Final Thoughts

I sit here after partying with friends and a bit too much to drink; I am wondering what final words do I have for this year. What do I want to say that I probably shouldn't address while under the influence of alcohol and loud loud music?

I watched Saddam Hussein hang today.

I told someone I loved them this year and had that love rejected.

I survived my first semester at Berkeley.

I lost 55 pounds this year.

I am proud to be the mother, woman, friend, daughter that I am.

My self esteem and confidence are intact.

I received my Associates Degree.

My horizons are open and the world lays at my feet awaiting my mark.

My daughters are beautiful and brilliant.

I have learned. I have learned about me, love, boys (not men), my future is bright.

I am loved. Truly loved. I am alone. Sometimes lonely. Sometimes not. (Shut up Steve)

I have really good supportive friends. (SHUT UP STEVE)

Sex is for more than procreation :-))

I am happy.

These are my final thoughts. And while some of them bring a bittersweet or plain ol' bitter smile to my heart, they are mine. I own them all.

I could wish for a better year...but I won't. I am grateful.

I am accomplished and respected.

I will only say I wish for you, those who find my words of comfort or interest, a piece of my joys and even a taste of my sorrows. Without both you could not know the wisdoms that warm my heart and shape my mind. I wish for you my happiness.

That being said, if you are single over 35 and educated you should look me up. LOLOL

Blessed New Year to you all.

Anti-black Racism: The Nature of an Unnatural Phenomenon

The arguments regarding race in America are quite varied. What one person considers an important characteristic differs greatly from others viewpoints. This is the case with well-known authors David Brion Davis and Audrey Smedly. When examining the roots of antiblack racism Davis weighs carefully the definintions of bondage and degrees of slavery. While Smedly also discusses the different types of bondage there are some cases where she feels racialization, not racism takes place, as in the case of the African American experience in the deep south. The most important thing to note about the differences in these authors viewpoints revolves around terminology. The nature of racism is not changed by separating the forms of racialization or slavery.

Davis does much to define, historically as well as personally, the terms of slavery in his Inhuman Bondage article. He quotes Aristotle's claim that a free person is under no constraints to another man and lays clear, the understandings according to race authority Orlando Patterson, the conditions required to be considered a slave. Davis adds to Patterson's description of generalized dishonor, the non-familial master/slave relationship, that chattel property is an integral component. The ability to buy and sell a person without their consent or to order their death on whim is the basic problem of slavery for Davis. The mechanism of human to non human transition for the slave is one that has been chipped away by science, political gain and racism.

Smedly doesn't seem to look at the mechanisms of dehumanizing racism as being wholly racist in some cases. She argues the African American experience in America was more about religious punishment of a people than the color of the people. Enter the biblical "curse of Ham". Smedly felt the belief that blacks were cursed by God was the source of antiblack racism. The "sin" was punished by enslavement, as the tale is told, and for Smedly, not an issue of pure racism. Ineeded her belief that the cultural segregation of the Conversos (Christian Jewish converts) was not about race but a social and cultural need for classification.

The definitions of Davis and classification of Smedly serve one unifying theme: racism is a topic with widespread meanings and justifications. The article by Davis is a more powerful work as it looks at degrees of bondage. Smedly's book, Race in North America, is reduced by marginalizing the experience of the African Americans and Conversos in her academic pursuit to discuss the differences between racism and racialization.

Davis thoroughly dissects the antiblack rhetoric, discussing the flimsy "curse of Ham". He points out the relationship of Ham, Japeth, Shem, and their offspring. Kush is thought to be the predecessor of the black race and is uncursed yet this is the supposed justification of the curse of slavery that blacks bear. (pg 69 cloumn 2 line 4[personal reference]) Davis also points out that when the holes in the "curse of Ham" theory are too large to ignore it's supporters change tactics to locate biblical evidence of a black curse, the mark of Cain become that of black skin. The point being if there is/was no biblical reason for slavery those in favor of the institution would create one.

Davis also looks at the negative association of blackness or darkness. The biblical Genesis "let there be light' indicates that withough light things are bad. This is a most persuasive argument to explain the negativity associated with dark skiined people. It is very interesting that antiblack sentiment seeks its origins in religious doctrine. Acctually, as in the case of the Conversos, racism seems to find its origins in racism as well.

