I get some wonderful fan mail from a diverse base of readers. I have a huge backlog of fanmail to upload here... I just need to find the time. Hopefully sometime soon I can get to it. Thank you to all who have sent me support and fanmail in the past. I truly appreciate your words. I get more email than I can effectively answer personally, but please know, as I said, I am very thankful for the words of support.
January 1, 2009:
Re my San Fernando Valley Page: Hi Kristen, My sister and I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in the 60s and 70s. We
remember going to Kiddyland as you noted on your blog....I have photos of having a
birthday party there! We were trying to remember the name of this other place where we went to Birthday
parties...it was maybe called Genie Land..where the birthday boy or girl would knock
on little doors and puppets came out...Hmmm...something like that....does this sound
familiar? Happy New Year! - L. C.
December 31, 2008:
Re article "You Are the Revolution":
Hot damn, Anderberg has done it again. You go, girl!
Best of all possible regards, P** H**
October 31, 2008:
Re my article on the Graves at America's Insane Asylums: I am a pseudo genealogist-author-local history person. For a few years now I have been writing a novel based on my family and I have never been able to locate my Great
Grandfather's grave. He was, by all records of oral history, an alcoholic. He ended up at Danvers State Hospital. His grave has never been found. I have searched for years for
a record of his death-nothing! Could it be that this is the reason why? Wow! How can I learn more about the graves? - Sharon O**
September 22, 2008:
Re my article on "Brat Camps and Sagewalk": I was wondering if you are still looking to talk to someone about the program. My
name is ** and I graduated from the (Sagewalk) program January of 07. I think the program
is emotionaly abusive and just plain wrong. If you have any questions, I would be
happy to answer anything.
September 9, 2008:
Kristen, You're welcome. Say, do you happen to remember when the railroad tracks
just north of Parthenia on Reseda Blvd. were level with the street? I missed
many a class at SFVSC waiting for the train as it stopped on the tracks. Later, of course, they dug an underpass to solve the problem.
But, I also remember that remedy didn't look so good when a train fell off the tracks and fell down onto Reseda Blvd. - Larry
September 8, 2008:
Re my San Fernando Valley Page: Hello, That Van de Kamps was at the southeast corner of Roscoe Blvd and Reseda
Blvd. It is now the Facey Medical building. - Larry
September 5, 2008:
Hi! I was so delighted to find your busking info on the internet! A friend sent me
the link when I asked him recently if he'd want to join me playing on the street at
a nearby arts festival. I've done some busking in lots of different places over the
years and I loved reading your stories so much. I play fiddle - Celtic mostly, some
old-time and bluegrass - and I've busked in Ireland (Galway and Cork cities and
Belfast and Dublin) and in the subways of Boston and New York and more recently in
St. Augustine, Savannah, and New Orleans. Most memorable tip was some old corroded
pennies that looked all nasty and then the old man who was giving them told me they
were from his flooded out house from Katrina. I couldn't help but be blown away....
anyway, I just wanted to say hello and that I dig what you're doing!
with much respect, Aisha
August 31, 2007:
Hello, my name is Kirk R*** and I play the Trumpet in Portland although I do
travel up and down the West coast occassionally. I saw your essays (about busking) and enjoyed reading them. I have not been performing as long
as you, only four year but I do make my living from it. You talked about it being your expression of Free Speech and you might be
interested to know one of the people who help draft the constitution was a
street performer. Ben Franklin. He would perform little comic bits to get a
crowd and then give a political lecture. In fact he did a little bit of street
theater at the constitutional convention. Before going to the convention he
hired a bunch of convicts to carry him around town on a liter like he was an
egytian king. That way people would see him and talk about what was going inside the
meeting room. I play the trumpet on the streets like Louis Armstrong played in New Orleans.
Here is a link to myspace page and also the local Portland TV show I produce
and write. I love the streets but have plans to be more than a street performer...For instance you
mentioned the problems you had with the cops. I never had problems with the cops, it's the bums out on the street who give
me my biggest headache. - Kirk
June 22, 2007:
"Dear Kirsten...thanks for exposing the prisoner support scam. The prison groupie mystique not only demeans women and makes a mockery of their well-intentioned wish to help
society's victims, it also puts fortunes into the pockets of the phone companies who soak the callers and recipients of calls for ungodly fortunes. The whole thing is ugly
beyond belief. Best of all possible regards, P.H."
