Time to Humanize the United States
We're ready for a new American era
Dear Ones,
An election is just one event.
How we live together, day-to-day, is far more powerful.
Some words below on how I suggest we live together, going forward…
With Love,
Cecelia 💗
There’s a reason we’re centering humanity here at .
Yes, it seems basic.
And no, it’s not something we humans do well.
We really need to work on this.
I mean, that’s… odd, right?
We’re human.
And yet we struggle SO much to center humanity — our own humanity… and that of others, particularly when those others are different from us in some way.
Why?
Here’s my perspective: everything about how this world conditions us, from the moment we are born, trains us to de-humanize ourselves.
We are taught that our feelings aren’t important.
We are taught to deny our needs.
We are taught to ignore ourselves.
We are taught that only our looks matter.
We are taught that our value is in what a few designated people tell us it is.
We are taught to prioritize whatever is external to us, rather than what is internal — to make decisions that those outside us approve, to dress how those around us dress, to speak and think how those around us do.
We are taught that our body as it is — whether its length, its width, its hair, its skin, or otherwise — is not acceptable, that we need to spend our time and energy changing it from what it is in order to be acceptable.
We are trained in so many ways, like this…
… and then, of course, we turn around and do it to others.
We have special names for this de-humanization happening in different contexts, with different people. At its core, though, the de-humanization is the same.
Patriarchy is the de-humanization of all who are not male/masculine.
Racism is the de-humanization of anyone with dark skin — and generally the darker the skin, the less human that human gets to be, while the lighter the skin, the more human that human is.
White Supremacy, racism’s close cousin, expressly wields the powers of supremacy and domination to prioritize Whiteness and its ways, over every other race or ethnicity — and their chosen ways of being.
Homophobia is the de-humanization of anyone who doesn’t fit the mold of a romantic partnership between one man and one woman.
Transphobia is some of the most de-humanizing de-humanization there is, because not only are trans folks told they are less human than others, and treated as such, they are usually told that they don’t even have a right to exist at all.
Ableism dismisses and de-humanizes people who are at all disabled in their ability to see, hear, walk, think, manage their energy, regulate their mood, plan and execute their lives, etc. without any kind of extra help. This one kind of boggles the mind, because if we’d just build a world that works for, and honors and considers, those who are disabled… we’d all be better off, per the curb-cut effect.
Coloniality continues to de-humanize indigenous peoples and indigenous ways of being, often advancing the false truth that indigenous people were “savages” that were conquered by “heroes” long ago — rather than the truth that they are fully human, are still here, have always been here, and their sovereignty over their land and nations has been consistently disregarded, stripped, and stomped upon.
Imperialism rampant in our world advances the lie that countries that don’t have our culture and priorities are “third-world” or “developing” or “shit-holes” — rather than the well-developed and uniquely rich societies they are.
Ageism advances a narrow window of ages that are considered valid, desirable, fully human. Functionally, this means that, for most of your human life, you’re either “too young” or “too old” — and you’re definitely not respected and/or valued if you’re either of these extremes.
Expertise, at least the way we define it within our dominant culture, is de-humanizing because it lifts up, as more worthy, those who have expensive degrees from special academic institutions, and it doesn’t even acknowledge the significant expertise gleaned from other life experiences. Book-based knowing is considered the only real kind of knowing there is… and all those with other kinds of knowing are considered “not smart” and definitely not expert, even if that assumption is not spoken explicitly.
Capitalism is de-humanizing to us all in that, for any and all of us that live within its system, we are treated as commodities (a.k.a. “human resources”) from which value is extracted, and we are trained to believe that our only value is in our productivity, most definitely not something inherent in our beings.
Christian Hegemony is de-humanizing in that only a narrow band of Christianity is concerned moral, ethical, “right” — and every other kind of Christian, and every other religion or spirituality… is considered sub-par, or confused, or in need of “saving,” not to mention those who don’t believe in God at all, or just aren’t sure what to believe.
Here’s a tough one, especially for folks who may agree with most of what I said above:
Progressivism has a way of de-humanizing those who have joined the MAGA movement. Yes, we need to hold these humans accountable where they may be de-humanizing others… but we cannot let that turn into its own kind of de-humanization. People are persuaded to join a movement like that because it’s somehow meeting one or more of their human needs. Our task is to understand what those are… and how we can help meet them in a more life-giving way.
De-humanization is… everywhere.
We humans do this to each other all the time, in so many ways.
Enough.
Enough of this being our shared reality.
Time for us to humanize ourselves.
Time for us to humanize each other.
Time for us to humanize our country.
Time for us to humanize our world.
What might that look like?
Here’s what I think.
That would look like every human — no matter what they look like, who they love, what gender they are, what they do or don’t do for work, where they live, who they vote for — has inherent dignity. They don’t have to do anything to earn it. And the rest of us humans around them feel a sense of solidarity with them, being at the ready to help them, to be there for them, whenever they needed.
There would not be any more inequity, because we’d all understand that we were in this together, and we’d behave that way.
We would stop being so shallow with each other. We’d delve deeper, seeing the being within each body, and honoring that being as the miracle it is.
We’d love each other.
And there are so many ways to define love like this, but I especially want to put forward a definition from Dr. Cornel West today.
Justice is what love looks like in public, just like tenderness is what love feels like in private.
- Dr. Cornel West
In our shared life together in this country, we must seek justice.
And in our quiet moments together, we must be tender with each other.
Love in public.
Love in private.
Love will be our way to move through life together.
Because do we really want to live our whole human lives here creating and spreading anything but love?
I sure don’t think so.
So.
Now’s the time to be human together in this country — within our own selves, with those closest to us, and with those who are strangers to us.