Segregation, cliquish behavior, even racial preservation by curbing interracial marriage can, to some extent be seen as a human need to validate oneself. the need to degrade and humiliate in the name of Go, culture, or political philosophy can only be categorized as unnatural. Even though the many allowed these atrocities, they were committed by the few. Davis' article looks at the origins and addresses the horrors of these atrocities with fair consideration.

Sisterhood

If you ask me how many sisters I have, I am apt to look at you piercingly to attempt to ascertain if you are asking biologically or in my real life.

I have somewhere between 5 and 7 real sisters (thanks to a whore of a father we don't really know) but I have many many more sisters in the craft.

Sisterhood is a concept and a reality. To buy into the concept you have to understand the reality. A sister is usually born of the same blood to either mother father or both. In the craft a sister is made through birth via the same spirit. For those drawing a blank I am refering to witchcraft as the craft.

It is a position that is highly regarded -sisterhood. Bonds are created through trust and love and hopefully respect as well as vows. In covens a sister is bound through a promise to the group to maintain secrecy and loyalty to the group. You can be a sister in the craft and not be MY sister. That designation is an earned position.

A craft sister simply means we are on the same path and respect the individual journey with a willingness to share information and smooth the way when we can to facilitate learning .etc.

I have several of my sisters on myspace (yeah I'm not naming names). We have chosen to be available for the emotional or spiritual uplifting of one another much in the same way a biological sister is supposed to be...except we choose who to give this designation. We are not bound by parental random sexual conquests.

If you are one of my sisters you know I am here for your everything. Spiritual, emotional, financial, intellectual etc. But that is me. In perfect love and perfect trust is the best wiccan principle I've heard.

To earn the designation of my sister it is a silent promise but often spoken because uplifting is what we do. Rest easy sisters as the season of holy days is upon us. Every day is a day of blessing to us because we have each other.
The five-fold kiss is presented below because I felt like including it again. I say blessed be to my sisters as a shortened blessing of this kiss.


"Blessed be thy feet,

that have brought thee in these ways.

Blessed be thy knees,

that shall kneel at the sacred altar.

Blessed be thy womb,

without which we would not be.

Blessed be thy breasts,

formed in beauty.

Blessed be thy lips

, that shall utter the Sacred Names."

Yule is the Winter solstice. You do not have to celebrate the passing of the seasons...you who would rather celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ of bible. But how you justify celebrating anything without celebrating the passage of time that is consistent and marks the life and world of mankind is amazing to me. Winter comes and brings with it transitional death. All must pass away before it can become new (unless you live in evergreen so cal). It is a time for reflection and introspection. I am choosing to recognize the pending renewal of life. In doing so I am honoring the bonds of sisterhood.

So from the girls at AVC to the girls in NMexico to the newer friends at Berkeley....BLESSED BE SISTERS Yule is upon us.

Fear and Cowardice

Cowards die a thousand deaths. The valiant taste death but once. Julius Cesaer/William Shakespeare.

Being afraid is a natural state when one faces a challenge that presents an unknown element. Occassionally we are afraid of unnatural things. Like me...I am afraid of heights, abandonment, failure, and oatmeal being the last of my ridiculous fears (i may die of gluttony being force fed oatmeal... ugghghghghghgh) Some people are afraid of committment and some afraid of love. I don't understand these people but their fears are no less valid than mine.

So what are we to make of our fears? Ask Freud; he seemed to have a ton of theories. I am discussing bravery today. Bravery is acting despite the hold fear may have over us.

I am afraid of heights but when I find the need I climb stairs (yes even those heights) walk the bleachers for exercise, drive over the bridge and do various other activities that promote everyday activities in my life. I do not let fear hold me back. At the same time I don't just jump out of perfectly good airplanes in the name of recreation either. I have a healthy respect for my fears :-)

Abandonment and failure well we can only continue despite fear or we would cease to prosper. I have to love and be open to love or I will never find the one person I can trust not to abandon me. I know you are taken Stephen so I have to find one of my own!!!!(Relax ppl, it's a joke) If I don't try I fail immediately so I'd rather fail trying!!! I am brave. I shake in fear as I accomplish what I need to accomplish. It may seem as though my heart shudders each attempt but that is how I can tell I'm alive. I feel.

I won't speak on the oatmeal. Let's never speak of the oatmeal.

A friend recently told me he was scared by a prospective relationship. He opted not to explore his options. Now he will never know what he missed out on and he will forever wonder if he made the right or wrong choice. A thousand deaths. Cowardice I say, is not attractive.

Live life, fear will be around to give us many opportunities to find our bravery and cherish our strengths.