The “Race To Space” Is Nothing More Than A Symbol of White Supremacy

Okay today I was GOING to write a post about the healing process, because the more that I discover about myself, the more that I am starting to see some of the parts that are healed rather nicely.

However, today on the View, Richard Branson was appearing, and I decided that I didn’t want to watch him talk about his experience in or around the topic of space. Then I went to watch the recording my tv made of Kelly and Ryan, and he was on that too, and I decided to just delete the recording.

Then I had a thought:

“Is it because you’re jealous? Is that why you don’t defend or white knight for rich white men going to space?”

No, it the fuck is not.

The world is literally on fire. Like ACTUALLY.

Last week the fucking ocean was on fire.

THE FUCKING OCEAN. CAUGHT ON FIRE.

For several weeks now humans have been lighting church’s on fire, and it appears the Universe agrees with the action, because a lightning bolt hit a church in Nova Scotia last week.

Every single year there are approximately 8,000 fires across the country of Canada, this link shows you how many fires there are across BC currently, and it’s updated every two hours, be warned the numbers are terrifying.

There are hundreds of thousands of dead bodies under the surface of the earth across North America, and the deaths of these human beings can only be contributed to the white men who colonized their communities, stole their children, and buried them without telling their parents where to find them.

Around the world there are people drowning in vast oceans trying to get to a country that won’t kill them for any of a hundred thousand reasons. They people who are dying trying to get from one place to another, they are poor, hungry, and afraid to die, and they are doing anything they can to get to a better future. Read the film Elysium with (ugh) Matt Damon.

There are children who are literally hiding in the bush from terrorists who want to kill them or worse, just so that they can try and have the opportunity to go to school so they can MAYBE earn the right to learn how to build a better life for themselves.

There are hundreds of rich white people who are taking advantage of these innocent children, just so that they can stuff their faces with a ball of chocolate.

The earth is dying, people are dying, and “journalists” and television hosts around the world want to talk to these rich white bozos about their eleven minute trip to space? Seriously?

I think the fuck not.

Journalism used to be about telling stories, real stories, stories that matter, but we as a society have become so very good at disassociating with anything that brings us displeasure. We do whatever we can to turn our brains off because we are emotionally exhausted from the very act of trying to survive a planet that will do anything to destroy us.

From men and women who abuse children, to men and women who take advantage of other men and women – and everyone in between – to make a dollar.

Our world is built on the idea that we need to consume to be happy, and I am absolutely a part of the guilty pack in this. I would rather sit at my computer and watch television while writing a blog post, because if I go outside, I’m going to have to actually let my mind wander and think about all the horrible shit that’s going on in the world.

The television, the music, the blog writing takes my brain away from all the stuff that happened and gives me a place to focus my energy so that I feel like I am actually doing about it.

In a billion years I will never have been able to say that I’ve seen space the way that Richard Branson, Elon Musk, or Jeff Bezos have or will, but what I can say is that at least when and if I ever had a dime to my name, I didn’t waste it on stupid shit that we don’t fucking need.

If there is one sin that I think rises above all else it’s greed, and that’s purely because greed convinces you that you need “more” to be happy. Yeah sure I want to have enough money to live on, but I also happen to be one of those idiots whose dreams include making life BETTER for the folks in my community not worse.

I would LOVE to be in a much, much, MUCH, higher income bracket, but that’s because I know that if I were in that bracket, I’d be doing things to help ease the pain.

I have a list in my head that I don’t really want to post, but what I will say is that those millions of dollars, could have been sent building homes for the houseless, programs for those who want to get off hard drugs, education for children who want to go to space in their own dreams.

But no, it was spent instead on an eleven minute glory trip, just so that a rich white guy could say that he’d gone to space.

Guion Stewart Bluford Jr.

Do you know who that is? Neither did I until I looked him up, he went to space in 1983, as a member of the Orbiter Challenger on the mission STS-8.

After Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, Guion was the second person of African Descent, but the first African AMERICAN to go to space.

Why is this important? because sure all these rich white billionaires are using the power of employing others so that the rich white guys can make enough money to go to space, but BLACK men did it first.

Mae C. Jemison is the first African American female astronaut. In 1992, she flew into space aboard the Endeavour, becoming the first African American woman in space.

Hell, they even got beat by a Black WOMAN, so no matter what they do, from now until the rest of time, Black people will be able to say they did it first, and while it’s certainly not everything, they will also be able to say they earned their place.

These people studied hard, they worked their way past racism, trauma, abuse, bullying, and hundreds of thousands of people if not millions, around the world saying that Black folk would NEVER make it to space, but they damned well did it first.

I will fucking take that knowledge to my grave with pride, because it means that even though white supremacy still has a huge hold on this planet, it will never fully be able to control those of us who are willing to do the things that WE want to do, just so that we can say we did them.

The world is burning, and it seems rather silly to be angry about billionaires going to space, because sure they came up with good ideas, and they made it big, but in the scheme of things I am reminded by the fact that If I had that much money I’d be using it to do some good around the planet.

“But Branson, Musk, and Bezos, have donated millions blah blah blah” sure, and they get every penny of that money back in government tax right offs.

First they take advantage of people who want to follow their dreams while having money in their pocket, and then they “pretend” to donate to causes they deem worthy, while fully knowing that that money is going to come back around and they haven’t really “lost” anything in terms of economic status.

I’m not jealous, I’m practical. It’s super easy for me to say “well if I had the money I would…” but that’s because I know what it’s like to have nothing. I know what it’s like to stare in the eyes of someone who knows that they are going to die, and has given up the fight because they are just too tired to bother.

I know what it’s like to know people who have starved to death, who have died because not one person on this planet gave a fuck about them, and I want to know that before I leave this planet I did the best that I could, to help where I was able.

I am watching Superman and Lois – SPOILER – in this story Edge has all the money and a past filled with darkness that has caused him harm, while Clark has gotten all the good – family, friends, and love, but none of the wealth.

The idea behind this programing is that people who have to work harder are happier because they appreciate it more, and maybe we do appreciate it more, but that doesn’t mean that we’re happier.

Those of us on this end of the economic spectrum deal with far more health issues than the average billionaire, and while you can tell me that money won’t make me happier I have to disagree.

Money will allow me to:

• Build the business of my dreams
• employ others like me who are dealing with mental health issues and want to make an effort to have their voices heard
• go back to school so that I can educate myself in journalism, business, mental health, and any other areas of interest that I have, so that I can be the best optimal version of myself
• allow me to go to therapy and get the help that I need so that I don’t feel like I am drowning in a sea of memories filled with trauma.
• Provide time with my family so that my mom could stop working so hard and take a break because she’s earned it.

And a million other things that would benefit my mental health, but you go on about how I’m lazy, selfish, and jealous, because it makes it easier to kiss up to the billionaire who literally contributed to the climate crisis by going to space just so that he could say he did.

Sending all my love,

Devon J Hall