Theatre - On Othello, Walterdale, and White Privilege

Theatre - On Othello, Walterdale and White Privilege

I'm angry.

And then I'm alternately sad.

I like the Walterdale. That theatre is fun, and we've mounted many shows on that stage. I've seen a lot of my friends cut their teeth on productions in that space, as actors, as directors. It provides a great training ground with different stakes that are necessary to provide more fuel for a successful theatre community.

Then I was made aware of their mid-season show, Othello.

It's heartbreaking.

Ethics - Safety Pins

Ethics - Safety Pins

I've been reading about safety pins. And I get it. I understand why.

And I disagree.

I don't disagree with the spirit of what is happening by wearing a safety pin. But I do disagree with the practicality of it. I also disagree with the shifting onus that it represents.

For those that are interested, there's a "safety pin campaign" that has been going on over the last week since the lamentable results in America. I'm not going to comment on that yet, I'm still digesting, and likely might be for the next 4 years. But that safety pin campaign says wear a visible safety pin to demonstrate to marginalized groups, (LGBTQ, Minorities, Immigrants), that you are an "Ally."

The safety pin is supposed to symbolize that you are "safe", that you are an "ally". People of those marginalized groups can come to you for safety.

Fuck off.

Politics - Standing, Sitting, Anthems

Politics - Standing, Sitting, Anthems

A piece of writing by Jim Wright, an American Veteran, on the Colin Kaepernick, not standing for the Anthem.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

I've been away from the internet all day.

I came home from a family picnic on the Blackwater River to find my inbox, as usual, overflowing like a ripe Port-O-Pottie.

One of the first messages I read was about 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, quoted above, who last Friday night at the beginning of a preseason game suddenly decided to become the most hated man in America du jour by deliberately not standing for the National Anthem.

Yes, that's right, a football player didn't stand for the National Anthem.

As you know, this means Kaepernick is scum, a horrible human being, a likely member of ISIS, a Muslim terrorist, a black thug, a communist, a socialist (and not the cool share your weed Bernie Sanders kind of socialist but the Red Brigade kind of Socialist who sleeps under a poster of Chairman Mao), a radical, a Black Panther, and he probably has Fidel Castro's phone number in his contact favorites.

Yeah. Okay.

I answered the message and went on to the next one.

The next message was about Kaepernick. As was the next one. And the next one. And...

They all begin pretty much the same way: Jim, AS A VETERAN, what do you think about this? Well?

Let me answer all the messages at once