Monday, January 18, 2010

MLK Day & it's spring

I have the doors wide open (our windows are glued shut here) and I've hung laundry on the clothesline in the backyard. It's as if--with the simplicity of these 2 things--the colors and breeze (and the ambulance parked in front of our house at a stoplight) have changed a season, even if it is still January.


Today is an appropriate day to ponder hope and justice, and although not everyone may see justice, we can always have hope.

Personally, through teaching in the areas I've selected, I have been able to see & feel some of the commentary african americans & hispanic populations have toward white people (i.e. me). A lot of the time, especially if I'm substituting, people won't get the opportunity to know me (and vice versa) and I've heard some hurtful things said toward me in the past (most recently was last Friday, when these boys who were disrupting the class said sent them to the office because I didn't want any black people in my class).

I wish things weren't this way. Our country is still very scarred by racism, and I do feel like most of it stems from fear of the unknown.

My objective here, as it is with a lot of issues (personal ethics, mental health advocacy, general happiness) is just to be who I am, treat people well and with love, and let any misguided comment just slip off my back...

Which I suppose, in fact, were some of the same mindsets of MLK...

And that's why I hope to continue teaching and to touch people with kindness & love....

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