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writing the journey

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  • #WakingUpWhite
  • Events
  • Comment Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Me
  • Books and Other Works

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  • Books,  history

    A Review of “Bearfish: An Almost-History of Southern Livestock”

    April 18, 2018 /

    Wildly audacious and entertaining, and deeply disappointing I would give it five stars for its entertainment and creativity, and one star for its unsatisfying delivery. I truly loved the beginning of this book, which is the alternate history of the United States wherein a President Taft signs a bill to import hippopotamuses from Africa to the southern United States as a way to solve a problem with the food supply prior to WWII. The alternate part here is that the U.S. came very close to doing just this; the bill actually failed by just one vote. What would happen if hippopotamuses were imported and, more importantly, naturalized and became a…

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    REVIEW: Anxious to Talk About It

    January 17, 2022

    Review: When They Call You a Terrorist

    February 9, 2019

    REVIEW: How to Fight Racism

    December 28, 2020
  • Celebrate Recovery,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism,  writing

    Does White Privilege Exist?

    January 23, 2018 /

    Recently a sincere white American Christian male asserted that there is no such thing as white privilege, that white Christians have no obligation to inquire as to whether there is any such thing as white privilege, that people of color, sexual minorities, and others (including, I’d hazard, women) have nothing to complain about in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, and…well, it just went on and on and on. He was angry, too, at being told that perhaps his views were not the only views that mattered. As a sincere white American Christian male, he had done all the work already, and as he was comfortable,…

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    New Year, New Labels

    January 1, 2019
    Snowboarder

    Surfing the Avalanche

    February 15, 2010

    Wyte Innocence

    March 28, 2022
  • Celebrate Recovery,  essays,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism,  writing

    Converting the Unconvertable

    January 17, 2018 /

    You cannot change someone’s mind through the presentation of fact. That presentation of fact happens later, after they are willing to be persuaded. What changes people is personal interaction and communication. So outside of any change of mind, connection with people can lead to a chance for a change in direction. It happens very, very infrequently. Marshaling fact upon fact and argument upon argument is actually ineffective in changing a mind or an opinion. But what I’ve found is this: maintaining a consistent, fair, kind viewpoint, consistently refusing to accede to stupid and mendacious reasoning, consistently refusing to “compromise” by agreeing with putative “moderate” position, consistently refusing to allow the…

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    Two orange butterflies alight several thistle blossoms

    Bullhorns and Butterflies

    June 19, 2022
    A man works to repair a church window.

    On Deconstruction

    March 17, 2022

    Do This in Remembrance of Me

    August 25, 2022
  • American Civil War,  Celebrate Recovery,  Life Recovery Skills,  musicals,  Taproot,  Theatre

    Review: A Civil War Christmas

    December 17, 2017 /

    We saw #Taproot Theatre’s production of “A Civil War Christmas” last night, and I have to say, I wanted to like this more, but could not. This was not due to the sets, the lighting, the staging, the choreography, the sound, the music, costumes, or the actors—all which were competent and professional. It was the book that was weak, and all the best efforts of the cast to bring the story to life did not work. To be clear, this is not a bad production or even a bad play. It is just a weak book with an enthusiasm for story not matched by a skill for storytelling. We open…

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    Street view of the F. W. Woolworth building in Greensboro, North Carolina. There are a dozen people standing on the sidewalk in front of the building.

    When We Hide the Past in Plain Sight

    July 14, 2025
    banknotes

    Juneteenth, Reparations, and What Do I Do About It?

    June 19, 2019

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 6: From Confusion to Shock

    February 8, 2019
  • Christmas,  writing

    About the About of Christmas

    November 30, 2017 /

    We watched “A Heavenly Christmas” this evening as we relaxed by the fire. It’s a Hallmark Christmas movie, so there is no bad language, no mocking or satire, and no unhappy endings. It was not bad, even though I must admit that the actors were working with a somewhat unrealistic plot: a too-busy-for-family career woman falls a week before Christmas, hits her head, and suddenly finds herself in heaven with Shirley McClain, her angel guide, and discovers that she must “save” another family from the tragedies in life by intervening w/o interfering, and… Well, you’ll just have to rent or buy the movie. (Rent is my advice.) Afterwards we talked…

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  • American Civil War,  Celebrate Recovery,  faith,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism

    Sorry Folks — to Avoid a Choice Is to Make a Choice

    November 22, 2017 /

    Traditionally, orthodox Christianity means a religion centered around the Christ of the New Testament, where what Jesus said and taught and did forms the central, defining properties of the religion. Christ did not hate the Jews or want them eliminated or gassed. Christ did not hate black Africans. In fact, some of the first disciples were black Africans. (You can look this one up. You’ll be astonished at what you were seeing all along.) Christ did not expel the stranger or demonize the foreigner. In fact, he used the foreigner despised by others as an example of what a man acting as a neighbor would look like. Christ did not…

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    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 6: From Confusion to Shock

    February 8, 2019
    Street view of the F. W. Woolworth building in Greensboro, North Carolina. There are a dozen people standing on the sidewalk in front of the building.

