Back from vacation

I have previously been on vacations where I posted full blogs every day. Not only did that not happen this time, but I did not even post daily songs (interrupting a carefully planned month, but I will get to that later).

I think I wished everyone a happy birthday, but half of those were late.

A big part of that was technology. I no longer have a laptop, and my phone is not particularly reliable. Even if it did not frequently lose internet connections, I have not put in the time to sorting out all of the app logins, and I don't like working with a phone size keyboard.

Even without the technological issues, posting blogs from the road requires pre-writing; that just didn't happen. There were too many other things going on, and I was too tired.

I didn't even read as much as I meant to.

It is easy to ascribe it to getting older, which is totally a thing that I have done. I am also working with different (fewer) resources than I have for past levels of productivity.

However, I am also better at being gentle with myself.

There is the necessity factor, but you can give in to the necessary and still kick yourself. I am not.

I let my mind wander and had deep thoughts, some of which I recorded later. Others may still pop up.

I rested, which was needed. I also got lots of steps in, which is opposite of resting, but was a nice change in routine.

Being okay with doing less is also something that happened with getting older, though it was not automatic. It was part of that process of shifting priorities, and dropping things that felt like needs but really weren't.

I'm glad to be back in the mix, but I am glad for the break.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2022: Movies

This phase of my studies was inspired by a thread on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MPaarlberg/status/1560397489156624384 

The first tweet says:

I teach an undergrad class on Latin American politics that incorporates films as a supplement to the readings. Since it's course prep time, I'll share the films I assign, by country, and links where currently available here:

That is right up my alley.

It is also fourteen movies. I knew it would be setting myself up for failure to try and get them all in within a reasonable time period. (I can sometimes be honest about my bandwidth.) Also, some of them will be hard to get.

I did see which ones were available through different library services, and picked five.

And I did not finish La Dictadura Perfecta, Mexico (2014). I did not think about checking for English subtitles, and the DVD I got did not have them. My Spanish is currently too rusty for that.

The movie started with a scene in English with Spanish subtitles which I understood perfectly. In it, Mexico's president makes a huge gaffe while speaking with the US ambassador. Having already watched Cartel Land, it was obviously meant to be Nieto, who was only two years into his term when it was released. I will have to try watching later.

Cartel Land, United States, but mostly set in Mexico (2015)

The ultimate message of this one may be that there are no heroes. 

It starts interviewing one masked man talking about how he know manufacturing drugs is wrong, but they need the money; if they didn't do it, someone else would. Possibly true, but then you go to people devastated by the murder of family members because their boss did not pay his protection money. That's not just manufacturing drugs. Then you have a vigilante movement trying to clean up the cartels from their areas, but they grow gradually more corrupt until most of them work for the government, except for the one who ends up in jail. By the time you see that masked man again, there isn't much room left for sympathy.

Meantime, we meet a vigilante border patrol group on the US side. Their founder was initially was mad about jobs lost to immigrants, but realizes there is a bigger picture without appreciably changing.

I do wonder if El Doctor's vigilante group could have been better if they had focused just on their town instead of expanding, but everyone has their own personal level of corruption. The built-in government corruption does not help.

Juan de Los Muertos, Cuba (2010)

I don't generally like zombie movies. I admit this one is funny, much like the similarly named Shaun of the Dead (2004). I think it also gives a good idea of how Cubans are survivors, along with what they have survived, and their love for their island. 

It is also drenched in machismo. The only woman who gets any respect is Juan's daughter, and that still does not involve much character development for her. For him, a great part of his love is not wanting anyone to touch her. 

All of that goes pretty well with some of the other things I found when reading more about Cuba.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2019/01/machismo.html 

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-bossy-gallito-and-medio-pollito.html

El secreto de sus ojos, Argentina (2009)

In Spanish classes I have seen La Historia Oficial (1985) three times, only matched in frequency by El Norte (1984), a joint US/UK venture, but taking place in Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States. Both were Academy Award winners.

I mention that because the later win for El secreto... made Argentina the first Latin American country to win Best Foreign Language film twice. Do today's Spanish students (or those of a few years ago) watch it?

