GRAND LARCENY + DRUNKENESS + A FAILED TRANSMISSION + A FRACTURED SKULL + BALD TIRES + A LOST BUDGIE
AN INTERNATIONAL TRAVELER + A LIBRARY CARD + A MOTORCYLCE CRASH + PURPLE STUFF + A HOTEL PURCHASE
A FUNDING MISSION + SLEEPING CUSTOMS AGENTS + A MILITARY COUP + OPPRESSIVE HUMIDITY + A DREAM FRACTURES
FAST FOOD + ONE TENNIS RAQUET + ONE TIN OF TENNIS BALLS + A KICKING TEE + A FOOTBALL
A DARK FAMILY SECRET + AN EMOTIONAL CLEANSING + INTOXICATION + A SILVER Citroën
VACATION TIME + JACK IN THE BOX + A SUICIDAL TRAIN CONDUCTOR + AN INTERROGATION + BAD PEOPLE
A WEDDING + BEST MAN + A SPANISH BEACH TOWN + SEX IN A HOTEL POOL + A LEAKING BOY + A CORKSCREW
AN EDITOR + MY BOOK + AN EDITOR + MY BOOK AN EDITOR + MY BOOK + AN AFRICAN + A TEXAN
Distance from Liberia to Blaine
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Distance from Dallas to Blaine
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A PEACE ARCH MOMENT OF PONDERING
If the Americans are fighting hard to keep out the bad people – and Canada is fighting hard to keep out the bad people – and (insert country here) is fighting bad to keep out the bad people – shower – rinse – repeat – and there are still murders, drug abuse, domestic abuse, and all the other horrendous acts that humans are capable of, happening globally – then wouldn’t one think: maybe, just maybe, the stop the bad people approach, is not working and we are destined to make it worse until we find a better way.
Maybe, one country, for arguments sake, let’s say: Sri Lanka, should work diligently at keeping out the good people. That way the rest of the world could send the tiny nation all of the bad from around the globe which in-turn would greatly change the media template for the NEWS. “Don’t you have editors in Canada?” |
I was born in predominately white, Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada. Growing up in the white world shaped me. Every thought, perception of the world, my behaviour + my profound underlying sense of entitlement.
How could myself + all of my friends not be racist?
We had been conditioned: media + movies + books, all controlled by white people, blasted into our minds from birth.
I am going to now announce something I don’t think I am. I’m racist.
Although in many of my interactions with customs agents, the agents were dinks, my responses in return, may have been funny to the core, but they were often dinkish as well. Being a white racist allowed me to get away with my abhorrent behaviour.
Why am I announcing this flaw, it’s not really a flaw, it’s our conditioning in this flawed, advantage-skewing, white, world. I’m sharing because I’m recovering, every single day. I think every white person on the planet needs to accept their biases and vow to become recovering racists.
How?
Self-awareness.
A friend asked me why is it so difficult to be anything but white?
Because it is incredibly difficult for us whites to break free of our conditioning and accept the only path forward is to relinquish our advantages.
How?
Be active.
When a friend says to you, “Some racist jokes are best told only to a certain audience.”
Let your friend know there is no such thing as a racist joke.
When reading a book about walking paths in Norway, and the author writes, “When you walk, you don’t need spandex pants or a headband or one of those strange upper-arm configurations that joggers often wear as if it were a defibrillator or pepper spray and they were running through Baltimore’s most dangerous alleyways.”
Pay attention, and ask, what was the point of that passage + is Baltimore in Norway?
If you are honest with yourself, you will realize, we all play a role, and the only way we move forward is by exactly, that, paying attention, and every chance you get, speak up, and don’t allow racism to fester.
My recovery is a lifelong ordeal, but every time I speak up, I help to make the world a better place.
How could myself + all of my friends not be racist?
We had been conditioned: media + movies + books, all controlled by white people, blasted into our minds from birth.
I am going to now announce something I don’t think I am. I’m racist.
Although in many of my interactions with customs agents, the agents were dinks, my responses in return, may have been funny to the core, but they were often dinkish as well. Being a white racist allowed me to get away with my abhorrent behaviour.
Why am I announcing this flaw, it’s not really a flaw, it’s our conditioning in this flawed, advantage-skewing, white, world. I’m sharing because I’m recovering, every single day. I think every white person on the planet needs to accept their biases and vow to become recovering racists.
How?
Self-awareness.
A friend asked me why is it so difficult to be anything but white?
Because it is incredibly difficult for us whites to break free of our conditioning and accept the only path forward is to relinquish our advantages.
How?
Be active.
When a friend says to you, “Some racist jokes are best told only to a certain audience.”
Let your friend know there is no such thing as a racist joke.
When reading a book about walking paths in Norway, and the author writes, “When you walk, you don’t need spandex pants or a headband or one of those strange upper-arm configurations that joggers often wear as if it were a defibrillator or pepper spray and they were running through Baltimore’s most dangerous alleyways.”
Pay attention, and ask, what was the point of that passage + is Baltimore in Norway?
If you are honest with yourself, you will realize, we all play a role, and the only way we move forward is by exactly, that, paying attention, and every chance you get, speak up, and don’t allow racism to fester.
My recovery is a lifelong ordeal, but every time I speak up, I help to make the world a better place.
34 years of border crossings.
A life under construction.
A life under reflection.
Numerous stories.
In my memoir + future books.
BORDER WALL WILL APPEAR IN
A 60-YEAR-OLD-MAN RUNNING IN FLIP FLOPS (STORIES)
Stay tuned.
A ridiculous command.
How do we stay tuned?
One day, maybe tomorrow, or tommorow's tommorow, my vulnerablity will be shared.
Where?
In my books!
A life under construction.
A life under reflection.
Numerous stories.
In my memoir + future books.
BORDER WALL WILL APPEAR IN
A 60-YEAR-OLD-MAN RUNNING IN FLIP FLOPS (STORIES)
Stay tuned.
A ridiculous command.
How do we stay tuned?
One day, maybe tomorrow, or tommorow's tommorow, my vulnerablity will be shared.
Where?
In my books!