After a week off for Holiday Festivities and Family Time, I am happy to be back to blogging. As we look back over 2010 and look to what 2011 will bring, I cannot help but want to write a list blog like the many out there: Top News Stories of 2010, The Most Beautiful People of 2010 (WEIRD!), Top Tech Innovations of 2010, and so on.
In Change From Within style, though, my list will be a tad bit different. Based on my musings over the year that was 2010, here are a few:
- Secession Balls
- Racist Entrapment and Rash Firings – ala Shirley Sherrod
- Funeral Protests (at all, let alone ones filled with bigotry)
- Religious Bigotry of any kind. Particularly, in looking back at 2010, though, let’s leave behind the socially-acceptable bigotry against Muslims.
- Racist Immigration Laws
- Racist Textbook Standards
- Laws that restrict the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples while actively discriminating against gay couples.
- Racist Rants. Even worse, Ranting in a racist manner and then complaining that your First Amendment rights are being violated when people criticize you for publicly being a racist.
- Giant rallies that wreak of white privilege
- Sexual Harassment – regardless of what the woman is wearing or where she is, a woman shouldn’t have to worry about this crap.
- Denying the hopes and opportunities of immigrant children for the sake of your messed up political agenda
- The need for an “It Gets Better” Campaign. It’s time we Make It Better in 2011. We cannot have another life lost.
THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE IN 2010
- Victories for Gay Rights like the overturning of Prop 8 and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell!!
- Sanity in our politics. John Stewart, you make me swoon.
- Accountable, loving, and communicative Partnerships. My partner and I have been going through some struggles in learning how we communicate, so this topic is very much on my mind. Thank you to the amazing people who have displayed healthy partnerships for me. Let’s see more of them in 2011!!
- Consent – You can never have enough consent.
- Relationships across difference – Let’s start/continue reaching out and building accountable relationships!
- Laughter. Nuf Said.
- Student-Centered School Reform – Testing our students provides wonderfully-useful data. However, in the “race to the top,” let’s not simply continue to leave the students behind.
- Support and love for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters – Again, I want 2011 to be the year we make it better!
- Andrea Gibson
- Time taken out of our busy lives to appreciate the ones we love.
THINGS I WANT TO SEE OR SEE MORE OF IN 2011
What things do you want to leave behind in 2010? What do you want to see or see more of in 2011?
Happy New Year, All!
Peace be the Journey
