I thought I'd date this post so that I'd have an easy reference to how long it's taking between posts these days. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long between posts, but I have a suspicion it's because I've been spending too much time on that other social media site, but not the one you're probably thinking of! Yep, that's right, I finally found tik toc and I am amazed at the volume of things that are on there. It's really insane but strangely fascinating, in that way that Boomers find all things done by other generations.
What are these kids thinking?
Yes, ma'am, I fell into that trap of tut-tutting and feeling ridiculously old, UNTIL I read that everyone over the age of 25 feels that way when it comes to tik toc! So, there's that and now I'm back in Blogville, but with the occasional trip to Instagram and its doting mama, Facebook.
I almost forgot my other spot, TWITTER! Now that the orange menace is no longer in the spotlight of social media, it's a far calmer place. I've given up doomscrolling and also watching the evening news, so there is that...
Now I just read the highlights of world tragedy and information in email summaries. If something is important, then I'll do more follow-up, but this method seems to be working for my mental stability. This pandemic isn't over and we are still a ways from the end.
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The other day I shared a meme on Facebook that said that the greatest threat to our society was white supremacy. Sadly, the only response (the post received many likes and shares) was that the greatest problem was people who rubbed salt in the wound instead of doing something to change it. Then the suggestion was did I have a mirror? My first response (internally to be clear) was to ask for an explanation because I wasn't sure what I was reading. But, then I realized that it was of no use because I knew what he meant and that no matter what I said as a woman of color, he would never see that the problem is HIS, as a white man, to solve, not mine. I'm sharing this here because earlier the MITM shared a story he'd read about Dave Brubeck that brought him to tears as he relayed it to me. Seems Brubeck when he was a kid he lived on a ranch in Stockton, California. His Dad wanted him to work the land with him, but Brubeck wanted to be a musician. Now here's the story that struck the MITM. Brubeck's Dad took him into town to meet a Black man that he knew and then asked the man to raise his shirt to show Dave his chest: it was a brand. His father said this should never happen! That was the reason Dave Brubeck joined the Army and why he always had an integrated band when it was NOT a common thing! As an aside and a great example of people with heart, Benny Goodman once told a white man who questioned his playing with niggers, "If you say that again I'll crack you in the head with this clarinet!"
All of this to say, if we don't face our problems, we will never change our society. Each of us has to deal with those around us, but when it comes to white supremacy, only white people can change that because those folks who believe in the superiority of their skin color will never listen to a colored gal like me!