A Single Act of Kindness
I’m with Her… and Her and Her
Lots of women are online today lecturing the women who marched in one of the Women’s Marches across the country. Apparently, lots of women feel the need to dictate to other women exactly how they should protest… even telling them not to feel happy about a peaceful march, insisting that the peace and joy the marchers experienced was all bogus because the crowd was “too white.” Lots of women are also lecturing other women about the best way to support minority women. Lots of women are judging and guilting and dismissing other women today… Is this really helpful?!
Sorry ladies, but you don’t get to define me. You don’t get to dictate what my protests look like. You don’t get to guilt me simply because I’m a middle class white woman. You don’t get to tell me what kind of sign to carry or hat to wear when I protest. You don’t get to dismiss me because I marched with a smile and didn’t scream in rage and burn shit. You don’t get to poo poo my commitment because I don’t protest the way you do.
I will choose when and how I take political action. I will choose when and how I speak out and act. It is MY choice, NOT YOURS!
✧
When one group lectures another about how to behave and how to feel, it sounds suspiciously like old patriarchal Bullshit to me – even when women do it to other women.
EVERY woman needs the space to take political action and express herself in the way that’s most appropriate to her WITHOUT being judged and lectured by other women – and that includes white women from the suburbs!
We won’t fix this mess by telling one group of women to shut up and stuff their feelings, their needs, their wisdom in order to serve another group of women who now take precedence.
We want change, right? Real change? That requires creating a space where ALL women can dialogue with each other and be heard with respect and love. That’s true inclusivity.
“The language by which we have been taught
to dismiss ourselves and our feelings as suspect
is the same language we use to dismiss and suspect each other.”
~Audre Lorde
Signs From the Front Lines
#Women’sMarchonDenver
Speak
“My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you.
What are the words you do not yet have?
What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day
and attempt to make your own,
until you sicken and die of them,
still in silence?
… And at last you’ll know with surpassing certainty
that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth.
And that is not speaking.”
~Audre Lorde
feminist poet
Piglet Wisdom
from Cornell Women’s Resource Center Facebook feed
Political Circus
“There must be some kind of way out of here,”
Said the joker to the thief,
“There’s too much confusion,
I can’t get no relief…”
~Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower
The Trump administration is like that magical car at the circus – the clowns just keep pouring out. Steve Bannon, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Mike Pompeo, Jeff Sessions, an Exxon CEO tossed in just for fun … That’s quite a Brain Trust you’re building there, Mr. Trump. These guys certainly wouldn’t be winners on Jeopardy – or Wheel of Fortune for that matter.
And now it appears that Vladimir Putin may actually be the Ringmaster of Donald’s three ring circus. When American banks refused to loan Trump another dime, he got the money he needed from Russian financiers. Now he is “servicing” his debt to Russia. Trump is our next president, and Putin owns his ass.
After years of being labeled the Evil Empire, Russia is now labeled “not that bad.” Ronald Reagan is twirling in his grave… A racist, sexist circus led by a Russian thug…
Trump Supporter: Oh come on! Putin’s not that bad!
Me: You mean as far as vile murderous thugs go, he’s ok?
Trump Supporter: um yeah…
✧
Truth is definitely stranger than fiction. Donald Trump has now made it cool to be stupid and uninformed. And he’s working on transforming Russia into our best friend. So much for truth and wisdom. Those of us who value education, fact checking and people who actually know what they’re talking about – well, we are all just so uncool.
Sorry Mr. Trump, but I’m putting my money on knowledge and truth. Your days are numbered. It’s only a matter of time before the Republicans realize their mistake.
#ClownTrump #NOTMyPresident
Hold to the Truth
Can you stand at the edge of fear and hold to the truth of who you are?
No matter how big the abyss of fear feels,
it is nothing in comparison to your truth.
When you truly know yourself, fear is merely a tool
that the Universe uses to get you to pay attention.
Stand strong.
~Robbie Warren, Otter Woman Standing