Skunk

At last, it's over.  This torrent that has been blowing and causing destruction for the last... year and some, is finally over.  What have I learned?  More than I can possibly squeeze into a blog post here.  I've been feeling particularly sour lately, and I think it's a hodgepodge of things... but I've pinpointed two in particular that speak to me the most at this moment.  I need to be around folks of my own age and experiences.  Black folks.

Throughout most of my life, I've been around people who are at least five years older than myself.  Moving here was a shock, since most of the folks I know and interact with are (generously) four to five years my junior.  It's wearing, and slowly driving me insane.I've grown a lot in this past year and I need to find people who can push me to the next stage in my progression.

I also need to be around more Black folks.  Living in this light & bright town... my experience is overshadowed or ignored by folks whose skin carries significantly less melanin than mine.  Even other POC seem to miss my perspective entirely due to their light skinned privilege.  And it's irritating and... infuriating and at the end of the day, I'm done.  I need a break and I need The Black Experience.  Well, I should add queer/trans* Black experience.

I'm pretty sure it's not here in this town.  And as the beginning of the end of my time here commences, I wonder if it's in the Pacific Northwest....  My Heart is calling more strongly for the muggy, mosquito-infested heat of the South.  I know now I'm not ready to go back, but who's to say in a year--or less--I won't be on a plane back to Home?  It'd be a matter of trading the racism of the NW for the homophobia of the South....  At this point, though, I'd make the trade if it meant I wouldnt' be steamrolled or isolated every time I brought up their anti-Black attitudes.

Lots to think about this quiet Sunday morn....