by Matt LaPierre

It's hard to even know where to begin... 

The last few months, have disrupted the system that we have all been living in.

They allowed the People to really reflect, to communicate, to see with clear eyes (beyond the day-to-day distractions that capitalism and consumerism so cleverly use to keep the wool over our eyes) just how inherently unjust this system is.

How everything—our language, our values, our actions—or inactions—are steeped in white supremacy, colonialism, and patriarchy. 

I feel like an entire world is being surfaced—the Underworld—that is, what has been shoved under the rug of 'mainstream' (read: white/able-bodied/cis/hetero/middle-upper class/Christian) cultural understanding. The voices of those who have been eclipsed. All that we have been repressing, all that was left unsaid in our History classes. 

As we step into new levels and depths of consciousness, I notice some of my friends are not coming with us. They are committed to their ignorance. They want to turn off the News, go offline, when they are confronted with uncomfortable truths + how they might be complicit in these oppressive systems. They would rather use spiritual languaging to bypass any responsibility, to bypass looking reality in the eye and saying: This is wrong. And I'm going to do something about it. 

I have been lost in this world for the last few years.

Before this world, I was a student of Sociology, and then Social Work. Human Rights have long been a passion of mine; but upon returning to Maine, an overwhelmingly white state, I allowed my awareness to internalize and stay there, unspoken. One of the tools of white supremacy is that we are taught "not to get political". This is often a code for "don't talk about issues of oppression". We are met with avoidance, silence, and discomfort, called whiney, no-fun, too-much, a sheep. All tools of the oppressor—cleverly used + carried out to ensure that oppressive systems are protected.

Maine has an attitude of "I don't care what you do, as long as you don't subject me to it" when it comes to anything deemed "political" (aka anything that is not whiteness, heterosexuality, cisgenderedness, monogamy, etc.) This "polite" culture is so detrimental, too. It says—In order to love you, I must remain ignorant of your wholeness. It doesn't allow us to see people who are different from who we are, to truly care about them, and find our shared humanity. To understand each other's experience. To unlearn all the hatred that we have been taught, and walk toward Love together. 

This shit runs D E E E P, it is EVERYWHERE.

And as a white person, it is so easy to say, this is not my issue. It IS our issue. White supremacy was created by white people, and is sustained by white people, in ways that we can see obviously (manifest) and very covert ways (latent). 

 United States Capitalism is so central to US culture; it will take lifetimes to unlearn. From our educational systems, to our collective cultural imagination, to individualism, to work structure... everything is based in exploitation. Exploitation of all of us. It's overwhelming to think about.

But ignoring it, or staying committed to living in a small bubble and never facing it, won't be sustainable. Beyond the shame, and the pain, and the guilt: there is a beautiful place, where we can resist together. Where we can persist together. An entire world where we can challenge what we've been taught, our own internal programming, and work together to make tangible change. This is the most fertile soil; and here, we can imagine new worlds and work toward them. But we must, must, look with honest eyes and an open heart at the damage that our (white) ancestors have done. That we have benefitted from. That we have unwittingly upheld. And we must be committed to destruction, before we can build anew. 

Love you ALL, I hope that this has been an eye-opening, heart-opening, spirit-igniting moment for you—

💓