Got a nastygram from some jamoke accusing me of ulterior motives for being an internationalist, specifically my support for Kashmiris. Nationalists don’t get the higher forms of human consciousness most of us are blessed with & take for granted. Speaking out for those on the front lines of oppression hasn’t given me nor anyone else fame or fortune though it has certainly put my sharp tongue to good use. For every snobbery & persecution, there is a mountain of invective because my support is hardly dispassionate or theoretical. I grew up in an era & an area where Catholics were looked down on. I grew up in a family that was culturally confident but dirt poor because my parents had so many kids. We were not ‘white trash’ as so many socialists considered us. And I grew up in an era where females were considered subhumans suitable only for domesticity or sex. I will never forget the humiliations & hurts I felt for being seen as ‘less than’ as a working class Catholic girl. It charted my course in life–not wanting to rise above my class or gender but committed to ending the discriminations & putdowns so painful to a little kid. I come by my solidarity honestly. It wasn’t something I learned so I could be hip or cool or avant-garde & I am not alone in these indignations or commitments. Those who personally know the sting of inequality or injustice are most likely to stay the course, not give a damn for recognition, & most likely to be intolerant of disrespect toward anyone based on elitism & supremacy. Identification with the oppressed is the only ulterior motive. My friend list is filled with such people since we are drawn to action against human suffering.