1 play, 6 movies -- Black History Month 2024

Most of these I watched a while ago and really wanted to. 

Three of them were last minute additions, two of which I felt very critical of, but possibly unfairly.

The movies:

The Lovebirds (2020)

This one just looked like fun, and it was. 

I saw the trailer in the theaters, but ended up seeing it on Netflix, just seeing that I could. (That is how I ended up watching most of these.) It was nice because previously I had only seen Issa Rae in The Photograph (also 2020), which had not been fun (it was a romantic film, but very solemn and serious.). She is known for comedy, so I felt like I was missing out. Now I have seen her as President Barbie as well. 

Enjoyable, and actually some pretty realistic points about relationships.

42 (2013)

A little ponderous, but there is a good cast and it covers important material. 

There have been other media that told me more about Jackie Robinson, Branch Rickey, and baseball in general, but one of the really interesting and unexpected things here was the story of Wendell Smith, a Black sportswriter who faced similar obstacles and isolation to Robinson, with much less publicity.

Becoming (2020)

Behind in my viewing, I had not realized how many of these came out the same year.

Obviously you get more from the book, but this gives you the opportunity to hear from other people, the chance to observe her interacting, and a few fun surprises.

Rustin (2023)

This is where I started impulse watching and then not being sure that I was glad I had.

In this case, there were things that I worried they made worse than they needed to be for dramatic impact. That it is normal with movies -- you combine and compress -- but then I was not sure if they were making it less true. For some of the emotional things... he had been doing this for a long time by then, which doesn't mean it wasn't hard, but did they give you an accurate idea of Rustin himself?

Except... one thing they really drove home is how much work really good organizing takes, as they work out sound systems and latrines and food and temperatures and chartering buses and fundraising, all while dealing with the racism and the homophobia. (I don't think that was exaggerated.) There was so much, and while Rustin did not do it without help, he was amazing at it and a big part of motivating and instructing that help. Could they have pulled off the March on Washington without him? Maybe, but it would have been much harder.

American Symphony (2023)

Going over Jon Batiste's preparation for an upcoming symphony performance while also having an amazing year at the Grammy's and facing the recurrence of his wife's cancer. There is a lot going on.

I was not familiar with him before, and this was a good introduction.

It probably is also an indication that in my current space, I am happier with documentaries where you hear the voice of the subjects than historical features where you don't know how much is the screenwriter and crew.

Shirley (2024)

This is again one where I was not sure how well they were representing, and worried by that.

On one level, I felt like it was kind of portraying her as Bernie Sanders -- too honest and ornery to succeed, at least in getting elected president. However, in the text at the end they show her as an effective legislator, bringing forward a lot of legislation, so the comparison ends there. 

It did bring home how difficult campaigns can be, especially for family members.

The Play:

Seven Guitars 

Well, the August Wilson play debuted in 1995, but it's set in 1948, and I saw it in 2023. 

My eventual goal is to have seen Wilson's entire Pittsburgh Cycle. This put me at 30%. I will say that after some online searching trying to understand what was going on with the rooster, I understand some things about Fences better. There was no rooster in Fences, but getting some ideas into the symbolism made Troy Maxson's arc and the ending more clear.

Note: I did also see Origin this year -- which is super current for me -- but I think I will write about it at a  different time.

Limbo

I mentioned the different categories on the paper last week, but I did not mention that two of them were exactly alike.

I want..

• money
• love
• rest

I need...

• money
• love
• rest

I was so tired then. 

That is still a factor in our lives, but the difference is still notable.

When I was caregiving for Mom, I had an official diagnosis of "Caregiver Burnout" (which is still on my chart). I had never thought we would put her in a facility, but then it was what she needed, and it was right, but it still had a lot of hard emotions associated with it. Once she was gone, I immediately had to start job hunting, and that was a very discouraging process. 

I don't remember ever feeling good.

Going from another time of burnout (this time from the call center) to job hunting could easily have been terrible, but there have been differences.

I didn't have the same level of emotional attachment to my job as to my mother, so that can only help. I also gave myself a cushion so there could be some time to get into the job search slowly. Then, some really cool things have been happening. 

I feel pretty good.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/03/in-good-place.html

There is still a tiredness relating to Mom, and the whole household has that.

Currently, she has been in hospice since July, so that has been a while.

If we count back further, to when she went into the facility, or when she no longer remembered us, or when she could no longer be left alone... there is a long trail of discouraging milestones.

For the terminology that is used in psychological reading, you can always have grief, but mourning is part of healing, and that can't begin until the loss is done. 

I swear I remember someone referring to Alzheimer's as the never-ending death once, but that's not true; at some point it will end. The more accurate expression seems to be "the long goodbye".

We miss her, but there is a time when we will miss her more, or differently, and we don't know when that will happen, so it's just always hanging there.

There are still goof things that happen, and we have been blessed in a lot of ways, but there is also this one factor that is always there, dragging along behind.

 That won't get better until it gets worse.

Other works for younger readers -- Black History Month 2024

I wanted to go over a few more books, in a few more categories.

Picture Books that are not by Pinkneys:

Big by Vashti Harrison

Bedtime Bonnet by Nancy Redd, illustrated by Nneka Myers

Cape by Kevin Johnson, illustrated by Kitt Thomas

First of all, I cannot adequately express how beautiful and needed Big is.

Vashti Harrison has appeared before as the illustrator of Sulwe and Hair Love. She is a wonderful illustrator, but this is all her, written with sensitivity and love.

Cape is good for dealing with grief. It hurts, but for children who are hurting it may help.

Bedtime Bonnet is a fun book about a girl searching for her bonnet at bedtime. In the process, we see other ways of caring for hair, and get a laugh at the eventual location.

Longer Picture Books:

Curve & Flow: The Elegant Vision of L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams by Andrea J. Lonely, illustrated by Keith Mallett

I saw this at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, which incorporates some of Williams' work. He did more design in Los Angeles, but it would be easy to not know about him, and it is good to know anyway.

Swish! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High Flying Harlem Globetrotters by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Don Tate

Even though I watched the cartoon, saw them visit Gilligan's Island, and even saw them live once as a kid, there was a lot that I never knew about the Harlem Globetrotters, including how long they had been around. I saw them live again a few months after reading this, and it gave me a greater appreciation.

Chapter Books:

Just Like Martin by Ossie Davis

I think this originally ended up on my reading list because there is an edition where Andrea Davis Pinkney did the foreword. That was not the edition I read, but it is a good treatment of non-violence and commitment, suitable for (probably) ages 10 and up.

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin 

Just Like Martin is historical fiction, but The Port Chicago 50 is non-fiction, and again, it is something that it would be easy not to know about, but that we should know about.

Comic Books:

Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright

As the older sister of twins, I may have felt the angst a little more here. Francine is trying to differentiate herself from Maureen, and Maureen takes it hard. Themes of finding yourself and growing up.

Run: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell, and L. Fury

I loved the March series, and John Lewis in general. This is a good book, but I can't help but feel the loss of the other two books that surely should have come if he had lived longer.

Cheer up; it may never happen!

In sorting through old things, I came upon something that I knew I needed to spend more time on.

I originally started using those big at-a-glace calendars because I liked that they could hold a lot of notes (maybe small drawings) and were easy to read. I later began liking them even more for those big empty back sides, which I would sometimes use more creatively.

I have one that I filled up with short statements.

The date on the front is July 2019. Based on what I wrote, it was definitely after October 2018 and before July 2020. I guess this was right in the middle.

When I say "filled", there are 70 statements, in groups starting with things like "I am sad...", "I am angry...", "I need..." and things like that. 

It's a good record of where I was at the time. 

I knew I wanted to capture it in my journal, but as I did that there was so much emotion and so much growth, that it is also getting at least one blog post.

The first thing that stands out is that the biggest category-- with 25 statements -- is "I am afraid":

• I am afraid that I will never get out of debt.
• I am afraid that we will go into foreclosure again.
• I am afraid that it will never get any better -- just sadness and drudgery from here on out.

A lot of them have to do with Mom, and were pretty specific:

• I am afraid that Mom will accidentally let Adele (our dog) out.
• I am afraid that Mom will take off without me knowing, maybe when I am in the shower or asleep.
• I am afraid that Mom will lock me out of the house when I go to get the mail.
• I am afraid that she will become non-verbal and be unhappy but won't be able to tell me.
• I am afraid that something will happen where I don't know what to do.

Therefore, the most wonderful thing about this is how much of it never happened.

I still think it was valuable going over it. Sometimes you need to get things out, and sometimes it is good to realize that you should never leave the house -- even just to go to the mailbox -- without taking keys.

Not everything is definitively resolved. I am not out of debt, I am not positive that I have not permanently damaged my health. While Biden did get elected I am not positive that democracy has fully recovered. (Not all of my fears were about Mom.)