    When We Hide the Past in Plain Sight

    July 14, 2025
    banknotes

    Juneteenth, Reparations, and What Do I Do About It?

    June 19, 2019
  • musings

    Welcome to Braggsville–A Review

    July 2, 2017 /

    We saw “Welcome to Braggsville” at the Seattle Center, performed by the Book-It Repertory Theater, based on the novel by T. Geronimo Johnson. First off, let me say that the cast was stellar, and the leads were absolutely fantastic. They were in their roles in a way that led me to believe they weren’t acting; only the transformation over time during the show and conversations afterwards helped me see just how incredibly talented these men and women are. The four leads in particular were astonishingly fine. (Personal note: I know one of them, and while he was able to portray his character well, he was not “being himself.” He was…

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    A Black woman and a white woman look down at an unseen fire. One is holding a stick with a marshmallow on it.

    REVIEW: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person

    May 20, 2021

    I’m Just Here to Dance

    February 16, 2019
    Man sitting on a park bench reading a newspaper

    What I’ve Learned in 2023

    December 31, 2023
  • Celebrate Recovery,  faith,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills

    The Words of Good White Liberals

    June 17, 2017 /

    What are your thoughts, good people? http://kuow.org/post/understand-white-liberal-racism-read-these-private-emails This is really hard for me to read, because it is easier to talk about racism and to march against racism than it is to do the hard work of confronting racism *in our own lives*. It’s my opinion that we want to tell others how to fix it in their lives, because by God we’re all fixed. We have such good feelings and intentions. And yet, an example to bring pause… Philando Castile, a good and gentle black man, was shot to death last year. His death was caught on film, he did everything we white people told him to do–stay calm,…

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    stephen matlock 2 Comments

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    Wyte Innocence

    March 28, 2022

    I’m Just Here to Dance

    February 16, 2019
    A man works to repair a church window.

    On Deconstruction

    March 17, 2022
  • American Civil War,  musings

    Should We Provoke White Supremacists?

    May 27, 2017 /

    Recently I responded (several times!) to comments about the fine, fine speech given by Mayor Landrieu of New Orleans at the removal of four monuments/statues which had been raised originally to support and defend the white supremacists’ governance of the South, first in the American Civil War and then in the overthrow and coup 10 or so years later in the city of New Orleans. Several people replied to my comments, attempting to shift the argument to other details—tariffs, states’ rights, Southern hospitality, Northern sins, and so on. One reply went longer than the rest, and I responded to it detail by detail, as best I could. I think there…

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    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 6: From Confusion to Shock

    February 8, 2019
    banknotes

    Juneteenth, Reparations, and What Do I Do About It?

    June 19, 2019
    Street view of the F. W. Woolworth building in Greensboro, North Carolina. There are a dozen people standing on the sidewalk in front of the building.

    When We Hide the Past in Plain Sight

    July 14, 2025
  • Celebrate Recovery,  faith,  justice

    Jesus Was Crucified by the State

    May 7, 2017 /

    Jesus was crucified by the state, y’all. I see and hear my fellow white American Christians celebrating the fact that they are very close to imposing their peculiar version of Christianity upon an unwilling populace, because they have “captured Congress, the Presidency, and now the Supreme Court!” Jesus was crucified by the state. Jesus did not attempt to overthrow the government (although he was charged with that). Did not condemn the government for existing (he complimented the Roman soldier who behaved with respect to the law, which—when you think about the cruelty permitted by the Roman soldiers, is an awesome thing for Jesus to say). Did not attempt to force…

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    In the Fields of the Lord

    February 12, 2019

    Do This in Remembrance of Me

    August 25, 2022

    Getting From A to B

    March 4, 2019
  • musings

    Intersectionality: Your First Steps to Understanding

    January 21, 2017 /

    “Intersectionality” is a long word, and looks complex, and perhaps annoys people. “Don’t make it hard for me to live,” is how it comes out when they ask for explanations. “Make it consumable to me, and not threatening, and make sure I stay in the center.” Well, here is an explanation that is as simple as I can make it. “Intersectionality” is this: the rights of women to live as equals to men  is like the rights of black Americans and brown Americans and Native Americans and Asian Americans to live as equals to whites, is like the rights of gay Americans to live as equals to straight Americans, is…

