Hi everyone, this post will be disorganized and will possibly piss off some people. The kids didn’t have school today, so I spent time hanging out with them and didn’t have much time to work on this. The proverb about parenting and how “the days are long but the years are short” is terrifyingly accurate. It feels like yesterday I was bathing them in the bathroom sink; and now they are sassy as hell:
“Daddy, tell us stories about how poor you were as a kid, like about how you got one salted plum each week as a treat because your parents couldn’t afford candy!”
“Yes, and about how you didn’t have real toys and had to make tiny boats out of banana leaves!”
With the horror happening all around us all the time, I find comfort in my kids. Children are a good reminder of why we do this work, and why we can’t give up, even when the tides seem insurmountable, as they often feel right now. I love their imagination, which is filled with hope and optimism, balanced by occasions when relatively minor events can suddenly become catastrophic, like the time my then-three-year-old thought the world was ending because he left behind a cool stick he found when we visited a park. (I went back to get it later).
It is us, the adults, who must be practical, and who must shield our kids from harsh reality and let them keep their hopeful innocence for as long as possible. We nod encouragingly at their unrealistic dreams of being a Youtuber or whatever, and we reassure them that many things they freak out about will not come to pass.
But every once a while, I wish we, the adults, would have the imagination kids have, including the imagination to picture how awful things can be. Especially the adults who have the most power and resources to make a difference. And especially now, when we’re facing the rapid dismantling of democracy and the exponential growth of fascism.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been disheartened by funders’ response or lack thereof to the threats facing our sector and communities. Now, as transgender people, DEI, social justice, decency, women, science, immigrants, the “sin of empathy,” and everything good in the world are under attack and we need funders to step up, many have done the opposite. Hiding. Withdrawing. Or worse, caving in.
You may have read this article in the New York Times last week (The NYT sucks and has played a huge part in the dehumanizing of transgender people and the platforming of all sorts of hateful ideas that led us to this moment, but that’s for another article): “Venting at Democrats and Fearing Trump, Liberal Donors Pull Back Cash.” Here are some excerpts of what our donors and funders are doing during this crisis:
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Read full article here.
