Living in Injustice

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When I was in elementary school the Ku Klux Klan held a march through my hometown.  I don’t know the exact route they took, but I know they passed the Bus Center where all the public busses met to exchange passengers and start their routes over again.  I know because that is where I was introduced to the Klan.  I had heard the name before, knew it wasn’t something good… but I couldn’t have imagined the fear and confusion that I would feel when I saw them.  There was never a time in my life when I didn’t understand what unjust hatred was.  I knew there was something about me (that I couldn’t control) that made people actually hate me.  I knew there were people who wanted to hurt me.  I knew the world was not safe for me, and for weeks I jumped at every noise while I walked […]

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The Privilege of Privilege

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This piece is primarily addressed to my fellow White American brothers and sisters. When I was little, I would revel in the collection of stickers.  I always loved finding pretty ones and shiny ones.  I loved the ones with special characters and big vinyl stickers and traditional gold stars.  I always had high hopes for these stickers.  I wanted to use them for projects and to decorate my notebooks and water bottles.  I would wait for the most special moment to use those stickers, but whenever a moment presented itself, it never seemed to be the exact right occasion to use them.  I never wanted to risk messing them up or using them on a subworthy project.  They would remain in their packaging, always admired and held with great expectation, but never used. Several weeks into this pandemic, I, like so many others, began feeling deep grief and lament.  But […]

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