AN OPEN LETTER TO MY FELLOW AMERICANS, WHO JUST HAPPEN TO BE BLACK

Dear Friends,

Ever since I saw the article on the newly opened National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery Alabama to memorialize all the African Americans that have been lynched I can't stop thinking about it. I've heard the 'protests' from white people in the south claiming that this memorial will only make things worse and dredges up old bad feelings from the past. I've heard people are denying that so many lynchings took place and I've heard them say that if the black people can have this then they should be able to have their Jim Crow era memorials to officers of the south during the Civil War.  

Personally I feel it's time we stopped behaving as if a segment of our country's history should be swept under the rug because it's uncomfortable for us white people.  It's my fervent belief, and it seems a tenet of life, that we can't change what we don't acknowledge and by acknowledging the crimes against black humanity of the past perhaps we can begin to change. Not only do we owe it to the black people in our country we really owe it to all people of color that the white European people who came here to find a new life have wronged, subjugated, robbed, raped, murdered and vilified over the last three centuries.  However, for the purpose of this 'rant' I will stick to African Americans and how I feel about the current situation in our country.

I have a feeling that most black people in this country truly feel as if they have no white allies or at least they have so very few as not to have any.  No one, especially in today's social climate, could blame people of color in this country for believing that they are still on their own after all this time. But they aren't. Just like most of us begin to feel as if only hateful and horrific things are happening in the world because of news media and what they choose to report on, I have no doubt that because of how strong and loud racial hatred is right now that many black people feel today as if all of white America hates them and wants to see them gone.  I'm here to say that this is simply not true. I feel very comfortable speaking for millions upon millions of white American's when I say that it's not true, that our fellow Americans who are black do have sincere and willing allies. I can at least speak for myself when I say that at least for me, it's simply not true and that I value you highly as a fellow human being.

I know that us white people don't always know the right thing to do or say to show our unwavering support of our black brothers and sisters. Sometimes no matter how much we want to show our support we fail miserably and I'm sure end up insulting black people as opposed to helping them feel that they have our support. I'm not asking for sympathy because it is our responsibility to learn how best to support and stand with black people. I will say however that for so many of us there's a learning curve and while we may not know how to best support and stand with people of color today, in the future we will get it; with the kindness, understanding, patience and tolerance of those who we want to exhibit our support for and full acceptance of.  But we need to understand that when we are trying and there is angst by those we seek to support in the black community that we must be patient as they may not be used to white people who are in full acceptance and support of them AND we may not be approaching it the best way possible in spite of our desire to be sincere and to be supportive. While the desire is there, sometimes the knowledge needed isn't. I'm not making excuses, but simply trying to relay to people of color that while we are imperfect we do want to be and do better.

I think what I'm trying to get at here is two-fold. First, that there are far, far, far, far more white people in this country who are understanding of  (or at least truly want to be understanding of) the prejudices, discrimination, dangers and obstacles that black people face on a daily basis and who truly do want to put an end to it than there aren't. That there are so many of us whites who sincerely do want total and truly equal equality for all peoples; socially, financially, educationally and opportunity-wise. That there are hordes of us who will treat you with respect as an equal human being. Second, that no matter how deep our desires to support and stand with people of color may be that we may fail at times and we may not seem to fully understand or be able to truly empathize with what it's like to be a black person in America today. For that we ask the African American community to have patience with us when it's obvious that we mean well, even if we aren't saying or doing things that appear to be helpful or supportive. I'm not asking for 'special treatment' or'privilege' but only for the understanding that we are here and we do want to include you in our society as true equals, as friends, as significant others, as valued co-workers, as neighbors, as fellow human beings of equal status and in high regard.

I know and understand that the African American community has been asked to be patient for over two hundred years. Wow, I can totally relate to how one might get really tired of and angry about being asked to be patient to get what all white people, privileged ONLY because our skin is white, get without asking for so damned long. I'm NOT asking anyone to be patient with having equal rights under the law and in society because no one has a right to ask you to be patient a single moment more. I guess what I'm saying is to please try to have patience with us white folks who see you as who you really are in all of your beautiful blackness and love what we see because you are other human beings who are deserving of love, respect, dignity, compassion, empathy and an equal place at the table AND that you are deserving of our voice to join with yours in the ongoing effort to achieve it all for yourselves.  We can, and we will, figure this thing out but the only way we will be able to figure it out is if we work together, if we choose to ally with anyone who sees us as equals and as valued beings in every way, shape and form.  

