Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Bye 07!
Well, I think overall 07 was a good year. But I have to admit that the last couple of weeks kicked my butt. Just too much going on. Luckily I had some good people to lean on - thank you! Hopefully you know who you are.
I had the standard crap at the end of the year - broken vehicles, short on cash, family stress, lack of sleep, relationship crap, work crap, etc. My living room is set up poorly and I was promised a couch with a hide-a-bed and then found out that fell through. It would have made it easier to have people over and might have cracked some of the isolation my family goes through because no one wants to invite people over to our place because of lack of sitting space.
Hopefully the person who got it, a great person, needs it more. I think people assume because I got a good job that I no longer could use hand me down furniture and stuff like that. But because my wife changed jobs, our household actually makes less than when I was at my last job.
But I am greatful for so much. My homie MR for playing music with me at my Comadre's funeral. My M&M for helping me get a cool job, that pays MUCH better than the State job I used to have. Otherwise I'd be in much deeper crap financially than I am now.
Learning to manage a non-profit with a for-profit legacy has been challenging. I think the place has amazing potential and I hope I can figuring out how to help people think differently. I read a book over my time off (LOL!!! OK, my time off work) called "When Affirmative Action was White."
This book does an excellent job of explaining how social inequities are created through the real examples of the New Deal and GI Bill. He also explains the difficulty in oppressed people having to deal with the reality of getting something, so the expectation of appreciating that, and knowing that it is still less than what you deserve, so needing to voice that also.
So many of the inequities of our society were engineered, not like in a "consipiracy," but engineered. The difficult part is in thinking about how society gives more to those who have more already and less to those who have less is that I can see how that works on smaller levels. Individual and family levels and how these things compound over periods of time. Whether months or years.
Whether because you are lighter, more assimilated, more educated, etc. Things turn out different. Though the choice of living in the hood is a difficult one. I also realized that to have chosen something else would have been a big privilege. And I can see how living in a nice neighborhood can make one forget about what many people deal with.
In the long run, I'm glad I stayed where I did. It keeps me from losing sight of what needs to be done. It keeps me from forgetting my responsibility to pitch in my two cents toward a better society.
Oh, back to the thank yous! I'll have to do more tomorrow. But so many of you have helped me in some way. From my best friends, to people who didn't even think they were my friends. People who love me no matter how funky I am! LOL
Learning how to practice music, setting good workout goals, and starting my blood pressure medication are things I was able to do for myself that should have a good impact. Also being more conscious of my writing. And deciding to get La Raza Unida energized again... All good stuff!
Sigue Pa' 'delante!!!
I had the standard crap at the end of the year - broken vehicles, short on cash, family stress, lack of sleep, relationship crap, work crap, etc. My living room is set up poorly and I was promised a couch with a hide-a-bed and then found out that fell through. It would have made it easier to have people over and might have cracked some of the isolation my family goes through because no one wants to invite people over to our place because of lack of sitting space.
Hopefully the person who got it, a great person, needs it more. I think people assume because I got a good job that I no longer could use hand me down furniture and stuff like that. But because my wife changed jobs, our household actually makes less than when I was at my last job.
But I am greatful for so much. My homie MR for playing music with me at my Comadre's funeral. My M&M for helping me get a cool job, that pays MUCH better than the State job I used to have. Otherwise I'd be in much deeper crap financially than I am now.
Learning to manage a non-profit with a for-profit legacy has been challenging. I think the place has amazing potential and I hope I can figuring out how to help people think differently. I read a book over my time off (LOL!!! OK, my time off work) called "When Affirmative Action was White."
This book does an excellent job of explaining how social inequities are created through the real examples of the New Deal and GI Bill. He also explains the difficulty in oppressed people having to deal with the reality of getting something, so the expectation of appreciating that, and knowing that it is still less than what you deserve, so needing to voice that also.
So many of the inequities of our society were engineered, not like in a "consipiracy," but engineered. The difficult part is in thinking about how society gives more to those who have more already and less to those who have less is that I can see how that works on smaller levels. Individual and family levels and how these things compound over periods of time. Whether months or years.
Whether because you are lighter, more assimilated, more educated, etc. Things turn out different. Though the choice of living in the hood is a difficult one. I also realized that to have chosen something else would have been a big privilege. And I can see how living in a nice neighborhood can make one forget about what many people deal with.
In the long run, I'm glad I stayed where I did. It keeps me from losing sight of what needs to be done. It keeps me from forgetting my responsibility to pitch in my two cents toward a better society.
Oh, back to the thank yous! I'll have to do more tomorrow. But so many of you have helped me in some way. From my best friends, to people who didn't even think they were my friends. People who love me no matter how funky I am! LOL
Learning how to practice music, setting good workout goals, and starting my blood pressure medication are things I was able to do for myself that should have a good impact. Also being more conscious of my writing. And deciding to get La Raza Unida energized again... All good stuff!
Sigue Pa' 'delante!!!
