A different kind of break: 7 books to know me

In terms of topics that I am interested in, I am seeing so much ignorance and malfeasance that I am having a hard time stringing thoughts together. I can get a sentence here and there, but paragraphs may be asking too much.

To some extent, I do question the value of this blog, and what my audience is and if I am saying anything that is valuable to anyone that will read it. Previously, it felt like enough that I was getting my own thoughts straight, but I am questioning that now.

Maybe I am not getting my own thoughts straight.

Anyway, back on World Book Day (March 3rd) I responded to a thread for introducing yourself in seven books. I responded to that, but I have seen other, similar threads asking for seven movies or shows or albums.

(I have written about albums before, but it was ten: https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2020/05/ten-albums-that-influenced-me-and-how.html) 

Anyway, for the next few weeks, this is just going to be about getting to know me through pieces of media that are important to me.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol is my favorite book. Yes, I enjoy holidays, but I feel most passionately about its message of caring for others as what we most need to do.

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down by Ralph Abernathy
I loved Abernathy's voice, and I valued the perspective that came with his telling years later, and with all the grief that comes with reading about King, it was good to read someone who got to live and age, even if that came with disappointments. Also, reading it was so vivid for me that at night I dreamed about marching. That's how deeply it got to me.

A House of My Own by Sandra Cisneros
I was already very fond of Cisneros here, so the insight that came with this was precious, and it gives me other authors to read, but the biggest things was some of what she wrote about death.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I feel a little bad that this list does not have Jane Austen or L.M. Montgomery (and Anne Bronte is really good), but if we take all of those novels, this is probably my favorite of that set, and it was the first of them that I read, which probably plays a role.

Heidi by Johanna Spyri
This is my comfort reading. I read it when I was about Heidi's age, and sometimes just going back and reading about the mountain or the kittens or the goats is what I need. Similar feelings for Jane of Lantern Hill, though I found that much later. Cozy housekeeping I guess.

Dracula by Bram Stoker
Getting bitten was an early phobia of mine, so vampires came in bad dreams (then emotional vampires as I got older), but I get the appeal. Also, the way the book is written and the way the action moves... I love it. Wilkie Collins has a similar vibe.

Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway
I read so much more nonfiction now, but I am reading for information and may not fall in love the same way. This is beautifully written with a beautiful concept of balance and healing, and yet is also pretty practical. My favorite permaculture book.

I would also like to give an honorable mention to The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama.
This was read in a book club and it had been a while since I had read any fiction. It felt like a vacation. I do read a lot more non-fiction now, but sometimes it is just good to read a story.

Children's books for hard times

In August I just happened to come across multiple children's books that were really about processing grief. I was very touched by them. I had thought about writing about them, but it did not come up previously. 

I recently read one more, but it fills a different niche.

The truth is, the three from August are almost too sad, except there are lessons there that might be needed. 

In the Shadow of an Elephant by Georgie Donaghey

First a young elephant loses its parents and herd, and father and son humans come to take care of it. Eventually the human father dies, but the elephant is there for the human, as the human was for the elephant. 

Thursday by Ann Bonwill

Thursday was her favorite day, and then it became the day when her parents told her they were getting divorced, not only ruining Thursday, but upending her life and changing the things that had made Thursdays good.

For children who have not even had to consider those possibilities, those books may be more than they need. Because of that, The Shadow Elephant by Nadine Robert may be the most helpful.

We don't know why the elephant is so sad, though we do learn what is upsetting the mouse. Regardless, we see the value of empathy and compassion and how helping someone else can help us too.

While Everything Will Be Okay by Anna Dewdney is not anywhere near as devastating, the simple rhymes about things going wrong but not staying terrible may be more to the point. It provides a pattern for building resilience.

But then, when there is death or divorce, those other books can be really needed.

There need to be lots of different kinds of books available. There need to be books about different topics and treated in different ways, showing different characters, and aimed at different audiences.

I am going through a lot of different books for young readers now, some of which I will be writing about soon, and some of which will happen a little later, but I feel pretty comfortable saying this now:

Children do not need to be protected from books. 

The people who pretend that is a need are a much worse danger.

News you might be able to use

This week I learned of someone's car being stolen from the a dealer's lot after having been dropped off for service. 

(I do not know the victim, but I know the victim's roommate.) 

It is common practice for there to be a drop box for keys so you don't have to drop the car off during service hours. Not having your car is inconvenient, and that is a way of making things more convenient.

This drop box was emptied of all of the keys overnight.

This is apparently a new thing: drop boxes are being emptied or raided or removed, and lots of cars are being taken this way.

This does of course lead to an even greater inconvenience, which can be exacerbated by risks of home robbery if you left your garage door opener in the car, or identity theft if you left your registration.

We were appalled and upset on behalf of one person that got their car stolen, but the conversation with the police made it sound like a trend. They also made it sound like because it is property crime that the city (Beaverton) would probably not be pursuing it, but that Washington County might.

