Promoting a Better World

[ysabetwordsmith]

Everyone's all in a lather about the mess in Charlottesville.  I generally prefer to sidle around the attack and then counterattack directly at the opponent's fundamental goals. In this case, they want to promote racism and violence. So I can undermine their efforts by promoting:

Conversational Skills
http://www.sandbox-learning.com/Default.asp?Page=152
http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Social-Skills

Tolerance
http://www.mmsa.info/sites/default/files/downloads/pages/Tolerance.pdf (teaching)
http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Tolerant-of-Others

Diversity
http://diversity.appstate.edu/celebration/why/
https://www.uww.edu/learn/aboutdiversity/approachdiversity
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241553

Nonviolence
https://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/listen-carefully-think-first-respect-everyone/
https://www.k-state.edu/nonviolence/Season/64ways.html

African-American Poetry
My favorites include Maya Angelou, Robert Hayden, Alice Walker, Langston Hughes, and Phillis Wheatley.
http://www.theroot.com/20-black-poets-you-should-know-and-love-1790868612
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets_african_american.html

If you want to poke a bigot in the eye, you can go shopping for things made by black writers or crafters, or you can buy multicultural-themed material from any author.  I've got a fluffy family dinner with multiple ethnicities in "Dinner at Donnie's" ($171) in Danso and Family.

Comments

[we_are_spc]

Can we just tell you that we've had to abstain from FB because now everyone wants all the Confederate stuff stripped from here (Statues, etc) because many blak folk feel like it's 'celebrating the losing sid'. (And yes, that was a real quote.

Then someone else was like...So if we're going to do that, then shouldn't we take down MLK stuff, too? Fair is fair.

...

ANd I say, this is petty shit. Petty, divisive bull shit.

No, leave the statues up; it's not 'glorifying' it's a reminder; some people need that.

Do I think slavery was wrong? Yes. Do I think what we did to the Natives was abhorant? Absolutely. But I am also of the opinion of once we start with the confederacy, it won't stop-and someone'll be able to make a case for just about *anything* that offends them.

These links are awesome, however, and I will be coming back to this post for a better look once we're not drowning under the mountain of school work we put on hold for our MBLEX.

-Fallon~

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Can we just tell you that we've had to abstain from FB because now everyone wants all the Confederate stuff stripped from here (Statues, etc) because many blak folk feel like it's 'celebrating the losing sid'. (And yes, that was a real quote.<<

That's sad. Yes, I've heard a lot of people remark about the losing side, and it's always going to rile up the South, which I do not see as productive discourse. I mean, what's the point of touring the locations of a war if you can't get at least some perspective from both sides? I just did that last month in Louisville, and being Southern museums, they were pretty Confederate-friendly. Like a lot of folks, I had kin on both sides of that war, so I want to explore it all.

I am utterly against destroying art, no matter how bad people think it is. That leads directly to things like the Taliban destroying the giant Buddhas because the statues pissed them off. I'm not even a fan of removing major local landmarks, but I understand that tastes change and public art needs to reflect current opinion to some extent. But those things should be removed to a statue park or museum, or sold to people who want them, not destroyed. I greatly prefer the handful of cities who have left their Confederate monuments in place and added new ones for black heroes, with discussion points and a map to assist visitors in exploring the full range of American history. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

>> Then someone else was like...So if we're going to do that, then shouldn't we take down MLK stuff, too? Fair is fair. <<

Yyyyyeah.

>> ANd I say, this is petty shit. Petty, divisive bull shit. <<

I don't think it's petty. For some people, those statues really hurt. I've been around some that made me very twedgy, just mostly different ones. I wouldn't want to live in a town that was full of that stuff.

Where it is petty? White people acting like this will fix racism. It's a very conspicuous act when they take down a statue. That makes it look like they're doing something. But it doesn't solve the underlying problems of discrimination, or poverty, or bad schools, or the prison-industrial complex figuring out you can have human livestock if you convince folks that some people deserve to live in chains.

>> No, leave the statues up; it's not 'glorifying' it's a reminder; some people need that.<<

It can be both. Many Southerners are into outright ancestor worship, they just don't call it that. They really tend to glorify the Civil War and get annoyed when I rain on their parade by pointing out that more soldiers died of disease than of combat injuries. Nobody wants to think of their favorite ancestor shitting himself to death instead of dying gloriously on a Union bayonette. But statistically speaking, there it is. :/

>> Do I think slavery was wrong? Yes. Do I think what we did to the Natives was abhorant? Absolutely. But I am also of the opinion of once we start with the confederacy, it won't stop-and someone'll be able to make a case for just about *anything* that offends them.<<

I agree.

In my experience, public art should mean something. It doesn't have to please everyone, but neither should it be deliberately shocking. It should capture the genus loci, the spirit of the place. Like there's a town in Illinois where Popeye's creator lived, so they have been putting up statues -- in granite and bronze, no less! -- of all the Popeye characters. It's awesome. I'm sure some folks think it's silly, but it totally nails what makes that little down special. Here in Charleston it's Abraham Lincoln, because his family lived around here. There's a place for shocking art, but the middle of the street is not it. That should be somewhere people can go who like that sort of thing, not where everyone has to look at it and be annoyed by it.

No one has a right never to be offended, but neither should people be offended and hurt all the time just by the general ambiance of their home. So most public art should be positive. I think that having a lot of violent art -- and I count war memorials among that -- just encourages people to glorify violence, which has poor outcomes. I'd rather see peacemongers celebrated than soldiers. But that's my taste, it's not everyone's taste.

