mike writes:
>Very helpful way of thinking about things.
well, i'm not sure how helpful it is when the people who agree mostly nod
and the people i most fervently wish would listen to what i am saying
shout their reasonable criticism of my discourse as if it were my grammar
or my wardrobe.
so, nothing has changed, except some people have unsubscribed.
and being a systems practitioner as well as a systems theorist,
i accept my responsibility for my support of the current status of this
system
i think of as xmca.
mea culpa. no one is innocent.
but, the normalizing practices, the discomfort and potential for
humiliation are obstacles that i find intimidating,
my uneasiness about continuing this topic,
is a red flag to tell me that it's important not to silence myself,
but it's not much help in giving me a direction or guidance in what words
to use.
despite all the reasons i should drop this,
i feel i must refuse to fade off into lurker-dom, or to unsubscribe
without giving voice to the unreasonable demands of my feelings,
my desire for the xmca that i remember
(and maybe never existed outside of my mind.)
it was a uniquely multi-vocal space that en/couraged and supported a
diversity of discourse, grammar, and appearance.
i am speaking of the change in stance from acceptance and inclusiveness
to what feels like the current movement towards
taking up and maintaining a single, rigid position
that excludes many.
staking out positions and territory and insisting that this is the way it
should be.
the way xmca is, is the way we make it.
i don't believe in shoulds.
so, what i think i am asking this community is
do we/you want
to invite those who have been pushed to the periphery,
those who feel shut out,
unsupported,
silenced (and i don't mean that everyone who reads without posting has
been too intimidated to speak, but i know that some have) ----
is there some way we,
as the hodge podge, patchwork community we are,
can negotiate some
self-organizing practices that will be more inclusive and supportive
of all
who we are?
kathie
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.........Our words misunderstand us..............................
.....We are our words, and black and bruised and blue.
Under our skins, we're laughing....................................
.........................Adrienne Rich..................................
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine_Goff@ceo.cudenver.edu
http://ceo.cudenver.edu/~katherine_goff/index.html
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