So many *great* men often succumb to the evil found in power. What they accomplished is then tarnished. We need to address the evil, and remember all the other people who worked toward things that were good who were good. Let's not make statues. Let's keep building bridges...
My heart broke with the Chavez news also. He overcame impossible odds and foes with his determination and leadership skills. But to have this dark side running alongside? Horrifying.
I hope, I pray, I expect that as women everywhere become stronger and more able to face the wrongs of the world with open eyes and steadfast hearts, that they will be able to teach their daughters and sisters how to stand strong in their own right, and scream and shout and tell everyone what is happening, what has happened, what threatens to happen again.
I hope, I pray, I expect that as men become more aware of the irreparable harm being done to their daughters and nieces and sisters, their wives and their neighbors, that they will shout and point their fingers and blaze light into the hidden rooms, dank cellars, dark alleys, and posh mansions, to expose the bullies who think that doing harm to defenseless people is theirs for the doing.
Bullying and cruel domination thrives unabashed in private places. I hope, I pray, I expect that as we grow in our own knowing, we will blaze light into those private, hidden places, and establish with more and more certainty, the difference between right and wrong.
Shell yes, sister Manisha! I love your fierce call-to-action for the men in our communities to use their power to stop this from happening to their daughters, wives, or to any woman on this planet. Too often the victims’ cries go unheard.
If that was the case that men would step up to help women, why haven’t they done so? There needs to be action taken. Too many of the men that were looked upon as leaders and looked up to are in the category of rapists. Little boys need to be taught to respect women from a young age instead of watching the men in their life treating women as less than. As long as women are paid less than men and are looked down upon as less than I believe rape will continue. It seems that there are more men that rape women than there are that don’t.
There are NO Consequences for men that rape, NO Accountability for men who abuse. At the very least they should have to have a vasectomy but personally, I think they should be fixed so they can’t ever rape again.
Connie, as a straight man I still ask myself at 85: what is it with men? (Trump, access Hollywood for starters. The stuff boys my age said in the locker room on about 1954.I see where someone wrote after that “some men, but not all men. “. I can thank God that my father was a gentle soul.
Thank you Anne! I needed your words today. Again, your Anne way of showing up gives me permission to be angry and a wet sand place to stand with you and others in hope. Bless you. I will share your words.
Tomorrow is Equinox; the balance of light and dark. My brain pan tilts sideways under the daily revelations. How dark human hearts can become! They cut the golden thread of human empathy. They can’t feel what it’s like to be that young girl, or worse, they don’t give a damn.
I’ve been that young girl too many times, an experience many of us carry.
Yet I still believe in human hearts and decency. Our capacity to hold both the dark and the light of us. You are a warrior of this practice, Anne. Thank you for being You.
From a teen curled in a panic in a sitting room in 2001 reading "Traveling Mercies" until today, an adult in fear with more grounding and love, I continue to be so deeply grateful for your courage and words.
When I read about Cesar Chavez, I, too, was shocked. When I taught school in San Francisco, I invited his niece to speak to my Spanish language students (and the whole school) about the 'hero' Cesar Chavez was and all the good work he and Dolores Huerta did. Beyond disappointing. I laughed out loud when I read you will be carrying signs that say, "Jail the Pedos," however. It has a very different meaning in Spanish -- you must look up the meaning of that word. Thank you, Anne, for you wit and ways of thinking.
"...the whole system works because we're not all nuts on the same day." Thank you. That is probably the one thought I can hang on to when the country explodes with stupidity and my DimWatt meter is firmly in the red zone.
And then I can turn my attention to the next right thing to do which, so far, has not been to crawl under the bed and hide.
I will continue to advocate about the Epstein files until those involved are outed. I’ll be damned if the Epstein files are still redacted after 60 years!!!’
So many *great* men often succumb to the evil found in power. What they accomplished is then tarnished. We need to address the evil, and remember all the other people who worked toward things that were good who were good. Let's not make statues. Let's keep building bridges...
The only things which belong on statues are the horses.
Beth, thank you so much for those last two sentences of yours! Liz
Once again, you speak to my heart. You speak from my heart.
My heart broke with the Chavez news also. He overcame impossible odds and foes with his determination and leadership skills. But to have this dark side running alongside? Horrifying.
