Adventure 1: Introductory Post

I have been a contributor to a number of blogs in my time. Some have been personal, others private, a couple were group blogs. But today I was inspired to start my own, public, *capital-letter inclusive* blog (a first for me) about something near and dear to my heart: whiteness.

I have been experiencing whiteness for basically my entire life -- even if I wasn't aware of that fact for much of it.

I had been casually introduced to my whiteness a few times in my childhood, but had remained blissfully ignorant of it for the majority. But since our official introduction when I was fifteen years old (to be expanded upon in a later post), my whiteness and I have spent some quality time together.

For the last seven years I have been in begun the process of exploring my whiteness in a deeper way. I have thought, talked, read, researched and/or written about whiteness on a semi-regular to regular basis. I have discovered such terms as "white privilege," "white normativity," and "white culture" (yes, there is such a thing), and the fact that it is possible, -- even, okay -- nay, it is NECESSARY -- to talk about whiteness for a purpose other than perpetuating racism. In fact, I have been made aware that it is NECESSARY to talk about whiteness in order to dismantle the very institution of racism that we liberal-minded, well-intentioned, "colorblind" whites are so fearful of upholding through our talk -- when really, we do it on a daily basis through our silence.

I hope to use this blog as an outlet to flush out my thoughts, ideas, and experiences about whiteness and my own white identity, and perhaps as a resource for others looking for such an outlet in their lives.