I have an unexpected move happening on Thursday. The manager of my old place became unbearable and started kicking people out for the stupidest offenses. Suddenly leaving a BBQ grill outside wasn’t allowed. Since living quarters were so small, it isn’t safe to keep them inside. A potted plant? That could get you kicked out too. Well, I was among about half the residents who were given the boot. Because of my little BBQ. So I went into turbo-hunting mode, got another place (substantially larger and my walk-in closet will be 8′ x 8′!!), and have had to line up movers. This, on top of work. I’m working a production of Les Mis opening next month and that’s been taking a lot of time.
Sadly for me, this means my book release has to be pushed back a couple months. I’m dropping about $4k on this move, and doing it meant cashing in some stocks and such that I didn’t want to touch.
This is nothing compared to the murder of a teenager and the number of people saying he deserved it because he shouldn’t have fought back. Why should standing your ground only apply to the person who started it? I don’t think I even need to say names. Today in Target I was in line, and a white man behind me told two black ladies in front of me that the “real victim” was justified because the black kid shouldn’t have been in a white neighborhood. Few things set me off more than that kind of blatant bigotry and discrimination. So I verbally ripped the guy a new one and am surprised I wasn’t banned from Target. Before I got to the door three separate groups thanked me, and one of those black ladies had tears and told me never change.
How on earth can America still have to far to go when it comes to equality and no longer talking about separate marriages and separate neighborhoods based on race and other such bull? Did we just step into a big time machine and go back a century? When a black kid could be considered to be in a white neighborhood, applying for a marriage license in Indiana could get you 18 months behind bars and a $10k-fine, and tampons are confiscated because those are considered dangerous weapon while concealed guns in a state building are fine… What is going on? Just what the hell?
I think it’s fairly well known among followers of my blog and Twitter that I was inspired to write my first book because I was tired of the romanticization of abusive relationships. In this trilogy I show interracial relationships and same-sex relationships as normal and that they don’t need to be the source of conflict, and enjoying casual sex or preferring celibacy are nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t feel they’re enough anymore. I’ll go forward with them because this still is an area that needs addressing.
Now I’m trying to figure out some way to tackle the issue of the continuing problem of race in this country, and how racism is still alive, possibly more alive now than it’s been in a while. Proceeds to the NAACP or some other group that handles civil rights issues. I don’t know what to write though. I fully acknowledge my racial privilege, and even noticed this as a kid back when I was glad to be white because it meant I could be a ballerina when I grew up. Thankfully ballet companies have moved hard from being all-white, but still, there is racial privilege in the US. Blacks are more likely to be convicted of crimes with less evidence than whites
Alys Marchand 