Monthly Archives: January 2021

A Young Poet Leads the Way

General, Women

It is young people like poet Amanda Gorman, who recited her poem, “The Hill We Climb”, at the presidential inauguration on January 20th, who give me hope for the future. She wrote it right after the riot at the Capitol on January 6th, and I am awestruck by her words.

To my mind, her words flow freely every time I read her poem. I like it more with each re-reading!

She is our future, and I am glad of it; she’s a young person gifted with words – among countless other young persons you and I are likely unaware of, who sprinkles words of inspiration and fiery determination into our consciences.

Enjoy!

[from Democracy Now!’s broadcast; text of poem and transcript of show included.]

“The Hill We Climb”: Watch Breathtaking Poem by Amanda Gorman, Youngest Inaugural Poet in U.S. History

Idol Worship

General

For me, it’s hard not to observe the most die-hard followers of our now former president and not think about their devotion to him – to the point that if anyone expresses a critical view of the former president or his policies, the devotee may become vehemently defensive.

Defensive the way a teenager might become when their beloved pop idol is criticized by a friend or loved one.

Yes, that is a grand simplification, of course, There’s many complex factors involved, like economics and political ideology and I don’t pretend to understand and delve into their frustrations.

But just on the surface, it is astonishing to me how intense the reactions are of the former president’s most fervent followers to any words that don’t praise and glorify him.

When I was in junior high school during the ‘70s, I had a huuuuuuuge crush on a pop star and was teased mercilessly by my friends. My family allowed me my obsessive infatuation though their indifference was palpable, the way one might feel if she’d announced what she thought was a great idea to friends and acquaintances – only to be met with obligatory, patronizing half-nods and thin, toothless smiles.

I’m guessing my family was likely concerned I was idolizing him to a ridiculous, time-consuming level…instead of focusing on more important things like doing my homework.

But hey, I was a young teenager! And what teen isn’t tormented from riding on a daily emotional rollercoaster, whether at home or at school, or both? My tender feelings felt like they’d been harshly and unjustly attacked when I was criticized in the slightest for fawning over my beloved pop star.

As in: how dare you attack me for liking what I like! Don’t I have the right to enjoy music I like, just like you do? Humpf!

I joined a fan club for this pop star, bought a goldtone necklace of his image (that might now resemble an icon on a road sign if it were massively enlarged), and I also had a t-shirt of him smiling, to let the whole world I was in love with him… to tell the whole world he was the best singer in the world!

I got a couple of his records for Christmas and listened to his songs a million times til I could memorize all the lyrics, and I tried to catch him on tv holiday specials through the years.

So yeah, I had a pretty strong girl crush on him. Any criticism of him – or by extension, me (to my mind), was intolerable. An unwarranted, malicious attack. He’s my man, dammit! You leave him alone.

I was head over heels “in love” with him. And often when one is in love – and I imagine, particularly when it is only one-sided, reason goes out the window. Fiery emotions rule the day!

My beloved pop star and our now former president are apples and oranges, but when I look at the unhappy, most die-hard followers of the latter, it seems they are like I was as an obsessed, young teen when presented with opposing viewpoints: unable to handle even the slightest criticism (or perceived criticism) of their dear pop star – quick to go on the defense.

Vehemently so. Enamored of his words. Wanting to listen to him a million times.

Can never get enough of him. He’s an addiction.

Like my family and friends who didn’t understand my great obsession with my pop star, perhaps those who didn’t vote for the Dear Leader are similarly concerned for their friends and loved ones who are obsessed with him, maybe thinking to themselves:

he’s not God, for crying out loud!

If the former president’s most die-hard fans are worked up about any particular criticism of him, they might go on the offensive, saying something negative about “the other side”, usually in an accusatory tone: Why don’t they investigate the VP’s son or They’ve been mean to him [Dear Leader] from the start!

Oh, that elusive they! WHO are they, I ask you?

It’s hard to be clear and reasonable when you’re as hoppin’ mad as Yosemite Sam.

Hard, when you’re a tormented teen, with raging hormones and trying to find your way in the world amid parental and familial “control” over your life, coping in the presence of your fellow tormented teens, and feeling that you must fiercely defend all you hold dear to your heart – including your beloved popstar, from the slightest prick of criticism.

But what’s with the grown-ups who can’t even handle mere words expressing opposing views of their demigod without going nearly ballistic, as if their guy can do no wrong and is above the law?

