Janelle Gray's Blog, page 5

Whānau: Good as Gold

Editor's note: "Whānau" is the Maori word for "family." The artwork displayed is the work of the writer. Check below to see more of her work and order your own piece.At what stage does a new place in the world become your home? For many who have made New Zealand their new home, that question was answered one Friday afternoon.From what I’ve heard, from friends and stories online, it was just another busy Friday in town. People went to work, kids went to school, and Muslims went to pray, as is customary for them on a Friday. As visitors enter the mosque, it is customary to greet them. For one man, reports have said that those were his last words. “Welcome brother,” he said to the man with the weapon. Then, he was killed.I won’t recount that day — of the news reports flooding in, the numbers of the dead growing and growing, the injured growing. The story of what happened there isn’t mine. But, I can tell you what it was like living in the capital of New Zealand for over 10 years, and how it all changed in a day.I was in college in Texas when 911 happened, and we watched the world change. When I first arrived in New Zealand back in 2005, I remember thinking that in some ways it’s like going back to the 80s. Everyone knows each other. So much is based on the honor system. The idea that people are generally good and do good by each other is just assumed. And kiwis (New Zealanders) live up to that. They have a saying "good as gold," which has similar meaning to "right as rain."And to me it's so apt because kiwis are good as gold. They're a rare breed of society — uncourrupt and full of goodness. Try tipping a kiwi waitstaff, and they’d laugh at you and hand you back your money. Lose your wallet in town, and it’s most likely going to be returned, money in tact (I’ve tested that one a time or two). Try looking at a police uniform for a gun, and you wouldn’t find it. Police didn’t carry guns.They do now. Almost overnight, the capital changed. Sure, some of the things I listed previously changed a bit over time (some places have tip jars now), but security and armed guards changed over night. Given all that change, though, there’s still an attitude that New Zealand used to address this tragedy that really sets it apart — one thing I have yet to see elsewhere in the world, and it makes me proud to live here: no notoriety. Our prime minister lead the dialogue that we focus on the victims and survivors, not the evil human who did this. Many don’t know his name, but they do know the names and stories of the many killed. The man streamed his rampage, but we aren’t watching it. I say we, because as I said before, I now know when a new place becomes your home. When you see it at its worst and you’re filled with nothing but pride.For more artwork by Elaine, click here.

Social Justice Burnout

Our inaugural live show is in the books! It was a complete success thanks to the sponsors, donors, panelists, and a great live audience. There was so much great advice that I know you'll want to listen twice!In this episode of Echoes on air!, Janelle and Chris Silverberg talk with therapists Brittanie Gray, Anna Kim, and Jimmy G. Owen about the importance of self-care and how to recognize signs of burnout while fight for social justice and equality.Find us at:iTunes - Click HereGoogle Play - Click HereSpotify - Click HereFind our therapists at:Brittanie Gray - Psychology TodayAnna Kim - www.wefixbrains.com/oakcliffJimmy G. Owen - Psychology TodayArticlesHow to Sustain Your ActivismSelf-Care Strategies for Survival: Sustaining Oneself in Social Justice MovementsHelpful WebsitesMurphy ShigematsuBooksBraving the Wilderness by Brené BrownThe Power of Vulnerabilityby Brené BrownEmotional Resilience: Simple Truths for Dealing with the Unfinished Business of Your Past by David ViscottDon't forget to check out our sponsors and donors

