On Delores, Cesar, and Doing It For "The Culture"

TW: Mentions of sexual abuse, predatory actions.

The Venn diagram of sexual abuse, power, and societal and cultural constructs of masculinity and “taking one for the culture/movement” dynamics always leaves me angry and sick to my stomach.

Dolores Huerta is 96 years old. Throughout her entire career of civil and human rights activism, she has had to hold sexual abuse in her body at the hands of Cesar Chavez. For over 50 years. She birthed two children from this sexual abuse and assault, both of whom she had to hide her relationship and connection to “for the culture.” Countless other women have carried similar experiences of abuse at the hands of Cesar Chavez in their bodies for decades. It all comes back to these women feeling they had to put the movement before themselves, because society and culture had ingrained in them that speaking out against a man who positioned himself as the movement’s figurehead in real time would’ve jeopardized the work.

One of the saddest parts of that notion is that there is likely some truth to it.

These women would’ve likely been discredited and possibly attacked and ostracized by folx in their community. Their plight would’ve been perverted and twisted by hate-filled white supremacists. They likely would’ve been treated as if they were trying to destroy the movement they tirelessly dedicated themselves to. White U.S. America at the time would’ve conjured up all sorts of stereotypes and bigoted narratives to discredit the work these women were doing and to fight against any civil rights advancements by characterizing Cesar as a monster, but not for the reasons he should be viewed as such.

And the fact that we can’t sit here and say this wouldn’t happen or isn’t happening today speaks volumes about how women are viewed and disrespected in movements, even when they are the ones showing up and doing the heavy lifting.

Women shouldn’t have to constantly sacrifice themselves, physically, mentally, and emotionally, for toxic, abusive men and “the culture.” They shouldn’t have to fear for their safety or face ostracization for speaking truth to power and seeking accountability. And most importantly, women shouldn’t always have to fight an uphill battle to be believed when a man has abused and harmed them and others in their community.

Believe Delores.

Believe women.

Believe that the culture and the movement will survive and thrive if we remove cancerous individuals from the equation, even if they’ve positioned themselves as figureheads.

And take some time to evaluate why it’s so hard for so many of y’all to believe that way too many “decent” men are using that facade to do the opposite of decent things to those they deem vulnerable and lacking credibility.

Doing all of that believing and taking action?

THAT is “for the culture.”

Anything else is cosigning harm and abuse.

Read Delores Huerta’s statement here.

Read the NYT article “Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years” here.

On Nat, Magical Girls, and the Intersection of Justice

Sometimes, my energy is magical girl energy.

Sometimes, my energy is Nat Turner energy.

Either way, understand that justice is always at the center of who I am.

Also understand that you do not wanna come around me with hate and bigotry and catch me on a day where the Nat Turner in me pulls out his Sailor Scout wand to dispatch you and your ugliness.

Believe that.

To HR Directors, Boards of Directors, and Senior Leaders: Don't forget to take your pills.

Image description: A meme. In the upper half of the image, a white hand is holding a medication bottle. The bottle is labeled "Hard to swallow pills." Below that statement is, "Instructions: Take one (1) without water as needed." The lower half of the image shows the white hands from above with three pills resting in the palm of the left hand. The caption reads, "HR should not have unchecked control and the final say over the equity and inclusion efforts in any company, no matter how much the senior leadership team and Board of Directors want them to."

[Image description: A meme. In the upper half of the image, a white hand is holding a medication bottle. The bottle is labeled "Hard to swallow pills." Below that statement is, "Instructions: Take one (1) without water as needed." The lower half of the image shows the white hands from above with three pills resting in the palm of the left hand. The caption reads, "HR should not have unchecked control and the final say over the equity and inclusion efforts in any company, no matter how much the senior leadership team and Board of Directors want them to."]

On Drivers, Passengers, and Road Trips

When you're in a position where you have privilege, power, positionality, or some combination of the three, you are more than likely the driver—the driver of your destiny, your learning, your unlearning, and your personal development and growth, which means your privilege allows you to actively and passively drive things for others who aren't as centrally positioned. But one thing most people seem to neglect thinking about is that when you have so much power as the driver, you need to recognize that half the time, you think you should be driving but would be better off as a passenger.

Being a good passenger is equally as crucial as being a conscientious driver.

Evolving as a person is more about how you engage and absorb information, insights, and uncomfortable truths about yourself and the world around you than it is about being in control of everything. As a passenger, I've learned and unlearned many things. By being humble enough to let someone else take the wheel and giving them an equal share of my power, privilege, and positionality, I have grappled with my discomfort, ignorance, and the hurdles to my growth and development. And I honored those drivers in those moments by paying them back for their time and energy, amplifying their voices, and sharing my own time, energy, and resources to let them be passengers when they wanted to be. If we're all claiming to be on the same road and heading to the same destination, we should be taking shifts as the driver and passenger to give everyone on the trip the chance to be heard, seen, supported, elevated, and to rest, especially those with less privilege, power, and positionality.

That's one of the best road trips, y'all.

That's the road trip to liberation for all.

Some Thoughts on Voting on Election Day 2022

Image description: A screenshot of a measure from the 2022 Oregon midterm election. The measure centers around the Oregon State Constitution stating that slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited - unless it’s considered punishment for a crime.

Here’s an example of why voting matters. The picture accompanying these words is a ballot measure rundown for the Oregon 2022 midterms. The highlighted measure in question is a measure called Measure 112. Measure 112 addresses a state constitutional matter. You see, the Oregon State Constitution was amended some years ago to remove most of the white supremacist racist language that was its foundation. Not all. Most. Most of the language was addressed via amendments. However, those amendments created loopholes in state constitutional law. And what is the loophole that Measure 112 addresses? Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited - unless it’s considered punishment for a crime.

You read that right.

I should’ve been surprised when I saw this on the ballot, but I wasn’t. Over the years, I’ve seen some of the horrific things removed from the Oregon State Constitution, leftovers from Oregon’s founding as a white utopia. What sits with me whenever I see these things is that we have to put removing racist laws from a state constitution to a freaking vote. This should be a given: abolish hateful laws without asking the public for their opinion. Yet we all know we couldn’t be further from a consensus on hate and history as a country if we tried. And you know some people will vote “no” on removing this hateful loophole. If enough people don’t vote “yes” to have this removed, how long do you think it’ll take before some cruel creature of a person or law enforcement in some small Oregon town weaponizes this loophole?

Why do we vote? We vote because we are nowhere near a point in U.S. history where our laws and human rights are intended to apply to all citizens.

[Image description: A screenshot of a measure from the 2022 Oregon midterm election. The measure centers around the Oregon State Constitution stating that slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited - unless it’s considered punishment for a crime.]