The reason I am writing about it is because then there was this comment in the conversation, "And you don't hear anything about it on the news."

That seems like good information to have. If nothing else, businesses should be notified and maybe post signs advising that people shouldn't drop their keys off, or so they secure the drop boxes better, or hire night security.

It could make a good news story for consumer protection: don't leave your registration in the glove box! Don't leave your garage door opener in the car. Maybe don't leave the door between your garage and your house unlocked. Maybe -- no matter how inconvenient it is -- find a way to drop off your car during business hours.

I have not watched much local news for a while, so I was not sure if it wasn't being mentioned. 

Searches weren't too encouraging. There was nothing on that method.

The top results were a story about a car thief who found a child in the back seat, so came back and lectured the mother. Seriously, it's like that's the only car theft story that anyone cares about.

I did also find a story through KGW about Portland mayor Ted Wheeler creating a task force, and the cops were going to work with cancer doctors at OHSU to understand tracking. (Frankly, I am not sure that knowledge will correspond, but okay.) I also did find some articles about dealer thefts, but those were all about forcing locks. There was one about key thefts, but that was about the keys for the cars for sale being stolen, and not the cars. (That sounds more like a really annoying, expensive prank.)

Now, there is always the possibility that the issue was misrepresented by the police, in terms of how common it is, or how likely to be pursued; they will tend to spin things in a way that facilitates budget increases.

That is all the more reason that you need a press that questions and reports. It does not feel like we have one.

I had been thinking about that more for national issues, but your backyard matters too.

Anyway, if you are getting your car worked on, careful with that drop off.

May Daily Songs: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

I usually wait to post about the songs until after I have played them all, but I don't know that it's really necessary. It may very well feel weird enough that I never do it again, but I thought I'd at least try it.

Therefore, there are only dates by the songs already posted. There are 31 total, taking us through the end of May. I currently have no intentions of changing the order, though there is not any special pattern to the order. Well, I did start with James Iha because he is probably the most famous of these Asian-Americans, by which I mean United States residents of Asian descent.

That was one change this year. Previously I have not paid a lot of attention to country of origin. That means I did not use anyone based in Japan or Korea (last year I did) and I even left out those Asian-Canadians that I had really liked last year.

I also did not use any Pacific Islanders from islands that are not US, so no New Zealand bands.

There are a lot of ways of viewing how to organize these heritage months. They can all have merits in different ways, so it can be good to change it up from year to year.

But yes, it means I am sorting people based on race and country of origin.

Another thing I did differently this year was focusing on individuals rather than bands. That left open the possibility of using Smashing Pumpkins and Linkin Park. As it is, James Iha and Mike Shinoda both have a fair amount of solo work.

It also means I have a Jonas brother in here -- which makes me cringe a little -- but DNCE is not included for him; it's for JinJoo Lee.

There continue to be recurring favorites, but I think my favorite new discovery is Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. Having some previous familiarity, I am starting to really enjoy Kishi Bashi. 

I also wish I had known about Only Won's "12 Days of Dim Sum" for Non-White Christmas.

I don't know what I will do for December this year, but I enjoy seeing how things develop.

UPDATE: I am never doing this again. 

I did a check and noticed that I had "Dreaming Awake" by Low Leaf listed twice. That must have meant I counted wrong and needed another song! Who got left out? Okay, I will use that Mountain Brothers song. Problem solved? Nope.

I think the extra listing of Low Leaf was when I was rearranging some songs, but had not affected the number. I thought I had counted again and only gotten 30, so that adding an extra song was appropriate. Since I moved Mountain Brothers in to fill the Low Leaf duplicate, that means that the list goes into June, or that I am removing one. Listening to the remaining songs, I am taking out "Faded" by Zhu. I am okay with that, but I wish I had not posted until the month was over.

Minor, but still annoying.

Daily Songs:

5/1 “Beauty” by James Iha
5/2 “Rush” by Ravenna
5/3 “Are We There Yet” by DUMBFOUNDED
5/4 “Ordinary Pleasure” by Toro y Moi
5/5 “Tenderness” by Jay Som
5/6 “When We Swam” by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
5/7 “Sutures” by The Slants
5/8 “Rest Before We Go To War” by Ogikubo Station
5/9 “Cake By The Ocean” by DNCE
5/10 “Carry On Phenomenon” by Kishi Bashi
5/11 “Ray” by Clones of the Queen
5/12 “Magic” by The Linda Lindas
5/13 “Hummingbird” by Run River North
5/14 “Kawika” by Jake Shimabukuro
5/15 “50 Thousand Deep” by Blue Scholars
5/16 “Ready” by MILCK
5/17 “Passionfruit” by Yaeji
5/18 “Dreaming Awake” by Low Leaf
5/19 “Always Need You” by Melissa Polinar
5/20“Galaxies: The Next Level” by Mountain Brothers
5/21 “Strings” by Asobi Seksu
5/22 “Shivers” by Katherine Ho
5/23 “Kitty Party” by Awaaz Do
5/24 “Nobody” by Mitski
5/25 “Boyish” by Japanese Breakfast
5/26 “A Thousand Cuts” by Ruby Ibarra
5/27 “Butterfly” by UMI
5/28 “Promises I Can't Keep” by Mike Shinoda
5/29 “Hard Glance” by Bodysync
5/30 “Turn This World Around” by Only Won & Larissa Lam
5/31 “No Turning Back” by CHOPS

Don't Forget to Vote!

