Submitted by kady on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 19:09
I am a person with a border consciousness. Reading Gloria Anzaldua was liberating for there was a word beyond mestiza to describe me. I have a European American surname, which makes a huge difference in life. I see the injustices, yet often being mistaken for being white, I regularly find myself in awkward situations.
The latest went something like this:
After a philosophy class that has students from my school and the graduate school that is across the street, a fellow student asked,
"Can I be sarcastic?"
"Sure."
"So this is where all the white guys are."
I looked at her blankly.
"In our other classes there have only been about three. So this is where they’ve been hiding."
"Uh yeah. I guess they are more interested in philosophy."
The first thoughts through my head were: “The faculty?” “The administration?” We were near the dean’s office.
Submitted by kady on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 15:10
This year I met numerous fascinating people at General Assembly. In fact, I spent a larger proportion of time talking to others. I am an officer in DRUUMM (Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries), and volunteered to be at the table for some time each day in the exhibition hall. I roomed with a woman I met at a DRUUMM event several years ago, and we were able to deepen a friendship that has continued to grow as we see each other each GA, since we live on opposite coasts. The DRUUM folks have been like family, and I love them.
Submitted by kady on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 19:27
On Friday, the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly overwhelmingly passed the Statement of Conscience on Ethical Eating. I had been practicing the principles, imperfectly, since it's inception. What I've learned is to remember that it is just that, a practice.
Submitted by kady on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 20:02
Yesterday, a speaker from the local domestic violence shelter spoke to our spiritual care class. It was the second time I've heard her, and she is just wonderful. Some things to think about:
Submitted by kady on Thu, 04/07/2011 - 20:16
This morning I dreamed of Mia, my wife who died in January, 2010. The last time I dreamed of her, I had panicky feelings. My thoughts ran along the lines of: “She came back?; Where had she been?; Wait a minute, I thought she died; What happened?; What did I do wrong?” I felt sort of ill because I screwed up so badly thinking she was dead. I awoke to reality, and the ill feeling that she was gone all over again.
This time was different. She came to me and I just hugged her and held her. I was so grateful to see her again. I knew she was gone and just visiting. It felt like a gift. I could tell her how much I loved her and simply enjoy the moments we were together again. This time I remembered that I was in a dream and just went with it. For more than a year I waited to have a dream like this, for her to come back and see me. I must not have been ready, until now, to let her go.
Submitted by kady on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 17:52
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."
-Mahatma Gandhi
This was one of my favorite quotes. A year ago, it took on a particularly poignant significance when the Deep Water Horizon well exploded and the earth began to hemorrhage crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. With the Pacific garbage patch, mercury laden fish, and now Japan releasing exceedingly radioactive water, I wonder just much longer this quote will be relevant. Or, it it already a relic from a time just over a century past?
Spring is here fulfilling its promise of renewed life. What other new metaphors can we use to restore a belief in humanity, especially in the face of a tiny minority (Not Japan but the top 1%) who is in a race to exploit, sell and use up our beloved earth’s gifts.
Submitted by kady on Tue, 03/04/2008 - 19:09
In a country increasingly polarized by either/or dualistic thinking, a creative both/and approach flows from living in the liminal spaces along the margins. While both/and has been the norm in Asia for millennia, this queer multicultural Unitarian Universalist ministerial candidate of color has found it crucial to living an authentic principled life.
Influences and Interests
Zen, Taoism, Process studies, contemplative practices, living green, peace and justice, alternative media
Roles
Blogger/Contributer, wizdUUm.net
UU ministerial candidate
Pages
