It's all heartbreaking. Each morning my thoughts turn to brown-skinned people in our nation, many who have been here for decades, who have children born here, each day waking up in fear. We are experiencing state and nation sponsored racial cleansing. I also wake up with sadness, grief that human nature allows the capacity to shut down, absence us from our basic humanity and empathy...allowing a sadistic celebration of cruelty to others. What are those of us who refuse to harden, who each day wake up with a commitment to keep our hearts soft and open to do when we see neighbors, workers, friends rounded up on the street?
Thanks John. I have been buried in a storm of white privilege outrage this morning because of a comment I posted on Heather Cox Richardson's website that says--perhaps a bit more militantly--much the same thing. People with privilege (and I count myself among them, although being female and old my privilege is to a large extent conditional in our patriarchal society) are so insulated from the experiences of an enormous portion of the world's population that they don't even realize or acknowledge how privileged they are. Moreover, to admit to profiting and benefiting from such vast levels of privilege means admitting that the path has often been cleared, obstructions swept away just by the sheer accident of being white, usually male, cis, and hetero. And to come to that realization, own it, and recognize it in others also means that those who claim they are "self-made" have to admit that their self-actualization has come about in part through the diminishing of others by society and culture, if not through personal ambition. It's a very hard pill to swallow for a tremendous number of people. I struggle with it every day. But I embrace the struggle.
This is so well said. I'm another privileged, old, white woman struggling with the reality of what is happening. I'm fortunate to have a large group of like-
minded people to volunteer with. But sadly, I also have friends, equally disgusted with the current administration, who are allowing themselves to look the other way.
Think of it this way - we are all brothers and sisters - ALL of us, and we are also all Africans, if you go back far enough. Everyone alive on Planet Earth today is descended from people who have migrated out of East Africa, from about 300,000 years ago to last Tuesday..... It's been a continuous migration, one way or the other.....
Yes, we have a choice but as privileged white people, the only choice is to stay engaged and fight. Others who are trying to survive don’t have a choice but to put all their energy into surviving so that means WE who are privileged must work for justice for them!!
I read this three times. Each time the message sunk deeper into my soul, both reassuring and awaking, once again, the need to watch, read, and know about the atrocities going on so I do NOT ignore my souls call to do what I can to make a difference. I look forward to your words of wisdom each and every day. You keep me awake and strong.
I am a 65 year old retired white woman up in Canada which sometimes gives me the illusion of being insulated from it all, but the truth is that we are all connected just like the air we breathe bringing smoke from wildfires all across the world. Just like the climate change that causes floods and fires everywhere. We are all in this together.
I feel for the persecuted people everyday being attacked for their skin colour, race, ethnicity, and gender in the US and other places in the world suffering like Gaza and Ukraine. The sadness and injustice slaps me in the face daily and it's tempting to turn away and not read the heartbreaking articles and posts, but I keep reading. I want to do something to help but I'm not quite sure what other than helping locally with food banks and the homeless. Heartbreaking and devastating, my heart breaks for the level of suffering happening everywhere. So overwhelming and yet being an ostrich with a head in the sand is not going to help anything.
We can all learn from the depth of your analysis, compassion and bravery. You speak truth and encourage us to dig deep to find the best and strongest within all of us. Bless you.
On the other side, it appears that the people running this violent and racist destruction of our Democracy come from white privilege.
I keep asking myself: What's it worth to them? Aren't they already wealthy and powerful? Why burn the house down that, in some way, already fully supports them?
Maybe it's always been that way. Unlike all other species on this planet, humans are never satisfied with "enough".
When we reclaim our Democracy, we need to reinforce it so that this can never happen again.
In response to the questions you pose: greed, power, and the corruption (corrosion) of their soul. There is a bottomless void within them and something innate wants to fill the emptiness.They don't know how, so in desperation they keep grabbing for more of the same. It doesn't work. The void only grows bigger. History is filled with the results of this desperation.
I see that now. Obama couldn't stop smiling, always seemed content. Trump and his sychophants never smile. They always appear angry and desperate. Ready for their next cruel act.