Trouble Called Peace

Editor's note: This is an essay submitted to a course titled "Is the Civil War still being fought?" at Harvard Extension SchoolI write. My spirit, my human, my existence is wrapped up in pen and paper, thought and blank canvas. I have great respect for words and acknowledge the power in their dispensation. Because of that, I sometimes cower at the responsibility of it all.In a 2008 acceptance speech, Toni Morrison talked about the role a writer has. “Writers are trouble,” she said. “Writers...these people disturb the social oppression that functions like a coma on a population, a coma despots call peace." Perhaps these words spoke to me because I am a writer whose focus is often on social justice and social consciousness. I’m an essayist, blogger, and podcaster who treats the themes she places in the care of writers.I didn’t realize it at the time, but when I created the blog, it was my invitation to a space that others might not enter. This issue has three components. First, people lack access to or the comfort to access spaces inhabited by people who are dissimilar to them. Some of that is the work of the individual. Comfort is the enemy of change, and, if you’re looking to make change, it will involve a heavy amount of discomfort. Once you’ve accepted that, you have to know how or where to enter these spaces. That part may be on those who live in the spaces oft un-visited.I’m not ashamed to admit that I have a precarious relationship with that responsibility. On one hand, I feel like it is not my job to make others feel comfortable in my world when my discomfort is often dismissed in theirs. Anything outside of how I would normally behave is inauthentic. But at the same time, how can wish people had a better understanding of my world without showing it to them? As Morrison did in “Romancing Slavery” from The Origin of Others, I have to ask myself the question: “How do you make it safe to enter...Black Space.”The last part is the part that causes more anguish than I think we are prepared for and requires much of both parties. Those in the unfamiliar territory need to feel free to act as they normally do. This is not a thing that happens often. The double consciousness that W.E.B. Dubois spoke of is alive and well, and I believe it’s referenced even in Morrison’s concept of “othering.” They both speak of seeing one’s self through the eyes of others.For that reason, I often speak differently when around more White people than Black. There is pressure to look and act a certain way in front of “company” as if we have something to prove. Clearly, this is something that was handed down through generations because you see it in Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the exact passage used by Morrison: “Can’t ye be decent when White folks come to see ye?” Changing this behavior requires honesty that is revolutionary. It requires people to let go of the fear of being other’d and embracing that difference.In this same example, however, you must consider not only how Black people act when White people are in this space or how White people are treated when they’re in the space, but also how White people allow themselves to be treated. In this same passage, it’s clear that Master George allowed himself to be full; he allowed himself to be treated differently. In this respect, how Black is the space he’s inhabited if he’s treated no differently than when in a White space? The onus is on us all at that moment. But what happens when people leave the unfamiliar place?Once you’ve been to these spaces, it’s your responsibility to not only tell of them as you witnessed them but to invite others who experience it to tell it as well in order to provide context. Professor Stauffer talked of empathy and the beliefs of Kara Walker that empathy could be a danger - narrowing the chasm of differences and homogenizing experience. That is a danger. Because to feel a foreign concept, I have to create a situation that is isn’t foreign to me. The problem is saying, “because I understand the feeling, I, therefore, understand completely the situation.” Therein lies the trouble. Instead of understanding that leads to change, we end up participating in the Oppression Olympics, fighting over which marginalized group has it worse instead of recognizing that we just have it differently.I don’t have a solution to this. After reading “Romancing Slavery” four times and listening to various speeches she’s given, I’m not clear that Morrison does either. But, she does entreat us writers to continue to disturb the peace and wake the community from its coma. “Romancing Slavery” is not just about making a horrible institution pretty and digestible. It’s about how we romanticize our involvement by accepting our comfort as a lack of conflict rather than an abundance complacency.Sure, as a writer, I enjoy telling stories of whimsy: those of comedically timed and ill-fated relationships, of a pull to journey and encounter self, or of dysfunctional family and friendships. But oftentimes, my greater desire is to do what Toni Morrison calls writers to do: to be a threat to despots. I want to trouble the waters and awaken the masses by using literature to shine a light on the truths that oppression hides in stereotypes and assumptions. I want to write something that causes scholars to debate, as they do with Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the author’s own fallacies. I want to be unafraid to display my own ignorance because that would mean people are awake and vigilant and thinking. I want the truths I tell to cause so much trouble that the poisons of racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and discrimination are exposed and released. I want to cause so much trouble that trouble would then be called peace.

