Oh I’m so confused now. I can’t decide if the Tienanmen Square guy is being peaceful, non-violent, or civilly disobedient…
How dare he infringe upon the rights of the tank drivers! I bet he didn’t even call ahead to schedule this protest.
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Trifling semantic quibblers are trifling.
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I know, I’m so terrible dull! 
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I’m a liberal Democrat here, jeez. If I dont agree 100 percent does not
make me the enemy. Of course any crime is a crime, drunk or not.
Tolerate? Anyone apprehend should be vigorously prosecuted. The problem
arises when the evidence is too scant to provide a conviction. I see that
they did catch the one making threats and he is being vigorously
prosecuted. This is a good thing. I’m not exactly sure how you prevent
drunk assholes but if you’re on you toes, you can film them. If they
wander off and police can’t find them, I don’t know how a school president
can “not tolerate” it.
As for “the Alinsky shibboleth,” I kind of like Alinsky. While I’m not an
expert on the subject, he seems to have literally written the book on
activist tactics, just as that Snopes article attested to if you had
bothered to read it. I’m not referring to the lies on the internet about
his writings
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I am a multi-racial first-generation American female with a BA from the University of Missouri system (UM-St. Louis, which is located about 3 miles from Ferguson, Missouri). When I was a student, Marguerite Ross Barnett, a black woman, was chancellor at our campus. I was grateful The Powers That Be had had a thoughtful moment and found a qualified, interesting human to inspire all of us. It was… a signal, of sorts. So thanks, UMSL, for that.
I agree there’s a big list of overdue repairs to the whole UM system, but I write in reply to you, TobinL, not as a fellow alum, but as a fellow parent. If you are willing to do the unpleasant work of calling out privilege in its many guises, esp. so that your son learns to distinguish and understand the invisible structures that support injustices, I would be grateful. I think raising a conscious, ethical young human being is a huge endeavor. And utterly worth it. A book called Boys Will Be Men has helped me raise my son–not a perfect book, but a useful starting point. Just a thought.
I am grateful to the many here who have made this a rich conversation. Thanks also for reminding me just how awake Malcolm X was, how relevant his thinking, what an excellent guide he continues to be. This one’s for those of us working, starting from wherever we are, as parents or as people who are willing to take the thought and energy to spend time around children…
Peace, y’all. Thanks bOINGbOING for this space.
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you gotta invest in new gifs!!
Well said. That’s what people should be stepping up to do: raising sons and daughters with awakened consciousness. Acting through fairness and open-mindedness to all people, so that the kids can see. Embodying intolerance only to intolerance. Exposing the implicit bias that pervades this country. That’s how racial barriers and oppression will be eventually broken down and people of all skin pigmentations will interact freely. Not by us; but by who we teach our children to be.
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If only we had a bank of gifs around here.
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I try mix things up (new people, new places, new foods, new movies) for the kids around me. Neighborhood kids, friends of my kids, kids in a waiting room with us, whoever, wherever. I try to have an interesting book written for very young kids that we can put in the old duffel bag we haul to kungfu class, a book written about something or someone not typically featured regularly in the dominant culture we find ourselves in currently. National Geographic Kids mag sometimes has something in it worthwhile. And lots of colorful pictures help.
If the kids I hang out with know how to count to 10, I ask them in their language, and I ask them to teach me if it’s a language I don’t know. Then I ask them if they are interested in learning those numbers in one of my [different] languages. Sometimes that’s a least-threatening exchange to parents, who are usually pretty grateful to get a few moments to themselves to check voicemails, run to the restroom or go outside for a smoke. As a woman it’s probably a lot easier for me than if I were to be some friendly guy. It’s worth a try. Start small.
I’d love to get 2-5 year olds started on Terry Pratchett, but his works are mostly not a good fit for 20-minute attention spans. Instead, I’ve read Dumpling Soup and Bee Bim Bop! to the very young (and yeah Richard Scarry because: funny animals). I love books by Linda Sue Park (Bee Bim Bop); her work A Single Shard has many fine moments and is a truly well-performed audiobook–great for kids who can follow a longer plot. Such a spare, clear beauty of a book, and it did earn a Newberry. Pratchett’s award-winning Nation is very admirably performed by Stephen Briggs (audio version). So much wisdom about challenging race and culture in that one book–thanks, Sir Pterry.
I try to air the kids out. Take 'em with me to the Asian grocery store, or to the new Ethiopian restaurant I want to try out, playing a CD of Ethiopian music I checked out of the library as we drive there. I try to get the parents to come with us. Our family doesn’t have a lot of discretionary spending money, so I can only make this international feasting happen a few times a year. Few folks though really are able to resist free food and a chauffeur though. Heh! We try to go to festivals offered up by different ethnic communities throughout the year. The one at the Greek Orthodox Catholic church in downtown Austin is fabulous and has such excellent music.
And yeah, all this multi-culti-poly-racial stuff is work, some big and some small. And it takes time. And it’s not exactly economically profitable. It’s fun though. It keeps life interesting. If you aren’t able to do field trips like taking kids to an Asian New Year festival or going to a concert by touring musicians from Africa, at least try small things like mixing it up in books and music, or going to a different neighborhood block party or fundraiser nearby, outside your usual circles. Accept being a bit uncomfortable, at least in the beginning. It’s ok. Learning, right?
I realize not everyone reading this has access to a well-stocked library system, or a big immigrant community with running restaurants and groceries offering meals outside of the culinary base one may normally eat from, or even a decent art museum featuring works from other cultures and times. The internet has nonetheless made the world a smaller place.
If one kid likes dancing and can’t keep still, I show some Bollywood dance numbers on YouTube and crank the volume. We all jump around. Kids who like to hit (preferably not each other) can come with us to see/hear drumming–it really gets their attention because it’s loud, involves hitting something, and they don’t feel so self-conscious about getting their wiggles out. We have a djembe on hand, but beginners get to bang on cardboard boxes until we know they won’t be too rough on the drum’s skin drumhead.
Kids love novelty. Enthralled, they don’t even realize how different the differences in cultures can be. Their value judgements are usually based on whether something was fun or tasted good. A start?
Let all these small fun actions be the thin edge of the wedge which, in my clumsy way borrowing here from Leonard Cohen, is the “crack in everything… that’s how the light gets in.”
ETA: I corrected the spelling of Mr. Briggs’ name (with an “r”), and by way of apology, I’m including http://www.stephenbriggs.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/Nation/dp/B001H44FPY (please be sure to get an unabridged version! it’s wholly perfect!).
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That is just the sweetest nicest note. You are awesome.
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