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A coworker asked me when I came in if today was a bittersweet day for me? I had to pause and reflect for a second. The answer, I replied, was a resounding negative! Today is an incredible day, even with the immenent passage of Prop 8 and 2 other states gay-hatin. But fret not dear gays, for today is still a day for celebration! We lost some battles, but we march forward in the war. It hurts to have had a right, and to have had said right then stripped away. And I feel deeply for those who have been wed in Cali and then had a public referendum declare that monumentous life changing event is invalid in the majority of their neighbors eyes. Even though they will remain wed, they are an elite group of outsiders going against the law. But we have to big picture this. There was -almost- a majority of people in Cali who are in favor of equal rights for all their neighbors. How amazing is that! 10 years ago, that would have been unfathomable! Social change -is- coming! Its coming! Its right here. 20's and 30's folks are in largely in favor of freedom for everyone. But sadly there is a large senior base who holds to the ways of their youth. But they will be gone someday, though we may love them. Culture war is just that, a war. And all the courts in the world can side in favor of our civil liberties, but it is this shift in popular opinion that shows that change will take hold. And we are winning the war, despite setbacks. We just need to refocus and push forward. Yes, we can. And what better way to push forward than under the leadership of a progressive, eloquent man backed by the majority of the house and senate. Sadness? Not today =) Today is Hope! I believe tomorrow will be a better day. I believe that today is, in fact, a better day! Today, I mourn the setbacks of my people. but I cheer the advancement of our entire society! History is made here people. Black, white, gay or straight. Today is a better day. There is nothing bitter about it. Current Mood:  thankful
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http://blogactionday.orgAwareness might possibly be the best weapon against any social injustice that faces us today. I open with that, because I feel slightly silly writing about a social ill in the hopes of rectifying it. For me, its like talking about how to solve a problem. It is great to have discussion, but actions are the root of change, not words. And me typing away on my cell phone at work isn't going to find any one person less hungry then they were before. But given the economic downswing, and the reality of a sarah palin white house, shouldn't we be more aware of such realitys? Ok, I jest about the last part. However, most of us are lucky enough to have never had experienced that which could be considered "poverty". I consider myself lucky for all the blessings I've been granted, financial included. Knowing that by sheer luck, I was born with the priviledge of falling within the worlds top 10% economic class; something most of us take for granted on a daily basis. It is so easy to just assume that we, being nothing special on the global scale, are "average" and that the majority of the folks in the world are exactly like us. We are bombarded with tv imagery of shiny people with expensive clothes and we feel almost inferior to them. But they are not the standard. They are not average. We are not the standard. We are not average. "Average" is a standard of living that most anyone reading this random blog entry could ever concieve tolerating. I have been so priviledged as to never have gone to bed hungry for not having food to eat. I have always had a roof over my head, clean drinking water, sanitary living conditions. (Well, outside of my own desanitizing). Its just that the problem is so expansive, and yet so easy to ignore. And how do we begin to help? I mean us. Not the governments, or the charitable organizations, or the televangelists. How do you and I affect the life of someone we don't know and have never met, in a positive way. Its a question I personally ponder regularly. Or would like to think I do. However the reality is I get so wrapped up in my own life that I don't have the lack of diligent regard I should be having for these issues. My mother, growing up, always saw my concern for issues larger than myself and would tell me "focus on you and your life. Worrying about the well being of the larger whole is pointless. You can't fix the world; so focus on living your life or you'll go crazy trying to fix other peoples". I've gone through periods or being appauled by the disregard, to periods of seeing the sanity and wisdom of the statement. But while I get to sit here and wax on about philisophical quandries, someone far away... And possibly someone nearby, is starving to death. Doesn't have a home. Doent have clean water to drink or basic medical supplies. And I feel powerless to help them. So I shrug it off and say theres nothing I can do about it. Or someday ill help out. My life is just too hectic, too busy. I can barely pay my bills, how can I help others. I would love to try, but wouldn't know where to begin. It would just be way to inconvenient. I'm sure you probably mirror at least some of these feelings, right? And some of you want to say no, or tell me all the things I could do to make it better. Well tell me, what have -you- done this month to help the situation? I never promised to blog anywhere with the solution. If the solution was so easily divulged, it would probably no longer be an issue. But talking about it leads to ideas. Maybe if the feeling of helplessness abides, and words flow freely, then action can come more freely. What are we going to do about this?
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