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    Great Expectations

    June 4, 2019
    White cat stretching on a brown wooden plank

    Two Things

    June 29, 2024
    Potter making a clay dish

    Pride and Prejudice, Staged

    October 26, 2019
  • challenges,  history,  justice,  musings,  racism,  writing

    Naked, Partisan Politics: A Primer

    January 21, 2017 /

    I wrote this as a quick response to several white men criticizing the 2017 Women’s March on Washington who were arguing that the party of the left (the Democrats) should more fully embrace the plight of the “blue collar worker” & abandon the idea of intersectionality and allyship with people of color, women, the disabled, those in the LGBTQIA spectrum, and others historically marginalized by white American culture. This is not a perfect essay, but I wanted to highlight some things. I don’t think these men were honest; I think they were attempting to split progressives and moderate Democrats. So my response isn’t so much to attempt to convince them,…

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    News and Updates

    April 13, 2019

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 22: Why Do I Always End Up with White People?

    April 29, 2019

    Ki kote m ye?

    July 23, 2023
  • Celebrate Recovery,  challenges,  education,  faith,  family,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  musings,  racism,  writing

    The Non-Whiteness of Jesus

    November 22, 2016 /

    I got to thinking the other day about how we see Jesus and Jesus’ teachings expressed in the lives of his followers. And I began thinking about how hard it is to reconcile our Christian behavior with our Christ. Traditionally, orthodox Christianity means a religion centered around the Christ of the New Testament, where what Jesus said and taught and did forms the central, defining properties of the religion. Christ did not hate the Jews or want them eliminated or gassed. Christ did not hate black Africans. In fact, some of the first disciples were black Africans. (You can look this one up. You’ll be astonished at what you were…

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    New Year, New Labels

    January 1, 2019

    The Barley Soup Recipe

    January 2, 2019

    Lenten Lamentations

    March 5, 2019
  • Celebrate Recovery,  education,  essays,  faith,  family,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism,  writing

    So, This Is How It Happened

    November 17, 2016 /

    In which I relate the many interlocking steps leading to my aligning myself with all I once thought was opposed to God, flag, and country. In the past eight years I have made many changes, from the friends I hang around with, the method of church participation I act in, and the attention I pay to the issues and people around me. My behavior and words have puzzled some people, and angered others. And, to be frank, most people have largely shrugged their shoulders and said “eh,” which is an entirely natural action by most people when they see someone behaving oddly. But if you are interested in how I…

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    A man is checking a map to see where he goes next

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 38: The Rugged Individual

    December 20, 2019

    Making Good in Trouble

    March 29, 2022
    Community and Acceptance

    What Is the Home That Shuts Its Doors to You?

    September 23, 2019
  • faith,  movies,  musings,  reviews,  writing

    “Moonlight”– the Rough Draft

    November 6, 2016 /

    When I watch a movie or attend a play or listen to music or read a book, I am usually present as the observer who analyzes my experience, always starting from “me” to say to myself “The author/creator is saying this and I either agree or disagree.” I remove myself one step from being in the moment. Sometimes, when I am experiencing a very good presentation I find myself “in the moment,” where I lose the sense of time and even self-awareness. “Moonlight,” the movie directed by Barry Jenkins, and written by Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, is neither of those. It is not a presentation where I was…

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    When You See Their Truth

    November 1, 2021

    Making Good in Trouble

    March 29, 2022

    REVIEW: Anxious to Talk About It

    January 17, 2022
  • essays,  justice,  racism

    Am I Racist?

    October 24, 2016 /

    This is a hard question for white people to answer because it is painful to consider. Short answer: Yes. You are racist. More acceptable answer (to help with the feelings): Mostly likely yes. Here’s why: It’s hard to hear that we white people (and our own selves) are racist, because we want to be on the side of the angels (of justice and reconciliation, etc.). But the true fact is that staying silent isn’t rejection. It’s accommodation and acceptance. And please understand that because “racism” is seen as bad, no one who thinks of themselves as “good” wants to be called “racist.” But racism is not what bad people do.…

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    Snowboarder

    Surfing the Avalanche

    February 15, 2010
    Potter making a clay dish

    Pride and Prejudice, Staged

    October 26, 2019
    Mural of man expressing anger. Blue hair and shirt.

