Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Why I Stopped Blogging Regularly

You would think that given that I've been blogging immigration-related issues for over five years while based in Arizona, the past several months would be peak time for writing at this site. Unfortunately, I'm suffering from outrage fatigue and blogging sends me into an unproductive place.

SB1070 and HB2281 fucked with my very being, my very identity - to put it bluntly.

The salt in the wound is watching poll after poll show sizeable majorities of the populace agree that brown-skinned gente should bend over and take the violation of our civil and human rights with a smile on our faces. We should "do our part" by accepting racial profiling, the oppression of our culture, and the militarization of our ancestral homeland all in the name of a false sense of security.

A rage has been building inside of me that I recognize as unhealthy, so I remain silent on this page in deference to speaking out in real life through everyday conversation and community organizing (Socialist!!!). Scanning headlines and reading commentary used to be soothing, but with such potent hate gathering around those of us targeted in Arizona, I find it depressing and paralyzing.

What's worse is that it will only get worse before it gets better. I think that's why I find myself unable to watch the downward spiral from the front row.

I'd rather sit on the stone bench in the corner of my mountainview yard, close my eyes, and listen to the wind. It gives me the strength to keep fighting for what I know with every habanero flake in my veins - history will not judge the actions of the current era in Arizona very kindly.

No comments: