TheLocalLiberal

This Land is My Land This Land is Your Land ................................................................................................................................................................................. The Local Liberal is designed and illustrated by myself Francesca Prado. I am a mass communications major with minors in political science and women's studies at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. I am a Humanist meaning in it's simplicity the ideals that Human Rights are just that the Human Rights to all with no exclusions. I am an eager journalist with love for my country and culture. I enjoy funky music, fashion trends, poetry, and politics. I am a lover of life and just in the midst of my journey, as I invite you all to join me.

[thelocalliberal-blog]

Flowers Do Not Bloom By Command

Fears were made silent 

In light of thee. 

Dark was cast from sight. 

Simply presence be it glee?

But what makes such truth 

And deems it so 

The unshaking of youth 

Or be it a known foe?

For flowers do not bloom 

By command of word. 

Certainty would see doom. 

Faith would never make such heard.

So this I do convey, 

Amidst your unaffirmed. 

That beauty has no say. 

Be it is confirmed.

[thelocalliberal-blog]

The Marijuanna Movement

Marijuana is a natural herb, otherwise known as weed. It is most popularly known for being smoked giving the smoker a mind altering affect.  Although this is the most commonly known aspect of marijuana it is not only recreational but can be used for a variety of medical purposes. It can also be formed to make a hemp clothing and for use in cooking. With the growing research of the so-called illicit drug becoming more and more public, the once unanimous belief in the danger of marijuana is fading. With twenty-eight states allowing medical uses and eight states as well as Washington D.C. now allowing the recreational use, it is becoming very clear that the fears behind the deemed illicit drug are nonexistent. Nevertheless, the federal government's views have not changed and instead, they have cracked down more than ever on the sum fourteen states that still have the drug completely prohibited. As for those thought to be protected by state law are not as safe as they had thought although rare the federal government can still prosecute and convict those in legal states. As the marijuana business is growing the fears of farmers and small dispensaries are not just that of the federal government, but the fear of white collar weed. Between the federal government and these white collar weed dispensaries, it is near impossible for the small farmers who began the movement to keep their place. As the marijuana business grows the number of mom and pop farms and dispensaries are left with nothing to do but to wait and see if there will still be a place for them as corporate with the help of our own government sweeps through yet another industry.

           Since the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, much has changed as Americans are waking up to the benefits marijuana can offer. Our realization is nothing compared to the billions of dollars our government receives every year thanks to the 1971 War Against Drugs which was initiated by president Nixon. The federal illegalization of marijuana is an easy concept to understand, it all comes down to the money. Although the weed business is a multibillion dollar business and has been expected to reach 35 billion dollars of revenue if legalized in all 50 states, it is still nothing compared to the money they receive from small and large-scale drug busts throughout the United States including states that have legalized marijuana. Yes, that’s correct legally licensed farmers can and dispensers can and are still searched and seized for their marijuana plants. These searches and seizures can go much further than the dispensaries and the farms where the marijuana is grown, it often can go as far as to searching the owner’s homes where the marijuana is not even grown. Thanks to civil asset forfeitures this allows the police to come in and take anything and everything they find to be profitable from the home of the alleged criminal this can go anywhere from bikes, cars, televisions, and even personal belongs such as birthday cards containing money to a nine-year-old as reported by a Michigan Family who was purely a medical dispensary. It does not end there though they even have gone on to seize entire properties

under the civil asset forfeitures. States such as New York and many others claim to have no idea of the amount of money they have received through seizures, many claiming that it would break the computers.

           With all of these great risks why even consider the legalization? These dangers of the marijuana business are only in the ones who started the movement your small scale growers and farmers, the white collar weed companies are coming in and sweeping the industry. America is a country built on corporations, the ability to get ahead is nearly impossible without the millions you need to back it. There is no room for the little man in our industrial economy. The heart you have is nothing compared to the money the men above you have. This corporate America is evident more than ever through the marijuana movement. It’s easier to attack the little man when they do not have the means to fight back. Laws are legalizing marijuana but not at a negotiable rate. Some applications to even hold a dispensary start at almost 10,000 dollars and that’s just to apply. To actually submit the application, you are looking at another 200,000 dollars. For farmers who already have the land and materials alone, this is a difficult amount of change to come up with. Not to mention those who are just attempting to turn their passion into a legal business, prices for simply buying all the materials at a minimum will run about 500,000. With these prices is it any surprise that corporations are getting ahead of the rest. With business being lost to this corporation are passionate farmers are left with nothing. Many of which have dedicated their life to the industry are finding themselves with nothing. Some with no help due to their loss and revenue and some of them without a dollar to their name due to everything being seized. These corporations are not only taking over the industry in the legal states, but they are already ahead in their attempts to get licenses before any smaller business has a chance. Making it impossible for these mom and pop business to ever get the chance. They are mass consolidating the marijuana movement when it has barely just begun.

