Last week I went to a workshop on race and identity in the workplace, and the topic of microaggressions came up. Bias inside and outside the workplace is a very real thing today. However, most of these acts will not be direct and in your face, like someone saying a racial slur. Microaggressions are unintentional but continuously indirect remarks and acts against people of color.
For example, many white people always want to touch my hair or ask where I am really from. No, you can touch my fair and, yes, I was born and raised in the United States.
Instead of me explaining what this is, this video does a better job of doing it.
Last February my childhood friend Lauren brought up the idea of possibly going on a cross country trip with me and a couple of other mutual friends either later this year or next year. I have never gone on such an adventure before and was suddenly intrigued. In my line of work, I have been lucky to travel to dozens of countries around the world. However, I am a bit embarrassed to say that I have not done the same extent of travel within the country was born and raised in most of my life.
Also, after the November election, I have been doing a lot of reflection. I realize that I mostly work and live in the bluest cities in the bluest states in America and that I need to learn more about people and experiences in other parts of the country.
Instead of driving cross country in a car, Lauren wants to travel by Amtrak from Boston to Los Angeles or San Francisco. My only experience with Amtrak is traveling along the Northeast Corridor. I had never done any of the long distance routes before. Since I had to go Seattle and Los Angeles for business a couple of weeks ago, she suggested I take the Coast Starlight between the two cities as a “test” trip.
And, boy, did I have a great time! When they say the journey is the destination, they are not lying.
The train trip was the best part of the adventure. The Coast Starlight stops at all the major cities and towns along the west coast, like Portland, Sacramento, Emeryville (San Francisco), San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. I purchased the roomette (which I highly recommended) and had the first-class experience. I had the opportunity eat, sleep and enjoy the wonderful scenery along the 36-hour route. The Amtrak staff and the many people I met onboard were great. While I did travel mostly through Left Coast blue cities, I met a lot of great people from all over the country like Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Louisiana during the ride.
So, yes, I will be doing the cross country trip in the near future!
I also had time to catch up with some friends in Seattle and my bestie Charlotte, who owns a home on the beach in Santa Monica. Sweet! I created a short video of my whole trip below.
Here are some highlights from the trip and video:
Upon landing in Seattle, I took pictures of Mount Rainier and the Cascade Mountains from the plane.
I visited the Seattle Central Library – a beautiful building. If only all libraries could look this way.
I also visited the Uwajimaya Asian Grocery & Gift Market in Seattle’s International District. It is one of the largest Asian supermarkets in the country. Lots of wonderful food imported from all over Asia including American brands like green tea and strawberry flavored Kit Kats! They even have a whole aisle with just ramen – amazing!
I went on a three-hour walking tour of Seattle – one hour in Pike Place Market and two hours walking around the city. Our tour guide Shawn was awesome.
I visited the Museum of Pop Culture. Chris Cornell of Soundgarden had just died the day before and there was a huge retrospective memorial there honoring him. I also saw a Jimi Hendrix exhibit.
During the train ride, I saw the Cascade mountains again, as well as go through Willamette Valley. Down into California’s “Salad Bowl.” I eat a lot of salads while riding past lettuce fields in Salinas. Finally, I went along the along the beautiful southern California coast. I could have stepped off the train and into the Pacific Ocean if I wanted to (maybe not!)
Charlotte and I did a bus tour of Los Angeles, which included taking pictures with “Michael Jackson” at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
We went to Olvera Street, the oldest part of Los Angeles. Lots of great Mexican food (taquitos!) and culture. Then we took a quick detour into Chinatown for sweet bread and dim sum.
I visited the Santa Monica public library, which is gorgeous.
We then went to Venice Beach to watch street performers and saw “Slash” from Guns N Roses walk by.
A lot of jogging, volleyball and walking between Venice Beach and Santa Monica.
With all this talk about taking down memorials that celebrated Confederate generals, it is a good time to highlight historical sites and memorials that do need to be preserved. May is National Preservation Month, and now more than ever it is important to preserve our history because FACTS still matter in the country, regardless of what the Trump regime thinks.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently released its annual list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places to “spotlight important examples of the nation’s architectural and cultural heritage that were at risk of destruction or irreparable damage. Of the sites that appeared on the list since 1988, fewer than five percent have been lost.”
This list includes historical sites that tell America’s story. Here are some of them:
Penn School (South Carolina): the first school in the South designed to educate formerly enslaved Black students, now part of the Reconstruction Era National Monument.
Little Rock Central High School (Arkansas): where nine Black students known as the “Little Rock Nine” challenged angry White mobs in 1957 to desegregate the school per the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
Angel Island Immigration Station (California): the San Francisco Bay site where hundreds of thousands of Asian immigrants first entered the country between 1910 and 1940.
Nine MileCanyon (Utah): home to stone artwork and other relics of the Ute people, once threatened by chemical damage from nearby traffic.
I am starting a new feature here that highlights important figures in history everyone should know about – even certain people working for the Trump regime.
I’m a history buff, but I don’t claim to be an expert on American history. I try to continuously educate myself on a regular basis. I read a lot of books and I try to stay on top of current issues and how they reflect our collective knowledge. However, there are aspects of basic history that everyone should know, like who were Frederick Douglass or W.E.B. DuBois.
Funny how I learned about these two leading American figures when I attended a public, inner-city elementary school – a place DeVos abhors. So I am hoping this can be a learning experience for everyone, including myself.
With that being said, I am starting with Mary McLeod Bethune, an African-American educator who led the way for other black people to have access to equal education, something Education Secretary Betsy DeVos knows nothing about. Just a few weeks ago, DeVos said that “HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality.”
DeVos tried to backpedal when she also said at a luncheon that Mary McLeod Bethune started Bethune-Cookman University because traditional schools “systemically failed to provide African Americans access to a quality education.”
Totally clueless! It is no surprise DeVos would be booed at the school last week during its commencement.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were NOT created as a choice, but rather the only option, as African Americans were NOT allowed to attend most traditionally white schools until the end of segregation. But who cares about facts these days!
“One can not be fully free until you are educated.”
In case you are interested in facts, here is Mary Bethune’s story:
