ACEs (adverse childhood experiences). It’s like a word find. If we can just identify and circle all the ACEs and pull them out of the jumble of letters that is our messy lives, children will grow up healthy. Simply circle the ACEs. Easy peasy. Seeing a dead body. Okay children should not see that. Alcoholism. Take the child away. No, treat the parent. Wait. How do we treat alcoholism? Punishment? The medical model? Yes. We can doctor our way out of the pain and suffering that lead to and accompany addiction. There must be a quick fix. Where is the pill for human misery?
It can’t be complex and multi factorial. How do we combat transgenerational transmission of trauma? How do we battle abuse? Control of others is seen as a sign of strength. Strength is seen as a sign of worthiness. Of what? Worthy of respect, success, money, salvation.
Does it come back to religion? Original sin? Are we cursed from the start?
From “Fuel” by Ani DiFranco. Off the 1998 album “Little Plastic Castle”
(this was the theme song of the radio show I had in college and a few years after):
“And they say that alcoholics are always alcoholics
even when they’re as dry as my lips for years
even when they’re stranded on a small desert island
with no place in 2,000 miles to buy beer
and i wonder is he different?
is he different?
has he changed what he’s about?
or is he just a liar with nothing to lie about?
am I headed for the same brick wall
is there anything i can do about anything at all?
except go back to that corner in Manhattan
and dig deeper
dig deeper this time
down beneath the impossible pain of our history
beneath the unknown bones
beneath the bedrock of the mystery
beneath the sewage systems and the path train
beneath the cobblestones and the water mains
beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
beneath everything i can think of to think about
beneath it all, beneath all get out
beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
there’s a fire that’s just waiting for fuel
there’s a fire just waiting for fuel
there’s a fire just waiting for fuel”
I recently learned more about the bones Ani mentions at the start of the song in a book.
The song, which came out in 1998, starts with:
“They were digging a new foundation in Manhattan
and they discovered a slave cemetery there
may their souls rest easy
now that lynching is frowned upon
we’ve moved on to the electric chair”
In 1991, construction began on a 34-story federal office tower positioned on 290 Broadway in Manhattan.
From this website:
https://www.nps.gov/afbg/learn/historyculture/index.htm
“Preliminary archeological research excavation found intact human skeletal remains located 30 feet below the city’s street level on Broadway. During survey work, the largest and most important archeological discovery was made: unearthing the “Negroes Buriel Ground”- a 6-acre burial ground containing upwards of 15,000 intact skeletal remains of enslaved and free Africans who lived and worked in colonial New York.”
A brief and moving history of the site “written by author and historian Christopher Moore, a descendant of Groot Manuel–one of the first 11 enslaved Africans in New York City.”
https://www.nps.gov/afbg/learn/historyculture/african-burial-ground-in-history.htm
May all beings be safe
May all beings have peace
May all beings be free
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