I don’t think for a moment that Native Americans all got along with each other before the white man, evil or otherwise, got here. That certainly isn’t where my naivete lies. And that’s wasn’t my intent as I pondered what was on my mind as I started putting words together for a conference on California history where I was invited to write a poem. I wrote in behalf of a way of thinking, an approach to living, ideas for one to consider among other philosophies, ideas We the People might look at as we work on making our society better. I wrote with the passion that resides in my 74 year old soul, the passion that was born out of my experiences and thoughts having lived in a Jim Crow world, my childhood and early adulthood in Tucson – out of wanting to change that world. I certainly don’t know a lot of things but I do know that I didn’t make it this far in life and turn out as a loving and caring (that makes me “nice” I guess) human being through being “naive.” It’s an experience wherein one learns a lot about thinking critically.
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