*chuckle* I'm still amused that, over in Terramagne, the Bluehill hospital has a WWII ambulance on a pad as a monument. Instead of a tank. <3

>>These links are awesome, however, and I will be coming back to this post for a better look once we're not drowning under the mountain of school work we put on hold for our MBLEX.<<

Yay!

[johnpalmer]

I won't argue in the bad sense with your feelings, but in the Monty Python manner ("a series of points intended to establish a proposition"), I'll discuss it a bit.

Heroes get statues - that's kind of the point of a statue in a public area, people can say "ah, yes, SoAndSo... children, do you know why SoAndSo was a great person? Let me tell you...."

I did see people dedicating a monument to the "unknown confederate soldier" - and I'm okay with that. The point of "unknown" soldiers is, there are some people who die without clear ID, and all you know is that they fought - and, by strict statistical certainty, some fought bravely and well, not for slavery, but because they felt, or feared, that others would harm their homeland.

The play Copenhagen illustrates how a person can feel a duty to try to help protect their home, even when they know it's entirely in the wrong. And for that sort of thing, I can give my respect.

The trouble is, the Civil War has been literally whitewashed - the entire issue was chattel slavery, and the fear of losing influence. Show me a non-slave-owning officer who fought bravely and well, and who, once the uprising was defeated, accepted that they were an American again, and tried to reconcile, and treated freed slaves as equals, and I'll be glad to let you celebrate them.

But not only were many in the South not-heroes, many were villains, and not ysabetwordsmith's type of villains.

It's not that they were horrible *people*. They were fighting for a horrible reason. If they get reverence, it should not be in the public square where we celebrate heroes.

If those statues were in a museum, where the horrors of slavery were presented, "but let us not forget, even in the service of a great evil, there can be nobility and courage" I'd be cool with that, for sure.

Finally, a lot of those statues went up to help solidify Jim Crow - to make a public spectacle and constant reminder that only the shooting war was over.

Great post

[winter_wolf_mi]

I just want to say that I thought your post was a breath of fresh air. Among all the bickering and intolerance, it was nice to see someone actually offering a near neutral solution on how to ACTUALLY fix things.

Best Regards,
~ Winter ~

Re: Great post

[ysabetwordsmith]

Thank you! I'm glad it helped.

I am just not a fan of divisive politics, which I see growing right now. A lot of that comes from trying to solve problems at the wrong stage. Fixing this stuff requires working on a much deeper level. Well, that's hard, people don't want to do it. Pulling down a statue is easy in comparison and makes it look like you care.

So I work on a very different level, and I like teaching hardcore peace skills.

peace

[winter_wolf_mi]

Namaste koʻu hoahanau (my cousin,) namaste.

People call those of us who like to bend, weak; but sometimes it takes a WHOLE lot of strength. It eventually becomes second nature, but there are moments. [It's especially difficult for me at times to let go, since I was very young I've had a strong sense of seeking justice. (seeking justice does not equate revenge or violence.)]

Re: peace

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Namaste koʻu hoahanau (my cousin,) namaste.<<

Ha! I thought you were codeswitching there, from Sanskrit to Hawaiian, and looked it up to make sure.

Mitakuye oyasin. (All my relatives, in Lakota)

>> People call those of us who like to bend, weak; but sometimes it takes a WHOLE lot of strength. It eventually becomes second nature, but there are moments. [It's especially difficult for me at times to let go, since I was very young I've had a strong sense of seeking justice. (seeking justice does not equate revenge or violence.)] <<

Me, I'm versatile. I'll always be a warrior. However, I prefer rational problem-solving methods because they work better, if you can get them going. Trouble is, they're harder to learn and to use. You can get an effective application of violence at a much lower skill level. So I keep both toolboxes.

I'm teaching peace skills, not just because I think they tend to produce better results, but because humanity had better learn them or it's going to tear itself apart. Society at large isn't doing well right now. So, time for some social engineering, pop the hood and see why smoke is pouring out. Sometimes, you need to hit it with a hammer, but most of the time more delicate repairs are called for.

Re: peace

[winter_wolf_mi]

Some things don't translate well into other languages... and 'namaste' for me is a whole way of life. When I use 'cousin' in English, people tend to miss the Hawaiian cultural significance I attach to the word. (I use English if I'm referring to a blood relative... or verbally speaking. I totally trip over my tongue trying to actually speak Hawaiian.)

As to the rest of what you had to say... I so want to hug you! You have such an eloquent way of putting to words what I already feel.

Re: peace

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Some things don't translate well into other languages... <<

Yes, that's true, and why I codeswitch frequently across languages. Including ones not even from this planet. I'm an avid xenolinguist as well as hobby-linguist.

>> and 'namaste' for me is a whole way of life. <<

The god in me sees the god in you. <3

>>When I use 'cousin' in English, people tend to miss the Hawaiian cultural significance I attach to the word. (I use English if I'm referring to a blood relative... or verbally speaking. <<

'Cousin' is used much the same way in many Native American cultures. Here on my blog you'll see folks saying 'ohana (Hawaiian: extended family, or family of choice). Less often but still in use, hanai (Hawaiian: adopted, or of the heart) which is more often for a specific relationship, i.e. hanai sister.

>> I totally trip over my tongue trying to actually speak Hawaiian.) <<

I can manage bits of it. We did that in a ritual once -- Imbolc as a fire festival honoring Pele. I had to write everything out with phonetic pronunciations but it was awesome.

>> As to the rest of what you had to say... I so want to hug you! <<

*hugs*

>>You have such an eloquent way of putting to words what I already feel.<<

That's what a wordsmith is for. ;)