It's thanksgiving day.
but I am not thankful.
I am sick, angry and isolated.
Isolated by my anger.
by my pain.
by my fear.
by the past. which has made me angry.
I am not always an angry person.
but give me this one.
give me this day.
I am angry because protests (peaceful or not always so) by indigenous americans and allies for their water (and ours) their land, and their sovereignty are being met with brutality, greed and indifference. STILL. In 2016. In my country. By my people. And I am doing nothing. (or very little... signed a few petitions, share what I can...) http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/09/dakota-access-pipeline-protest-timeline-sioux-standing-rock-jill-stein
Because Native women have the highest rates of rape and murder. (And no, it's not by Indigenous men). http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-women/maze-of-injustice
Because so many people blindly distrusting "the media" gobble up lies that suit their preferences without seeking any verification, then go on to blame any legitimate or otherwise for not also "reporting" things which agree with their own thinking. People who do not know better and are being taken advantage of by for profit "journalism" and scammers and people who should know better, but chose the easy way out. http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/
Because a minority of Americans voted for an illegitimate president (I know those are strong words. But I'm not here to change the minds of Trump supporters.), in the name of change, for the hope of restoring something lost, lost jobs, lost privileges, lost pride. But, it is not change, and it restores no one. Hatred begets hatred. Trump is not new, and he is not a do-over. He is a pathological liar who will say anything he thinks folks want to hear to accomplish his own interests, mainly faim and fortune. And, MORE IMPORTANTLY, most americans DIDN'T VOTE. So no, while I take issue with this angry minority, I don't blame them. I blame the rest of us. I blame the ones of us who can't be bothered, don't have the time or the energy to stand for the right things when the stakes are not high enough or we don't have a clear, squeaky clean hero. Newsflash (they don't exist. have you ever met a perfect person? so where would a perfect hero come from?) Sometimes you just have to wade into the mess. The local politics. The "locker room" conversations you overhear, the family member quoting lies they've been heard passed off as statistics or posting "news" which any quick check of google or snopes would discount as completely phony. I'm not saying argue with people. I'm just saying question what you hear. "Where did you hear that? It's very different from what I have heard, let's look it up and make sure we are both getting accurate information. I would hate to agree or disagree with you based on a false premise." Most of us have phones that have put hundreds of generations of knowledge and research all across the world within our fingertips on a moments notice. Lets use that. Let's not keep our worlds small because we are tired, overwhelmed... I am too. And chances are good, I've survived at least as much as you have in my life. Maybe different things. But far too much for 100 years, yet alone 32.
Yes, I am angry. I am angry for what my 32 years have been filled with. I am angry for the world I live in.
But I have not given up caring. My anger is caring. Caring for what I have survived. Caring for what police officers are being asked to do and for what they are doing. Caring for water protectors, including the few making decisions which may end in more harm than good when pushed up against the impossible events of all the combined histories leading to the events of today. If you have not survived trauma like that. Don't judge. And if you have. Dont judge. Hear the message, people. Hear each other. We, are all we have left. When this world goes up in flame for our follies (and it will be for our follies, the greed of the few powered by the silence of the many) all we will have had is our love for each other. Or not.
I will have loved. If nothing else. And I pity no person more than the unloving dying unloved. Pity and sorry may not turn my heart toward them, but I can at least see, even their suffering, and have compassion, if not redemption, and this is what makes me human. Stay human hearts. For if I can, perhaps you can. And if you can, perhaps I can. By the strength of our wills and the love we will carry to our graves.
So yes, even though it is from afar, and even though it is not enough, from my original pillager's heart to yours, this Viking stands with Standing Rock.
