Some of you may remember Jen, a sex worker in her 30’s in Portland Oregon who startled much of the world by lying down naked in a yoga position in front of combat-clad federal agents while they fired rubber bullets at her feet and drew blood.
Maria just put her Naked Athena magnets up on her Etsy shop, they are 3×4 each and cost $6 plus $1 shipping for one or more. A portion of each sale – $2 – will be donated to Black Lives Matter.
Maria’s increasingly popular magnets have joined her potholders and hanging pieces and collage as new forms of expressing both her art and her values.
The demonstrators and moms in Portland won a significant victory over federal intrusion into their city, but at a high price in violence on both sides.
Scores of agents were injured by flying objects, explosives and laser beams and hundreds of protesters were gassed, hit with rubber bullets and batons, kicked or arrested by agents ordered into Portland by Donald Trump to “dominate” the city and save it from Democrats and mysterious and anonymous anarchists.
It was an awful idea to send those agents into a city where they were not wanted or needed. Trump was politicizing the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, I was uplifted by the mostly peaceful response of the protesters.
The media gave “Naked Athena” that name, but her real name is Jen, and she said she took off her clothes and lay down in front of a phalanx of federal police in camos and Star Wars helmets.
She wanted to show the agents that she was human, as were they.
It was an ugly conflict all around, and disturbing to many beyond Portland. More than 40 of the demonstrators were arrested, some by agents driving around in unmarked cars who refused to identify themselves.
It was a profoundly dangerous confrontation between U.S. citizens and Homeland Security elite forces.
The militarization of government agents was frightening, and so was the physical violence directed at them. Jen and the moms and the other protesters won, and in the process, gave democracy a boost.
I heard Jen on a podcast and was impressed. She said she just wanted to make the point that the agents firing bullets at her were human, and so was she, beneath all of the gear.
One of the bullets drew blood and she pointed to the agent who fired so he would know what he did.
She was then ignored, and not arrested. It took a lot of courage and poise to do that. She surprised herself by taking her clothes off but said she had no regrets.
Maria was touched by Jen’s story and is selling magnets (originally sketched on her corona kimono, a work in progress recording life under the pandemic.
You can see her Etsy Shop here.
These are the details for seeing and buying a magnet, from Maria:
My Naked Athena Magnets are 3″x4″ and are for sale in my Etsy Shop. You can buy them here. They’re $6 each + $1 shipping for one or more. I’ll be donating $2 from the sale of each magnet to Black Lives Matter.
I wonder how you would feel if it were a business of yours that was burned to the ground leaving you without money to pay your mortgage, feed your family, etc. These criminals are going into the neighborhoods now. How about if Antifa showed up at your door and threatened you or Maria? Or it went beyond threats? Would you be reasonable under those circumstances? I know, you could hand them a copy of this post, and tell them what a “win for democracy” this is before they take a baseball bat to your skull.
Emilie, have any of these things happened to you? Do you know anyone from the Antifa? Have you ever met one? Just curious. Has anyone hit you on the head with a bat or burned our business to the ground? It’s a long and grim list there…I would love to compare death threats with you, any day of the week..
That was quite a defection, and led me to believe you never even considered any of the many people whose lives have been destroyed because they happen to be located on the Antifa riot route. For someone who preaches compassion, care, and empathy, that is a rather glaring omission to your grasp of the current situation. I’m probably not as smart as you are, but I think they call that hypocrisy.
Emilie, you have no idea what I have or have not considered, since you didn’t bother to ask.
If you had read my pieces you would know I’ve mentioned the violence committed by the demonstrators many times – almost every time. That’s precisely what made Portland so dangerous. And you avoided my questions, of course, doing the usual left-right snarking, another U.S. pandemic.
I”m sure you are every bit as smart as I am, I never assume people are stupid because they disagree with me. And I never make assumptions about what they are thinking without asking them. I get to say what I think, not you.Your opinion is as good as mine.
I don’t need to call you uncaring or hypocritical because we see some things differently. I’m sorry you feel the need to name-call in your posts. Perhaps one day you can try it without that, since you care so much about empathy and compassion. Or is that selective with you? I’d like to see some in your messages.
Best to you.