Pot-banging or Cacerolada

[Above photo:  A lone sailboat heading away from the shores of Portugal (Nazare), it’s sole witness a herring gull. Probably the skipper is feeling some of the same mix of fear and excitement as did Vasco de Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, Henry the Navigator, and more, moving from warmth and safety toward the cold and wild unknown.]

2 April 2025

Since it is risky to assume our courts will save our democracy, given our Scofflaw-in-Chief and the regressive warp of the Supremes, we need to support Republicans in Congress to grow a spine or at least don a spinal brace.  I’d say “Man up” but that ignores both the courage of women and the treachery of our female GOP legislators.  How can we encourage them, protect them from Trump’s paramilitary and fanatics, and assure them that opposing him will be a popular position at the polls?

I’m not sure. But a time-honored method of protesting government malfeasance, used all over the world since medieval times, has been banging on pots with a wooden spoon. For the two months I remained in Myanmar after the military coup of 2021, at 8PM in Yangon a holy din arose.  We contributed.  It sounded like half of the 5 million citizens joined in with their soup pots, banging away for 10 minutes in the dark. Then they sang a patriotic song. It sent a powerful message to the military. And, it was fun, free, relatively anonymous since done in the dark and in backyards, and was legal.

In the Middle Ages pot-banging was used in Spain as a mock moral scolding to newly-weds when they began their married life in bed together. It also was employed in noisy street processions designed to shame men who married very young women (girls). Since then it has evolved as a universally-recognized form of government censure, used both on the Left (Salvadore Allende) and Right (Pinochet) in Chile and in other S. American countries, Europe, and Asia.

I think it could be used here to put the current crop of greedy juveniles on notice and might spread like wildfire, since it is fun, effective, and non-partisan. It might contribute to the orthopedic rejuvenation of our GOP legislators. We could all start at 8PM, each in our time zone, bang away for 10 minutes, and conclude with a verse of America the Beautiful. It would relieve tension and promote togetherness without the need for thought, argument, public speaking, or wealthy donors.

I’ve written to Bernie, left a voice message at AOC’s office, contacted Indivisible, and the Maine Democratic Party. I’m preparing a leaflet for my neighborhood in Portland but don’t want to have it start and fizzle because I haven’t gotten the word out adequately.

Any suggestions? Or leads for people in your area?  Get in early as it might turn into something.

It was warm and sunny yesterday; today it is cold and sunny. At least the snow is gone and hopefully we won’t have more. Maine Spring lives up to its reputation, once again. I rented a rack space for my kayak at the East End Beach, just down the hill from my home. I can keep it there from 1 May through 31 October, giving me easy access to the coast and islands of Casco Bay. I can’t wait!

I’m taking 3 courses—film, African Politics, and crime fiction. It is great fun to watch a film a week together with 45 other people and then have an hour of group discussion, something I only did once in a class led by Erik Erikson. The use of film in education was new at that time. Our current theme is “limnal space”, or transition.  In this case, we are looking at the period between adolescence and adulthood.

The politics course is taught by a Congolese who is getting his PhD. He’s smart, knowledgeable, and cares a lot about it. He also has the advantage of having grown up in the midst of that craziness.

The crime fiction course is taught by a detective novelist and the eight books we read and discuss are all set in Boston, where I went to college and where my mother grew up and all my sibs were born. The discussions are lively and perceptive and it is startling to view new slices of Boston I’d never considered in vivid, often blood-red, hues.

At Mainely Character we are deep in the work of selecting 13 scholarship recipients from 375 applicants. It’s the only scholarship in Maine (anywhere?) based solely on character. Achievement with grades, sports, musical instruments, etc. doesn’t directly affect our assessment, other than as platforms for the students to demonstrate their courage, concern for others, responsibility, and integrity.  All 13 of us on the Board love it and many of the applications cause tears, as we note how remarkably some kids rise after terrible blows. They give me hope.

Let’s all join the barricades on April 5^th!  We’ll remind them that their cause isn’t just and that they won’t triumph!