This is the post I fell asleep doing and so this is a long post (up at 5 or 6 or 7 every morning to get kids to school - late because they dont want to go - cant blame them - I got media emails last week from the principal about one man shot in Ottawa (two were shot but only one counts, because: good dead, bad dead. Where have you heard that narrative before?) - but the school has more than one student who has had their mother stolen and murdered, public stories & trials, and the men continue to be tried years and years later; wheres the helpful advisory to our students for that, on dealing with fears and issues of an unsafe world where anyones mother can be murdered by either strangers or their own protectors? I want everyone to live a good and loved, respected life. EVERYONE. This includes the sad murderers committing their sad acts. BUT: why does it take an armed man shooting another man enlisted and dressed as an armed man, guarding statues of armed men from young men disrespecting the statue (they began an honour guard of the statue a few years ago because some young men were relieving themselves on it, perhaps to make a statement about years of colonial aggression, perhaps because theyd been raised to believe it was their right to go where they wanted when they wanted or many other perhaps -) - to start talking about violence and trauma for our children as if this incident had suddenly shaken young peoples faith in our invulnerability from safety of loved ones or selves? My kids say some of the biggest bullies are teachers - if not directly of them, of other students. That was true when I went to school too - and yet they are only trying to survive in a hostile environment, may be the justification. We all also have beautiful kind teachers. My grade One teacher who made me sit at the back - not because I was bad but because I was pretending I couldnt read so nobody else would be ashamed, and so I could do the fun sheets too :) Two truths! She knew I could - so she had me helping two other boys who couldnt read either. Maybe we all felt singled out - but we were singled out together. I still remember those boys with fondness too. They were kind-hearted young men, at the tender age of 6. And they would suffer in the school system just as I did - anyone who sticks out, pays. Those kind sensitive teachers are the ones we remember with love and respect, and name. Her name was Rose Arsenault - she had a French name, like me, in a place where that wasnt necessarily ok. She carefully lovingly brushed and braided my hair in front of the whole class once, when my mom was in the hospital. My grandfather was a vet, but he did not talk about the glory and valour of war, only about how kind the citizens were to them on the ground in the midst of terrible things - and any living or deceased vet or missing sister or mentally ill person in a mentally ill world - would tell you, that although all they want is peace and love - no building deserves a few rounds in its walls more than the House of Parliament who destroy with educational omissions and cuts and health care reductions with military upgrades - no group of people deserves to cower in fear behind stacked tables, spear-sharpened flagpoles, and closets for a few moments, more than most politicians - and no man or woman has more blood on his/her hands or bad money in his pockets than many of our elected governmental officials - but I am not big on blame, so does that trickle down to each voter? I have no answer: because the biggest problem with voting is, we can only elect politicians. And I agree with the premise of no politics so you wont see me waving any party flags. But the personal is political. And this: is personal.) Anyway: I forgot to mention that the City of Saskatoon City Council voted unanimously Monday, to support a national inquiry and/or round table on this issue, and to support local action here. I hope the continue to take positive leadership as I believe in the goodness of people no matter what way they serve. It is power that is a problem. Power makes me nervous: Id as soon hide under a bed. (I wont tell you where I am typing this from but theres never a selfie youll notice - LOL) Which is good news for our city, and I hope they continue to really lead - after the transit fiasco so heavily impacting our installation planning meetings and pre-events - and leaving so many vulnerable people walking for hours and hours and hours every day, for weeks and weeks, just to survive. There is no city bus out to Wanuskewin, by the way. I sure wish theyd think about putting one on for three weeks. Feel free to email them. saskatoon.ca (I asked them to put pressure for a provincial and local inquiry, too. I really think local inquiries are what we should all do.) We can and should continue to do our own inquiries, as at our community teach-in. Iskwewuk E-Wichiwitochik, Women WalkingTogether, has been working on this issue for many years here in the city. At a job interview this fall which I decided I really didnt want to take given my current commitment to this installation - I was asked what writing or award I was proudest of, and I said Thats easy: the nomination application last fall for the inaugural peace award for Iskwewuk. Which was a team effort, and others offered letters, and I think other people may have nominated them too! But it was mentioned at the ceremony, which I could not attend due to maternal commitments, that it meant a lot to be nominated by a journalist. And those words although they did not name me, meant a lot to me. It doesnt take much to feed a writer: words will do. We eat our own all the time. I have covered many issues over the years and had my heart broken by many things in life and in the trenches, but nothing will ever break my heart more than another woman being disappeared. Because I have faced it myself in many ways over my entire lifespan. So forgive me if I type too much, but I have been walking with a lot of women and families for over a decade, and I carry it in my heart, and I am proud of that nomination which they so deservingly won last fall, more than any award or article or poem or script or play or loveletter or diary entry or facebook status or email Ill ever write. It was meant to be anonymous but today Ill share it since Im behind on my morning posts by a few hours. Kidstuff and youth has to come first. For all of us. So those are some of my sharings this morning, and good work to Iskwewuk who has partnered with us. Along with so many families. Ever in my heart. Not only because I wrote and collected required pieces for that nomination while sitting in a hall in RUH emergency for four days with one of my kids, waiting for a bed, but because there is nothing more important to write about than honouring one another and saving lives. Save one woman and save the world, because to someone, or to many someones: she is the world.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 17:41:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015