Category Archives: bigotry

Stubborn

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Stubborn

Some minds are so locked, they will not open to the touch.
Even “Open Sesame!” will not budge them much.
It seems their former mindsets hold them fast within their clutch,
squeezing off the access of new ideas and such.
Perhaps old ways of thinking have just become a crutch,
until they have that stubbornness oft noted in the Dutch!

I like to think my mind remains open to new thought.
For most of my life, I have been willing to be taught;
but when it comes to bigots, their efforts come to naught.
By the likes of Donald Trump, my attention can’t be bought,
and so I try to keep my ears entirely where he’s not,
for if I have to listen, I soon feel them growing hot.

I know what comes from such a man is likely to be rot,
so when I hear his puffed-up voice, my patience is soon shot.
With me his crass pontificating always comes to naught––
his words with fear and loathing usually fraught.
His hysterics reminiscent of Hitler and Pol Pot
dangle bait before a fish not willing to be caught.

A mind as closed as my mind will not open to his touch.
He never will win ingress with fear tactics and such.
Thank God my former mindsets hold me fast within their clutch,
squeezing off the access of bigotry and such.
Perhaps old ways of thinking have just become my crutch,
or maybe all my stubbornness is just because I’m Dutch!

 

The prompt today was “Open.”

“The World Swings Towards its Opposite”

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“The World Swings Towards its Opposite”

Often we’re made by what we lack.
White stands out better against black.
A child’s hand against your hand
often helps you understand
how prepared the human zoo
is to go on without you.

The world keeps balancing its act,
although we often rue the fact.
A child is born? Another must
make room by turning back to dust.
And every time we try to change this,
nature steps in to rearrange us.

Pestilence, earthquake and flood
offset new birth by spilling blood.
Ebola, aids, dengue, the flu
are, alas, only a few
of nature’s horrors that balance joys.
Cold and hot and girls and boys,

feast and famine, rain and shine,
mountain, valley, fresh water, brine––
contrast is what defines our world.
Every “knit one” must be pearled.
The truth in this election year
is one that I have come to fear,

for just as prejudice seemed cured,
our world has turned back to absurd.
Obamacare may be replaced
with a plan that’s more debased.
Hatred and misogyny
may be the next thing that will be

inflicted upon our brave world
that reels under each new ill hurled
before cycling back to light,
healing from each horrid blight.
Who seeks to “Trump” our earthly hand,
is one hand closer to being canned!


“. . . when anything reaches its maximum potential, it turns toward its opposite.”
–(translation of a principle stated in the i ching.)

If you want tohttps://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/contrast/

So What Am I, Chopped Liver?

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So What Am I, Chopped Liver?

The first time I can remember feeling unequal was in college, in Modern American Literature class. I remember the teacher (male) asking questions and I would usually raise my hand and answer first. I would make a point about whatever we had been reading and there would be a moderate reaction on the part of the teacher and the mainly male members of the class.

Half an hour later, after much discussion, invariably, one of the male members of the class would repeat what I had said as his own opinion and everyone would laud what he had to say as insightful and brilliant and everyone would agree!

This happened time after time. It was as though none of them really listened to what I said, or perhaps that their minds weren’t ready to accept it unless they went through a period of inductive reasoning first and they needed all the accumulated comments of the class to bring them to acknowledge what I had known from the beginning.

What it felt like, however, was that they put no credence in the ideas of a woman. This is not the only time I have noticed this. It happens now and then in the small poetry workshop I am a member of. I am really curious about whether any other woman has ever noticed this same phenomena.

The Prompt: Unequal Terms—Did you know today is Blog Action Day? Join bloggers from around the world and write a post about what inequality means to you. Have you ever encountered it in your daily life?

Stop stoning of gays and others in Brunei

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Brunei wants to start stoning gay people and other people convicted of ‘crimes’ like adultery.

Brunei is small and wealthy, but has international ties that could influence its leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. He’s linked to some of the world’s most exclusive hotels in the US and Europe. Brunei is also negotiating a high-profile trade agreement with countries like the US. The Beverly Hills Hotel is one!

Together, we could push elites to stop doing business with Brunei while the Sultan lets innocent people be stoned to death – and raise a global outcry against this cruel law.

This part of the law hasn’t gone into effect yet – but it will soon if no one does anything. Will you sign the petition asking global leaders, companies, and celebrities to stop doing business with Brunei in response to these brutal punishments?

Sign now: http://www.allout.org/brunei

Getting governments, companies, and celebrities to loudly pull out of doing any business with Brunei isn’t just about hitting the Sultan financially. Brunei’s setting a dangerous example by adding, rather than ending, the death penalty. If there’s not a massive global outcry, other leaders might do the same, thinking there’s no personal or political cost for them.

Some celebrities and companies have begun to move their events, refusing to give money to the Sultan’s world-famous hotels. But, it’s not enough – the CEO of the hotel chain just went on the record calling the boycott unfair and refused to comment on the law.

If we can get thousands of people from all over the world to sign right now, we could stop travel companies from offering these hotels to their customers. The bigger the protest gets, the more likely the outcry could affect the trade agreement negotiations. We could turn this from a small annoyance for the Sultan to a serious problem that requires him to pay attention to the global condemnation of the new law.

Sign now to get governments, companies, and celebrities to stop doing business as usual with Brunei:
http://www.allout.org/brunei

All Out members all over the world have gotten key corporations to speak out in response to anti-gay laws. During the Olympics in Russia, we helped raise a huge outcry that got some National Olympic Sponsors to speak out against Russia’s anti-gay law. And, recently, we got Orange to pull ads from a tabloid that outed lesbian, gay, bi and trans people when the Ugandan anti-gay law passed.

Now we have a chance to really raise the alarm about Brunei’s new death penalty in the media and in the circles that the Sultan and his family move in. Will you speak out now against Brunei allowing gay people and other innocent people to be stoned to death?
http://www.allout.org/brunei