I know, I thought I was done.

I keep seeing reminders about the election, though, even though my ballot was turned in two weeks ago.

I guess it is also a reminder that we are connected to each other, and need to care about each other and be aware of each other.

It sounds so simple and obvious, and yet there is evidence that it isn't.

Don't let the fascists win.

Movies: The Woman King and Till

I am not putting these two movies in opposition to each other. I will do some comparison on the roles they fill.

I mentioned last week that I was delaying this post because I wanted to watch one more movie first. If anyone was wondering, that was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The Dahomey Agojie had some influence on the Dora Milaje, and I didn't want to watch the movie and find all of these meaningful connections that would have made sense to mention.

That was not really an issue. I also finished The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with its own Dora Milaje cameo. For all three movies and the series, what I thought of most of was grief. That is never too far from my surface. I might write more about that later, but for now I am going to finish being mad at "The Actor".

One thing all three movies share is that they would be good for the actor to see. His inability to imagine a Black woman dressing elegantly and speaking with sophistication may indicate he has not watched enough films that were centered on anything other than white men.

The majority of the films that would have been available for his viewing -- especially as it pertains to his Oscar voting -- would center on white men. Some of his comments indicate an aversion to watching anything that doesn't center him, but I think that is a big part of how he became an ass. It's worth addressing.

The Woman King barely has any white men in it, even for villains. In Till there are friend groups and family and even a whole little town that are all Black. That is real life; Till is based on a true story, while The Woman King has a historical background, even if the story lines for the main characters are fictional. It is good to see that there is more to life than our own experience. It makes for a terribly small world if you won't.

Having watched them, I can see justification for at least nominating Gina Prince-Bythewood for Best Director, regardless of whether she would have won or not. (Honestly, I think having twice as many Best Picture nominees as Best Director nominees makes for some weird mixes.)

The case for a Best Picture nomination would be exciting action with clear cinematography, where everything could be tracked and comprehended. That includes some things that could have easily been too gratuitous if they were shot differently. One aspect of that -- which I only know from seeing a blurb -- is they did not really have a stunt pool at the filming location. Part of the preparation for the film included finding and training a stunt crew (which comprises most of the cast) from scratch. That is an accomplishment. Meanwhile, for as much sense as it makes to focus on the action, the film never loses its place emotionally.

I know there can be many arguments made for many movies, but there is a tendency to default toward the established white guys, and the 2023 nominations showed that. The overwhelming success of Everything, Everywhere, All At Once can belie that, but no, there hasn't really been that much done to counteract #OscarsSoWhite.

Of the two, The Woman King is a more enjoyable movie than Till, feeling more rousing and appealing to some unlikely audiences.

Till is probably more needed.

That's not a contest; we can see more than one movie per year. There are ways in which The Woman King is more fun, and everyone with any advance knowledge of Till can foresee that there will be emotional pain in the viewing. I want to take some time to make the case for Till.

Maybe the biggest argument is that Carolynn Bryant just died on April 25th. When I posted about "The Actor", she may not have been buried yet. This is our history, and fairly recent history at that. There are real people depicted in that movie that are still alive.

There is good directing here too. The cinematography is beautiful, and there is a mix of the subtle and the not. For example, Emmitt Till had a slight stutter. There is a scene where you can kind of hear it; it's not distracting, no one makes a big deal out of it, but you know.

When his mother first sees the body, there is no holding back. She had fainted earlier, learning that his body was found. As they arrive to view the body, a wheelchair is on hand, just in case. It is needed, not because she is unconscious, but because her wailing and sobbing is overpowering.

As uncomfortable as her grief is, that is our past, and there are too many examples that also make it our present.

Add Jordan Neely to that list.

Maybe what we most need to hear is something said by Mamie Till-Mobley at the end.

"One month ago I had a nice life in Chicago. I had a son. When something happened to the Negroes in the South, I said, 'That's their business; not mine.' Now I know what happens to any of us, anywhere in the world, had better be the business of us all."

We need to know to not be complacent just because it isn't us this time.

I remember when the movie first came out, a white woman approached a Black woman telling her that she had to see this movie. The Black woman tweeted about seeing those pictures in Ebony, with them being regularly re-published. 

I think the other woman's motive was showing herself to be a good ally: "I saw that Black film! I got it!"

It's good that she saw it, because we are the ones that need to see it. And maybe it goes down easier hearing a Black woman warn against the complacency. There's a lot of room for improvement.

Till is a movie that can remind us. 

It does hurt.

