I absolutely agree. Maybe for the people who always say that we cannot care for everything that's going on in the world, bell hooks was always helpful for me. She always said, that if you start with your friends, family, work environment, city you live in & your neighbourhood, that these are the most immediate and most important places you can choose to actively involve yourself in. If we felt responsible for the fights that are (literarily) close to us, and we trust everyone on this planet would fight for the things that are close to them ... I think it would be way easier to understand that these fights actually resemble the same architecture, idk ...
Well said. I think you are right about it all starting locally, with family and friends. It starts with saying hello to strangers we pass in the street, having a chat with the person at the checkout counter, treating everyone as family, and speaking out and doing what we can for whoever is being mistreated, threatened, abused, or harmed in any way. Margaret Thatcher was wrong — there is such a thing as society. We can form and join local groups and communities and we can connect with others to form networks of people who care and want to collaborate with other like-minded people.
I found this a while later. I’m intrigued to have found a queer writer from Poland. Half of my family is from Poland originally but I’m fully American and I’m always intrigued to hear snippets of Polish perspectives especially subversive ones. This scene sounds wild. I remember crying at 5am watching Pope John Paul’s funeral….i was young and brainwashed. Sometimes I miss having a long rich culture and being Americanized but the homophobia sounds bad in Poland.
Terrific post, Dizzy. I'm sorry that you have been the target of such hatred and abuse. I agree that it's all part of the same fight, the same struggle. There's a lot to think about in this post.
I absolutely agree. Maybe for the people who always say that we cannot care for everything that's going on in the world, bell hooks was always helpful for me. She always said, that if you start with your friends, family, work environment, city you live in & your neighbourhood, that these are the most immediate and most important places you can choose to actively involve yourself in. If we felt responsible for the fights that are (literarily) close to us, and we trust everyone on this planet would fight for the things that are close to them ... I think it would be way easier to understand that these fights actually resemble the same architecture, idk ...
Well said. I think you are right about it all starting locally, with family and friends. It starts with saying hello to strangers we pass in the street, having a chat with the person at the checkout counter, treating everyone as family, and speaking out and doing what we can for whoever is being mistreated, threatened, abused, or harmed in any way. Margaret Thatcher was wrong — there is such a thing as society. We can form and join local groups and communities and we can connect with others to form networks of people who care and want to collaborate with other like-minded people.
I found this a while later. I’m intrigued to have found a queer writer from Poland. Half of my family is from Poland originally but I’m fully American and I’m always intrigued to hear snippets of Polish perspectives especially subversive ones. This scene sounds wild. I remember crying at 5am watching Pope John Paul’s funeral….i was young and brainwashed. Sometimes I miss having a long rich culture and being Americanized but the homophobia sounds bad in Poland.
Terrific post, Dizzy. I'm sorry that you have been the target of such hatred and abuse. I agree that it's all part of the same fight, the same struggle. There's a lot to think about in this post.
Loved this!