I could still end up having to be a caretaker for other family members. Some of them have much worse personalities than Mom.

However, my friends are still my friends, I have been on vacations. While things were often difficult, Mom has stayed safe. 

I was always given clarity of thought on what needed to be done.

Even though the fear was real, it wasn't all I felt.

From other sections...

• I am grateful that we have made it this far.
• I trust that I will not injure Mom, or desert her, or do anything terrible.
  

Spotlight on Brian Pinkney: Black History Month 2024

I have reached another milestone in my attempts to read everything by the Pinkney family.

There is a lot here, even with all of his work that was already covered. 

I have broken it down into different categories for easier perusal. 

By himself:

Puppy Truck
Time For Kenny
Jojo's Flying Sidekick
The Adventures of Sparrowboy
On the Ball
Hey Otter! Hey Beaver!
Thumbelina
Hush, Little Baby

There are two main art styles that Pinkney switches between, and you can see both of them in this selection, and get an idea of how the different styles may serve different types of stories. 

Sparrowboy is done kind of comic book style, while still primarily being a picture book. That makes sense for the subject matter. 

Puppy Truck was surprisingly charming.

With Andrea Davis Pinkney:

Hey, Baby Girl!

I was confused that I had missed this, because it seems to fit in perfectly with the Bright Brown Baby books, but I forgot how recent they were. Hey, Baby Girl! came out in October 2023, months after I posted https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/06/spotlight-on-andrea-davis-pinkney.html.

What I will add is that even if your baby is not brown, these types of books -- loving and affirming -- are good. Even white babies will be helped, not harmed, but seeing this kind of representation.

With Robert D. San Souci:

Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella
Sukey and the Mermaid
The Boy and the Ghost
The Faithful Friend
Cut From the Same Cloth: American Women of Myth, Legend, and Tall Tales

I have mainly enjoyed these, but with his priority on being a folklorist, San Souci is often a bit wordy for children's books.

With Patricia McKissack:

Let's Clap, Jump, Sing and Shout: Dance, Spin, and Turn It Out!
The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural

I kind of associate McKissack with San Souci, though I think it is fair to call her more of a historian than a folklorist. Also, I like her writing better.

Other folklore:

The Ballad of Belle Dorcas by William H. Hooks
A Wave in Her Pocket: Stories from Trinidad by Lynn Joseph
The Elephant's Wrestling Match by Judy Sierra
The Story Teller by Derrick Gantt
In the Time of the Drums by Kim L. Siegelson
Busy-Busy Little Chick by Janice N. Harrington

I would probably recommend A Wave in Her Pocket and Busy-Busy Little Chick most out of this group.

History:

Jackie's Bat by Marybeth Lorbiecki
The Stone Lamp: Eight Stories of Hanukkah Through History by Karen Hesse
Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr. by Jean Marzolla
Harriet Tubman and Black History Month (Let's Celebrate) by Polly Carter
Julie Brown: Racing with the World by R.R. Knudsen

The last one may be questionable as "history" as this is a fairly recent athlete, but Julie Brown is a real person. I did not love her story, but that was more due to her coaches. Otherwise these are mostly fine, though none of them were my favorites.

For history, I find his work with Andrea to be more interesting. They make a good team.

With Carol Boston Weatherford:

Dreams for a Daughter
In Your Hands

Weatherford's writing is beautiful and inspirational.  

With music:

We Are One by Ysaye M. Barnwell
Little Diva by LaChanze
Hip-Hop Lollipop by Susan McElroy Monanari

Well, the last one does not have an official recording, but you can listen to it read aloud with a pretty good bass track, kind of like "Rapper's Delight":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhTTV6GjcIw&t=70s

There is also a similarly named song with Bootsy Collins and Fantaazma that I do not believe has any affiliation, but I also can't recommend it because to work in the lollipop they infantilize Fantaazma. Without being at all familiar with her, I think it sets a bad precedent.

With Maxine Rose Schur:

Day of Delight: A Jewish Sabbath in Ethiopia
When I Left My Village

The first book is an interesting account of a closely knit group and their communal Sabbath worship. That makes the disruption of the community by prejudice, governmental land changes, and necessary flight more heartbreaking.The protagonist's eventual arrival in Israel is supposed to be a happy resolution, but the displaced Ethopian Jews have historically faced prejudice in Israel as well, even without taking the current situation into account.

By Linda Sue Park:

Nya's Long Walk: One Step At a Time
A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story 

Pinkney did not illustrate the second book, which is a chapter book rather than a picture book. However, it was interesting to have the expanded story. We have another refugee story here, this time from Sudan.

Poetry Illustrations:

The Dream Keeper and Other Poems, by Langston Hughes
The Lost Zoo, by Countee Cullen
Jump Back Honey: The Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, by Paul Laurence Dunbar, with Ashley Brian, Carole Byard, Jan Spivey Gilchrist, and Jerry Pinkney

Honestly The Lost Zoo was a little too silly/not lyrical enough for me, though when Cullen is describing his relationship with his cat it strikes a chord. The other two collections are better, and of course overall these are some really important poets.

Pathways:

Where Does the Trail Lead? by Burton Albert
A Walk in the Woods by Nikki Grimes, with Jerry Pinkney

If Where Does the Trail Lead? (which I enjoyed) fit anywhere else, I would have put A Walk in the Woods by itself. 

I might have classified it under "working with family", but of course we have Brian's work with Andrea (his wife) and he collaborates with Jerry (his father) on Jump Back. In addition, there will be a later spotlight (next year) on work with his mother, Gloria Jean Pinkney. (Jerry will get his own spotlight then too.)

However, this one is different, and hits hard. 

Grimes was originally working on the book with Jerry Pinkney, who had completed the sketches but not added color when he died. Brian finished his father's work, and he finished it on a book about a boy grieving the loss of his father. 

It hurts but it is ultimately beautiful.

Plodding along

About a month later, I am no longer giddy. 

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/03/in-good-place.html

I am not unhappy, but the euphoria has worn off. 

Part of this is that every thing I do seems to lead to more things to do. Sometimes there is a lot of hurry up and wait.

I had indicated this before, but I had a long list of jobs and programs that I wanted to look into, even before I quit.

Now I am doing that, but of course if you look into one program, and then you apply, you may have to wait for your application to be examined, or submit other materials.

Also, while I have not applied for that many jobs yet, I am getting a few rejections. They were expected, so that is not terrible, but that's why I'm not giddy.

I am guided by that long list.

Every Sunday I create a set of goals for the coming week. Then, each morning I figure out what things should be done today. (I will sometimes sort that out before I go to bed as well.)

I am getting a little better at setting realistic goals, but I am still not the most patient person.

This is the thing that is cool, though, and the reason I am sharing it.

A long list of things to do could be something that would weigh me down. If I did not have time to work at it, it would.

Instead, it is acting more like ballast. 

Why isn't something happening? Well, you still haven't done these things, Gina. In fact, there are some key things you won't get to until next week, and there are some important things for the week after that.

That is keeping me fairly well aligned, and that is helpful.

Plus, all the bills for this month are paid, we are well-stocked on groceries, and I take time to lay down with cats every day.

Those things really help, but so do achievable goals!

Spotlight on Amanda Gorman: Black History Month 2024

I had gotten out of the habit of reading poetry with these months, but this time around it occurred to me to read through Amanda Gorman.

Now, if I look at her Wikipedia entry there is some other work listed, but this was all I could find in books:

The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country

Call Us What We Carry: Poems

Something, Someday (illustrated by Christian Robinson)

Change Sings: A Children's Anthem (illustrated by Loren Long)

I suspect that her other work may have appeared in literary magazines and student publications, so may not be too easy to locate.

What I found I enjoyed a lot.

I want to focus on Call Us What We Carry. 

If felt very much like a part of student work, but not because of the quality level. The quality was amazing.

As it was, the different sections played with different formats, and there were classical allusions but also bits of history and science. It reminded me of that mix of being a college student with so much information available all around you.

It was invigorating.

At the same time, it was a record of the pandemic, and the grief and fear that went with that.

It was emotional, and I felt that, but then what stuck with me was the ability to pull from so many sources and combine them into new, interesting, and evocative forms.

Gorman is incredibly skilled and so young that it is wonderful to think that we could have her and new work from her for many years. 

Opening up

Recently I wrote about noticing people having unmet needs for talking:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/03/shortcuts-in-speech.html 

I have a lot of sympathy for that, but there was something else recently that gave me some trepidation:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15307068/ 

The Mother of All Lies is a 2023 Moroccan film that recently played at the Cascade Festival of African Films. 

The film is not linear.  

In 1981, heavy price increases for basic food supplies led to the Casablanca Bread Riots, which inspired a heavy government crackdown. The official government death toll was 66, but the opposition reported 637, which seems more likely.

To protect that lie, bodies were taken and dumped in a mass grave, buried over and locked away. 

