From the mind of critic: “If we really want to play a sport because we’re knowledgable about it, and it brings us joy, but we’re picked last for the team or not picked at all, does it discourage us from playing? Does it make it so this team sport, this joint effort that is only equal to the sum of its parts, is not actually a joint effort at all, but a series of small cliques that get along with others but only if they’re in a clique themselves, and not if somebody is an outsider twisting in the wind because nobody wants to include them? The world, the country, the community we live in can be a scary and intimidating place, where everyone is out to get us. Which is why getting involved in our community and trying to make it better, can make us feel like we do have a place, a voice and that we do matter. What can be troubling is when we do get involved, and we’re all stoked that we’re a part of something to make all of our lives better, and we come to realize that because we don’t have a family, kids, own a businessor a home, or are part of an organization that has done community work before, we’re the outsider amongst people who claim to be inclusive. Movements, organizations, gatherings and community groups have always had disagreements about action and level of militancy. We might feel like an outsider, where others listen to us until we stop talking, and then go and do whatever they were gonna do anyway, whether we talked or not, but it can’t stop us. We must keep getting involved, standing up and having our voices heard. We might be the outsiders, but it’s exactly those outsiders that show the insiders that they aren’t the people they claim to be” 🙂