June 7, 2007:
Dear Kirsten: I love your article entitled "A Room of One's Own" in the Summer edition of
Slingshot. I've looked for it on your site but can't find it. I work at a local (West Coast) methadone clinic where we accept vouchers...
I would like to distribute your article to all the counselors on staff here at the clinic if I may get your permission. I feel
it illuminates the psychology of homelessness better than textbook psychological theories.
The way it is included in Slingshot makes it extremely difficult to Zerox. Can you email me with a copy that I could print out?
Sincerely, D.
May 6, 2007:
I couldn't post a reply on Indymedia--some server issue--so I am
emailing you direct. I wanted to give you support after the weird
reactions you got. Though it seems bizarre that women firmly
entrenched in the dominant paradigm would find it necessary to react
as if personally attacked, I think their response is completely
predictable. There must be a little voice in every woman who puts
blade to leg or pit that says "why isn't my body okay?" Having
abandoned shaving for more than 30 years, I have forgotten how often
this little ritual of self-loathing must be done. Is it once a week?
Twice a month? Often enough, whatever it is, to reinforce on a
regular basis the idea that the female body is fundamentally
defective. What is really interesting is that my body hair has never
been an issue with any man I have been involved with. On the
contrary, they have appreciated that I accept myself as I am. I don't
wear makeup either. Not shaving and not wearing makeup is a good way
to weed out pretentious, misogynist men. Thanks for the post. It is always refreshing to hear from a sister. - Patty
April 24, 2007:
thanx kirsten for yer strong words / article regarding 'manarchists' and 'am i cute enuf' ... WOW...
at the risk of sounding too sentimental or whatever, i wanted you to know how much it meant to me to read yer words! i can relate sooo much to what u wrote, etc and thanx
for expressing those grave concerns and thots!...j
April 12, 2007:
i'm an anarchist left-wing attorney in san francisco. when i read your article (eulogizing Vonnegut's death) it released all
those feelings i hold in about kv (Kurt Vonnegut, jr.) and what he offered to all of us about mystery and irreverent humor and grace
and the faint possibility of things somehow someday getting better. your
title (Sitting Up Mud Lies Down) really said it all. Thanks for my opening my heart. B. S.
March 24, 2007:
I just read on the internet your page about street music in the northwest
and I am intrigued. I support you in elaborating on what you have started.
I was around and playing on the street in the early to mid seventies and I
remember Louie and Reggie and PK and several others I thought were notable.
I know PK and Reggie are still around, in fact Reggie is a friend on myspace
of mine and I know PK has a website. There are others I am curious about
where their story goes after the seventies. Louie for one. Is he still on
the planet? Still making music? What about Tito and Cathy? What about
Donna Beck? Walter Singleman, who played awesome washtub with Louie and
Tito and Cathy and later played electric and upright bass with various bands
of various configurations of those folks and others like...Annie
Rose in bands like "the Jitters, Damp Saddles", "the Thrillers", "Throbbing
Gems". I would love to read more about those days, those folks and what
became of them, what they are doing now. Klaus Lustica, the jazzy flute and
sax player. Last time I saw him he was doing well for himself selling
fashion eyewear but I think he said he was still avid about music and was
recording. So thanks for getting some of it written down.
Michael L.
March 19, 2007:
Dear Kirsten, You are so right! Burlesque is Bullshit. Keep on writing, woman, you are one of the few people who resist the
underbelly of the beast. Most people can't even see what's under the facade but you can and you have the guts to say it out loud. Just writing to compliment you
endlessly...Carry on, Kirsten, you are doing a great job...C.
March 9, 2007:
I just read your article "Am I 'Cute' Enough" and I just wanted to finally
get around to congratulating you on your courage and your consistently
fascinating and direct writings. I think the first article of yours that I
read was the one from about five years ago on including the poor in event
planning. It drew my attention to things I hadn't thought of before (I was
just getting involved in activism at my university, at twenty years of
age), and I decided to post it (hope that's alright) on a local
(Saskatoon, Canada) activist list, which contributed, I'm told, to an
amazing activist woman I dated last year having a crush on me for a while
before seducing me (we're still very good friends). She was able to draw
my attention to some of my enculturated attitudes towards beauty and
gender roles and relations in general that I hadn't been aware of, I read
The Beauty Myth last summer (maybe some of these manarchists you write
about would actually wake up if one could somehow get them to read that
book) and now, transforming gender relations - and everything else they're
connected with - occupies half my waking thought.