I hope, I pray, I expect that as women everywhere become stronger and more able to face the wrongs of the world with open eyes and steadfast hearts, that they will be able to teach their daughters and sisters how to stand strong in their own right, and scream and shout and tell everyone what is happening, what has happened, what threatens to happen again.
I hope, I pray, I expect that as men become more aware of the irreparable harm being done to their daughters and nieces and sisters, their wives and their neighbors, that they will shout and point their fingers and blaze light into the hidden rooms, dank cellars, dark alleys, and posh mansions, to expose the bullies who think that doing harm to defenseless people is theirs for the doing.
Bullying and cruel domination thrives unabashed in private places. I hope, I pray, I expect that as we grow in our own knowing, we will blaze light into those private, hidden places, and establish with more and more certainty, the difference between right and wrong.
Shell yes, sister Manisha! I love your fierce call-to-action for the men in our communities to use their power to stop this from happening to their daughters, wives, or to any woman on this planet. Too often the victims’ cries go unheard.
If that was the case that men would step up to help women, why haven’t they done so? There needs to be action taken. Too many of the men that were looked upon as leaders and looked up to are in the category of rapists. Little boys need to be taught to respect women from a young age instead of watching the men in their life treating women as less than. As long as women are paid less than men and are looked down upon as less than I believe rape will continue. It seems that there are more men that rape women than there are that don’t.
Yes!!!
There are NO Consequences for men that rape, NO Accountability for men who abuse. At the very least they should have to have a vasectomy but personally, I think they should be fixed so they can’t ever rape again.
I know. I felt like the bottom fell out--Cesar Chavez, really?
As a lesbian, I often ask myself, what is it with men?
And then I remember the words of the late Alix Dobkin, "only men, but not all men."
Anne Lamott, you are, without a doubt, my favorite theologian.
Thanks for being here and sharing our pain.
Connie, as a straight man I still ask myself at 85: what is it with men? (Trump, access Hollywood for starters. The stuff boys my age said in the locker room on about 1954.I see where someone wrote after that “some men, but not all men. “. I can thank God that my father was a gentle soul.
Thank you Anne! I needed your words today. Again, your Anne way of showing up gives me permission to be angry and a wet sand place to stand with you and others in hope. Bless you. I will share your words.
Wonderful. One small thing: it’s Delores Huerta, not Muerta.
Came to say that- a bit ironic!
I know. Hopefully just a misspelling!
Said the agnostic, “Amen!’
Can we call these the Stinking Sands?
Tomorrow is Equinox; the balance of light and dark. My brain pan tilts sideways under the daily revelations. How dark human hearts can become! They cut the golden thread of human empathy. They can’t feel what it’s like to be that young girl, or worse, they don’t give a damn.
I’ve been that young girl too many times, an experience many of us carry.
Yet I still believe in human hearts and decency. Our capacity to hold both the dark and the light of us. You are a warrior of this practice, Anne. Thank you for being You.
From a teen curled in a panic in a sitting room in 2001 reading "Traveling Mercies" until today, an adult in fear with more grounding and love, I continue to be so deeply grateful for your courage and words.
This is the last thing I will read tonight before I close my eyes. Let there
be light and hope come the new day.
When I read about Cesar Chavez, I, too, was shocked. When I taught school in San Francisco, I invited his niece to speak to my Spanish language students (and the whole school) about the 'hero' Cesar Chavez was and all the good work he and Dolores Huerta did. Beyond disappointing. I laughed out loud when I read you will be carrying signs that say, "Jail the Pedos," however. It has a very different meaning in Spanish -- you must look up the meaning of that word. Thank you, Anne, for you wit and ways of thinking.
I looked it up! Perfect!!! 🤣
Worship no man. Worship nature, she has no malice.
"...the whole system works because we're not all nuts on the same day." Thank you. That is probably the one thought I can hang on to when the country explodes with stupidity and my DimWatt meter is firmly in the red zone.
And then I can turn my attention to the next right thing to do which, so far, has not been to crawl under the bed and hide.
I will continue to advocate about the Epstein files until those involved are outed. I’ll be damned if the Epstein files are still redacted after 60 years!!!’
Thank you. You put so eloquently what I feel so viscerally. Now I think I'm going to go look at some rocks in the ocean...
“On Christ the solid rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.”