Spotting school board fascists

My sister recently saw a Facebook post about how you can recognize the more fascist candidates by how many signs they have. For that, the clear winner is Jeff Myer, running for Beaverton School District.

We laughed, but there is an element of truth. The original comment was about being more likely to get corporate sponsorship. That is true, but also, volunteer efforts are more coordinated on that side. They often have a sense of mission against those live-and-let-live heathens, and know they are surrounded by wickedness, so they work hard at it.

When you actually do believe in living and letting live, it is easy to think that the rest of the world is that way. Well, maybe a lot are, but they often get apathetic about school boards and things like that. If you really want people to be able to live well, apathy won't do it.

As it is, having read about Jeff Myers', I see those signs (all over!) and get irritated. Someone who hasn't read might think, Well, a lot of people like him; he's probably pretty good. Then, if they do vote, and they see the other candidate's name is Justice Rajee, all of that might render a subconscious influence when what we really need is consciousness.

There are a few other commonalities that I think are worth pointing out.

Transparency

That is the current key word that the fascists keep throwing around. The repeated use helps give the impression that we have been lied to, and they will fix that. The most obvious contradiction is when they keep saying "You can check the site," because so much information is up there. That belies a transparency issue.

The other problem with that -- which may require a little more digging -- is that when you do check on the candidates' statements, there are some pretty clear lies shrouded in vagueness. I spent some time checking claims for candidate Bart Rask at https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/05/do-they-know-or-care-that-they-are-lying.html. 

Vague lies are the opposite of transparency.

One friend suggested "transparency" was a replacement for "all kids", remembering that last time around there was more of a focus on the danger of CRT to the self-esteem of white kids. 

It may be instructive that after Newberg voted in several fascists, an unvaccinated teacher showed up to school in blackface as a "Rosa Parks" style stand against the way she was marginalized by not being vaccinated. She spoke about "all kids" being marginalized in some way. (Though you could argue that the white kids texting about a slave auction, speculating on bids for their classmates of color, and calling for another Holocaust were not acting like they felt marginalized.)

I did see comments worrying about the self-esteem of white kids, but what we saw was that was not really a problem. Students learning about a racist past did not make them feel evil, but increased their awareness of the past and present.

This year the focus seems to be more on what a poor state the schools are in, having missed two years of learning. 

I think most people will know that their children have not missed two years worth of school as we enter into the fourth year of the pandemic. However, the candidates have two goals here.

One is their belief that any attempts to prevent contagion are a wasted effort, which goes along with their general conservative bent (even though that is not exactly how conservatism used to operate, and one reason why I use "fascist" so much).

The other reason that is important is that calling it "2 years of learning loss" is that it does not give credit for the efforts that were made and the learning that was accomplished. It is an insult to the work of the staff and the students, but fascists need to put others down; no one else has any good points. (We will explore this more later.)

You will also see many references to involving parents. That sounds good, except they don't mean that there should be information online and meetings and volunteer opportunities; that already exists. 

They mean that parents have to explicitly say "yes" to sex education. This would make sense if the schools were truly teaching 10-years olds sexual positions, which they are not. The majority of what they are teaching is how to set boundaries and recognize and seek help for abuse, and how to respect other people. I don't deny the importance of knowing how to navigate puberty, but those other parts are essentially anti-fascist, so that's what they really hate.

The most blatant lies are about the comprehensive sex education, and that's not a coincidence.

They make their platform sound good, but you don't have to look that hard to see the problems. You do need to look at least a little.

Public schools are so important, and so many of the people campaigning for the fascists are not even sending their children their, opting for home schooling or the Heritage Academy. They care, but in ways that are ultimately destructive.

So we need to care for good.

Related:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/05/school-board-elections-dont-let.html

April Daily Songs: Top Songs 1991 - 1994

I know I said I was going to write more about the movie from last week today, but I realized there is one more movie I have been meaning to watch that could be relevant. I will watch it this weekend, and the movie post will go up next week. 

For now, some music.

After going through each year of the 80s, I started thinking about the 90s.

Decade transitions don't happen neatly on the zeroes anyway -- that is part of why I included both 1980 and 1990 in that round -- but I thought that at least for the first few years, I would like to explore.

My not particularly scientific method has been typing "top songs" paired with whatever year I am working on, and then listening to any I don't recognize, as well as noting the ones I like. Part of what makes it less scientific is that there is usually at least one song listed twice, and sometimes different songs pop in and out on different searches, but you do get an overview.

I'm not saying there weren't any 80s songs that I didn't recognize, but the number spiked as we got further into the 90s.

That was partly expected. I had mainly gotten my music knowledge from music videos, not listening to the radio much. I would have been watching less as I went off to college anyway, followed by not watching at all during my mission, but there was another change happening with the 1992 introduction of The Real World. 

Advertisers did not love the unpredictability of music channel programming. Sure, people tune in a lot, but might easily channel surf if they catch a video they don't like, or that has been overplayed. There were attempts to resolve this with programming blocks like Club MTV, Yo! MTV Raps and Pop-Up Video, but just being able to sit and watch videos was going away. 

