ShahidButtar.com / About me / My Highlights in 2008 /
2008 was a downright fantastic year. I'm building this list of reflections nearly a year after the fact, but below are the highlights that more resound in my memory.
In January, I got back from a factfinding investigation to Pakistan, where I'd been exploring the impacts of martial law declared in late 2007 with the support of the Bush administration. A work
opportunity offered a chance to move back to San Francisco in
February. I directed a national program combating racial &
religious profiling by counterterrorism authorities for a year. I got
to do some fun coalition organizing to oppose (in vain) an expansion in
the FBI's domestic surveillance powers, as well as write some federal
legislation restoring First and Fourth Amendment protections routinely
violated by federal officials at our nation's borders and airports. I
started playing capoeira in July, which has radically transformed my agility, exposed me to an entirely different kind of martial art than I've encountered before, added another dash of spice to my dance repertoire, and driven me to start exploring my inner B-boy. Moving back to SF offered an excuse to return to Black Rock City, where I wiled out for a week in August with the Garage Mahal crew. The week proved to be a completely different experience than I'd had there before, but was no less inspiring or amazing. I enjoyed several "firsts," any one of which have proven delightfully hard to forget.
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