100 praises 3000 speeches 2024

Cast of Characters: CAT

CAT:
The native woman
Who fell from the sky
Doesn’t go to college.
The current White House Council
On Native American Affairs
Tells us to register for committees, consultations, MOUs, initiatives
To solve these problems
But instead
We can return under federal law the trillions of artifacts that belong to this native woman and Her people--
Artifacts owned by colleges, museums, institutions across our country--
And with this, the woman can pay to go to her choice of colleges where her artifacts are being held.
I pledge that we return all the artifacts to the native landowners.
And pay them back for damages.

So, the people who returned the artifacts, closed the White House Council On Native American Affairs
Because they returned all the woman’s property:
Her languages, the water resources, to her people.

Did you know that action for Aristotle is at the core of tragedy?
I’ll keep this brief.
Our country has the highest incarceration in the world, two million: Black inmates are about 40% of that and Black people are 13% of our population.

For a hundred years after our country was formed, four million African Americans were slaves. An author Solomon Northup wrote “Twelve Years a Slave” that became a movie by director Steve McQueen; a critic said the movie was: “told with grace.”

Steve McQueen made the movie based on the slave’s memoir And it won awards and the critic said, “told with grace.”

How much more grace is needed from those who are oppressed, for the oppressors to change?

I went to see “The Wizard of Oz”,
Upstate, in a prison.
The staff shut the door, there was the sound of it closing.

It was the first time the families of the prisoners were allowed to attend a performance.
The performers recited “there’s no place like home” as their families watched.
Leaving the performance, the prison door opened and there was the sound of the door closing.

Pledge to change the laws for incarceration in the U.S. And return justice to our own citizens who were enslaved.

Outside
At the beginning of the pandemic-- The streets were empty--

There were not a lot of vehicles-- The skyline was clear.

On a night,
After the pandemic,
Friends and family were going to the subway
And one held up his arms
And it looked as if he was holding the moon. U.S. weapons cost an estimated 750 billion dollars A year.
We like to prop up countries--like kids do for fun with blocks--then topple them.
Arm the Kurds so Iraq won’t fall into the Soviet orbit; build Iraq back up; then take it down Again.
And later when the Soviets orbit again,
Arm another country more. When traveling through Kurdistan a Kurdish friend said,
“The mountains are our only friends.”
This was when I was going to a genocide memorial, Halabja.
There are many men: for example, the man who’s controlling the Soviet orbit;
And the man who “grabs ‘em by the pussy”;
And the man in a small Asian country who meets with our Secretary of State—
Who says release from prison my friend in the opposition party there.
And right here, down the street,
In New York City, lived the man who organized the secret dropping of bombs on this same small Asian country.
Pledge to use the money for arms to stop war.

In Fall 2002 I was invited to Providence College in Rhode Island for a production of my play “Photographs From S-21”.
Ann Norton was the art historian who invited me, and I had the honor to meet
Mr. Vann Nath there because unbeknownst to me Ann Norton had invited him for her program. Ann Norton invited Mr. Vann Nath to watch my play and talk about it, which he did. On the way back from Providence I wrote this poem.

Mr. Vann Nath
(One of seven survivors of Tuol Sleng, S-21, the Khmer Rouge extermination center in Cambodia.)

What he describes.

His hair is
A shock of white
Mr. Vann Nath
Along the tracks of the train from Providence to New York
Are the leaves turning fiery colors in the afternoon sun of Halloween Day I am only able to see Mr. Vann Nath
Standing in front of us
His paintings of torture and serenity on the wall across from him
As he speaks
As he shows us slides of people at Tuol Sleng.

One of seven out of fourteen thousand Two of seven now on this earth.

The color of the leaves outside the window is splendid. Mr. Vann Nath is also taking the train to New York today And he may be painting the New England Fall on his way. Through the eyes of Mr. Vann Nath
I am left unsure.
I can only think of him lifting his paint brush
My eyes return to the colors of the leaves
I think of his white hair
The color of his skin
His eyes when he speaks
Why do I look out at the trees and see Mr. Vann Nath?

(Catherine Filloux 10/31/2002)

Days later I went to the Asia Society in New York City to honor Mr. Vann Nath.
The painter was kept alive to paint
Pictures of the dictator and of the torture.
And the Asia Society’s host from Human Rights Watch who introduced the painter to the Audience said, “There is a war criminal right here in this city who should be arrested.”
He was talking about the man who lived down the street who organized the secret dropping of the bombs on Mr. Vann Nath’s country--very wealthy--wrote books about peace.

People often ask, “Is he dead?” Because he’s so old.
Now he is dead.

