Hunger, Racism, and the Misfortune of Greed

Well said. I hate all of it. Damn! It has never changed, just hid or molted into a new form. Congratulations!!

What a well-written, heartbreaking piece (in all the right ways!) 💜

This is so deep and thought provoking, Caitlin! I'm going to carry this with me into the next couple of days, for sure. You're an amazing writer.

I want to sit with this for a while. You are right that racism hurts us deep into our pores.

Another beautiful, thought provoking and relevant piece. I had never really experienced this before I spent some time on the Navajo reservation. Really opened my eyes Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights. Congratulations on top story

Caitlin, there’s a quiet ache in this piece that’s almost unbearable, but it’s also a call for something better. The way you balance pain and beauty, love and hate,wow. It’s a necessary conversation, one we all need to sit with. Thank you for writing with such honesty.

Aside from the hurtfulness I've never understood racism Like I do. But don't. Basing hatred of someone or a large section of society on their skin colour is just maddening to me. Lol. Anyway that aside. This is one of your best perhaps, in terms of your vulnerability taking on the subject and in terms of your success in execution. I love how you strip away those big headline grabbing concepts to really what they are, insidious festering things that live under skin level and effect people like a cancer who then spread it Like what John said too that while section of the cycle of pain and fear and how it turns onwards. I could speak about this on and on and perhaps if we ever met in person I would. But I'll stop here so I don't end up sounding like an idiot Congrats on this getting a Top Story and lots of exposure. It's very deserved. John again succinctly got it right. Written from the heart and poetic but driven by that sharp intellectual or yours. Truly brilliant.

Whoaaaa, this was so deep, true, and thought provoking. Congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊 How are you doing, my sweet friend?

Tis a dream to be sure that one might scrub away the old to awaken the new. But hatred is a cancer passed from one generation to the next like a revolving door to madness. Pain begets pain and fear begets fear and hate is the terrible consequence of both. Tis a pity that so often when others hate us we hate ourselves in consequence. And that is the greatest tragedy of all.

STRONG PIECE

Powerful poetry, here, Caitlin! A bit of a tear-jerker for me because when my youngest daughter was little, she actually tried to wash her beautiful brown skin away. This poem will stay with me. Congratulations on your top story❣

Caitlin, those are some very deep thoughts. Makes me feel shallow because all I want to do is reach for my bath towel to dry off and stay warm. I'm going to have to keep thinking about your composition.

Oh, No!

“ Pain would empty our plates” - fantastic line in its vivid imagery and confident assertion. Bodies hold true vigour for a flash in the pan and then we trod the slow decay to its inevitable end. Hating our bodies or the bodies of others is a prison of the mind that wields power over most. Our gentleness with ourselves is an act of courage- a quality you possess in spades. Your experience is real and not to be washed away as easily as we sluice muck off our bodies after a romp in a mud puddle!

Greed is horrible, but it is the nature of the right wing, capitalists. and many religions. Powerful words

We are all just souls stuck in borrowed meat suits. I always thought it was stupid to hate anyone based on their outward appearance. I'm an equal opportunist myself 😂 I will never hate . But I will dislike a person for who they are. Not what they look like... And I immediately dislike anyone who makes fun of people or hates them over things not in their control. This is a beautiful piece, Caitlin. Great work as usual, my lovely friend 💖💖

This is brilliant.The near-rhyme is perfect, makes it hit so much harder, gives it that tension of something forced until it damn near breaks. Your precise choice of one word (that should) send most readers to the dictionary is perfectly placed to establish your authority, then slides into language that is elevated but not intimidating while being fiercely visceral. If they don’t make this a top story, I don’t know what’s wrong with them.

vulnerability within cutting social commentary is a forte for you. if only everyone had to stand in the shower thinking so hard about race and racism...white supremacy might start to unravel even faster

This really made me stop and sit with my own thoughts. We really do carry so much more than just skin. Powerful piece

I believe racism begins first with hatred toward oneself. Then it spreads misery and hunger everywhere—first emotional hunger. The way you wrote makes me think differently. It reflects many of my inner feelings, and I would write more if I read it several times. And I like that. But most importantly, it felt as if the cells of my brain were filling with energy.

I love the question at the end...truly thought-provoking. Conformity can be painful...and we're forced to inhabit skin that's not ours. That's essentially what greed and racism is. Beautiful work, my friend. A tough subject, superbly handled.