Awareness and the lack thereof . . .

In the Monday mailbox . . .

As the American Civil War drew to a close after Lee's surrender of his forces to Grant (yesterday in 1895), southern politicians continued to espouse the belief that white men were a “superior race.,” and within that superior race, some men were better than others. A significant number of Americans today – estimates at high as 30% – still believe this anti-democratic assertion, ignorant and opposed to both the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution.

Just because our world doesn't treat women better, it doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't feel good about them. An implicit bias in favor of women is shaping our world view. Don't take my word for it.

Society teaches us, from a young age, that our bodies are a great source of shame and guilt, so why would we want to talk about that? Even worse, the medical community has further stigmatized normal sexual desires and practices, pathologizing them simply because they deviate from what is socially acceptable to acknowledge. – Dr. Jolene Brighten

Novelists and poets are always calling our attention to things that matter. They often zero in on truth, even when expressing it in myth and metaphor. One such writer is writer Anne Lamott, who was born on this day in 1954 San Francisco.

And then, there's Emily Dickinson, whose birthday is in December, but who is on my mind this morning, thanks to Maria Shriver.

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul

and sings the tune without the words

and never stops at all.

– Emily Dickinson