One thing that aided the government's ability to tell their lie is that there is only one known photograph, and it doesn't show much.

The movie starts with a much simpler lie. When she was a child, director and narrator Asmae ElMoudir wondered why there were no pictures of her. Her mother said there was and brought her a photo, but it was a photo of three strangers.

Later it turns out that her mother stole that photo from the school, so her daughter would have something. There were no photos because grandmother (Asmae's mother's mother-in-law) forbade them. 

One early segment of the film reenacts young Asmae sneaking out and getting a photo taken and hiding it, the only photo of her when young.

From what we know at that point, Grandma is an old bag -- that is made clear early on -- and there is a nasty scene of her calling Asmae's mother a thief and a liar. The mother doesn't even deny those words, just repeating that it's her daughter and she will tell her what she wants. When her mother sees the picture Asmae took all those years ago, she commends her. "Good for you."

Still later we learn that the grandmother was married when she was twelve and gave birth to twins, who died shortly after having their photo taken.

Some rules about idolatry can seem to forbid photos of humans, but most people don't interpret them that way, perhaps unless the worst happens.

For Asmae, at the time she felt like with no photos you have no history. One can see how she got into film. 

As we go over national and family history, the re-enactments are done with little clay figures in a small replica of the neighborhood. Asmae's trip to the photographer happened there, but so did the Bread Riots, the subsequent arrests, and the disappearances.

Being in the space away from home (at home the walls have ears) and having those visual reminders -- to jog the memory but also to provide some distance -- is how Asmae gets her family members and two of their neighbors to talk about what happened. 

You would hope that over forty years later there would be no fear in talking about it, but even with a memorial, there are still protesters trying to get more information. They wave photos of their dead. One woman cannot get her sister declared dead unless she affirms that she died of natural causes. 

Using toys or drawings or other ways to get at trauma is not unknown, but the area where I started to get nervous was as people did start talking about the events, and how much it hurt them. One wished he were dead. 

They were struggling as they faced these memories, and I worried for them; were they gong to be okay?

There is so much more in the movie than that, but that was when I was most alarmed. Could they bear up under facing that past and speaking their pain?

I remember a period in my life when I felt so fragile that a kind word would have shattered me into a million pieces. I was just trying to hold it together.

And yet, in that non-linear film, it did seem that everyone was a bit lighter after they came out on the other side, including Grandma.

It can be okay, but it can be a messy process getting there. 

There can be a lot of drama that does not result in healing, but sometimes the only way to healing is through mess.

We need to be able to make space for that.

Daily Songs: February

This list of songs jumped all over the place. Much of it was inspired by reading, but not all.

First of all, one thing I enjoyed at Christmas was a White House video showing off some decorations with an ensemble from Dorrance Dance:

https://www.dorrancedance.com/

They used a jazzy version of the Waltz of the Flowers, "Dance of the Floreadores", by Duke Ellington.

I had almost started the next idea, but then some people being ridiculous about the Grammys inspired me to include not just "Fast Car" but also two other songs where you have Black people participating in country. 

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/02/fast-car-discourse.html 

"Texas Hold 'Em" wasn't even out yet! What is wrong with people?

I had also started thinking about the different songs that related to books I had been reading. That was especially true of books by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney. That is where we get "We Are...". "Little Diva", "Swing Shift", and "God Bless the Child". 

They also worked on a book with Gloria Jean Pinkney, Music From Our Lord's Holy Heaven. She recorded songs for it, and there was a CD included, but they are not on the internet. Mahalia Jackson's version of "Go Tell It On the Mountain" was used as a nod toward that.

I am still going through the works of Jerry and Gloria Jean, Brian's parents, but I did finally finish going through the work of Brian himself, and there will be a spotlight on him.

(You may remember a previous spotlight on his wife Andrea.)

I also focused on the poetry of Amanda Gorman this Black History month (that will be another spotlight) and Change Sings really did seem to sing. I did find a version set to music. I don't know that it is officially endorsed, but I used it.

That is not very many songs.

In terms of things that were missing, it really feels like there could be some good songs from the work of Paul Laurance Dunbar. I suspect there are some, but I didn't know where to find them. (I have read some of his poetry before, but there was an illustrated collection that both illustrating Pinkneys contributed to that came up recently.)

Also, Amerie is a singer, and it really seems like You Will Do Great Things could work sung.

Most of the remaining songs came from listening to some artists from Rip It Up: The Black Experience in Rock 'n' Roll, edited by Kandia Crazy Horse.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/09/black-music-month-2023-final-thoughts.html

I have so many bands to listen to, from both her and Maureen Mahon's writing; this is just a drop in the bucket, but I am glad I at least got that drop in.

And for Leap Day, I don't see how it could have been anything but "Jump". 

You may notice that even though this February had an extra day, that I still went one day into March. I wanted the next segment to be equally divisible by ten.

More on that later!

Songs:

2/1 “Dance of the Floreadores” by Duke Ellington
2/2 “We Are...” by Sweet Honey in the Rock
2/3 “Little Diva” by LaChanze
2/4 “Swing Shift” by International Sweethearts of Rhythm
2/5 “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman
2/6 "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus
2/7 “Mountain of Love” by Charley Pride
2/8 “Last White Christmas” by Basement 5
2/9 “Black Lightning” by the BellRays
2/10 “Cola Bottle Baby” by Edwin Birdsong
2/11 “Go Tell It On the Mountain” by Mahalia Jackson
2/12 “Somebody Up There” by The Blackberries
2/13 “Forbidden Love” by Bronx Style Bob
2/14 “Steppin' Out Tonight” by Beckie Bell
2/15 “Civil Rights” by The Bus Boys
2/16 “Wishes” by Jon Butcher
2/17 “Time Has Come Today” by The Chambers Brothers
2/18 “My Mom” by Chocolate Genius
2/19 “Parting Ways” by Cody Chesnutt
2/20 “Finally Peacefull” by Sam Clayton
2/21 “Searching For the Right Door” by Billy Cobham
2/22 “Bumble Bee Blues” by Papa John Creach
2/23 “Killing Floor” by The Electric Flag
2/24 “Baby Come Back” by The Equals
2/25 “Ghetto Heaven” by The Family Stand
2/26 ”Can You Get To That” by Funkadelic
2/27 “Hero In Me” by Jeffrey Gaines
2/28 “God Bless the Child” by Billie Holiday
2/29 “Jump (For My Love)” by The Pointer Sisters
3/1 “Change Sings” by Felix Glenn

Commemorating

I thought I would write some more about getting things out, but I think I need to finish at least one other book first. 

Instead I am going to write about one of the other things I am doing now: Celebrating National Days!

Both of my sisters are really into themes (as well as the whole family being pretty into holidays), and the teacher one tries to be aware of things that go along with the themes.

Therefore, it has been a pretty normal part of my life to hear that in two days it will be National Tater Tot Day, or something like that.

This year I decided to follow along and try and incorporate it more. 

I decided this before I quit, so it was not related to that. I suppose it is more fun now, but so is everything else.

Mainly, I try and incorporate it into meals, but in my own way.

For example, March 17th was not just Saint Patrick's Day, but also Corned Beef and Cabbage Day.

I love corned beef, but cooking does terrible things to cabbage (I don't care for it fermented either) so I always make it with carrots, and that is what I did again. I also made Sloppy Joes for March 18th, National Sloppy Joe Day. At that point we had too many leftovers to celebrate National Ravioli Day on March 20th, though I had nothing against that. 

Frankly, I had stew meat that I needed to use Sunday, so we are celebrating National Cheesesteak Day two days late, but I did get French Bread on the correct day, March 21st.

A lot of it does not make sense. Why is Peach Cobber Day on April 13th? Peaches are a summer fruit. I mean, if you have canned peaches that you set up the previous summer, maybe it can remind you to use them, but I don't know how many people still do that.

It is not all about food. There is a National Reconciliation Day coming up on April 2nd, and National Sorry Charlie Day on April 6th encourages us to view rejection from a different perspective. 

The first Wednesday in April is National Walking Day, though January 20th is Take a Walk Outdoors Day, so there is some repetition.

We "joke" that every day is Cat Day and Love Your Pet Day, at least in our house.

There are a lot that I just ignore, but I am at least aware of what's coming up. In fact, it was useful the other day that I knew that National Ferret Day was April 2nd, which I was not personally planning on celebrating.)

(I will celebrate National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day that same day, but I will celebrate it with jam.)

https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/

NAHM 2023: Indigenous Identity -- Oklahoma

I don't have links for all of this, but I will include a few links. Two different examples, with two different tribes, but the same state.

I had been aware for some time that Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt's membership in the Cherokee Nation may not be a result of actual Cherokee ancestry.

That was not completely surprising after reading Angie Debo's And Still the Waters Run, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to it. That original article pointed out that there is no process for removing someone's Cherokee citizenship.

