Monday, January 23, 2017

Withrow Vandalism Defaced a Historic Landmark

Photo by Dale.Browning@TechCollaboration.com, GFDL
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3098833on

If you live in My Cincinnati, you probably know about the vandalism at Withrow High School. I'm a Withrow alumnus, so the vandalism, the overt racism, the vicious intent struck me as particularly senseless. When I heard about the incident, my still nerdy little Withrow heart broke a little. My eyes teared up as I hummed the Withrow Alma Mater. 

"Gentle slopes and lofty towers,
radiant in the sun.
Arching bridge and shaded valley,
All our hearts are won.

Withrow's beauty,
Withrow's splendor,
fill our hearts with pride.
Love for you, our Alma Mater
ever will abide"


Okay, so humming Withrow's Alma Mater might sound like emotional overkill, but the racial/racist implications are pretty overwhelming.


Sunday, January 22, 2017

Cincinnati Women Marching





I've been in mourning? That election thing had me flat down, disappointed, and disengaged. 
  • I changed my Facebook profile pic to a big black block. 
  • I watch only aging comedy reruns because the mainstream channels keep showing too much of  #thatguy. 
  • I've mourned and grieved and stuck my head in the proverbial sand.
  • I've eaten a lot of potato chips.
  • I've lived in a dream world where Obama was named President for Life.
But when the Obamas said goodbye this week, it hit me hard. I really had to deal with my inner anti-trump issues. 


No, I won't accept it and move on!

No, I didn't finally face up to the 2016 Election results by hosting an inauguration viewing party. No, I didn't toast our new "prez" with a smile and a hip-hip-hooray. 

Nope. 
Couldn't do it! 


Instead, I marched!





On January 20, a big dose of orange reality slapped me in the face. I rode downtown with my daughter, scoured the city for a parking space and walked to Washington Park with about 12,000 other Cincinnatians. (Gentrification is really changing our inner city. I hardly saw any black people.) I participated in the Women's march and went home feeling renewed, exhilarated and ready to take on the world. 



Not Anti-Trump


Contrary to foxy opinion, the weekend march in Cincinnati wasn't anti anything. (We did that a few days after the election.) Those marches might have seemed slightly anti-Trump because the crowd gathered to show support for a range of causes the Trumpster has spoken out against. 

As with the wildly newsworthy marches across the country and around the world this weekend, our Cincinnati march of concerned citizens was decidedly PRO.



Pro-Women
Pro-LGBT
Pro-Black Lives Matter
Pro-Choice
Pro-Muslim
Pro-Mexican
Pro-Immigrant
Pro-Earth
Pro-Love
Pro-Pu--y



Okay, there were a few anti-Trump signs and there was one very catchy anti-Trump chant. Somebody had to do it.





Is my mourning-America period over?




Sadly, no, because, as a woman of color, I sense a growing danger for my race and others. 

I'm still in mourning for my country but I also have hope. I hope that the orange man and his cabinet of deplorables won't dismantle the America we know and love. 

I have hope that this won't happen because his alt right-leaning actions are bringing Pro people together. We'll fight for rights every step of the way and since the majority of those Pro people are white, we probably won't get arrested or shot in the streets of Cincinnati. 

I just hope the White House crew understands that the whole world is watching. 


Carol, the Nice Lady still-in-Mourning