That's So Deep

2. In the Federal Government: Health Care Reform Passes

Whether you agreed or disagreed with what went into Health Care Reform, this was major deepness. The largest legislation since the New Deal. I was so tired of hearing opponents tell me, “The United States has the best system in the world…So and so (foreign celebrity/political leader) came here for surgery.” Great…so foreign so and so can come here, but 1 in 7 Americans are uninsured and therefore without access to basic healthcare. Preventive medicine people!

Wow, I can still get riled up about it.

Honorable Mention: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repealed.

3. In State Government: Arizona and SB 1070

What does an illegal immigrant look like, Governor Brewer? Enough said.

4. Not in the News: Georgia Prisoners Peacefully Protest

The largest prison protest in history and I had to hear about it from independent blogs. How does this not make major news? At least four Georgia prisons in lockdown? Prisoners (some belonging to groups that would normally fight each other) peacefully protesting for their rights? News fail. So deep. So frustrating.

This was an interesting story because news outlets treated it as a reversal of Catholic teaching, but it seems debatable that it was –  the Pope provided a very nuanced answer. His answers were not shocking to me, as I can guess many Catholic teachers/care providers have practiced some version of it.  It does not surprise me that Catholic teaching would err on the side of placing the health and care of male sex workers first, but it shows that the Catholic Church has difficulty messaging – everybody thinks they know what the Catholic Church believes and I have a feeling most are wrong. Also the Catholic Church is HUGE. There are gonna be multiple opinions (regardless of the Pope). Just sayin’. Interesting questions arise though. Read two versions of the story here and here.

7. In Food: We’re running out of chocolate. 

Yeah, you heard me. That’s what they’re saying. Chocolate is gonna become like caviar. The supply cannot meet the demand. This story freaked me out when I read it. What am I gonna do without Chocolate Chip cookies???? Start hoarding people! You have been warned.

Honorable Mention: KFC Double Down. 

8. In the Tea Party: Glenn Beck Rallies…for what again?

Take back America for who Glenn? “We will reclaim the civil rights movement.” Riiiighhht….I hope 2011 is the year where Glenn Beck shuts up. Wishful thinking? Sigh.

9. In Entertainment: Taylor Swift’s Performance at VMAs

Ok, so there were actually a lot of deep moments in entertainment. And there are probably some that are deeper than this one….but I had to put this. Hot mess. Taylor sounds awful. The song is so patronizing. The setting…so messed up. She’s like this beautiful young country white girl in the 50s who has condescended to the angry black man. “I forgive you Kanye!” Bleh.

Team Kanye, anybody? Although, thank God that saga has been put to rest.

10. On the web: The launching of our blog, duh! 

Or what was originally, Salt N Peppa, remember that? (LOL) We started this in February and if I do say so myself, it’s (and we are) pretty awesome. May the deepness continue on into 2011!

Honorable Mention: Microaggressions. Such a good idea. I wish I’d thought of it.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Liz,

I’ve been reading a lot of bell hooks lately. It was actually inspired by your post on embracing the self and others. A lot of what you said reminded me of hooks’ writings on multiple topics, especially ending racism through building community. She has a piece in one of her books, appropriately titled Killing Rage: Ending Racism, that focuses on building a “beloved community—where loving ties of care and knowing bind us together in our differences.” Here are few quotations that I really like:

“…beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.”

“To form beloved community we do not surrender ties to precious origins. We deepen those bondings by connecting them with an anti-racist struggle which is at heart always a movement to disrupt that clinging to cultural legacies that demands investment in notions of racial purity, authenticity, nationalist fundamentalism. The notion that differences of skin color, class background, and cultural heritage must be erased for justice and equality to prevail is a brand of popular false consciousness that helps keep racist thinking and action intact.”

“In a beloved community solidarity and trust are grounded in profound commitment to a shared vision…where borders can be crossed and cultural hybridity celebrated.”

With your most recent post on the effect of S.B. 1070 on the lives of so many individuals in Arizona, imagining a beloved community does seems like wishful thinking. *Sigh.* But it is in times likes these that we need visionaries, like hooks, to remind us to keep fighting AND that there is something worth fighting for. We must continue to “Speak Truth to Power.”

Those videos both angered and inspired me. S.B. 1070 is institutional racism at its best. (If you didn’t believe in it before, they just signed it into law, snitches…again. *blank stare*) Clearly so many in this country are terrified of change and are trying their darndest to hold on to their entitlement and institutional power in the forms of racial, social, cultural, sexual, economic, (and the list goes on) privilege. It is sickening and I am…tired. SMDH.

But these videos and the passion and determination of these individuals who are fighting for things that others in this country take for granted everyday, have given me so much hope. A 21st Century Civil Rights Movement sounds damn good to me. Maybe this time we’ll get it right.

Amber,

Have you been following this new Arizona law? It’s ridiculous. And makes me angry. Below are some videos I thought you and our readers might be interested in….comment ya’ll!

Protests against SB 1070

Dr. Warren H. Stewart Speaks at Phoenix’s First Institutional Baptist Church