           In some states where at least an application is an option Ohio where the legalization was on the ballots in November wanted to create it completely impossible for a mom and pop organization to even exist. They did this by selecting ten hand-picked investors who funded a campaign called the Green Rush Bus Tour, in hopes to raise votes for the legalization in Novembers ballots.  These ten hand selected corporations even went as far as to creating a face to their multibillion-dollar endeavor. His name is Buddy, and if the name itself already did not give it away Buddy is just that a bud from a Marijuana plant. If this particular bill were to be passed it would prevent anyone else in the state to have a cannabis farm. Essentially creating a monopoly, giving these ten investors exclusive sites and legalization to grow and sell marijuana for commercial purposes. If this bill were passed it would completely go against our constitutional rights that were made to protect all of us, not just a select few. Luckily this bill was shut down hard by Ohioans, with 64% voting no to legalizing marijuana. This is just one of many attempts for white collar industries to take over.

           Companies such as Livewel one of Colorado’s largest grow operations have wiped through making mass amounts of cannabis more than the small farmer could ever imagine. Companies that have no passion or idea as to what they are even working with. Such as their COO John Seckman, yes their second in command claims to completely disagree with the marijuana movement and even voted against the legalization of cannabis. Seckman claiming we have enough vices in the world, and one more was not going to make it any better. They look at marijuana simply as a product making comments that if they were not growing marijuana they would be making Ford Motor vehicles. It is companies like Livwell that are giving marijuana a corporate makeover. Which puts long time weed growers on edge for good reason, how are they to compete with mass producing corporations? Or companies such a Tilray a 26 million dollar facility who also mass produce marijuana with more than 36 rooms and lighting that runs nearly 2 million they are a high tech facility that is impossible to compete with as the small farmer.  It is companies like Tilray and Livwell that are killing the marijuana movement and turning it into yet another industrialized mass produced product. Which yes is helpful with prices on the buyers end at times, but is that what we as Americans have come to solely worrying about the more we get for our dollar. Often times it is forgotten that we are still a community we are supposed to look out for one another, for our neighbor. Corporations only stand when they have the buyers. We give these white collar facilities the power they acquire. This does not mean buy strictly farm grown, but what is more important the passion or the worth of your money. This sounds like an easy concept, but it says a lot about us as a people when the importance of what is in our wallet is more important than the importance of our fellow neighbor. Often we forget cheaper is not always better.

           As the marijuana movement continues to grow we will continue to see the emergence of high-tech mainstream professional corporations that are trying to compete with these currently illegal producers. Putting these producers in a corner with nowhere to turn and cannabis legalization is only just beginning, yet we are already seeing the effects it is having on small farmers. With the prices of cannabis plummeting thanks to these white collar weed industries

These home grown producers are being left in the dust. Which is a difficult thought for many of these producers who have put everything on the line to pave the way and make the herb available? With the police only fighting against the little man, it is leaving so many producers completely taken back and as to why they would be so important compared to these corporations. The little man is easier to pick on, corporate America is impossible to compete with. They are always twisting our words in a way. Like in Ohio you vote yes, you vote for the monopoly of these white collar weed industries, or in states like New York where you voted to legalize but only for the sum farmer who can afford 210,00 dollars. It leaves many voters curious as to what we are voting yes too. Are we just voting for these corporations, and leaving the passion of marijuana growth in the past, and as the marijuana industry continues to grow will the small farmers grow as well? Or will this be a practice left in the past as corporate America yet again take its place in our subtly monopolized economy?

[thelocalliberal-blog]

A Mothers Love

A murderer does not always look like a murderer and a murder does not always look like a murder. My killer was not one, but many. Given my children were unaware in their first years I was forgiving, even accepting. I consoled myself with the fact that they would learn. My children were still ignorant even in their knowledge, they could have saved me and themselves. Like a young child oblivious to what they see with their own eyes, my children took the basket was empty.

Robbing me of my body was nothing of importance to me. In a torture like that of mine, a body means nothing when death finally comes. She was nothing, but frail bones with skin covered in blood and bruises. By the time my death came that was the only light I’d known to be whipped from existence. A people I love so dearly killed me not only physically but they had rid me of me. I once was a beauty adored, but they became cruel it was unspeakable. Difficult to grasp that a people could be so reliant, yet so ignorant to bite the very hand that fed them.

This tale does not lighten; it has only just begun. My death was a horrendous atrocity. My children began with cuts. They had fun hurting me they laughed with every slice of my skin it gave them satisfaction. The cuts were small, but they grew bigger and bigger. Eventually, my children were not satisfied. They needed more of me. They needed more destruction. Mighty and demanding of more to fulfill their pleasure. Therefore, the cuts turned to the severing of my limbs which too began small.

