Be quiet evil queen!
No blog about a westerner traveling between worlds would be complete without thoughts about…
Why is there ‘whitening body wash’ in the bathroom? That’s right… I said body wash… not toothpaste. Teeth are supposed to be white. Only teeth.
Really… whhhyyyyyy!
What is wrong with just cherry blossom? And what is wrong with the world?
When in doubt about things that seem much bigger and beyond me… I just look to lessons in nature… which includes us.
I have noticed that nature only survives and thrives in diversity.
And every bird has its song, and they just sing it! I don’t think they are thinking ‘Oh I don’t know, I’m shy, my song doesn’t sound as sweet as that other bird’s song.’
In this picture, I am in Mexico in front of the widest tree in the world, which people come from all around to worship. I don’t think anyone is thinking ‘Eeew, that tree is so old and fat’.
Enough said.
Ok, maybe not enough said.
I don’t know how to do justice to the issue of dismantling hate and racism, but I will try, because we all should be having that discussion and learning and listening all the time.
So why is there whitening body wash in the bathroom?
Well, to make a long history short…
Western white culture – call it capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, insert any ism you can imagine – controls much of the world… and they are convincing people it’s because they are better and more beautiful, but it’s actually because…
They have one thing over others… and it’s not a lack of melanin… it’s that they have had the ability and willingness to kill and influence and intimidate and steal from a lot of people.
I’m not saying that we white people are responsible FOR this, but we are responsible TO the systems of power and privilege and oppression that are still in place that we are a part of and participating in and benefiting from. Though while western white countries and cultures have the most power in the world, they tend to have the most disempowered people, and that is a recipe for disaster. In other words, we are a mess and are making a big mess. The good news is that we have the opportunity to heal this shit in ourselves and in the world. And that is really good news!
So what do we do?
I don’t know. I just want to curl up and cry and crawl into my perfect picture of a picnic with bears wearing prairie dresses… though while we were hanging the picture my friend pointed out that I would fit into it and he wouldn’t… and now I hope it rains and ants come and raid the picnic… and I don’t want to be at a picnic without him… and I don’t want to be my friends enemy… and I don’t want to hurt anyone or for anyone to hurt my friends again. I want to be in a world with room for many worlds… where love is enough.
This makes me sick, and it is a sickness, and it is contagious.
The only thing worse than white guilt must be…
Not being white and having to deal with daily discrimination.
So really what do we do?
Well, we are all gardeners and get to choose which seeds we water and grow. So let’s feed the seeds of unconditional love and understanding and compassion and care and respect. And pull up the weeds. And compost the shit. And eat the snails. Maybe this metaphor has gone too far, but you get it.
So seriously, you don’t have to listen to me, but please do listen to your heart and to people with different perspectives than you. Listen, learn, love, and garden like your life depends on it, because some people’s lives do.
As Angela Davis said, ‘In a racist society, it’s not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.’
And it’s true that none of us are free until we are all free, so let’s lift each other up and sing each other free.
This poem is for people who are blind to true beauty… I hope you can see again.
Someone’s gotta say it
You put the bully in bullshit
That you spit from your belly so hungry begging to be full
And your heart so hardened and cruel
And your head so empty it’s let in the fool
That is one big ego to feed
From a plate that breeds hate and greed
Where the more you eat the more empty you’ll be
Choking on the bones of bigotry
While your hatred consumes the sacred
What are you thinking
Do you think you’re drinking the holy water
You’re just a vampire feeding on other people’s power
A coward who has gone blind
Afraid of what you may find if you open your eyes
A pied piper singing a sad song of rage
Playing people to their demise
A broken bird building a broken cage
And I know why the caged bird sings and cries
Let freedom ring and flags fly
Under one sun
Under one sky
We are all human beings
And have to sing each other free
And seek the sacred and awaken
To the answer that lies deep inside
Our hearts and our minds
Our true word
In our divine birds begging to be free and fly
#Why you gotta be a hater