Will these fervent followers of the former president ever outgrow their obession of him?

I still enjoy “my” popstar’s music, for sure! Am certainly not in love with him. He’s married for one thing. And to another man. More power to him!

There was a time, about 34 years ago when my pop star was scheduled to come to the city I was working in, to a bookstore near my workplace, to sign autographs of his newly released autobiography. I planned to go after work.

But then there was a bomb threat at the store; I don’t remember if it was because of him or not. There were literally hundreds of women openly weeping because his visit was announced by store management that it would be cancelled for safety concerns.

And then suddenly, I saw the local news cameras! Cameras focusing on the screaming, weeping women.

Oh dear, I thought! I’ve got relatives in the area…I don’t want the cameras to catch me! I couldn’t bear the thought of being caught on camera like a person sneaking away for a secret rendezvous and risk the possibility of my relatives calling my mom to tell her they saw me on the evening news among hundreds of women crying because they couldn’t see “our” pop star! No way.

Nevertheless, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for a just a tiny, fleeting moment of star-gazing at one of my favorite popstars. I was only half-hearted about the prospect of buying his book and standing in line for god knows how long just so he could autograph it! I’d already had a looong day at work and was very tired. But the novelty of seeing a celebrity I liked was kind of a fun idea…until I saw the tear-soaked women. More so than seeing the local news crews.

I was not weeping, just feeling disappointed…and maybe a bit startled when I saw the huge and nearly hysterical crowd. Their reaction to the news that he wouldn’t be there embarrassed me a bit; it looked to me that they had invested so much of their individual identities in the popstar. I certainly did not want to go there!

That vivid scene permanently cured me of any vestige of idol worship of him, though that incident occurred a good decade after my teen obession by that point.

Now that the Dear Leader is not in office anymore, I wonder if his most fervent followers’ obsession with him will fade with time, as mine did with my pop star? That maybe at best, they’ll still like him and admire his words, but won’t be the least bit offended at the slightest criticism of him. That they would be sorely embarrassed and startled by his die-hard fans’ worshipful behavior towards him. And that they can wholeheartedly divorce their individual identities from him.

I hope so.

They might discover there are many interesting people and things outside their attachment to him.

If our sense of self, our values and our ideals, do not originate from within – but are instead largely influenced, shaped or fashioned by celebrated characters – we fall under the spells of idol worship without realizing we have ‘souled out’.
~ T.F. Hodge

A Ray of Sunshine

Civics, General, Media, Women, , ,

Do you know who Maria Ressa is?

I only vaguely knew of this renowned journalist who was accused of cyber libel in June 2020, and then the other night, PBS’ Frontline show had a great documentary on the threatened status of press freedom in the Philippines, focusing on Maria Ressa. She is a dynamo! Intensity and reslience packed into a small stature. Check out this documentary:

A Thousand Cuts

With press freedom under threat in the Philippines, A Thousand Cuts goes inside the escalating war between the government and the press. The documentary follows Maria Ressa, a renowned journalist who has become a top target of President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on the news media. …

Her resoluteness, her confidence, and her forthrightness shine bright – so much so that she has remained ingrained in my mind for days. And I’ll venture to say, for years to come.

Ressa is a top target of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, having been an outspoken critic of his policies for many years – in particular, the extrajudicial killings, human rights violations, and fast-rising death toll from Duterte’s brutal war on drugs as well as the alleged pro-Duterte online “troll army” who were pushing out fake news stories and manipulating the narrative around his presidency. She has posted bail 9 times and has endured relentless political harrassment by the Duterte government and its supporters. Yet it doesn’t deter her from battling disinformation.

Bullies like Duterte don’t seem to faze Maria Ressa. (Would you expect less from someone who spent many years investigating terrorist networks in Southeast Asia?)

And she says she will not let herself be intimidated.

I love that about her!

For me, Maria Ressa is a ray of sunshine in these dark days of the pandemic. She is an inspiration for those who are deeply disgusted by the US wanna-be dictator who has repeatedly called the press the enemy of the people and has denounced any journalist who has committed the “crime” of criticizing him. She may be in the Philippines – she is by the way also a US citizen, but she nevertheless is an inspiration to many around the world who value and respect a free and open democracy.

Amendment I of the US Constitution clearly states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Similarly, Section 4 of the Bill of Rights in the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines clearly states:

No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.