Ask the man to apologize.
The first four letters of his last name on your lips make a: kiss.

Ask him to resign from the human rights organizations he belongs to and sign to give back his Peace prize.

Just this past New Year’s Day, 2024, I met a journalist who, when he was 25, interviewed Kissinger. He said Kissinger was the most intelligent man he ever met. I asked the journalist what Kissinger would say about Cambodia now and the journalist said:

"Regrets? No! History has borne out everything I thought.
Remember, history's not just a record of happened, it's also a record of what didn't happen.
The U.S. preserved a status quo that kept vast swaths of the world safe for decades after that. Pol Pot? He would have happened anyway.
I always thought of myself as the lone cowboy riding over the plains. A man who knows how to accept responsibility. A man who can live with the pressure.
A man who doesn't waste time going over the past. Let me lay here in peace.”

Just recently Ann Norton sent me two paintings by Mr. Vann Nath, who is now dead.
I gave the two paintings to my Cambodian friend LinDa. She hung one on her wall in New York City and gave the money for the painting to Morm Sokly the Cambodian actress in my play “Photographs From S-21” in Phnom Penh in 2001.
LinDa took the other painting back to Cambodia.

My grandparents from France,
Took in a Jewish boy during World War II. My grandfather fought in World War 1 and II.

11 million died in the Holocaust.

Once in an outdoor restaurant there was no ramp to the restroom, And a beloved person with Multiple Sclerosis—
In his power chair--
There was only a long flight of stairs,

He had to circle a park and sports fields, Which led to an accident.
His doctor says, wear a diaper.

His doctor has his own bedside manner,
And the patient has the “administrative burden”
--There’s a name for this now--it’s an additional diagnosis, Constant phone calls and paperwork to maintain health insurance.

UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH) Market Cap $483 billion is described as:
“A united health group on a journey to improve well-being.”
On the internet it says the UNH founder lives in the Midwest,
And has a net worth of $1 Billion, owns units of stock worth over four hundred million. Pledge to put an end to medical insurance companies.

Elsewhere on the internet it says the founder doesn’t live in the Midwest But lives in Arizona And owns a Musical Instrument Museum,
And a former hockey team--

There is no photo or actual address for him available...

Do you know who created this war of words between life and choice?
Generally, people like life and like choice, they’re “pro”, why did they create that battle?

The woman making the life developing in her uterus is the only choice-maker. There was a beloved person who was accompanied to a clinic.
After--
We drove the person back to where she was staying.

This person who was driven to the clinic has her own story.
Pledge to disallow the war of words and the war against women’s rights.

On 2-24-2022 this invasion surprised many people, as it was called the first major war in Europe For decades. It was by the man with the Soviet orbit.
Today you see the war on your screen. And the U.S. backs Saudi Arabia in the war against a Middle Eastern country known for its frankincense and myrrh, giving arms protection to Saudi Arabia

In exchange for their oil and support for U.S. global foreign policy,
And vows to punish Saudi Arabia for its murder of the Saudi Arabian journalist?

On your screen you don’t see much about what is happening to the children and families in Y emen,
Or the U.S. arms deal with Egypt for the war in Ethiopia;
Or the U.S. militarization in the Sahel;

Or the weapons sales to Nigeria.
And after millions of dollars of arms fell into Taliban hands,
The U.S. said they were suspending arms sales to Afghanistan.
And the U.S. arms Lebanon,
And Lebanon and Israel are in a state of war.
U.S military interventions are said to hinder Haiti’s independence.
And the U.S. sanctions Myanmar’s military
For buying Russian-produced arms from Belarus and abusing human rights in Myanmar. Pledge, that the U.S. look inside its soul and take time off from this...not mindful behavior...

A friend in Jordan says: academia and the media label her Palestinian countrymen, terrorists, And says what happened at Shireen Abus Akleh’s funeral is a window to what always happens, It was just more high profile.
Human Rights Watch writes: “Israeli authorities doubled down on policies to repress Palestinians And privilege Jewish Israelis. The government’s policy of maintaining the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), coupled With the particularly severe repression against Palestinians living in the OPT, amounts to the Crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.”
Pledge to stop crimes against humanity.

People send me emails: “Hey Cat, I read about this genocide, and I thought of you.” Raphael Lemkin said if a country sees one, it has to name it.

Lemkin died before the U.S. ratified his convention, but a Senator gave 3000 speeches on the Senate floor and the U.S. finally did.

After Uvalde, I made the decision to write a letter to Amy Hunter, Director of Media Relations. Amy Hunter wrote back:
“I do not take comments from the public. Please call 703-267-1170.”
“Ty” who answered the phone said he was an Information Specialist for the lobbying arm.