After my mission, I ended up pretty disconnected from contemporary music. I would sometimes find bands I liked through other people, but even then I was often wrong about where they fit into the timeline. New to me did not mean new to everyone else.

For 1991, most titles were familiar. For a few that weren't, once I listened to them, the memory came back.

Some of my selections for 1992 are songs I remember hearing around Fresno, but that was later. Their popularity transcended years (especially "Jump" and "Rump Shaker").

I was not listening to contemporary music (except for those streets) from February 1993 to August 1994, so you would think that 1993 songs would have been less familiar.

I recognized nine 1994 titles and only liked four of them. Some that I listened to did sound familiar later, and some were not terrible, but it was mainly not fun. It was also the first year where I needed to repeat a band for that year. (That was Green Day, as is only right.)

Part of what helped me fill out 1994 was two covers of older songs for movie soundtracks. That was Wet Wet Wet covering The Troggs' "Love Is All Around" for Four Weddings and a Funeral and General Public covering The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" for Threesome. I did not know those covers existed, but I haven't seen either of those movies.

And Elton John and Kiki Dee did a version of Cole Porter's "True Love" in 1993; who knew?

In retrospect, I missed a lot of 1993, but I also remember writing home and asking my family to please grab two songs for me because I realized I would want to hear them again. They got me Snap's "Rhythm Is A Dancer", but they could not find me Culture Beat's "Mr. Vain" because I got the name wrong. If I'd seen a video for it, I could have read it off. 

(It took me years to find that one.)

The best find was Digable Planets, charting in 1993 with “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”. 

The weirdest discovery was "Stay" by Shakespears Sister. That was from 1992, so I don't know how I missed it.

Most irritating was Tim McGraw charting twice in 1994 with hopelessly saccharine "Don't Take the Girl" and offensively racist appropriation on "Indian Outlaw"; that's what's crossing over?!?

The runner-up for most irritating was Lisa Loeb. That Geico commercial really nailed her, but at least it is shorter than the song.

I should probably listen to more Toad the Wet Sprocket (having previously only known "All I Want") and Meat Puppets.

1991

3/22 “The Motown Song” by Rod Stewart with The Temptations
3/23 “Real Real Real” by Jesus Jones
3/24 “Romantic” by Karyn White
3/25 “Rush Rush” by Paula Abdul
3/26 “Every Heartbeat” by Amy Grant
3/27 “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” by PM Dawn
3/28 “I've Been Thinking About You” by Londonbeat
3/29 “Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)” by Roxette
3/30 “Now That We Found Love” by Heavy D
3/31 “I'll Be There” by Escape Club

1992

4/1 “Jump” by Kriss Kross
4/2 “Tennessee” by Arrested Development
4/3 “Rhythm Is A Dancer” by Snap
4/4 “Jump Around” by House of Pain
4/5 “Rump Shaker” by Wreckx-n-Effect
4/6 “Just Another Day” by Jon Secada
4/7 “Friday I'm In Love” by The Cure
4/8 “Please Don't Go” by KWS
4/9 “Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough” by Patty Smyth feat. Don Henley
4/10 “Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg” by TLC

1993

4/11 “What Is Love” by Haddaway
4/12 “I Don't Wanna Fight” by Tina Turner
4/13 “Insane In The Brain” by Cypress Hill
4/14 “If I Had No Loot” by Tony! Toni! Toné!
4/15 “Boom! Shake the Room” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
4/16 “Linger” by The Cranberries
4/17 “Regret” by New Order
4/18 “Mr. Vain” by Culture Beat
4/19 “Whoomp! (There it is)” by Tag Team
4/20 “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” by Digable Planets

1994

4/21 “When I Come Around” by Green Day
4/22 “Another Night” by Real McCoy
4/23 “I'll Stand By You” The Pretenders
4/24 “I'll Take You There” by General Public
4/25 “Love Is All Around” by Wet Wet Wet
4/26 “Fall Down” by Toad the Wet Sprocket
4/27 “Sour Times” by Portishead
4/28 “Backwater” by Meat Puppets
4/29 “No Excuses” by Alice in Chains
4/30 “Basket Case” by Green Day

School Board Elections: Don't let the fascists win!

My Sunday blog and this blog seem to be colliding more lately. Sunday I posted about being caught off guard by school board elections.

https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/04/maintaining-hope-and-motivation-in-dark.html

Last time they were happening, I wrote ten posts on this blog and at least two on the other. I was alarmed to find strong organizing efforts in multiple (I think 27) Oregon school districts. They were running candidates who were against COVID mitigation efforts (this was in 2021, before there was even a vaccine). They were also strongly against any teaching of Critical Race Theory, meaning -- of course -- not the legal field of thought but any social or historical teaching acknowledging that there has been racism and that it is wrong.

Also, they were against supporting queer kids, before "Don't say 'gay'" was a thing.

(Although they do not self-identify as fascists yet, I will use that term for convenience.)

They're back.

