Waking Life

There is so much going on right now it's hard to keep up -- though  in any case, you have the news for that. I can tell you in the Cities that too many stores and banks are gone, there were people who came in here to loot and burn that have no connection to our state, and that still, most incredibly, $2 million dollars has been raised to rebuild.

Such is the spirit of the city and of that I am very proud.

I can also tell you George Floyd's memorial was attended by throngs of mourners this week; the governor says we won't get another chance to fix things if we don't take this one and the city is buzzing with people talking about what happened and what needs to happen to create real change.

I am thinking, I can't stop thinking, of Philando Castile and the post I wrote about him some years ago. At the time I believed we were all starting to wake up and that the police would stop using military tactics against American civilians. I was, of course, completely wrong.

"There was a cabaret and there was a master of ceremonies and there was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany. It was the end of the world…and I was dancing with Sally Bowles and we were both fast asleep." --Joe Masteroff, Fred Ebb and John Kander, Cabaret; based on Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood

I have been fast asleep for a while now and don't think I am alone in this. I have so wanted to believe things would turn out better than they have. I have been dancing in the dark and suddenly, morning crashed in and woke me up. It's a late morning, very late and I don't know whether I'll make it to where I'm going in time.

“Race doesn't really exist for you because it has never been a barrier. Black folks don't have that choice.”― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

“I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.”― Thurgood Marshall

“Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference - those of us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are black, who are older - know that survival is not an academic skill...For the master's tools will not dismantle the master's house. They will never allow us to bring about genuine change.”― Audre Lorde 

Yes, yes, yes and yes I say to all of this. Which leads me to my final point that waking up is only a start here. It's waking up to dismantle the carefully constructed web of traps and divisions that have been set up for us. It's about voting in EVERY election and figuring out how to repair the bail/prison system and fund the school system and working harder to make sure everyone who needs it is getting health care.

The first and best thing I can think of right now involves voting. I don't think I have heard anyone saying anything about that lately (been listening very hard, too). I just want to mention that because I think it's crucial. 

Have a good weak. Have a kind week. Have a strong week. I'm still thinking about you.

Dancing in the dark photo: Natalia Medd