Nice to know the US Constitution has inspired others around the globe to enshrine similar rights into their own countries’ constitutions!

But not-so-nice to know that the most powerful man on earth has been inspired by the dictators of the world with regard to how to treat members of the press, as per his own acknowledgment.

Neither the leader of the Philippines nor the soon-to-be former leader of the United States like the press, let alone respect it. Well, arguably, no political “leader” does; however, but when you, Presidents Duterte and Trump, publicly single out journalists by belittling them in front of their peers at a press conference or at a mass rally of your followers because they wrote something you didn’t like, arrest them on allegedly politically motivated charges, insinuate that a certain journalist “could be a target for assassination”, laugh when your dictator buddy calls the press corps “spies”, announce in a jesting tone that you think it’d be a good idea to arrest and maybe “get rid of” journalists who criticize and contradict your mistatements with facts just like another dictator buddy, and worst of all, say that the press is the enemy of the people, then I’d say that you, Dear Leaders – and there’s more than two of you on this planet, have an unimaginable contempt for your fellow citizens. For those who elected you as well as those who did not.

Journalists are here to hold our elected leaders accountable! Every last one of them, from the local level all the way to the president.

It disturbed me recently that CBS News had recently put out a promotional ad about themselves stating the obvious: without a free press, we don’t have a free society. Probably not the exact words – I can’t think of them at this moment…but you get the idea.

I thought to myself: What?! This is what our president inspired – that a national media company felt compelled to remind the public of this?

Fortunately, we have courageous journalists like Maria Ressa here in the US, too. Like Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, who is one of my favorite investigative reporters and no stranger to having put her life on the line as has Maria, to report the news.

To Maria and Amy and all the intrepid journalists like yourselves out there in the world: you are essential to our freedom to live and breathe safely by keeping check on those in power, informing the public when you expose abuse, corruption, and goodness knows what else has occurred. You shine a spotlight into the dark nooks and crannies of our world for the public good. America needs you now more than ever. The world needs you.

I need you!

We can’t fight monsters by becoming monsters. ~ Maria Ressa

Sources

PBS Frontline
Rappler
Elle
Wikipedia
NPR
The Guardian
U.S. Constitution
constituteproject.org
Vox
Washington Post
National Review
Global News
The Guardian

Aspiring to Wokeness

General, Social Justice

Update: 1/4/21
I just now learned that there was a lack of consultation with Indigenous nations about the one-word change to Australia’s national anthem — with the exception, apparently, of Indigenous members of Parliament, before the public announcement.

Disappointing revelation, to be sure. The anthem change seems to have brought about a mixed bag reaction from the nation’s Indigenous population. Frustration at being left out (again) and cautious optimism for addressing the issues of the First Nations of Australia beyond small, symbolic gestures in the future.

I hope for the best outcomes for Australia. And I apologize for any glaring errors expressed in my post.

Here’s some refreshing news to kick off 2021 (and to finish off 2020):

Australia Tweaks Anthem to Recognize Indigenous History

The lyrics of Australia’s national anthem have been altered by one word to recognize the country’s Indigenous history, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Thursday.

Until Friday [January 1, 2021], the song began: “Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free.” But as the country celebrated the beginning of the new year, the “young” was dropped. The anthem now describes the country as “one and free.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said:

In the spirit of unity, it is only right that we also now acknowledge this and ensure our national anthem reflects this truth and shared appreciation. … Changing ‘young and free’ to ‘one and free’ takes nothing away, but I believe it adds much.”

The New York Times and other news media reported that the move was supported across the political spectrum.

Isn’t that awesome?!

It’s only symbolic, yes, but nevertheless, a tiny step forwards in finally – and officially, acknowledging their nation’s indigenous history. Whose native people have been residents for upwards of 60,000 years, according to current research.

Heck, Australia also tweaked the first line of its national anthem to make it more inclusive of women when “Australia’s sons” became “Australians all.”

And this was after they ditched their first anthem, “God Save the Queen” in 1984, a vestige of British colonialism.

You go, Aussies!

I hardly know a thing about Australia and its history, save for its location on a world map, but I’ll venture to say that Australia’s indigenous population has likely suffered centuries-long indignities and injustices imposed upon them with impunity by colonizers, corporations, and their present-day fellow citizens.

Just like in the United States of America and every land where indigenous populations reside.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the headline about this was: Aussies are woke!

