Declaration of Peace Concert Wed. Sept. 20

It was the kind of night where you remember everything that happened without the names or places. I had just completed a DePaul class on E-Commerce technology. It was raining. I love it when it rains gently like it did that night. It was a year or two into W’s first term. I was working on a bender with some of my classmates. It was our final class we were celebrating-- on our way to second bar near Chicago Ave. and the Brown line. Yeah it was that kind of night.

The guy in the cab next to me was talking politics because I started it. I commented that the media was strangely skewed to the right and that the democrats seemed incapable or unwilling to speak out. I told him I felt like a ghost. I could see and hear everything around me. I could see the train wreck coming and started screaming out but no one could hear me or cared to listen. He just looked at me and said, “Now, you know what it feels like to be a conservative.”

In retrospect I didn’t really get it then but I did eventually learn what he meant. It has been really hard listening to rhetoric that I don’t agree with take shape as action that I cannot personally do anything to stop.

I have been thinking pretty hard about promoting this event. Deciding to do the gig was simple because I really want to stand up for what I believe in. I have a lot of friends who are not democrats, a lot. These people are good friends. Lately, the friendships are more important than where they stand on the issues. So I wanted to post this because so many of us fall on different sides of the same line these days.

The concept behind this event probably seems very partisan but we know the issues on the table go way beyond the checkers game of “Liberal vs. Conservative”. We have got serious issues to deal with way deeper than which side of the board you sit on.

So please come out and hang out with some people that you may or may not agree with. We will serve ourselves best this evening by spending time with one another. You know, we need to share some food wine and good times. We have hard work ahead of us. Let’s spend the night together. It is my guess that whether or not you share their beliefs you can at least understand where they are coming from. Look them in the eye and realize that they are just as concerned about things as you are.

Come on out and dance and show me how does your light shine…we're on the road to Shambalah!