SMU Civil Rights Pilgrimage

Echoes Media wouldn't exist without the SMU Civil Rights Pilgrimage. In this episode of Echoes on air!, Janelle tells you why then she and Chris Silverberg talk with Ed Gray, Jennifer Hudson, and Jonathan Norton about the importance and impact of chasing history and how the SMU Civil Rights Pilgrimage continues to shape how they interact with present-day social concerns.Find us at:iTunes - Click HereGoogle PlaySpotify The following links are articles about the SMU Civil Rights Pilgrimage.Dr. Dennis Simon Civil Rights PilgrimageLearn more here: SMU CRPTeaching Tolerance: The Civil Rights Movement: Why now?Remember Black DallasAlso check out:Penny Candy by Jonathan NortonShow/Ticket InfoAllSparklyandShitEd Gray and The Commish Radio ShowThe Echoes Youtube Channelalso has great videos of various Black history moments and documentaries mentioned during the podcast.This episode is dedicated to the memory Dr. Dennis Simon who lead the Civil Rights Pilgrimage for years and whose spirit continues to inspire people to make change. Without him, this podcast would not have happened.Don't forget to RATE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE!Create hope. Forge a path. Change the world.

They don't know our culture exists

I don’t know what my culture is called. My family moved from Finland to the States when I was an adolescent, but calling it Finnish-American doesn’t sit right. I can’t tell you what it is called, but I can tell you its norms. In this culture, we think twice about who is going to drive because not all friends have papers. U.S. citizenship doesn’t mean arrogant membership in a chosen group, but rather, freedom of movement. You can finally go back and see your grandmother. No legal documents keep you fulfilling residency requirements. It becomes easier to marry the person you want because you have the immigration status to sponsor them. In my culture, the 35-year-olds have spent fifteen years hashing and rehashing sexual boundaries and liberties. We are answering our own questions that we had at fifteen, at twenty, and telling our younger and present selves, you weren’t sensitive, you were right – that sexual culture was wrong. We save up our cavities for the good people at University Hospital to practice on, because even on a good day when you’ve got health insurance, have you ever looked at dental insurance? I mean truly. We need jobs to afford rickety cars, but we can’t get to the job without first having the rickety car. We work two jobs but it doesn’t add up. We’d cut corners but the infrastructure of the country is made for a wealthier middle class and doesn’t cater to us. We’d walk to the supermarket, but there isn’t one. We’d choose to rely on the bus, but it doesn’t go there. If we have no choice but the bus, we just don’t go there. We’d buy just three sheets of paper but Staples sells everything in units of a hundred. In my culture, you know there’ll be a little traffic jam on the corner of Woolper and Clifton on Fridays at lunch because it’s Jumaa and people have come to the mosque to pray. Out in the suburbs, you’ll see people walking. They are reaping the rewarding of going to the mosque by foot, alone and in pairs, in subdivisions built for cars. In my culture, communities search for ways in which to be with one another. Is there anti-Blackness in yours, and what are you doing about it? How are you making space for sexual minorities? Have you talked about mental health?The culture is nebulous, and I don’t know its beginnings nor its ends. Many of us in it are members of other, parallel cultures, that at times overlap and at times diverge. Perhaps we are united by that constant duality between spaces. It is also a deeply divided culture, part veering Bernie Sanders, part veering Assata Shakur. I’ve long known Republicans to be outwardly hostile to the most urgent priorities of my culture and Democrats to pay lip service to these while tied up in lobby money, saying “not now.”That is why, when I follow Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, I am struck by a familiarity. I think we might be from the same culture. I think that if I told them about what my culture needs most urgently, they’d already know. They would fit right in at a dinner party at my friend’s house in a way that most representatives would be painfully out of place and out of touch. I think we speak the same language, more than most other representatives. My faith in the Democratic party as an institution is perhaps downright abysmal. My esteem for some of its individual members is a bit higher, and as of writing this text, my identification factor with many of the recently-elected women in Congress is quite high. I am not wise enough to fully envision what the changes I want for this country would look like in practice, though I yearn for those I am able to visualize. Nor do I expect savior figures from Congress; I think we must fundamentally question the nation’s raison d’etre, not just polish its surfaces. But the presence of these women in Congress did give me another momentary glimpse through the smoke-screen of this supposed representative democracy, and made me reflect on the hostility I sense from so many in power. Most representatives haven’t lived a day in my culture. No wonder the priorities, interactions with, and values of most representatives feel so alien and hostile to me. I believe our entire world is at best just an afterthought to them. They barely know we exist, and if they do, they see us as the problem that doesn’t measure up to the system, and never the system as having a single responsibility to meet our needs. I don’t think I would have to explain that feeling to the women representatives that fit so seamlessly into my life. I think I could just share a knowing look. That that is a novelty says a great deal about the relationship of power to its constituents.

