The most important thing I think we can do is be open minded. And by that, i don't mean being pure or free from all ignorance or bias. I mean opening the mind to new ideas and ways of thinking that may make us confront that ignorance or bias. As a black man, I've had my full measure of bigotry in my life. I thank God, however, that I am black, because in my case it made me realize just how hateful prejudice is. So i have my whole life forced myself to look at my own biases and confront them. When i've found within myself feelings that I can't justify holding, I force myself to look at them and change, to deprogram myself, as you said. I personally consider it one of my greatest strengths.
One thing John Edwards said that I respect was around the issue of gay marriage. He was asked if he thought gay marriage was okay. Edwards replied, "I'm not all the way there yet where I can say unequivocably 'yes', but I'm getting there". Despite his own issues (and what irony that a man has issues with same-sex marriage when his heterosexual piccadilloes violate Christian/human morality so blatantly) I respect that statement. I respect that he's honest enough to say "I have some biases here, I recognize they need to change, it's hard for me to change, but I am actively working to do so". In my years I've had a bazillion conversations with prejudiced, ignorant whites. I've had whites approach me with all sorts of arguments, questions, theories. The one thing I've always said to those who want to engage me in conversations on race is "If you have honest questions, ask them. I won't judge you because maybe you just weren't taught any better. But I need you to have an open mind and *listen* to what I say. If you just want to argue your views with me, I'm not interested. But if you really are willing to listen, willing to realize how you see things may be incomplete, then we can talk about anything under the Sun. Otherwise i'm not interested in just getting into another pointless argument on race". I'm trying to do that here where I learn more about this topic from your point of view, so thanks for the patience, forbearance, and information. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Adrianne Brennan" <adrianne.bren...@gmail.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, April 4, 2010 1:09:32 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: "True Blood" Star Pacquin Comes Out on Video Everyone's got biases, prejudices, and misconceptions based on one thing or another. I do my level best to be aware of them when I find them and try to deprogram myself if I can. To be perfectly free from them is pretty hard. The best you can do is just be self-aware and examining, and not everyone can handle that. Which, quite frankly, is a shame. ~ "Where love and magic meet" ~ http://www.adriannebrennan.com Experience the magic of the Dark Moon series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#darkmoon Dare to take The Oath in this erotic fantasy series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#the_oath The future of psychic sex - Dawn of the Seraphs (m/m): http://www.adriannebrennan.com/dawnoftheseraphs.html On Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 10:22 AM, Keith Johnson < keithbjohn...@comcast.net > wrote: I agree that labels are really silly. As a black man who grew up in the late '60s and '70s, I was always labeled: by whites who wanted to put me in a box to judge me (as either not as good as them, or, when I proved to be, as simply a darker version of them), or by blacks who saw me as not "black enough" because I loved Star Trek, comics, etc. I've had people start arguments with me saying, "Are you Black or are you an American?" I say "both". So I can relate to what you're saying there. Once a label is slapped on you, people then bring a preconceived set of notions of how you should act. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Adrianne Brennan" < adrianne.bren...@gmail.com > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, April 2, 2010 8:05:58 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: "True Blood" Star Pacquin Comes Out on Video Not really. The spectrum of human sexuality is just far too broad, and this is why I personally *HATE* labels. I don't date nor am attracted to people based on gender; I'm attracted to them based on them as a person and their personality. Ever hear of the Kinsey scale? And not to get too controversial, but I suspect the default sexuality IS bisexual and the rest is personality/environmental factors/genetic makeup/culture. ~ "Where love and magic meet" ~ http://www.adriannebrennan.com Experience the magic of the Dark Moon series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#darkmoon Dare to take The Oath in this erotic fantasy series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#the_oath The future of psychic sex - Dawn of the Seraphs (m/m): http://www.adriannebrennan.com/dawnoftheseraphs.html On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 7:42 PM, Kelwyn < ravena...@yahoo.com > wrote: I think it is ridiculous that people who have a distinct but not exclusive preference for one sex over the other may still identify themselves as bisexual. Since sexual attraction captures the richness of erotic sensations, affection, admiration in addition to sexual arousal, we could all be classified as "bi-sexual." ~(no)rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , Adrianne Brennan <adrianne.bren...