You know, regarding Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed, I've read one issue of the magazine, and while there were some great articles, everything by the editors put me off, and here's part of why I think that is: Their political arguments (and those of some of the other ivory-tower male anarchists with whom they were engaged in protracted arguments) seemed to be thoroughly meshed with their rather pathetic and sad personal psychodramas. The comments from them you included in your article make sense to me in that light: The attitudes they reveal are disgusting (they're also standard attitudes in this society, but that of course doesn't make them any less disgusting), and at the same time it's all very pathetic. Not to say that personal lives and relationships are irrelevant, but if these men are trying to effect social change... well, I'm thinking about it a bit more, and basically I think the problem is that their analysis of their personal situations is simply insincere (and undoubtedly self-deceiving, but that doesn't make it any less deceptive!), shallow, and exclusively self-serving. Talk about personal relationships can be hugely relevant if the sociocultural context is considered, and if there is an attempt to shed new light on issues, but it seems like they're expressing dissapointment that this society hasn't delivered on its insincere promises (of a couple young, servile blondes for every man of whatever age, for example) proferred through media and advertising - while simultaneously claiming to be fighting the social order that clearly still has them seduced.
....Anyways, I just wanted to share those thoughts and to say keep up the good work. Oh, other articles of yours I've appreciated: An earlier one on "manarchists," which drew my attention to the fact that just because women might elbow me out of the way to do the dishes doesn't mean I should let them; and the one about your daring protests after Hurricane Katrina. It was immediately apparent to me, looking at the footage on TV, that almost exclusively Blacks had been left behind, because most of the whites had access to personal vehicles, and that the rescue operation was a sham (and a racket), and it was good to hear a voice in the wilderness saying that (before the media, in a bizarre twist, seemed to start to care).
"The best way to stop a revolution is to give people something to lose." -Naomi Wolf
"If no one plays Monopoly, it's just a box full of stuff with writing inside the cover." -Allan Johnson
Kudos,
Neil J.
February 27, 2007:
You rock!
Best of all possible regards - Pat H.
August 29, 2006:
Hey, kristen, i'm teaching the sociology of gender at mills college, and
i'm planning on singing a song of yours to the class, the one that goes, "i
got a message from the media: it tells me what i can be." it'll be great
for the gender and the media class. do you have a copy of the lyrics you
could send me? (guitar chords would be great, but i can also probably
figure those out.) i'd love to introduce your music to the women of mills!
thanks! ana
August 28, 2006:
Your page on Busking is great! I am interested in busking myself, and
live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Supposedly enlightened but it's
just more SUV-driving suburbia. Anyway, I've been working on learning
trumpet but not having much fun, so am planning to switch to clarinet
so eventually I can play that and sax...Your tips are very good, there are probably a lot of us out here
reading them,
Alex
August 12, 2006:
Hi Kirstena...I would like permission to reprint "How to pick a street performer spot" in my newsletter Magic Roadshow. I generally write and publish articles on magic, street
magic, and restaurant magic. Your consideration is appreciated..
Cheers, Rick C./ rick@magicroadshow.com/ http://StreetMagic.info
August 10, 2006:
Hi, I came across your busking site, via too many links I can't remember where I started
from. Anyway, thanks for the interesting info, I look forward to going through more
of your site. I'm just trying to return to busking after a 12 year music
stoppage...I just had an audition to play at the Vancouver skytrain stations, so
your blogs were very encouraging to me. All the best, Carolyn
July 30, 2006:
Hi Kirsten...I'm writing because I am so impressed with how eloquently you write about poverty, about welfare, and about the reality of our lives. I have a small blog
that primarily addresses welfare and poverty issues, and I'm trying to gather as many voices as possible to continue to present our lives to the blogging world. My question is
if you would be interested or willing to cross-post some of your writing on my blog--you could be a guest-blogger...In Peace, M**
July 12, 2006:
(Regarding the Tampons Are Trash article) THANK YOU
Dear Kirsten --
I appreciate reading your posts in general. Today's, however, was WONDERFUL!!!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
s***, mother of two daughters, grandmother of two granddaughters
July 8, 2006:
Dear Kristena, I work with Gerald Jampolsky, M.D. and Diane Cirincione, Ph.D. If you
aren't already aware of them, they are authors/lecturers ("Love Is Letting Go Of Fear," "Change Your Mind, Change Your Life," etc) and Jerry founded
The International Center for Attitudinal Healing - www.attitudinalhealing.org. They have recently become the ambassadors for
July 5, 2006:
Re the Vulva Museum: Hi, Kirstena, what a pleasure that website was!! I am an erotic educator
with Body Electric School. (Soon)...I will be leading a group of
about 20 women in NY city and I would like to show some of your pictures to
them off of my computer, as an inspiration for a yoni meditation...Thank you for your
work in the world.