We got this, but we only have it if we work TOGETHER.

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For those of you who are interested please find this link to the website for the National Memorial of Peace and Justice: https://eji.org/national-lynching-memorial .

BE AS WOLVES - RESIST

If you know anything about wolves, you’ll know that they are pack oriented animals. They have leaders in their pack and every member born into or accepted into the pack has a specific role to play for the pack to be successful, to thrive and to survive.

 

Like wolves we, The Resistance, must become a pack. We must select our leaders based on their ability to be calm, rational, strong, persistent, knowledgeable, com- mitted, fair, assertive and even a bit aggressive when the situation calls for it.  We must follow the rules of the wolf pack in that we mustn’t follow unstable leaders. Wolves will not follow an unstable leader; a leader who’s ‘energy’ is erratic, lacks in self-confidence, treats others unfairly or is aggressive when it’s not required and will typically choose a new/better leader of the pack and will expel or in extreme situations will kill an unstable pack leader.

Well, we wouldn’t go as far as to kill anyone but we’ve got to make sure that those we follow in The Resistance are stable leaders who will lead us with dedication, commitment, confidence and calm rationality.  As for us pack members who follow these stable leaders it behooves us to remain calm, to be rational and to accept our position in the pack so it can be healthy, we can thrive and meet our goals.  We can’t accept, like any wolf pack, unstable members who cause disharmony and who are more disruptive than helpful. 

We need to be all in or all out so we can successfully make the changes in our government, and therefore in our lives as Americans, that we seek to make. We need to be calm, rational and assertive to get what we want. Our anger is fierce and for some of us our hatred is strong but if we are to be successful we must use that anger and hatred to fuel our calm, rational and assertive words and behavior; otherwise we will fall apart. We must be organized, like a pack, to hunt down our prey, politicians who seek to use us to gain wealth and power, so we must use our anger and hatred as fuel but not as our tools.  Our tools are facts, common sense, commitment to one another and to the greater good, fairness, compassion, empathy and even love. Yes, love. If we aren’t fighting to end hatred and discrimination, the opposite of which is love and community, then we should just stop right now and accept our fate as a country.  Rather than fight over who’s ‘god’ is the true one we need to make love our god and seek to serve love at every turn in this endeavor and onward into the future for the sake of ourselves, our children, our children’s children and beyond.

The United States of America has been a beacon of hope for the world for so long but today our beacon is not as bright and is in danger of being snuffed out.  We are the guardians of that beacon, we are the hope for our nation, we are the ones we’ve been waiting for and it’s up to us to form a community of humans dedicated to not only returning to being a beacon of hope for the world but to cause our beacon to shine brighter; so brightly that it embraces and encircles the globe pushing out dictators, regimes and the hate of war, prejudice, suffering, poverty and hate everywhere.

We must hold each other up, support one another and work together as a healthy wolf pack does. We must call on all ethnicity's, all religions, all lifestyles to come join us leaving no one behind that wants to live in a country/world where everyone is equal in every way possible and everyone thrives. Let us be as wolves, let us be noble creatures dedicated to the pack and its success. Let us, The Resistance, march on together until we have overcome our prey and taken back our country from those who seek to be autocrats rather than, like in a wolf pack, stable, calm and rational leaders.

We can do this.

We will do this.

OPEN LETTER TO THE NRA

It's very likely that this isn't the first, and won't be the last, open letter you at the NRA are going to get but here goes.  

This letter is specifically addressed to Dana Loesch who seems to make her living schilling for the NRA and levying threats against nearly the entire country; at least against anyone who doesn't support the NRA's terrorist-like hold on some of our elected public servants.

Dear Dana,

I've seen your little videos and I've got to say that nothing you say in them puts you personally in a very positive light or communicates that you are someone who is the least bit likable.  I've seen you threaten the mainstream media, Hollywood, teenagers and non-gun owners telling us all that our time is almost up. To be clear here it is you and the NRA who's time is almost up.  We aren't afraid of you. We may have kowtowed to the NRA in the past, with most of us believing that you are a HUGE multi-million member majority of people who all have guns and are ready to use them on the rest of us, but no more. 

