice, such independent thinkers are always causing trouble as they poke around and ask hard questions, bear witness and dare to make changes. Although feared and suppressed by autocrats the world over, creative humanitarians are as perennial as the grassroots movements in which they participate.

For Tea Party heart-centered creativity is the unifying principle. Whether the focus is personal or societal, the works in this issue all rest on a foundation of compassion. Cover artist Rabbett Strickland has a vast sweep, painting Ojibwe mythology from the ancient past up to today. In the story Joshua by Brian Johns, a young immigrant boy struggles with his past as a child soldier in Africa, while living in the strange new world of Berkeley, California. 40s to the Head by Norman Zelaya is a riveting journey into the complexity of the life of a particular Latino youth in an urban gang, a life too often dismissed as just another statistic. Child of War, a poem by Genny Lim, is a deeply felt exploration into the suffering of children in Afghanistan as US bombs fall on their country. The Story of Laura 0 Martinez narrates a hero's journey, one woman's experience with overcoming homelessness. The whimsical Nude Mask Series, fine art nude photography by Cyoakha Grace O'Manion, shows appreciation for the beauty and expressiveness of the human body.

We'd hove to hear more from our readers about your own truths. Write a letter to the editor, subscribe, submit work or volunteer. Help us present a fuller picture of the vast heart of humanity by including yours!

-Denise Mewbourne Senior Editor