    With Malice Aforethought

    May 9, 2020
  • Books

    A Review of David Lamb’s Novel “On Top of the World”

    September 25, 2016 /

    My rating: 5 of 5 stars (for creativity and fun) First of all, let me say this: On Top of the World, by David Lamb, is a romp. It is as much a jaundiced view of American pop culture and its worship of bling and blitz and blather as it is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the eternally fascinating dance between a man and a woman who both seek to unite but events and people get in the way. Plus, it includes Tiny Tim, and not that guy with the annoying falsetto. Yes, this is most assuredly a take-off of Dicken’s work “A Christmas Carol,” and so there are some wonderfully…

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    REVIEW: Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege

    December 12, 2021

    Review: When They Call You a Terrorist

    February 9, 2019
    A white man in a hat smiles at a white woman who smiles back.

    REVIEW: Good White Racist?2

    May 24, 2021
  • essays,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  musings,  racism

    On Empathy

    September 23, 2016 /

    Some helpful techniques and guidance about how to listen when people tell you something about themselves. It’s called empathy: When someone speaks of their experience, pain, or situation, empathy is to listen, and then to walk or sit with them. Often when people tell you of a painful event they aren’t asking for your own experience. They’re saying they feel safe with you and are implying that they really need you to listen and even maybe help them process. Be careful sharing your “me too!” stories at that moment. It might be because your memories are triggered, but sometimes that response tells them “Time for my own story.” It’s not…

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    Of Course I’m Racist

    September 16, 2019
    A black and white photo. A young man stands in the middle of a grove of slender trees, all with white trunks.

    When Words Fail

    December 12, 2019
    Leaf floating on water

    When You Fall

    September 21, 2019
  • faith,  justice,  racism

    For Brian Crooks and His Supporters

    September 22, 2016 /

    I posted this on Facebook in Brian Crooks’s feed but I wanted to bring it forward. It is for Brian, of course, but it is for his many white supporters who hear what he says and ask “how can I help?” Dear FB Friend Brian, I can’t claim I ‘know’ other than as a FB friend, but can I presume to speak? First, to say this: you do not owe anyone a single moment more of your time, your energy, your passion, your emotions, your concern, your interest, or yourself. You have done enough–more than enough–in your attempt to explain to deaf people and dead hearts that you indeed are…

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    Do This in Remembrance of Me

    August 25, 2022
    A montage of human faces overlaid by various color filters.

    What makes someone a human?

    March 2, 2023
    Man sitting on a park bench reading a newspaper

    What I’ve Learned in 2023

    December 31, 2023
  • challenges,  faith,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  racism

    Choosing Among Kaepernick, Sherman, Wilson, Newton, Marshall, and Others

    September 11, 2016 /

    Recently Colin Kaepernick has made a visible attempt to express his own evaluation of his person and his place in American society. Colin Kaepernick is black, and as a black American he is choosing to remain quietly seated or down on one knee when the national flag is displayed at the beginning of football games. This has engendered much discussion and much reaction, ranging from applause to opposition to outright hatred that “he is not respecting the flag and our nation’s military.” Some of his football peers have chimed in, some to say that such protest is not needed. Some have not commented. Some have supported him in words, and…

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    If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see

    January 26, 2019

    News and Updates

    April 13, 2019

    When the Past Tries to Reclaim the Present

    March 13, 2019
  • challenges,  history,  justice,  writing

    Respect–Given and Earned, Not Demanded and Taken

    August 29, 2016 /

    To say to a bank “I expect you to keep my money safe and not just throw it willy-nilly into the street” isn’t disrespect. It’s respecting the word of the bank and demanding it holds true to that promise it makes to you, to keep your money safe. To say to a restaurant “I expect you to serve me food that’s well-prepared and safe to eat, and not just shove crap from a garbage can onto a plate and drop it in front of me” isn’t disrespect. It’s respecting the word of the restaurant and demanding it holds true to its promise it makes to you, to serve you well-prepared,…

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    Several Haitian schoolchildren line up for a picture.

    Sometimes our brains tell the truth while our emotions lie

    May 3, 2023

    When the Past Tries to Reclaim the Present

    March 13, 2019
    avocado, split in half. The bottom half is the entire avocado, and the top half shows the top part of the seed.

    My Year So Far

    June 1, 2024
  • faith,  history,  justice,  musings,  racism,  Seattle

    Being John Lewis. And Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. And Even Myself.