The gig is up. We are AWAKE, we American's, and we know now that your measly little five million or so members aren't but a drop in the bucket to the approximately 326,766,748 people who currently reside in this country and I'm going to assume that at least two thirds of those are adults. We also know that you get your money not from your few million members but from gun and ammunition manufacturer's who send you to Washington DC to lobby on their behalf; to boost their gun and ammo sales.  We see that you lobby against even the most sensible and reasonable gun controls laws while you spread the propaganda that even the most inconsequential gun control law is the first step to taking everyone's guns away to people who quite honestly don't get out much into the wide wide world and who trust you as an information source.  We see how you bully your opponents, throw your money from your benefactors around and how you buy politicians.  We see all of that and while in the past we may have been intimidated by you, believing that you are too big for us to fight, we have been woken by a small group of calm and rational teenagers who will not be denied their right to be heard and to shape new legislation that will be designed to keep not only kids safe but the general public as well. We are no longer afraid of you and we are coming for you, for the NRA, with our votes to vote out those politicians who take your money are are owned by you.

Here's the deal girlfriend. WE are not just people who don't own guns. WE are people who own guns, who enjoy target shooting, who enjoy hunting ethically, who believe that any adult who chooses to be responsible with guns has the right to own them. WE are gun owners, gun lovers, former military people, hunters, mothers, fathers and we will no longer be intimidated by you, by your threats, by your rhetoric, by your politicians, by your measly few supporters or by your propaganda.

Let US, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, make this perfectly clear. You can threaten us all you want but they are empty threats by people who are running scared and we KNOW IT NOW so it is YOU who needs to know that your time is up.

Sincerely, 

The United States of America who respects the 2nd amendment and will keep it but who understands that assault weapons do not need to be owned by the general public.

THE RIGHT THING TO DO

These days, since Trump was elected and the GOP is in the majority, I have neither the time nor the inclination to argue points with conservative people who support Trump and the GOP's policies and their goals for our country. 

I think enough time has passed, since the inauguration, for all of us to see exactly what kind of goals the new administration has set for our country and what kind of policies they plan to implement.  Enough has already happened in Washington DC so that all of us have seen what the GOP plans to do while they are in the majority and how low they will stoop in order to see their wishes and desires done.  We've seen also that they have no problem at all voting on issues/bills exactly the opposite that the vast majority of their constituents, and even their supporters, want to see done in Washington.  

It appears, based on hundreds if not thousands of interactions with those who still support Trump, his regime and the GOP, that the general sentiment today is that we don't need or want any government programs to exist or be implemented that help people live a decent life. The general consensus seems to be, among the conservatives I've interacted with, that if someone isn't wealthy, or at least living comfortably, then that's their problem and if whoever isn't wealthy would just get up off of their lazy (and usually 'brown') asses all of their problems would be solved. So, now the GOP with Trumps new tax 'reform' has gifted the most wealthy, the most fortunate, in our country and has left anyone making less than $100,000 a year on their own without any support or even a hand up from the government.  This of course includes their plan to begin work to destroy Medicaid and Social Security, viewing both as 'entitlements/charity' even though those who will benefit PAID INTO IT, so that they can take even more programs and support away from those less fortunate in our country.

The greed is palpable as Trump, the GOP and Trumps base insist that not a penny of their taxes go to help anyone but themselves individually.  We can argue with them but they aren't going to change their minds, at least not until a 'program' that they need has been grossly underfunded or even eliminated and they are left with no option except to live in the streets. At that time, should it come, we can expect them to blame Obama, Clinton or all liberals as the cause for their misfortune. While for me, as a caring compassionate human being, I wouldn't wish homelessness even on those who would gladly take my Social Security and Medicaid from me in my future.

So based on my personal experience with most conservative people out there I understand that appealing to their better humanity won't work and only serves to make them even more hateful toward anyone who would remind them that having programs that help struggling people get on their feet, that help people with disabilities to live a decent life, that provide healthcare insurance to millions of children, that help people get a higher education, that act as a safety net to millions of people who would find themselves in the streets otherwise are NOT charity, are NOT making people lazy, are NOT coddling the weaker among us but are positively, absolutely the RIGHT THING TO DO as human beings.

