Hi All,
A few of us have been discussing ways to honour Darren in the Bike!Bike! community. Certainly, our continued work on issues of white supremacy and racism are of critical importance, and Darren’s call to ensure those issues are centred is a valuable reminder of that. Our ultimate tribute to Darren, to our community and values, will involve our commitment to tangible work on white supremacy, and perhaps that is something to be discussed in the planning stages of B!B! Tijuana and at B!B! itself, though I know there is work going on continuously as well.
In the meantime, and in order to honour Darren within the B!B! community more immediately, we have had the idea to make a dedication poster for him. B!B!ers know the excitement that comes from having each year’s poster arrive at our shops – it spurs the formation of travel plans and workshop development, and it’s a reminder that we get be together again in the near future. It puts distant friends and loved ones in touch, and invites new folks into our community. In that spirit of excitement and togetherness and love, we’d like to make a poster for Darren in the style of an annual bike!bike! poster, and send it out to members of the B!B! community.
We will put the poster together (unless anyone else desperately wants to do that part?), but we need to know what friends and loved ones of Darren think it ought to include. We invite folks to contribute stories, pictures, and general input on what you think represents Darren and his contribution to the B!B! community.
If you wish to receive a copy of the poster, please send your mailing address to lauren.warbeck@gmail.com and we'll send one out once they are printed.
On Sun, Jan 20, 2019 at 5:14 PM Caleb Evenson caevenson@gmail.com wrote:
Thank you for the write-up, Josh.
I met Darren at Portland's Food Not Bombs in 2009. At the time he recommend I volunteer at Bike Farm. Nobody else did until my return to Portland in late 2011 when my friend Calvin was volunteering there. Bike Farm gave me hope for humanity, hope I'm not sure I would have gained, because I'm not sure I'd have volunteered without the association of Darren and memory of him to Bike Farm, despite my barely having gotten to know him.
In 2013 I toured with Darren (and Momoko) to the 2013 B!B!. After that 3.5 weeks, I also stayed in NOLA, though only for two months. I was then a restless person with the perception of re-entering society after a year isolating myself on the parents' farm. He was a constant source of patience, support (mental, emotional, and material), and guidance, even when I gave him reason to be displeased. Friends closer to him made clear he was dealing with much personal struggle at the time, but that didn't keep him from looking like a constant force of love.
Knowing what impact he had on me in such a short time, I'd say the world suffers great loss with his passing. But at least we can be thankful to have had him with us, and we can continue being inspired by him. ____________________________________
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