Blessings, S*******
June 24, 2006:
"www.transcenderarts.net thanks you for your participation in living the courageous
life...peace..."
June 4, 2006:
Hi Kirsten,
I have been on your mailing list for a while and really appreciate, agree
with and respect your work. I especially like this piece. I think the
differences between tolerance and respect are particularly clear when
working with disabled people. I use a wheelchair and was struck by how
often people "interfere" with us in many ways not directly related to our
care needs and truly "tolerate" us socially. Of course, this is not always
the case, but occurs quite a bit. I am writing a book and including this
idea, and your very articulate piece on this is helpful and insightful. Thanks...
Take care, L****
June 4, 2006:
Dear Kirsten,
I just stumbled across your article, "Welfare in America: Institutionalized Woman-Hating."
I was amazed. It was so powerful, and well-written. And it really struck a chord with me; it felt
like you were writing about my own life. I just had to send an email and thank you for putting it out
there...Truly, A***
May 11, 2006:
My Dear Kirsten,
I grew up on the laslo toth books. Thanks for your great post (about Lazlo) at pdx imc!...cheers, m****
May 10, 2006:
Hurrah! kill the brat camp hippies!...A****
May 7, 2006:
Hello. My name is C.C. and I am writing to you in behave(sic) of a poem you wrote titled "They Say I Used To Be Pretty."
I am working on a textbook for Costa Rican high
school students who are studying English as a foreign language, and one of the book's chapters is related to senior citizens. I found your poem in Wikipedia, and was wondering
if you would give me permission to put it in the textbook. I can assure you that the textbook is made for educational purposes only. I would appreciate it if you could help me
make the chapter more attractive by presenting your beautiful poem. I really enjoyed it.
Thank you...C.C., Costa Rica, Central America
April 16, 2006:
Hi
I am a shoe historian in Perth WA and really enjoyed reading your webpage on the Political History of Shoes. I have made a link to my foot talk blog (address
below) - Cheers, C****, Podologist & Shoe Historian
February 9, 2006:
Re MacLaren Hall Articles/ HI, KIRSTEN, REMEMBER ME? I WROTE TO YOU WHEN I FIRST READ YOUR STORY (about MacLaren Hall) SEARCHING ON THE INTERNET. I THINK I SENT YOU MY MAC HALL STORY AS WELL. IF NOT, PLS LET ME KNOW.
I NOW CAME ACROSS YOUR NEW WRITING OF JAN, 2006. PLS COUNT ME IN. I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WITH THESE HORROR STORIES. PLS KEEP IN TOUCH AND LET ME KNOW IF WE CAN GET A
HEARING. I'M STILL STRUGGLING WITH THERAPY AND ALL OF MY HANG UPS. IF YOU HAVE A PHONE NUMBER, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. I NEED TO SPEAK WITH SOMEONE WHO CAN RELATE TO MY
EXPERIENCES. I'M 40 AND WAS THERE ONCE WHEN I WAS 3 AND THEN AGAIN WHEN I WAS 7. I WAS THINKING IF YOU STILL DON'T HAVE ANY LUCK WITH THE HEARINGS. A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR
EXPOSURE TO THIS WOULD BE FOR ALL OF US TO GET TOGETHER AND WRITE A LETTER TO "OPRAH.COM" AND SEE IF WE COULD SPEAK ABOUT THIS ON HER SHOW. ALSO, MAYBE TRY TO SUBMIT THIS
RECENT JAN., 2006 LETTER THAT YOU WROTE ON HER WEBSITE. IF WE COULD GET ON THE SHOW, I BELIEVE THINGS COULD START HAPPENING. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. THANK YOU. D****, ANOTHER SURVIVOR.