They don't seem quite as strong as last time, which is nice, but they can still do a lot of damage.

I am most familiar with Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts. Between the two, only one of seven candidates won, fortunately. Newberg did a lot worse. Shortly after the election, they had several racist incidents (including a teacher showing up to school in blackface to protest vaccine requirements) and responded by banning the Pride and Black Lives Matter flags.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/newberg-oregon-school-district-sinks-to-new-low-after-blackface-mock-slave-trade-scandals

There are residents commiserating on a message board over there about voting them out this time. Good, but keeping them out in the first place is better.

I appreciate that the Hillsboro fascists have a web site that makes identifying their candidates easy:

https://communitiesforsensibleschools.org/  

Since their candidates are Terri Kam, Shawnna Arns, and Bart Rask, then the candidates who are least likely to create an environment hostile to poor students, students of color, and queer students (plus teachers, scientists, and non-Trump voters) are See Eun Kim, Ivetta Pantoja, and Patrick Maguire.

I hate doing it that way -- voting against candidates more than for them -- but when you have candidates passing off hate as morality and transparency, there is good reason for it.

It is also inspiring some excellent candidates. As many people as there are who seem like they don't know or care, others are responding and volunteering and organizing.

For Beaverton School District I am excited to support Justice Rajee for Zone 6.

The difference does not seem as extreme for the Zone 3 candidates (I ended up choosing Maham Ahmed) and Zone 7 is uncontested. 

That is part of what I mean about the fascists not seeming quite so strong this time. 

With the other Zone 6 candidate, the difference is very clear, but I think I want to address that Sunday (preparedspork.blogspot.com). That will focus on spotting the fascists.

For now, I want to address one other thing that I find interesting but am not sure what it implies.

I had heard third-hand that the water board was getting politicized. I am not sure that is true. 

Both Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue District and Tualatin Valley Water District have some atypical candidates running alongside the more conventional candidates. Yes, that does mean brown men running alongside white men, but it is not merely that. It is that you have an electrical engineer running against a someone who has been a paramedic and volunteer and on the budget committee for the fire district in that race.

I tried comparing other races, like Banks Fire District. Even with at least one candidate who does not seem to have any relevant experience, there is nothing really striking. The position for the Forest Grove Rural Fire District seems to be uncontested.

It makes me wonder what is going on in Tualatin Valley?

Those four candidates do seem to have ties to Intel and to the refugee community. They mention concerns about diversity and poverty, which I like. 

However, the similarity spread out over different positions in unconnected races does not seem likely to be a coincidence. I don't mind that, but I would like to know more about what is happening. If someone is organizing, that can be fine, but who is behind it, and what are the larger goals?

Please tell me it's not Scott Presler. He seems to be focusing on voter registration now, but there are always more.

I hope for more clarity on that to come. For now there is plenty of clarity on schools, and I implore you to actively vote against fascism. Study the candidates. Talk to your friends. Vote.

What happens in our schools is vitally important. What happens on the national stage matters, but it's not all that matters.

Election day is May 16th, and ballots and voter guides are already out.

www.washcovotes.org

The "Actor": Dissecting his words

You may already be aware of Entertainment Weekly interviewing four anonymous Oscar voters: an actor, a director, a marketing specialist, and a costume designer.

https://ew.com/awards/oscars/2023-oscars-secret-ballot-academy-awards-voters-share-juicy-picks/

I know I am not the only one who was frustrated with the actor, but the other written pieces I have seen seem to be more that it happened, without analyzing why.

Here is my take.

I will note starting out that because the interviews are edited -- which makes sense -- there may be wrong impressions, but comparing all four interviewees the actor seems to be the most freely critical, often with longer quotes but still no substance.

He also uses "wokeness" unironically, which is its own strong indicator.

Where he spoke most out of turn was regarding three snubs: Gina Prince-Bythewood and Viola Davis for The Woman King (Best Director and Best Actress, respectively) and Danielle Deadwyler for Till (Best Actress). 

(You may notice a common thread.)

I will not fault the actor for mentioning them, because those were big topics of conversation beyond the interview; it would have been weird not to mention them. However, sometimes you can know things, or you can not know things but be aware that you don't know.

I want to stress that the impression this man gives is one of incredible ego, and very critical of others already. (And he's an actor!) However, the largest amount of disrespect was shown to Black women. That is completely predictable based on everything known about misogynoir and intersectionality... but he does not know.

Here is the convenient thing about privilege: he misses glaringly obvious things, and still thinks he is smart. Privilege lets you think you are better than you are, which, frankly, tends to curb efforts and result in mediocrity.

The Actor on Deadwyler:

She was good. I mean, who wouldn't be good in a part like that? The strong, wronged mother. But you look at the real Mamie Till, she's not wearing all of these incredible gowns and beautifully made-up. I thought it was a confusing message. If they'd really [made a movie about] that woman, who was not used to being in the public eye and wore house dresses, she [wouldn't have] had one incredible outfit after another. The ego behind this pushing her to be a movie star was too blatant for me.

