Meli

I’m your garden variety cis-gendered white woman with a lot of privilege. And to my shame, I had no idea the depth of struggling so many people deal with every single day. I thought I knew what racial inequality was, and I made an effort to treat people equally. I didn’t really understand the difference between equity and equality. The appalling thing is how blatantly obvious it is when you finally figure out the difference, and equally appalling, that even though I’m now not ignorant to the reality of it, I'm still discovering new places where it’s hiding in plain sight.

I grew up in a very wealthy, very white, very Christian, mid-western suburban neighborhood. The school system was excellent and was the reason why my parents chose to raise us there. We, however, were not wealthy. We were white, but I suspect not the right kind of white. Looking back, I realize that our neighbors and my friends' parents thought of us as “white trash”. My mother was a lapsed Catholic and my dad was a *gasp* Jew, although not a practicing one. We weren’t even really suburban, my parents, my older sister, and I were all born and lived in the “big city” until my sister and I started school. But that white suburban indoctrination definitely rubbed off on me.

So here I am actively trying to do better. My intention with this blog is to create a space in which I can work through my thoughts and ruminate on what I'm watching and listening to. This is actually the perfect creative outlet for me. I’m creative and crafty but tend to not make things because I’m also a minimalist and I have no idea what to do with the things I make. You can only foist so many homemade crafts off on your friends and family after you turn 12. I enjoy writing and drawing. I also enjoy coding and web design and dabble in graphic design, so this is the perfect arts and craft room where nothing actually exists, and I can virtually hoard to my heart's content.