Nothing about us without us

9/19

There's large black bag on the steps. I expect to find food or maybe clothing left for the homeless people. But it's just paper. Just paper. 

Mim has come to talk about the boiler. The temperature has become fall cool here.You can feel the temparature inside the church begin to drop. It’s a reminder of the long cold winter we spent here.  We can’t do that again. Plus there’s the pressure from the city.  Is it possible at all to get one of the old ones fired up again? Can we move fast and get green at the same time?

We also can’t figure out why we can’t get a definitive response from the politicians.  There seems to be a lot of talking going on about us,  but not much with us.  I think of the saying I learned from disabilities acivists:  nothing about us without us. It fits a lot of situations. It’s that situation of power and privilege again that devalues the competency, the very worth of the other. 

It’s getting  late as we finish. The Dark Lady Players are arriving for their evening performance.  Katherine has come to join Mim.  John is very excited about the good press this production has ben getting.  Much as I’d like to see it again, it’s time to head home.