Nancy here.

Joey is letting me have my annual pre-Ride edgewise say.

“Social justice” can be a buzz word thrown around to demonstrate support for the oppressed. Some people speak about it, others support a cause, still others devote their lives to it.

The latter is my Jeffrey. For more than four decades, Jeffrey has worked to help those who legally seek political asylum and have no one to speak for them in the American legal system.

We Americans like to brag that we are a nation of immigrants, but when push comes to shove, our rhetoric often doesn’t match our actions. There have been so many times (even now!) when America has closed its borders despite the law of our land requiring us to take those with a well founded fear of persecution.

Jeffrey likes to do things his way, which means talking to people about America, immigration, and asylum, one-on-one, up close and in person, while traveling by bicycle. Preferring to preserve deniability, Jeffrey bikes with a one pound kangaroo puppet whom he androgynously named Joey (how original!) to be his mouthpiece. You get the picture.

This is the 13th annual Ride for Human Rights. It’s a big ride this year, with many miles of ups and downs. Record snowfalls line the mountain passes in Utah and Colorado where Jeffrey will start out.

It would be normal for anyone to be nervous, even me! Somehow, our Eagle Scout manages to go the distance, raise money and awareness on behalf of Human Rights First, and come home safe and sound. I’m counting on it again this year.

I hope you will join me in wishing the love of my life, Mr. Jeffrey (as some of his clients call him), a bon voyage with a note to him personally or on the blog, and a donation to the cause.

Roll on, cyclists! Come back safe. Love, Nancy