Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Combustible Summer

Some summers are generic - borderline forgettable. Five years down the road you can't remember one from the other. This isn't one of those summers. 2013 is combustible.

I can't put my finger on what came first; I can't put it all in order. We're only half way through this season and it's already a fiery blur. The supreme court's landmark decisions, the bombs in Boston and the surprising verdict in Trayvon Martin's case have  been punctuated by the most constant steam of extreme weather Atlanta has endured in my lifetime. At this point, to say "emotions are running high" would be an insulting cliche. 

On Facebook I avoid drama. I block feeds from friends whose opinions upset me. When offered the bait of extremes I look away. Even in my studio, where I've worked for over four years, I make an effort to stop politically charged conversations before they start.

Dear reader - do you know I'm liberal? Can you tell from my lifestyle? Does it matter to you? If so, do I care that it matters to you? Is it something I try to hide? Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Socialist, Communist - all of them aside - this is what I want you to know I stand for: EQUALITY. 

I stand for equality.  In the last decade I've had the conversation over and over again but in innumerable contexts. 

Moving back to the South (after undergrad in Rhode Island) I was shaken by the belles and gents who vehemently did NOT identify as "feminist". To hear these people tell it, feminists were to men as white supremacists were to minorities. That premise is so far off base it became confusing; were these people joking? Had they not heard ANY of Steinem's message? Feminism is (quite simply) the complete social and economic equality between men and women. If you have a problem with that - please stop reading my blog.

This argument of equality resurges in every social and economic opportunity: rich vs poor, minority vs white, gay vs straight, those with health insurance vs those without, obese vs healthy, immigrant vs citizen, Florida vs the continental United States. IT DOES NOT END. 

And because it does not end I have chosen to remove myself from the Facebook conversation because I want to continue to respect everyone's right to their own opinion. Until today - when I remembered I don't have to fight on Facebook. I can publish my personal opinion here.

Tonight the rush hour storm was worse then normal. The apocalyptic lightening flashed around me so nonstop that it became surreally beautiful while simultaneously terrifying. I even drove through a flooded tunnel (that I still think was probably a really bad idea). But after the storm - it was gorgeous. The clouds, the sunset, the breeze, the illuminated skyline of Atlanta. I hope I can I always hold on those mental images. In that moment of pure beauty Macklemore's new song "I can't change" came on the radio. 

I was paying attention to the lyrics; feeling thankful that this pop station summer hit so thoroughly represents how I feel when something occurred to me. It hit me that while this song represents how I feel most of the people I want to hear it - never will. Those people being my deaf lesbian sister-in-law and my baby boomer parents (who don't listen to pop radio stations).

So many very important people in my life are same-sex oriented. I want all of them to know: I accept and support you just the way you are. Your lifestyle is no big deal to me. I'm sorry for the difficulties our society is imposing on you. Your daily bravery impresses me. And to that end, the lyrics to Macklemore's "I can't change".

When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay,
'Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight.
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She's like "Ben you've loved girls since before pre-k, trippin' "
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn't she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, "Yeah, I'm good at little league"
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
For those that liked the same sex
Had the characteristics
The right wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don't know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don't know

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
"Man, that's gay" gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we're saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don't have acceptance for 'em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that's not important
No freedom till we're equal, damn right I support it

(repeat chorus)

We press play, don't press pause
Progress, march on
With the veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
Till the day that my uncles can be united by law
When kids are walking 'round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are
And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all
But it's a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up

(repeat chorus)

1 comment:

  1. The sad thing is we both know so many people with whom we grew up that are still closed minded, shut off, and lack either the internal fortitude or simply the mental capacity to believe that people in the world are different from them, and simply crave equality, crave the ability to walk down the street (or sit at dinner, or vote, or get married, or whatever the issue may be) in peace, in quiet, and without stares, jeers, or derision.

    It's 2013 and yet still feels a lot like 1963 sometimes. It was one of the most shocking realizations I had to encounter when I moved back to Atlanta in the 30 days leading up to a Presidential election. The vitriolic responses from people on Facebook was, putting it mildly, insane.

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