February 8, 2006:
Hi, I wrote you a while ago when I had no hope after my husband left me and you wrote me back. I dont know if I ever thanked you. First off for writing me back but secondly a
nd most importantly you made me realize I wasn't some worthless housewife. Im taking care of two small children, trying to go back to school and starting to write. You lifted my
spirits up when everyone around me treated me like a disease. Im still trying to overcome the stigma of being a now single mother on welfare but I dont feel so alone anymore.
So thank you. Ive visited your website more than a few times and I think your simply amazing. I face a set of new challenges but Im hoping I can get over these
unexpected problems. My husband filed his taxes jointly (I dont know why) and claimed the children. Hes getting back a good amount of money and hes fighting me over how much he s
hould give me. He says im only entitled to 1/3. He wants to use this money to go to Wrestling School. He also tells me Im not entitled to any alimony. So same game different
rules I guess. Reading your articles helps a great deal. There should be more people like you in the world. Thank You, J.
December, 2005:
I moderate a group callled "Freecycle' where people give away things to
others instead of throwing their perfectly good items into the landfillls. We have needy families every year and this year, I posted your essay
about POOR KIDS AND CHRISTMAS to the community board. It has generated a great deal of feedback. I thought you might be
interested...We are located in northern Colorado. Thank you for your excellent work. I am also very impressed by the
number and quality of replies we had to your essay. best to you.
December 20, 2005:
Regarding the article: Poor Kids and Guilt at Christmas. "I just posted this comment on portland indymedia
(http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/12/330541.shtml), but I wanted to make sure you got it...
Thank you so much for writing this Kristen. This is the first of your articles that's actually made me cry.
I grew up with the same exact situation as you. With my father buying us things like stereos for christmas, and non paying child support, and my mom just barely finding enough money for food. When she did find, or really borrow, money for christmas presents, they were always weird toys from the drugstore down the street, as she usually didn't have a car to go buy presents with. She always tried so hard to get us presents for christmas, though, and was willing to spend her last $5 on a toy for me. She did once, it was a red GI Joe boat that I wanted and she actually spent her last $5 on it. Still, we always knew that she wanted us to be happy and that Christmas was so hard for her. Anyway, christmas is obviously a time that brings the extreme class divisions in this country to light. Thanks for writing about it.
December 13, 2005:
Dear Kirsten, Thank you for your article about radical body politics on the Indymedia
website. I'm fairly new to these ideas, I'm sort of waking from a dream - or a nightmare? - and I appreciate your bold logic.
Thank you, M.
October 17, 2005:
hi u brought back very painfull memories, for i also wondered why i was in juvy
hall. They picked me up from school and took me to mac hall, took all my clothes and
stuck me in a room with no toilet and a big iron door with a window on it which i
could not see thru, i banged on the door to go to the bathroom they didnt let me go
so i went in the room, when they did come feed me they made me clean it up and then
put a diaper on me and paraded me around the halls. i was 10. that was the only room
i remember there and also they gave me some type of meds. i have never been
perscribed meds anywhere. sure would like to know what they gave me. could hear
every nite all the kids crying and screaming. when i did get out i went to various
foster homes, remeber a couple, real bad ones ate under the dinner table at one they
had steak and i got hot dogs or sandwitch. At one home the teenage boys always
scared me at nite banging on the windows and wearing mask. Till his death i told my
dad thanks for selling me into slavery, which is what it felt like at most of the homes. Did
all the chores and washed dishes and cleaned the yards never got to go anywhere.
Finally met a lady named *** she took me in her home in ***, she was a
foster mother, she had 7 kids at her home, she also was a mormon. learned alot from
her they ran a lumber co... went to school there and had motor bikes
horses and got to go to the movies and play most of the day . We did have chores,
clean our rooms and take care of the animals. but i think she treated me more like
her son than my own parents. she took me to idaho when her husband died. went on to
college and the service, i am now doing my 25th yr with the gov. i still think about
mac hall and what type of drug they gave me, u think it is possible to find out
what i got or are the records gone. E*****
October 4, 2005:
The info on your page is great: http://resist.ca/~kirstena/pagerawfoods.html. Anything that I could include and link back to your site on via my weblog?
www.welikeitraw.com Blessings, D*** - www.welikeitraw.com - The Raw-Food Weblog
September 5, 2005:
"Greetings Ms. Anderberg, I saw your story posted on Tom Tomorrow's blog, and wanted
to congratulate you on your protest. I think it was courageous, and that your points are absolutely correct.
