“My message is about changing our way of thinking about women and abuses of power.” – Anita Hill
Hope is life’s essential nutrient, and love is what gives life meaning.” - Dick Van Dyke
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Fredrick Douglass
Hello Monitor readers,
Good cheer and blessed tidings to all. I want to start with ‘shout outs;’ however, there are way too many shout outs that would fill my column word count. So, I will just do a combo “shout out’ to TPT and MPR! I’m choosing TPT/MPR because of their diverse, unbiased fact-based educational documentaries and creative storytelling. I’m often thankfully surprised with the information that their programming shares, and I’m often sadly surprise that some folks are outraged with the information and documentaries that are shared on TPT/MPR. I applaud their November Native American Month broadcasts, as well as their other informative broadcasts and shows.
TPT and MPR help me to better understand why the need to change names and/or take down statues that represent the exploitation, disrespect, and/or killing or genocide of Indigenous people; the sinful, cruel, and inhumane enslavement of African people; the shameful bias, and racist enforcement of internment camps of Asian people; and the corrupt, rip-off, and swindling of land/country of Mexican people. Similar things and situations happened to Swedish, German, Irish, Finnish, Polish, Italians, Dutch, Norwegians, and other European people too until they publicly gave-up their cultural roots/values and became White. Asian and other Brown people tried to give-up their cultural identity roots to become White (the perfect minority) too; however, in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was all about being White and having White Puritan values based on control-fear and individual-power with wealth and those who think the same instead of universal-love and shared and collective power with the land and all our earth relatives. I was taught that all cultures have indigenous roots/values. However, it has always been a choice of whether to maintain and cultivate those values or to let go of those roots/values or to modify the values in hope of progress for the betterment of the culture.
I just know this stuff/information is complicated and hard to deal with and to process. However, for our kids and future generations, we cannot “keep kicking the can” of America’s dysfunctional, bad and unhealthy values forward to the next generation. Our climate shifting is in real-time not in future-time.
A FARMER AND SON
With that in mind and with the elections now behind us, I want to share a seasonal/holiday story that I have shared before:
A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm, as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
The moral of this story, is, of course, that no event, in and of itself, can truly be judged as good or bad, lucky or unlucky, fortunate or unfortunate, but that only time will tell the whole story. Additionally, no one really lives long enough to find out the ‘whole story,’ so it could be considered a great waste of time to judge minor inconveniences as misfortunes or to invest tons of energy into things that look outstanding on the surface, but may not pay off in the end.
By Dr. Marlo Archer
HOW THE STORY HELPS ME
This story helps me to congratulate and accept President-Elect Trump to lead our country when President Biden’s term ends. It also encourages me to congratulate Vice President Harris for directing a joyful and inspiring campaign. I appreciated her joyful and hopeful attitude for the future instead of the standard distracting repeated fearful messages of the past. It takes a few generations to learn historical lessons or to let go of America’s false Manifest Destiny message of superiorly to rule and be in charge of everything including Mother Earth. For example, it took decades to end Jim Crow and a few more decades for some people to be okay with sitting next to a Person of Color in a movie theater or drink from the same water fountain. And, it’s still taking more decades for America to honor Indigenous treaties. As a country, we still haven’t been able to pass the 1923 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Bill that would simply guarantee women equal rights with men. Again, it takes 2-4 generations not to repeat past boo-boos, mistakes, and human actions of exploiting other humans, in particular of Black and Brown People and of women.
I remain hopeful and optimistic going into 2025. How can I not be optimistic with advanced technology and so many bright children and young people stretching their comfort zones and becoming aware of the critical climate conditions we/they are facing in the upcoming short years. I am also hopeful because more than 90% of Black women and a large group of White men voted for Vice President Harris. Next year, 2025, will indeed be very challenging. However, working and playing together with empathy, patience, and the power of love, things will be alright. I am a seed. A descendant of people that have progressed through struggle. As the saying goes, I am my Ancestor’s Wildest Dream. Merry Christmas, Blessed Kwanzaa, and Happy Sacred Holiday Season. Good fortune to all in the New Year! Stay optimistic. Share and spread the joy and goodness you want to see and live.
May Peace Be In the Rondo, Frogtown, Hamline/Midway, Como, and Surrounding Communities... May Peace Be In Our Homes and Communities… May Peace Prevail On Earth (MPPOE).
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