When I was thirteen, my grandmother told me a story about the Second World War. She was a nurse at a military hospital in Sydney, Australia. For two years, she healed and comforted American and Australian soldiers.
One day, she tended to a wounded Maori soldier, who had lost his legs to an artillery attack. He was very dark-skinned. His hair was black and curly and his eyes were black and warm. His face was covered with bright tattoos.
‘Are you Maori?’ he asked my grandmother.
‘No,” she said. ‘I’m Spokane Indian. From the United States.’
‘Ah, yes,’ he said. ‘I have heard of your tribes. But you are the first American Indian I have ever met.’
‘There’s a lot of Indian soldiers fighting for the United States,’ she said. “I have a brother fighting in Germany, and I lost another brother on Okinawa.’
‘I am sorry,” he said. ‘I was on Okinawa as well. It was terrible.’
‘I am sorry about your legs,’ my grandmother said.
‘It’s funny, isn’t it?’ he said.
‘What’s funny?’
‘How we brown people are killing other brown people so white people will remain free.’
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.’
‘Well, sometimes I think of it that way. And other times I think of it the way they want me to think of it. I get confused.’
Merf. Thinking is Hard.
Jha can has random thoughtz about tapirs, kitties, comics, pretty people, social justice, things in general.
-
nadhiagrewal likes this
-
emological reblogged this from wocinsolidarity
-
johngenderbender reblogged this from wocinsolidarity
-
catsnatch likes this
-
aulacrimosa likes this
-
mariatalkstoomuch reblogged this from slowfi
-
mariatalkstoomuch likes this
-
jamminbread likes this
-
sleepdeprivedeyelids likes this
-
slowfi reblogged this from amanzy
-
kimjongeasy likes this
-
amanzy reblogged this from wocinsolidarity
-
jeanie-boulet likes this
-
heymanijustwantsomemusli likes this
-
johngenderbender likes this
-
boogiedowndeath reblogged this from wocinsolidarity
-
intheindigo likes this
-
thestompinground reblogged this from shegotjumpercablelips
-
twinkle-twinkle-rainbow-star reblogged this from pocalamexicana
-
gimme-adollar reblogged this from queerfabulousmermaid
-
professor-doctor likes this
-
theoriginaljawbreaker reblogged this from wocinsolidarity
-
onetwothreeredlight likes this
-
agifttotearapart likes this
-
emilitalokita likes this
-
wakingnaptown likes this
-
iaskforpleasurefirst likes this
-
iaskforpleasurefirst reblogged this from wocinsolidarity
-
modple likes this
-
shegotjumpercablelips reblogged this from wocinsolidarity
-
imaginecloudsofloveliness reblogged this from wocinsolidarity
-
itsrabbitst3w reblogged this from becauseforoncethisisme
-
voidbetweenstars likes this
-
livewhileweredumbb reblogged this from jesus-was-a-gay-hipster
-
livewhileweredumbb likes this
-
dracomalfoy28 reblogged this from iawesomedallovertheplace
-
amanzy likes this
-
flappinflapjack likes this
-
flappinflapjack reblogged this from queerfabulousmermaid
-
imaginecloudsofloveliness likes this
-
subtlecluster likes this
-
iawesomedallovertheplace reblogged this from femme-mermaid27
-
jivanti likes this
-
notflowers likes this
-
change-the-rules reblogged this from becauseforoncethisisme
-
femme-mermaid27 reblogged this from queerfabulousmermaid
-
jesus-was-a-gay-hipster reblogged this from queerfabulousmermaid
-
1llionairebaby likes this
-
guardian-of-hope likes this
- Show more notes