Sept. 30, 2019: This is about Halloween and race. It's also about raising kids. This was a positive article.
Oct. 27, 2017 "Pretending that we're blind to colour doesn't help our children": Today I found this article by Bee Quammie in the Globe and Mail:
Here comes Halloween, with its inevitable, painful conversations around costumes, cultural appropriation and my favourite word (insert sarcasm font here): “colour-blindness.” You know what I mean – the annual protestation that it didn’t occur to parents that dressing their child as an “Indian Chief” or blackening their face to be a “rapper” was troublesome because they “don’t see colour.”
Colour-blindness is an ideology that argues we should ignore the ethnic, racial and cultural differences between us, in order to become a more welcoming and less divisive society.
That might sound positive and lots of people who uphold colour blindness are well-intentioned. But the concept reminds me of the deadly nightshade flower, hiding its poison behind its prettiness.
That might sound positive and lots of people who uphold colour blindness are well-intentioned. But the concept reminds me of the deadly nightshade flower, hiding its poison behind its prettiness.
At Halloween, for example, proponents of colour-blindness argue that children should be able to wear costumes that depict other cultures, even if people of those cultures say they find it hurtful.
That’s actually what writer and mom Kate Jaimet recently argued in a tragically obtuse piece chiding the “ethno-police” who pushed back against her daughter’s “Native princess” costume (note: many, many Indigenous people say princesses don’t exist in their cultures).
That’s actually what writer and mom Kate Jaimet recently argued in a tragically obtuse piece chiding the “ethno-police” who pushed back against her daughter’s “Native princess” costume (note: many, many Indigenous people say princesses don’t exist in their cultures).
Teaching our children to be “colour-blind” is a mistake, one that tells young people to see differences as negative things to ignore or erase. It taints children’s innate ability to recognize that human variances don’t have any kind of intrinsic value or place in a hierarchy.
Have you ever seen two kids put their tiny forearms together, marvelling at the contrast between the shades of skin? And do you notice how they don’t believe that one is better than the other, until they’re taught?
Often touted as a virtue synonymous with tolerance, being colour-blind is lazy and has troubling consequences.
Often touted as a virtue synonymous with tolerance, being colour-blind is lazy and has troubling consequences.
The pitfalls of colour-blindness reach into the public sphere, from media that gaslight the experiences of victims of racism to institutions convinced that there’s no need to collect race-based data. For parents, it detracts from our ability to have age-appropriate conversations with kids about real-life issues such as racism and privilege.
I haven’t had explicit conversations about racism with my three year-old yet, but she’ll be starting school next year. Available statistics show that schools are hardly colourblind – that black male teenagers are more likely to be expelled from Toronto’s public high schools than their peers is just one example – so I’ll be diligent about ensuring she’s treated fairly and teaching her how to recognize when she isn’t.
She has started to learn about privilege – in her case, around ability. One of her playground besties has a disability, so we’ve had some fruitful conversations around how the world works for her and her friend.
Once, when we were out shopping, she noticed on her own that while she could climb the two steps at a store’s entrance, her friend might not be able to.
Once, when we were out shopping, she noticed on her own that while she could climb the two steps at a store’s entrance, her friend might not be able to.
This realization made her sad and I hoped it might inspire her to be a force for change in the future. If we want our children to have a better go of things, they need to understand the realities of how our differences affect us and how we are treated because of them.
After that comes giving them tools to deconstruct this world and rebuild a better one.
After that comes giving them tools to deconstruct this world and rebuild a better one.
Jaimet’s ignorance caused her to miss a teachable moment with her own child, but other parents don’t have to suffer the same fate. If you see a troublesome costume this year, don’t use colour-blindness as a crutch.
Kids who learn that the plastic feathered headdress at the costume shop is a cheap replica of something real, beautiful and meaningful might just be better off in life.
Kids who learn that you don’t need blackface in order to dress as Doc McStuffins or Princess Tiana might just grow to acknowledge racial differences in ways that are respectful.
Kids who learn that the plastic feathered headdress at the costume shop is a cheap replica of something real, beautiful and meaningful might just be better off in life.
Kids who learn that you don’t need blackface in order to dress as Doc McStuffins or Princess Tiana might just grow to acknowledge racial differences in ways that are respectful.
If the only way you can co-exist with someone is to act as if you don’t see an integral part of them, that is a personal failing – don’t pass it on to your children.