Very powerful thought for today. Thank you for always saying what needs to be said. I also know many who say to me - I just can’t watch anymore. I don’t listen to the news. It is too awful and there is nothing we can do. You give a powerful response to that. Thank you,John. You inspire me to keep watching and listening and speaking out when I can.
I HAVE given up on our conservative, Trump—appeasing, lamestream media who have normalized Trump’s behavior and who now actively bribe him so they can stay in operation.
Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Gannett and Sinclair — I’m specifically addressing YOU.
I have blocked ALL these “sources” and removed them from our streaming services. It’s far easier to block a channel which is streamed than it was to block a channel from a cable provider.
I get my news from CBC, BBC, Deutche Welt and Al Jazeera - and Substack writers such as you, Corbin Trent, Stephen Schmidt, Jennifer Rubin and Heather Richardson.
I also increased my PBS contribution from $10/month to a dollar a day, or $365.
May our eyes be opened to the reality of white privilege. May we experience the world with our eyes open to the reality of other peoples' experience and our hearts be filled with compassion - the willingness to suffer with another. Might this truth then be reflected in our thoughts, prayers, and actions.
I just want to shake those people, and some are very close friends. I'm tired of hearing that they can't bare to watch the news or keep up with current events. Their ignorance is not bliss for those thousands of innocent people who are suffering at the hands of evil people - be it in America, Ukraine, Gaza, or the Sudan. I really have to practice patience, but I'm about spent.
It has always felt "off" when friends say they aren't watching the news anymore...like they are making a proud and noble statement. You put into words what has bothered me. Thank you for this.
Sharon - I'm with you. Self-care is one thing; denial is another. I try to balance staying informed, taking action whereby can, and taking a break. Each of us has to balance, and yet stay in solidarity, as best we are able. Those who "check out" are, in the final analysis, being complicit with the fascists in our midst.
It's permissible to take a break. It's not permissible to quit.
Those who quit the fight (for whatever reason/excuse they give it) then become complicit with the PedoFuhrer and its repugnant clan.
I totally agree!
Yes, as we have found it is permissible to take a break to preserve your mental and physical health.
It's all heartbreaking. Each morning my thoughts turn to brown-skinned people in our nation, many who have been here for decades, who have children born here, each day waking up in fear. We are experiencing state and nation sponsored racial cleansing. I also wake up with sadness, grief that human nature allows the capacity to shut down, absence us from our basic humanity and empathy...allowing a sadistic celebration of cruelty to others. What are those of us who refuse to harden, who each day wake up with a commitment to keep our hearts soft and open to do when we see neighbors, workers, friends rounded up on the street?
Thanks John. I have been buried in a storm of white privilege outrage this morning because of a comment I posted on Heather Cox Richardson's website that says--perhaps a bit more militantly--much the same thing. People with privilege (and I count myself among them, although being female and old my privilege is to a large extent conditional in our patriarchal society) are so insulated from the experiences of an enormous portion of the world's population that they don't even realize or acknowledge how privileged they are. Moreover, to admit to profiting and benefiting from such vast levels of privilege means admitting that the path has often been cleared, obstructions swept away just by the sheer accident of being white, usually male, cis, and hetero. And to come to that realization, own it, and recognize it in others also means that those who claim they are "self-made" have to admit that their self-actualization has come about in part through the diminishing of others by society and culture, if not through personal ambition. It's a very hard pill to swallow for a tremendous number of people. I struggle with it every day. But I embrace the struggle.
This is so well said. I'm another privileged, old, white woman struggling with the reality of what is happening. I'm fortunate to have a large group of like-
minded people to volunteer with. But sadly, I also have friends, equally disgusted with the current administration, who are allowing themselves to look the other way.
Think of it this way - we are all brothers and sisters - ALL of us, and we are also all Africans, if you go back far enough. Everyone alive on Planet Earth today is descended from people who have migrated out of East Africa, from about 300,000 years ago to last Tuesday..... It's been a continuous migration, one way or the other.....
Yes, we have a choice but as privileged white people, the only choice is to stay engaged and fight. Others who are trying to survive don’t have a choice but to put all their energy into surviving so that means WE who are privileged must work for justice for them!!