His name would come up a lot for other things -- generally negative -- and that would make me think about the people attacking Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sacheen Littlefeather, and Lily Gladstone and wondering if there might not be a better use of their time.

Fairly recently, I saw an interview with the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, Chuck Hoskin Jr.

Although he was asked specifically about Stitt, and expressed frustration with how much he is going against the interests of the tribe, he never brought that up. In fact, when asked about it he declines to discuss it: 

https://apnews.com/oklahoma-governors-tribal-fight-raises-ancestry-questions-61f53c6a2094c89f90b1a4190f08a7db

After all, it's not that anyone questions whether Clarence Thomas is Black.

Governor Stitt is also a bad actor in this next example, but he is not the main point.

https://ictnews.org/news/students-death-after-attack-elicits-calls-for-accountability

Nex Benedict was at one point incorrectly identified as Cherokee. The tribe confirmed there was no record, but still expressed sympathy.

In fact, Nex's mother is a Choctaw citizen, but Nex was not enrolled.

Choctaw Chief Gary Batton later released a statement Wednesday saying Nex’s mother is a Choctaw citizen.

“The loss of a child is always difficult for a community and a family to accept. Although Nex does not appear to be affiliated with our tribe, their mother, Sue Benedict, is a registered member. Nex’s death weighs heavily on the hearts of the Choctaw people. We pray Nex’s family and their loved ones will find comfort,” he said.

Many issues have been raised about identity and how it is defined over this posts. Is the tribe defined as a sovereign nation or a group determined by blood? Is there federal recognition or recognition on lower governmental levels? Is there a means to change that? What would the benefits be?

I don't intend to pose any suggestions for that; it would be very inappropriate for me to do so. 

However, I think there are good examples from both chiefs here. There may be official connections that we don't want, and there will be people connected but not officially. Handling that with grace and caring and a focus on what is important strikes me as the best way forward. 

That is how we place healing over harm, and that is very needed.

Shortcuts in speech

As much as I acknowledge the inadequacy of "She's slowing down", there are good reasons for it. That also came up in Origin.

I don't want to spoil the movie, so let's just say that the protagonist suffers multiple personal losses throughout. While talking to a friend, she talks about trying to navigate and communicate without screaming. One believes that if she wanted to scream, her friend would let her, but the friend's husband has just taken their children to bed... that would be very disruptive.

It is reasonable not to disturb others around you -- that is just being considerate -- but then we get this stigma where if you are too loud or disruptive you are seen as not fitting in.

Plus, what if we are allowing terrible situations to continue because everyone except psychopaths are being too considerate to get the issues out there?

(That is a real concern, but I am going to stick with the individual today.)

I remember once being in the middle of hard times, but I was going to be at an amusement park. I thought, "Well, I better scream when I am on the roller coasters and get it out."

I am not generally a screamer (roller coasters are more likely to make me laugh), but I tried it. 

It did not really help, maybe because that isn't my thing, or maybe because it was still too controlled.

As it is, not everyone who asks how my mother is doing needs the whole story. I have regular communication with my family, and the blog gets a lot of things out for me. I am probably okay, except there is this other thing I have noticed.

I keep finding other people who just have so much to say.

In one way, they aren't so much saying a lot as they are taking a long time to say it, like once someone is listening it unleashes some kind of desperation.

Personally, I have seen that with myself more since the pandemic started. Sometimes a conversation starts and I just can't stop talking.

So the thing that I am worried about is that we have something missing, where people have all of these pent up emotions that they can't express productively; are there things we can do to improve that?

Not all expression is productive. I think it goes better when the person talking has done some thinking about it beforehand (perhaps writing about it, in my case). However, if someone listening just helps affirm that the speaker is cared for, that can be worth a lot.

For a second "however", that can also end up being really draining for the listener.

Maybe everyone just needs to go into therapy, to have a trained professional guiding them among the landmines, but there's a shortage of people available. I know various people seeking therapy who have a hard time finding openings.

They can look because they have coverage. Not everyone does.

I don't have an answer here. I can only offer my sympathy and a general wish for kindness and consideration.

I am grateful that I am part of a good household situation and that I have a blog.

Do you have what you need?

Do you know what you need?

At least give it some thought.

NAMH 2023: Indigenous Identity - complexity

We have already covered some of the complexity behind how identity can be defined, but I want to cover a little more, mainly from things read in Indian Country Today newsletters.

Let's start with an article about Lily Gladstone and her Oscar nomination:

https://ictnews.org/news/a-wave-of-emotions-after-oscars

I have seen some messages previously with people irritated about her being called the first Native American nominee for best actress, with mention of Yalitza Aparicio's 2018 nomination for Roma.

North America has the descendants of the original inhabitants in Canada, the United States, and Mexico (and all of the Central American countries), and tribal boundaries often cross the national boundaries. Gladstone is the first indigenous nominee from the United States for best actress.

The ICT article gave a good perspective (without it being the main focus of the article) because it also mentioned Keisha Castle-Hughes, who is half Maori, as the first indigenous nominee for best actress in 2002.

Then, there was this one:

https://ictnews.org/news/winter-olympics-feature-three-indigenous-women

The focus is on hockey players, but there is a mention of Inuk biathlete Ukalek Slettemark, representing Denmark. Inuit for Denmark? Yes, because Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

This might have been more surprising for me, but Notable Native People mentioned Holly Mititquq Nordlum, an Alaska native who went to Greenland to learn traditional Inuit tattooing arts, Denmark apparently having been less persistent in eliminating indigenous culture.

Remember, I have been catching up on old articles, as well as reading various books, so these two articles are just a part of what I have been thinking about. I will try and make some coherent points.

https://ictnews.org/news/ncai-vote-to-exclude-state-recognized-nations-fails

There are tribes that are federally recognized, and tribes that are not. For tribes that are not currently federally recognized, starting that process can be expensive, and may not be easily within reach.

It is worth remembering that tribes are not a monolith, and there can be very different views -- even among neighbors -- about desired outcomes, though that may not justify invalidating the views opposite yours.

The concern raised about "fake" tribes sounds very similar (in my opinion) to the people attacking "pretendians". 

I was surprised reading comments on an interview with Rita Coolidge where she mentioned working with Robbie Robertson. Commenters were calling both her and Robertson fake. Also, the things they were saying, like there being no reason not to be enrolled... no, that doesn't hold up.

Which leads to one more article:

https://ictnews.org/news/fighting-for-native-honor

You can find native people who support native mascots. They may mean well, but I noticed this...

Several association members’ Facebook accounts feature Native American imagery, stories supporting nicknames and imagery mocking politicians, including President Joe Biden.

You might be drawing a certain type, and that's worth thinking about. 

That's not even that they are going to be conservative (though that is certainly more likely), but if all they can do is mock and attack, that's what you are going to get.

There are other ways of being, and I will try and wrap this up next week, but first, a reminder that anytime something like tribal termination or blood quantum or the Dawes Rolls were introduced, it acted as a way of transferring land to the settlers.

Related posts:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/01/native-american-heritage-month_26.html 

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/02/native-american-heritage-month.html

How's your mom?

Have you seen Origin?

Directed by Ava DuVernay, the film goes over the genesis and content of Isabel Wilkerson's book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. 

I assure you that description does not do it justice.

This post is just based on one very small bit, though, where in asking about someone's parents, the answer is given "They're slowing down."

I have said that so many times, and I have heard it from others. I had just said it recently, so it stuck out more.

It's an accurate response, but realizing how common it is highlights how non-specific it is.

There are reasons we do that, and I think I want to get into that more next week.

This week, I want to answer the question.

Yes, she is slowing down. As she was starting to fall more, she has been spending more time in a wheelchair. She has always had a tendency toward swelling in her ankles, so they switched to a Geri Chair, which allows for some foot elevation and reclining.

It has definitely helped. There have been no falls and the swelling went down. 

It may also make it easier for her to doze off, but that wasn't hard before.

Recently we had been in a pattern for our visits. I would arrive and she would be dozing, but I would take her hand and she would wake up and start chatting. Although she is kind of past where her speech is coherent, there would be times when I could tell she was joking, or at least being kind of funny. Then she would get a little tearful, cheer up again, and doze off. 

The entire sequence would take about fifteen minutes. 

That had been the phase. We have been through other ones. There were times when she would talk for much longer, and it was speech I could follow, even though she was referring to events that never happened, or talking about recently being with people who were long dead, or naming children who never existed.

In the recent phase, it is not just that her words don't really make sense, but also that I can tell she is not really processing the things she hears and sees well. I say something, and she will look puzzled, then find something to say, but it doesn't relate.

This has alleviated fears I had that she would switch back to Italian and no one would be able to understand her; communication is not about words now.

She does hold my hand very firmly, so I feel like that's the most important thing I do now.