I read Ty the letter to Amy Hunter.
Ty replied:
-“The NRA has focused on the education of using firearms. However, this is not the position it is pushing when it comes to mass shootings,” for which he used the word “awful.”
Ty says the positions the NRA are pushing are:
-“Demands for mental health reform: poor mental health facilities and the way we treat people With mental health problems.”
-“Regarding soft targets (like schools) the NRA demands to secure soft targets by supporting School safety.”
-“Uvalde was not the fault of a legal gun owner but of a criminal; the killer is not a law-abiding Firearm owner, and the NRA demands that gun owners be law-abiding.”
-“And the NRA demands people’s second-amendment rights, a citizen’s right to keep and bear Arms: for self-defense, against tyranny; and firearms are part of our country.”

I asked for Ty’s last name--Ty said he wouldn’t like his personal information to be out There, he said, given the charged environment--he didn’t want to put anyone’s safety in Jeopardy.
He couldn’t give his name.

He said he could not debate policy and suggested emailing the letter to the NRA lobbying team. Ty didn’t have a name for the team member
But he said he could forward it to the division and to put it to the attention of “Ty.”
If this was about “fishing” for a statement, Ty said he could offer a website link to find the NRA’s statements--he said he had to go because he had many lines ringing.

A friend says his brother,
A doctor,
Takes him out for target practice and hunting, and my friend has shot with a gun as long as his Own arm.
When his brother was visiting New York City his brother heard that Amy Goodman from “Democracy Now” was speaking nearby,
His brother rushed to see her because he loves Amy Goodman!

Pledge to end the NRA and other gun lobbyers.

Numbers are rising as we sit,
An estimated seven thousand killed and ten thousand injured in the invaded country: Caused by explosive weapons, with shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket Systems, missiles, and air strikes.
And the invaders have lost an estimated seventy thousand,

Including five hundred over the past day.
The day it started seemed that once it started it could not be stopped. It is now a year later.
More than a year.
The dates before and after, September 10, October 6.

I write to Laxman Narasimhan at Starbucks, the CEO asking if he would help me with the idea Of replacing all plastic to-go coffee cup lids with the paper lids Pret a Manger uses in France. I met Jan Dell an engineer and founder of The Last Beach Cleanup who says she’ll join me,
I am optimistic. I mentioned I read on the website that Narasimhan prefers the

Starbucks beverage doppio espresso macchiato with hot skim milk on the side and his words: “Our vision for the future is to become resource positive--giving back more than we take from The planet. And we know we can’t do it alone. It takes all of us.”
No answer.

(Lemkin ignites the lighter and sets the law on fire.) This is from my play “Lemkin’s House.”

LEMKIN. Your body, eaten by Fire. Your skin. Splitting.
Your hair, cut. Bodies, eaten by Fire. I couldn’t save you or anybody else. I failed.

MOTHER. (Referring to law.) It wasn’t perfect. But what is?

LEMKIN. You.

MOTHER. (Laughing playfully.) I can barely remember what I’m doing one moment to the next. Where am I going? Where did I come from? What was I planning to cook?

LEMKIN. My word became destructive, mother.
(She goes to the basin and starts to sprinkle in some flour, kneading it into the ashes.)

MOTHER. No word can capture it, son, but it’s in the pudding. Nothing is ever wasted. You bring us such joy—you honor us—that’s what counts.

LEMKIN. (Looking at basin.) When you fly into the air it’s awful.

MOTHER. Listen, there are parts of our country, Where green grass grows.

Cows look up at us, Clouds roll by, electric.

LEMKIN. To be with you.
MOTHER. You are. Breathe. There’s a stillness in parts of our country.

LEMKIN. That has never been touched.
MOTHER. You’re my witness.
LEMKIN. I left.
MOTHER. I stayed.

(She pulls out the law, now reconstituted, from the basin and gives it to him.)

MOTHER. Paper burns, Raphael, but law makes us human.

LEMKIN. Human?
MOTHER. Come.

(The MOTHER leaves the suitcase for LEMKIN and exits, as the glow of the fire fades.) (Birds sing as light starts to stream through the windows. LEMKIN goes to a window

where sunlight streams in. He looks out.)

LEMKIN. It’s ugly and inhospitable. But stocked-full of joy. Chleb, with a hard boiled egg. Held tight to your heart. You must always slice down. You scrape, and you gut, and polish, and destroy. And what will it become?

(The walls of the house begin to disappear, and he is surrounded by blue sky and singing birds.)

LEMKIN. A house. A hearth...
(He picks up the suitcase and begins to go.)

LEMKIN. A home. (He is gone.)

End of Play