March 2021 – shannoninkansascity

Over the winter I started watching the TV show Vikings. Vikings ran on the History Channel from 2013 to 2020 for six seasons. The show is loosely based on the history of the Vikings of northern Europe. I would recommend the show if you like historical dramas. However the show is super violent. The Vikings didn’t really do anything other than invade foreign lands, initiate hand to hand combat and have sex.

The principle character of the show is an ambitious farmer turned Viking king Ragnar Lothbrok and his family. The show spans generations and the show does a good job of developing the characters and their storylines. The make up artists did a great job of maturing and aging the actors.

Michael Hirst is the writer of the show and he said that Vikings is loosely based on history. So I’ve learned some new things but they are general ideas and not necessarily historic facts. Vikings is purely a drama and not educational material. But if you don’t know much about the Vikings this show may inspire you to learn more about them and their influence.

If you don’t mind violent battle scenes and torture you may enjoy Vikings. Some of the seasons are long so the series is kind of a big commitment but it’s a great story with a lot of intricate details and great actors.

The United States has a punitive attitude towards Black people. The United States seeks to condemn Black people for any infraction real or perceived. Americans, specifically White ones, love to believe they are authority figures that need to monitor, judge and teach Black people how to act and punish them if they don’t behave according to the satisfaction of Whites.

This week a story about a kindergartner and his teacher were in the news. The five year old boy pooped at school and stopped up the toilet. I think we’ve all been there. His teacher told him to clean the poop and toilet paper with his bare hands. That’s right. This wicked woman didn’t call the custodian. She didn’t talk to the boy about how much toilet paper should be used when cleaning his bottom. This White woman that is trained in child development decided to punish a five year old through humiliation for putting too much toilet paper in the stool.

The student was a five year old boy. His teacher that is employed to help students learn life skills and expand his horizons turned a teachable moment into an opportunity to demean and dehumanize the Black boy left in her care. Her culture has taught her that Black people, even five year olds should not be shown any grace and should be punished for any misstep. This teacher should have child endangerment charges brought against her and she should be sued in civil court by the little boy. America needs to be taught that there are other ways to interact with Black people than with an authoritative and punitive attitude.

https://www.10tv.com/article/news/nation-world/little-rock-teacher-accused-forcing-student-toilet/91-7f3643d0-f204-4d11-adfb-a249c46eba06