From your blog:
>Q: Who do you think you are?
>A: I’m Mark Justice Hinton. Read every word to learn more about me.

Well Mark, I have. Hmmm, another left-over sixties activist still hiding out hoping the revolution will still come.

Regards,
MR

Odds are that your grandparents didn’t go to college, or that your grandfather did and your grandmother didn’t. Surely, your grandfather had a job outside the home and more than likely your grandmother did not. Now, you probably don’t know anyone who can’t get an education or hope for any career they choose.

You probably don’t know anyone who died of a botched illegal abortion.

You probably know someone who is gay and open about it. Someday, the brutal murders of people like Matthew Sheppard will seem as ancient as the common public lynchings of blacks barely a generation ago.

You’ve never seen a Whites Only sign except in a museum or history book.

Chances are good that some female or person of color has rank over you professionally. That didn’t happen 40 years ago. Everywhere you go, people who are not exactly like you have exactly the same freedom. It hasn’t always been so.

I don’t know why you disdain me, but I’m especially puzzled by your confusion: there was a successful revolution — it changed everything for millions of people. I’m not waiting for that, just for the final passing of reactionaries who think tax cuts for the rich are as great an accomplishment. mjh

PS: Thanks for reading every word I’ve written.

I like the simplest definition of a weed: a plant you don’t want growing where it grows.

My wife, Merri, is not only a great gardener, she is also a great weeder. I lack the energy. I think, hell, if it made it there, give it a chance. Almost anything is preferable to the zero-scape of gravel.

So, perhaps I’m the only person in Albuquerque who enjoyed the lush mustard growth brought on by extra rain (some call it London Rocket, a very odd name). I thought it was quite pretty.

Sure, I understand there are genuinely noxious plants, like the beautiful-until-it’s-too-late foxtail, the goatheads, and the water-sucking tamarisk. I understand the “exotics,” the imports, can completely overrun the natives, but we do that ourselves as people — who are we to judge the weeds. Ripping out what grows naturally seems futile. Try leaving something alone now and then. mjh

Fellow blogger Karlos Schmieder asked a question recently:
Is the Blogosphere Racist?

Can we agree on what the blogosphere is? It is not an organization with a leader or central committee (the Web and the Internet are such entities). The blogosphere is a disorganized, organic assembly of people. Which is not to say it cannot be racist — a crowd, a mob, a gang can all be racist.

I think it is fair to define the blogosphere as the creation of those who write and read blogs. To put it in sharper focus: are you and I racist?

No one would be shocked if a middle-aged liberal American straight white male concluded “no, we’re all cool here.” Still, I am entitled to my opinion (and I am so much more than a few obvious facets). I think people are seldom all good or bad — in spite of the examples we can all bring up. Human beings are a mixture of things wonderful and horrible and that mixture is in flux. Regardless of the things we see as dividing us into sub-groups, we are all human beings. We all have the capacity for racism and all of the evils of our kind. Thankfully, we all have the capacity for empathy and love and all of the good of our kind.

I believe one of the things that raised the question was some evidence that the blogosphere is composed of mostly white Americans. And, because the blogosphere is built around links, whites linking to whites — whites not linking to others — may be evidence of racism.

The World Wide Web is about 17 years old. The blogosphere is at most 10. The early days of both were only of interest to nerds, techies, scientists and academics. Gradually, more and more people have fallen under the spell of technology. As more people become involved, the Web becomes more diverse. It is inevitable that it will reflect us perfectly, warts and all.

Anyone can start a blog in 5 minutes. It is far easier than creating a website, not much harder than email. Sure, you need access to a computer and Internet connection (public library); you need some basic skills (public schools); you need to be beyond worrying about surviving poverty (public policies).

There is no question that human beings are hostile to some and generous to others and that as we clump together those feelings aggregate. We are all part of a society that discriminates and is at times racist. We should not deny that nor simply accept that. But one of the things that reminds us we’re all one people is contact, and the Internet has revolutionized contact. Everyone should take advantage of that and contribute to that. Put your life out there. Share. Listen. Empathize. mjh

Start your own blog here:
www.blogger.com