Eight years?

Jeez, it doesn't seem like it but I've been posting here since May of 2010.

I watched an interview of youtube recently with Ta-Nehisi Coates wherein he noted that, if we're lucky, we go through several instances of learning enough new things that we become (in many ways) a different person.

I dunno how to phrase it, his way of expressing it is as good as any I can think of. I can attest to the truth of what he's driving at since I can identify 3 or maybe 4 drastic enough changes in my understandings that I think of myself as a "different" person...in some significant ways...especially having to do with how I comprehend/understand human society and living beings.

It's a pain though to go through such changes. I've never enjoyed them and yet never would I do without them. Each shift has been awful and terrific all at the same time.

I was in the midst of one such change when I began this blog and several years ago entered into another consciousness shift. They're not fun...they're interesting...but really really hard.

It's strange to think about the folks who were readers and commented regularly who have mostly dropped away...or...at least they've stopped commenting. There's a thing called "white feminism" and I suspect I've stumbled over a variant of that kind of thing that I'll call "white veganism". It's a "thing" too.

Eight years...wow. Thank you for reading.

Uh?

Aurora: American white man
Orlando: American white man
Parkland: American white man
Las Vegas: American white man Sandy Hook: American white man Umpqua CC: American white man Waffle House: American White man Texas Church: American white man If only there were some commonality....

Wakey wakey....

The First White President...

Ta-Nehisi Coates writes with clarity and precision like few other American authors. His incisive essay titled: The First White President is required reading for anyone interested in comprehending the U.S.A. (note: Mr. Coates is aware of, and sometimes sensitive to, but often also oblivious to his masculine socialization.)

I strongly urge you to read the essay I've linked above, it is a condensed version of the whole of U.S. history not told from the perspective of white men. That U.S. history (the white man version) is the one most who are educated in North America are familiar with. And...it is dreadfully misleading and shallow.

I was moved to write this post because I spent some time this morning in a used book store and was struck by the amazingly few books that were written by anyone except white men or white women.

If you want to learn about society or culture or history...it is wise to access information from those who are outsiders or victims of that society/culture/history. Because...those who benefit from societies/cultures/histories are going to tell their story and they're not likely to allow themselves to perceive the costs of their benefits.

If you're vegan and only learn from and about humans without looking at and learning from and about those who are harmed by non-vegan humans...you will be woefully ill-informed and deficient in your knowledge.

In general...it's not possible to gain a rich, accurate knowledge of any situation where there are harmers and harmed without learning from the harmed. If you only listen to and learn from those doing the harming...well...you get what I'm expressing.

Read the essay.