On Friday morning, Nov. 3rd, During rush hour in Chicago, local activist and sound engineer Malachi Ritscher doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire, by the millennium flame near the Ohio St. exit off the Kennedy expressway. He set up a sign that read: "thou shalt not kill" and also set up a video camera on a tripod and recorded the whole thing. (The videotape is with the police).
Longtime supporter and participant of the Chicago experimental music scene for many years, Malachi Ritscher was behind many live recordings for musicians in town and throughout the world. He kept up his savagesound.com page, a useful and comprehensive list of creative music events in Chicago. Perhaps more importantly, Malachi was an activist and vocal protester of political and social ills that stem from, but are not limited to, the Bush administration.
Here are some links:
his self-penned obituary: http://www.savagesound.com/gallery100.htm
and "mission statement": http://www.savagesound.com/gallery99.htm
a page documenting a recent arrest:
http://www.savagesound.com/gallery83.htm
There's also been some interesting discussion over on the Chicago Reader's website: http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/post-no-bills/2006/11/07/malachi-ritscher...
I've been haunted by thoughts of Malachi's actions all week. Having known him only peripherally (we wrote about his Empty Bottle skateboard decks in BAIL magazine), it's hard to understand these actions at a truly personal level. But simply that I've interacted on a few occasions with someone who would end his life in this way is haunting in a way I'm not very good at articulating.
I am just unable to understand the thinking that would lead to this end, and I'm saddened by the thought that someone might be able to come to the conclusion that the best thing to do about the war is to end their life. It wasn't. And it's not. That it has gotten so little attention by the media only makes the act even sadder.
Malachi had a meaningful life. I can't find meaning in his chosen ending.