Well, today the Wise family said hello to a new bed and goodbye to two of The Baby’s teeth. A few months ago, we started the laborious process of getting a SleepSafe bed approved through The Baby’s insurance because his crib had become unsafe. He was able to stand up in it and when he … Continue reading
Tag Archives: social justice
A Great Banquet, Indeed
I do not usually live life on the edge. I’m not interested in sky diving or wrestling an alligator. I don’t like to stare into the face of death; I prefer to keep my eyes tightly shut. Except for one weird thing. It started one cold morning in my early 20s when I was on … Continue reading
Welfare Queens and Other Lies My Hard Heart Believed
I grew up in West Texas- land of wide-open spaces, sky high teen pregnancy rates, and a colorblind racial ideology that masks racism instead of confronting it. In colorblind ideology, it is impolite to talk about someone’s race. I remember hearing a story about a friend who was trying to tell her son which store … Continue reading
Si, Te Queremos Aquí::Yes, We Want You Here
“You going on a picnic?” the Kroger employee asked me as I threw multiple pre-made sandwiches into my basket. “No,” I laughed and then told her that I was going down to a bus station in Downtown Dallas to meet immigrants on their way to family and friends after being separated by Immigration and Customs … Continue reading
Los Queremos Aquí :: We Want Them Here
The first asylee I ever met was a man from Eritrea. We’ll call him Ben. Ben had flown to Central America and come into the US across the Mexican border. He claimed asylum when he got here. I met him when he’d already been here about two years waiting on a judge to hear his … Continue reading
Don’t Call Me Mommy
{Before inciting a literal mommy war, let me say that I do not care if your children call you mommy. If tiny hands reach for you and wail “Mommy!” as you remove the peanut from their nose, fine. If you refer to your own mother as mommy, even if you are 50, fine. You do … Continue reading
Our Joy is Resistance
I used to be fun. Fun, like silly and laughy. Kind of an entertainer. I don’t think I’m that fun currently. That’s a hard statement for me to write , actually, because I feel like a large part of my identity has hinged on being happy and funny and joyful. In the last several months, … Continue reading
Dolores Saves the World
A long time ago, I posted about the Enneagram, a personality typing system, on welderbeth’s facebook page with a teaser that I would blog about my type. Well, I never did and I haven’t blogged in six weeks. I guess having an interview and starting a job in the span of about three days will do that … Continue reading
She Can’t Speak For Us: An Open Letter to Good White People
Hey there good white people- We need to chat. But first, a story. You might know that I volunteer with an organization called Faith in Texas, which is a “multi-racial, multi-faith movement developing civic leadership in faith communities for economic and racial justice.” They had a press conference today at Robert E. Lee park in Dallas. … Continue reading
New Wineskins
I went to a vigil in Balch Springs for Jordan Edwards last week. It was everything you would want a vigil to be- beautiful and sad and moving and comforting. Like most, I was horrified by Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice’s deaths. I have been deeply affected before by deaths caused by police brutality, but … Continue reading