Well, there is value in getting a visual and staying on top of things... that would be important even if she were completely unresponsive. In terms of what she notices, though, I think the hand holding is now the most important thing. That is a change, but dementia is a process of constant adjustment.

So, here's the thing: on my last visit she barely woke up. 

She opened her eyes a few times,  and said a few words, but it was another downgrade.

My overall feeling is that she is sinking further away from the surface. Getting to her is harder. 

But that's such a long answer, and I don't know how long it will be accurate.

She's slowing down.

Related posts:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/08/more-about-my-mother.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-next-mourning.html

NAMH 2023: For "younger" readers and viewers

Last week's "Hodgepodge" was for works that didn't necessarily seem to go with anything else, but there was another category taking shape. I reserved those items for this week.

The tricky part is that "younger" is a fairly broad category (and there can be a fair amount of overlap even with those breakdowns), and it wasn't only books this time.

Pre-school:

Spirit Rangers (animated series, Netflix)

The Skycedar siblings (Chumash and Cowlitz) live in a national park with their park ranger mother and scientist father. They serve as junior rangers, but also as Spirit Rangers, where they can go to the Spirit Park and assist the spirit beings there. 

It's CGI, which I know not everyone loves, but the vivid colors really make the park beautiful, especially with the hot springs and other water.

There are simple lessons about things like courage and sportsmanship, with some extra fun for adults in hearing familiar voices, like Wes Studi as Sun and Tantoo Cardinal as Moon.

Remember by Joy Harjo, illustrated by Michaela Goode 

The artwork is really gorgeous here, with the important thing to remember being the connection to other life, and all life.

My Powerful Hair by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Steph Littlebird

This goes over the significance and history of hair really well, so covering times when hair was taken in residential school, times when hair was judged, but also when cutting hair can be appropriate and helpful. It provides good context that children can understand.

Elementary school:

Molly of Denali (animated series, PBS Kids) 

With a more traditional animation style, this is also the first nationally distributed children's show in the US to feature an Alaskan native.

One thing I appreciate is that the show features a much larger human network, with neighbors, friends, and extended family, but it is also clearly meant for older children, with more sophisticated concepts. It also teaches more about Alaska, with viewers submitting questions that Molly answers with filmed segments.

The Rez Detectives by Steven Paul Judd and Tvli Jacob, drawn by M.K. Perker

The humor in this comic book is a little juvenile, mostly being about how clueless the narrator is (setting up as a detective, no less), plus one of the villains. Then there are some surprisingly sophisticated site gags, and issues that one might not think of, like the residents of the reservation wanting ice cream on a hot day but being mostly lactose intolerant.

Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present by Adrienne Keene, illustrated by Ciara Sana

This covers a wide range of people in different areas and with different origins and time periods. There are historical segments in between that can provide context for the lives featured as well. The individual stories can be inspiring, and give ideas for reports.

Teens and older:

Surviving the City # 1 by Tasha Spillett, illustrated by Natasha Donovan and Donovan Yaciuk

Set in Winnipeg, this graphic novel treats the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, imaginatively showing the influences and "ghosts", and also showing how easy it would be for someone to fall between the cracks. Nothing too terrible happens in this one, but the readers are very aware of the potential.

Frybread Face and Me

This movie -- currently available on Netflix -- focuses on teenagers, but as a coming of age story may mean more to adults who remember their own struggles.

Benny is sent to live with his Navajo grandmother while his parents split up, and has to deal with that, the displacement, and the judgment he faces from others as he becomes his own person.

"Frybread Face" is his cousin, Dawn, part of a tradition of teasing by aunts and uncles, mostly good-natured but not helpful, especially with the real issues the they face with families and life in general. Often there are not choices, but sometimes you can assert yourself, and sometimes you need to.

This is perhaps a minor detail, but the grandmother speaks only Navajo. When she is speaking to Benny, who cannot understand her, there are no subtitles, but when she is talking to Dawn, who does speak it, there are subtitles. It balances the empathy for not understanding with the need to know what is going on.

Anything I read or watch related to Native American Heritage going forward will not be written about until November 2024, probably.

I am still going to try writing some more about identity though.

In a good place

I am so happy.

It is not my intention to do a weekly update with what's happening on the job front -- I have plenty of other things to write about -- but I am so happy!

I knew I was not happy with my job, but based on the rebound in good feelings, it was worse than I realized.

It almost feels wrong, you know... so glad to be not working, one of those lazy entitled people the liberals think we should support...

Well, I do think it should be possible for people to enjoy their work, or get sufficient compensation that it makes up for not enjoying their work.

I also understand that a big part of my being able to enjoy this is that I can pay the bills for a few months without anything else happening, which is really important. I am aware of a ticking clock.

However, there is something else that is helping.

I have very ambitious plans for things I want to get done each day and week. While I have been getting some of them done, it is never all of them.

I was initially discouraged by that, except that I can see that I am making progress. 

What really helped was writing the post for the Sunday blog. 

https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2024/03/changing-things-up-scripture-study.html 

It was about scripture study, but in writing it I realized that there were things that I had once wanted to do that I did not think would be possible, and yet I am working my way through. It took time and sometimes false starts and starting over, but the progress is real.

I have mentioned catching up on e-mail. From over 500 I am currently at 86, and having good experiences going through them.

I am getting somewhere. 

It is possible that I set unrealistic expectations for myself, but they are not wild fantasies either; they just require more time than I initially think they well.

I can deal with that. 

Lots of stuff to do though, so getting back to it.

NAHM 2023: Hodgepodge

I first abbreviated Native American Heritage Month last week, after realizing that when I was trying to search for specific posts, the opening was obscuring the relevant part.

Adding the year is acknowledging that I am trying to get to the end of this current section of writing and move on to other things, and that we are already in a new year. As it is, of the books I have not blogged about yet, the first one read was completed in March 2022.

Life circumstances put a pause on the blogging, but not on the reading, even if it slowed.

There are things that I know I still want to write about, but a lot of these don't fit into any particular theme. They had ended up on the reading list for various reasons, I read them, but even if there were strong reactions at the time they did not happen at a time when I could write about them.

Here are thirteen books in the order in which they were read, covering (but not exclusively) a period from March 2022 to December 2023.

No Turning Back: A True Account of a Hopi Indian's Girl's Struggle to Bridge the Gap Between the World of Her People and the World of the White Man by Polingasy Qoyawayma

Qoyawayma was a child when the white man started a school for white children and making attendance mandatory. She was initially hidden, but then sought out the school and eventually went away to school and became a teacher. 

The book deals with her acknowledgment of the ways in which that changed her, including disrespect for the culture of her birth, and her eventual reconciliation with that. The subtitle is overly long, but it was a real struggle for her, and I think that title felt honest for her.

Partial Recall: With Essays on Photographs of Native North Americans by Lucy Lippard 

Different writers are given historical pictures and write essays on them. The concept is interesting, and the execution fluctuates, as was practically inevitable. My favorite pieces were by Joy Harjo, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Gail Tremblay, who was new to me.

Pretty-Shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows by Frank Bird Linderman 

Pretty-Shield tells her life to Linderman, and it is really interesting and entertaining.

They were working with an interpreter and using signs, and there are times when that process leaves weaknesses, that is expressed in the text. 

The book is known for being the first of its kind about a woman. Reading it for the historical significance, it was much more enjoyable than I had any right to expect.

Trickster: Myths From the Ahtna Indians of Alaska by John E Smelcer 

This again is one that reads more smoothly than might be expected. I really appreciated the personal touch. The Ahtna are a small group, so Smelcer is working with family and acquaintances, making it very personal.

Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians by Elias Johnson

Conversely, while the tales are interesting here, there is a lot of treaty information and context, some of which drags.

That's the thing about history: things that are very important to understand can involve some very dry digging and delving. That's why when something is also enjoyable, I make a big deal out of it.

And Still the Waters Run... The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes by Angie Debo

Speaking of... this book is dry sometimes, but it provided such important context for things that I read later and shed light on things that I had already read so that I can't have any regrets about reading it or surprise when other writers refer back to it. Foundational.

Raccoon by Daniel Heath Justice

This is part of a series of books about different animals, going over some of the zoological information but also lore and fashion and how the animal interacts with humans. It only ended up in this list because the writer is Cherokee, and yet that did have an influence on his understanding of the lore, and it was interesting, if a bit wandering. I would not be against checking out other books in the series, though there are lot of other books in the way.

Medicine River by Thomas King

Speaking of... I had realized at one point that as important as history is, to really have an understanding of people you need to read about them today, their fiction and memoirs and also in their own words. King is also part Cherokee.

I had read about this book in another book, and gotten it mixed up with This House of Dawn. 

I was frustrated by the inertia shown by so many of the characters. They had reasons for it, but it was aggravating.

An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women by Karen Stote

This might be one of the more dry ones, technically, but there are two things that are really important about it. First of all, it is one illustration of genocide, which is real and must not be ignored. 

