Stony The Road

Stony The Road

Adult nonfiction
"In the broadest terms, Reconstruction was a revolutionary time
in American life--a time of national renewal extended out from Civil
War, death, and destruction that narrowed the gap between the
country's ideals and laws and advanced racial progress. Yet it was
also a turbulent and brutally violent period, one marked by rapid
economic change and new forms of white resistance that included
everything from organized para military assaults and political
assassinations to night rides and domestic terror."
When I took American History back in high school, Reconstruction
got very little textbook ink. I guess things haven't gotten better in
the intervening decades. Reknowned Black history scholar Henry Louis
Gates, Jr., quoted above, wrote Stony The Road to increase people's
knowledge and understanding of the tumultuous years between the 1860's
and 1920's.
Reconstruction had two goals. One was reuniting two parts of a
nation that had just spent four years engaged in bloody combat. Under
what conditions could the vanquished South be readmitted to the
Union? The other was equipping people who had been kept in ignorance
and involuntary servitude and treated as objects rather than humans
to handle the more complex lives of freedmen and freedwomen. The
Freedmen's Bureau was created to reunite black families and help them
gain educations and ways of earning a living.
Even as Black people were making progress on all fronts, angry
Whites in the defeated South were scheming to put them back "in their
place." These former Confederates saw the war as a war of aggression
on the part of the Union. The creation of the Freedmen's Bureau and
other programs and mandates originating in Washington were seen as
egregious government over reach. The "Lost Cause" was portrayed as a
valient attempt to save a gracious way of life. And how would the
South's agrarian economy function without the forced labor of blacks?
We're probably all familiar with the KKK and their night
riding. But the battle to keep Blacks "in their place" wasn't fought
only with nooses and burning crosses. It also involved pseudo
science, appeals to the fears of Whites, and images. Stony The Road
includes a treasure trove of posters, trading cards, photographs,
cartoons, and other visual representations which nicely complement
Gates' scholarship and really make the book come to life.
Stony The Road is a must read for all who want to understand how
the bright promise of Reconstruction was so brutally slain. Some of
the racist ideas the reader will encounter are sadly being revived in
Trump's America.
On a purrrsonal note, it snowed all day. In May. This is pretty
incredible--even for Maine. Eugene was sweet enough to buy a frozen
pizza (to make supper really easy prep) and a beautiful bouquet of
flowers for me. That surprise really perked me up. I started a list
of my pandemic sheltering in place achievements. Much to my surprise
it's pretty impressive. (Jules)
It is not time for snow!!! It keeps the birdies away and makes the
hoomans sad. Mother Nature, get with the program! (Tobago)
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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Why You Should Be A Socialist

