Please Don't Bomb the Suburbs: An Imperfect Review

Personal Check-in: My heart is heavy. For personal reasons and larger societal-forces type reasons. I'm seriously thinking about oppression. About what it does to warp relationships and steal people from each other. And also about all the learning I have to commit myself to doing if I am to live my life really well. If I am to really use my time, energy and resources wisely for the short time I have on earth. I really want to use my life to effect some small measure of change. I want to be able to look back on my life and say that I truly did everything I possibly could to make things better for people here.

Semi Side Note: I'm also thinking about one of my closest friends, who is going through a lot right now. My heart is also heavy for her. But I know she is going to pull through. She is beautiful and strong and dearly loved.

But onto the topic at hand. I just finished reading Please Don't Bomb the Suburbs by Billy Wimsatt. I was introduced to the book after attending a reading at Bluestockings Bookstore. Definitely a paradigm shifting book. I feel like it's conversation sparking...it puts movement building in perspective...it encourages folks who want change and justice to soul search and dig deep, and live in the tension between our desires to be effective changemakers on small and large scales and our mortality. (We only have but so much life on this earth. Let's be effective rather than self-loathing and self-sabatoging. I wouldn't say that this is necessarily the one-line summary of the book but it is one of the enduring messages I got. It is one place where I really connected.) Like all meditations on social change, it's imperfect. It's one entry point in a massive conversation we need to have with ourselves and one another. I feel that it's off the rating systems...it's hard for me to give it stars. I learned so much from it...the places where I want to critique it harshly are also the places I want to critique myself harshly. I feel like it's an extension of myself in some way. Maybe all provocative works of art are.

Now when I go on amazon.com, I will go by the established rating system. I will most likely give it five stars. I think this helps signals to folks that this is something-you-need-to-read. Each person may take its ideas in a thousand different directions...but I think we all need to read it. In no way was it a waste of my time, even though I find myself struggling with some of the ideas presented within. Did I agree with each and every last point that was made by Wimsatt? No. (Did I agree with 99.9% of the points? Yes. It was just little nuances here and there that threw me from time to time. Understandable.) Overall, I found it beautiful. I connected with a lot of the ideas inside. I felt that Wimsatt's heart was in the right place. Here's what I liked best about it though:

1)
It was an immediately engaging, incredibly fast read. I literally zoomed through the book, laughing out loud on the train several times. I also dog-eared about 75% of the book. The man possesses not only heart, but wit. I haven't yet read his first book, Bomb the Suburbs, but he talked so candidly about his personal evolution since the publication of that book that I felt like we were old friends. He has an extremely engaging writing style and he is refreshingly honest.

2)

He got me thinking about my personal effectiveness, my personal mission statement, and my mortality. Now I have always thought about these things to some degree...but generally in a pretty discombobulated fashion. In my estimation, this culture encourages folks, especially young folks, to fuck up aspects of our lives without thinking clearly about the consequences of our actions. I think they (the powers that be, if I may) figure that if we're too busy constantly cleaning up our own little messes, we have less time to be effective, particularly in our prime years when we actually have energy. Now I'm not saying that life isn't about making mistakes...but I am saying that's it's not about wallowing in our mistakes. Or not growing from our mistakes. Or constantly undermining our ability to evolve our inner grown folk swag because we're defending -to the death- our right to be as stupid as the day is long.

3)
And about mortality and life plans and shit...he inspired me to seriously consider law school again. I thought about it a little while ago. I kinda forgot about it. But now I'm thinking about it again. Because of the need for more people with good intentions to have more power to make their good intentions realities.

4)
He talked (briefly) about the link between the early hip-hop movement and the LGBT community. What a hidden history that gets no love!

5)
He has strategies, and he freely shares activist tricks of the "trade." (For lack of a better phrase. And plus I couldn't resist the irony.) He reeks of transparency and WYSIWYG. He doesn't shy away from difficult conversations. He speaks from experience. And he is truly interested in figuring out how the numerous factions of the left can begin to move towards unity and efficiency. Not uniformity and conformity...but unity. Understanding that since we all have a stake in undoing oppression, we should all take the time to hear each other out a bit.

6)
He is truly about building a movement that includes everybody. Every. Body. Though I have a ways to go before I am truly a nonviolent Bodhisattva, something in me knows that freedom has to be given to everyone, or it is meaningless. Everyone deserves freedom and happiness, even the folks who have historically and contemporarily made my blood boil.

7)
And speaking of contemporary historicity, he also has a pretty good analysis of race. As well as sobering advice for white anti-racists, and an invitation for white anti-racists to talk to one another. (Lord knows this is needed. As an outsider looking in but also someone who inhabits two worlds a la DuBois and Friere, I definitely see the need for white folks to talk to one another about race.) He talked about the importance of these folks understanding -no, deeply understanding- racism as much as possible but not hating themselves as a result. And you know what? I know at least a handful of folks who need this advice. But not from me.

