Politics, Motherhood, and Politics

On the Friday before Father’s Day, I have decided to write about a topic not related to politics.  Ok, I am lying, it’s sort of a combination of things, mostly about my father and feminism.  Whether he’d admit it or not, it is because of him that I am who I am.  This is about my father raising me (and my sisters, but I am not speaking about their experiences, as they have their own voices) to be a strong independent woman, in a surprising and unexpected way. He raised a feminist. I cannot tell you the story from the beginning, but I can tell you from about the age of 9 when this “formation” began.  We were at the babysitter’s house in the summer in the small town of Francesville, Indiana.  The babysitter’s daughter was my age and other same-aged girls were there.  Some of us “lucky” girls would be invited to her room to play. Unless, the girl got mad at you, then you got kicked out, and then banished to the living room where the other 100 kids were playing....

Before I begin, I know without looking at your pathetic Facebook posts, that certain people in this country are probably decrying the riots and quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. regarding peaceful protest. "Why aren't these protesters being more like him?" What? Shot and killed? A great deal of certain Americans didn't even like him during his time.  So it's strange how his name is invoked by the same people who continue to directly and indirectly support racism. Even though King condemned violence, including rioting, here is what he thought on the matter:  "...that riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear?" ( The Other America, Speech given at Stafford University, April 14, 1967) So what say you, America? What say you about the lynching of Americans right before our eyes over and over?  Maybe you need it defined for you: Lynching: "to put to death by mob action without legal approval or permission....