Why You Should Be A Socialist

Adult nonfiction
"In this book, I want to convince you that everyone should join
the political left and identify themselves as a democratic socialist.
I want to show you, as thoroughly and persuasively as I can, that
leftist politics are not just consistent and reasonable, but that
elementary moral principles compel us all to be leftists and
socialists. I intend to define, as clearly as possible, what I mean
by words like leftism, socialism, and principles, and show you how
left ideas work, why they're practical, and why the usual criticisms
of them are false and/or frivolous..."
OK, readers, I think I'm in love. Nope, Eugene has nothing to
worry about out there at camp where he's hopefully enjoying his
vacation week. The object of my adoration is a book, Nathan
Robinson's Why You Should Be A Socialist. If you read only one book
this decade, or this century that matter, make it this one. In fact I
had to save it for when Eugene was off in the wilderness so the only
one who was startled every time I exclaimed "Yes!" would be Tobago cat.
Robinson's road to socialism, began with the unease many life
observations caused him. Although we say wealth stems from hard
work, a lot of people were born rich enough not to have to work. In a
city where tens of thousands of luxury condos stand empty as
investment properties tens of thousands of people live on the
streets. Some children go to posh private schools while others attend
schools without the basics. Warehouse workers slave under abusive
conditions for a boss who has more money than he knows what to do with.
"The leftist orientention I begin with, then, is one of deep
appreciation of spectacular things and deep loathing for unjust and
cruel things. It's easily dismissed as 'bleeding heart'-ism, and,
well, that's exactly what it is. People's hearts should bleed more.
If your heart doesn't bleed, what the hell kind of person are you?..."
What the hell kind indeed?
After delineating the serious evils and perils in this world the
status quo has led us to, for example, climate change and nuclear
weapons, and brilliantly shredding capitalism in a chapter perfectly
titled "The Army of Psychopathic Androids", Robinson comes to my
favorite part of the book: what exactly is socialism and how we can
embrace and live by it to create a better world.
I love the chapter where Robinson talks about how socialists, in
addition to fighting evils with concrete plans to help hurting,
endangered people, must embrace utopia. We have to know not only what
we want, but what we want to replace it with. He illustrates that
idea with one of my personal favorite institutions.
"If you think utopian thinking is unrealistic or pointless, let
me ask you to consider libraries. Everyone knows that libraries are
incredible places...But we often don't consider just how redical
public libraries are. A library is a place where anyone can go and--
for free--explore a mountain of human knowledge. It has meeting
spaces, computers, and research assistance. It's there for everyone,
regardless of their means."
Librarians, BTW, also are pretty radical defenders of the rights
of we the people. Nationwide they stood up to the federal government
when they were demanded under the Patriot Act to surrender patrons'
book borrowing histories. And when Occupy set up on the Bangor Public
Library grounds then head librarian Barbara McDade went up against a
lot of pressure to defend our right to be there.
Robinson would love the story of the trailer park my family
lives in. It involved a combining of concrete steps and utopia.
During out first two decades there Greystone was owned by a series of
slumlords who were capitalists, maximizing profit while minimizing
responsibility. We didn't even have drinking water free of fecal
contamination. Ten years ago the owner put it on the market. If
someone had bought it for another use we would have been booted out,
many with no place to go. Then some of us had the idea to go coop
instead of giving up. We worked with an organization to take care of
the paperwork. We went door to door explaining why people should vote
yes. Today we collectively own the land we live on under rules we
voted on with a board we elected. You'd better believe service is a
whole lot better!
Two very important chapters discuss the meanness of
conservativism and the wishy washiness of liberalism. The latter is
more insidious. Liberals are not firebrands. They're too bought and
owned by Wall Street to challenge their wealthy campain contributors.
And they go bipartisan for some pretty bad decisions such as Clinton's
welfare deform (spelling intentional) and the Patriot Act.
There is only one thing I don't like about the book. Despite
his respect for Bernie Sanders, I feel like Robinson is writing off
all the rest of us who are older than millenials. Some of us who have
been organizing and protesting and speaking out for decades are still
firebrands. We still are capable of dreaming and taking steps to
achieve dreams. We care intensely about the world our children are
inheriting. I feel that it will take people of vision across all
spectrums of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and, yes,
age to achieve a socialist world.
Anyway if you have a heart capable of bleeding, if you don't
want to shut your eyes to the evils going on in the world, put the
book at the top of the list. Buy rather than borrowing. You're going
to refer to it frequently.
On a purrrsonal note, I'm guessing Eugene is having a fine time at his
camp. He's had some decent fishing weather. But the evenings are
chilly enough for him to fire up the wood stove. While he's away I've
been working on his 31st anniversary gift which is a scrapbook of
photos of special times and people in his life. Even though it's a
coronavirus concession (the not shopping) he'll probably like it
better than anything I could have bought in a store
Wow! Just who just got back. A few days early. Guess he really must
miss that cat of ours! (Jules)
Sun is out.
Grass is ris.
Wonder where
The birdies is.
My daddy hooman is back! I love my daddy hooman. (Tobago)
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



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What a difference one day makes!