R. Kelly and Human Trafficking

Season 2 of Echoes on air! kicks off with Janelle and new co-host Chris Silverberg talking with Carlos Brumfield, Celeste Howell, and Tara Teschke talking about human trafficking and the unfolding R. Kelly case.iTunes - Click HereGoogle Play - Click Here The following links are resources for human trafficking as well as the articles mentioned during the podcast.National Human Trafficking Hotline1 (888) 373-7888SMS: 233733 (Text "HELP" or "INFO")Hours: 24 hours, 7 days a weekLanguages: English, Spanish and 200 more languagesWebsite: humantraffickinghotline.orgPolaris"Human Trafficking"Forensic Magazine"Report Identifies 25 Distinct Types of Human Trafficking"Mashable"What Being a Flight Attendant Taught Me About Human Trafficking"How to Spot Human TraffickingAntislavery.org"What is Human Trafficking?"End Slavery NowSlavery TodayAlso: Check out Tara's blog All Sparkly and ShitDon't forget to RATE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE!Create hope. Forge a path. Change the world.

Dear men, why?

Gentlemen, I am trying desperately to understand one thing that seems to follow wherever a good amount of you go. Tell me one thing: What about female fear is sexually appealing to you?In safe, consensual situations, for some, it can. of course, be a turn on. From a blindfold in the bedroom all the way to rape fantasies played out between two consenting parties, it’s clear that fear can be a part of the equation for many. To each their own, as long as no one is getting hurt in the process, right?The problem in that question, no, just the REAL question that I see in all of this has become painfully, intensely important to get an answer to, especially in recent days:Men, what is it about female fear in non-consensual sexual and non-sexual encounters that is sexually appealing to you?Catcalling. Groping in public situations. Workplace sexual harassment. Sexual assault.It’s the power, right? It has to be. It cannot be simply that my terror is your desire, because that is beyond comprehension for me. That is any woman/femme/female presenting person’s deepest fear — that we really DO need to be afraid of 95% of you. That you want to scare us, that you take joy in it. That you’d like to hurt us.I’m going to go ahead and assume that’s a no for my own mental health.So, IS it the power?I’m asking you this because few things in life make me angrier than the memories of instances of this happening to me and quite literally every other woman I know. I’ve met hundreds, I am not kidding, hundreds and probably knocking on thousands, of men in my time that have done these things, and I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve never been raped. I’ve been screamed at, threatened, whispered to, touched, rubbed, flashed, lingeringly touched inappropriately by a professor in college, twice openly masturbated at while the man held direct eye contact with me, and for a month-long nightmare, had a peeping tom who masturbated while staring at me from my fire escape while I slept, leaving tongue licks, face prints, and semen splashes on my bedroom windows. None of these situations were in any way consensual, and they all included me being angry, afraid, or usually some combination of the two while the man in question smiled, laughed, leered, lied about doing it while sneering at me, physically threatened me, and clearly enjoyed himself during the interaction.If I’ve had this happen hundreds of times, if every woman I know has had these things happen to her hundreds of times, why do you wonder why we are angry? Who can say ‘not all men’ with a straight face, knowing that the sheer number of these instances means a scary percentage do or have done these things to women? How could anyone be surprised that many women are sick of feeling scared, coerced, angry, and generally unsafe in the presence of men, both strange and familiar?As we’ve all heard, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’. Women would be insane to expect respect and courtesy from men in general, let alone to hope for the chance to exist without being sexualized, intimidated, and worse, because in the end men are generally larger than us. Therefore we can almost always be overpowered if a situation were to go bad; and that would be all that would need to happen for yet another woman to become a statistic. Or a 30-year-old untested rape kit in the basement of a police station. Or a victim of human trafficking or assault that made it out alive, therefore we should feel lucky and just drop it and be happy with the 3-year sentence the perp received. At best, we are left out of professional opportunities because of our sex. At worst, we are stalked and/or raped and/or killed.Not to mention the many tropes in our society today that play with this theme. How about the ‘persistent suitor’ platitude? Remember when it was a cute part of your parents’ love story, shit, even in MY love story, that he just wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t leave her alone, no matter what she did? Yeah, it’s also been at times uncomfortable, creepy, and downright scary in my experiences, and it’s far from cute when you really think about it.