Democratic Convention Diversity -- PROS and CONS -- 17 Aug 2020

If diversity is what was wanted at the Democratic Convention, its a fail opening

OPENING SONG

Pro: Little darling children singing Star Spangled Banner. They are truly giving their all.
Con: The song is written by Francis Scott Keyes who bought and sold and ”owned’ the bodies of Africans dragged to the Americas. His stanza about the ‘victory’ in a rainstorm of a small insignificant fort, holds that this land, America, is for ‘Free Men’ only. That means, Euro-Americans who ‘owned’ land stolen from Native People in the Americas. Keyes stole the melody from a well known British hymn written by another songwriter, without giving him credit. Keyes title for this piece was ‘Victory at Fort Mc Henry.’ Keyes called it ‘a ditty’, meaning a trivial piece. Another man who ran a printing press, renamed it ‘Star Spangled Banner.’
Thought First thing if Biden wins, we keep melody of Star Spangled Banner, attribute it properly, and write new words that include everyone. Keyes excludes women, Native Americans, Latinos, the poor indentured Euro men who owned no land, African Americans, Asians, poor Euro families, those differently-abled, those who were GLBTQX –in fact Keyes excludes all except men who stole land and bought and sold human beings.

INVOCATION

Pro Utterly sincere Latino minister praying Jesus and peace onto all.
Con: Many in our nation do not follow Jesus, great though that Leader/Messiah is to Christians.
Thought: next time, have a Muslim prayer, a Jewish prayer and whatever other religious groups including Native American, Wiccan [yes Wicca is an earth religion] and a secular good will thought also. How hard can it be? It is not hard. Diversity means bless everyone in ways they don’t feel excluded from. Bless people, all people, in ways they recognize and are heartened by.

HOSTESS:
Eva Longoria Bastón

Pro: A well known face to many, she is an actress, known in soap operas and other matters.
Con: Miss Longoria ‘interviews,’ briefly, a suffering farmer, a struggling small businessman etc., all of whom are down to earth and without sheen. Miss Longoria’s vapid responses [equiv of ‘good luck to you, wish you well’] do not convey genuine involvement nor knowledge past 1″ deep re those harsh stories being lived.
Thought: There are three massively talented women on stage there who have strong experience interviewing, and who show factual and emotive power. Joy Reid. Rachel Maddow. Nicole Wallace. Leave the work of speaking with ‘everyday’ people to those who have the common touch, the experience, the demonstrable heart that engages others, instead of a scripted ‘narrator.’

Rep Gwen Moore

Pro: Enthusiasm to burn, could win declamation contests at drop of hat.
Con: tried to explain the word Minnesota/ Minneapolis, Native words, without saying the word properly in Native language. Failed to say the entire state of Minnesota was under Native care for centuries, and owes much now to Native work, stewardship the, before they were routed out, murdered and dislocated by government and settlers.
Thought: In addition to African Americans, need real Native American, Latino, Asian, Muslim, Euro Americans and more representative down to earth people speaking their truths early on– if one wants to show diversity– not keeping diverse persons/ stories for later-later-later, as a token afterthought.

Persons speaking who have had or walked with persons who’ve had CV19
Pro Clearly heartfelt people, for whom utmost honor is given and whose loyalty is evident.
Con: MIA: the missing who have been massively and deleteriously affected: Nursing home residents, persons incarcerated in county jails, state and federal prisons, persons– men and women and children– from across the world held in immigration jails across the USA, line workers at meat packing plants, homeless persons, children taken at the southern border who are penned like animals for the last six months especially, 550, yes, 550+ tribal groups who have been the victims of Trump’s broken promise to release funds to help with rampant CV 19 outbreaks racing through many reservations, persons in crowded so-called ‘housing’ in NOLA, Brooklyn, rural areas, fields of fruits and vegetables yet to be picked and packed.
Thought: You have to show the truths, all of them, if you ever hope to show that your reach is diverse. Network storyboard people need to be decision makers to include people who are not all cleaned up, not speaking English well, who are from STILL marginalized groups. A fast photo montage wont do it.

I’ll end here for now.
Diversity is not a box of chocolates with white choc, milk choc, dark choc, butterscotch choc, vanilla choc etc.

Diversity, though it makes some heads spin because of the varieties of our own human race, means everyone and the ways they live, the way they were raised, what their talents are. And in this time, esp those who have been left behind, wished dead, hounded, ignored, warehoused and worse.

Diversity means that everyman everywoman everychild ought have a representative voice, not just the famous, not just entertainers, not just the rich, not just the powerful, not just one of each color and/or from the top minority groups.

We’re near an hour and a half into the Democrats’ Convention.

Do you see yourself represented? I don’t. I’m a mestiza Chicana activist, Old Believer Catolica poet, psychoanalyst raised in a refugee, deportee, immigrant family. I’m 75 years old. I’m a traditional healer in my ethnic group. I see no one in their 70s except for VP Biden, and our lives are nothing alike. I don’t find a Chicana like me to be seen [you know a down to earth Chicana with hair sprayed up like a hood ornament, and bright red lipstick… yes]. I don’t see a person from a refugee or citizen-survivor-of-war family; I dont see bi-racial persons who are Native American and Spanish and strongly identify as both. I see no multi-racial families like my family. I see no poets, no psychoanalysts, no traditional healers.

Diversity is not one person of every color skin. Or a Mexican person, a Native American person, an Asian person, a euro-American person, and on.

Diversity is seeing, highlighting the good souls of our nation who are representative of the usually unseen, unheeded, unsung.

Pax.