The two Argentinian films give different views of the past. El secreto starts ten years before La historia and deals directly with crime and corruption. La historia... is more domestic, though that corruption is always in the background. However -- and maybe this is because it concludes in 1999 and was released another ten years after that -- El secreto is much more optimistic. After all the death and disappearance and trouble, for those who are still alive, it is still possible to believe in happiness for them.

Maybe sometimes you just need to endure.

Machuca, Chile (2004)

There is an aspect of this film that I want to spend more time on in a separate post. For now, I just want to mention certain images.

This film covers the end of Salvador Allende's time in office. Changes seem to be coming, and then are harshly stopped.

There is a wall with graffiti seen that is added to, and then completely erased. 

You also see a large shantytown several times. It lies between an empty field and a mountain range. We visit the shacks and know some of the residents, but we also see the residents being rounded up and their possessions being destroyed. The last time we see the field and the mountains, some soccer nets have been added to the field, but there is no sign that those homes or those people were ever there.

It does not make you confident that this is a country that will be able to deal with its past.

Unsung: Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam (2013)

This year I discovered this series that goes into the history of various bands. I thought I would just throw in this episode, because Lisa Lisa's success was an inspiration for many Puerto Rican girls from Hell's Kitchen.

It was interesting, but probably less scandalous than some bands' stories. 

One thing that was nice was understanding the relationship between Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and Full Force, which had been kind of confusing. So Lisa Velez participated in auditions for Full Force when they were looking for women vocalists. 

Full Force were performers, but they were also producers and they worked with a lot of different musicians. They assembled Cult Jam with Lisa Lisa by combining her with Spanador Moseley and Mike Hughes. and wrote some of their hits, but also sometimes were "with" Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam.

Now you know!

2022 in review

With Christmas cards coming in, a couple of them had letters. I ended up writing a few letters myself in reply, but I hadn't written a general letter for a while. 

Actually, what seems to be most on trend is sending pictures. I did get this idea of trying to get all of the households three people and six cats into one photo, but I am not sure it could be accomplished without bloodshed. 

Of course, the best source of information on me is probably this blog, but it isn't always personal and it doesn't cover everything. Still, dear readers, for anything you missed, here is how the last year went...

Biggest letdown: Due to good prices and incurable optimism, I bought tickets for a concert in Portugal: A-ha and Duran Duran together! They were already far in advance, and then it was postponed twice, but finally it was going to happen and we were getting all booked. I was finding cool things to see while there, and then... not only was COVID not really getting better, but Portugal had the 4th highest rate of monkeypox and airline schedules were all messed up with people getting stranded. It started to feel like a very bad idea. We canceled. 

Then, during the time we should have been gone I picked up a bad cold, and our mother fell twice in one day and required some assistance, so it was definitely better that we were home, but getting our hopes up and losing some deposit was still greatly frustrating.

Key learnings: For work I wrapped up the year by training on Medicare Advantage plans (it does count as a promotion), but earlier in the year I learned how to get INR results for Mom. This test measures how long it takes blood to clot, which is necessary for patients on some anticoagulants. Getting someone to administer the test to Mom was getting harder, and I believed I could do it (mostly correctly; sometimes it takes more than one poke). That has solved one big problem, and it also gives a purpose to visits which is kind of helpful. Dealing with dementia is hard.

Saddest change: Our dog Adele died. Apart from the grief of any pet loss -- and Adele was a very good and sweet girl -- we have not been without a dog since 1978. Our number of dogs and cats has fluctuated over time, but currently with the six cats, it's hard to imagine that even the best dog would have an easy introduction into that. 

We get found by animals in need pretty regularly, and I believe at some point a dog will find us again. We will make it work then, but for now that is an absence that we feel.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2022/09/making-room-for-grief-and-healing.html

Biggest project: We replaced the floors in the house with vinyl plank. Functioning as an unofficial animal rescue was hard on the carpets, and they were pretty old anyway. The house was built in 1971 and most of the carpets had only been replaced once. We like the new look, and it was good to find out that the house has good bones. Other things will need to be replaced (some are already there), but the house is solid and we are blessed to have it.

Biggest personal change: I had a pretty big emotional breakthrough in June, except it didn't really feel big once it happened. That big sense of overpowering pain that I had been holding off was allowed to come forth. It came down to my father never being happy with me, and me not being able to fix that, so me trying to fix everything else. Most of that was fairly well known; it was just putting them together.

