In light of recent events…

Photo of our wedding by ? (family)

While perusing the Climate March posts on Twitter yesterday, I came across this:

I was proud and grateful to participate in the People's Climate March today! #LaudatoSi #ClimateMarch #NotAPaidProtestor #Mercy4Earth pic.twitter.com/Es8puAgpcU

— KimberlyAnnClare (@bonaventure99) April 30, 2017

Tonight, I played with words from the creator of one of the signs:

Blue Brick Texture By Beckas

Recrafted Words By Me

This is one of the signs hubs and I made for last weeks March for Science in Salem, Oregon…

And also used for the Climate March in Portland today. #RecycleResistance 

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After sitting with these words, put together in this way, an unexpected poem emerged.

“Not Silence”

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I hear the voices of people of color crying out to us white folks to get our people together and I absolutely want to make this happen.

Based on personal experience, to accomplish the task, we run across many issues with reaching white Americans founded in Fundamentalist religions.

I grew up in this white Fundamental Christian world, in a state white folks colonized with the goal of founding a white utopia.

I know these folks, have lived among them my entire life, and still try on occasion to reach out to them and bring them forward. But mostly I am at a loss.

How do we change the mind set of people that have a belief system not based in facts and logic? People that literally believe the Earth is ~6000 years old and/or climate change is a hoax. Those that lack, or don’t exercise their critical thinking skills.

How do we change the mindset of someone who verbally abuses and/or gaslights you whenever you try? When sometimes all you physically can do is run away from the interaction that trips all the triggers of abuse you grew up with.

How do we teach people who are uncomfortable with self-introspection, to take the time to critically examine and reflect on their own words and actions? And to reflect on the behaviors of people they consider leaders?

How do we white folk actually accomplish the great task of changing the mindset of our close-minded brethren? Is it even possible when they suspect any source that does not align with their belief system, as elite propaganda??

And most importantly, how do we hold white folks living in denial accountable, when they don’t even believe reality?

Maybe we don’t…

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The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present.

We must disentrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.

Abraham Lincoln — 12.01.1862

One of my goals for my 48th year on this planet is to reconsider and reflect on all the things our society, and myself in particular, consider “normal.”

The election of Trump has a lot of us wanting to make sure things we consider horrific don’t become “normalized.”

But what about all the other things that are part of our “normal” society already that should never have been “normalized”?

These words were swirling around in my head when I woke up this morning.

This has been/is my life for Fall 2015:

• teaching 16 credits at 3 colleges.  12 credits is FT in this part of the country, so I am basically working 1.33 FT status.
  • one college wants to arm campus security because of the UCC and other campus shootings, so I have been having to follow along and stand up for those of us who don’t want armed campus “police” in our safe learning spaces.
  • at another I am involved in a gender discrimination and general administration complaint.
  • at the third I am following/involved in getting a better contract for adjunct faculty.
  • I also logged over 23 hours of field time with students this term.  This figure does not include scouting field trips.
  • oh and I also flipped all of my classes!
• then there is JT falling apart: An Open Letter From Former Directors of Justice Together
  • a core group of us have come together to move forward.  Much love to the amazing individuals who have done more in less than 2 weeks than we ever did under the Justice Together (re-)brand.

Sooooo…yeah…lots of work to do!