And there's a focus on that. I'm opening up the floor. My minutes are running out. I'm opening up the floor. Feel free to chime in on whatever respective month that society has said. This is where you should place all of your activity. What's your thoughts on that? How do you celebrate yourself all year long? Do you do anything specific, or do you believe that you are held accountable to or obligated to do anything specific on that month? It
Blair Redmond
@blairbearing · 1:33
It but if you listen to mine, basically I'm saying that I used to be very similar, but recently ive gotten into the history of why Black History Month was started and where it came from, which is weird because I'm a history major, but I never really got into that history. I was more focused on highlighting the other historical things that we were doing because they weren't in my history books. But I also think that's where my obsession with highlighting these things come from
Blair Redmond
@blairbearing · 3:29
I hear all your words and appreciate your viewpoint, understand how you arrived at it as someone who used to be there and recognize that you are black history. And here are your flowers now that I need to give them to you. But as always, jl, thank you. Thank you so much. I hope one day I get to meet you in real life. But if I don't, I enjoy this. And it doesn't need to be anything more. There's no pressure either way
And so this year, I mean, I've been doing it year round every once in a while, putting something out around autism. But it doesn't have to be all within one month. And I think it's better for me as the person putting it out there and better for anyone consuming it that it's sprinkled throughout. Because I don't stop being autistic at any point of any day, of any hour or minute
D. Meatrie
@wickedgypsybird · 4:41
And when I do that, I don't teach these classes in a way where it's the typical dishes that people would normally get. If it's italian, they're going to get that. If it's German, they're going to get this. If it's Hawaiian or New Zealand, they're going to get that. I don't teach that way I teach about the people and the culture and why these people created the dishes that they created and what they created them from
Shawna Kearsley
@OnAcornBay · 4:12
And then there's the other side of the work that I do with community leadership, and which it's beneficial for me to highlight in my work these accomplishments. I'm merely the vehicle for doing that. I'm the know, like Harry Tubman. I'm just the conductor. I'm a vehicle for transmitting information, but personally, I do feel the way that you do. So I have a huge shield in there, and I'm trying to work it out
Blair Redmond
@blairbearing · 1:02
So for them to put such specifics on, oh, it has to be black Americans, it's just like, what are we doing? But I don't even want to go into that. Just thank you for highlighting that. I don't like that. I don't agree with that. And I love this conversation. Yes, thank you, JL, for starting the conversation. I can't wait until you jump on here and respond. I hope you're having a wonderful Friday
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 4:04
And not that anyone's pandering specifically, just some of the posts energetically lands as they are pandering. And again, it's the lens that I'm choosing to see it through at this time. It could shift. And my thought is maybe it lands as pandering because I don't see any type of black related post from some of these people ever
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 4:58
And so the way how you infuse it, even if you're doing a swell about, and I'm just making this up about paint, you find a way to infuse how you process that as a person with autism. And I appreciate that because it gives me a chance to digest it in bite sized pieces and it gives me a chance to contemplate and reflect, et cetera. And so thank you. I remember my first year on swell
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 1:51
Hi. Thank you so much for contributing to the dialogue. I appreciate that. I also am grateful for the way you have expressed yourself and your why and intent and for you seeking to understand and to hear out where I was aiming to or what I was aiming to convey. And I appreciate it that it crossed overwhelm, and that's exactly where I was going
And I really wanted to thank you for reflecting back to me how you experience me talking about autism, because twofold, one, I sometimes think doing an info dump and saying this is how blah, blah, blah, blah, blah is more focused and less wasteful time, and that people would prefer that when I want to share about something like that. And yet I know that sometimes that can be a bit much. And honestly, I don't like when somebody is, like, educating me
Like, there is a lot of pandering, there is a lot of merchandising, and all these types of things attributed to it. But you have to think about it. There's an Irish History month. There's Pride month, which is probably the second most, if not the most, merchandise, because it goes so far as when gay people are celebrated in June, they change the mayonnaise that's in the store for you to buy
And when you think about that, he is celebrated all year round. But when Irish History Month comes, when St. Patty's Day comes, he's highlighted. He's highlighted as look at what our community has. That's the same thing as what black History Month is for a lot of our leaders that we may not discuss. I feel like the issue is that we are so wrapped up in wanting our history celebrated all year round
