more on Paul Mooney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S9VG3c5PhU

I guess part of why Mooney is resonating so strongly with me right now is because his ideas are so new to me. i was raised in a society where racial segregation is still very real, albeit unspoken. there were white skinned and dark skinned and never the two shall meet. obviously it wasn't as bad as it has been in the past, but it was there. Paul Mooney made me look up and face it. He said "look, honky, this shit's been around since i've been here, i've dealt with it, now YOU deal with it."

that's damn right.

since i've listened to his words, i've realized so much about the world around me, the way things work today. it really is kind of depressing, just how shitty things are if your skin isn't white. but there is hope! we're all human and evolution is still working. Like Mr. Mooney says, "we're gonna get through this." because there are white people in the shit too. there are outcasts everywhere. society can be cruel at times, but we're still moving, still learning. ignorance is rapidly fading from the planet. will racism always be here? i hope not. in theory, i can look beyond racism and see human beings, but in actual practice the hard-wired reactions still function. i can't get past what i learned and experienced as a youth,  but i can learn. i can try to alter the programming.

i get sidetracked so easily. i've gotten away from what i really wanted to explore.

Mr. Mooney showed me just how different life is for black people. He opened up a whole new world to me, gave me a glimpse of another culture, another way of life. through his words I saw things in reverse, gained a new perspective on things. that perspective has opened up all kinds of new thought waves and now i'm riding those. i don't like the world he depicts, because it's so real, so true, but i like his acceptance of it, his ability to rise above it. his hostility, his anger, all expressed simply by showing you what he hates and then just being above it, saying it doesn't matter. because despite it all, it won't be fixed in a day, and he knows it, so why throw bombs when you can throw kisses?