Poll tax (aka I fucking love this woman)

I love it when articulate people express what's been on my mind for a while.

At the same time, I always get a little disappointed and frustrated when I do come across someone finally articulating what I've been thinking about. Why? Because I find it disconcerting that I, a non-citizen, who is so new at caring about following politics/elections in the US and about educating myself, that I, an alien, who feels like she could never educate herself enough about enough issues quickly enough could wonder and worry about how aaaaaalllll these people will be able to afford to take this much time off to vote, and go weeks without hearing anyone else mention a similar concern.

Let me try to explain with another example.

I was 21 when I observed a "Special Education" classroom while working towards my teacher certification and noticed all the students were students of color. I was 21 when I wrote a paper arguing that what was "Special" here was that the teacher, a white guy, talked to these children about the body building career of Arnold Schwarzenegger rather than about anything that could be relevant to their experience; what was Special here was that the students were not Special Ed. students, but students most of whom spoke English as their second language, being taught by a guy who couldn't speak their first language. What was Special here was that the girl in the wheelchair didn't fit into the student desks, so she sat at the teacher's desk while the teacher leaned against it to address the rest of the class—with his back to the girl in the wheelchair the entire class period.

I was 32 when I went to a national conference for/about people of color in independent school when a keynote speaker got a standing ovation for talking about his new book in which he explains Special Education programs are rooted in racism and prejudice.

I'm sorry, but I wasn't impressed. How is it that my newbie ass could figure this shit out in 30 minutes by paying attention to classroom dynamics, and we were still talking about the same shit over a decade later as if it all was some new revelation? How is it that this book is just now coming out and selling out and impressing people with its newly formed theories?

And should you need a more pop-culture example, I have two words: Halle Barry. I was not at all psyched or happy when she got an Oscar. I was livid. This wasn't an achievement I could be all proud of and excited about; I was pissed it took this long for a black woman to be recognized as having talent and to be given a chance in a traditionally racist industry (find the documentary "Slaying the Dragon" if you can).


I'm not sure what my point is exactly. I just know that I want more people to be paying more attention to injustice everywhere and to raise hell about what they notice more frequently, especially when they have the power and the privilege to do so.

I want men to call each other and institutions on sexism; I want the wealthy to call each other and institutions on classism; I want straight folks to acknowledge their privilege during their wedding ceremonies. I want my American friends with the means to travel to go and see the world, to realize it is a privilege to be able to show up at a country's airport without a visa, to be able make travel plans based on best fares, not on what country would allow them to enter without making them jump through hoops made of red tape and dollar bills. I want white folks to call each other and institutions on racism. I want to remember the weeks I was on crutches and couldn't always take public transportation or walk comfortably down the street, I want to remember the frustrations I felt trying to wheel my grandmother around her neighborhood and having no sidewalk space not to mention consistent access to the sidewalk....you get the idea.


Now go vote, dammit.