He seems to be under the impression that Mamie Till-Mobley was a housewife, or perhaps a maid. She was working in an office. Not only was it common at the time for professional women to be dressed up, but that was a common strategy of those working for civil rights (though that was about to get much more visible).  

They cover that in the movie, and why the NAACP thought she would be a great asset, so that shouldn't be too shocking, unless he did not watch the movie. I mean, he sounds like he watched it, but he admits to not seeing The Woman King.

I have a funny feeling he didn't see Selma.

The Actor on Davis:

It's like, come on. I think Viola Davis is talented, I didn't see Woman King, but I'm a little tired of Viola Davis and her snotty crying. I'm over all of that. 

I admit I haven't seen everything Viola Davis has done, but I don't think she does it that much. It gets attention, because it is giving up staying "pretty", which has historically been expected of actresses, but which is not how real crying looks. I guess my real issue with it is that I wonder if he has ever actually seen her cry or he heard a reference to it once and that is the impression that he kept.

He got even worse about her:

"When they get in trouble for not giving Viola Davis an award, it's like, no, sweetheart, you didn't deserve it. We voted, and we voted for the five we thought were best," he finishes. "It's not fair for you to start suddenly beating a frying pan and say [they're] ignoring Black people. They're really not, they're making an effort. Maybe there was a time 10 years ago when they were, but they have, of all the high-profile things, been in the forefront of wanting to be inclusive.

It would still be condescending without the "sweetheart", but that does make it more condescending.

Certainly, there hasn't been that much effort toward equity to be that tired of the effort yet, but also, I am not sure that she got that mad.

I admit, I do not follow show business that much, so I could have missed it, but there apparently was an Instagram post that is really pretty tame, and largely a show of solidarity with Gina Prince-Bythewood:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYTBIzPXUc/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=28917d42-581c-4d3d-a35d-e681cb9177fd

Where does "banging a frying pan" come from? Are you just interpreting a Black woman not going out of her way to show how okay she is with everything as "angry"? Are there any stereotypes you are not going to embrace?

As it was, finishing that quote is probably his low point:

Viola Davis and the lady director need to sit down, shut up, and relax. 

It is not even necessary to know her name or to have seen the movie to dismiss her.

Dude, I don't really know that you are white (I have my suspicions),  but I do know that you are an ass. You have been coddled too much by your privilege, and you believe your own hype.

I wish you a better understanding. That will probably only come the hard way. I am at peace with this.

I would like to give the movies some individual attention, so next time!

What are you doing?

The last post ended with a question: what are we going to do?

As I have been thinking over some of these topics, I have been thinking that "What are you doing?" is a reasonable question. It's an important question to ask yourself, and it's a reasonable question to ask me.

My hope is that as I answer the question for myself, it may help others in their own planning.

I really don't feel like I do much. I don't do any organizing. The last time I marched was 2017, but not that one. 

I don't do much in the way of volunteering.

I do try and keep up with direct giving. It is not that I am against 501(c)(3) charities; I have a regular payroll deduction to one to take advantage of employer matching. However, I also know that with organized charities there can be a lot of bureaucratic delays and attempts to weed out the undeserving that limit the ability to help. 

When I was trying to get my mother onto Medicaid and myself out of foreclosure, it seemed like every application that I went through needed to be completed three times due to poor instructions or pages being lost after being sent or something. It was an inordinate amount of stress and labor from someone already on the edge. If sometimes someone just says they need money and I send them some through Paypal, that seems better.

While I do periodically give to new or different people, I am also aware that I tend to keep giving to the same people over and over again, mainly because of health problems that incur repeated costs. Because of that, I am keenly aware that what I do is of limited usefulness. Having a better health care system and a more equitable economy would be vastly superior, but what is in my power is $40 via Paypal.

I had calculated how much I thought I could reasonably give, but I keep giving more as more needs pop up. It has become somewhat of an exercise in faith for me. When I got my tax refund, I was feeling good because I would have more to give and still be ahead, but still more needs popped up. After paying my bills I had $10.10 to last for a week, but it did last. 

I am not exactly recommending this, but it feels like my path and I rely on intuition a lot.

Otherwise, I am constantly reading and studying, trying to be better informed. I share that knowledge freely, through the blog and conversations. I am not sure if I really influence anyone beyond my sisters, but there is an influence there.

I have trained for other things. I became a Master Food Preserver about 23 years ago, and spent time teaching canning classes and answering questions at farmers' markets. About 15 years ago I trained for Community Emergency Response, and was ready to be called on, though it never happened.

I try and be aware of others and considerate of them.

I wear the mask. It is true that does more to protect others from me than me from others, which is frustrating, but if for no other reason than to signal to other immune-compromised people that I care about their safety and ability to participate in society, I will keep wearing it.

I used to do more. There were times when I had more money and could be more generous, and there were times when I had more energy. I used to see more people needing encouragement and respond to that more frequently. There are probably people I am missing now, and I hope other people are spotting them.

