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September 30, 2008
Kirsten Brydum, Rest in Peace
I first met Kirsten at the Really Really Free Market in SF. I remember she was wearing cowboy boots.
Years passed, and about 3 months ago I ran into her at a rooftop vegan communal meal here in Brooklyn. She told me she was traveling around the country, visiting activist groups and collectives. We figured out that we were both going to be at the RNC.
When I arrived in Minneapolis, the kind folks who let me stay with them, Jim and Corrina, said that another vegan would be staying at their house as well. It was the morning after my first night at their house that I woke up, took a shower, and came out to find that Kirsten had arrived. We laughed at the coincidence.
Over the course of the RNC, Kirsten and I grew to be good friends. We went to many of the demonstrations together and rode bikes around. I remember walking next to her in a march around the St. Paul Country Jail in support of all the people arrested. She kept staring at the fences and walls, and I asked her what she was looking for.
"I'm trying to figure out a weak spot to get in." She had an amazing glimmer in her eye at that moment, and such a strong heart.
Another time the police were heading our way, tear gassing and concussion grenading people, and she convinced some kids driving by in a car to let us in their car, thus saving us from potential arrest.
Though I did not know Kirsten for very long, it was easy to see how amazing of a person she was. We went to either the Hard Times Cafe or the Seward Cafe most every day for breakfast, and we spoke a lot. During our many discussions, some of them late into the night with our hosts and other friends, I was always struck by her clear intelligence, how she would take my arguments and point out the flaws, and then respond with her own theories that always made so much sense.
She had many plans for the future: she wanted to start a collectively owned restaurant, continue her work with the Really Really Free Market, and develop the Collective Autonomy Project, just to name a few.
She had so much to write and create, and it breaks my heart to think that she won't be able to go forward with the activism she was so passionate about.
It breaks my heart.
Rest in Peace, Kirsten.
Posted by bendan at September 30, 2008 05:17 PM
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Comments
So very sad. More links to information here:
http://themotley.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/kirsten-brydum-rest-in-peace/
Posted by: roger at October 3, 2008 10:41 PM
Thank you for writing this. Kirsten was my cousin, and we all are just reeling from shock. I'm currently studying abroad and can't be with my family at this difficult time, but reading others' memories of Kirsten and condolences is helping to ease the pain. Thank you for that.
Sunni Brydum
Posted by: Sunni at October 1, 2008 04:49 AM