I have just returned from a conference in The Hague (I also spent an afternoon in the Escher museum). I want to remind my readers of the process that led to this. I was interrogated on my campus at San Diego State University a few years ago. Fifty false charges were brought against me. All were dropped after a five month investigation (about which I knew nothing until the very end). The charges included my views on globalization (I was accused of not supporting globalization). I have referred to the work of Anthony Giddens on globalization indirectly in an article I wrote in a book entitled Remoralizing Britain. See http://www.amazon.co.uk/Remoralizing-Britain-Theological-Perspectives-Continuum/dp/toc/0826424651

Here is the irony. I got into trouble at my university (perhaps--causality is a complex topic--for all I know the reasons had to do with nothing more than petty conflicts within a department with an overlay of a reaction to my support for Pat Washington) for hanging out with those in our community who support immigrant rights. I attended a no border camp in Sherman Heights. So did Christian Ramirez. And whose name should come up at The Hague? None other than Christian Ramirez, of the American Friends Service Committee. If only the Quaker organization Barrow Cadbury could come to my campus and donate some money. I might be able to express my views more freely.

This horrendous experience of being interrogated, the first session without legal representation, led to my turning away from local activism to national and international concerns. I was told by those with more experience that supporting immigrant rights in certain local environments was very difficult and that I needed to get support from outside of the region where I lived. In addition to turning to the national and international context, I also decided to work with faith-based organizations.

The conference in The Hague was entitled Cities of Migration. I brought back some
excellent books, Muslims in Europe, Muslims in Berlin and Muslims in Leicester. These books are part of a series of studies of eleven European cities put together under Tufyal Choudhury (with whom I had a great conversation) and Miriam McCarthy.

One of the most poetic moments of the conference was being given a tiny pink rose attached to red netting tied with a string. Inside of the netting was henna used to decorate the hands and feet of Muslim women. The rose was a symbol of a project in Marxloh (industrial and mining town in the Ruhr region), Germany, in which Muslims and non-Muslims worked together to incorporate a new mosque in their community. A community discussion, initiated by Muslims, led to an agreement to a build a mosque that was only half as high as the spire of the Catholic church. You can read more about this here: http://citiesofmigration.ca/the-miracle-of-marxloh/lang/en/

Greatly inspired, I decided to attend the Greater Golden Hill Community Plan meeting in my neighborhood on Saturday, October 9. I encourage everyone in Greater Golden Hill to attend the next meeting, Wednesday, October 20, at Christ United Presbyterian Church, 3025 Fir Street, San Diego. You will get to follow up on what we discussed: bicycles, bike lanes, bike stands, arrows and sharrows, as well as a festival to share food we had grown, a Farmer's Market in the parking lot at Gala, canyons, water, community art, the rec center, architectural styles (including postmodern architecture), whether or not we need the golf course, etc. My table included very interesting people and we had a lively discussion. We didn't exactly follow our drills. Here were the drills: Streets and Connections (with questions such as "Where would you place green streets and/or complete streets?"; Recreation and Open Space (What are the opportunities presented by Balboa Park?) and Buildings and Neighborhoods (What are the special non-building elements that presently define and enhance your neighborhood).

As can be imagined (by all who live in Golden Hill), we love our neighborhood, we love that we can walk in it, we like the diversity (cultural, architectural, etc.). Some of us would like to see a little more integration (in terms of social class/ethnicity). Since I am an artist, I will mention that one person suggested that we bring an art "expert" to oversee community art projects (and referred to UCSD); another thought that the community itself could organize art projects in Greater Golden Hill.