In addition, there is a lot to admire about how the data was compiled and reported, what the difficulties were, and what some of the solutions were. For someone taking on issues requiring research, there is some serious guidance here.

Native American Renaissance by Kenneth Lincoln

Published in 1983, it is a loving record of what is going on with art and literature and poetry right then, but it doesn't really hold up. It might be more interesting for people who were reading then, acting as a time capsule.

In the Beginning, The Sun: The Dakota Legend of Creation by Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa)

This gives the feelings of the winter teachings for the Dakota. Compiled in 1939, it was only published last year, and is a valuable resource.

Aboriginal Education: Fulfilling the Promise edited by Marlene Brant Castellano

Speaking of... One of the points mentioned here is that in traditional aboriginal education, the students would be taught by people who cared for them and about them. Ohiyesa'a writing demonstrated how that would be.

The book is primarily about different initiatives, with the methods and difficulties. It is probably due for update now, but there are some good points.

Men As Women, Women as Men: Changing Gender in Native American Cultures by Sabine Lang 

Speaking of dry... this is a really exhaustive account of what anthropologists had about transgender and two spirit people up to that time. There is a great deal of time spent on terminology, and it attempts to be respectful, which I appreciate. There is no overarching theme, as there is so much difference between the different groups and time periods. Probably the most interesting thing to me was how much it related to gender roles, which seemed to be much stricter in a preindustrial society, though I also could not help but wonder about the Observer effect.

The next thing

Friday was my last day at work.

Regular readers may not be surprised, given some of the things I have said about my work situation. However, you could also be surprised knowing that money is tight and some of the tolls that other times of unemployment have taken on me.

I'll tell you how it happened.

I have been waiting since the new year for the volume to go down, but it was not. Neither was the frustration.

I had been fighting this urge to walk away. That was probably more true since around my birthday.

I had taken a sick day on a Thursday, then worked Friday, had a three-day weekend due to President's Day, worked Tuesday, and then had my birthday off. It wasn't a full vacation, but those days where I was not working felt so beautiful. 

Ahead of me was a stretch with no holidays until Memorial Day. The frustration was growing. I was tired and stressed and unhappy; and not "sick" but not well.

On February 5th I checked the calendar and saw that no one had the next two days off. I requested them as mental health days. I had been planning on saving my time off for an actual vacation, but I needed to not break down before then.

One of the last things I did Monday was call a member who had been having issues due to a formulary change. I had been trying to help her and if I was going to be out I wanted to update her. She was not happy and I could not blame her.

I felt okay for those two days, but I was not exactly recharged. 

Thursday I had e-mail about the one incident, saying that I had needed to cancel this request and I missed the deadline for doing it, and had refused to do so.

It was not exactly a scolding; just a reminder of the rules. I had in fact been refusing to pull the request because I was waiting for something that would work for the member. The alternative they had mentioned had not gone through. I know I was saying that, but we were speaking at cross purposes.

All the bad feelings were back, but I needed to respond to that. I needed to point out the ways in which we were not getting enough support to do right by our members and to maintain sanity and keep our heads above water.

I did not see any way I could say what I needed to say and stay working there. 

I didn't see any way I could stay working there.

I didn't write anything that day. I prayed, but I didn't respond.

I didn't start writing until late in the day Friday. I meant to send it sooner, but then when I was writing calls came in and the work day had actually ended when I got off the last call. 

I wasn't sure if they would take the two week's notice. Usually once someone is gone we find out after they are gone. In retrospect I think that means most people are not giving notice. That impulse I kept resisting may have been more irresistible for them.

I did get an announcement while I was still there, and some people reached out.

Honestly, everyone has been pretty good. 

I do understand that they are swamped, across positions and departments. The lead time for appeals went from 45 days to 120 days. That is a serious problem.

In the end, though, I can't make it my problem.

I was feeling like "I can't do this", but I can do it. I do it pretty well. Doing so was grinding me down, physically and emotionally. I can't do it with quality of life.

I know there is privilege in walking away. There are other people who are working jobs that are bad for them that can't quit. That's not a reason for me to say.

And there is still risk. I am deeply aware of that.

I had this list of things that I wanted to do, jobs and programs to apply for and things like that, but I wasn't getting anywhere because I was too tired and busy.

Well, now I have the time. The steady income is gone, but I think we are good through May.

That's some time. 

I'll be praying more.

Related posts:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/01/professional.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/01/sick-day.html

NAHM: Indigenous people and the environment

One of Indian Country Today's regular features is "Global Indigenous" with features not only about Canadian First Nations people and Native Americans in United States, but also the Maori in New Zealand, Aboriginal Australians, and more. 

Colonization had a far reach.

There is plenty to think about there, but that is not the point of today's post.

Featured stories often came from Mongabay, which I had assumed was a news source focusing on "Global Indigenous".

Mongabay.com focuses on environmental science and conservation.

If there are frequently stories about Indigenous people, it is generally because of environmental damage that they are fighting, or from which they are suffering.

Two books in my recent reading focused on this:

Wisdom of the Elders: Sacred Native Stories of Nature by Peter S. Knudtson, David Suzuki

Science, Colonialism, and Indigenous Peoples: The Cultural Politics of Law and Knowledge by Laurelyn Whitt

Of course, it has been a recurring theme. 

Both Indians in the Making and Seeing Red dealt with it in part as part of the legal issues.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/02/native-american-heritage-month.html

Indians in the Making was inspired by a legal case about fishing rights. 

I have also recently read these articles:

https://ictnews.org/news/the-50th-anniversary-of-the-boldt-decision-is-a-celebration-of-native-leadership?

https://www.yakimaherald.com/30-years-after-salmon-scam-trial-david-sohappy-is-still-on-the-river/article_5dc2f63e-27d6-11e7-9b2f-276b99f27bf6.html 

One interesting thing to note is that sometimes the attempts to limit treaty fishing rights were in the name of "conservation", but commercial fishers were taking 85% of the catch, compared to 5-7% by Native fishers.

One has to doubt the sincerity.

Seeing Red's focus on the "political economy of plunder" really helped me see that settler colonialism and extractive colonialism are not mutually exclusive.

As settlers, we should be invested in the land and its health, but greed gets in the way.

It has been shown time and time again that to successfully restore the environment, you need to involve local Indigenous people. That was not only demonstrated in the Wisdom of the Elders and Science, Colonialism, and Indigenous People, but was also featured in a recent World Economic Forum study, Embedding Indigenous Knowledge:

https://www.weforum.org/publications/embedding-indigenous-knowledge-in-the-conservation-and-restoration-of-landscapes/

As hard as residential schools and relocation and other factors tried to eliminate this knowledge, it is still there, and is still necessary.

Greed gets in the way.

One of the warnings in Embedding Indigenous Knowledge is that profit cannot be the only consideration or marker of success.

That will require many more people being wise.

Grief and anger

I want it to be “no”,
But I know it's “yes”.
I had hoped for more for you,
then regret that you've reached infinity.
Logic fails, but memory will not,
and may not always feel like grief.

I am angry and sad. 

Back in November I wrote about going through e-mail messages. There were a few replies to direct messages from the previous year, where I was worried about losing contact and not having told them that they meant something to me and I cared. I didn't want to leave that unsaid.

One of them, Shafiqah Hudson, "Sassycrass", has died.

I think our last Twitter exchange was agreement that if I have food, you have food, because that discussion of Swedish hospitality had come back.

I know our last e-mail exchange for sure. I was reminding her that I was not far away, and if she needed something to let me know. She assured me on a few things she did not need help with -- at least for the moment -- and I replied with a few more things that I could possibly do.

That was February 1st. February 16th I saw that she had died the night before.

One of the last thing I offered was that I always have extra KN-95 masks. Those can be very important, but of course what she needed most was to not have had COVID. She had it three times, and that pushed her blood pressure up badly and kept it there, wreaking havoc with her system.

That is a big part of my anger, but there is another aspect to it as well.

 

There have been a few deaths over the years on Twitter. I engaged more with Shafiqah then the others, but you can still admire someone's caring and wisdom and feel their loss. 

 

There were two others who were Black women. We had commiserated together over one of them, and then all of these memories keep coming back.

 

I am angry that Black women keep paying the higher price, and being expected to do so.

 

I am angry that she had to ask for financial help getting to medical appointments. Many people benefited from her work, and never reimbursed her in any way.

 

I am grateful that Trudy collected her work into an online repository:

 

https://t.co/xx7yY6WvFU 

I am angry the she faced medical racism, along with the weaknesses in medicine that have come from ignoring women's issues for so long.

I am angry that so many people have given up on fighting COVID.

 

I am angrier that so many Americans gave up on fighting it when they learned that it affected people of color more, so that even being careful on their end is not enough.

 

Wear a mask!

I am angry that COVID brought back Tinu's cancer, and afraid that she will lose her fight too. 