There is no longer a flood of tears hiding behind a dam, but I do feel things more now. That includes grief about the dog, but most of all the grief about my mother's dementia, and that state of her being here and not here. Nothing can really be ignored anymore, so I am more present, but it is bearable.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2022/10/all-better.html

Those are the highlights. Well, I guess some of them are low lights, but ultimately it is all life. As this posts I will be turning 51, and that is comfortable. 

There are things lost with age. For example, in college I remember pulling all-nighters and I would actually have more energy, and be kind of bouncing of the walls. That ship has sailed.

Otherwise, though, it is so much more comfortable to be mature, and to be over things that don't matter, wiser about what matters in general. It is great to have no need left to impress anyone (unless I start job hunting again). As much as I can see things that I could have done better, I would not want to go back.

I do still color my hair, largely from a desire not to look like a certain aunt I am said to resemble. I know her going gray early was separate from her judgment and gossiping, but in my mind they are all associated, and I will rage for the dyeing of the white.

There is still plenty to figure out, especially in terms of how to maintain relationships and community ties while COVID is really not done, and yet most people are acting like it is done. However, we are trying a vacation again this Saturday. It is domestic and familiar, so with a much lower chance of complication. I have completely given up the cloth masks for KN95 masks now, but so far, so good.

Love,
Gina

 

P.S.

For updates on the vacation, and lots of post about cool things in Oregon, you can also check sporktogo.blogspot.com.

Queen Sugar's Farewell: Everyone Matters

Queen Sugar is done. I have watched all the episodes, and all the specials.

I have written about Queen Sugar a lot, because it has resonated with me a lot.

(You can find one of the posts with links to multiple others at https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2021/04/upon-finishing-viewing-of-another.html.)

The only other series that I have spent comparable posts on was Grimm. In a cruel irony, one of the early things I responded to was the importance placed on minor characters and the respect given. The show kept becoming more callous and less clever, until in the last season I was only still watching because it was the last season.

Queen Sugar did not do that.

I suspect a lot of the credit for that goes to Ava DuVernay. One of the specials was a feature on the women who directed episodes of the show. All 42 were women. While many had directed independent films, or directed in other countries, and were capable of doing the work, getting their foot in the door for series work was still elusive. That opportunity mattered for them, but also, it shows caring, and an interest in expanding opportunity, the behind the scenes matching what was on the screen.

https://variety.com/lists/queen-sugar-42-women-directors-ava-duvernay/

On-screen, first of all, it is important that it is not just the Bordelons that get their land, but that Miss Parthena can get hers, and that Cardale has help when his land is threatened by flooding. It couldn't have worked without the co-op, but as some of the hidden obstacles emerge the importance of that unity only becomes more obvious.

It matters that the Avila family was reunited, but also that it is the Avila family, with all of the ways they have been tied to the Bordelons across the seasons.

Those threads of connection and the importance of each one became more clear in the final season as familiar faces returned. 

Ra's friend Toine was doing great, with a new child and a new career path. Remy was doing well domestically and professionally. In fact, he was able to help the Bordelons one more time. Jacob was doing well business-wise, but appeared to be white-knuckling it emotionally on account of his family ties. He seemed in a much better position at the end of the last episode. 

Even without getting to see him, we hear that "Too Sweet" is doing well.

Hey, there's Micah's grandmother! The way she collects him but then also supports him... it is not just that she is there, but that her being there matters. And Micah gets to see Keke again, and get past the awkward breakup to comfortable adulthood.

It would have required additional episodes to bring back all of Nova's past loves, but there were three that were very important.

Obviously we needed to see Calvin again. That closure and goodbye was important, even if it was not permanent.

Chantal was an interesting return, because I remember when she first came around thinking it could never work; she was too pushy and Nova was the wrong person for that. That impression was not wrong, but Chantal would sometimes return and make Nova bristle while being correct. She did that one more time, and was the best person to do it.

Having never seen Nova's first girl crush, that was not exactly a return. It still taught us more about Nova, and gave us a glimpse into Ernest's coming around, which was huge for Nova.