Oct. 8, 2019 Canada's federal election 2019: I want to bring up Justin Trudeau's and his blackface. He did blackface back in 2001 for a costume party, and he apologized. Some of you guys will say that blackface affects or doesn't affect him being a prime minister and running the country.
Let's focus on the current situation.
What about the last 4 yrs he was running the country?
Did you like it?
Do you like what he's proposing for the next 4 yrs?
Does anyone remember Trudeau wore Indian clothes when he went to India? Was anyone offended by that?
My opinion: I wasn't offended by that because he wore what everybody else was wearing there.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-india-spending-scheer-1.4829121
Oct. 9, 2019: I met this East Indian guy and he said he isn't going to vote, because he doesn't know enough about the election. I told him about what I wrote in my weekly email. It may get him to vote.
Jan. 30, 2017 "What it's like when drinking masks the pain of residential school": Today I found this article by Simeonie Kunnuk in the Globe and Mail. I hope this makes people more compassionate:
I went to a residential school and suffered severe trauma, with language loss and abuse.
Afterward, I went through counselling and psychotherapy for childhood trauma for about five years. It was pretty severe stuff. But, for me, the counselling was a very good experience; I got a lot out of it.
I took law for about three years at Carleton. English and political science too. I also worked at a national Inuit organization where I answered inquiries from all over the world about Inuit culture.
And I stopped drinking for about seven or eight years.
I got involved with politics, trying to get the church and the government to apologize for the Indian residential school system. That took a toll on me and I went heavily back into drinking. The issues were too heavy on me and I just lost it.
When I was drinking, I used to yell anti-white sentiments at everyone. People later said they could hear me two, three blocks away. Once, we were thinking of breaking our abusers’ graves. One guy had axes and shovels. But then I said, “Oh my God, I don’t think we have to go down to this level to work it out. We can come up with something better than to do this.”
The Prime Minister apologized in 2008, with the leaders of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit present. I feel the apology was genuine. I made sure I was in there, in the gallery of the Parliament. I yelled, “Qujannamiik! [Thank you].”
All of my pent up emotions came out and I just started crying. Before the apology, I was pretty intense. After, my anger just dissipated. But I was still drinking.
I started checking all the recycling schedules and collecting empties out of the blue bins in a shopping cart. When I first started, I used to make about $60 to $80 a day. Then everybody started collecting and I was lucky if I made $40. I did that for more than 10 years. That’s how I paid for my alcohol. I knew every beer store in Ottawa. They got to know me. They were my clients.
I used to do a lot of drugs, such as crack and that. One time, I woke up in the drunk tank and my heart felt like it was about to come out of my chest. I thought, “Am I dying?” It scared the crap out of me. It took me a few months to quit it, but I finally did. I said, “I will just do the weed and the alcohol.”
I have been living at this place where they have a managed-alcohol program for a while now. We are given alcohol every hour. I used to drink to pass out. I didn’t realize I could drink and still function; still do everyday things. Now, I get to see my sons. My sister calls me. And I am in touch with my family by Facebook. Everything is happy now, from every angle.
Plus, I can live here. This is my first place in about 15 years. At first, it seemed too good to be true. I kept thinking, “There’s something wrong here!” I really like it. This is my own space. Before, I would be at the homeless shelters and sometimes I didn’t know how I got there. The police got to know me well.
The rules here are: don’t overdrink. We got to make sure we look after ourselves. Shower every day or so and look presentable. Before, I would sometimes go months and months without showering.
My friends would tell me come on over to their place and they would let me shower. I feel almost normal now. I hang out, read the papers, watch sports, go on the Internet to read up on politics up north. And I go to Inuit feasts that happen every month.
We order country food from up north. Caribou, arctic char, whale. We have a feast and after feasting, we do a presentation on the managed-alcohol program. I also make sure they hear about the apology.
I think that’s all some people need to hear. Some of them were so busy being out on the streets they didn’t bother with the radio or the newspapers, so they hadn’t heard about it.
Simeonie Kunnuk lives in Ottawa. As told to Andreas Laupacis
This interview has been edited and condensed. It first appeared in Healthy Debate, an online publication guided by health-care professionals and patients that covers health policy and evidence-based medicine in Canada.
My week:
Mon. Oct. 7, 2019 The New York Times: A customer named Gregory buys this and he finished reading it. He gave me the Arts and Leisure section about the theatre season. There were 24 full page ads, and 10 pages (some half) of theatre reviews.
