Privilege... A Five Minute Friday post.

I couldn't not show up at ALL last night over on the Twitter, but I had been battling a migraine all day long. My day was full of good things - but oh so bossy, and so by the time I sat myself down in this chair, in front of this screen --well, my body was ready to just shut. it. down. man! So I said a quick hello, and went to a darker room and (mostly) closed my eyes for the evening! I woke up feeling MUCH better, praise God!

The Five Minute Friday community is the best gathering of Flashmob writers around!  We wait for the one word prompt and we throw caution and hesitation and editing to the wind, and we let our fingers fly and our feelings feel and we just wait and see what flows out in five minutes (or so! Because, grace!) and we hit Publish without second guessing or backspacing! Our one word prompt is: PRIVILEGE! 

{GO}

I see the word and catch my breath... because, of course!

This is a current buzzword that can stir up passion and debate and even if as it is uncomfortable, it is so important!

Sadly, it was only a few years ago that my eyes began to truly open.

I honestly didn't know... I very likely could have sided with many who continue now to say that White Privilege is not even a thing --at least not for them. 

As I wrote about in 2014 in a post titled #GoingThere (thanks to posts and in real life conversations with my friend Deidra Riggs), "Ignorance is Bliss only for the Ignorant!" and I went on to acknowledge that was me... I was ignorant...

I went on to write:

"That is when it started to dawn on me... that is how I started to realize that we are partly to blame. 

We, the ignorant.  The ones who don't know.  

I am a (lower-)middle class white woman, born and raised in a small agricultural Republican/conservative town.  Sure, we have race issues. Mostly they are based around immigrant workers and illegal aliens and gangs.  We have a lot of cultures in this area, but because of my experience, (Read: lack thereof) I really thought things had gotten better. 

I think they have. I hope so anyway... I pray that they have... But then we see #Ferguson and we think, "How can this be happening?" and it seems like it is coming out of the blue, if not out of the 1950's and it doesn't feel like real life.  

Not to us. The ignorant. The far removed.

(The white.)

But we can think that it doesn't look or feel like real life because we are ignorant and we don't know.  We are segregated and we never even noticed."

And it's true. I hadn't really noticed. I mean, there were moments of clarity that my neighborhood/church/gym/grocery store was pretty white. My daughters school district, West Valley, was often referred to as White Valley by the kids. 

We are privileged.

I think for many the disconnect is how much we marry Privilege with Wealth.

I am in no way wealthy. 

In fact, the only way we could get our girlie into that 'White Valley' school district is because we rent an apartment. We can't afford a house in this area, but we have lived here for over twenty years. 

We are like many - no matter what color of skin - who live blessed, but paycheck to paycheck, with a lot of budgeting and praying in between!

I think many people hear privilege and they think people are assuming because they are white, they have more money. 

No.

What White Privilege means is that we have been given more opportunity.  

It's not necessarily even our fault. 
It is a world that we inherited. 

But if we do nothing to change it... 
well then, there is where fault may find us.

Y'all know how I love me some definitions!

This is how Webster defines Privilege:

: a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others

: a special opportunity to do something that makes you proud

: the advantage that wealthy and powerful people have over other people in a society

So there it is... and right in the middle is the kind of Privilege I intend to grab hold of with both hands and give away! 

We've been given the privilege --a special opportunity-- to do something that can make us proud!

It makes me think of  the ringmaster in The Butterfly Circus... (You thought I was going to say The Greatest Showman! I know, I know!)

The Butterfly Circus is all about seeing beyond limitations and overcoming... it's about knowing your real identity and embracing who you are.

No matter the color of our skin... I pray our hearts beat to the rhythm of HIS, and we learn to use our privilege to Unite instead of divide!

{STOP}

So I wanted to include the short film, The Butterfly Circus. It's about twenty minutes, but SO WORTH your time... whether you have seen it or not, I invite you to watch it again!

"What this world needs is a little wonder!" 

"The greater the struggle, the more glorious the 

triumph!"

                                                      ~from The Butterfly Circus

I also wanted to include a link to ONE by Deidra Riggs. 
(Because, of course!)

I know this is hard... even still... but it's such an important conversation to be willing to have. To be willing to listen to and learn. 

I think often the uneasiness is feeling like you have to talk. 
I promise you, you do not. 

Listening is what is needed and most beneficial,
--at least in the beginning!

Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about: "PRIVILEGE"

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!

Photo's courtesy of Anton Strogonoff.

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer communities linked below:

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Barbie Swihart for #Glimpsesofhisbeauty

Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory

Have you #gonethere in your heart, home, or community? 

Are you intentional in bridging the gap and adding diversity into your circles? (If so, give us some tips!)