I was late to BeninSC's beautiful Top Comments diary last night because of a meeting at church. That diary as well as the nice duo he and The Marti gave us Sunday evening, gave my Muse inspiration for tonite. Follow me below the dingledoodle squigglie dKosagnocchi dividerthingie fold after a word from our sponsor...
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Back in December, our minister preached a sermon entitled #BlackLivesMatter, and I was asked to give a response as the parent of an African-American (in the immediate, literal sense of that hyphenization) boy. It was based on a diary here, and the service as a total entity was extremely powerful to those in attendance. The aftereffect of that service was a number of people asking if we could "continue the conversation", and the #RaceMatters group was born.
We held our first meeting in January, and a diverse group of a dozen people attended. During this meeting, we examined what we each hoped to see as a mission for the group, and what we hoped to "do". Our answers were even more scattered than I imagined. Some, like me, are interested in issues of institutional bias and privilege, be it class or racial, and want to unpack our own issues via education and examination before looking outward to the wider community. Others wanted to get out rightthisverymoment and protest, lobby, and focus on direct activism. One person was focused exclusively on one piece of judicial policy he wants to change, and others were just there to 'see what it was all about'. We planned two events for the remainder of this year, one a book reading/discussion, and the other participation in a peace march, the proceeds of which fund the peace institute founded by a Boston mother whose son was murdered in gang violence several decades ago.
So, we met again last night, and had only about half the same people. It was abundantly clear from minute one that without a cohesive focus and mission, we were always going to be feeling scattered and ineffective. We once again went around and spoke about why we were there, and what we hoped to gain/do. The person who went right before me said that frankly, he wasn't convinced that institutional racism/bias exists, and was hoping to take part in discussions and forums to help him decide if he was right or wrong.
As you might guess, my first words were "Well, I am diametrically opposed to that view." However, and this is where Ben, The Marti, and all of the wonderful discussion we've had the past few days on Red and Blue and all being in this together came into play... instead of being irritated at what I was hearing, I realized that we ALL need to meet where we are, and move forward together. So my second sentence was "And I absolutely agree that further discussion on the issues of institutional racism are a fantastic idea!"
Thank you all, for giving me the experience, framing and community necessary to keep me from polarizing a space with a knee-jerk "You're absolutely wrong, you idiot!" and instead helping create a larger tent for us all to occupy. We all agreed our group needs to figure out what our focus is, but my fears that we are too diverse in our interests and goals are greatly lessened because we found commonality instead of division.
So may it be with all of us as we gear up for the 2016 Elections. Focus on what unites us as Democrats, and on what we can offer to those who think a Democratic leadership doesn't represent them (They're WRONG unless they're the Koch Brothers :-)). Less divisiveness, more inclusiveness. That doesn't mean caving in, or compromising our values so much we lose our heart and soul, because we've tried that and look where we end up.
Oh, and please remind me of this diary, as well, when my rhetoric creeps past the line I've just drawn in the sand :-).
On to tonight's Top Comments, made entirely possible by the collaboration of one of the finest individuals I know, BeninSC!
(BeninSC demurs. ::wink:: )
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From elenacarlena:
I'd like to nominate samanthab for her thoughtful top comment in JoanMar's excellent diary today. The thread starts with my comment here, if you want to include that for reference. We were being a bit snarky while samanthab turned the thread to a serious comment, but she makes very good points about the distraction/propaganda machine.
From Cali Scribe:
In Colorado is the Shiznit's reposted sexism diary, dconrad comes up with an Oompa-Loompa serenade to House Speaker Boehner.
From HoosierDeb:
Diarist SaraBeth has capsulized the Bill O'Reilly fracas in one perfect frame.
A couple of comment 'flags:'
Flagged by WednesdaysChilde, this comment by Bill in Portland Maine will require no preface whatsoever! The comment was made yesterday, but this is one of the true comment of the year candidates! Don't miss!
Flagged by Dretutz, this comment by I love OCD delves into some of the reasons Obama gives Republicans fits.
From Yours Truly, brillig:
From Hunter's Rep. Glenn Grothman urges constituents to keep an eye out for poor people at grocery stores comes this excellent summation of Life If You Use SNAP by varro. Please see the entire thread, especially FloridaSNMOM and Andrea Spande.
Top Mojo for Monday, Feb. 23, 2015, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary
FAQing Top Mojo.
1) Tiny cameras would never work. by Bill in Portland Maine — 132
2) And this is exactly why by arizonablue — 128
3) You coulda knocked me over with a feather.... by Dallasdoc — 111
4) Just curious, does anybody know by Jackaroo — 108
5) I had a neighbor in Hawaii , he thought by indycam — 78
6) Can we stick a cam up his ass to see if his hea... by BLUENCCOASTER — 77
7) Wow. by IndieGuy — 74
8) Netanyahu is a liar scheming for US to bomb Iran by FishOutofWater — 71
9) And then there's the firing of UNC President by bear83 — 69
10) Polls in Israel have suggested that a majority by David Harris Gershon — 67
11) I heard her voice just fine by nellgwen — 66
12) How about she tells us exactly what... by Meteor Blades — 65
13) You know who needs the heat on this story? by Mogolori — 64
14) Yeah, strangling two children, three dogs, by Smoh — 63
15) Read article by Iberian — 62
16) this.is.so.f'd-up /nt by annieli — 61
17) What precisely do these two matters... by Meteor Blades — 60
18) Isn't this payback by TarheelDem — 59
19) It really is. F'd up by snoopydawg — 59
20) Thank god no banksters had to suffer. by Greyhound — 58
21) uh yeah..... by annieli — 57
22) "Fox News Hires 'Clueless' Actress Stacey Dash" by annieli — 56
23) The look on Ms. Capel's face by jayden — 55
24) Answer from the Fracking community? New by ColoTim — 55
25) Thanks Doc Dawg by Denise Oliver Velez — 54
26) Tubes. by ruscle — 54
27) So he passed a law, and when that law by blue aardvark — 52
28) A VagCam? Well, that's pretty hard to swallow. by jwinIL14 — 50
29) Apparently he has three. by here4tehbeer — 49
30) They are determined by raboof — 49
2015-02-24 Top Comments with Pictures, courtesy of
jotter!
7:47 PM PT: Updated to add a late comment nom from HoosierDeb!