That leads to the last thing. 

The importance of the late Ernest to his children, grandchildren, sister, and friends was always clear, but that was rounded out in the finale as Prosper relayed conversations that helped.

As much as that was about the relationship with Ernest -- and things that Ernest said -- because he was gone they could only have come from someone who who had heard it. Prosper was needed.

That may be a reason to say some things now, while you are together, but it was also the culmination of what we can do for each other.

We need each other.

And we all matter.

Who built that?

Getting back to Keeler's judgments about who is or is not Native American, there are a few things worth pointing out. 

After her accusations against Sacheen Littlefeather first came out, some people were posting about abuse against the Yaqui people that could have disrupted ties. This included enslavement on plantations, forced removal with a high death rate, and concentration camps that broke up families.

For Buffy Sainte-Marie, she was taken from her birth family as part of the Sixties Scoop, where it was government policy to take Indigenous infants from their families and place them with other (white) families (though her adopted mother identified as part Mi'kmaq).

That was a Canadian program, designed to get those children assimilated. Officially, the United States tried to do that more by termination, where a tribe's status could be lost as a way of boosting those now former members to assimilation, though it was also convenient for pulling money and land away.

And, if the US did not officially have an adopting out policy, Native American children are over-represented in foster care. There was recently a high profile case against the Indian Child Welfare Act, one of the few pieces of legislation in place that that to keep children connected to their tribal organizations.

Remember, the point of Critical Race Theory -- before it became a term for anything possibly acknowledging racism -- is to know that the absence of having racism codified by law does not automatically mean there is no racism entrenched historically and systemically.

I will also add there is a whole thing about "City Natives" and how moving off the reservations can cut their ties.

As destructive as blood quantum rules can be, those were imposed by government that really did not want living, breathing tribe members around. If it supported anti-Blackness by eliminating people who had been accepted into the tribe but whose descent was not purely tribal, so much the better.

This is not to say that certain people may not be terrible, or that you can't have people of Indigenous descent (or Latin American descent or Asian descent) be racist or be anti-Black... those are totally things that happen.

It is to say that the fault lies in white supremacy. We should remember that because our path to a better world is overthrowing white supremacy. 

There may be painful realizations along this path, but hey, no pain, no gain, right?

Now, a word about DNA tests. 

I had mentioned Tina Turner having some Native ancestry. A DNA test showed it was only 1%. If you work out the family tree, though, and you have someone right there who was a member of the tribe, should the DNA count that much? If one of her sisters took the test, would the percentage be the same?

I don't know, but let's look at Elizabeth Warren. Her results indicated an ancestor 6-10 generations back. That seemed to support her family beliefs, though no one was happy with the claim. 

As someone who had no affiliations with a tribe, who was identified as white, and who did not face the discrimination that comes with the Native American experience, no, she should not have identified as such. Perhaps it did not help her career, but if it made Harvard feel better to list her as such, or for the State Bar to show a diverse candidate taking and passing the exam, well, that's gross. It fakes achieving the effect that those programs are supposed to be achieving.

Finally, let's remember that ad for a DNA test where a woman found a percentage of Indian blood and was so excited she started buying pots and blankets, apparently without any regard to tribe. I remember that irritating some people.

That irritation is totally fair, but I also remember thinking what if she had been adopted, and didn't know, or maybe one of her parents had gone to a boarding school and lost their connections? Maybe something could be restored.

I have a friend who had Native American roots she knew nothing about, not because of any of the possible reasons mentioned, but just a bitter divorce that severed some family ties. Having reconnected, and finding aunts and uncles and sharing time with them has been a good thing.

I will never forget meeting a woman who has no idea what happened to her son (those would be more typical reasons), and hoping that there will be a way for her to find out.

It can go so many ways, but they will all involve caring about people and community over caring about potential profits and privileges. 

It will take overcoming white supremacy. 

That is a job for all of us.

Dreaming of a non-white Christmas... December's Daily Songs

From the articles I linked to last week, one of the artists listed as having Native American roots was Jimi Hendrix:

https://coloradosound.org/5-musicians-indigenous-roots-national-native-american-heritage-month/ 

While many of the other things I have read have led me to be skeptical of part-Cherokee grandmothers, I have also read multiple rock bios where artists perceived as Black also list Native American ancestors. 

