Week 16--in which we honor voices of courage

Beautiful Ones,

When chaos seems to unfurl the next layer of crazy every day, sometimes every hour, it’s hard to know what to do. And sometimes the very best thing to do is nothing. Stop. Pause. Rest. Look at the flowers. Speak with a friend. Go for a walk. Read something lovely.

But sooner or later the world will intrude. Sooner or later the world will demand our attention.

I feel obligated to pay attention.

You might not know this about me, but my husband was the first director of field operations for CNN. And I created the hiring program. Before CNN, he was a news cameraman in Oakland. He, and all the original creators of CNN, were absolutely devoted to the free press. Devoted. They understood that a free press is the foundation of a free society.

The news mattered in our house. And it still matters in mine. I read several papers and watch PBS every night.

I didn’t have a plan for what to write about in these Notes from the Field. But when I decided to write about people exhibiting courage right now, I realized that these letters have begun to tell a story of ways to live in a world that is crumbling before our eyes.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the essential nature of hope.

Last week I shared a few joy drops that help me smile.

Today, I feel it’s important to talk about courage.

Here are a few women and men who inspire me as they speak and act with integrity and courage in the face of a tyrant.

If you’re American, you might know that April 19 is the 250th anniversary of the ride of Paul Revere, whose bravery that night helped birth the American Revolutionary War.

A war against tyranny.

The synchronicity of the moment then and the moment today cannot be ignored.

Last night, I listened to the brilliant historian, Heather Cox Richardson speak at the Old North Church in Boston where, thanks to Paul Revere, the lanterns were lit signaling how the British were arriving. The famous line is “One if my land, two if by sea.”

I thought I knew the story, but listening to Heather retell it while living in a parallel universe, left me teary. I tried to find a recording of her talk on YouTube but if it’s going to be posted, it hasn’t been yet. She did send the full text of her speech in her Letters to an American substack today. I highly recommend you sign up for her Substack

I’ve been appalled watching universities cave in to the tyrant’s demands. So when Harvard became the first university to refuse to comply with the administration’s requirements, I yelped with joy. You can read about it in the papers, including the government's sudden backpedaling today. Oopsy, looks like that was just another one of our many administrative errors.

Given the political climate for universities right now, it took courage for Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, to declare “No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

Garber and Harvard must have sparked a courage in other schools because yesterday, Big Ten universities announced that they are forming a “Mutual Defense Compact” against President Trump’s attacks. Like NATO, if the government attacks one, they will all respond.

And this week, we saw courage in action when Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland flew to El Salvador demanding to see his constituent Kilmer Garcia, who was secreted to a notorious prison in El Salvador at the behest of the American government, who then tried to weasel out of it by saying it was an “administrative error.” An error they admit they made but somehow can’t correct.

But guess who got a dollop of courage as a result. First, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration had to facilitate Garcia’s return and then today it blocked the administration from deporting another group of migrants.

Courage appears to be spreading.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska finally said what everyone knows is true, but no one in Washington has been willing to say.

“We are all afraid. It’s quite a statement, But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”

All this courage unfolding at the speed of love this week!

The icing on the cake for me came from Japan opposition lawmaker Shinji Oguma of the Constitutional Democratic Party, who voiced sharp criticism of Trump tariffs, warning: "I hope that you will never give in to the American extortionists.”

Thank you, Mr. Oguma for naming it. We’re watching a Mafia don shake down, only this time it’s not a movie.

This is when courage matters. When it’s hard. When it’s scary. When there’s a price. When you don’t know how it’s going to work out.

I am blessed to know someone with real courage. My son.

Jerry was subpoenaed to appear before a secret federal grand jury in 2013 to name fellow activists in Occupy. He stood silent. The judge got livid and yelled, “Don’t you know what I can do to you!” Jerry stood silent. And then the judge did what he was itching to do. He ordered my son to prison to coerce him to speak.

Prison was a brutal experience. After five months Jerry began to fall apart. And I began to waiver. But in one of our rare five-minute phone calls, Jerry told me, “Mom, I know why I’m here. And now that I know just how awful prison is, I will never, never, let this happen to anyone else.”

I turned to the Masters and Teachers of the Akashic Record for help and they gave me a prayer practice I called Light to the Prison.

They told me to gather a critical mass of people and ask them to join me in showering a picture of the prison with divine love for five minutes every day. I was afraid to say this publicly, but I took a deep breath and posted what was happening to Jerry on Facebook. Overnight 100 people joined the prayer. Eighty days later, the judge suddenly released Jerry from prison, writing in his release statement, “I have no authority to keep him in prison.”

Today, my son is a public defender in New York, dedicated to keeping others out of prison.

I tell you the story of my son’s courage and the Light to the Prison prayer because it is the model for a global prayer practice that is opening next Sunday April 27 on the day of the New Moon.

My creative partner, Cathy Stevens Pratt, and I have been working on it for the last two weeks. I’ve recorded several videos to tell the background story of the prayer and one with Kahu Lahela Johnson who wrote a special version of Hana I Ka Pono as part of the prayer.

Her Council of Love global prayer practice will begin next Sunday.

For opening day, I’m inviting the members of all five of The ART of Becoming a Witch prayer intensives plus two other events, Songlines and Archangel Luci and Archangel Michael Speak. Opening day will be recorded and posted to my site on Monday.

Watch for next Sunday’s newsletter explaining the prayer and inviting you to pray.

Until then, may you find courage in your heart to help you speak truth to power

Janet

website: janetconner.com

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