8)
He packs lots of recent cultural and political history in his book. Holy shit I have a lot to read! He has definitely awakened in me a thirst to know as much as I can about everything, including the political landscape of this country. I must admit...I am virtually clueless about electoral politics and the different laws and bills that have shaped our present reality. But I'm understanding more and more that whether or not I agree with politics as usual, I must at a MINIMUM understand what is going on around me everyday.

Here's where I struggled:

1)
Right after I finished reading the book, I saw a clip exposing modern day Cointelpro. And I was reminded that even though I am moving closer to believing that change has to come via ALL avenues, including the government (we need good folks working in every sector of society), the government has also been a historical bastion of repression, and politics has been a dirty game. So I struggle somewhat with the notion of participating in electoral politics. Though I can honestly say that most of me now believes I need to participate, anyway. But there's an internal struggle I have that I was noticing while I was reading. But it might just be growing-up pains. Wimsatt uses the "growing-up" analogy alot in his book, notably in reference to "progressives" awakening to the potential of the vote.

2)
Something (small) in me checked out at the notion of the Super Movement, Wimsatt's bold proposal for a volunteer-run progressive movement that in ten years has a shared operating system and connects all precints in the United States. The idea that all people wanting freedom and equality for all other people need to communicate and build alliances in order to be more effective rang true for me, no doubt. But for some reason, I had all these weird associations come up with the title Super Movement. Perhaps it's just the name. Perhaps I need more buy-in, more evidence that this can work. Perhaps I'm just cynical. I do have a Virgo rising AND moon afterall. Most likely, I simply need a better understanding of how lasting change is created in this country and the world.

In the meantime, I'm going to be hitting up the library for a bunch of the books that were recommended or mentioned by Wimsatt. I'm also going to be doing what I can to contribute to the process of more folks finding out about this book, discussing the ideas within, and heck, even voting (click the link for DIY Voter Guides for the midterm elections).

Overall, I definitely think this is a very important book for people who believe in remaking our society in a way that everybody eats. The places where I struggled with the content reflected the areas in which I need to experience the most growth. And I am committed to that growth.

And here are some of the books he discussed or mentioned (in some cases, he merely mentioned authors and I found titles):

1) The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
2) Dreams From my Father by Barack Obama
3) Future 500: Youth Organizing and Activism in the United States by Jae Kim
4) How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office by Adrienne Maree Brown and Billy Wimsatt
5) Bomb the Suburbs by Billy Wimsatt
6) No More Prisons by Billy Wimsatt
7) Peak Everything by Richard Heinberg
8) Only the Super Rich Can Save Us! by Ralph Nader
9) The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones
10) The Power of Progress by John Podesta
11) Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
12) Another World is Possible by Walldah Imarisha
13) Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing by Abraham Himelstein

A short paper

So I'm cleaning off my desktop as I prepare for graduation (May 11th!). I found this short paper I had to write for my positive psychology class last semester. The end part--the resolution--is BS, classic stuff you gotta write to please some Hampton teachers, but the beginning definitely pinpoints where I was, spiritually, at the time.

Much has changed, I feel.

