Pat Davis

Pat Davis
Location
Great Falls, Virginia,
Birthday
February 25
Bio
I am a writer and activist living on the outskirts of Washington, DC. My articles have appeared in The Nation and Hispanic magazines and my poems and translations have been published in Poet Lore, Wordwrights, New Laurel Review, Potomac Review, Salt Hill, Puerto del Sol, and the anthology Cabin Fever. With torture survivor Sister Dianna Ortiz, I co-authored The Blindfold's Eyes, published in 2002. For many years, I worked at the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA as communications director and eventually as interim executive director. I've recently started writing plays. "Alternative Methods," my first full-length play, deals with the ethical struggles a pscyhologist faces while working on an interrogation team in Iraq. It's gotten a couple of readings in New York. Anyone out there with ideas on how to get this produced, feel free to pass along your wisdom. Nearly two years ago I became a mother and have learned more about myself and life in those two years than in all my previous decades. I love Open Salon--I love reading the posts, being invited to think about things, and having some shared discourse.

MY RECENT POSTS

MY RECENT COMMENTS

Pat Davis's Links

Salon.com
MAY 22, 2011 11:33PM

"Ruined" is a tour de force

Those of you who have seen this play already know that "Ruined," by Lynn Nottage, is a tour de force.  I almost missed the play--I almost didn't go.  Missing it would have meant missing a pivotal experience, one that has changed my understanding of what contemporary, politically informed th… Read full post »

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JANUARY 13, 2011 9:58PM

Check under the Hood

For the first time on Tuesday I engaged in civil disobedience, standing outside the Justice Department with a group of 60 others who were willing to risk arrest.   We wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods.  We were doing our best to make visible the 173 detainees still at Guantanamo, t… Read full post »

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AUGUST 3, 2009 1:51AM

More Dead in Honduras

Roger Abrahim Vallejo has died.   Shot in the head by Honduran police on Thursday, he was a high school teacher who recently had married and become a father.   He slipped into a coma and died on Saturday morning.

el_durazno 

On Sunday, as he was returning home from Vallejo'… Read full post »

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AUGUST 1, 2009 12:44AM

Aren't You Sick of Hearing About the Repression in Honduras?

It's been all over the news in the last two days.  The police shot a protester in the head in Honduras, injured 26 more, made mass arrests, beat journalists.  What?  Did you miss the four-sentence blurb in the New York Times? 

A fuller report, published on Friday by th… Read full post »

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JULY 8, 2009 7:34PM

So Who Cares About Zelaya?

An op-ed in the http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/opinion/07Marin.html?_r=1&emc=eta1/"> New York Times on Monday, written by Honduran journalist Roger Marin Neda, suggests that nobody in Honduras does or should care whether ousted president Manuel Zelaya returns to finish out his term. &n… Read full post »

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JUNE 26, 2009 11:51AM

Open letter to those we have tortured

To all who have suffered illegal detention, inhumane treatment, and torture at the hands of our government: We, as US citizens, are deeply sorry for the suffering our government caused you and your loved ones.  You were treated unjustly, in violation of international law.  Our apology will/… Read full post »

7 Comments
JANUARY 16, 2009 1:24AM

Red Cross Hospital and Red Crescent Warehouse Shelled

A few other, um, mistakes.    

500 huddled inside Gaza hospital after Israeli strike: Red Cross


Doctors and paramedics evacuate patients from al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza City late on January 16, 2009. Hundreds of people, including sick and wounded patients on stretchers and w… Read full post »
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JANUARY 3, 2009 5:33PM

My relationship to the dead in Gaza

In recent days Israel has intentionally bombed government ministries in Gaza, a television station, university buildings, and a number of mosques.  The UN estimates that one out of four of the dead in Gaza are civilians.  Are they collateral damage or deliberate targets?  In a December… Read full post »

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Editor’s Pick
OCTOBER 16, 2008 6:56PM

The Insidious Plot of the Talking Dolls

 A new doll that coos and gurgles and says Mama is "spouting hate," as Fox news puts it.  The hateful words people have heard in the baby doll's gurglings: "Islam is the light."  People believe she is saying "Satan is King," as well, which Fox reports but does not try to… Read full post »

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2008 6:24PM

Prosecutor Says Military Tribunal Supressed Evidence

A man arrested in Afghanistan when he was 16 or 17 is facing a life sentence at the hands of a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay.  Two days ago, one of the prosecutors in the case resigned, saying his superiors were withholding evidence that could prove the man's innocence. … Read full post »

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