I was reading

a book titled A Man's Life: An Autobiography. It was written by Roger W. Wilkins.

I remember seeing him in the news when I was younger and always liked his demeanor and how he spoke as well as what he had to say.

In his book, which was published in 1982, he wrote the following on page 366:

"The neoconservatives are spending a lot of time these days trying to convince us that America's racial problems are over...."

He wrote those words 35 years ago.

People who (consciously or not) uphold oppression have a strong interest in either denying that it exists or at least promoting the notion that even though it existed in the past...it's all fixed now.

Post-racial anyone? (by the way, the wikipedia entry says this term was first used in 1971)

Jeez.

It's really easy to determine whether the oppression of racism is "over". It will be over when the majority of those targeted by it say it is over. Folks who belong to the oppressing group don't get to say when it's over...only those targeted get to say that.

Many people (mostly we white-skinned ones) seem to have a real problem with understanding that harmers don't get to say when the harming is over...that power belongs to those being harmed. Maybe the problem is that the harmers are so used to having power over others that they think their power extends to being able to say when racism is over. Maybe that's part of their inability to comprehend reality.

Hmmm...

I was really struck by Roger Wilkin's 35 year old writing about neoconservatives...things don't change much in the minds of the deluded.

I don't much listen to folks who uphold the status quo anymore (I used to think they sometimes made sense) mainly because they never have anything new to say. You have to be connected to the flow of life and it's ongoing transitions to experience new things...harmers are static and frozen in their embrace of unchanging delusion, hence they learn nothing new and their messages are endlessly repeated (the wording varies sometimes, but the meanings don't). To believe them requires a well developed facility for forgetting that you've heard it all before.

Norman

is a city with many many trees and those trees are all different sizes and shapes.

They often put on quite a show of color in the Autumn and I think maybe this year is one of, if not the most, spectacular I've ever seen.

We haven't had a hard freeze and the various trees are changing colors and losing their leaves at different times and rates (because of different timings in their seasonal cycles) so there is sort of a slow motion extravaganza of bright and shimmering golds and reds and greens and browns all mixed together going on here.

It is beautiful to behold. I'm really grateful to be able to witness it all.

Below is a photo of one of my absolute favorite trees, it's a Ginkgo...they have unusual sort of fan-shaped leaves. If you read this article you will find that they are a very old species of tree...they've been around for some 270 million years.

In the fall they turn a vibrant and amazingly bright shade of gold. Along a street near us there are several houses with such trees in their yards and this year they are putting in a show that almost calls for trumpets and fireworks.

I generally drive a few blocks out of my way whenever I go anywhere just so I can get a look at this tree (and several others). Notice the youngster (I think it's a young Maple tree) in front of the large Ginkgo, it's offering its own show of red.

Yesterday I walked over to campus for a meeting and stood in front of this tree for a bit, just soaking in the color. Amazing.

I hope the changes of Autumn are giving you a show wherever you are.

My thanks to all the plants and trees around here for their casual grace and beauty...and if you want a gold show in the fall...plant some Ginkgo trees. They are just stunning.

Mother Earth's plants are not only provide food for the stomach...(live Vegan please)...they are also nourishing for the eyes and the spirit.