Thinking of the approaching holiday and my teacher friends

For an Indian, who is also a school teacher, Thanksgiving was never an easy holiday for me to deal with in class. I sometimes have felt like I learned too much about "the Pilgrims and the Indians." Every year I have been faced with the professional and moral dilemma of just how to be honest and informative with my children at Thanksgiving without passing on historical distortions, and racial and cultural stereotypes.

The problem is that part of what you and I learned in our own childhood about the "Pilgrims" and "Squanto" and the "First Thanksgiving" is a mixture of both history and myth. But the THEME of Thanksgiving has truth and integrity far above and beyond what we and our forebearers have made of it. Thanksgiving is a bigger concept than just the story of the founding of the Plymouth Plantation.

So what do we teach to our children? We usually pass on unquestioned what we all received in our own childhood classrooms. I have come to know both the truths and the myths about our "First Thanksgiving," and I feel we need try to reach beyond the myths to some degree of historic truth. This text is an attempt to do this.

Teaching About Thanksgiving (2nd Edition) is a teaching manual originally written and developed by Cathy Ross, Mary Robertson, Chuck Larsen, and Roger Fernandes - Indian Education, Highline School District, WA. Introduction (in part quoted above) by: Chuck Larsen, Tacoma School District. Originating at The Center for World Indigenous Studies in Olympia, WA.

At the White House

Rather than write my own version, I am posting a link here of what Alec wrote about our trip this week to the other Washington. Here is his: At the White House.

A huge thank you to Liz Latham, the Seattle based filmmaker and wonderful friend who made this happen. Liz has been working on a documentary about the murder of James Byrd, Jr. called Remember His Name since his murder. Filming the signing of this bill was the dream footage she was hoping for.

And a big thank you to Elizabeth Becton, Washington State Congressman Jim McDermott's Executive Assistant/Office Manager who helped Liz Latham get Alec and I cleared to go to the White House for the reception following the signing of The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

It was wonderful to see Matthew Shepard's mom, Judy Shepard again, and to meet Dennis and Logan Shepard.



I loved having time to hang out again with Cathy Renna who I first met in Cortez, CO when I was there with Carolyn Wagner after the murder of FC Martinez. (Renna Communications).

I so wish Carolyn could have been there with us, but she was physically unable to make the trip from Tulsa.

Before we got there I promised her I would be carrying her with me, and I did.

We were finally able meet in person with Elke Kennedy and her husband Jim, parents of Sean Kennedy who are working so hard with Sean's Last Wish to bring change with hate crime legislation to thier home state South Carolina.

We saw other friends and allies there too. Marsha Botzer, Safe Schools Coalition's Co-Chair; Jody Huckaby, PFLAG's Executive Director; and so many others -- please forgive me if I don't list you here.

As Alec mentions, there is more on our trip to D.C. including photos on the Safe Schools Coalition site in Beth Reis' essay, October 28, 2009: Exciting day for human rights -- President Obama signed The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law today.

There are a few other photos on our Flickr account here:
WashingtonDC-October30-2009.

It was a fantastic whirlwind trip and an honor to be there at The White House on such a historic day. And now its good to be home and back to work.

Neurology update...

I went to see my neurologist Dr. Bell this morning and had the scheduled tests. It helped (a bit) that I had these tests on my feet/legs/knees before.

So I knew what was going to happen. I knew enough to seriously consider canceling the appointment. My sister said I was a wus. Maybe I should show my wussiness?

But I decided to go and get it done. This time the tests were on my hands/wrists/forarms/elbows.

First he did a nerve conduction study

OUCH!!

And then he did electromyography (EMG) tests on the same poor parts of me.

Somewhat smaller OUCH!

Today he diagnosed:

• Mild right (possible left) carpal tunnel syndrome. I have to wear a wrist brace at night.

• Mild ulnar neuropathy at the elbow. I need to not put weight on my elbows, and I need to sleep with my arms straight even if I have to wrap them in towels held wrapped with bandages. This is in addition to the mild neuropathy in my hand and my feet/legs.

and

• Martin-gruber anastomosis in both of my forearms. So, double Martin-gruber anastomosis. Say that quick?!

I go back to see him in three months.

Jay Smooth: No Accounting for Taste

Here is another brilliant video blog post by Jay!



In case you haven't noticed, I'm a fan. :-)

ill Doctrine is a hip-hop video blog hosted by Jay Smooth, creator of the hip hop music blog and founder of New York's longest running hip-hop radio show, WBAI's Underground Railroad.

Barbara Ehrenreich: The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America\

Positive thinking is different, she says, from being cheerful or good-natured -- it's believing that the world is shaped by our wants and desires and that by focusing on the good, the bad ceases to exist.

Read: Barbara Ehrenreich: The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America | | AlterNet By Emily Wilson, AlterNet. Posted October 10, 2009.

Matthew Shepard’s legacy - looking back and ahead on this anniversary.

Matthew Shepard was murdered eleven years ago today.

"... despite the passage of time and increased cultural visibility, the realities faced by LGBTQs today are 'no different than when Matthew Shepard was murdered."
~ Charles Robbins (Executive Director and CEO of The Trevor Project.

Please read this excellent article:
Matthew Shepard’s legacy :: The fight continues
by Scott Stiffler, EDGE NYC, Monday Oct 12, 2009.

Fifty-seven years and counting

Today is my fifty-seventh birthday. I remember when I turned 29. That was a hard birthday. I was stuck thinking oh my I'm almost thirty and what have I done with my life??! I got through the day and back to living and doing and by the time I was about to turn 30 I had realized that actually I had done a lot in all those years. In 1995 Bill committed suicide I was not sure I would survive 42 and I found my way held close and held up by so many amazing people. Soon after when I turned 44 it was another hard birthday because my dad died of a heart attack while he was forty-four there was a weird part of me that had always believed I would die at that age also. I found out later that my sister had also felt that. And yet I lived to be now fifty-seven. I have had a mostly quite interesting life.

so far.

I've not posted much here lately and will try to do more because there is much to share. I'm pretty active on Facebook these days.

I'm happy to be getting ready to fly to Jackson, Mississippi tomorrow for the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition conference. I'll be home on Sunday afternoon, hopefully in time for PFLAG-Olympia where the program is a screening of "Straightlaced by Groundspark.

So I'll be in Jackson and then in the air coming home when the National Equality March happens in Washington DC on October 10-11 and when there are several solidarity events over the weekend in Seattle.

For my birthday I want to leave you with this video by Staceyann Chin, spoken word poet, performing artist and political activist - created to support the equality march and the grassroots work before us all.



love to you all,
Gabi