@...> wrote: > > Disappointed why? She's *bi*. They should already be disappointed given > she's engaged to the guy who plays Bill Compton!! > > ~ "Where love and magic meet" ~ > http://www.adriannebrennan.com > Experience the magic of the Dark Moon series: > http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#darkmoon > Dare to take The Oath in this erotic fantasy series: > http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#the_oath > The future of psychic sex - Dawn of the Seraphs (m/m): > http://www.adriannebrennan.com/dawnoftheseraphs.html > > > On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 1:27 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...>wrote: > > > > > > > Didn't know or even suspect this about Pacquin. I'm sure there will be a > > lot of disappointed men out there now! > > > > As for Ricky Martin: file it in the "Worst Kept Secret" folder. I think > > Clay Aiken's dossier was already in there... > > > > > > > > *************************************************** > > > > > > 'True Blood' Star Anna Paquin Uses Surprising Medium to Reveal Sexual > > Orientation By Mike Ryan | Thursday, April 1, 2010, 5:04 PM > > > > > > Anna Paquin > > Jordan Strauss/WireImage > > > > Hot on the heels of Ricky Martin's announcement< > > http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/stopthepresses/132331/ricky-martin-i-am-a-fortunate-homosexual-man/ > > >on his personal blog that he's gay, "True > > Blood < http://tv.yahoo.com/true-blood/show/39147 >" star Anna Paquin< > > http://tv.yahoo.com/anna-paquin/contributor/29335 > used > > an unusual medium< http://omg.yahoo.com/news/anna-paquin-i-m-bisexual/38428 > > >of her own to announce that she is bisexual. > > > > > > > > Alongside celebrities such as Elton John< > > http://tv.yahoo.com/elton-john/contributor/59894 >, > > Clay Aiken < http://tv.yahoo.com/clay-aiken/contributor/1207678 >, and > > Wanda > > Sykes < http://tv.yahoo.com/wanda-sykes/contributor/52103 >, Paquin > > declared > > her sexual orientation< > > http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/03/exclusive-true-blood-star-reveals-true-self-anna-paquin-says-shes-bisexual > > >in a public service announcement for Cyndi > > Lauper < http://tv.yahoo.com/cyndi-lauper/contributor/37182 >'s Give a Damn > > Campaign < http://www.wegiveadamn.org/upgrade/ >, which promotes equality > > for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Two videos were > > shot in Los Angeles on January 30 and were released April 1 at 9 a.m. EST. > > > > > > What makes 27-year-old Paquin's spot particularly surprising is that, > > unlike some of the other openly gay celebrities involved in the campaign, > > the actor had never before discussed being bisexual. According to > > RadarOnline.com, even people at the shoot were surprised when Paquin made > > the revelation. > > > > > > > > A second PSA features "Sex and the City< > > http://tv.yahoo.com/sex-and-the-city/show/205 >" > > actor Cynthia Nixon < http://tv.yahoo.com/cynthia-nixon/contributor/771088 > > >(who came > > out in 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Nixon >), Jason Mraz, > > Kim > > Kardashian < http://tv.yahoo.com/kim-kardashian/contributor/2220832 >, and > > Sharon < http://tv.yahoo.com/sharon-osbourne/contributor/790868 > and Kelly > > Osbourne < http://tv.yahoo.com/kelly-osbourne/contributor/790850 >. > > > > Paquin follows an interesting trend of celebrities forgoing the traditional > > "coming out" People magazine interview -- à la Clay Aiken and Lance Bass< > > http://tv.yahoo.com/lance-bass/contributor/49638 >-- and instead > > controlling the message themselves. Ricky Martin buried his > > announcement at the bottom of an otherwise banal blog post, and now Paquin > > is using her announcement to drive attention to a cause she supports. So > > much attention, in fact, that servers at wegiveadamn.org crashed shortly > > after< > > http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/04/video-gay-rights-website-crashes-after-anna-paquin-bisexual-bombshell > > >the news broke of Paquin's statement. > > > > > > > > Paquin -- who at age 11 became the second-youngest Oscar winner in history > > when she won for best supporting actress for "The Piano" -- has been > > notoriously shy about discussing her private life and has never before > > discussed her sexuality. In 2007, she was romantically linked< > > http://omg.yahoo.com/news/anna-paquin-i-m-bisexual/38428 >with actor Kieran > > Culkin < http://tv.yahoo.com/kieran-culkin/contributor/32918 >. In August > > 2009, she and "True Blood" costar Stephen Moyer< > > http://tv.yahoo.com/stephen-moyer/contributor/44265 >announced their > > engagement. > > > > > > > > The Give a Damn campaign is part of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Fund (named > > after her popular 1986 song and album). Lauper is currently promoting the > > cause< > > http://www.nbc.com/the-apprentice/contestants/cyndi-lauper/charity.shtml > > >during her turn on the Donald > > Trump < http://tv.yahoo.com/donald-trump/contributor/1028501 >-judged show > > "Celebrity > > Apprentice < http://tv.yahoo.com/the-apprentice/show/35539 >." > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo ! Groups Links http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ (Yahoo! ID required)