In the end I sincerely hope that sooner or later those who today insist that their tax dollars are not to be used to help anyone with brown skin, anyone who isn't as well off as they are or anyone who needs a hand up to survive one day find within themselves that spark of humanity that today they seem to be ignoring. It's there. It's within each and every one of us. It doesn't some from god or some deity, it comes from being a human being and we all have it within ourselves.

I'M FREAKING TERRIFIED - SHOULD I BE???

I’m 63 years old. I was born smack dab in the middle of the ‘cold war’ between Russia and the U.S.  I grew up attending schools that held routine bomb drills suggesting that hiding under our desks would keep us safe should there be a nuclear attack which always seemed to be looming, imminent and inevitable.  Even though I was just a kid and grew up in an environment of ‘there might be a nuclear war any moment’ I don’t ever recall feeling afraid. It simply was what it was. It was normal to me and I don’t ever recall in my entire life feeling fearful about the impending doom of nuclear war. It would stand to reason that children raised in that environment would end up being paranoid types and just maybe that’s what happened to some people from my generation, but somehow it never happened to me.  Maybe those who support Trump are the remnants of those kids that did feel fearful about the impending nuclear attack by the Russians.  But somehow, they don’t seem to be afraid of the Russians anymore. The new boogeyman is Muslims; not just Muslim terrorists but it seems all Muslims are now the threat against our freedom, our way of life and our very lives. Oh, and the other boogeymen are Mexicans. Yes, the illegal ones but it seems as though the main point is that they are Mexican, they are here and some people don't want them here.

So, Trump was able to tap into that fear that may have been left over from the cold war and he gained support from people who truly believe that the Muslims are out to end our way of life while completely ignoring the FACT that the Russians waged a war against our democracy and looks like is winning that war without firing a single shot.  The very same people who as children feared Russia, the USSR, and nuclear attack today don’t seem to care what Russia does to us, the level of influence they have on our leaders or that they blatantly interfered not only with our election but may be in control of the president that didn’t win the popular vote but won the electoral college (and we really aren't sure to what extent the Russian's interfered or had influence in the election).

In addition, today we have the threat of North Korea which if Trump has his way will be in a war with us any day now. Today’s speech by Trump at the United Nations made it perfectly clear what his thought process on the situation is and what his intentions are. I am very hopeful that there are enough strong Americans in our military and who run the military to stand up to Trump and say, 'OH HELL NO!!!' when he demands that we attack North Korea.  Apparently, Trump is unable to understand that nuclear weapons are involved and that threatening to obliterate a nation that has nuclear weapons and is run by a dictator that appears to be somewhat mentally imbalanced (yes I'm talking about North Korea's leader here, not Trump) is not only risky it’s completely and totally reckless and foolhardy.  I don’t suppose Trump understands, or is even interested in, the fact that North Korea could fire missiles armed with nuclear warheads directly at us and could potentially strike in not at least Hawaii but the west coast of this country  BEFORE we ever get a single shot off. BUT something tells me that Trump would not only be willing to sacrifice the people in Hawaii and on the west coast but would be more than happy to rid himself of all of us ‘liberals’ who seem to be the only ones interested in keeping this country a democracy rather than allowing Trump to turn it into a dictatorship.

In the end, I have to say that being a person who grew up under the constant threat of nuclear war didn’t make me fearful then and didn’t turn me into a paranoid person expecting the worst from other countries around the world.  BUT today I can honestly say that for the very first time in my life I am afraid. I want to live. I want my children and their children to live. I want all of the people I love to live. I even want all of those who hate liberals and hate me because I’m a liberal to live. Believe it or not I even want all of the people who voted for Trump to live and yes even Trump too. 

I am afraid. I am afraid that something will happen, that North Korea will call Trumps bluff and that there won’t be enough sane people in Washington DC or at the Pentagon to stop Trump from killing all of us.  I sincerely hope that those who support Trumps approach to North Korea and who are now applauding his saber rattling and threatening rhetoric will remember that nuclear bombs don’t keep their radiation in one place and that they will not be safe from the fallout of a nuclear attack no matter where they may live.  I hope that they realize that Trump will be safe underground somewhere living in the lap of luxury compared to the rest of us who will have to survive out here. I sincerely hope that they are ready to die for their conservatism because it is going to kill us all if something or someone doesn’t do something about it and NOW.

CITIZENS OF PLANET EARTH UNITE: CLEARLY I AM AN IDIOT...

