In the past, I’ve described Fools Mission as a “radical” social experiment; yet I’ve recently come to think differently about that language. The original sense of the word radical comes from French and Latin: “of or pertaining to the root, having roots.” One possible image is a return to foundational ideas or principles in the … Read more
I was so pleased to be invited to deliver a sermon at the worship service of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Sunnyvale, California on August 7, 2016. In light of the results of the 2016 election, I felt motivated to post it here, as well. I hope that you find some comfort and hope, along … Read more
Berenice (not her real name) is a young woman from Honduras with two young children. The father of her U.S.-citizen children is currently in a deportation process, living in a detention center and awaiting bail. This is how the stress on the family escalates. The dad is the family breadwinner, and Berenice has to vacate … Read more
As the holiday season draws to a close here at Fools Mission , we reflect on the old and dream of the new. Our consciousness-raising multicultural ministry has brought together young and old, rich and poor, citizens and immigrants, privileged and underprivileged. We build community among people who would otherwise be unlikely to get to … Read more
What if we decided to melt ICE? Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the deportation machine that takes about 400,000 undocumented people out of the country each year. That’s the quota they have, and the quota they make. Forget all about deporting the “bad guys” long touted by the Obama administration. They deport the people … Read more
For fools and most friends of fools, the jester hats and clown noses require no explanation. They speak to the identity of the fool down through the ages: the trickster, the disrupter, the speaker of truth to power, the healing power of irony and laughter. Humor is as much a part of the story as … Read more
Four Fools Mission regulars joined the San Mateo County Coalition for Immigrant Rights on Friday morning, February 21, 2014 at the office of Supervisors Warren Slocum and Dave Pine. We advocated for an end to “ICE holds.” Great gobs of gratitude go out to fools David Vallerga, Silvia Ramirez, and Gene Thiers for showing up … Read more
On Sunday, November 24, I attended a five-hour training session on nonviolent civil disobedience sponsored by the San Jose Action Team for the Keystone XL Pledge of Resistance. The sponsors of the campaign are a coalition of CREDO Mobile, The Other 98%, and the Rainforest Action Network. The goal is to prevent the approval of … Read more
