say to people they barely know, "hi, how are you!"

A regular reader wrote to me recently with the request below; it's actually a request of the rest of you. Others have written emails with more or less the same request, so I figured I'd make this an end of the week post:

During the discussion about Oso's post (classism vs racism) the word "community" kept getting used when referring to SWPD. I hadn't really thought about SWPD as being a community, but it is; there's plenty of us regulars. But it also highlighted something I've been thinking about for awhile, which is that the readers of SWPD are all people, above and beyond our work as anti-racists or anti-racist allies. Communities create bonds based on shared experiences and interests; we know we all share interest in anti-racism and a more equal world, but what do we share beyond that?

Maybe it's just because I grew up in the era of BBSes, when there was always an Introductions forum where people talked a little about themselves, but I'm really curious about my fellow commenters, and you as well. 

If you have a day when you need something light-hearted, I'd love to see an introductions post where people can share whatever they want to share. What's their family like? What music do they listen to? What's their happiest memory? What do they do all day? Do they have pets? Whatever they want. We all share anti-racism, but I bet if we got to know each other better we'd find that we have many more commonalities and shared interests than that. :)


Sounds good, and I'll start. I do have a pet, a dog -- and she's getting old! (10 years) That saddens me, and I think it's unfair that animals we get attached to usually age so much faster than we do. Speaking of animals, and fish, I grew up pursuing them so they could end up on our family's plates. I don't do that much anymore. I'll still eat them, though I do avoid consumption of industrialized animal products -- I know too much about what happens behind the scenes.

My tastes in music change all the time -- current faves include Amadou & Mariam, Radiohead (especially In Rainbows), Aphex Twin, Nina Simone, Crystal Castles, David Byrne, Yo La Tengo, Hank Williams, The Very Best, Boards of Canada, Manu Chao, Michachu, and others I'm forgetting.

I buy most of my groceries at a natural food co-op, I volunteer at a local program for prisoners, and I continually plan to get more involved locally (any day now!). I live in a neighborhood that's not completely white, but I do think it's whiter than it should be. I prefer to ride my bike whenever I can. I've lost the bug that I used to have for "travel," and I'm not entirely sure why.

Okay folks, your turn!