its problems are up to you!”
I believe this is a WPA poster, but I can't find info. Here's a similar one for Federal Adult Schools that ran between 1936–1941.
___________________________
___________________________
Do-It-Yourself Reparations!
It can be done.
Of course it can, and I’m not surprised it's a Catholic order of Franciscan nuns who recently did just that.* bink sent me this:
It can be done.
Of course it can, and I’m not surprised it's a Catholic order of Franciscan nuns who recently did just that.* bink sent me this:
"In act of reparation, Franciscan sisters return land to Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin", Nov. 3, 2025, National Catholic Reporter.
“"Sister Sue Ernster said this move allows the congregation to go beyond a land acknowledgement statement and live out their faith."
___________
And what about individuals?
What about me?
I'll quote Noam Chomsky:
That's up to you to decide. You know what matters.
I saw this ^ graffiti at the bus stop yesterday:
Guidance comes from what we care about, as we try to align our lives intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, biologically, financially with our guiding stars.
I've written about my thought process around personal reparations for historic injustices before:
A few years ago when my sister found hard proof of what we've always suspected--that my mother's ancestors had owned slaves ("been enslavers," as modern usage goes)--I decided to give away the $18,000 I'd inherited from my mother.
She'd never saved any money, so anything we, her kids, inherited when she died was money leftover from her inheritance.
I decided to give it to people who were already in my life––to be guided by grace, not race. I gave it mostly to individuals I knew through the store--coworkers and store-friends in dire straits, and they were of all races.
(Actually, no... My one indigenous coworker who was in a tight spot financially turned down my offer of help--not even wanting a loan--saying she only relied on herself. She'd been burned by "help" form social services when she was a child.)
One was living with two dogs in a van; one needed new tires after a tire blew out on the highway; I've talked about BJ, who lived across the alley and was dying of lung cancer. Etc.
BJ said, "This will come back to you."
I rolled my eyes, but it's true that's the law of karma--not that our actions come back to us in the same coin, but they do create our lives and make up our world, as they swirl around with other people's actions...
But that instance aside (inheriting money from enslavers--and no doubt from land-stealers too, my ancestors having crossed the Appalachians illegally in the 1700s), to me the most important reparations in my life are not historical/political but up-close and personal.
I'm happy that this year a couple broken friendships have come back together. I can't claim that was by my intentions and actions--it happened more by chance...
But "chance favors the prepared mind", and I think I have prepared by letting go of some old resentments and thus opened the way for chances.
Speaking of broken relationships--yesterday, Ass't Man came into the store!
He's barely been back since he left two years ago, but his son was looking for material to make a Comic Con outfit for this weekend...
A.M. and I had parted on bad terms, but I was literally facing the door as he walked in, so we chatted politely for a few minutes.
(I was genuinely curious about his life--and I never got over being sad at our bad parting, fueled by his drunken behavior and my distress over it.)
It so happened it was Mr Jester Mushroom's birthday, and pizza had just been delivered. Ass't Man and Jester had been close at work, so I invited AM to join in.
He stayed around talking to other coworkers after lunch, and drifted back around to me. We got talking about art, and I invited him (as I had before) to come help decorate end caps.
He was THE BEST at it.
He said that Big Boss had made him feel unwelcome after he quit.
I let him know BB is not around the store much anymore--he offices in a different building now he is Exec Dir.
So... I don't know if AM will--I rather doubt it-- but it was a sincereoffer plea for help on my part.
I'd still be wary of him because I've had some reinforcement of how troublesome alcohol abuse can be, but I'd be glad to chat--and glad of his help, if it's forthcoming.
__________________
And what about individuals?
What about me?
I'll quote Noam Chomsky:
That's up to you to decide. You know what matters.
I saw this ^ graffiti at the bus stop yesterday:
If you pick a flower on Earth,There's no formula for this, right?
You move the farthest star.
Guidance comes from what we care about, as we try to align our lives intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, biologically, financially with our guiding stars.
