The Prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “ght.” Find a word that contains the letters “ght” in that order, and use it any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use three or more different words containing those letters. Have fun! (From Linda G. Hill)
The Stream:
Fight or flight. I’m Sooooooo glad I’m not in that mode much anymore. It can be addicting and distracting from what we really need to focus on. But sometimes, it is warranted, a matter of survival.
In 1898 in the city I live in, the only successful coup d’état in US history took place. People had to run for their lives because of the color of their skin. Yesterday, I attended a ceremony to unveil a historical marker to to remember what took place.
It was surprisingly cold yesterday at the ceremony. But there was a good crowd. Ten names were read of the people who were known to be murdered in the coup. But we will never know how many people were killed.
Why is it important that we remember this coup, sometimes called a massacre? We need to know it happened to understand the history of our city, to understand the pain passed on through generations, and work to not let it happen again.
In 1898, Wilmington was a model city of restoration. African American owned businesses flourished as did diversity in government and the press. I imagine a city, a country, a world, where we work together and cooperatively in diversity and peace.
I thought I was going to write about my own move toward peace. I guess that’s where it starts. At least we need to work toward inner peace as we work toward peace with others. We can do both. It’s not always smooth, in reality, it can be hard work, but peace is possible.
You can read more about yesterday’s ceremony and the history here.
There is also an excellent novel, Cape Fear Rising, including the history which I read a few years ago.
I just want to add, getting back to “fight or flight,” that the African Americans involved in the 1898 massacre did not fight, they did not riot, they mostly fled for their lives. Now, there are different ways of fighting racism and injustice so that we can move forward together in peace and diversity.
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The Info:
For more on SoCS, visit our host, Linda Hill at:
https://lindaghill.com/2019/11/08/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-9-19/
The Rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!
Anything is Possible! 