Tag Archives: Brendan Birth @ Blind Injustice

Simone Biles, Sexual Abuse, and Mental Health

Posted on by under Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

I’m not into sports, don’t pay any attention to the summer Olympics, but during the past weeks, my curiosity has been roused as I kept hearing some very strong opinions, both pro and con, for a young Olympic gymnast named Simone Biles. I kept meaning to further investigate, but other topics have kept me busy. So, I was pleased to see Brendan’s post today about Ms. Biles, a positive view, thankfully. Thank you, Brendan!

Blind Injustice

Simone Biles. Agência Brasil Fotografias, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Content warnings: Sexual abuse, suicide

One of the major stories of the recently concluded Summer Olympics was how decorated American gymnast Simone Biles was ultimately not involved in several of the events that she qualified for as a result of her struggles with mental health. Reaction to this seemed a bit split: many praised her for prioritizing her mental health, while some critics thought of her as a quitter.

Just to clarify, I fall into the former category, not the latter. I think Simone Biles did the right thing in prioritizing her mental health, even if it meant missing some major events this Olympics. To do otherwise would’ve been a danger to her mental and her physical health, which is more important than any Olympic medal.

Yet, at the same time, it seems like there’s often been…

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Access to Clean, Safe Drinking Water: A Racial Justice Issue

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

One of the most basic human needs is … water. Without it, we die … it’s that simple. Brendan over at Blind Injustice has written a post to remind us first of the importance of potable water, and second, how water supplies around the globe, and yes even here in the U.S., are diminishing. Thanks, Brendan, for a wake-up-call post we should all be reminded of.

Blind Injustice

An image of water. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

When some of us (particularly those of us of means) in the United States think of places that lack access to clean drinking water, we think of certain countries on the African continent. And, it is true that parts of Africa struggle to access even the most basic of water services—nine of the ten worst countries in the world in terms of access to clean water are located on that continent.[1]

However, I am concerned that many of us may be blind to issues of water access at home, in the United States of America. Furthermore, I am concerned that many of us may be blind about how this access to water is a racial justice issue.

Sure, a major report on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, a few years ago cited systemic racism as being at the core…

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