Yes, I’m quite sure a good lot of them already are – I have worked with and befriended several over the years; however, it is rather nice when one’s government makes an official, symbolic gesture of recognition of their long-oppressed Indigenous population through a slight change in their national anthem – in the spirit of unity, after an excruciatingly painful year for everyone. Don’t you think so?

WOKE.

What a hot-button word that’s become.

Wikipedia says woke:

is a political term which originated in the United States and it refers to a perceived awareness of issues which concern social justice and racial justice. It derives from the African-American Vernacular English expression “stay woke“, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues.

This term, according to Wikipedia, has roots in political culture and political ads during the 1860 presidential election in support of Abraham Lincoln, when the Republican Party cultivated the movement to primarily oppose the spread of slavery as described in the Wide Awakes movement.

Usage of woke dates to the 1960s; some sources say the early 70s. Others mention 2008.

Opponents and critics of wokeness describe it as something pretentious, elitist, self-righteous, authoritarian, and other unflattering adjectives. It’s been called a PC litmus test and a boundary line separating people. And detractors call woke people “hypersensitive”. Sometimes critics attack “woke culture” as a way of claiming victim status for yourself rather than acknowledging that more deserving others hold that status.

Even former U.S. President Barack Obama expressed comments in October 2019 that critiqued woke culture, stating: “This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re politically woke, and all that stuff – you should get over that quickly. The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws.”

Well, I don’t know about the purity part, Mr. President…I haven’t heard or read about that. Yet. Granted, there are people who may not be effective at communicating their message of raising awareness about injustices past and present toward marginalized people and who may be completely unwilling to listen to opposing viewpoints.

But what I want to know is: why are some people so deeply hostile to learning about historical and present day injustices toward others that it practically elicits a strong, viseral feeling of disgust that is palpable to those listening?

I’ve heard the exasperated comments from loved ones, coworkers, acquaintances, and strangers in public: Why is XYZ bringing this slave stuff up again? or Why are we talking about stuff that happened hundreds of years ago? I didn’t do that shit! or Am I supposed to feel guilty again?! or All lives matter!

Oh, don’t get me started on “all lives matter”! That’s such a cheap shot. A below-the-belt insult and denialism of others’ lived experiences. Of course, all lives matter. But in America and everywhere else, some people’s lives are valued more than others. Anyone with a shred of respect for history and who is aware of how our legal justice system operates in reality can see that.

This feeling guilty business? That came from people I know and like. No one is trying to make you feel guilty! Where does this insecurity come from? Are you even listening to what’s being said? Why in the world do you think receiving information about injustices against others different from you is supposed to make you feel guilt-ridden?

Of course you aren’t personally responsible for horrific acts done against others hundreds of years ago. This isn’t about you.

However, if you will claim to be someone who values freedom for all, then why do you have so much trouble, so much hostility, toward others who have fought and continue to fight for their freedom? Freedom from not being killed for being who they are? Freedom from discriminatory laws and practices directed at them?

I feel I have a bit of a clue about injustices and indiginities suffered by others; I am someone who’s still fair game to the willfully ignorant out in the world through being a target of racial hostility and harrassment from random strangers, and from having had my life threatened because of who I am. Thankfully, these incidents have been few and far between (excepting the last four years) and only a drop in the bucket compared to what my parents, relatives, and previous generations before me endured. So yeah, to all you critics and detractors out there, I think I earned my hypersensitivity!

Hopefully, all those unhappy incidents and the knowledge of my family’s discriminatory experiences have made me more considerate and sensitive toward others’ pain.

I want to always be aware of what is going on in the world.

To be woke. To the best of my ability.

It’s a lifelong endeavor of learning. Of being willing to accept some measure of discomfort.

I’d much rather be acutely aware than be in hostile denial or be in willful ignorance of wrongs done to others. To be otherwise would be disrespecting myself. A slap in the face to my family, friends, and every person who believes in justice and accountability. That’s how I feel to the marrow of my osteoporotic spine.

By the way, I’m not into being elitist, pretentious, authoritarian, or self-righteous. I don’t think those behaviors necessarily go hand-in-hand with being sensitized to others who’ve experienced indignities.

Sources

Wikipedia
New York Times
The Guardian
AIATSIS
Slangit
Merriam-Webster
The American Conservative
SONGLYRICS
National Herald India
Otago Daily Times
The Guardian