Letter to the White House

Nov 04, 2016 13:45

I had a rush of blood to the head and wrote a letter to President Obama about the Standing Rock Sioux protests. Text is under the cut ( Read more... )

damn it, politics, accountability, rl, letters

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Comments 8

sovay November 4 2016, 18:01:59 UTC
The police can even define the protestors' very presence as a situation that might result in people being hurt.

Good point and well-articulated. I hope he reads your letter. I hope it makes a difference.

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teenybuffalo November 4 2016, 18:07:09 UTC
Thanks. Maybe I'll get lucky, eh? Maybe he will. To some extent, this letter was written as a sop to my own conscience, just as much as singing "Bread and Roses" to a room full of people who already agree with me, but I can hope that it will go beyond that.

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sovay November 4 2016, 18:08:13 UTC
To some extent, this letter was written as a sop to my own conscience, just as much as singing "Bread and Roses" to a room full of people who already agree with me, but I can hope that it will go beyond that.

I don't think it's self-indulgent to think that making an effort to contact power and change things for the better is a reasonable thing to do.

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teenybuffalo November 4 2016, 18:15:08 UTC
But I, well, *self-deprecating noises* uh, well, yeah, you're right. ^_^

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rushthatspeaks November 4 2016, 19:40:43 UTC
Oh, that is a good letter.

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teenybuffalo November 4 2016, 19:41:36 UTC
Hey, thanks!

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moon_custafer November 5 2016, 01:29:43 UTC
This letter exists partly because I have an egotistical wish to go out to the site of the protests and help out in person. However, there are already plently of underinformed-and-clueless white people out there, getting in the way of the people with skin in the game. They do not need one more.

Ive already seen some complaints by natives at the protest who've had their prayer circles hijacked by white women murmuring platitudes about "The Goddess." You wouldn't do that anyway, of course, but a well-reasoned letter, citing historical precedent, is potentially quite helpful.

My sympathies to anyone whose job is answering the phone at the White House.

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teenybuffalo November 5 2016, 01:48:35 UTC
That's what I'd read, as well, and it doubled me over with secondhand embarrassment.

The phone voice sounded incredibly even-keeled. She probably gets a lot of practice sounding that way.

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