Kimberley Ash
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Walking the halls of my alma mater--virtually

6/24/2020

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Funny how you don't think you have certain connections, but all it takes is reaching out and people are happy to hear from you? I thought that my undergraduate university, Queen Mary in London, where I met some of my bestest friends and, oh yes, my husband, would be firmly in my rear view mirror--or I'd be in theirs. But they've done a profile of me in their Alumni blog! Have a look!

https://www.qmul.ac.uk/alumni/blog/items/alumni-profile----vicky-norton.html
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Pretty sure I didn't get to learn in this building. Sensibly, they tore down our halls of residences after we left and built much nicer ones along the canal. Still, it was a cool place.
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Juneteenth

6/19/2020

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​Forgive my blather but I can’t just say “Happy Juneteenth” and walk away.
 
I have trouble saying “Happy” Juneteenth. God knows people of African descent in the U.S. deserve all the respect in the world for what they have accomplished in the 155 years since this bare minimum of decency was afforded them. But they have had to accomplish all those things despite the concerted efforts of white people in power to stop them, beginning with the tiniest of microaggressions up to and including murder. Murder over and over and over again. I just can’t stress enough how fucking heartbreaking this is to me. And I can’t possibly know how much MORE heartbreaking it is to the Black community.
 
Juneteenth was the end of slavery, but even then, your ancestors in Texas were screwed over, because they’d been forced to work for TWO MORE YEARS—seven hundred and thirty days in shackles—because the bosses still wanted to steal their labour.
 
Yay for your freedom! Which we took from you! Which we kept taking from you every single day and in every single way we could! Yay for the codified and legally mandated system of racism and bias that has kept so many black communities in every single kind of poverty, including in food, education, and income, because of redlining and gerrymandering and other insidious acts by white people in power! Yay for pretending this doesn’t exist or that we’re woke because we suddenly learned what Juneteenth was yesterday! Yay for people remembering to lift up black voices for two weeks and then going back to their regularly (whitely) scheduled programming!
 
What I want to say is, I’m sorry that you have to fight and fight and fight, every single day, for what I get so easily. It shouldn’t be that way. And since silence is complicity, I will not be silent. So when I see instances of bias, I will call them out. I will not be “nice.” I will listen to you. I will not tell you what you need or what you should or shouldn’t say. Your dignity is important to me, and whatever I can do to lift your voice, I will.
 
It’s not enough, but until this country (and several others) genuinely atones for the monstrousness of slavery, it’s all I can think of.
 
Graphic from Canva.
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And what else is a blog for, even if you've been busy for 2 1/2 years, but to say your piece? 
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    Author

    Kimberley Ash is a British ex-pat who has lived in and loved New Jersey for almost thirty years. When not writing romance, she can usually be found cleaning up after her two big white furry dogs and slightly less furry children. Her first novel, Breathe​,has been re-released through her own publishing company, Tea Rose Publishing. Her trilogy, The Van Allen Brothers, was released by Tule Publishing in 2019.

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Photos used under Creative Commons from Buou, Ungry Young Man
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • The Van Allen Brothers Trilogy >
      • FORGIVE ME
      • FORGET ME
      • FREE ME
    • The Fieldings >
      • BREATHE
      • HOLD
      • STAND
  • Blog
  • Contact