in august of 2020, unbeknownst to me, i became a rebel. my avoidance of both “shift” and “caps locks” keys perhaps started a revolution or at least a movement.
the revolution was only realized when i discovered that academia supporting the indigenous and anti-colonizers co-opted my “lower caseness” for their cause. canadian academic, linda manyguns came out with the lower case movement to acknowledge the struggles of the indigeneous people in canada. she did so in september of 2021.
“i’m joining that [lower case] movement in order to create a resistance to their oppression; identify and bring attention to the fact that these entities are the oppressors of Aboriginal people,” manyguns told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on monday. ctvnews.ca
it is reported that at mount royal university, said she was joining local leaders to reject symbols of hierarchy “wherever they are found,” and will not use capital letters “except to acknowledge the indigenous struggle for recognition.” foxnews.com
how dare they take my lower caseness away from me! it was as if they glued shift key and caps locks back onto my keyboard! how dare these academics colonize my lower case turf?
the reality is that many indigenous people to canada have historically suffered at the hands of others. many indigenous people that are alive and well today and are striving to have wonderful and meaningful lives. while remembering the past is always of import, assisting those alive today is existential. thus, supporting a business owned and operated by an indigenous family, supporting their current artists, and assisting them with infrastructure would be of great benefit. mentoring and scholarships for indigenous students would also help. i am skeptical that the failure to press down on a shift key will be life changing.
thus, we return back to my rebellion.
my lower caseness was simply for one reason: to draw attention. i was to be the blogger who typed his posts in lower case. i thought that it would be a means of notoriety. i understood from the very beginning that capitalization was not an important message; it was the ideas, the words, the thoughts and the examples that was of import.
in sum, academia, and many professions, are often plagued with the fact that they do not take the time to step back and appreciate the reality of what they are seeking to achieve. if so, they would perhaps understand that their little world is a part of a much bigger world. in the bigger world, there are bigger realities.
be well!!
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