Honoring MLK Jr. with a quote from his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
I’ve been in deep reflection, inquiry and introspection and educating myself around spiritual bypassing, anti-racism, white privilege, and the blatant and insidious ways the patriarchy, systemic racism, and white supremacist systems influence and control us.
In the spirit of dismantling perfectionism, one of the tenets of white supremacy – I’m going to be sharing my sometimes messy, unclear, ever evolving journey with you here and in the months to come.
For many months now, I’ve been participating in numerous online programs, retreats, workshops and courses addressing these issues, where I’ve had the opportunity to dive deep, experience and witness myself and others grapple with how to navigate the inevitable, disruptive, dismantling process required when we begin to shine the light on our underlying biases, white privilege and sometimes surprising complicity in the very oppressive systems we claim to abhor.
And then, horrified, I (we) watched live footage of a highly agitated, vengeful, dangerous, vindictive, white supremacist mob – incited and encouraged by our mentally disturbed, narcissistic, egotistical, self-serving president – violently storm and take over the United States capitol building last week.
A president who has been intentionally stoking and fanning the white supremacist, evangelical flames for years now. And though the obvious implications and show of outright racism and white supremacy is being called out by many, following this horrific event – there is so much more that needs to be named and owned!
As I was watching thousands of white bodies, predominantly white men, storm, climb, push and force their way into the capitol building, virtually unstopped – victoriously, scaling those white brick walls – smashing through windows, I was simultaneously imagining a juxtaposed vision of what would have surely unfolded had those been black or brown bodies – It would have been a virtual blood bath – with hundreds, if not thousands, being stopped, blocked, beaten, arrested and jailed, for who knows how long!
What I (we) watched was a vicious, blatant display of a white supremacist system in action and inaction – right there, in technicolor, for all the world to see.
My primal brain has been reeling from all that’s been happening, as so many of ours are. Flooded with outrage, heartache, grief, and a lot of WTF’s!!! It’s taken me weeks to finally sit down and focus enough to begin writing and sharing. Where to begin?
I am 100% committed and devoted to doing my inner work to first, take an honest look at how patriarchy, colonization, oppression, and polarization live in and influence me – a privileged white woman raised in New England, USA – whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower, and so were part of the colonization of this country – the systematic annihilation of indigenous peoples- and the horrific enslavement and torture of African peoples. I was also brainwashed and taught a false history and national mythology around the founding of our country – a story deliberately crafted to oppress, polarize and divide! There’s more to be unveiled, untangled and owned.
On that note, I’ll stop here for today, and will continue to share more personal aspects of my inner journey, so please stay tuned.
In the spirit of divine love, full equity, liberation, and justice for all – and most especially to black, brown and marginalized peoples!