I read this three times. Each time the message sunk deeper into my soul, both reassuring and awaking, once again, the need to watch, read, and know about the atrocities going on so I do NOT ignore my souls call to do what I can to make a difference. I look forward to your words of wisdom each and every day. You keep me awake and strong.
I am a 65 year old retired white woman up in Canada which sometimes gives me the illusion of being insulated from it all, but the truth is that we are all connected just like the air we breathe bringing smoke from wildfires all across the world. Just like the climate change that causes floods and fires everywhere. We are all in this together.
I feel for the persecuted people everyday being attacked for their skin colour, race, ethnicity, and gender in the US and other places in the world suffering like Gaza and Ukraine. The sadness and injustice slaps me in the face daily and it's tempting to turn away and not read the heartbreaking articles and posts, but I keep reading. I want to do something to help but I'm not quite sure what other than helping locally with food banks and the homeless. Heartbreaking and devastating, my heart breaks for the level of suffering happening everywhere. So overwhelming and yet being an ostrich with a head in the sand is not going to help anything.
'Whatsoever you do to the least you do to me'
We can all learn from the depth of your analysis, compassion and bravery. You speak truth and encourage us to dig deep to find the best and strongest within all of us. Bless you.
On the other side, it appears that the people running this violent and racist destruction of our Democracy come from white privilege.
I keep asking myself: What's it worth to them? Aren't they already wealthy and powerful? Why burn the house down that, in some way, already fully supports them?
Maybe it's always been that way. Unlike all other species on this planet, humans are never satisfied with "enough".
When we reclaim our Democracy, we need to reinforce it so that this can never happen again.
In response to the questions you pose: greed, power, and the corruption (corrosion) of their soul. There is a bottomless void within them and something innate wants to fill the emptiness.They don't know how, so in desperation they keep grabbing for more of the same. It doesn't work. The void only grows bigger. History is filled with the results of this desperation.
What a horrible way to live.
I see that now. Obama couldn't stop smiling, always seemed content. Trump and his sychophants never smile. They always appear angry and desperate. Ready for their next cruel act.
Very powerful thought for today. Thank you for always saying what needs to be said. I also know many who say to me - I just can’t watch anymore. I don’t listen to the news. It is too awful and there is nothing we can do. You give a powerful response to that. Thank you,John. You inspire me to keep watching and listening and speaking out when I can.
I haven’t given up on news.
I HAVE given up on our conservative, Trump—appeasing, lamestream media who have normalized Trump’s behavior and who now actively bribe him so they can stay in operation.
CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN and Paramount— I’m specifically addressing YOU.
Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Gannett and Sinclair — I’m specifically addressing YOU.
I have blocked ALL these “sources” and removed them from our streaming services. It’s far easier to block a channel which is streamed than it was to block a channel from a cable provider.
I get my news from CBC, BBC, Deutche Welt and Al Jazeera - and Substack writers such as you, Corbin Trent, Stephen Schmidt, Jennifer Rubin and Heather Richardson.
I also increased my PBS contribution from $10/month to a dollar a day, or $365.
May our eyes be opened to the reality of white privilege. May we experience the world with our eyes open to the reality of other peoples' experience and our hearts be filled with compassion - the willingness to suffer with another. Might this truth then be reflected in our thoughts, prayers, and actions.
I just want to shake those people, and some are very close friends. I'm tired of hearing that they can't bare to watch the news or keep up with current events. Their ignorance is not bliss for those thousands of innocent people who are suffering at the hands of evil people - be it in America, Ukraine, Gaza, or the Sudan. I really have to practice patience, but I'm about spent.
You talking to me John? This is my struggle and you gave it better words than I. Thank you.
It has always felt "off" when friends say they aren't watching the news anymore...like they are making a proud and noble statement. You put into words what has bothered me. Thank you for this.
Sharon - I'm with you. Self-care is one thing; denial is another. I try to balance staying informed, taking action whereby can, and taking a break. Each of us has to balance, and yet stay in solidarity, as best we are able. Those who "check out" are, in the final analysis, being complicit with the fascists in our midst.
How do I ever forgive those who brought this hell upon us? (I don't plan to.)