Have you ever experienced it, been hurt, or benefited from it? At first glance, it may appear harmless. Left to its own devices of the status quo, America will never change, as some use it to employ the same divisive … Continue reading April Anniversary theme “Un-othering Othering in America.”
“Precisely at this point when you begin to develop a conscience, you must find yourself at war with your society.” James Baldwin I have always been fascinated by jigsaw puzzles. I really enjoyed the challenge of being able to put … Continue reading The Haves and the Have Nots: Dismantling Othering in America
I grew up in what is Ecuador’s privileged majority: the mestizos, the result of Spanish colonizers mixing with the Indigenous population. Mestizos were the group that achieved independence from Spain in 1822 and has remained the largest ethnic group in … Continue reading The antidote for othering
The fruit of un-othering Somehow humans have weaponized finding our identity. We will decide who we are by alienating someone else. We form our group, not by receiving but through casting out and marginalizing. We make those who could be partners and friends into “the Other”. Humans are comforted but certainty even if that certainty eliminates options for making our lives and our world a better place. We can ruin ourselves with this stubbornness. Instead of embrace, we will choose differentiation and even scorn. Instead of welcome, we will choose mistrust and even assume a threat. Instead of hospitality, we … Continue reading Welcome and Release
We need a national double mastectomy of sorts.
Let us start with removal. Before we can reconstruct anything healthy and life sustaining for all, we must first submit ourselves to the radical deconstruction of anything that has been touched by the cancer of racism or dehumanization of Creator God’s Image Bearers. Continue reading Un-Othering Our Systems
I am not done with humanity! I believe that we are better than what many have been displaying for the last several years. Our country is one that is divided based on a variety of issues to include the value … Continue reading Power to the People
I never knew the cost of being Black in corporate America. The price I would pay with my dignity and fundamental rights as a human being just to have a job that wasn’t in a low-income sector. A job that … Continue reading God is Hope
As we enter the 2023 version of a new spring, the March theme is “Hope Springs Eternal.” The familiar words were given life from the pen of the ready writer, the English poet Alexander Pope. With so many questions about the direction … Continue reading The March Theme: Hope Springs Eternal
Philosopher George Yancy, author of the book Backlash said that love is the capacity to be wounded. “I’m really asking white people to learn how to love themselves at a different level. If loving oneself is linked to telling the truth about oneself, then risking the white self is having the capacity to love even more.” Continue reading Blushing for Hope
Three-Fifths 