‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
Systemic Racism isn”™t the Problem
By MARTI MALTBY In the aftermath of George Floyd”™s death, I”™ve heard a lot about systemic racism. As far as I can tell, though, no one is saying anything new. I first heard of systemic racism in university over 25 years ago, and I”™ve heard it discussed consistently since then, and now I”™m hearing it discussed more loudly. Unfortunately, and tragically, discussing “systemic racism” misses the point. The system isn”™t an impersonal force. It is made and controlled by people, by us. But of course, some of us have more power and control over the system than others. Those (including me) who have power and privilege need to recognize their (our/my) power and privilege and then do something with it. Systemic racism (or whatever other impersonal term you want to use) shields them/us/me from personal responsibility for not doing what we can to change the system. So instead of discussing systemic racism, we/I need to [...]
Peace House Community”“A Place to Belong: Canadian Humor (which I spell “Humour”)
By MARTI MALTBY I decided that this month I wouldn”™t mention Coronavirus (it didn”™t take long for me to fail on that count, did it?) because it has dominated so much of the news that I wanted to give you a break from thinking about it. I hadn”™t fully grasped how pervasive Covid has become until I tried to come up with a topic for this column that didn”™t involve Coronavirus, and I failed. Every topic I thought of somehow came back to the pandemic. As I said, I wanted to give people a break from Coronavirus because of the negative effects the virus is having on our society. I was about to list some of them, but you are probably as aware of them as I am, and if I did list them I would fail even more spectacularly in my effort to give you a break from thinking about Coronavirus. The best I can do at this point is to offer an alternative to the bleak news, so below you will find links to videos of Canadian humor. I”™m [...]
Peace House Community “Poetical Picture Story”
“A Little United Nations” By MIKE HAZARD “As the person who has been at Peace House Community the longest (34 years), my heart is breaking,” emails Catherine Mamer. “Never did I think it would come to this, but I realized it was the only choice we had.” Peace House Community has had to close the doors for now to keep everyone at a safe distance. “What do I love about the Peace House Community? Almost everything,” enthuses Catherine. “I love that it is a little United Nations. Where can you find so many people of so much difference all together and getting along? I love that people are mostly respected and learn to care about one another. I love that people who have moved away come back and are so happy to see us still here. “I love that people write to us from prison and tell us how much they miss us and can”™t wait to come for coffee and meditation when they get out. I love meditation and that [...]