I am angry and I am tired and sad.

 

Related posts:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/11/connected.html

Native American Heritage Month: Spotlight on Julie Flett

Julie Flett's name has appeared on this blog before.

The Cree-Métis illustrator worked on one of my favorite children's books, Little You by Richard Van Camp, and reliably appeared on lists of recommended books.

Birdsong came up more than once, and I think it was looking at it again that made me want to review all of her work. She often illustrates with digital collages, but not exclusively. I find her work very visually appealing.

I was able to check out almost everything. There is one book showing on Goodreads as not yet released (Best in Show, September 2024), and one compilation that may not be in general publication (A River of Stories, Volume 3: Air).

There is a strong connection to nature throughout that I appreciate. 

Books read this time were mostly picture books, but there was one other book that was a little more complicated that I really loved.

The Journey Forward: A Novella on Reconciliation 

There was a foreword by Alison Gear, then two short books:

When We Play Our Drums, They Sing! by Richard Van Camp and Lucy and Lola written by Monique Gray Smith and illustrated by Julie Flett

Both books center on young protagonists, too young for residential schools themselves, but having parents and grandparents who did go to residential schools.

It is the first time I have seen attention paid to the parents after the children were gone, and what it was like for them, and also a good explanation of how that affects the generations. Having the two books together makes it more effective.

Without shortchanging the pain or problems, both stories are ultimately optimistic, and it is good that they are out in the world.

I highly recommend them, even for adults, though the target audience is probably early adolescents.

Flett's work is not as prominent here, which makes sense for the context, but it was something I was very glad that I read, and that happened because I liked her work and sought out more.

That is a good pattern.

Picture books read this time around:

by Julie Flett
Wild Berries
Owls See Clearly At Night: A Michif Alphabet 

illustrations for other authors

We Sang You Home by Richard Van Camp
Just Like Grandma by Kim Rogers
Dragonfly Kites by Tomson Highway
Zoe and the Fawn by Catherine Jamison Johnny's Pheasant by Cheryl Minnema Dolphin SOS by Roy and Slavia Miki, and Richard Cannings The Moccasins by Earl Einarson

2024: The New 52

This title has other reasons, but there was a major DC relaunch of all of their characters in 2011, ending existing series and starting 52 new books. 

I like titles that hold references to other things, but I should mention that I really hated those relaunches. They were messy and sadly lacking in nuance and subtlety. While I am harder to please than some for superhero comics, that was not just me, That relaunch is largely remembered as a train wreck.

Catchy title, though.

I like using titles for posts that play or pun on other titles. I like those types of connections. I like incorporating them into themes.

For example, when I was turning 31 I thought about having a birthday party that focused on 31 flavors or Baskin-Robbins or something. I didn't get on the ball in time. If Bresler's had still been around I would have just started planning then for a party in two years, but they were sold in 1987.

Also, because my birthday is so close to the new year, I often make that my real new year, like maybe that's when I start my resolutions.

Around this birthday, I was thinking about 52.

There are 52 weeks in a year, and 52 cards in a deck. 

There is a movie called 52 Pickup, and a card game, kind of. ("Game" may be too strong a word.)

I had also thought about the different forces that are in my life right now. Certainly death is a preoccupation, with my mother in hospice, and my need for money, but also I was starting to think about what gardening I will do this year, and other things that could happen.

Death. Growth. Love. Wealth.

Well, "hearts" and "diamonds" fit in pretty easily. Spades seemed like death, but you use a spade in a garden, right? And you could club someone to death, but it just didn't work.

Spades are death. Clubs are clearly some kind of tree or rosebush or a trillium.

Therefore, I decided that I would get a deck of cards, and each Sunday I would pick one and then write about it.

It was much easier to decide what the suits meant than what the different numbers mean.

I mean, I may not have been completely certain on which suit meant death, but then the first time I reached in I came up with the Ace of Spades. That was clearly the impending loss of my mother. Spades gets to be Death! 

At least for the face cards I kind of had in mind that the king could represent patriarchal forces, and then the queen could be my own energy, and the knave could be chaos or luck. That's what the Jack of Diamonds did represent when he came up, factors beyond my control in relation to money.

However, then I was thinking about Hearts, it could make sense to work down with family members. If my father is the king and mom is the queen, my brother could be the jack and then I guess my older sister is the ten. Fine, that's logical, but what do I do with the Nine of Hearts?

I mean, I had been thinking about the symbolic value of various numbers, and I even checked out a book on Tarot for ideas. Time to look at that. 

Apparently, nine can stand for completion, as it is the last of the single digits. For hearts, maybe it could be about the termination of love, or whether it had run its course and what that meant.

There are still various numbers where I don't know what they will mean, and it seems unlikely that they will be consistent across suits.

However, if there's one thing that we should all know, it's that writing prompts do not behave in an orderly manner.

Or, perhaps the name doomed it, and it will be a train wreck.

Daily songs for January

One reason I extended "December" into January by four songs (because I certainly could have done three and possibly could have done five) was that there were twenty-seven artists featured in Legends, Icons, & Rebels: Music That Changed the World.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/01/native-american-heritage-month.html

I probably did enough complaining about Bob Dylan in that post, so I won't harp on it now. 

For each artist there were five songs mentioned, but then sometimes other things were mentioned too; perhaps there was a biographical connection or one album stood out. For my purposes, that led to extra listening with The Beach Boys, Carole King, and Joni Mitchell.

Most of the artists were pretty familiar, especially the songs mentioned. That being said, I had no idea that the original version of "Hard to Handle" was by Otis Redding and that The Black Crowes version was a cover. I associate Redding with slower songs, but I guess with "Try A Little Tenderness" I could have known.

In the description of The Beatles, Robertson writes that you know the words even without actively listening, like it's "musical air". I realized how true that was when song titles I thought I did not know at all ended up being very familiar songs.

They are still not my favorites, but I am capable of realizing when something is important, and even well done, regardless of my own appreciation. 

And there are some pretty good ones on the list.

There were certainly things I didn't know. One of the most encouraging was that a lot of these musicians, while known for some way in which they broke new ground, were also good about mentoring other musicians and sharing.

Generally I tried to use a musician's "best", and maybe best known song, so this list in some ways does not reflect the learning. 

For example, Hank Williams has a song, "Move It On Over", about getting the dog to make room when coming home late gets you in the doghouse. I had never heard it, or heard of it, and yet it was very familiar, with a clear influence on Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock".

Still, I used “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry”.

I was a little surprised that while there was a mention of the opening riff on "Johnny B. Goode", there was no mention of it coming from "Ain't That Just Like a Woman" from Louis Jordan, also one of the Legends.

Of course, Jordan was in there as "The Jukebox King", with so many hits, that wasn't even one of his main ones. Maybe Robbie didn't know. I only know it because of Wikipedia. Also, that riff specifically is more Carl Hogan.

So, while I did not love everything I listened to, there was a lot of interesting stuff, and stuff I will return to.

Also, the next listening material I pulled from a book was more annoying, though I still learned from it.

Sometimes that's all I can ask.

Daily songs"

1/5 “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry
1/6 “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash
1/7 “Respect” by Aretha Franklin
1/8 “She Loves You” by The Beatles
1/9 “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
1/10 “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley
1/11 “Not Fade Away” by Buddy Holly
1/12 “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell
1/13 “Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles
1/14 “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley
1/15 “People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
1/16 “Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)” by Billie Holiday
1/17 “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard
1/18 “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Hank Williams
1/19 “My Way” by Frank Sinatra
1/20 “What's Going On” by Marvin Gaye
1/21 “So Far Away” by Carole King
1/22 “You Send Me” by Sam Cooke
1/23 “Caldonia” by Louis Jordan
1/24 “Wouldn't It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys
1/25 “They Can't Take That Away From Me” by Ella Fitzgerald
1/26  “I Got You” by James Brown
1/27 “Crazy” by Patsy Cline
1/28 “These Arms of Mine” by Otis Redding
1/29 “Mona Lisa” by Nat King Cole
1/30 “Higher Ground” by Stevie Wonder
1/31 “Blowin' in the Wind “ by Bob Dylan

"Fast Car" discourse

I didn't have a big reaction initially to Luke Combs doing a cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car". 

I mean, I understand he was respectful and asked, and that is important, but I am really not a country fan; it was not likely that I was going to hear it.

Then there was the Grammy win. Apparently it is a Grammy first to have a Black woman with the sole writing credit on a country Grammy, and then she performed. I really like Chapman and had not heard much from her lately, so great.

It also means that people have been expressing opinions a lot. That doesn't have to be terrible, but now we have discourse, and now I have something to write about.

There are tweets about how the emotion of the song is enhanced by the extended wait to get to the chorus. I never thought about that, but it seems valid.

There are tweets about the difference between working class songs and the songs about trying to even get into the working class. I appreciate those now more than I would have a few years ago.

