MI Dems

One of the problems with the Democratic Party in Michigan is that it is cliquish. Case in point: The convention is brutal to novices. The convention is just a place where elected delegates go to be ignored.  People with disabilities get platitudes not inclusiveness. I was at this past convention and attended the disabilities caucus. Everywhere else the candidates for the head of the state party made big entrances to rally the votes. In the disability caucus they barely made an appearance. The party goes all out in support of the other caucuses but the disability caucus  is left on the outside looking in. I don't think the party needs to give up anything except the overwhelming condescension to new delegates and the disabled. I believe that this is the basic problem - a lack of true inclusiveness.  I know, for instance, that I will be shunned for even expressing this (of course it doesn't matter too much since the Party has never heard any thing I say). It SHOULD be possible to disagree without being shunned as a troublemaker.. The Democratic party in Michigan OUGHT to welcome different voices and points of view. The differences can make the the party stronger. Groups of any persuasion need to have unity in the midst of diversity.The diversity is the breath of fresh air required when a group or movement becomes too stodgy and set in it's ways. The trick is how to revive not revile.We will know that has happened when we can talk about differences and transform the sticking points into walking points.

Mea Culpa

I come in peace

with good intent

My bad behavior

I certainly lament.

"Mea Culpa,"

is my real plea

I was not thinking

as you can plainly see.

Please forgive me.

I don't deserve

but hope for mercy;

that peace can be preserved.

©2012 Cherie R. Boeneman

Face Your Fear

Why is it so hard for me

to be able to be seen

as capable in my own right

and valuable to a team?

Why is it so hard for you

to see here a real person,

not the weirdo you think I am, 

and that I can contribute too?

Why the discrimination?

What is it you're afraid of?

Who is it that's really challenged?

When will you see God's creation?

Stop! And look in the mirror;

ask yourselves all these questions.

What are the answers you're getting?

The circumstance should be clearer.

If you're honest with yourselves

you will have to acknowledge 

a form of stigma and bias

we've always known exists ourselves.

It's time to make a change here.

Please don't wait any longer.

Exclusion causes us great pain

and you need to move past the fear.

Non-Person

I am now a pale ghost

according to the Party.

I've been blocked by Democrats

on Facebook by the hosts.

I offered a critique

of how I was treated

A constructive appraisal -

You'd think I'd havoc wreaked.

They allow G.O.P

who are boisterous and rude,

but I'm a Party member,

kept under lock and key.

They won't answer appeals

questioning their stand;

They're acing like I am dead;

The protest is concealed.

This isn't new to me:

 My invisibility.

I've always been hard to see

to the powers that be.

What they want is some peace

to assist the elections.

What they get is more turmoil

Because I'll speak my piece.

©2012 Cherie R. Boeneman

Stand Up and Fight

The Democrats, I guessed
were more human than the G.O.P.
That was my first mistake.
People who differ are still oppressed.

When you dare raise your voice
you are shut down rudely and censored.
You are blocked from websites
and though a member given no choice.

What they do is brutal:
Ostracize and shun and ridicule.
They 'll intimidate you
any way they can, fighting futile.

Or so they will assume.
The truth is different than that, my friend.
You CAN resist and fight back, 
quite effectively, not in back rooms.

So learn to organize
and use their own tactics against them.
Be ready for their push back 
but that means you have gotten a rise.

You're making progress then:
if they spend time and money on you,
it is a good bet you are.
So you  keep at it, time and again.

Make big noise publicly
and people will begin to notice.
That is the last thing they want.
Become savvy politically

Democrats?

They violate their own standards,

Hypocrites every one.

They say they are for freedom

but censor critics: cowards.

Democrats, they proclaim themselves 

but stifle most dissent.

When loyal members berate them

their democracy dissolves.

It isn't pretty and not nice

what they do to members

who say what they're really thinking;

blocked and censored from advice.

It isn't bad to criticize

it is more loyal than

those who never speak up when wronged.

Why's critique politicized?