So, where did I leave off? Ah, yes, my first jittery days in quarantine, and still in a grocery store without a mask (I wear one now).
Since then, I’ve completed a forensic anthropology and archaeology course run by the International Red Cross Committee. This is a heavy course focusing on identifying dead persons and how they died. FYI, the word forensics comes from the Latin forensis ‘in open court, public’.
I’ve been thinking about bringing things out in the open in light of recent developments in the world. I’m referring of course to the murder of George Floyd. Huge crowds around the globe have joined forces to declare support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
I’ve been thinking how, collectively, we have some really big issues to face. We need to make changes about how we treat the very environment we live in. Changes about systemic racism. About misogyny. About toxic masculinity. About exploitation of people in fragile socio-economic conditions. We need to flay open the forensic truths of a system that is inherently exploitative, unsustainable and creates economic inequality, is anti-democratic and leads to an erosion of human rights while it incentivizes imperialist expansion and war.
That’s a lot to think about.
Meanwhile, June is Pride month. As allies, my family members and I usually support our friends by joining in the annual Pride Parade. Because of COVID-19, we won’t be doing that this year. So we fly the flags from our homes. It’s a small symbol of support, but we feel that, still, in 2020, we need to make our support known.
Privilege, power and prejudice
June is Pride month because of The Stonewall riots (also referred to as the Stonewall uprising or the Stonewall rebellion). These were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the LGBTQ community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.
It seems that often it is after a disenfranchised group is pushed to the wall and sees no other recourse than pushing back, that they are heard, are seen. Why must it be that way? When thousands of protesters peacefully take to the streets, when thousands sign petitions, write letters, why can that not be enough for the powers that be to see that people want change?
How can I change deep-seated attitudes of privilege, power, and prejudice?
Privilege
I have so many privileges as a white, straight, middle class, university-educated Canadian.
Maybe in this time of quarantine is an opportunity. Maybe this is something else I can educate myself with: this writer might learn by reading the writings of those who have not lived with such privileges. I am listening. I am seeing. Maybe 2020 can be the year for changes in attitudes. Maybe I can include characters in my stories who don’t look like me, or love like me. Empower them. Normalize them. Use my privilege as a writer.
Below is a link to a list of books complied by Victoria Alexander for non-Black allies. Maybe some of them will be part of your summer reading. And then maybe part of your writing.