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
And now that voice is aimed directly at white audiences, because, to be fair, after get out, most of our horror movies have not been good. They've all been, in many ways, shapes or form an explanation of our oppression for an audience that couldn't care otherwise. But I'll give you an example of Black History Month
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 3:44
Hey, thank you so much for contributing to this dialogue. I do appreciate hearing your voice and you taking time to do so. I also appreciate you as a Jamaican sharing your experience of what it is having black brown skin in America and it black history month and what that looks like for you, what the experience has been like for you as a Jamaican
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 4:54
And I remember learning that then, and it was just a forgotten fact. So thank you for that correction. I appreciate that. And I still hold true to. I still want to highlight my blackness in my own way, in a way I don't want to wear. I remember going to church on Sundays and they were like, wear daishikis and all of this african print. And it was fun at the time. Now I don't want to
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 4:56
It was more so them talking about their ive experiences and the lived experiences of others past and how it impacted us in the present. Thank you so much again. You gave me a lot to think about, and I appreciate it
Natasha Nurse
@DressingRoom8 · 3:21
What are the things that hold us together that we choose to bind ourselves to? And a part of that needs to be around cultural celebrations. And when you think on it, African Americans or black people in this country do not have, I think, enough to celebrate. And black History Month is one of the few things that I think generally we can say, hey, this is something we can vibe with
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 0:42
Hi, I just wanted to acknowledge your comment. I really honestly don't have anything to add. My brain is tired and I honestly don't have any other clearer way to articulate my stance on it in terms of and I'm not seeking for anyone to agree with me. I'm living my authentic life as a black woman every day and I don't need feel the need to hashtag or whatever it. But thank you so much for dropping by and adding your comment and contributing to the dialogue
Natasha Nurse
@DressingRoom8 · 0:16
You. Thanks for saying that. And yeah, I welcome anyone who wants to continue or provide additional feedback on some of the things I've shared. But I agree, such a wonderful conversation you've started, and thank you for having me
Blair Redmond
@blairbearing · 3:10
Fourth grade, I'm writing about Harriet Tubman. Yeah. I'm making my teachers. You gonna learn today? You gonna learn with me? Because you're not teaching it to me. Has always been my place. But I have calmed down because I'm going to be honest, the lack of acceptance. But you guys are really inspiring me to just be the most unapologetically black woman that I could be and promote it like no other and just not care. If my confidence offends you
Natasha Nurse
@DressingRoom8 · 1:24
You. What a beautiful, swell. Thank you for saying that. And I'm glad that what I said resonated with you. You know, it's. There's always so much to talk about, so many reflections, especially during black history month, but completely. Yeah. Like, that's the beauty of blackness. That's the beauty of this community. It is 365, right? And there is such incredible pride and joy and triumph that comes with that
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 2:07
And so, because we are spiritual beings, there is an interconnectedness that the way I have decided to honor my blackness and the blackness of my ancestors and the way someone like dressing room eight or the 79th street kid or you blair, because of that interconnectedness, the reach is going to reach and we don't have to do it the same, and we don't have to perceive it and operationalize from that perception the same because the reach is going to reach
Shawna Kearsley
@OnAcornBay · 5:00
We were invited to do a twelve week thing with the conflict resolution folks. And it was amazing. I uncovered a lot of my prejudices. I realize I have a lot of prejudices, and we all do, but I was able to just kind of sit in them. It was a lot of raw talking about things in this realm. And I have a lot of prejudices and I wanted to know where they came from. And of course they came from my mom and my family
Shawna Kearsley
@OnAcornBay · 5:00
We can write a haiku. We can do an interpretive dance. Listen, this lady did an interpretive dance and sent a video for the Harriet Tubman thing. And it was so well received by me because she took her kids and went down to the Harriet Tubman monument statue and put on a music, and she did an interpretive dance of Harriet Tubman with her very, very young children. And so that just brought me so
J.L. Beasley
@Her_Sisu · 4:14
She said, no, grandma, I go to school with black people, and they are loving and fun. They come from great families, and they read, and they do all of these things that you also ask us to do. They have the same chores and belief system and values, and her grandmother wanted none of it because of what she had been fed pretty much all her life. And she talked about how at that point her grandmother was in her seventy?