five little things that made my week.
1. these sedum 
{for lasting so long.}
2. this coverup.
{because sometimes you just hafta cover up the warning tag.}
3. these new rugs.
{more soon, but i couldn’t not share.}
4. this curtain.
{and a new maybe-solution.}
5. this cord again.
{i was so reluctant to get an air conditioner, but this week, i’m only grateful.}
other things:
the home is saturated with stunning mementos of black life.
improving, evolving, moving forward, inspiring, teaching, and learning.
11 Comments
Hi, Erin, I come from a small European country and might not fully understand the whole situation re: race in US, and we definitely have our own ghosts to deal with, and, of course, I don’t want to step on any toes, so if this never appears here I will fully understand.
I have been thinking a lot about the dolls, which have popped up even in my little country among more liberal parents, even though the population is 99,9% white and we don’t have your historical background. So I have been wondering if isn’t it quite a fetishistic and insensitive notion- white toddlers playing with dark skinned dolls? I’m happy about the representation in the toy industry, but having read up and being a devoted listener to such podcasts as Another Round and TAK, who talk about such subjects as fetishization of black bodies, I can’t help but wonder. And I remember the controversy caused by Australian blogger mom, who some years ago let her little kid play with one of the antique toys found in attic, that had an unfortunate links with racist history (I think it was a drummer monkey?), so what’s the line here?
And I repeat again- I might miss/not fully understand your social and cultural cues, so this is in no way meant as an attack.
Thank you.
Hey! I think it’s great for kids to be able to see all kinds of folks represented in the books they read, the toys they play with, and the movies they watch—in addition to interacting with all kinds of folks in their daily lives! Lots of readers of this blog are also black and other people of color—so it’s great for the kids of those folks to see themselves reflected in toys, too. There’s certainly a complicated history of racist toys, dolls, and figurines, and I don’t mean to downplay that, but I do think this is another example of why it’s so crucial to have open, honest, anti-racist talks with kids from an early age.
Here’s some more doll-related context! http://www.raceconscious.org/2016/12/white-bias-dolls-helping-children-create-meaning-around-race-gender/
Thank you for the reply! Definitely a food for thought.
This article reminds me of our first doll for our daughter. Similar to the writer’s experience, a relative got confused with online shopping and sent a Black doll. We kept her, and we then got a white doll later on. So, my daughter had both dolls and never once seemed to even notice the difference. I love that children just accept that not everything has to be the same and continue on without skipping a beat. Incidentally, I bought my son a boy doll, and the friend who was with me at the time was quite concerned that I was encouraging him to ‘be gay.’ He’d shown interest in my daughter’s dolls, so I figured he should have one to care for himself. You can’t imagine the furor this caused among some of my friends and relatives. It was surprising and a little disturbing to find out what people deem ‘right’ in terms of a simple childhood playmate.
Sedum! I’ve got a little patch of earth to grow things in for the first time in my adult life, and I planted some of this. I have a perpetual black thumb, but so far so good; a little water daily and it’s happy.
I have been a follower for quite sometime. I thoroughly enjoy this blog. Simplicity at it’s best xx
I absolutely adore this series and I absolutely adore the rugs and curtain ♥
I really enjoyed the article about platonic “girlfriends” and the impact that has on queer women. I definitely identified with some of those experiences, and I really appreciated the author’s incredibly smart writing on the subject.
May I ask if your crystal candlestick lamp came that way or if you bought some sort of conversion kit? I have an antique crystal candlestick that was my great grandmother’s and this would be a great way to make it a bit more useful. Thank you in advance!
I believe my grandmother made the lamp with the help of a kit many many years ago.
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