history – out of the white nest

Imagine?

If you can start to imagine it, you can start to figure out what is necessary in order to make that world possible: an economic system in which everyone can live with dignity; community spaces where people mix with folks that are different from them; freedom to live as your true self without prejudice; access to the psychological and spiritual powers of nature; neighbors looking out for each other; support systems for people with mental or physical illnesses; an education system that recognizes and celebrates difference, that takes responsibility for past crimes and abuse and works to make amends for them … fill in the blanks.

by Zee Bee

Kill the Patriarchy, Save the World?

Narrow movements – women’s rights, gay rights, Black rights – always fail on some level. Because if you are choosing to prioritize one cause, you are necessarily prioritizing one population in that cause, and relegating others to another category – one that is beyond your capacity to help if your focus is elevating a particular group, rather than bringing down the oppressor. Alternative? Smash the patriarchy!

by Zee Bee

Is Anarchy the Answer?

If you’ve heard of this Rebecca Solnit book, you probably know the hypothesis – that people come together and form caring communities in times of crisis, in contradistinction to the myth of scarcity violence and mob mentality that supposedly happens after “natural disasters.” The book is a combination of historical evidence and theory, with examples […]

by Zee Bee

Black History Month 2021

Hi, friends. My wrist is still in a cast, and much of my typing strength & focus has gone to paid work lately, but I promise I’m working on some posts in my trusty recycled notebook (so much nicer than typing) and you’ll see more before Feb runs out. In the interim, I’m sharing our […]

by Zee Bee

Do I Hate Our Country?

my spongy, precocious childmind did what we humans are so good at: it looked at the evidence that was given to me, detected a pattern, and drew a conclusion based upon that pattern. Slavery, killing Indians, Civil Rights Movement = White People Suck and The US Sucks

by Zee Bee

Black Lies #1* Sexual Aggression

People of African origin have been characterized as sexually aggressive and insatiable more or less since Europeans first planted their soggy feet in the Global South. Can you picture it? These stuffy, Christian, Portuguese mofos covered neck to toe in filthy, sea-worn garments encountering people dressed comfortably, in climate-appropriate clothings, perhaps exposing (gasp) parts of […]

by Zee Bee

LA 1992; Minneapolis 2020

On May 4, 1992, when the verdicts acquitting the officers who brutally beat Rodney King were announced at 3:15pm, my BFA acting class and I were between performances at the Globe theatre in West Hollywood, showcases for an audience of agents and casting directors meant to be our coming out to The Industry, the grand […]

by Zee Bee

Racism in Minnesota

We have to stop lying about Minnesota. “Our” success is almost exclusively White. When we fail to acknowledge that our state reliably churns out some of the worst racial disparities in health, education, employment, and wealth, we are dehumanizing People of Color.

by Zee Bee

Not Monsters: Americans

It is possible that those police officers are psychopaths, but it is a thousand times more likely that they, just like us, are the products of a racist education, racist myths, and racist media. Some of us are lucky enough to have been born into or found a community that attempts to deracinate that American foundation; others wind up in frightened, ignorant White families or frightened, toxic police departments that cultivate and extend those racist roots.

by Zee Bee

400 Years Ago (+ several days)

Originally posted on clawing my way to enlightenment:
I was going to post about how my critical self likes to take stock of my failures at the end of every season, but I think the cute, self-deprecating, sad overview can wait. Because where I really fucked up was in not writing about the 400th anniversary of the…