My name's Tim, btw, and I myself am a white male, but I certainly realize that the
right-wingers in power are no friend of minorities or the poor. It's sickening how the
Bush administration uses non-whites, e.g., Gonzalez and Rice, as puppets of convenience,
mere Trojan horses, to give their policies a patina of respectability. (I'm endlessly exasperated at the
oft-cited notion that Bush should appoint a Hispanic person to the Supreme Court--as if it matters what
color one is if one's rulings will inevitably favor entrenched power, i.e., privileged white people for
the most part). New Orleans has shown this administration's true colors, however, and I applaud
your efforts in further spreading the truth. Take care and stay strong, Tim"
September 5, 2005:
"Thank you for calling the New Orleans situation "genocide". I've been
thinking the same thing. It's so obvious that many (most?) whites,
Republicans in particular, want what's going down there to go down; they
want as many Blacks as possible to die. Then they can bulldoze it all,
create a gentrified, theme park, "ye olde town square" New Orleans for
moneyed tourists and let the Blacks that survive drift into homelessness
after being transferred from state to state. I'm predicting that soon we'll
be hearing that the government solution to the "refugee problem" will be to
build more prisons, while white cops continue to shoot Blacks on US streets
with impunity.
You are so brave to go out among disgusting US whites with signs telling the truth. Since I'm male (and white), I'd have gotten beaten up or something, especially since I'm half the size of most people and pretty weak. But, yeah, it's always the white males. And far too many white females. I got in an argument with a white woman 2 days ago when I said it was clearly race-based rescue in New Orleans. "Don't even mention race! This is about poor people! Whites are suffering just as much as Blacks in New Orleans!" she fulminated. Yet, all the pictures and reports say otherwise. This woman then went on to laud the groups doing animal rescue in Louisiana. While Black people are left to die...D.G."
September 5, 2005:
"Hi Kristen, i've wanted to congratulate you for some time now on some great articles
in the past ("my dud" being one of my favorites), but this more recent one about New Orleans was another gem!
i've been absolutely furious about this all week with few like-minded others up here in
the Great White North city of vancouver...i'm forwarding this around to people.
hope all is well with you. i'm a big fan of your work! i love your mix of performance,
radical politics and inspired writing. thanks for doing it...peace, y."
September 5, 2005:
"hi kirsten anderberg, i have translated your artikel in the german language and it was
posted in the german indymedia. there is a long discussion
and the people can't understand why the us-government helps after 5 days and not ealier. greetings in solidarity
fight sexism, classism and racism - s. f."
September 5, 2005:
"I found out about you from Amanda Marcotte's/Jesse Taylor's blog
Pandagon. They talked about your adventures with the "Stop the genocide"
sign. Anyway, YOU ROCK! - P.S., Albany, NY"
September 4, 2005:
"Thank you for your amazing articles. You are really an inspiration and an amazing
woman. I've been reading your website all night and you have a gift for
speaking the truth in an absolutely simple and direct way. I've sent a
little money and will try to keep supporting you because you're doing the
most important work in the world. We need more women to follow your lead and
I will be making everyone I know read your site. - v."
September 4, 2005:
"Keep holding it down! You are a bright light in this world. I don't live very far
from the MLK Center for non-violent social change - so it's in my bones! The light
of truth will prevail. Keeping being the powerful woman that you are. I will light a
candle for you as I say my prayers tonight. (Everytime I think about that sad,
freightened soul who told you that he was bigger than you, and that if pushed, bad
things might happen, I think about how powerless he really is. I hope God lights a
match of understanding in his dark little head.) BTW - Check out a indie film I just saw last night - The Constant Gardner - very
interesting - I think you will find a kinship with the female lead! Keep on sister,
A lil Georgia Peach On Your Side"
September 3, 2005:
"Kirstena--Thanks for the experiment. I don't think I've had a conversation with a
white guy since Katrina hit--just leftie news and some in depth talks with people of
color, so I hadn't realized how close to the surface the racism is on this. Offhand,
what's been the response of white women (like me)? I have a theory about white women, and collusion for the designation of "whiteness,"
and I was wondering if it holds up here. Wish I still lived in Seattle. I would enjoy
knowing you, I think. L."
