Friday, August 31, 2007

Greetings:

There is little over a week left before Haiku’s Middle Passage opens. I cannot sleep because I’m concerned about the exhibit. I’ve tried everything to make sure people know that remembering the 200 years since the abolition of the TransAtlantic slave Trade is not about any one group of people. Our history of human injustices is a mirror image of our current day issues about human injustices, particularly around force human labor.

For me, the historical nature of the Haiku included in this exhibit is based on multi-racial, multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic interactions of human being. Anytime we engage with another person from an us/them perspective (race/culture/ethnic, class, or gender) – we set the stage for confrontation and exploitation.

We need to begin accepting our past and present for the shared and integrated experience it is. HMP is about such an approach to the people we have always been.

I know I can't really get everyone to understand this idea because such an understanding is not a one-person task. So thank you in advance for helping each other see each other dressed in our complete humanity.

(Really, now I'm going to go to sleep...)

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