The Brief
Today’s brief comes to us from the incredible Guerrilla Girls.
A while ago I saw one of their art works and asked them if they would be willing to let me send it to you. They were! So here it is. It’s a video. Your brief for the day is to watch it, and to respond to it! Respond to as many (if not all) of the points they are making. Create a piece that really makes a difference!
And if you don’t know about The Guerrilla Girls, please check them out! They do amazing work.
Remember, this is a weekend task, so take your time – changing the world requires effort!
And as always with weekend challenges – the only bonus points is for you to write something you’re happy with.
The Excerpt
So, I bought this bag of paper straws, and I could feel the casher looking at me, like, here’s some white woman with colored hair buying designer straws, and she thinks that’s gonna change the world.
But the thing is.
I’ve been changing the world all my life.
For example.
I am three years old. I hear my grandmother speak in whispers about how some woman I don’t know is a (whispers) lesbian (normal voice) and I don’t know what that means, so when Mommy gets home from work, I ask:
“Mommy, what’s a lesbian?”
And Mommy says, “well, when two men love each other, they’re gay, and when women love each other, they’re lesbians.”
And in my three-year-old heart, this is perfectly natural, so I say, “Well, I must be a lesbian, too, Mommy, because I love you.” And Mommy laughs and says, “You keep thinking just that way.”
To Read the Entire Play
Click here: 1902.15 – Paper Straws – A Lifetime of Activism
Well. THAT resonates. Lucid and angry and jaded and determined all at once. I philosophies globally and protest locally by my behavior in the presence of what I call idiot behavior/speech. And when people criticize me I say ‘Who asked YOU?’ and when they wonder ‘how can you not say/think/do as I do’ I always say ‘i was raised better than that’s. I wasn’t, really. Not at all. But it shuts them up, which is good enough for me. Because at 61, jaded and angry and still determined in my way, I believe you can’t educate or debate people away from their idiotic behavior/speech. You can only restrain them, and hopefully prevent, or at least contain, the damage.
I meant to say PHILOSOPHIZE LOCALLY. Damn that autocorrect.