September 3, 2005:
"...I've been watching CNN, and my overall impression is that this is the
end of the credibility of the Bush/US gov't bunch. Video vs press
statements and voiceovers is just too overwhelming. It is also a blow
to the whole Superpower image, and in a way it will hasten the end of
the war in Iraq. And capitalism. Lies, Lies, Lies. Maybe its just because I grew up
in West Virginia, and still have a lot of Appalachian friends, but I don't know how
any White Man who who doesn't have a $ stake in the present system or any
White Man who has a bit of thinking honesty in him could not look at the
News Feed and not see the truth. I guess that leaves a big bunch of them. Anyway,
thanks for your writings, and all the others I've read over the years, and if you ever
come to Ohio we would love to put you in front of the public.
We've got a great public around here. revolution. ~ A."
September 2, 2005:
"Dear Kirsten - I read your article American genocide in New Orleans
I AGREE with you we are watching the September 2005 genocide of the poor in New Orleans.
The for profit media are reaping millions of dollars from the suffering souls. As I watched several of news programs this evening
my heart began to realize this genocide of the poor. Earlier this evening I found this
on a web-site I would like to share it with you. "I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was
a stranger and you did not welcome me, I was naked and you did not clothe me,
Truly I say to you, as you have done to the least of my brother, so you have done to
me." May the Sacred Heart of Jesus bless you for your insight. Sincerely,
R. of Wichita Kansas"
September 2, 2005:
"Very insightful. Thanks. Respectfully submitted, H.V.S."
April 27, 2005:
Hello! I was googleing around the internet looking for feminist ANYTHING
and came across your website. Great articles -- thanks for taking the time
to make a website and post stuff. I am so fed up with the left press I could scream -- who do you read? I
follow the blogs under the same sun and riverbend's in iraq but most blogs by women drive me crazy (good news analysis one day,
"I had to take my cat to the vet" the next day -- like I care! I don't want to hear about their personal lives!)
and most of the lefty news sites I just quickly scan thru a few times a week looking for certain authors and anything by a woman (except the sex
therapists! that's counterpunch -- those guys are the worst). Are there any feminist news sites like common dreams or counterpunch or znet? And why
not? I don't understand why Ms mag doesn't put up a news website and post all the articles that no doubt get submitted to them that they never
publish. anyway, if you have any favorites I'd love to hear about them. in the meantime, i hope you're still writing! - S***
February 14, 2005: "Kristen, I loved your article on Tent City Solutions folks. Thanks for being a voice to expose these folks and their true colors. Tent City 4 stay at Saint John Vianney was a true gift for our community!" ~ K.R.
April 12, 2005:Hi Kristen,
My name is K** and I am in the midst of re-doing a historical
documentary on the Dixmont State Hospital that I first did in 1999 while a
junior in college. During my research, I came across an article you had written entitled
"American 'Insane Asylum' History: Giving Names to Numbered Graves." Your
article was fantastic - I enjoyed reading about what the theories offered to
explain why graves in these asylums were often simply marked by a number and
nothing else...
January 23, 2005: ""How To Include The Poor in Community Events" is an awesome piece. I am intimately aware of most of the points you raise, in my organizing, I will publicize bike parking and buslines in emails/flyers and I've also offered to help my mom friends to hang out with their babies so that they could participate...Which ties into getting more womyn to community events..." ~ S.S.
January 14, 2005: "Hello Kirsten, I have come to your Blog via your Too Angry article - I hope you are real! This is just a quick note to say how fantastic your blog is...I am over 60, have two children (one of each), work from home ( it stuff), live frugally and in country Australia. Continuing to read your work...thank you." ~ T.B.
November 19, 2004: "Dear Kirsten, I want to thank you from the bottom of my Mother's heart for writing this article. I'd already decided that my traditional Christmas materialism this year with a 26 year old daughter without grandchild yet would be directed toward a disabled Mother of 3 disabled children who is being threatend by DHR social workers with severance of parental rights because she can't work to make money to pay for psychiatric medications that she doesn't want her children to take for fear of the drugs causing suicide.
After reading your article so realisticly emphathisizing the terrorism of innocent women and children by Baby Bush and Buddies mercenary imperialism I feel like sending everything I don't absolutely need to somewhere in Iraw to help these refugeed women and children. If we really wanted to be liberators, the U.S. Government should send some of us over 50 women over there to actually help the Iraqi people understand that the America people do not support what our government is doing to us and are rightfully anticipating leaflets raining from black helicopters giving us eviction without notice. Thank you again..." ~ Dr. S.L.
