What I Can Tell You Without Fraying

Suddenly I’m hearing from people on my facebook feed who are demanding to know why other people on their feed aren’t posting up about Ferguson. They’re offended, and insisting that we tell them why we,”aren’t saying anything important.” And the general impression that I get from that is that they believe we don’t care.

I want to make it abundantly clear that I do care. I also want to make it abundantly clear that the digital world is not where I do my politics or my activism.

I pay attention: I read,* I talk with people, I listen to the radio. I spend a lot of time navigating and having heavy conversations with my teenage son. I make myself available, and I ask questions. I process and process and process. I pitch in where I’m able. I can honestly say that I am engaged and informed and active to the best of my abilities.

And I also engage in self care – I actively maintain a space on my own personal fb timeline where I can breathe and not deal with atrocities for 10 minutes at a time. The news eats me alive. I cannot think 24-7 about the terrible stuff that happens or I will fall the fuck apart, which is of absolutely no use to anyone.

When you don’t see news articles on my page, it does not mean that I’m not aware. It does not mean that I’m unaffected or disconnected or complicit.** It does not mean that I don’t do what I can in meatspace. It does not mean that I don’t believe in being the change I want to see in the world and actively work toward it. It does not mean that I’m living in a pretty pink bubble with my fingers in my ears.*** What it does mean is that I don’t want to argue with people on the internet. What it does mean is that I believe the political is personal, and it doesn’t have to happen on my facebook page for me to make change. What it does mean is that I believe I can be far more effective in person, and I prefer it that way.