While revisiting my last post, I became aware of what is a common conundrum for people of color, Jews, Natives, those with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. How are we to tell what is a microaggression, and what is simply an eddy in the swirl of social interaction? My brief conversation with Dr. Spitz took … Continue reading After the Conversation
Today is Mothers' Day in the U.S., and the weather has turned warm enough for me to go barefooted in the house. The afternoons are even warm outdoors. This morning Jennie began putting in our kitchen garden. Even as we welcome this time of growth and the promise of abundance, I am troubled by events … Continue reading Caring for Our People and Our Mother, The Earth
Perhaps the speaker himself did not notice his erasure of our collective history. After all, our national zeitgeist, like that of a trauma burdened family, is to move forward, forgetting the past as soon as possible. Microaggression is subtle, riding beneath normative cultural messages, and stealthily attacking the hearts and souls of it's targets. Microaggressions do not only harm their intended targets, but, over time, also deaden the souls of their users. In the end, everyone is harmed.
Dreaming the World 