Sept. 14, 2004: "Hi Kirsten, I liked your article critisising rich white kids going to protest at the RNC. I think it's good food for thought. I have struggled with money my whole life. I come from a working class family in Ohio and came to Australia when I jumped ship from the USMC in 1987. My wife and I had our first child when we were both 21. We then had to put ourselves through university and are still living from pay check to pay check. Luckily I live in Australia and was able to get Government assistance for my degree. Unfortunately that also left me with a huge debt that I had to pay off. Those costs are increasing here as our conservative government tries to be more and more like the USA everyday. As I sat here watching the protests over the web on democracy now, I was jealous that I couldn't be there. Your article made me not look at it in such selfish terms. Well done..." ~ C.H.
August 19, 2004: "Wow, Kristen, well said. I completely agree with you. I'm only 16 but I hope someday I will be able to wield the pen effectively. I have strong political views that I would love to share, and I do personally, but I don't feel at all ready to publicly share my writing. I practice it a lot and someday I will stand up. Please keep saying what you think and keep asking questions." ~ J.B.
August 7, 2004: "Stumbled upon a couple of your articles on Portland Indy Media website and can really relate to what you say. I've been on TANF for 19 months, get FS, but no housing assistance. Am fighting multiple battles with DHS to disqualify or otherwise sanction me. Have had 10 different case plans, finally got a fairly workable one just last week when I persuaded a legal aid attorney to accompany me...Keeping affordable, decent housing is my most immediate, and unaddressed, problem. Any resources you can refer me to there?
Thanks for any help you can provide. Just reading your articles made me feel better knowing there are other, intelligent, strong women out there who've survived this and have succeeded against the odds." ~ M.R.
August 2, 2004: "...saw your posting on the nyc.indymedia features. read all the obnoxious postings...thought id send you what i posted. do not stop rockin the boat." ~ M.M.
July 30, 2004: "I just read your comments on adbusters and you hit the nail right on the head. I cover these same exact issues every week in my column, "Fear No Evil" (www.lasvegascitylife.com). I found this in the May 2004 Progressive (http://www.progressive.org/may04/intv0504.html), I think it's along the same lines as your commentary. I wish I could afford to hire you, but I'm broke and live in the ghetto. I hope you find honorable work." ~ S.L.
July 20, 2004: "Thank you for writing from the position that your personal story is relevant to the world and news around you. Thank you for challenging the loyal opposition. Thank you for questioning middle class priveledge." M.B.
July 19, 2004: "I love all your articles, but I really appreciated the one on make-up. As a hardcore never wear make-up person (or hair dye, or gel, or anything) it's nice to have some ammo for all those who gun for me. It's amazing how women with skin ruined by chemicals will tell me I need something. I have always assumed it's jealousy. And the reaction of the men to your article is great too. Keep writing!" - E.
July 1, 2004: "Great article Kirsten, your writing is a joy to read. You are becoming one of my primary news sources. Thanks for your work." ~ L.L.
May 26, 2004: "Hello, I am just sending you a quick email to say great job on your website. I go on there all the time and read your articles. You do a splendid job supplying the facts, but providing your own opinions, too. But, as far as I have seen, you don't confuse the two. I know very little about politics, but your site is a helpful one to visit and find out more on things. I'm working on a website too (only a bit more personal and different subjects) and I hope that I can accomplish as much with mine as you have yours! thanx for all your hard work in writing and bringing these articles to us." ~ J.M.
May 10, 2004: "Hi - This is just a fan letter--I read your articles on portland IMC, infoshop and (previously) seattle IMC. You were a breath of fresh air to the decaying seattle IMC site and it's too bad that they pissed you off, but it's OUR loss, not yours. Your website is such a rich archive. I'm so proud of you for writing things that are on the tips of lots of people's tongues, only you articulate them well and quickly. You are awesome and I hope you keep 'em coming because you inspire me and I have been writing down some of my rants recently, partly because I 've been inspired by you. You're strong and tough and even though you're probably not getting paid anywhere near what you would if you were a lawyer, I want to let you know that you're doing a real service to your communities and your son's future with your writings. Don't let anything water you down (and be careful when you attack cars: my roomie spent a night in jail last week for "property damage" to a BMW that was in the fucking crosswalk)..." ~ L.E.
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.
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