Me and White Supremacy

Me and White Supremacy

Adult nonfiction
"I'm Layla, and for (at least!) the next twenty-eight day's, I'm
going to be guiding you on a journey to help you explore and unpack
your relationship with white supremacy. This book is a one-of-a-kind
personal antiracism tool structured to help people with white
privilege understand and take ownership of their participation in the
oppressive system of white supremacy. It is designed to help them take
responsibility for dismantling the way that this system manifests,
both within themselves and within their communities."
Normally the chances that I'd give a book like this the one
chapter a day approach it deserves are slim to nonexistent. I'd read
it right through and review it because of time constraints. But, hey,
there are no library late fees during a pandemic. And without a job
or school work I've got nothing but time. So I'm going to give the
book due dilligence. I'm starting this review on day one. You'll get
to read it a month later.
This book began as a twenty-eight-day Instagram challenge which
morphed into a digital PDF before taking its present form. It shreds
the notion that there are bad racist people who could be epitomized by
the "fine people" lionized by a certain White president or Archie
Bunker, lead character in a now defunct tv series, and good nonracist
people who "don't see color, just people" and maybe call relatives on
racist remarks over Thanksgiving turkey. Ever since Whites started
buying Blacks kidnapped from Africa to do the heavy lifting (and any
other sweat inducing or minion level work) White supremacy has been,
as Critical Race Theory tells us, systemic, ubiquitous, and invisible
to the people who benefit from it. To cure it by being a "good
person" and converting others is about as useful as curing breast
cancer by placing a bandage over the lump. All of us who were born
White participate in and benefit from White supremacy not because we
are "bad" but because we were born and indoctrinated into a society
where it is as fundamental as the Constitution.
Let me give you an example. A White police officer shoots an
unarmed black man. A lot of people will describe him as one bad apple
in an otherwise pristine barrel. When he had a split second to make a
life or death decision he erred. However, he works within a system
and a community that largely perceives Blacks as more dangerous and
thuggish than Whites. Why did he stop this person in the first
place? Maybe there was a call from a White person. Recall internet
infamous Becky who reported a family group barbequing while Black?
Maybe he did his own racial profiling. In stores security guards are
much more likely to follow Black customers around. And drivers of
color are pulled over by cops in numbers way out of proportion to
their percentage in the population. As for his fear that his life was
in danger, would he have felt the same way if the person he shot was
White?
The book is divided into twenty-eight chapters. Each is
focussed on a facet of White supremacy. To do it right you read one a
day and response to the prompts at the end.
The first chapter is all about white privilege. It starts off
with a quote by Peggy McIntosh: "I was taught to see racism only in
individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring
dominance on my group." It goes on to examine the systemic nature of
this privilege, the ways in which it shows up, and why it needs to be
examined.
One of the writing prompts encourages white readers to think of
the ways in which we hold white privilege in our personal lives. I
had many to list. My husband and son drive all over the state without
being pulled over by the police because of racial profiling. I didn't
have to give my children the talk about how to survive being pulled
over by the police. When I was accepted to graduate school nobody
felt that it was due to quotas or that my being accepted kept someone
more qualified out. However I do, I'm not representing my whole
race. My girls were not expected to be less intelligent and innocent
than their peers in their growing up peers....
Get the idea?
This is not an easy book to read and reflect on. But it is an
important one for anyone who wants to make the difficult transition to
true allyship and commitment.
On a purrrsonal note, Eugene has left to spend his week's vacation at
camp. I'm glad he has the chance to spend some time at the place he
loves best. And he'll fine on the social distancing thing even if
they expand it from six feet to six miles. So it's Tobago and me
holding down the home fort.
As you can see from the picture I posted yesterday, my daffodils are
blossoming. Every year I so look forward to them--this year (When
there is so much less to look forward to) more than ever.
A great big shout out goes out to my hard working husband and all
others who are considered essential personnel and can't work from home
with special appreciation for first responders like my son.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



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