Summer 2018, Issue #92; Editor’s Note

Hello Readers,

I am writing this note to you while sitting in my favorite rusty lawn chair, parked in the middle of my flower bed, Pacific Northwest Style, in full bloom.

I am filled with gratitude and more than ever, as our social and political systems are under increased pressure, I am acutely aware of my place of privilege as a white woman in our society.

LILIPOH has always had the impulse of a resistance magazine. Anthroposophic doctors struggle to have access to their preferred remedies because of FDA restrictions and the pharmaceutical industry’s influence and control over our US government regulatory systems. We have published consistently about the concerns of over-vaccinating children. Our biodynamic farmers are creating new systems of agriculture outside of the corporate control of the agro-chemical dominated, industrial farming complex. Camphill communities stand up for the rights of the developmentally disabled. Waldorf education parts ways with mainstream education when it comes to early childhood academics, use of electronic devices in home and school, and standardized testing.

As a publication, we care about healthy childhood development and we stand with the The American Academy of Pediatrics on the family separation crisis at the US/ Mexico border when they say: “Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians — protecting and promoting children’s health. This sentiment cannot be reiterated strongly enough: Pediatricians stand unanimously in support of all children, and oppose any and all practices that result in the separation of families.” (The Hill, July 5, 2018)

A Waldorf mom in my community decided to take action. She and her colleagues partnered with Northwest Immigrant Rights Project to start a bond and re-unification fund for the hundreds of parents who are currently detained in Washington state.

Here is their website along with two other resources to support and learn from:

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project: www.nwirp.org

RAICES: www.raicestexas.org

American Civil Liberties Union: www.aclu.org

Please keep calling your congresspeople, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice, every day, demanding reunification and an end to this practice.

Make sure you are registered to vote and that your voter registration is current!

We all need to step up and do more for marginalized populations and leverage our privilege to help and uplift others. Donate, volunteer, educate others.