I've written about my thought process around personal reparations for historic injustices before:
A few years ago when my sister found hard proof of what we've always suspected--that my mother's ancestors had owned slaves ("been enslavers," as modern usage goes)--I decided to give away the $18,000 I'd inherited from my mother.
She'd never saved any money, so anything we, her kids, inherited when she died was money leftover from her inheritance.
I decided to give it to people who were already in my life––to be guided by grace, not race. I gave it mostly to individuals I knew through the store--coworkers and store-friends in dire straits, and they were of all races.
(Actually, no... My one indigenous coworker who was in a tight spot financially turned down my offer of help--not even wanting a loan--saying she only relied on herself. She'd been burned by "help" form social services when she was a child.)
One was living with two dogs in a van; one needed new tires after a tire blew out on the highway; I've talked about BJ, who lived across the alley and was dying of lung cancer. Etc.
BJ said, "This will come back to you."
I rolled my eyes, but it's true that's the law of karma--not that our actions come back to us in the same coin, but they do create our lives and make up our world, as they swirl around with other people's actions...
But that instance aside (inheriting money from enslavers--and no doubt from land-stealers too, my ancestors having crossed the Appalachians illegally in the 1700s), to me the most important reparations in my life are not historical/political but up-close and personal.
I'm happy that this year a couple broken friendships have come back together. I can't claim that was by my intentions and actions--it happened more by chance...
But "chance favors the prepared mind", and I think I have prepared by letting go of some old resentments and thus opened the way for chances.
Speaking of broken relationships--yesterday, Ass't Man came into the store!
He's barely been back since he left two years ago, but his son was looking for material to make a Comic Con outfit for this weekend...
A.M. and I had parted on bad terms, but I was literally facing the door as he walked in, so we chatted politely for a few minutes.
(I was genuinely curious about his life--and I never got over being sad at our bad parting, fueled by his drunken behavior and my distress over it.)
It so happened it was Mr Jester Mushroom's birthday, and pizza had just been delivered. Ass't Man and Jester had been close at work, so I invited AM to join in.
He stayed around talking to other coworkers after lunch, and drifted back around to me. We got talking about art, and I invited him (as I had before) to come help decorate end caps.
He was THE BEST at it.
He said that Big Boss had made him feel unwelcome after he quit.
I let him know BB is not around the store much anymore--he offices in a different building now he is Exec Dir.
So... I don't know if AM will--I rather doubt it-- but it was a sincere
I'd still be wary of him because I've had some reinforcement of how troublesome alcohol abuse can be, but I'd be glad to chat--and glad of his help, if it's forthcoming.
__________________
Anyway ...
I figure if I end up in government housing (if that even exists when I'm old enough I can't work), I will have spiritual fruits I plant now, even if I'm otherwise impoverished.
Truly this motivates me to learn and practice skills to get over my judgmentalism and resentments...
It's like Spiritual P.T. 😁
___________________
* Of course the sisters are not the only ones doing piecemeal land reparations.
--this 2021 article is about the US Forest Service and wilderness protection groups returning land:
e360.yale.edu/features/how-returning-lands-to-native-tribes-is-helping-protect-nature
And here's one on churches, from 2023: "How churches can participate in the Indigenous Land Back movement and why they should"
I figure if I end up in government housing (if that even exists when I'm old enough I can't work), I will have spiritual fruits I plant now, even if I'm otherwise impoverished.
Truly this motivates me to learn and practice skills to get over my judgmentalism and resentments...
It's like Spiritual P.T. 😁
___________________
* Of course the sisters are not the only ones doing piecemeal land reparations.
--this 2021 article is about the US Forest Service and wilderness protection groups returning land:
e360.yale.edu/features/how-returning-lands-to-native-tribes-is-helping-protect-nature
And here's one on churches, from 2023: "How churches can participate in the Indigenous Land Back movement and why they should"
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