    August 19, 2016 /

    Today, August 19, 2016, I had the great pleasure and extreme privilege to meet the honorable Congressional Representative John Lewis, his digital director Andrew Aydin, and illustrator Nate Powell when they came to Seattle as part of their book release tour for “March Book 3.” Representative Lewis and Mr. Aydin collaborated on the story and Mr. Powell prepared the illustrations for this comic series that explains and expands on the Civil Rights movement of the 60s which Rep. Lewis participated in, sometimes in highly visible ways, and sometimes just in his calm, rigorous determination to do the right thing. Rep. Lewis has lived a long life of dedication to his…

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    The Barley Soup Recipe

    January 2, 2019
    Six people participate in a close group hug.

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 25: Belonging

    May 14, 2019
    Four sheep facing the viewer. They are standing in a field.

    To My Evangelical Faith Family

    August 29, 2020
  • musings

    The American Church and American Racism: A Safe Place to Talk

    August 7, 2016 /

    Stay tuned for our open community discussion about race in America, specifically on the American church and how we have responded and what we can do to change our responses. This 13-week class will start on Wednesday nights in September, 2016 at the Snoqualmie Valley Alliance Church campus, and will run about 60-90 minutes each week. The format is open discussion led by a facilitator with guests as appropriate, and will use as its textbook “The Trouble I’ve Seen” by Dr. Drew G. I. Hart. The book will be available for purchase at the campus bookstore, or it can be ordered/purchased from Amazon.com (hardback, paperback, or Kindle versions): Kindle version Hardback version…

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    This Do

    April 1, 2021

    REVIEW: Just Mercy

    July 5, 2020
    Community and Acceptance

    What Is the Home That Shuts Its Doors to You?

    September 23, 2019
  • justice,  musings,  questions,  racism,  writing

    Are White People Still Racist?

    July 14, 2016 /

    Recently an apparently sincere white guy in the PNW made the statement along the lines of “white people aren’t that racist anymore,” and used as an example how we in the PNW are much nicer to “those people.” I’ve changed his name to “Sam” in my response here because I don’t think his post in a private group is something to bring public, but I will bring my response out in the open. Sam, I’m afraid my eyeballs have rolled so far back up my head I had to walk six miles just to go get them. “Racism” is not something bad people do, Sam. Racism is not white people…

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    Carefully Taught, Thoroughly Educated

    October 21, 2019

    Enough

    March 15, 2019

    It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way

    February 6, 2019
  • challenges,  faith,  justice,  musings,  questions,  racism

    To Be Enough: Rest and Restoration

    July 11, 2016 /

    As allies of our brothers and sisters, we might not always be on the front lines. It is not a struggle where we as allies should be at the front and in charge. It is a  struggle where we amplify and encourage and validate, where we listen and where we stand alongside. It is not the main struggle–we are the supply wagons and support staff and the community of brothers and sisters. We can do what we can, without taking charge. It is not about us, but the work does require us to be about the work. And we must not go farther than we can go. We must take…

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    When the Past Tries to Reclaim the Present

    March 13, 2019

    If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see

    January 26, 2019

    Ki kote m ye?

    July 23, 2023
  • challenges,  essays,  faith,  history,  justice,  Life Recovery Skills,  musings,  questions,  racism,  writing

    A Jury of One’s Peers

    July 7, 2016 /

    You may (or may have not) seen video circulating recently showing the last moments of black American men shot by American cops. Some of my friends think we should see them. Some of my friends think we should not. I respect them all so much, and those who are against seeing them have my full support, as those who encourage us to show these deaths. Rather than come down one way another, here’s what I think, if my opinion is worth anything at all: I think we need to do what we think we need to do. I won’t demand people watch the videos (and I don’t share them, myself,…

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    Six people participate in a close group hug.

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 25: Belonging

    May 14, 2019
    Several Haitian schoolchildren line up for a picture.

    Sometimes our brains tell the truth while our emotions lie

    May 3, 2023

    #WakingUpWhite Chapter 22: Why Do I Always End Up with White People?

    April 29, 2019
  • eulogy,  faith,  justice,  racism

    Muhammad Ali 1942-2016

    June 4, 2016 /

    Ali was incomprehensible to me at the time. I was alive and aware when he changed his name and religion, and when he spoke against the United States’ foreign policy and wars. It was incomprehensible to me that any American would do anything but support the United States as-is, especially to the point where any alleged mistakes are not talked about in polite company. It was incomprehensible to me that anyone would change their religion from Christianity to Islam, and be so confident and positive about it. It was incomprehensible to me that he was so universally admired, respected, beloved by so many people when he was so adamantly anti-American.…

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