‘Stealthing’ is a thing now, where instead of complaining and cajoling to skip the condom in a sexual encounter, when you ask your male partner to wear one, they just say they will but then don’t put one on at all or sneak it off during the act, because instead of all the arm-twisting, they’d rather just do whatever they feel like doing and damn the consequences. There’s a scene in one of my favorite shows of all time (IDGAF if it’s basic, it’s a great damned show), Sex and the City, created with the female viewer in mind, where Carrie sees Big again after a breakup, and she consistently tells him no and to leave her alone but he persists, following her onto an elevator and forcing himself onto her. That, somehow, was meant to be romantic, even sexy.You know, the old plot point where the heroine of the tale says to her hero ‘no, no… okay, fine’. What of the ‘just the tip’ trope? Yet another example of the normalization of sexual coercion and the slow whittling away of a woman’s will to fight for bodily autonomy and her right to just say fucking NO. The examples never end. You know, the ‘geez, you’re so hormonal/it must be that time of the month’, ‘you’re overreacting/hysterical/crazy’ ‘oh calm down, it’s just ____’ – they are all different angles of the same subject that, I promise you, every woman you know including your mother, grandmother, daughter, and femme best friend has heard in her lifetime.In the Weinstein tape, it’s ‘Don’t embarrass me’, ‘Don’t ruin your friendship with me over 5 minutes’, ‘You’re making a scene and I’m a regular here’, ‘Calm down, I won’t do anything’, even though seconds before he was apologizing for grabbing her breasts, explaining that he’s just ‘used to that’. Weinstein’s excuse (through his lawyers) is that he’s an old man who needs to learn new tricks. FYI bro – THIS WAS NEVER OKAY. Even in the ‘Mad Men’ times, shit, before that and throughout ALL of HISTORY, it’s never been okay to manipulate and denigrate women for the boner it gives you, for whatever reason.Sexual assault isn’t about sex, so go fuck your ‘sex addiction’ excuse, Harvey, R.Kelly, Matt Lauer, John Besh, Andy Dick, Ed Westwick, Al Franken, James Levine, Leonard Lopate, TJ Miller, Laurence Krauss, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Roman Polanski, Terry Richardson, Jereny Piven, Brett Ratner, Jeffrey Tambor, Tom Sizemore, Russell Simmons, Garrison Keillor, Donovan McNabb, Mario Batali, Ben Roethlisberger, Tavis Smiley, Morgan Spurlovk, Chuck Close, Ben Verern, Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Louis CK, Kevin Spacey, the thousands more accused like you and the millions on millions like you who will never be caught, and fuck the fact that your power allowed you to skip going to treatment for your ‘sex addiction’ because you didn’t want to give up your cell phone, so you instead got to choose a plush resort to get away from it all. None of those women wanted to give up their sexual self-determination. Let’s talk about what this is really all about: Fear. Power. Dominance.I asked the man I’m closest to, my husband, about it, as I’ve been beside myself lately looking for any answer beside ‘men like when women are afraid’, and this is what he had to say:I think men's anger toward women is misplaced. I’m not mad at a woman for recoiling when our hands brush on the subway. I’m actually mad that so many women have been harassed and worse by men that it’s impossible to open a door for a woman and not have our motives be questioned. I’m sure that women are just as mad (Tara edit: SO MUCH ANGRIER. More mad than you could ever know) that they can’t freely express their sexuality, that they have to dance this bullshit dance that they’ve been forced into, by men, of saint or sinner, Madonna or whore. Chivalry is dead because men killed it. They took advantage of the situation, of their physicality. If I stop and fix a woman’s flat tire, she’s afraid. That’s not her fault. That’s our fault; and we need to look inward to see why. There’s never been a time where a woman could just be herself in that situation, that she didn’t have to clutch her self-defense weapon in fear during the whole encounter. That’s our fault. We don’t want to be challenged or have the status quo be changed, though, so we say it’s the woman’s fault, that they’re not thankful enough. MRAs say feminazis want to dissolve gender roles and yet have their chivalry