today i feel ashamed to be human,

even as i feel some joy that there are courageous folk among the many.

a human rights film festival may not be the most uplifting way to spend a week-end. just now i watched an NFB film: "Two Worlds Colliding".

and here is what i scribbled down, as the discussion, led by a student micmac former OPP, ensued:
we canadians
need to stop being so bloody self-righteous. it makes us blind and limp.

we failed as much as anyone, in spite of our 'hero',
in rwanda.

we fail here at home, our own people.
and we don't want to see.

amnesty international draws attention to our failings, even.
apparently (see the documentary!), an aboriginal child in saskatchewan is more likely to go to jail than to high school.
apparently, over 1/2 of people with 'african' heritage in toronto live in poverty.
and then someone told us all the story of his uncle, a native man, who died on manitoulin island while in police custody. he was diabetic, but they probably thought he was drunk, and took him to 'the tank'. by the time they got him to the hospital, and by the time the doc arrived, it was too late, and he died.