It got me thinking about how messy defining race can get. Now, there's a certain logic to that, given that race is artificially constructed anyway, but since it has real effects we still need to deal with it; maybe we can work our way to a healthy deconstruction.

Until we can get there, I figured I could have a month of seasonal songs pulling only from the four categories I use that have heritage months.

Now, that gets tricky. Looking at Hispanic Heritage, searching on those songs I got a few results from Spain. That would not count. Many of them could also count as Indigenous (though not to Jacqueline Keeler). Also, Mexican singer Yuri is pretty light-skinned and blonde, but then so is Leona Lewis, British singer with a father of Afro-Guyanese descent. (And she is not always blonde, but in the video for the song I used, she is.)

I should point out that mentioning race like that feels gross. Ironically, it goes along with not wanting to be racist, but avoiding any mention of race makes it easier for those who fully embrace racism to have their way. 

While racism is real and structural, one way I will counteract it is taking time to focus on those disadvantaged by it. I accept that I am not likely to do it perfectly.

For the songs, most of the songs by Black artists are ones I have used before, because they are favorites and I would hate to leave them out. That includes two by Stevie Wonder, and I found I have this little quartet of essential songs, representing different aspects of Christmas to me, and possibly only to me.

"This Christmas" by Donny Hathway represents getting together with friends and family, "What Christmas Means To Me" by Stevie Wonder is the fun and excitement of the holidays, whereas his "Someday At Christmas" is more the wishing for peace and goodwill. Finally, "Christmas Is The Time" by Low Rawls is more for the religious faith aspect. 

Is there overlap? Sure. Could you reasonably propose different songs? Absolutely. That's just how it felt for me.

The other thing is that I was reviewing Native American artists for November right before, so there were songs that I thought might make more sense for December as I was listening in November. That includes Mildred Bailey's "I've Got My Love To Keep My Warm", but also of course it made sense to use R. Carlos Nakai's "Solstice Prayer" on the Winter Solstice, right?

Then I remembered that the Wounded Knee Massacre happened shortly after Christmas, something I cannot forget because of the image of the injured being taken to a church still decorated for Christmas. There is a "Wounded Knee" song. Then I saw something about the Dakota 38, and their execution happened on December 26th. So, there were songs for them. 

(Though "Wounded Knee" went up a day late because I got confused on what day I was on, and that is embarrassing.)

Then I remembered Pearl Harbor, so it was appropriate to give that day to a Hawai'ian, though it is a Christmas song.

We pray and wish for peace and goodwill because we do not have it yet.

Also, that all gave me an idea for February, so there's that to look forward to.

12/1 “I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” by Mildred Bailey
12/2 “Reindeer Herding Song” by Pamyua
12/3 “Pesces En El Rio” by Gaby Moreno
12/4 “Sagebrush Snow Winds” by Robert Mirabal
12/5 “Winter Wonderland” by Beabadoobee
12/6 “Joy To The World” by Yo-Yo Ma
12/7 “Betelehema Iki e (O Little Town of Bethlehem)” by Amy Hänaiali'i
12/8 “Native Drummer Boy” by Robert “Tree” Cody and Ruben Romero
12/9 “Ven A Mi Casa Esta Navidad” by Mijares
12/10 “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway
12/11 “O Holy Night (Navajo)” by Jana Mashonee
12/12 “Double Saxophone Christmas Medley” by Grace Kelly
12/13 “Christmas Is The Time” by Lou Rawls
12/14 “Rodolfo El Reno” by Los Tigres Del Norte
12/15 “Campana Sobre Campana” by Yuri
12/16 “She'll Be My Everything For Christmas” by Los Lonely Boys
12/17 “Caroling, Caroling (Christmas Bells Are Ringing)” by Nat King Cole
12/18 “Who Would Imagine A King” by Whitney Houston
12/19 “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano
12/20 “Groovy Xmas” by The Linda Lindas
12/21 “Solstice Prayer” by R. Carlos Nakai
12/22 “What Christmas Means To Me” by Stevie Wonder
12/23 “All Alone On Christmas” by Darlene Love
12/24 “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis
12/25 “Christmas Must Be Tonight” by Robbie Robertson
12/26 “Dakota Hymn” by SATB Choir
12/27 “Campanas De Navidad” by Celia Cruz
12/28 “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” by Tina Guo
12/29 “Someday At Christmas” by Stevie Wonder
12/30 “Wounded Knee” by Walela
12/31 “Around The Fire” by Jennifer Chung

Native American identity for white people (by a white person)

From Emergency!, Season 2, Episode 5, "Peace Pipe"

Chet: I don't know what you're getting so uptight about. I've got some Indian
blood in me too, you know.

