sigelphoenix

1. The first thing that makes today happy for me actually came out of an unhappy thing - I finally sat down and read through blogs to find out why everyone was pissed off at Amanda Marcotte ... and, well. Once again I am disillusioned at the behavior of many prominent white (female and male) feminist bloggers. Once again an eloquent woman of color has been silenced so forcefully that she has left the feminist blogosphere. It's happened before. I continue to shy away from mainstream feminist blogs. I will not be buying Marcotte's book. At this point, I'm feeling cynical and kind of detached.

But the good thing that came out of this? Following the links and comments led me to rediscover Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." I first read this in high school, back when I still didn't Get It - but even then, the words stuck with me. And now, going back, I rediscovered the following passage, which still rings painfully true:

"I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action'; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 'more convenient season.' Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."*

People often forget that that MLK was a radical.

2. ratzeo came over last night, and we just got to geek out together, me drawing and him DSing ... I like that we can have a good time around each other as well as with each other (as in, when we are actually doing the same thing). All in all, a perfect way to usher in Friday.

3. On a more frivolous and shallow note, my coffee maker shipped from Amazon today and is scheduled to arrive on Monday, whee! Now I just need to, you know, get some coffee to actually make with it.

4. I wish I could be home right now, drawing. I'm really glad I feel that desire.

5. I don't have any plans for tomorrow, and that actually makes me happy. It means I get to do whatever I want, and I don't have to figure out what that is until tomorrow.

* On a slightly irrelevant and totally geeky sidenote, this is a classic example of Lawful Neutral alignment. It is also the reason I dislike Lawful Neutral the most out of the non-evil alignments.