judgement and action

forgive me for judging...
i am starting to think that a ple for people whose awareness about social justice issues is high centers around action. or lack of action to be precise. for a socially-aware person, the perfectly logical explanation for inaction is the simple fact that they are aware. somehow having heightened awareness and knowledge of information about the world is enough.
if ignorance is not an excuse, then when you do know (when awareness/knowledge is present), inaction is not an excuse either.
try telling a police officer after being pulled over: "i didn't know that was a law." that is not a valid excuse for breaking the law. furthermore, when you do know the law and are pulled over for breaking it, whose responsibility is that?
knowledge alone does not solve problems. in the case of being pulled over, knowledge that the law exists does not mean you follow the law. with social justice, knowing the "laws," or statistics, experiences, cycles of oppression does not mean that you are affecting social justice change.

yesterday i had started this same blog but it came out much more angry than now. and, in a very me fashion, riddled with pointed questions that i would never actually ask someone. just think and occasionally write.
i do think, however, it is important to share a little of where i was at yesterday when i sat down to type my thoughts...
please practice what you preach.
help me understand the gaping hole between what you say and what you do.
why is it that you say you understand about sweatshops, but make no effort to not buy their clothes? what is the knowledge worth then? show me. show the clothing manufacturers. show the workers behind the clothes. show your values. show how knowledge affects your choices. make new choices.
you want to know what you can do?!? use your knowledge! think critically AND act critically. have your actions connect directly to your thoughts. my gosh. is it really that difficult to figure out what to do?


help me understand how you can expect respect, but have no idea how to demonstrate it? how can you expect something you don't really understand yourself? the congruence of expectation and demonstration should be apparent. i can show you respect when you can also show it.


how can you say you want an advanced version of a training when you can't say one thing you gained from it in the first place? i have to say, as a trainer, this is frustrating. what it sounds like you are saying was those few hours you and i both spent were pointless. what value was your time if you did not gain something? then, you have the gall to request a more advanced training on the same topic? why would i waste my time on developing, planning, and implementing it when there is a possibility you will disregard it as well?

don't tell me something is broken when you have the knowledge and tools to fix it. freaking fix it yourself, then tell me you fixed it.