Seeking Womxn of valor
I heard Spirit say, “we are now seeking women of VALOR”
“VALOR: Strength of mind in regard to danger; that quality which enables a man (sic) to encounter danger with firmness; personal bravery; courage; prowess; intrepidity.”
(Miriam Webster dictionary)
Just as Biden slides sideways and as KAMALA's political coup began, Kamala is moving forwards, as a woman of VALOR.
She is already playing "bad cop" to Biden's "good cop" on Palestine:
And yesterday, Benjamin Netanahu seemed to be squirming a bit.
We all--minimally melanated folks and people of the global majority alike--Will be expected to exemplify VALOR over the coming months, as Kamala puts on the cape of Messiah for the Blue Team (while Trump’s grazed ear cemented his role of Messiah for the Red Team).
The Last Time, we all saw that we couldn’t do it, without that 55% of you minimally melanated women who remain deeply confused about your own best interests.
Wanna be VALOROUS, white women? It might be good to begin, by knowing your own tribe. Here's what two brutally honest colored girls have to say about you white ones:
https://www.audible.com/pd/B09RTP5FK4?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=pdp
I was just introduced to this book.
And, to this “Good Reads”** summary of the book:
“A no-holds-barred guidebook aimed at white women who want to stop being nice and start dismantling white supremacy.
It's no secret that white women are conditioned to be nice, but did you know that the desire to be perfect and to avoid conflict at all costs are characteristics of white supremacy culture?
As the founders of Race2Dinner, an organization which facilitates conversations between white women about racism and white supremacy, Regina Jackson and Saira Rao have noticed white women's tendency to maintain a veneer of niceness, and strive for perfection, even at the expense of anti-racism work.
In this book, Jackson and Rao pose these urgent questions: how has being nice helped Black women, Indigenous women and other women of color? How has being nice helped you in your quest to end sexism? Has being nice earned you economic parity with white men? Beginning with freeing white women from this oppressive need to be nice, they deconstruct and analyze nine aspects of traditional white woman behavior--from tone-policing to weaponizing tears--that uphold white supremacy society, and hurt all of us who are trying to live a freer, more equitable life”
AND.. TO THE COMMENTS you will see, if you “google” white women book review”**
my favorite succinct summary/review”
“You are never thin enough, smart enough, successful enough, sexy enough, a good enough wife, mother, daughter, person. That is trauma. You need to be nice, which leads to silence. You are silent when you are abused by men and each other. Trauma. You are silent when you abuse us. Trauma. You take abuse at work at the hands of each other and men. Trauma. You abuse us at work. Trauma. You were raised to be violent, and you are raising racist kids to be every bit as violent as you. Generations of trauma—to us, yes . . . but also to you.
Lest white women miss the point and feel sorry for ourselves, the authors bring us back to focus: “Your need to be perfect hurts us.”
https://www.liberreview.com/issue-1-5-crit-nice-white-ladies/
EVERYONE, LISTEN TO THE 5 MIN PREVIEW, available at audible.com. Everyone.
GOODREADS an Amazon company, like audible you all know)
The book is written by a Black-American and a Desi-American woman. How perfect, for this moment in time. The white women that I know can take several steps forwards, by acknowledging their privilege (as reflected so well, in this short (5 min) video:
https://youtu.be/LSHtqB3Ix8g?feature=shared
It makes most BIPOC women I know laugh, and leaves most white women I know feeling defensive, or embarrassed. Especially when I continue that I had my first (of MANY) experiences with this white girl pathology as a fifth grader!
If it feels like ripping off a bandage to hear this, toughen up.
Next step? Deepen your own healing by unraveling from that very concept of “white”.
What’s your ethnicity?
What BOATS did your people “come over on”:
Puritan?
Jamestown?
immigrant?
I initially did the “P.C. thing” of spelling my gender in a more inclusive way (“WOMXN”); I chose NOT to continue. If Queer folx cannot see themselves in this essay because of a lack of language inclusiveness, that is probably a very good sign that we are not ready to sit down over a meal, together.
Yet.
I intend to share this book, and the discussions raised in its pages, with minimally melanated women everywhere, as we head into the Fall.
Happy MIDSUMMER, y'all.
**A reminder, to be discerning about your sources! GOODREADS is an Amazon affiliate, like audible you all know.