I had a dream once about a woman who looked like an older version of me. Except unexplainably I knew it was Paris, and I knew it was 1942, so I knew it couldn’t possibly be me.
Either way the important part of the dream isn’t about whether or not they looked like me, it’s about the fact that all around wherever they were, I could hear bombs dropping. It was very obvious the people in the room were in a massive hurry to get the messages they could out to the outside world, unsure of how much time they had left.
This is what people around the world are going through right now. We heard Anne Frank’s story and made a dozen films, wrote trillions of books, essays, and blog posts, about how important it was that she was able to tell the world her story so that we never forget what happened to the Jewish people, and then we turned around and did the exact same thing to the Sudanese. The Haitians, the folks from DRC are practically doomed because ain’t no one telling us what’s happening there.
Heard any news from Darfur lately? Not even about the world-famous race unless you look for it – and that’s the only news coming out of Darfur these days, I know because I checked. Reguarlarily.
Things are happening in this world that we know nothing about and it used to be okay to say “well that’s over there and I have to focus on here,” but it’s not anymore. Because what happens here, the way that we live, the way we consume, the way we vote, affects innocent people from all races around the world.
It’s not “The world has to do better.” It’s “The western world has to do better.” Period.
We as a society consume more than we give back to the planet and then we complain when those of us who are “woke” or whatever fucking insulting term you want to use, decide that we need to do better so we don’t kill ourselves off just like we do in our least favorite but most honest films and television shows.
We are living in this dystopian world right now, and I know I am supposed to focus on mental health but I can’t in good consciousness write about mental health without acknowledging all the hardships that the people in my audience, and the folks I live with, are dealing with daily.
So here I am, acknowledging that the world is going to shit in a golden parachute, and there is very little you can do about it. Unless you are willing to get a little bit uncomfortable and start making sacrifices of your own that don’t hurt others but do enrich your lives in ways you might not expect.
Maybe it’s time to stop grocery shopping and start growing your own. Maybe it’s time to finally start planting those fruit trees that will kill off some of the allergens in the area and provide food for folks living houseless.
Maybe it’s time to start taking that whole “we can do this on our own” attitude, and start working with a team of folks who have already been on the path you’re headed in.
I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. I am not ready for LMBG to be just another blog. The other day one of my favorite women of color mentioned that they might start a media company one day. And it occurred to me that Canada doesn’t have any major media projects driven by people of Color let alone Black women.
We’ve had seven great years together, and I genuinely hope for seven more, but I also think that if that’s going to be possible it’s time to start thinking out of the box. So with that said, new projects are underway and I can’t wait to share them with you.
Until then, know that I know and I understand, that I am with you, and no, you’re not crazy, it really did happen that way.
Sending all my love,
S
Loud Mouth Brown Girl 