Erasing Prejudice

In being asked to say a few words about why history on the subject of LGBTQ is important in the educational system and why this subject should be taken seriously, here are my answers.

 

My thoughts on the subject directed me towards a young woman and new hero, Malala Yousafzai, a recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, and her strong and forthright voice for the advocacy of education for everyone.  But my feelings didn't stop there….to not just education “for everyone”, but “about everyone”, too, which led me to thinking about the pros and cons of the strength of teaching the truths.  Malala found out just how those truths can be twisted if held by deadly hands.

Prejudice is the corrupter of all truths, and prevents the emergence of most subjects controversial, leaving myths to perpetuate, and leading to the withholding of vital information regarding the much needed voice of the LGBT community in the education of all.

I believe the destructive and deadly stranglehold by those voices of suppression is real and alive now through lies, distortions and corruption, and has brought about a real need to talk, read, write and disclose all things possible in our education of young impressionable minds….we need to bring about a real change for truth, and start standing up to the bullies who squelch these truths with their hatred.

I am the mother of two adult daughters, and just because one is gay doesn’t change my feelings of equal love and understanding for both. I've chosen to further educate myself on this subject. Opening up one’s mind to everyone’s differences allows us to accept our own differences; no two people are the same.  The bottom line is understanding leads to acceptance.  

We teach equality in the schools, “not to bully” or mistreat, but do we teach the history behind those reasons?...and the dangerous journey by which withholding rights can lead to these struggles of today?  

History begins now - understanding the past as to be able to send a positive look and attitude towards the future.  Educate by showing not just the hardships, but the accomplishments of all people.  Clear the air of hate and mistrust,  the common denominators to prejudice.

Book Review - Maplecroft by Cherie Priest

I stayed up most of the night, partly due to reading Maplecroft, a more than 'weird' account of Lizzy Borden, a fictitious fantasy story by Cherie Priest, and partly due to the recounting this story in my head, causing my tossing and turning.  The details of each chapter's/character's account is to the point of tiresome, and I’m only on page 68 of 435...haven't got a clue where this tale is leading...mysteries of the walking dead?...of all the far fetched mysteries!!

I'm researching the facts, just out of curiosity. I've read a couple of Priest's Steampunk novels, which I enjoyed, but in THIS novel her word usage and sentence structure is very different...she literally immerses herself into a Victorian period of place and character.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/borden/index_1.html

Maplecroft does have a few of the facts thrown into the story, attaching this family/murder to give it its base...not a lot of facts were gathered from that period of the century, so embellishment is left to this author’s discretion. I simply can't get over Priest’s writing style, it is so period - late 1800's - and with a Jane Austen flare to boot...but no matter how interesting the story, it still tends to sink me into the mire of tedious verbiage---I’m not an Austen fan---so I tend to skim and read fast...which isn't my norm.

To my dismay, I had to shut the pages on Cherie Priest's novel, Maplecroft...175 pages in. I gave it everything I could muster to try and read this book....Pure fantasy inhabited Priest's Lizzy Borden story with oozing slime and gore, topped off with horrific putrid odors repeatedly revealed to the reader--Revolting to the 'enth degree! Then add tedium to the over all murky redundancy - Character chapter after character chapter after character chapter, with each character recounting the same tiresome tale aud nauseum.  

I'll be forthright, I didn't know what direction Priest would take this story, but I was open to finding out.  Well...I found out, and that was enough for my sensitive disposition.

My Thoughts on The Essence of Poetry

‎ 05-05-2010 - 9:02 a.m.

In thinking about the 'sweet and low' aspects of poetry, which appears to be captured in most lyrics that have to do with this subject, the tug-of-war of love,  I was thinking about the music behind those words.  

I watch American Idol, and see these mentors giving advice to young people who love to sing.  "It's in the words", they tell them...."feel the words", is their advice, although this point is argued at times.  With the mentor Harry Connick Jr, he said to one guy, “It can be just the music that moves you, let it happen”.

As a novice to writing poetry, most of what I write just happens with feeling an emotion at that moment, and can happen within a split second.  Something triggers it.....It can sustain itself, or go away just as it happens.

It can be music that gives me a beat in my head, nothing to do with the words that accompany any particular song....my feelings always seem to echo some kind of beat, whether it's in my head or in my heart, and that's why I think reading lyrics can be a lot more difficult to read as poetry, unless there is music to accompany them.  

Emphasis on the beat, emphasis on the note, or the rising or lowering of the sounds of an instrument attached to that word.   It feels like a heartbeat.  There are all different tonalities of voices, and when these words are written they have to reflect a voice. As Harry said, he wanted to know the hidden meaning within the words of the song that Crystal was singing, what it meant to her, without her actually telling him who she was singing about, or for, he wanted to hear those beats, those tones.

Poetry seems to be all sorts of things to all sorts of people, and interpreting those meanings can be precarious at times.  We don't always know what's in the heart or the mind of the person who writes them. We can guess, or feel what we want, or compelled to feel. 

With music, I can let that lead me to the meaning of words. It's glorious to feel those high notes and have them sustained - and it can be sweet to feel those low notes, but at the same time they can break your heart in the process.