Where Hannah Writes

After a great deal of anticipation,  Black Panther came out this week. This Marvel film that tells the story of the superhero, Black Panther, with a predominantly black cast has broken records as the highest grossing film with an African American director. I had the pleasure of seeing this movie recently, and I have a few suggestions for fellow white people. 1. Do not be outraged if black friends and neighbors celebrate this movie. Try to imagine how you would feel if it was hard for you to find a movie that represents your culture, features actors and actresses who share your ethnic heritage in important and heroic and genius roles as valued people, and does not portray people who look like you in a negative light. That's probably hard for you to imagine, considering that approximately 73% of characters with speaking roles in movies made from 2007 to 2015 are white according to a  study  done by the University of Southern California. We see our own lives and identiti...

"It is the thermal fuse," Phil explained to me as he handed me a small part that he had replaced. Phil is the very knowledgeable and helpful home appliance service technician who came to my home not long ago to examine my broken dryer. Phil pointed out to me that my dryer vent slowly narrows as it nears the wall and carefully explained that this could have caused the thermal fuse malfunction. He expressed concern that this could cause the new fuse break soon. "If he has had to replace the thermal fuse before within the past year, I'd get this ventilation replaced," Phil concluded. Huh? If he has had to replace the thermal fuse before within the past year, I'd get this ventilation replaced. I don't remember what Phil said next. I think I might have nodded and signed the paper that he slid my way. But I was stuck on that one word. He ? Who is he ? Where is he ? What's his name? Is there a man hiding in my house that I don't know about...

Dear married people in the church, Please stop telling single people in the church that someday they will meet a really special person. It's awkward and we don't know what to say, so we usually just nod and smile. Please stop trying to set us up with your single nieces and nephews and grandchildren and sons and daughters and neighbors and cousins and coworkers and uncles and aunts and god children and barbers and insurance agents and mechanics and personal trainers and bankers and hair stylists and car salesmen and neighbor's uncle's mailmen. Please stop telling us not to worry, that it'll happen when we least expect it. That you can't believe that we are single. That it's okay to be single, it's really okay. That you had a friend who was single for a really long time, and then she met the most wonderful and godly gentleman. That you're praying for our future spouse and that you just know that it's going to be a really amazing person becaus...

The Washington Post has collected data on all people who have been killed by police officers since January 1, 2015. According to that data, in 134 of those police killings between January 1, 2015 and September 20, 2016 the victim was unarmed. The following commentary is based on the data related to those 134 unarmed victims. According to Census Bureau’s March 2016 Current Population Survey , 61% of the United States population is white, 12% is black, and 18% is hispanic. Therefore, would mathematically estimate that approximately 61% of those victims were white, 12% of those victims were black, and 18% of those victims were hispanic. This would result in 81 white victims, 16 black victims, and 24 hispanic victims. However, according to the data collected by The Washington Post, there have been 51 white victims, 53 black victims, and 23 hispanic victims. Here is a chart displaying the data: Race Census Bureau’s March 2016 Current Population Survey Mathematica...

I've been thinking about white privilege. It's kind of uncomfortable to think about. I don't like thinking about the sick system that I am a part of - the system that I have unknowing contributed to and benefited from at great cost. My understanding is incomplete (and will never be complete) and perhaps partially incorrect. Nevertheless, I invite you to join this conversation with me. Here are some things that I have identified as white privilege: When I learn about the history of my country, I see that people who look like me are the ones who fought for the land that I call home. The textbooks that I read all through school told the stories of people who look like me and their contributions to the world. Unless, of course, I took one of those elective courses, African American Literature or Asian Studies. The money that I use to buy things has pictures of people who look like me on it. A majority of my elected officials have the same skin color as me. My failure ha...