Better Days 201
My People In The Streets
Thursday, January 19th
10:00 pm to 12:00 am
CFRO 102.7 fm
webcast : www.coopradio.org

The election of Michelle Bachelet in Chile lifts my heart. Almost
all of South America now - with some 82% of the population -
has elected left-of-center leadership. Anything is possible when
people's voices are actually counted. In Chile, voting is not
only a right, it is mandatory. I wonder what would happen
in North America if this were the case.

Michelle Bachelet is a single mother, divorced with children,
an agnostic, a victim of imprisonment and torture, a woman
whose own father was killed by the Pinochet dictatorship.
She has achieved this election triumph on her own merit,
on her own principles, not from being the wife of someone
famous or previously in power. She appealed to the people
of Chile. People are celebrating in the streets.

This Thursday, Better Days is going to celebrate not only the
election of Chile's first female president, but the relentless
struggle of peoples all over the world to reclaim a say in their
governments and communities. I came of age travelling from
campus to campus during the Vietnam war, being in the
streets with people who shared convictions and dreams.
Though this old world appears to be falling apart as a result
of greed merchants who lie to the point of challenging our
mercy and sanity, it is good to see my people in the streets
once again, committed, uplifted, smiling a while.

As Leonard Cohen might say, let us place our paper hats
on our concussions, and dance.

Join me, won't you?

Thursday, January 19th
10:00 pm - 12:00 am Pacific time (GMT -8 hrs)
at CFRO 102.7 fm around the corner, and webcast at
www.coopradio.org around the world

DL