Johnny: Oh, wait a minute. Now, don't tell me. On your grandmother's side.

Chet: Yeah. That's right.

Johnny: And she was an Indian princess, a Cherokee most likely.

Chet: Hey, that's right. How'd you know that?

Johnny: We call it white man royalty syndrome.

This is one of my favorite episodes of Emergency!. I wish I knew more about the inspiration. I mean, I assume that the bit on anthropologists was inspired by Vine Deloria Jr.'s Custer Died For Your Sins, but it was a real enough issue that it may not have needed him as a reference. 

(I do wish they had not had Roy defend the jokes, but it was the '70s; maybe they felt pressure.)

If you recall, in Friday's post I was writing about selecting songs and musicians for Native American Heritage Month, and starting with some big names, but I ran into a snag.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2022/12/native-american-heritage-month-2022.html 

Going even further back, in June I had a post that in writing about the "slap" at the 2022 Oscars also referenced Sacheen Littlefeather's Oscar refusal on behalf of Marlon Brando at the 1973 Oscars, and later insistence that she was not really Indian.

Littlefeather died in October of this year. Shortly afterword, Jacqueline Keeler, a Navajo author, came out saying that she had interviewed Littlefeather's sisters and they said that they said they were not native.

There were some problems with it. This included waiting until after Littlefeather's death to say it. She was being honored by the Academy in September, so that would have been a reasonable time to say something. More glaring are tweets from one of the sisters saying that it was Keeler who told them that they were not native, which is not how Keeler represented the conversation. Also, Keeler seems to focus on international boundaries at the expense of tribal boundaries, for example feeling that Indigenous Canadians steal jobs from U.S. Native Americans, when you often have members of the same tribes on both sides of the border. So, saying that Littlefeather's roots are Mexican does not automatically cancel out the possibility of connection to Apache or Yaqui ancestry.

If you are more interested in Keeler herself, you can do some reading here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_lCuYR2FcZLzFcIu1nuyQqm1JG71vrdl/view

Apparently her next target is going to be Buffy Sainte-Marie. As you can imagine I have some feelings about that, but I also believe I am not the only one. I expect there to be push back. Counting on it, really. 

Without getting into that more at this time, I want to explore "white man royalty syndrome", and tell my own embarrassing story about it.

I was told that we were descended from Pocahontas, and repeated it when there was a family history project in 8th or 9th grade. Then I started looking at the records. I did not find any links to it, so I asked my father about that. 

The assumption came from a great-great grandfather having a child named Pocahontas, and assuming that was an obvious sign of descent, as opposed to fashionable trends and maybe trying to be different and certainly having a lot of children where running out of names would be a potential problem.

It is not uncommon for people to do this. I have found at least one author who mentions her mother having a similar delusion, and in late 19th century/early 20th century Oklahoma it was very common. That was partly due to a pride in the local history, and also a hope of being able to get in on claims as land was allotted. In fact, land speculators would search out people with names and birth places probable enough to possibly get land and tell them they were related.

(I think this happening so much in Oklahoma is why it is usually a Cherokee princess instead of some other tribe, but not us! We were Powhatan!)

What all of this did, though, is push actual Native Americans into the past, maybe as part of a cool, almost-mythical history, maybe as ancestors, but not as living people with present legal and moral claims.

I believe this will be followed by a much angrier post in a week, but getting back to the starting point, when everyone was talking about Keeler and "pretendians", some of the artists I had been planning on using (Cher) or did use (Rita Coolidge) were called "pretendians". I suddenly felt unsure about what I was doing.

However, it did give me an idea for what to do for the December daily songs. Friday's post will be about that.