My death didn’t come so soon. As my children grew they learned of chemicals this was much slower than the cuts. They were creative with their chemicals feeding them to me rubbing acids upon my skin washing my beauty away, putting gas in the air that I breathe. They said they wanted me alive, but their actions showed less.

Their favorite weapon was fire. Oh, my, children rejoiced at its flames like that of a child in a candy store. They were never smart enough they could have contained the flames but instead let them run wild on my body.

My children bathed me in their filth. My bed was their waste Letting my body run ramped of disease. They could have saved me they could have fixed this and saved themselves as well. Did they think my body would last forever? They knew the consequences of their actions. Where my words did not exist I showed them with my actions. I was dying and they continued with the tortures until all was black.

The tortures were over but my children were whipped from existence. All my body knew was darkness cold land with not even the light melody of a bird’s chirp. The day had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Darkness consumed all of me as the last of my children took their breath. My beauty was gone and my tortures as well taking all my love with them. Leaving me nothing but a cold barren place in the universe. Forced to finish out the existence alone.  Life was gone and I Mother Earth forced to lay within the graves of my children mourning of their ignorance.

It is our obligation to take care of our Earth. This is our home and despite the knowledge we have we continue to contribute to her demise. The ending is inevitable If we do not act, and if we choose not to we will commit the most horrendous of murders, killing our precious Earth.

[thelocalliberal-blog]

When Do My Senses Deceive Me

When do my senses deceive me?

 When I have always been true to them.

 When the night is dark

 When my eyes grow sore

 When a light shines bright high in the sky

 When my knowledge brings security 

 When my dishonest eyes are found to be so 

 When before me is a mountain with a light shining bright

[thelocalliberal-blog]

The Women’s March

The Women’s March is an ongoing movement and worldwide march that took place January 21st 2017. It is a peaceful organization committed to equality, diversity, inclusion, and the ideals that human rights are just that, human rights with no exclusions. The worldwide march had numbers reaching as high as 500,000 in Washington D.C and 16,000 in my home town of Nashville Tennessee. The march took place in all 50 states being the biggest peaceful protest in United States history. It did not stop there. There were marches in every continent. Yes, including Antarctica thanks to thanks to a group of scientist.

           The mission was not to spread hate; it was quite the opposite. It was a march for love, peace, and unity. During this past election, many came out feeling insulted and degraded by the face of our nation. This march was brought about to unify these individuals by allowing them to find that unity and peacefully express themselves while standing for their causes. It was created to recognize that our differences do not mean that we are the broken ones, and we will stand not separate, but together. This was not a cry for help, but a shout for justice for all of our brothers and sisters who may be negatively affected by Trump’s America. This march gave these outcasts hope that they do belong, they are loved, and that we the people will stand for their rights. We take on their causes as well as our own and we fight for them.

           Where do we go next though? The march is over, so what are the next steps in making our causes heard? The Women’s March has formed ten actions for the next 100 days, the first being writing a post card to representatives. Instructions on the www.womensmarch.com are asking their participants to write post cards expressing their concerns to their State senators, while voicing their causes and how they plan to continue to stand for their causes in the months that lie ahead.

           This is not the only way to be an active marcher. They also ask these individuals to get involved with their own causes like planned parenthood, women’s rights, gay rights, black right, Muslim rights, etc. By checking with current events in your community you can see what is already being done in your communities. This way you can begin to get involved in with other fellow marchers while getting to know one another, and peacefully organizing to stay active and persistent in the fight for equality.

The Women’s March website also allows you to sign up for emails. These emails are sent out to fellow marchers to keep them up-to-date, and allows you to stay tuned as the next nine actions are revealed.

           The issue that we face more often than not is the ideal that our issues are not as important as the next. The time for singular stances is gone. We need group effort to implement the change that we as Americans want to see. America is not one specific color, it is not one specific religion, it is not one specific belief system. America is a nation formed on immigration. A nation formed for the wellbeing of its people. We the people are not one, but many. When we allow our differences to route our actions, we will fail. If we use those differences to unite as a nation, what we can do as a people is remarkable

            America is known for our fighting of the injustice, but what is to be done when that very hate is within our own nation? The people are strong when they believe they are. Our votes our words and our opinion are meaningful. The government works for us, the people, not the other way around. If we want change, the time to demand it is now.

           Overall, no matter what your opinion on the march is, everyone can still show kindness. Ask a stranger how their day is, open a door for someone, give a smile to someone across the room. Be genuine and be pure. When we put aside our differences we often find out we have a lot more in common than we thought. Our love for one another is stronger than our hate, so let’s show it.

           Whether you agree or disagree, our message is pure and our march is for love. For the love of our nation, and the love of all of our brothers and sisters around the world. We marched for the right for all Americans, and our voices will be heard. This comes not from a place of hate, but a place of desperate love for our nation, this world, and all of its people.