CITIZENS OF PLANET EARTH UNITE: CLEARLY I AM AN IDIOT...: Okay so I’m an idiot, a moron, or at the least an extremely naive person.  This I say because based on discussions with some others ...

CLEARLY I AM AN IDIOT...

Okay so I’m an idiot, a moron, or at the least an extremely naive person.  This I say because based on discussions with some others I certainly must be all of this and more to believe that we are one single species of a single origin with wonderful variety in culture, appearance and ethnicity AND that at some point we can act like it; act like a single species of a single origin.  I must be totally idiotic, moronic, naive and a bit insane to believe that these racial/cultural/ethnicity driven prejudices can be overcome, if not in our lifetime in some generation in the near or even distant future. 

I know that many share my naive moronic idiocy in regard to the issue of 'race' which if nothing else gives me great hope for the future of humanity.  But are there enough of us to make a difference today?  I guess that is the question of the century; how many people does it take to shift the paradigm so that unity becomes the norm as opposed to this hateful, unwavering and most often violent separation based on appearance, ethnic origin, skin color, religious affiliation, culture, sexual orientation and gender.

It is easy and for some supported by science/psychology to explain away the hate, the division, the need for judgement and subjugation.  Sure, if science/psychology says that all of this is simply human nature let’s go with that; let’s never make any attempt to change our nature as a specie, let’s just accept it as it is and never do our part in improving it for ourselves or for anyone else. After all, humans haven’t changed a smidge in our nature since we first walked upright, since we lived in caves, since we were hunter gatherer’s, since most of us believed the world was flat…we are just exactly the same now in every conceivable way as we were then, right?  So, let’s just all accept it as something we can’t ever change and hide in our little groups of similar people that make us feel comfortable without ever knowing anything about other groups except that they are different than us in some way and therefore are to be feared or at the very least hated.  That sounds logical, doesn’t it?  That sounds as if that’s a grand idea, isn’t it?  That'll make a world we all want to live in, won't it?  A real paradise to raise our children in where they are safe, are loved and find no prejudice don't you think?

Is my frustration obvious?  Does it seem as if I feel like giving up? Well, there are times when I absolutely feel like giving up.  Times like when I reach out to people who are different than myself and they accuse me of being a racist because I haven’t been fully, formally and properly educated about their history…so of course I can’t ask them questions, I can’t try to understand their position as humans and I can’t try to figure out how best I can support them as they go through their daily lives full of discrimination, hate, disrespect and attempted subjugation. 

Being white these days is becoming a burden in that so many that were born with white skin are seen as the enemy by some people of color due to the racist attitudes and actions of some whites who have gone before us. Because of those who believe they are superior by virtue of the accident of their birth of being white some people of color find it impossible to believe that any white person could ever understand them, be empathetic to what they’ve been through or support them. NOW DON’T, and I mean DO NOT, think I’m trying to garner sympathy for the burden of being born white, because I’m NOT. I completely and totally recognize and understand the unequaled privilege that sadly has come with being born a Caucasian human being in this world. I just know of no other way to express my frustration in being born white and being labeled along with the whites who don’t have a clue and who do behave poorly as being racist simply for not knowing, for not having been exposed, for not being NOT white.

Here’s the thing for me and I’m not kidding, not saying it to sound cool or loving or open-minded or caring or special or anything; I am a citizen of the planet Earth, a human being related to ALL other human beings, FIRST AND FOREMOST before I am a Caucasian, a woman, a wife, an American, an atheist, a pit bull advocate, a NASCAR fan, an animal lover or anything else that I might feel describes, even if only in part, who I am and what I am about as a human being.

I am NOT beating my own drum here. 

I am NOT bragging to be cool.

I am NOT trying to suggest that I am better than anyone else who might not feel as I do. 

I am NOT trying to garner admiration or even agreement. 

I AM just making the statement in the hope that some others will be inspired to give what affiliations in life come first and are most important to them some thought and perhaps to choose to put HUMAN at the top of the list and to LIVE day by day in their real life as if we are all related, of the same origin and ALL deserving of basic respect, a harmonious life and all that life has to offer.  Maybe I'm hoping to get those who feel the same as I do to live as if being human was far closer to their heart and to who they are at their core than being whatever their ethnicity is.

ONE HUMANITY

ONE WORLD