Fall Day in the Japanese Garden, Portland OR
i have not posted in more time than I realized, nearly 3 months! Now that Fall is here, my season of new beginnings, I will begin anew. Several times over the summer I have started, but all starts have been left hanging, waiting for a moment of inspiration or motivation to complete. I expect that the fact is that my well for inspiration needed refilling. Today, though, I add my personal thoughts to a discussion which is very familiar to all of us. I have written similarly before, but some things need to be repeated over and over. At times it is hard for me to focus on just one theme; sometimes I just feel ovewhelmed and paralysed by negative events surrounding us constantly. At these times, I wonder what I could possibly say or do to change the greater picture. It is then that I have to stop and reset my being. I breathe. I collect my thoughts. I write.
The Ferguson, Missouri nighmare has remained in the news now for weeks. This incident has again stimulated discussion and outrage at the racism that remains in our “land of the free”. If nothing else, in my view, we can hope that the ugliness of it awakens those of us who sit back and say nothing and do nothing except shake our heads and move on. We Americans who live comfortably in our neighborhoods, devoid of diversity, have not a clue, really , what it is like to be viewed as suspicious only because of the colour of our skin. How arrogant we are! How arrogant we have been througout history! We live in a country which has been molested by Anglo-Saxons since setting foot in the Americas. I cannot imagine that many of us have a clue or can truly relate to the feeling of racial profiling. To deny it’s existance is being blind to reality.
I have just finished reading Someone Knows My Name, by Lawrence Hill, a Canadian. The book took me two years to finally finish. It was tough reading and I believe it should be required reading for us all. This historical novel is well-researched and well-written. It is one of the only books that I have ever felt compelled to read all the credits and the bibliography list. It is riveting to read about the life of an African-American child kidnapped for slave trade, before the American Revolutionary War. A reviewer stated…”her story is not only heart stopping and brutal, but also one of great humanity.” Someone Knows My Name can stimulate some real discussion.
I have ranted about the injustices that abound, fully realizing that ranting is all it is, ranting and words sprewing forth. Perhaps the writing of the words, however, will stimulate one reader to give pause and consideration before speaking out or making a decision from preconceived thoughts and conditions. All I can finally say is that in the stopping and breathing, I also realize one must move on and forward with hope. Hope can start a positive change, if not in the circumstances, at least in our own thought process and how we view others. I am grateful for family and friends in my life who stimulate me to question my own views and grow in my understanding of fellow man and other cultures. There is no easy or quick solution, but I do believe we, as Americans and as human beings, must evolve and learn to pause in our lives. So much troublesome behavior and unhelpful thinking can be redirected when we pause and slow our own impulse to react immediately, to circumstances within our control or outside our control. I can hope that even I, as one person, can make a postive difference.