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A matter of perspective [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-06-01

We spent 3 or 4 days talking about language on this platform, how we should adapt our language so average voter, could be reached through words, we debated the merits, the efficacy, the logic, the pros and the cons behind all that… it was never suggested that we simply do not address the average voter, some did suggest they couldn’t be reached because of one factor or another, but being unreachable and not being reached out to, not the same thing. Yet, when I addressed a point yesterday about how Black folks perceive the way they are talked to by certain candidates, the phrase the rising tide lifts all boat, in one form or another was consistently present during the exchanges. And let us be clear, the message was: we don’t need to address Black folks directly because a rising tide lifts all boats.

And that’s the issue right there. Because no one in either exchange even noticed the way they instinctively addressed the same issue for two different audiences. So I thought today I would address perspectives.

We don’t view life the same way and more importantly, we don’t experience life the same way. Sometimes people think they know what you’re talking about based on their own experiences and well they don’t. Example, when I say I’m allergic to mosquitoes, lots of people will tell me yes me too, I get itchy, a red bump… but when I say I’m allergic to mosquitoes, I mean I get a severe reaction to a mosquito bite… see pic. It is not the same thing as most people.

Same goes for almost anything in life, we can have similar experiences yet still have different perspectives on them because of other experiences. Yesterday was an example for me, because of people’s past experiences on this platform on a subject, their reaction to my addressing this topic was viewed through their past experiences of said topic. And once I understood this, it was fine, meaning I got why they were reacting that way even if I didn’t approve and I let it go; stopped replying.

However, my takes are my own, as I’ve said countless times already on this platform. They are my thoughts and my opinions on stuff that I’ve perused during the day. And those thoughts and opinions are informed by my perspective which is that of a Black woman, who is 58 years old, who has spent half of her life in the US and half in Haiti. All my experiences in life are under the umbrella of being Black.

Most Black folks will tell you, that as a Black person one has to learn not only Black culture but white culture too. Which is something white people don’t have to learn because the culture isn’t built around Black folks it’s built around white folks. From clothing, food, make up, schools, history, health, etc… everything is targeted to fit white people it is not an attack it is a fact. Yes, there have been improvements but for the most part it is still true.

That’s why it’s easier for us to understand how you think, than vice versa. We grew up reading your books, watching your movies, series, news, listening to your music along with ours in that case… that way we learned the ways of your minds. Most of you do not immerse yourselves in Black culture, reading black authors, or watching Black podcasters (not those on MSM, but on Black networks where they are free to speak as Black anchors). At most you will listen to our music, but while you understand the words, the meaning of them is often lost on you.

The divide between us will not shrink until you are as aware of our culture as we are of yours. Until you also learn how we think and how we feel. Don’t just listen to our music, study the lyrics as you study poems and literature, read our books, not just the Martin Luther King jr’s and Malcom X but the new ones that give our perspectives on how we view life today.

But most of all I wish you’d listen to us, not with the growing attitude that I see a lot of, like you’re being chastised or attacked or called out, but rather as if you’re being told a story, being asked to understand. We would like you to understand where we are coming from.

#TheAmericanHaitianPoet #Woke #SocialPoetry

paypal.me/murielvieux to help

#ThePoet - Muriel Vieux – June 1st, 2025, ©All rights reserved

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