Sunday, June 6, 2010

Perfect Day by Naseem Rakha

Author and former NPR reporter Naseem Rakha has made a short film about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. She sent out an email this morning:


Sleepless Night
 
I can't sleep. When I close my eyes I see oil seeping from the skin of the Gulf. I wish I could blame. I wish I could say, see there Sarah Palin, this is you, your thinking, your mess. You and people like you chanting "Drill Baby Drill," with no thought to consequences. But it isn't her fault. It is everyone's. Everything around me is derived from petrochemicals. It is in my food, my medicines, my furniture, my shoes, my glasses, the fillings in my teeth. And if it is not in it, it came to me using those same cast off carbons, waylaid deep in the earth creating a sludge so rich and thick we were convinced it was our salvation.

All this is to say, I am complicit. I am part of the problem. I am guilty, and I don't know what to do.

Yes, I know BP was careless. In my mind, criminally so. Yes, I know energy corporations are  ravenous and that the revolving door that passed for "regulation" did nothing, what so ever, to protect the waters, the wildlife, the communities and livings that all depend on the Gulf.

But I also know there are more than 4000 oil rigs in the Gulf. 4000.

We allowed this to happen.

So, in the  midst of my sleepless night, I made a film, and I hope you will watch it, and then distribute is widely. It is only about 3 minutes long, and it comes from the saddest part of my heart. 
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch the film. 
 
Sincerely,
 
Naseem signature
Naseem Rakha



 I love Naseem's short films. Please check out a Perfect Day and also, if you get the chance, watch her film The Sands of Oman and that for her thought-provoking book, The Crying Tree. A link to Naseem's website has been in my Passel of Riches list for quite some time. I have great respect for her work.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you Marzie-a very moving film which brought tears to my eyes-I just got back from the Gulf. It will destroy your soul to see the destruction and death.

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