New Book about Gordon Hirabayashi, fascinating history of WWII antiwar movement, and accessibility tirade

No!

Uh-uh!

RantWoman would LOVE to be emanating grounded centeredness on par with Nelson Mandela or Gandhi, but she is NOT.

RantWoman MEANS simply to recommend a blog post and an interview pointing Friends to a new memoir about WWII anti-war activist Gordon Hirabayashi. But first, RantWoman needs to have an "I didn't tell you about my day" accessibility digression!

Wait! Hallelujah???

Hallelujah! You mean RantWoman gets to branch out? Instead of a couple weighty Friends missing something, now we see they have LOTS of company and it's other people's turn. RantWoman tried, albeit feebly, to labor with the authors of this year's State of the Meeting report about how they treat disability. RantWoman spoke about blindness and disability two Business Meetings in a row in her own Meeting and had the Recording Clerk record nary a word of RantWoman's concern. Instead, RantWoman heard complaints that she is taking up a lot of community time about a personal concern; RantWoman is unsure whether her point about a double-digit number of others suffering from various sever vision issues has sunk in--yet. Now, though, RantWoman gets to branch out to rail about every print-emanating, not ready for the 21st century corner of the Religious Society of Friends. Oh Hallelujah!


No! No! No! DO NOT send RantWoman to a certain online retailer to learn a brand new book is ONLY available in print, not in audio or any other electronic format! Oh wait, RantWoman should check out whether this one might get recorded as local interest through the Talking Book and Braille Library. / NLS In the meantime, RantWoman needs to finish her tantrum.


No. No. No! RantWoman wants to read the book. She wants to read the book in the format of her choice. RantWoman wants to read it NOW or at the same time as others without an extra round of waiting so an alternative format occurs. RantWoman does not (insert Bad Friend epithet of choice) CARE whether almost everyone who listens to her screen reader has to exclaim about how weird it sounds; a LOT of the time thtat's how RantWoman reads!

RantWoman darn well feels entitled to state her preferences / needs; for better or worse RantWoman has pretty limited experience with the God as personal butler model of Divine presence. She and everyone in her orbit may instead need just to COPE.

RantWoman KNOWS that in the hoary mists of pre-history before the invention of the Kindle, there were only books on tape, talking books, much less often Braille, assuming someone could read Braille in the first place, and having someone read the book aloud. When RantWoman is being honest, she has so little time for reading that MAYBE she should just be content absorbing the content of the book from what others read and say about it. Yeah, except the idea makes RantWoman feel like a baby bird getting fed its parents' predigested offerings.

If RantWoman really must fly off the handle about lack of alternative formats for a new book, it's possible that should be taken as a sign that RantWoman REALLY needs to chill out and figure out some way to interact with the book, like make everyone around her read it and discuss it in her presence. Good thing talking about privilege gets to be on the agenda as RantWoman's Meeting figures out whether and what to rename our Oversight Committee!


Oh wait, now what was the topic RantWoman had to have an "I didn't tell you about my day" accessibility digression from?

RantWoman is entranced by this interview with Lane Hirabyashi, nephew of Gordon Hirabayashi, a WWII-era anti-war activist and one of the best known resisters to the internment of Japanese Americans.

http://www.afsc.org/friends/fresh-voice-resistance-interview-lane-hirabayashi

The interview is in connection with the publication of a memoir, A principled Stand: the Story of Hirabayashi vs United States. The book draws heavily on Hirabayashi's letters as edited by his brother James and his nephew Lane. The interview talks about several ways the case was interwoven with the history of RantWoman's Meeting. RantWoman feels led also to speak to something in the comments.

RantWoman would REALLY like to read this book. Lather rinse, repeat that thought along with the comments above.

As long as RantWoman is casting about for the right giant spiritual chill pill, here is another reflection offered by another Friend from RantWoman's Meeting who also went to the White Privilege Conference. This Friend talked about going to a presentation by Mary Matsuda Gruenwald, author of Looking Like the Enemy. Matsuda Gruenwald talked about how one of the things that helped restore her sense of justice was many times being treated with dignity. The FBI agents who searched their house treated them with dignity. After the war when she went to nursing school somewhere inland, everyone there treated her with dignity. Hold that thought.