Atypical Transgender Late Bloomer

You have trauma, said the fortune cookie You may never get past it, especially at your age (62) I am fortunate to have good helpers. Each one a specialist, each working their zone. They treat the parts, not the whole Depression gets Cymbalta Anxiety gets Klonopin Mild Psychosis gets Keppra I locked up memories and buried them deep. Eventually they surfaced, like rocks in a farmer’s field, like ordinance in Germany. I could not allow myself to remember I’d been raped by the priest Nineteen times, my Stations of the Cross. Later, I could not allow myself to remember I sought out men when I was young. What a thing to lock away, to bury, to un-remember. I wish it had stayed buried. The therapists open the boxes in your head without knowing what’s in there; Pandora’s Box without hope. I’m not sure it’s ethical. Thirty-five years ago, blissfully compartmentalized, I married a girl. Three years ago, the memories burst out with explosive surprises. I don’t...

Reparations are in the news lately; specifically, reparations paid to descendents of slaves by the owners and institutions that profit off the slavery (for instance, Georgetown University ). Some people say there is no case for Reparations. All the people who participated in slavery are dead and buried. Although your ancestors may have owned slaves, you certainly didn't. America fought a civil war to abolish slavery; that should be enough. We've had a black President; that should prove we're post-slavery. This is the Mitch McConnell school of thought. Others say: the two-caste racial system implemented to make slavery work outlives actual slavery. They say, the school-to-jail pipeline substitutes prison labor for slave labor. They say, the Civil Rights Act only took effect in the 1960's. Redlining persisted until the 60's. Racial disparities in income and education are still obvious. The wounds haven't healed. Children who are fifth-generation post-slavery...