#basic dignity

[ivygorgon]

Caring for Campers - Giving homeless people gear & dignity

I like my job. I work for the city cleaning up homeless camps (so I call them campers). I clean up human waste and toxic materials and pick up trash.

A few days ago I was waiting for some campers to move sites when a guy started stumbling at me, cold and disoriented. I caught him and told him to lean on me. He started crying into my shoulder and I asked if I could hug him. He nodded into me and I held him for a moment. He eventually pulled away and I got him to look at me, "Hey, I dont know you, man, but I love you, ok? I hope you have a good day and things get better for you."

I want to use some money from my wages to keep hand warmers to give out to cold people and put together some survival bags.

No one should ever feel humanity colder than their fingers.

👜 Ivy Gorgon's Community Care Kit Loadout:

(All low-cost, high-impact)

For warmth + weather

hand warmers

emergency mylar blanket

beanie or gloves

1-2 pair dry socks (CRUCIAL)

For cleanliness / comfort

baby wipes

travel soap

5-8 feminine hygiene pads

menstrual dam

toothbrush + small toothpaste

comb

medium hand towel

For small needs

a few band-aids

chapstick

hair ties

condoms (if comfortable)

For safety + harm reduction

Narcan (CRUCIAL)

small flashlight

reflective tape

For practicality

zip ties

charging cables you don’t need

a snack that won’t go bad (granola bar, cracker pack)

bottles of water if your bag can handle the weight

Documentation and community resource cheat sheet (laminated, in a ziplock, or packing tape)

local shelters

local food resources

local laundry/shower resources

local transit-help programs

harm reduction sites

warming centers

crisis lines (local + national)

Kind note like: “I don't know you, but know that I love you. I hope today is gentler for you. -Name”

[zenwords]

Our Basic Dignity

Our most essential nature is complete dignity. It is not the dignity of a dinner party, it is the dignity of a tree, a mountain or the moon. There is nothing that can tarnish the dignity of the moon, because the moon has no self. When we develop a sense of self, an ego, our dignity is not tarnished either, but it can be obscured. Instead of attaching our dignity to our basic nature, we attach it to our thoughts and behaviors. Once we do that, our dignity becomes contingent on other forces beyond our control. We start making distinctions between what is dignified and what is not dignified, and we lose ourselves in the process.

— zenmister, from Our Basic Dignity 

[rainbowtwo]

Appreciating Your Basic Dignity

‘When you appreciate yourself, you realize that you don’t have to feel wretched or condemned. You don’t have to artificially puff yourself up either. You discover your basic dignity, which comes along with gentleness. You have always possessed this, but you may never have recognized it before.’

- Chogyam Trungpa, Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness.

[rainbowtwo]

Appreciate Your Basic Dignity

‘When you appreciate yourself, you realize that you don’t have to feel wretched. You don’t have to feel wretched or condemned. You don’t have to artificially puff yourself up, either. You discover you basic dignity, which comes along with gentleness. You have always possessed this, but you may never have recognized it before.’

Chogyam Trungpa, Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness.

[patrickdyl]

Hundreds of South Carolina Inmates Sent to Solitary Confinement Over Facebook

Decades (or more) in solitary confinement for access Facebook is simply preposterous; and to put it on par with crimes like Rape, and Murder denigrate the victims of an actual crime. This is a flawed (borderline illegal) practice that needs to end.   

From the EFF:

Back in 2012, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) made “Creating and/or Assisting With A Social Networking Site” a Level 1 offense [PDF], a category reserved for the most violent violations of prison conduct policies. It’s one of the most common Level 1 offense charges brought against inmates, many of whom, like most social network users, want to remain in contact with friends and family in the outside world and keep up on current events. Some inmates ask their families to access their online accounts for them, while many access the Internet themselves through a contraband cell phone (possession of which is yet another Level 1 offense).

Through a request under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act, EFF found that, over the last three years, prison officials have brought more than 400 hundred disciplinary cases for “social networking”—almost always for using Facebook. The offenses come with heavy penalties, such as years in solitary confinement and deprivation of virtually all privileges, including visitation and telephone access. In 16 cases, inmates were sentenced to more than a decade in what’s called disciplinary detention, with at least one inmate receiving more than 37 years in isolation.

Read more as THIS link thingy.