Sunday, July 28, 2013

The Sunday Currently XI: SBQL

Happy Sunday, dear readers!  Have you seen this song/book/quote/look post that's been going around the blogosphere?  I first heard of it when Julie did hers and then Lauren did one too and I checked out Jenna, the source of it all, and I decided it was a perfect focus for today's Sunday Currently.  (You know me; I like my Currentlies to be themed.  I'm strange like that.)  Ready?  Here goes!

counterclockwise from top left: song, book, quote, look


currently...

listening... to Ramshackle, Julie's brother's band.  (Yes, this is the song she used in her post, too, but I can't stop listening to it!)  They don't have much online yet, but I love Lullaby and this demo session of Song One is amazing.  I can't wait to hear more from them!  They kind of remind me of Amos Lee mixed with Sarah Barellies - have you heard her cover of Sittin' on the Dock on the Bay? - but more raw.  Check them out!

reading... After Cloven Tongues of Fire: Protestant Liberalism in Modern American History by David A. Hollinger.  I'm actually going to write a whole blog post on my collegiate and post-graduate academic career, but what you should know for now is that I studied early and medieval Christian intellectual thought, so this book is totally my thing.  My understanding of religious history ends in about 1400AD, so I'm desperate to learn more about what's happened since, especially in regards to the transformation of Christianity, to lead us where we are today.  You know I'm kind of obsessed with reading about today's evangelical churches and their teachings (most recently blogged abut here) so when I saw this article in the New York Times... well, I put every single book it mentions on my reading list.  I'll let you know how it goes!

thinking... about the heartbreak caused by the Trayvon Martin verdict.  Honestly, I understand the argument that George Zimmerman didn't technically break the law.  I also think the law that was argued is a very bad law and it reaffirms the fear of black people that they will never be given the benefit of the doubt.  However, despite the lessons of the trial, I have so much hope for this country; our children can't understand what happened, and their confusion is a beautiful and precious thing.  In this Slate article titled "My Child Will Face a Hatred That I Have Never Known," the white mother of a black boy explains her 10 year old son's reaction to the verdict. "When he angrily asked why President Obama didn’t just pass a law stopping things like what happened to Trayvon Martin," she writes, "we did not have the heart to tell him that President Obama gets threatening hate letters, just as Jackie Robinson did."  (I finally watched 42 after reading this piece and spent the whole film with a knot in the back of my throat.)  If you want to feel that hope, watch this video of children reacting to the recent controversial Cheerios ad featuring a biracial family - my favorite moment is when one little girl is asked if she understands why people are mad about it and she just repeats, "I don't get it."

wearing... a pretty flowered vintage dress to go peach picking with my mom!  Prepare to be deluged with Instagrams of our morning at Homestead Farms - if it doesn't pour before we get there, that is.  I hope the rain holds off until we're ready to leave!  What a fun summer activity this will be.  And maybe there will be some peach cobbler in my future?  Yum!

wishing... all of you a very happy Sunday!  Remember to link up with us on Tuesday with your "If I Were 6 For A Day" post!  I can't wait to see how you'd spend your day.

linking up with siddathornton

11 comments:

  1. I love your themed post. :) Also, I must say that you always link to the best bloggers. I've been trying to find new ones to add to my list, and without fail you somehow know to post a link to someone who I want to know more about. It's a gift! Agreed about Trayvon Martin. I could go on and on about race relations in America, but as heartbreaking as reality can be sometimes, I do believe that we must continue to find hope. That Cheerios video makes me hope that younger generations will make leaps forward in ways we can't even yet imagine (though we should still try to make those leaps forward ourselves).

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  2. haha thank you! Julie found me, I must admit, and I'm so glad she did :)

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  3. i'm really enjoying everyone's SBQL posts - i'm going to check out ramshackle today. i hope you have fun peach picking - peach cobbler sounds like heaven to me right now.

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  4. I'm so glad you commented and that I've now found your blog! What half marathon are you training for? My first one was in DC this past spring :) Oh and, way to go on scoring a cutie with an accent, good luck on the wedding planning ;)

    p.s. I am jealous, I so wish I had studied Medieval Studies instead, sounds so much more fun!

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  5. The children reacting to the Cheerios hoopla is priceless. It demonstrates perfectly that racism is something that is taught, just like that scene in 42; the one where the guy in the stands with his kid next to him starts shouting, "N****r" and then his son looks at him and does the same. That scene broke my heart.

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  6. Ah, the Trayvon Martin verdict is devastating in so many ways. Mostly because Zimmerman acted within the law, and because the stand your ground laws in Florida are even in existence. But you're definitely right, the response has been pretty phenomenal. Hopefully, the next generation will avoid the mistakes of this one. Love that quote by Ghandi!


    xxx
    Jenna

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  7. I teared up so hard at that scene. You knew it was coming a mile away - that was not the most subtle of movies - but still!

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  8. that's it - that's what makes me the most sad, that the law exists and George Zimmerman was just following it. hopefully this will spur peaceful change?

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  9. it's the Diva Half in Leesburg! They have them all over the place - it should be lots o' fun :)


    and WELCOME WOO!

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  10. I'll have to add that book to my reading list! Just yesterday I was mentioning a book I really enjoyed from undergrad to a friend that I bet you'd enjoy too -- The Gospel of Gentility by Jane Hunter, about female missionaries in China in the early 20th century. Not only is it a really engaging work of gender & religious history, but it's about expats, too!

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