Inheriting the Trade

I’m not making any resolutions for the coming year. They invariably lead to disappointment when I falter. I’m committing to “try” to live up to my “hopes” in the coming year. I can already hear my daughters saying, “What did Yoda say in The Empire Strikes Back, Dad? ‘Do or do not; there is no try.’”

Nevertheless, I’ll try. And then we’ll see how I do. In the spirit of “Thoughts Become Things” I will focus my thoughts and actions on these hopes and trust that in partnership with the Universe, all will be as it should be. And in the spirit of This is Spinal Tap (another tip of the cap to my daughters and our mutual love of movies) I’m listing not my top 10, but my top 11 hopes for the year. Because sometimes we all need that extra push over the cliff…

1) I hope to have all our grandchildren together with Lindi and me at least two times this year (maybe three, but that might be pushing things).

2) I hope to continue working toward the kind of change I believe in rather than the version of change that seems to continue to be prevalent in Washington, DC. (2009 was far too disappointing in this regard). I believe more and more that real change is up to each of us–individually and then collectively.

3) After watching Simply Raw, I hope to eat mostly organic and raw food this year. I’m becoming more and more convinced that health is in some way tied to what I eat and drink (kind of a “duh” moment there)

4) After watching Food, Inc (available for instant download on Netflix), I hope to eat no (or at least very little) food (formerly known as meat) that has a face or a family (thanks for the great imagery, Jack Bohlka)—I will likely compromise when it comes to catching and eating fresh crab with Brad and PJ. And I won’t feel guilty.

5) I hope to have a much larger and more successful garden this year than ever before (did I mention the film Food, Inc? If more people watched this movie the world would undergo radical changes…)

6) I hope to go cross-country skiing at least a dozen times this winter because it is free, it’s a great workout, and rocking out to Bruce on the trails is a real blast

7) I hope I live up to the ideals I espouse when speaking to audiences around the country

I hope that sometime this year our income once again matches our expenses (but this is not as important as going to Maui at least once).

9) In addition to completing my next book I hope to read more books in 2010 than I did in 2009.

10) I hope that my actual weight will at some point match the weight that is listed on my driver’s license. (I’m going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that I’m not the only one in this situation… ;o)

11) More than anything I hope that by the end of 2010, in comparison to 2009, I will have seen more truth, justice, mercy, and peace than I will have seen fear and its side effects (for our kids and grandkids this translates to more E.T. moments and fewer Dracula moments).

Blessings to each of us, fellow travelers, today and in the coming days…

Dr. Joy DeGruy (formerly Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary), author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, is a member of the Bahá’í faith community. Understanding this context breathes deeper meaning into Dr. DeGruy’s work than I would have had without this knowledge.

I recently spent a week with a family in Southern California that is close friends with Dr. DeGruy and are fellow Bahá’ís. We had dinner twice with Dr. DeGruy’s brother, who is also Bahá’í. I finished reading PTSS just prior to this visit. I was given an introduction to a religion I had heard of but knew little about. The faith’s founder, Bahá’u’lláh (1817-1892), was a Persian nobleman from Tehran who left his life of comfort to take his place as a messenger of God. His core message was one of unity. He taught that the time has arrived for the uniting of all peoples into a peaceful and integrated global society.

I agree. So how do we achieve this worthy goal? A key stumbling block is our “birds of a feather” isolation from each other and our lack of understanding of people, cultures, and religions who differ from us and our beliefs.

It is clear that Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome was written in particular for American’s of African descent. This is also an important book for people of European descent to read both to understand more about black people in America and the historic traumas they have endured and inherited, and to understand more about ourselves and the impact this same history has on the way we walk in the world today.

Dr. DeGruy writes about the negative self-images, perceptions and behaviors that many African American people adopt. “…what is not often addressed is the role our history has played in producing these negative perceptions, images, and behaviors.” She discusses the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual traumas that enslaved African people endured for hundreds of years in this country, that their descendants continued to endure for a century after the Civil War, and how that trauma continues to impact people of color today.

I’ve written about trauma before. I’ve traveled to Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia to study trauma in the STAR program (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience). I’m specifically interested in the historic trauma of enslavement and the continuing impact that it has on descendants of the enslaved, the enslavers, and on American society in general. The impacts are significant. We have a lot of work to do to achieve healing. Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome is an important book to help readers understand this.

W.E.B. Dubois wrote in 1903 that “…the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.” Sadly, this continues to be true. More significant is that for the most part we as a nation have resisted taking full responsibility for our history of enslavement and repairing the damage. Dr. DeGruy accurately points out that, consequently, very little understanding exists between black and white America today.

Building that understanding takes time. It takes a commitment to gather together at the table and staying at the table even when things get awkward and challenging. It takes a willingness to learn about “the other”.

There is no single prescription for protecting people against racism, bigotry and hatred; there is no one-shot inoculation against intolerance or fanaticism. However, it appears that educating people to understand that these things do exist, and about the manner in which they are manifested, can be helpful to those who come face to face with them.”

You may not agree with all of Dr. DeGruy’s theories or conclusions. But I guarantee she will help you think more deeply about issues that are critical to your humanity.

When Belvie Rooks asked me to join her for a presentation at the Denver Green Festival earlier this year I jumped at the opportunity. Working with Belvie in both Denver and at the Institute of Noetic Sciences conference in Tucson have been true highlights of my travels throughout the United States this year.

The Green Festival is focusing on the intersection between environmental justice and social justice. We titled our presentation, “The Green of Black and White: Sustainable Healing from the Legacy of Slavery.” But as our conversation on stage unfolded it became clear that the question we were asking is, “What does healing look like?”

Some folks talk about healing from the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Others talk about getting over it. Some talk about just moving on. But what does it look like? Undoing racism, creating justice, peace, and reconciliation. What does it LOOK like? How will we know when we’ve achieved it?

I don’t know all the answers, but I’m glad to have Belvie Rooks as a partner and ally in the journey. You can now watch our presentation online here. I’d appreciate hearing what you think.

How often do we engage in deep conversations with other people? How well do we listen? It seems to me that the unwillingness or inability to effectively listen to each others’ stories is a significant contributing factor to misunderstanding and damaged relationships.

The folks at StoryCorps have created the National Day of Listening for the day after Thanksgiving. The idea is that we set aside an hour to record and share conversations with family, friends, or neighbors. They even provide an online do-it-yourself instruction guide. You can listen to examples from others here.

I applaud StoryCorps for this initiative. Having a national day of listening strikes me as strong evidence that we don’t practice listening very well or very often. I like this concept and only hope some of us will make listening a more important part of our everyday lives so we don’t need to set aside a special day to do so.

Y’all may remember that I was scheduled for an online chat at the Writer’s Chatroom with writers, aspiring writers, readers, and other interested folks on September 5.

And the server crashed. In 7 years of weekly chats with authors this had never happened before. I’ll tell ya, I feel special!

So we’re set to get back to it this coming Sunday, November 15 at 4:00pm PST (7:00pm EST). We’re scheduled for 2 hours, and they’ll be giving away a copy of Inheriting the Trade to one of the participants. To join in the conversation, or to simply watch others chat, go to the Writer’s Chatroom site, click on Enter Chatroom near the top of the page and login.

To login just type in a user name (any name works if you want to use a name other than your own). Leave the password space blank. Then click on “login” and you’ll be routed to the conversation. The link only works once the chat begins.

The Writer’s Chatroom is loaded with tools and resources for writers. If you plan to write that Great American Novel someday, this is a good site to know.

See you online Sunday!