Then there is this one tweet, which is the real reason I am writing:

https://twitter.com/heavyredaction/status/1754671190701154815

"Fast Car” was always a sad song, but in 1988 when it released, you arguably *could* run away with your partner and make a life on the salary of a grocery-store checker. 35 years on it reads as much sadder"

That triggered some reaction, to which the author responded by posting comparisons of minimum wage and rents for then and now, clearly with a sense of superiority to those people getting "mad" about the tweet. It was all very white academic, removed from the subject matter, which of course makes it easier to feel clever.

The most obvious sign of missing the point is that on the salary of a grocery-store checker, they are still living in the shelter. That is not a good sign of being able to make it. It is also clear from the last verse that history is repeating itself. She may run -- and run more than once -- but she will not get anywhere.

It is easy to feel scorn about someone missing the point of a song (especially an academic), but it may be more important why the point is being missed. 

Remember I said a "white" academic? Structural racism has an economic component. 

Yes, if someone can afford to be an associate professor in San Francisco now, they probably come from money anyway, so thinking about escaping poverty is going to be more of an intellectual exercise anyway; what an interesting set of variables!

However, if that grocery store checker was white, and from a family that truly was working class (instead of actually poor), they would probably be earning more, with more housing options, and have a better footing for holding their ground. 

It's actually less hopeful now. Economic inequality has spread more, with more wealth consolidation at the top and a harder time scrambling for crumbs at the bottom. Since about the start of the 21st century, we have children doing worse than their parents, with less chance of keeping afloat.

The reason I feel compelled to write about it is that it happened because of racism. When people were deciding that domestic and agricultural workers did not need Social Security, and that wait staff did not need to make a true minimum wage because of tips... well, even if there were times when it was not specifically racism (though that happened a lot), it was still deciding that other people don't need or deserve this level of stability. 

It will just make them lazy. (Which they already are, or they wouldn't even need those jobs, am I right?)

As it is, the people at the top will never have enough. They don't have a way of comprehending what enough is because they are so far past it that they can only think "More!"

They will keep extracting more, and more people will not have any chance of escaping the trap.

There may be times when they are young and excited by a new relationship and they get this hope. That can feel exhilarating, but it is not nearly as effective as a fair and equitable society can be. 

That will take working together, abandoning all illusions of superiority to others.

If you can do that before the decline reaches you, you can do really good things, and escape a lot of bitterness.

Or, you can say things that you think show you are smart and help no one.

Decisions, decisions.

Native American Heritage Month: Legalities

I like the ways that books work together. 

American Indian Stereotypes in the World of Children: A Reader and Bibliography by Arlene Hirschfelder, Paulette Fairbanks Molin, Yvonne Wakim 

It was a collection of pieces, some of which dragged but were necessary, and some that were fascinating. I wish "The Thanksgiving Epidemic" by Kathy Kerner was more widely circulated.

There was a section on how the mental image we have of all Indians came from Plains culture, until eventually other tribes had to start using the feathered headdresses. Sure enough, another book gave me a photo of Puget Sound tribes wearing the headdresses for tourists, because otherwise they were not perceived as Indians. 

Indians in the Making: Ethnic Relations and Indian Identity Around Puget Sound by Alexandra Harmon

American Indian Stereotypes is an older book, so the focus is on children wearing the headdresses on toys, without really getting into Coachella. Before the disrespect of relegating tribal members to the best, where they can become costumes, there was requiring a costume of contemporary Indians to accept them as such, with a host of additional complications on the ways in which that acceptance helped and harmed them.

Indians in the Making was interesting being relatively local. Many of the tribe and place names were familiar, and it largely focused on fishing rights, which was the most common type of case that I remember from youth. 

It also referenced McLoughlin and Ermatinger, familiar from our Oregon City explorations, but of course the Hudson Bay Company was not just on the Pacific Coast; at least one Ermatinger also came up in a recent Pulitzer Prize winner: 

Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America by Michael John Witgen

That "political economy of plunder" in the title is an apt phrase, repeated often in the book and more appropriate every time. I think I may return to it after some colonialism based reading. For now, I need to bring up one other book:

We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power by Caleb Gayle

A common thread with these books is how much of importance ends up documented due to court cases.

Harmon wrote her book after working on a case about fishing rights where the argument against upholding the treaties was that the people with the claim to the fishing rights were not actually descended from the tribe who had made the original treaty. 

There was arguably some difficulty in determining that. There were many tribes around the Puget Sound (this tended to focus on the Suquamish people), and they often intermarried, not just as a coincidence but for establishing trade relationships and alliances. They would move around, and sometimes move back. So, when there were attempts to determine land allotments or annuities, sometimes they would go by where someone was staying, or whom they were related to, but it could be paternal or maternal, and it wasn't always consistent.

The legal question then becomes not just what is documented, but what is defined. 

Harmon wrote her book because as interesting as the story of the case was, there was also more to it in terms of how social ties and customs were maintained, and how that contributed to identity.

Gayle's book runs into similar issues, with Black people who were historically members of the Creek tribe (especially focusing on descendants of Creek chief Cow Tom), all of whom were expelled in 1979. 

One important part of that was that as rolls were being worked out, at one point various members were referred to as "freedmen", a term for former slaves. There were former slaves among them, but there were also people who had married in, people who were adopted, and people who had never been slaves. It was supposed to be related to how they entered the tribe, but it made the assumption based on skin tone, with at least one pair of sisters falling on either side.

Yes, the obvious point is racism, but part of the legal question is whether the tribe is viewed as a racial group or as a sovereign nation. If they are a sovereign nation, citizenship can have factors beyond blood. Maybe it would go by geographic residence, but forced relocation disrupts that.

Seeing Red has more stolen land and broken treaties, but part of that is who gets to be Indian and who gets to be white. Often that is mostly decided by political and economic expedience. We can't punish this murderer (who is an important trade partner) because the (Eastern-educated, half-white) victim is not a member of civilization and under our authority. His Indian half gets us off the hook.

There is going to be more on that next week, and then I think I might be done with this identity topic. It does seem worth pointing out that the definitions made by the white man are generally a way of getting more of one's land, and with less reimbursement.

There was not always a great possibility of resisting historically, but it certainly bears thinking about now.

Snow! (Hey Oh)

It's been nearly a year since I wrote on the preparedness blog advising people to expect more extreme weather.

https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/02/things-to-watch-out-for-weather.html 

I don't know that the freeze this year in itself was worse than the freeze last year (and there could be another one, I know), but it seems like the disruption was worse.

We were still very fortunate; we never lost power and our pipes didn't freeze. Nothing fell on us. We had the supplies we needed.

The two of us who telecommute did not miss any income. The teacher did. (Some of the time off was covered, but not all.)

We did go six days without mail, though we would not have gotten it on the Sunday and the Monday anyway.

We missed a week of garbage pickup. They said they wouldn't charge us extra for the can being more full that next week. It is extra full two weeks in a row because we waited to empty some things to keep the bin from spilling over. It was a full missed week!

There were also things we wanted to do that didn't happen. I was going to teach a class, and we missed another week of visiting Mom.

Those things are pretty minor compared to the people who had trees fall on their houses and cars, who lost power, who had pipes burst, and who had to go to hotels to keep from freezing in their beds.

Those are people with shelter. For the unhoused, add to that the closure of many warming centers and it can be deadly.

Then, when we finally got back to the library, I saw the carts and crates full of books that needed to be shelved and sorted... I guess I knew there would be backlog, but the visual really hit home.

There are things that are easy to avoid thinking about until you can't.

For example, we heard that trees went down and power was out. Through our connections we even know some people who did have to go to hotels. However, once we finally ventured from the house and started seeing all of the uprooted trees, that's when it really hits home that it is not just a tree here and there, it is lots and lots of trees.

This is going to happen more often and worse. It makes sense to prepare.

For some people, it really might mean getting a generator. 

In case it was not clear when I said we did not get mail, I did not want our mail carrier to be at risk. I know the saying (it is not really an official motto: https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/pdf/mission-motto.pdf) about nothing staying them from their appointed rounds, but I had just read about a Texas mailman who died in 110 heat. I don't have anything coming that is worth risking anyone's life. 

But some people get their prescriptions in the mail. That could be pretty vital.

People who need warming centers are not able to wait for the city to get its act together.

We need to value people and their well-being; comfort if possible but definitely survival.

We did not order in, because I know there are people who would have risked their lives to bring me food for a few bucks, and I don't want that responsibility.

But again, we had power and we had food. 

You can't prepare for everything, but it's worth taking some time to see what you can do.

And don't take it as all gloom. In that post from last year, I wrote about how 2021's crops were taken out by the heat dome, and 2022 by an overabundance of rain at precisely the wrong time. 

I am still making big gardening plans for 2024.

So be practical, but also with hope.

Listen to what I say, oh.