Quote reblogged from short blunt human pyramid with 39,691 notes
After learning my flight was detained 4 hours,
I heard the announcement:
If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
Please come to the gate immediately.Well—one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
Problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
Did this.I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
Sho bit se-wee?The minute she heard any words she knew—however poorly used—
She stopped crying.She thought our flight had been canceled entirely.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
Following day. I said no, no, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late,Who is picking you up? Let’s call him and tell him.
We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and
Would ride next to her—Southwest.She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.
Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and
Found out of course they had ten shared friends.Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering
Questions.She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies—little powdered
Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—out of her bag—
And was offering them to all the women at the gate.To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler from California,
The lovely woman from Laredo—we were all covered with the same
Powdered sugar. And smiling. There are no better cookies.And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers—
Non-alcoholic—and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American, one Mexican American—ran around serving us all apple juice
And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.And I noticed my new best friend—by now we were holding hands—
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.Not a single person in this gate—once the crying of confusion stopped
—has seemed apprehensive about any other person.They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere.Not everything is lost.
Post reblogged from This... is White Privilege with 143 notes
#1390
White privilege is being able to make movies about the atrocities that your people have endured without having to hear “why don’t you get over it?” and “why can’t we move on?”
It’s the ability to critique movies made about your race without hearing that you are being too sensitive or that the director is allowed to have “artistic license”.
See: Django Unchained and Twelve Years A Slave
Men & Their Balls
“God gave men a pair of balls and they spend the rest of their lives trying to play with them.”
- My Mother, annoyed by the ball games on TV that have replaced her regularly scheduled programming.
Photo reblogged from Racism Still Exists with 164 notes
Fast Food Companies Don’t Target Black People
Photoset reblogged from Back On Pointe with 39,126 notes
A daily exercise plan! Do these exercises throughout the day (and add in your own) to get into the habit of daily fitness.
Note that I said “throughout the day.” These aren’t meant to be completed all at once, though you could if you’re that fit. But feel free to do only 10 or 20 jumping jacks at a time. Just keep track of them and try to hit the goal before you go to bed.
Stuff Po-Po Like
Po-Po likes pants sagging below the waist, the lower the better.
Po-Po likes skinny jeans.
Po-Po likes socks with slippers.
Why? Easier to find shit/catch your dumbass.
Even fatass Po-Po know you ain’t gettin’ very far, so they don’t really have to run after you.
Thanks for making Po-Po’s job easier.
- Conversations with Bruce
Step Inside a Freedom Garden →
Some farmers in Louisiana are raising crops that would have fortified their ancestors.
Photoset reblogged from Back On Pointe with 39,126 notes
A daily exercise plan! Do these exercises throughout the day (and add in your own) to get into the habit of daily fitness.
Note that I said “throughout the day.” These aren’t meant to be completed all at once, though you could if you’re that fit. But feel free to do only 10 or 20 jumping jacks at a time. Just keep track of them and try to hit the goal before you go to bed.
Post reblogged from This... is White Privilege with 49 notes
#18 (this is white privilege)
White privilege is thinking a comedian making fun of the way you dance is racism, and never having to experience the pain, humiliation, fear, and downright worthlessness that comes with being the victim of real racism. I call you crackers not because I think it hurts you, but because it’s funny to watch you overreact. If cracker hurt you the same way nigger hurt me, I’d never use that word against you, crackers.
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