too. They say that women complain about not being in STEM fields but they don’t complain about not being construction workers. What men don’t realize, though, is that our generally greater ability to lift heavy objects (i.e. on construction sites and in grocery stores) is directly related to our physical advantages that we tend to have over women, which is what allows us to overpower women in any given situation, and which is what leads them to their fear of being taken advantage of in non-consensual sexual situations. Women are looked at as hypocrites for cowering at our physicality yet also using that physicality for their benefit, but that’s a false equivalency. Wanting to help someone because you have an advantage in any way is a good thing, but expecting a return or taking advantage of that power is the real issue, and that lies with the power holder, i.e. men, in almost every case.”Men, I ask you to really look within yourselves. I ask like my POC friends ask me to really evaluate my words and actions, because no white person is exempt from privilege, and it is impossible to be 100% not racist. This is woven into the fabric of who you are in some way, and it’s up to you to see and address the fact that as a man, socially and physically, you have the bulk of the power.What about women’s fear, outside of consensual sex, is attractive to you and your ilk? Why do men just like you, if not you, rubberneck and catcall? What makes you think you were a victim of the ‘friendzone’ when a woman simply said ‘no thank you’? Why do your friends call most of their exes ‘crazy’? What is behind not giving someone who comes forward with rape allegations the benefit of the doubt? When have you stopped a friend or colleague from saying or doing something inappropriate to a woman, or stood up for a woman in an uncomfortable situation? Or, more pointedly, how many times have you stood by, silent? Why is there any issue with spending time, one-on-one or in groups, with women in a professional and therefore non-sexual situation? What about you makes you need to feel powerful, or more clearly, what about you makes you feel small enough that you have to exert your power over others to feel ‘big’ again? Why do you instigate this dance of control and fear?I can tell you, we women are sick to fucking death of it. I can’t help but think that behind the leering smiles, sneaking hands, and coercion, you are too.The only way I can imagine that we women can start to see the light at the end of this endless tunnel of anger, fear, and pain is if men address their own thoughts and actions, and fix whatever wound or fill whatever hole is there that is creating this predator/prey dynamic, because it is horrifying for women. Old and young, big and small, tall and short, no matter her race or abilities or sexuality or gender identity, every single female-presenting person has experienced this.Every 96 seconds, a woman is raped in America, and 1 in 3 worldwide have experienced some kind of sexual violence. Half of the people on any given street around us are the same type of people (men) that have scared, harassed, and attacked us in the past, and we have to walk down that street every. damned. day. To go to work. To buy groceries. To live. Of course, we know that plenty of those men wouldn’t do a thing to us (after all, aside from some of them just being actual good guys, the vast majority of violence committed upon women comes from someone they already know). But HOW DO WE KNOW WHO THE GOOD GUYS ARE? How can we distinguish between the ‘good guys’ and those who get intense sexual pleasure from our fear and pain? I can’t impress enough upon men that what you don’t experience is that as a woman, unless we are alone in a safe, locked place (and even then can be questionable), there is never a time when we aren’t on our guard. On our guard against those who will scare, harass or attack us, and smirk the entire time, clearly enjoying themselves, and then disappear into the crowd of ‘good guys’, indistinguishable. We learn this fear early, from ‘stranger danger’ for all kids as soon as we’re old enough to learn it, to 4th or 5th or 6th grade when our sex comes into play.It’s fucking terrifying to live as a woman, from that early age and all the way through our lives, and if you don’t read this and think, ‘this has to stop‘ and start thinking about what you can do within yourself, the community of men around you, and in your day-to-day life with men who are strangers on the street, I don’t know what to say to you. You’re the one we’re terrified by. Because we’re terrified. All the time.So guys, what is the answer? It’s up to you to end this, because it is you.For the sake of women everywhere, the conversation has to start. Now.Originally posted on Tara's blog All Sparkly and Shit

