New Attitude

I get so frustrated with stereotypes, prejudices and biases, whatever you want to call them.  They get in the way of our progress as a human race.

Why is it so crucial to keep things as they are?  I think change is stimulating.  We strive to improve our physical bodies so we can better perform, why not our mindsets?  

Thinking the same old way, with the same old theories, the same old stunted beliefs won’t expand the mind.  In fact, (well in my opinion) the mind gets stagnated and useless. 

We can only get out of the computer what is programmed into its system. It seems logical to me the same applies with our minds. We can only get out of our heads what we are willing to put in there. And sometimes we have to extract some useless, antiquated beliefs and misinformation.

My mind and my heart usually intertwine.  I get into trouble when I try to separate them.

 Yes, I can stop and think objectively, but it’s difficult for me to do with people.  I think it is for many of us.  We have buttons and sometimes we wear them on our shirtsleeves. 

It’s also hard for me to think and feel without my acquired and learned prejudices.  But, who says it’s suppose to be easy?  We certainly aren’t robots who only use our programming to function, are we?

I went to several free presentations this month at the University of Michigan.  They’ve been offering them in celebration to honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work. 

I went to Trans Health Activism in Detroit: Moving Forward Together, a few days ago. A group of people came to Ann Arbor to talk about their work at the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit, with LGBTQ youth.  They allowed plenty of time in their presentation to answer questions from the audience.

After much discussion, someone in the audience asked the panel, “If there was one thing you want us to remember about your presentation today, what would it be?” 

Everyone on the panel looked at a young trans-woman of color, to answer that question. Earlier she talked about her struggle with being trans and living in Detroit. She was kicked out of her family at 14 years old. She knows what it’s like to be homeless, beaten, abused, denied access to health care and jobs because she is a trans-woman. She’s 22 now and a survivor. 

She answered calmly and eloquently, “Just remember, when you do the work and have compassion for us, then the work is for everyone.  We’re all in this together.”

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.  Martin Luther King,Jr.

The physician on the panel ended with, “We can start with our families.  We can expect them to have compassion for their fellow man. That’s where we can start. "

The simplicity of how we can keep the ball of change moving, struck me. Attitude. 

Compassion and understanding for ANYONE is for everyone.  As she said, “We’re all in this together.”

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7q98vL1Xy0    WIth My Own Two Hands