Ascend in love is the the enduring theme in my civil rights activism and the essence of my books, particularly LAVA LOVE ! - With Heart and  Art We Connect, Rebel, and Create.  The rebellions of my first two decades were based in hurt, anger, and frustration triggered by the fear-guilt-shame inculcation of fundamental religion, the bullying of older brothers and others, and the crude, rude wastelands of prejudice and war.  Still I survived by respecting myself and life enough so as not to retaliate by targeting our Midwest hunting guns on my brothers, or others, for a "final solution" kill.  Rather than pile upon the already dead and nearly so, I drew, painted and wrote journals about the happier, healthier life I envisioned and manifested instead.  After being a conscientious objector of the Vietnam War, cutting sugar cane in the first Venceremos Brigade to Cuba, printing for the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and LGBT liberation, and helping fellow Gay Liberation Front members organize NYC's first pride march, I increasingly utilized performing, visual arts and literary arts to demonstrate love's alternatives to lives lost in fear and hate.  The photo below is from Hilo's first Pride Parade, for which I was honored to be grand marshall.