A Look Back: 2018

In the last episode of Echoes on air! in 2018, Janelle is joined by DR Hanson, Chris Silverberg, and Justin Willis, as they discuss some of the topics and updates on stories discussed in 2018.The following links are upcoming events by some of the artists that have been guests on the show! Check them out and support them as they endeavor to tell full and diverse stories and give voices to people that are often unheard.Cheryl Allison:Hiding in Daylight- FilmShatter the Silence- FilmDarnell Walker:Seeking Asylum - The Documentary - FilmOutside the House - The Documentary- FilmSet Yourself On Fire - FilmJustin Willis:The Black CurriculumiTunes - Click Here Google Play - Click Here Don't forget to RATE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE!Create hope. Forge a path. Change the world.

Patriotism

Patriotism is defined as the ideology of attachment to a homeland. But can such a simple statement describe such a huge part of our lives? Let’s break it down a bit more.If you would indulge me for a moment, clear your head and focus on the mental activity I’m about to propose. Each of the following sentences will change your frame of mind if only for a couple of seconds. Ready?Ok. Imagine that tomorrow you lost your entire identity to the world. To yourself, nothing had changed, but to the world…You live nowhere. You were born nowhere. You are a citizen of no place. Your rights are non-existent. Imagine that. What are you doing right now? What would be different about your situation?Okay, now for some questions. Would you fight to get it all back? How far would you go? And what if you couldn’t get it all back? What if the you that you were is no longer an option? Would you become a citizen again? Would you make a home for yourself - one that you chose, instead of the one that was chosen for you? And if you did, how much would you protect that new citizenship? How much would you cherish that home? Most of us never get to know that kind of love of homeland. Not the homeland you’re born to, but the one your heart ached for. The place in your heart that was a goal so close to being achieved, until it finally was real. That is the patriotism of an immigrant - it is beautiful, it is passionate and it is fierce. Patriotism comes in a variety of forms and from a variety of backgrounds. And yet, so many threatened by the assortment of people that comprise that homeland. Is our patriotism so frail that we can’t withstand a bit of simple diversity? For some of us, does attachment to one’s homeland mean detachment from the people who make up that homeland?Oftentimes, today, patriotism is defined by the person on the soap box. That definition is often subjective and is used to quickly eliminate anyone who isn’t ‘our people’. Perhaps, to an extent, patriotism is slightly ephemeral and tricky to completely catch in one definition. But, if at its basis, it means the ideology of attachment to a homeland, then does this definition not include all who consider America home and have a pride for their home?Turning a strong and beautiful word like patriot into an elite way of filtering out those who weren’t born to the same place and privileges we were is weak and ugly. We should use words like patriot to lift each other up - even if we are different. Especially if we are different.

Being Black and Living Abroad

In this episode of Echoes on air!, Janelle is joined by Tia Goolsby, Jeremy Johnson, and Darnell Lamont Walker, as they discuss being black and living abroad. They discuss some of the differences in cultures and why they chose to, as Darnell calls it, seek asylum outside of the U.S. in the times of racial unrest.*Jeremy's intro was super quiet so: Jeremy is from Dallas, Texas and has lived in Abu Dhabi for 6 years where he teaches English.Check out the following links as mentioned in this episode:Passport RequiredSeeking Asylum - The DocumentaryOutside the House - The DocumentaryiTunes - Click Here Google Play - Click Here Don't forget to RATE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE!Create hope. Forge a path. Change the world.