I've created this forum for those of us who would like to continue the dialogue taking place during the event planned for Saturday, December 5, 2015 at 12:00noon PT.
Below are some powerful articles that may hopefully stimulate more thoughts:
www.nytimes.com/2015/06/22/magazine/the-condition-of-black-life-is-one-of-mourning.html
www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/magazine/white-debt.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/the-black-family-in-the-age-of-mass-incarceration/403246/
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
http://www.alternet.org/environment/indigenous-elders-send-stern-message-un-paris-delegates-preventing-2degc-not-nearly
http://mashable.com/2015/11/26/native-american-thanksgiving/#DKTxVp6Kqaq2
http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/114946-indigenous-peoples-rights-cop21
Replies
Jan 19/16 I had the fortunate opportunity to watch the movie “Rosewood” last evening and what shocked me most beyond another "bloody awful" is just how long it took for this true story to be brought to public attention [1923 to 1997 movie to 2004] when surviving family members of this massacre were acknowledged. The community representation of the majority of the “souls of white folks” as portrayed in this movie is terrifying… homicidal racism and bigotry that lead to near total destruction. There were a few brave souls and heroes…
https://youtu.be/PGfdBwqzXeA
Here’s the link to one article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood_massacre
bloody awful!!!!
DEC 24, 2015 COLOURFUL SOULS:
Thank you James for taking your precious time to launch this important discussion named, “Souls of White Folks,” along with resources plus your follow-up articles: Parts 3 – 5. Today I completed my initial read of all the submissions…this is not easy reading…made notes...trying to digest, get the gist of our evolving ‘in-depth’ narrative that will hopefully emerge…knowing there are so many details… stories untold, to be disclosed…added to the mix...to behold in this particular place…space…in our time…
I for one will continue to meditate and prayer upon the notes made...just noticing I continue to be uncomfortable with your subject title [a time sensitive but limited catch phrase], and for me, the word ‘souls’ encompasses so much more than our visible pigment…And so, I return to my current grandmother status…concern for my granddaughter with 4 nation blood cursing through her veins…who is by her natural nature...deeply and internally blended…and I ask myself…how is my participation in this discussion helping me…her…family life, community living...virtual spaces and the global cultural climate…to just notice… our leaders recently met in Paris to script an agreement regarding “climate” control…
This festive season, I shall contemplate ‘colourful’ souls inherent in the vast collective [conscious + unconscious] as recorded…brought forward to our current attention... alongside the meagre morsels… particularly noteworthy…as revealed to me…along the way, some of the paths I have travelled…awe…the shifting sands of time…
And I remain curious …what will it take and when will we learn to simply move beyond one particular pigment and truly get into peace on earth and good will toward each other? Peace + Love Linda
Thanks for sharing, posting this in here too Char. Love it were getting into the details, depths - discourse...John was so wise, his story moves me and it is unfortunate he died so young. I do not understand the logic in that FBI memo equating John's "eloquence with dangerous" for speaking out in a forceful manner with fluent expression that is both vivid, moving and revealing is a great talent and gift for all of us trying to effect positive changes in the human condition. Peace + Love Linda
DEC 11, 2015 – More On Winslow's "BLACK UNLIKE ME" Article:
Fred expresses his deep concern and is both “saddened and pissed off by the state of race relations in this country [USA].” My sense is that he feels impotent to personally affect change due to a generalized underlying thoughts of doubt and fear of even trying to engage in a cross-racial conversation about race... is like “white people…[being] in a same strange and astonishing boat.”