I usually read (and write) TV and movie reviews. I do read the theatre reviews even though I don't see them, but I do like to read it. Did you know that there is play called "Jagged Little Pill" that's based on Alanis Morisette's album? It was 7 yrs to write and produce it.
I usually read (and write) TV and movie reviews. I do read the theatre reviews even though I don't see them, but I do like to read it. Did you know that there is play called "Jagged Little Pill" that's based on Alanis Morisette's album? It was 7 yrs to write and produce it.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/06/california-junior-detectives-find-missing-97-year-old-woman/3891994002/
Aubrey O'Day Says American Airlines Flight Attendant Forced Her to Take Her Shirt Off: This is from 2 weeks ago. She is from the pop group Danity Kane.
https://ca.style.yahoo.com/aubrey-oday-says-american-airlines-024153705.html
My opinion: People's comments are saying that it seems like the story is fake. I want to know what's on the shirt like a swear word?
Aubrey O'Day Says American Airlines Flight Attendant Forced Her to Take Her Shirt Off: This is from 2 weeks ago. She is from the pop group Danity Kane.
Aubrey O’Day is accusing an American Airlines flight attendant of forcing her to take her shirt off “in front of the entire plane.”
On Thursday, O’Day, 35, shared the claim on Twitter writing, “Never have I flown & had the steward treat me like a punished lil child in timeout the entire flight.”
The singer went on to reveal that she was allegedly told to undress because the flight attendant “didn’t like my shirt.”
O’Day wrote that he made her turn the shirt “inside out in order to fly.”
In response, American Airlines tweeted O’Day back, asking her to send her flight information so that they may take action.
“Your comments concern us and we’d like to check into this further,” American Airlines tweeted.
However, O’Day refused to continue the discussion.
https://ca.style.yahoo.com/aubrey-oday-says-american-airlines-024153705.html
- 13 days agoNo mention of what was on the shirt, which is telling. Betting she didn't like being told she couldn't wear something considered profane or similar and made a point to rip it off in front of everyone. I've heard of airlines asking other people to change or put something over an offensive shirt; it's not singling out one person.
- 13 days ago
Was the bathroom not available? - 12 days ago
Sounds suspect to me. I mean, the whole scenario sounds made up. What flight attendant is going to insist that she take her shirt, and turn it inside out as a condition to her flying? Then, when the airline reaches out to investigate, she refuses to cooperate? Sounds like a load to me.
My opinion: People's comments are saying that it seems like the story is fake. I want to know what's on the shirt like a swear word?
Counseling: On Mon. I went to Counselor #3. If you go to Cornerstone Counseling Centre, there is a provisional psychologist (a student getting a masters in psychology.) A licensed psychologist reads the file. It's $20/ hr for the hr.
How Tracy looks for a job:
I went there so I can find other ways to get a job. I have tried nearly everything. Here's the Cole's Notes version:
1. Read the business section of the newspaper (nearly everyday). I stopped subscribing to the newspaper like the Globe and Mail or the Edmonton Journal by 2019, so I don't really read the business section. It's on occasion. I have been reading those news from 2010-2018.
2. I look for a job and apply on job sites like Kijiji and in-person. (Offices, restaurants, retail, call centres). This is nearly everyday.
3. I copy and paste job articles onto my blog and write about it.
4. I write about my job interviews.
5. I network and tell all my friends, family, co-workers, from Facebook to Meetup groups asking if they know anyone that's hiring.
Should I put my writing help ad at MacEwan?: This is how the ad looks like:
These are the rates:
$100/ week for 30 posters
$70/ week for 15 posters
$10/ week for 2 posters
The school posts it.
1. Should I post the ad?
2. Also for how long?
3. Is there anything I should put on the ad?
3. Is there anything I should put on the ad?
There will be a clip art picture of a girl writing.
http://badcb.blogspot.com/2019/10/do-you-need-help-with-writing-essays.html
Oct. 12, 2019 Batwoman: The pilot was mediocre and then I never watched it again. The viewers voted it poorly.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8712204/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Nancy Drew: The pilot was average, and I will record the series and watch it all in one week. I like mysteries.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10313176/?ref_=rvi_tt
Nancy Drew (1995): Does anyone remember this Canadian TV show? I saw this when I was 10-11 yrs old. It lasted one season. I liked it back then. Scott Speedman (from the Underworld movies) was in it.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112091/?ref_=rvi_tt
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