Entries from February 2004 ↓

Well, as you can see, we’ve done some redecorating. It was like birthing a baby. You hold it in, waiting and hoping, knowing its coming one day, but never quite sure when. Then one day the water breaks.

Of course I didn’t do the real work. In the words of Butterfly McQueen, “I’on’t know nuttin’ ’bout birthin’ no babies!” Dr. Karsh delivered it (it was a C section, believe me), with Dr. Flavors assisting. He also conducts mediations by telephone. Without them I am just a writer looking for a pen.

So I can now return to talking about anything and everything that comes to mind. I have my sideblogs back, so I can compartmentalize. You’ll notice one of them is missing–FOOD. As much as I love to cook and eat, that one was hardest to fill regularly, so I ditched it. If I feel so inspired, I’ll still find a place on the main blog.

Enjoy.

I have nothing really important to say, but others do, so I’ll point you in their direction.

I regularly survey news media from across the country and around the world via the Internet, and see a lot of different news items. But here are a few headlines I doubt I’ll ever see:

Cocaine dealer remembers Bush from missing Military period

Academy Awards given only to those who can really act; Tom Cruise shut out

Got any other headlines you think we’ll never see?

If my website had been functioning properly on February 1, this was what I intended to post. Although late, I thought it still relevant.

I will resist my usual cynicism around the all-too-brief period of historical reflection otherwise known as Black History Month. We all have the same pet peeve–they give us the shortest month of the year to celebrate our history and contributions to the world, then push us back to the margins when it’s over.

The usual suspects are dusted off to have their biographies rewritten and their real significance overlooked and whitewashed for the masses. Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, a watered down Malcolm X, even Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey will all get heroic treatment this month.

Not that they haven’t done things worth noting, but there is a certain sameness to the occasion that I think overlooks the fact that all around us are people worth recognizing, many of whom we all know personally. Their actions may be no less heroic, even though their names are less widely known.

If Black History Month is to mean anything beyond a superficial recitation of names from the civil rights movement, it is time we reclaimed it, redefined it and shaped it into a greater celebration that will mean something now and possibly into the future.

Too often we only honor people after they have gone, or struggle to piece together the history of a significant movement when there are few people left to remember first hand. I suggest we correct that now.

Let’s honor the living heroes among us. People on the local level, in every city, town and village, who are standing up to make a difference.
- That teacher who extends herself to connect to students despite a meager salary and a small school budget.
- Those parents raising not only their own natural born children but a few foster kids as well.
- The activist who saw a way to bring about solutions, while everyone else threw up their hands over the problem.
- The young people who are doing positive things in their community, demonstrating leadership skills now, or the senior citizen who has spent their life serving the community and is ready to pass the torch.

You probably don’t have to look very far to find these people either. They’re all around us. Using Black History Month to say “thank you” shows that not only were their efforts not in vain, but that ordinary people can make a difference, moving us away from unnecessary hero worship and towards a belief that all of us can be agents for change.

Which people or events from your hometown do you think should be recognized during Black History Month?

[From the ACLU]

Spurred by the recent Massachusetts State Supreme Court decision against discrimination, the Bush Administration and some members of the radical religious right are aggressively campaigning to amend the U.S. Constitution to deny the right to marry to same-sex couples in committed relationships. Just today, the Bush Administration signaled that the President will endorse this mean-spirited measure.

The Massachusetts ruling recognized that gay and lesbian Americans serve in our military, keep our communities safe as firefighters and police officers, staff our hospitals, build our cities and pay taxes. The Massachusetts court ruled that the state cannot deny to gay couples the same marital legal rights in pensions, health insurance, hospital visitations and inheritance that other committed couples enjoy.

The radical religious right wants to write intolerance into the U.S. Constitution and forbid equality to these citizens. As a nation we have periodically struggled with the question of marriage — the last law prohibiting people from different races from marrying was overturned only 35 years ago — but we have never taken the step of amending the Constitution to define marriage. Revising the Constitution to incorporate discrimination is wrong and should be rejected.

Take Action! Urge your Members of Congress to reject efforts to write discrimination into the Constitution!