Some would say that I put the ‘bitch’ in obituary.
To which I say – “If you’re calling me a bitch, I must be doing something right.”
You cannot feel indifference for someone if you feel compelled to call them a bitch.
Am I a bitch because I called you on your bullshit?
Am I a bitch because my boundaries were so firm you couldn’t get your way?
Because I couldn’t be persuaded by your “charm”, your professional experience, your demeanour and the numbers you brought to the table.
Remember when you tipped your cap and crossed the street to avoid bumping into me?
You are the head of your department and you cower at my words –
at the truth. Or a version of the truth that only comes out of a bitches mouth.
You earn $250,000 per year and can’t bend in your ways – you certainly can’t reconcile or decolonize as that would shift the power away from you – away from the City – away from the patriarchal, capitalist, colonial framework – the one which “we have all benefited from”, right?
You invite us to the table – the table you have crafted – no, constructed – a rigid framework or construct where bitches are outcasts when they speak up and out –
hacking at your table like a cleaver swung down – carving up the centre – splitting the wood.
Why is this bitch speaking up?
Who the fuck does she think she is?
She’s new. She’s young. She’s inexperienced.
Doesn’t she know she’s ruining her chance at any potential future career with the City.
Doesn’t she know the history of the relationship between the Nation and us?
She does not.
She only brings what she knows to the table. She believes what she has been told.
She holds her values tight and close.
Integrity in a room cake-full of deceit, lies, and backdoor deals.
She doesn’t know it yet – but she is the rook in this game of chess.
She speaks her mind and voices the concerns of others. She has done her homework and due diligence.
Fuck – she knows what she’s talking about.
Why isn’t she abiding by the silent code of thickly veiled political correctness?
Why doesn’t she fall in line as one of our allies –
I mean, she’s white – ally made, right?
But she wasn’t convinced when we tried to take her to our side.
She asked questions. Poked holes. Stood up for those she worked for.
She began shifting power dynamics – the Nation had veto power with her on their ship… in their canoe.
We will stonewall her. We will call her bitch.
We will avoid all contact with her and bombard her with work… the additional administrative work she is asking for.
We will push her so far – that she must collapse, must reach burn out…
become depressed and leave our lives and the work we have been entitled to complete for all these years.
We’ll force the bitch out of our lives.
where rivers are born 