Introductions and Upkeep
I promised myself I wouldn't make this too long.
Following the advice of some good friends, specifically Baron Wistric Oftun MD, I made this blog to address a lack of instructional resources for the art and use of the katana in SCA fencing.
And I want to tell you all about that as soon as possible.
But first I need to set a firm foundation.
This blog is intended primarily for my friends and colleagues in the Society for Creative Anachronism. This is where I will archive my ongoing research pertaining to historical kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship).
In the SCA, I play a Japanese persona. Mundanely, I am a 3rd-year Master's student in Digital Media in the Ivan Allen College at Georgia Tech. In the society, I currently research and recreate different aspects of Japanese culture, martial arts and other art forms. Mundanely, I'm hunting for post-grad opportunities.
Being a white person, I benefit from certain privileges mundanely and in the society. I have inherited biases based on my upbringing, my own situated knowledge, and the opportunities I've been allotted. Given these facts, I would be remiss if I didn't speak out against racial inequality in a time when it matters.
Today is Wednesday June 10th, 2020.
I have a platform.
I also have an audience.
It would be vain to try and make it an apolitical platform.
For everyone reading this in the far future, the United States is currently in the middle of a national humanitarian crisis (technically one of many). Black people, especially black trans people, have been made to suffer through systemic racism perpetrated by civilian law enforcement. By the numbers, black Americans are two-and-a-half times as likely as white Americans to be killed by police. Additionally, 1 in every 1,000 black men can expect to be killed by police.
In the past few weeks, we've seen cases of police escalating their use of excessive force in an attempt to quell recent protests against excessive use of force by police.
...yeah
The work of the Civil Rights Movement is still unfinished.
My country's government and people are reckoning with the consequences wreaked by centuries of entrenched racism. That reckoning is not limited to the role of the police, but that's what we're focusing on right now.
There's a large conversation going on right now about the possibility of reforming, defunding, or disbanding police departments in favor of pursuing other solutions rather than punishment.
Instead of asking "Who will we call when someone gets robbed and we have no police?" maybe ask yourself...
"What systemic causes have contributed to a society in which people resort to robbing each other?"
"What do we do to address these systemic causes?
"What do we want the role of police to be?"
And that's just one tip of the iceberg. We still need to have meaningful discourse about the roots of systemic inequality in media, healthcare, real estate, education, high art, the job market, the service industry, the hospitality industry, consumer goods, and the accruement of wealth.
I have chosen to start my blog off on the right foot for one major reason. If racial injustice isn't appalling to you, then this blog isn't for you.
Presently, and historically, Black Lives Matter.
If you're wondering what you can do, consider protesting or donating to any number of these organizations to support protesters in need of bail funds and legal aid: https://bailfunds.github.io
Sincerely,
Charlie Denton
Following the advice of some good friends, specifically Baron Wistric Oftun MD, I made this blog to address a lack of instructional resources for the art and use of the katana in SCA fencing.
And I want to tell you all about that as soon as possible.
But first I need to set a firm foundation.
This blog is intended primarily for my friends and colleagues in the Society for Creative Anachronism. This is where I will archive my ongoing research pertaining to historical kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship).
In the SCA, I play a Japanese persona. Mundanely, I am a 3rd-year Master's student in Digital Media in the Ivan Allen College at Georgia Tech. In the society, I currently research and recreate different aspects of Japanese culture, martial arts and other art forms. Mundanely, I'm hunting for post-grad opportunities.
Being a white person, I benefit from certain privileges mundanely and in the society. I have inherited biases based on my upbringing, my own situated knowledge, and the opportunities I've been allotted. Given these facts, I would be remiss if I didn't speak out against racial inequality in a time when it matters.
Today is Wednesday June 10th, 2020.
I have a platform.
I also have an audience.
It would be vain to try and make it an apolitical platform.
For everyone reading this in the far future, the United States is currently in the middle of a national humanitarian crisis (technically one of many). Black people, especially black trans people, have been made to suffer through systemic racism perpetrated by civilian law enforcement. By the numbers, black Americans are two-and-a-half times as likely as white Americans to be killed by police. Additionally, 1 in every 1,000 black men can expect to be killed by police.
In the past few weeks, we've seen cases of police escalating their use of excessive force in an attempt to quell recent protests against excessive use of force by police.
...yeah
The work of the Civil Rights Movement is still unfinished.
My country's government and people are reckoning with the consequences wreaked by centuries of entrenched racism. That reckoning is not limited to the role of the police, but that's what we're focusing on right now.
There's a large conversation going on right now about the possibility of reforming, defunding, or disbanding police departments in favor of pursuing other solutions rather than punishment.
Instead of asking "Who will we call when someone gets robbed and we have no police?" maybe ask yourself...
"What systemic causes have contributed to a society in which people resort to robbing each other?"
"What do we do to address these systemic causes?
"What do we want the role of police to be?"
And that's just one tip of the iceberg. We still need to have meaningful discourse about the roots of systemic inequality in media, healthcare, real estate, education, high art, the job market, the service industry, the hospitality industry, consumer goods, and the accruement of wealth.
I have chosen to start my blog off on the right foot for one major reason. If racial injustice isn't appalling to you, then this blog isn't for you.
Presently, and historically, Black Lives Matter.
If you're wondering what you can do, consider protesting or donating to any number of these organizations to support protesters in need of bail funds and legal aid: https://bailfunds.github.io
Sincerely,
Charlie Denton
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