Ah, Women’s History Month, the month when men are supposed to acknowledge that half the population of the world contributes approximately half of the work and advances in society and approximately ALL of the human beings. This one has been especially fun what with sexists and racists running the government into the ground and asshats like Tucker Carlson whining that men don’t make enough money or get enough attention.
This year, there is one woman you might not expect, Stephanie Clifford (known professionally as Stormy Daniels, Stormy Waters, or Stormy), who is making history with her efforts to speak out about her affair with the president. 45’s pretty upset about it, so upset he’s suing Stormy for $20 million for an affair he claims he didn’t have and an NDA he supposedly knew nothing about. Funny that.
This Women’s History Month there are some positive influences that intersect not only with women but young people, all races, all genders, any sexuality, including Emma González (I have no idea if she’s actually a resister so take that one with a grain of salt, please):
Emma is part of a group of students from a high school in Parkland, Florida that, like many schools, has suffered through terrible loss and pain due to a mass shooting. Their group, though, has started a movement for change. You can find their web site at marchforourlives.com. Emma isn’t the only female in the group. There are others, but she first came into the spotlight when she gave the powerful “We call BS” speech in February, a few days after the Valentine’s Day shooting. These young people are beginning to make headway already where adults have been failing for years. They have everyone’s attention, and they’re keeping the conversation about gun violence and gun reform going. They’ve upset the NRA, and people are listening to them and following their lead. These children are showing time and again that they are up to the task no matter what is thrown at them.
It’s encouraging to see these young people scaring the Gun Lobby using only their voices. They aren’t interested in political parties; they just want to save lives. Unfortunately, their time in the spotlight, speaking intelligently but from the heart about the need for gun reform in America, means the gun nuts and insecure jerks are out in force.
I posted an article on Facebook about a bigot who was running unopposed for the House in Maine, and it’s mentioned in the article that he had insulted both Emma and the young man mentioned in the story (David Hogg). The candidate’s name is not important anymore as he stepped down when he was called on his horrid insults, and there is now someone else running in the 57th district (Eryn Gilchrist). In the article, though, the candidate we don’t name called David a “bald-faced liar” and Emma a “skinhead lesbian.” He’d “liked” other derogatory comments about her including more digs at her haircut, sexuality, race, etc. Keep in mind that David and Emma graduate high school this year; they’re basically kids.
Underneath where I posted the news story, there are a few comments about the posting; so far, all of them are insults aimed at the kids, particularly Emma. Seriously. They include “Let the ‘lesbian pervert obamacrat’ run..” and “I thought she was a little boy?” and a caricature of them with a caption that accuses them of being actors (pretty unoriginal, IMO, and fucking low considering what they’ve been through and their noble cause).
If it is not truthful and not helpful, don’t say it.
If it is truthful and not helpful, don’t say it.
If it is not truthful and helpful, don’t say it.
If it is truthful and helpful, wait for the right time. – Buddha
I’ve written on this stuff before, but I ask again, “why?”
Is this like Liar Liar where our poster is unable to control himself and every silly/private thought just comes out? where anything, no matter how ignorant/rude/inappropriate/unimportant, gets translated into words and shared for all to see? as if it’s a good idea to say that shit? or as if we give a crap what these lowlifes think?
People can wear their hair, their clothes, their make-up, any way they want to. They can walk and talk however they want. The color of their skin is what they’re born with. We are who we are. And none of it, least of all what kind of genitals we have, is anyone else’s business unless and until it is directly our business (for instance, we’re getting into an intimate relationship).
These lowlifes and their opinions mean precisely nothing to these two kids who are out there doing good work. Emma and David and the rest of these young people are going to save lives.
Nothing about these rude posters will ever matter to those two kids, not even a little bit. These pathetic commenters are nothing. Nobody. And they kid themselves thinking their shitty little opinions matter to anyone other than themselves and (maybe) their moms. And nothing about these young people, who they are, how they live, is going to matter or be the business of those posters. Their paths will probably never cross. Nothing about them matters until they do cross paths. Who knows? Maybe one day the work those kids are doing will save one of their lives, or their child, or someone else they love.
Nothing is to be gained by us sharing our petty/mean thoughts even if being horrible to someone we’ll never meet somehow makes us feel big or important. We never will be – big or important – until we understand how small we are and just where we fit in the world. Until we have an adult grasp of our value and an understanding of how we fit in, how we can help, it’s best to keep our mouths shut and listen. It’s time we learned to keep our opinions about strangers to ourselves. Don’t try to make everything about you. And for fuck’s sake, when people are doing good, let them.
(I should keep those words from Buddha close so maybe I do better, too. Thanks for reading my post! Love and *hugs*)
Link: “Stormy Daniels Files Suit, Claims NDA Invalid Because Trump Didn’t Sign At The XXX” – by Vanessa Romo at NPR
Link to original Tweet from Allen Watson.
#WhoCaresWhatYouThought #Enough #NeverAgain #MarchForOurLives #WomensHistoryMonth
This is wonderful. “We will never be big until we understand how small we really are” -> chills! Simple, but perfectly profound!