And I say…here is our chance [within this DPA group setting] to get into a personal, reflective, cross-racial conversation about the depths of the waters that float and carry our alleged strange and astonishing boat[s] …
And then, Fred's comment…“to us [white folks]…black people are concepts, not individuals [don't care for this statement]…surrounded by millions, yet knowing few…living in the reality of a segregated existence…until he enters both the army and corporate worlds… where duties were performed by both “on a color-blind basis” for the “strictures and mores at play in…[these] closed systems…rendered us all [for a change] feeling equally oppressed…[but] not “on account of race” …remaining equal only within our own class or rank.” The oppression led to ‘rage and fear simmering…sublimated into a loathing of the system[s of]… conscription [and] greed holding all…hostage.” OMG...this feels so deeply heavy…
And at this point, I returned to my depth training [content analysis of his words used] and ask…what is the gist of the narrative he shares??…what level of depth conversation [soul state manifesting] is he at…can I join him???…and all I can hope for is that participants in this discussion group are OK with me taking some of Winslow’s words [above] out of context [his article] for the sole purpose of promoting more in-depth dialogue???
My humble attempt to bring forth his ideas [words] that struck a cord within me and the knowing I simply need to take some time to digest and contemplate the above more deeply…
Oh my goodness [OMG] James, I just realized I missed out [technological, financial barriers] on a golden opportunity not registering, participating in the launch of your event “Racism in America” and just now notice, am putting together…your additional sub-titles: the 4th of July [an Annual Event?], this follow-up discussion group named Souls of White Folks. And lastly today, noticed your Blog Posts: Part 4 and 5, [must reads] which appear so exceptionally well done.
An now, in this moment…I feel silly joining in this discussion - late and behind in comparison to many…trying to be brave, present in the here and now…to share relevant personal experience using my little voice from my little life from a speck of soil in a tiny hamlet contained within our vast North American continent…
It is painfully and obviously clear to me now that I arrived in this discussion behind [old imprint remains alive and well], and simply reading one article at a time [spending time to listen to Fred’s voice], when I ought to go back into DPA, read James Blog Posts [see Part 4 + Part 5 visible] – looks historically impressive and scholarly, and hold off on Fred's snap shot views when James has prepared the panoramic vision…appreciative, thank you very much …Peace + Love Linda
DEC 10, 2015 – BLACK UNLIKE ME by Fred Winslow:
While reading Fred’s article, I did so looking for common threads we might share [on some level] in our human condition; regardless of our differences. The first common thread is his comment, “When I do talk about race with people I know – white people – it’s to point out what’s staring us right in the face but what we somehow never quite see.” After reading his article, I tried to open a skin color conversation and express my opinion with a colleague that I believed class status [poor, middle class, affluent] appeared to be more of a barrier for folks to experience a good enough life than skin color. She promptly stated, “That’s the problem with white people, they just don’t see color as a problem.” She basically expressed the same view as Fred without having read his article and this fact intrigued me.
I was raised in poverty, she in affluence. I lived in an immigrant community with people from all over the world with different hair and skin color, cultural and family life values. My folks stayed married to death, her parents divorced. I stayed home till I married, she was kicked out. She travelled the world and attended university before raising a family, I adopted children and carried out many of our inherited family traditions.
In todays standards my childhood environment would be considered the slums. However, it simply never felt that way to me. We lived in a brick terrace setting, always had food on the table and second hand clothes on our backs. I shall always remain grateful, appreciative for my upbringing in that ‘old country’, lead by my elders, traditional family life - village people setting. I did not see color as a problem for it was the norm in my multicultural, immigrant based community, but poverty certainly was a problem for many. We had lots of anomie people gathered at the riverbanks and today these folks are called the working poor and homeless. However these people were adults and I remember when I first heard in the late 80’s that their were over 10,000 homeless children living in a Toronto area [Yonge Street]; this fact shocked me for this definitely is a huge cultural shift and change that is totally unacceptable. We ought to be taking good care of our young and the elderly!
That’s as far as I can go today. Peace + Love Linda
NY Times Video - Short video of black women talking about their experiences...
Hi Donna - thanks for finding and sharing this amazing video for us to see and hear these ladies in powerful presence and voice...
This is wonderful, Donna! Thanks.
Thanks again to everyone for taking part in the discussion on Saturday. If you missed the event, I've attached a downloadable audio recording to this message.
Stay tuned: I'm hoping we will continue the discussion very soon.
All the best,
James
The Souls of White Folk - Audio Only.m4a
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