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

Positive Psychology
November 13, 2007

When I took the Brief Strengths Test last September on a website called “Authentic Happiness,” I was not surprised to learn that my top five strengths were identified to be “forgiveness and mercy,” “creativity,” “curiosity,” “love of learning,” and “kindness.” I believe that I display each of these traits fairly well and fairly consistently. I was very surprised, however, to learn that my lowest strength – out of a possible 24 – was considered to be “spirituality.” Even though I have eschewed most mainstream forms of organized religion for the past five or so years, and had wavered between agnosticism and atheism in the past year, I had always thought that I was a reasonably spiritual person.
To me, spirituality was not necessarily about taking part in rituals that expressed the mainstream conception of divinity as being separate from and above creation, but it was about recognizing the absolute interdependence between all things in the universe (and beyond, if there is anything beyond this universe). It was about the understanding that we are all connected to one another, despite any facades of difference we might express on this plane. Ever since I had given up the regular practice of Islam, the religion that I was born into, my spiritual journey had included reading books by Alice Walker – my favorite author on the matter – trysts with the I Ching , astrology, crystals, dream catchers, and the Buddha. “I’m always contemplating on how I am functioning in the wheel of samsara ,” I thought to myself. “What d’ya mean that my lowest strength is spirituality?”
The Brief Strengths test identified “spirituality” as “religiousness,” “faith,” and “purpose.” It was easy for me to see how the religiousness factor did not fit into my life, but it was much harder for me to admit that over the years, my sense of faith, direction and purpose had slowly been eroding. Even though I had collected a sizeable number of sound bytes to explain my spiritual orientation to anyone who inquired (“I try to be more spiritual than religious” or “I believe in the all”), in actuality my spirituality was much more a function of intellectual processes than something deeply felt. Though I professed to be a spiritual being, in truth, I had been feeling deeply abandoned by any and all things spiritual. “If this spirit stuff was really true, then whoever or whatever allowed for my existence wouldn’t allow me to feel so unworthy, so unloved, and so lost in the world,” were my most secret thoughts. After reflecting on the test and the ensuing emotions, I wondered why I felt so inferior so much of the time. In an attempt to get to the heart of the matter, I decided to be open to any spiritual instruction that might come my way to open my heart and change these destructive beliefs.
About a couple of weeks ago, a few of my friends held an event called “BCP Breaks it Down: a General Introduction to Alternative Consciousness.” At one point, all of the participants meditated to a tape of positive affirmations from a company called “Think Right Now.” This may sound cheesy, but the meditation proved to be just the medicine I needed. I noticed an immediate shift in my thought patterns, and my acceptance of the one spirit that I believe pervades us all. I have read in many psychology texts, including a text by Dr. Williams, that positive affirmations and meditation are useful tools on the road to radical self-acceptance and self-esteem (which may be understood as a facet of spirituality since it is all about one’s sense of purpose). How true I have found this to be! I now meditate to the tapes regularly, and I am finally on the path to feeling, and not just thinking, spirituality. I’ve finally realized that it’s something that takes willful practice, and not just intellectual acknowledgement. Hopefully the next time that I take the Brief Strengths test, I’ll score a little higher on the spirituality aspect.

Desi[r]evolution

Darkdaughta says on her website that she is accepting ongoing submissions for a possible book called desi[r]evolution. While i dunno that i have enough 'life experience' to make any sort of intelligible contribution, and while i'm not sure that i would want to be that exposed at this point in my life (by exposed i mean be in a book about desire. i've also been looking, though, at robyn ochs' call for writing), i think the questions she poses are interesting. i think they're really forward thinking. i wanted to repost them here so that i could kind of think about them as i begin this process of living out my twenties. maybe i'll make an effort to make a post answering one of the questions every sunday (starting next week. i need time to think on them.) here's what i got from the site:

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desi[r]evolution : black women talk race, gender, colonization and sexual politics.

so, i'm wonderin'...
are black gyals 'free' yet?

this is me askin':
how [sexually] 'free' are we plannin' on allowing ourselves to be?

for that matter, how sexually 'free' is it possible for us to really be?

what is free dom when we can't be sure how much of our relationship to sex is reaction as opposed to action ?

a few hundred years after the middle passage - our collective racial/social/spiritual/physical/sexual/familial colonization experience/forced dance with domination, can any of us tell the difference?

in a racist, consumerism-driven, sexually conflicted yet still sex-negative world, is it really even possible for there to be a descernable difference?

seein' as the whole dyam world defines us as pussy for sale, how much [if any] of their mess can we clear out of our minds?
what sorts of conscious, intentional sexualities are we actually planning on pursuing, embracing, claiming?

how does does the middle class conservative hetero-patriarchy still so dominant in our homes/lives/communities effect the way[s] we do/talk/experience sex?

is one lover or partner really enuff?
why does it have to be?

do you come from a space/place where a fully, openly sexual woman, clear about her needs and desires, open about her appetites needs to fear for her safety and her career? or are you from a space/place where a woman is expected to by learning and growing, naming and exploring what it means to be female, adult and ripe with the power of her erotic?

how does an experience of sexual abuse, rape, physical trauma impact on your understanding of your body, it's functions, your desires and your erotic?

why do these sorts of questions bring up so many other questions related to morality and christianity, to the sacred and the profane, to the reckless and the insane?

how are my sistren managing, sexin' in this post-emancipation 'freedom' time? is the development and liberation of our sexual selves keeping pace with our struggles to decolonize our spirits, minds, families and communities?

does a revolutionary sister still have to keep her thighs clenched in order to be seen as a worthy ally and to fight tha good fight or does she just need to be a docile wife/partner, shadow behind every/any man and baby machine for the patriarchally dominated nation?

(Late) Resolutions for the '08

Cuz it's a new year.

1. Meditate more frequently
2. Go to bed earlier
3. Also rise earlier, even if class doesn't start til 1 pm
4. Figure out a tight ass plan for the next year of my life
5. Then figure out how I'll continue my education (I'm thinking about being a therapist again)
6. Send all emails that still need sending
7. Love myself allllllll the way
8. Save money
9. Which means I'll have to MAKE money, reliably
10. Pay off debts
11. Leave Bank of America
12. Trust.
13. Pray.
14. Be open to necessary change
15. Be thankful for necessary change
16. Show gratitude for folks who've crossed my path and made my life better or different in a necessary way