On Monday, in the middle of milking a goat, two police cars arrived outside the front gate. They were coming by to check after a call/complaint from a neighbor. A white neighbor. After a few minutes, a third car arrived.
It was bullshit and nonsensical. The 20 or so minutes that they were outside the gate was irritating, scary and instructive.
Some of the lessons of the episode were:
- Some people just won’t like you, so don’t take it personally because the exact reason(s) can be hard to discern and impossible to confirm. More likely than not, it isn’t about you.
- Align with fear.
- When people tell you who they are believe them. Believe them moreso when they show you who they are.
- Do not retract or recede or retreat in the face of violence, dehumanization or attempts to indignify.
The five days since then have been galvanizing and reaffirming to experience joy and delight and figure out who stands with us and what we stand for, who and what we value, and how living contrary to dominant culture in a racist, patriarchal, violent, capitalist world is something to be proud of and further fight for in the midst of hostility.
washing dishes: a father’s glimpses 