Relationships matter, regardless of your job

What I think is interesting about what's going on here in Oakland is that the reaction stems from the OPD's historically poor relationship with the citizens of Oakland. (http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_18947724) The OPD was threatened with federal takeover last year because it has failed to reform its behavior and practices. It shouldn't be lost on anyone that Ogawa Park is been dubbed 'Oscar Grant Park' by protesters. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant) the unarmed man shot by BART police in Oakland the on NYE. Community ties and culturally competency matter in every business, public or private. If OPD had done its due diligence-- training and educating its officers about cultural differences and historical oppression, hiring for diversity of life experience, not just diversity of race and gender-- to change it's relationship with the working class in Oakland violent unrest would be no more of an issue here than in any other 'Occupied' park in the country. (Photograph by the amazing Anthony Kurtz)

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The Medusa Myth

Since I decided to go as Medusa this year for Halloween, I thought I should brush up on my Greek myths and not just rely on my memories of the 1981, stop-motion-tastic film Clash of the Titans . In Ovid's rendition, this symbol of female power was once a beautiful, virginal priestess, "the jealous aspiration of many suitors," in the temple of Athena. When Poseidon decides he will have her, he "ravishes" (i.e. rapes) her as she prays in temple in front of the altar of Athena. The goddess Athena punishes Medusa's transgression by causing snakes to grow out of her head, tearing their way through her scalp to take the place of her much admired hair. Athena gives Medusa boar's tusks and turns her skin to scales. (The myth doesn't mention how Athena takes vengeance on Poseidon.) After this torturous transformation Medusa is banished to the island of Cristhene, off the coast of Ethiopia in the Red Sea. In exile she is pursued as she ...

Debate as Disinfectant

I'm reviving this blog after ALMOST A DECADE (wtf!?!) to give myself a platform for political expression outside the increasingly tribalized echo chamber of social media. The political landscape has shifted in ways I couldn't have imagined nine years ago. In 2016 when Hillary Clinton uttered the phrase "implicit bias" during the first presidential debate it prompted a flurry of Google searches. Now, this term is part of our daily lexicon whether we believe in it or not. Disinformation campaigns from authoritarian leaders in Russia and China undermine our trust in institutions and shape our narratives in ways we refuse to examine or admit. Every social media post is assumed to telegraph one's allegiance to a cause. As everything from the mail to health hygiene being claimed by one political identity or another, tribalism has become our new national past-time. On the other hand, I've watched friends who initially shied away from spea...

A Rationalization

This is a blog about applied opinion. Over the past few months I have been keeping a mental log of all the times I hear people (or myself) apply personal beliefs to the decisions of others. From talking heads on FOX "news” and MSNBC to atheist arguments to women giving unsolicited advice to new mothers: it all got me thinking. Who owns my body? Whose thoughts do I let take up residency in my brain? Whose comments bruise, bounce, cut, coerce, persuade, and inform my own thoughts and opinions? My own behavior? How do I apply my espoused personal politics to my decisions and actions? How and why do I subject other people to them? This is a journal of frustration. It’s an experiment in the evolution of thought and interconnectedness. Even as I write this first posting I am considering the politics of writing in the age of texting, blogging, G-chat, and spell-check. Who will take note of sentence structure and grammar, of misplaced words? Who will leave commentary for correc...

her body politik

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