I used to do a lot of work on making dolls for a local children's hospital, but that program has gone away.

I mention those things because circumstances change, and continue to do so. I have been through three bad unemployment/underemployment times, and two periods of bad burnout. Even as some resources were depleted, others were recovered.

As much as caring for my mother depleted me emotionally and financially, there have been strains from the Trump presidency and the pandemic that have worn down many of us; that is not just me.

With so many people burned out, we are all going to have to be kind to each other and look out for each other. A lot of the best people do not have much to give right now, but don't count yourself out.

My resources are limited, but what I do is consistent with my values. That is important to me.

What I do will also not harm my cause. Even if I cannot help as much as I want, I do not harm. That is important to me.

(Refer back to Dunking.)

Can I do more? Can I do differently? That is something that is worth asking regularly. 

I am starting to think maybe I should try doing some sort of letter writing. Would it be effective? Worth the effort? Do I even have the capacity for that effort? Or would that require dropping something else?

It's worth asking.

Model Minority

I am embarrassed to see that I did not mention one of the key sources for last week's post:

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoon.

Just to recap how we got here, I started reading about Latasha Harlins last July. It had seemed reasonable to bring her material up with Black Music Month, I guess because her death influenced so many musicians (especially Tupac Shakur).

Of course, I was running late, but I read Troublemaker by John Cho in July also.

In December I saw some artwork commemorating Vincent Chin; that's why I read Paula Yoon's book, which I got to in February.

I am not the first person to make the connection, but it is hard not to have those two deaths and court cases inextricably linked after reading about them. That is why I had to write last week's post. 

There is another factor that has been weighing on me, and I want to try and get to that here, about how these situations happen. My path may be clumsy.

Let me go back to The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender, and the Origins of the L.A. Riots by Brenda E. Stevenson. 

Both Stevenson and Yoon tried to be fair to all of the subjects, which I know is right but sometimes I just wanted to condemn them. 

I did feel early sympathy for Soon Ja Du. Working in the store was stressful for her. I am willing to believe that she felt pressure and that she was at times truly afraid.

I also do not think that it is a coincidence that in both documented times when she pulled out her gun, it was at teenage girls.

That is anger, but also lashing out a target that is safe. 

You do get angry about perpetual fear, but how much of that fear is based in reality?

The store had been robbed; that is true. Because it was in a Black neighborhood, the majority of the robbers were probably Black. In a white neighborhood, the robbers are probably going to be white.

The difference is that perception, where all Black people are perceived to be the same, and more easily seen as thugs and criminals. That does not happen by accident. Please understand that the people who are making the propaganda don't love the people who buy it.

It can be safer to attack a teenage girl than a grown man, but also it is safer to attack one who is Black. Systemic racism will discount her innocence and right to life. That makes it easier for a judge to find the lethal "reaction" reasonable, but it also makes the judge letting off the murderers of as Asian-American man easier.

I think that Soon Ja Du believed the model minority myth. Her people were hard-working and smart and good, not like the Black people that made up their customer base. There may have been some satisfaction in it, but based on the stress and anger and fear, it wasn't making her life better. Of course, she got to keep her life, and Latasha didn't.

In a different city a few years earlier, it could have been her husband murdered by disaffected white people, and his killers be the ones let off.

In Troublemaker -- the work of fiction -- Jordan is trying to move through Los Angeles at the time of the riots to get a gun to the store where his father is boarding up the windows. That leads to some trouble, but the title refers to the reputation he already has, for not being good at school... not being perfect, the way he is supposed to be. The expectations he was not meeting were a source of anger and frustration and parental conflict. The character is fictional, but the feelings are not.

One thing I had not expected, but that made sense, was the importance of Claudia Kishi (The Baby-Sitters Club) to Asian-American girls. That was not just for some representation, but also for representation that could be loud and artistic and struggle with math.

The boxes aren't always fatal, but they are never good.

And sometimes they do kill.

Related:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xg8apn/claudia-kishi-coolest-kid-in-the-baby-sitters-club-netflix-documentary

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/actor-john-cho-channels-childhood-self-debut-novel-troublemaker-rcna20930

Related, from me:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2022/12/vincent.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/04/not-justice.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/03/black-history-month-latasha-harlins.html

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: 1994 - 2011

When Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed in 2011, I remember it being a big deal, with people finding it to be a good step forward.

I did not disagree with that, but I had remembered its passage being a step forward also; I don't remember that being mentioned much.

Let me back up. When it actually went into effect I was on my mission, and I don't think I heard anything about it. What I remember was the discussions that were leading up to it. I remember it so clearly because one of the people I knew at college was interviewed on the local news.

Michael and I were not particularly close, but we were friendly. He was interviewed and he wanted to watch the segment, so we went to watch it in Shelly's room -- she had a TV -- and then we talked.

This is assuming I am remembering the details correctly, which all these years later is questionable. I think he was in the Navy, and he left, or at least didn't re-enlist, because he was gay. After being out for a while, he wasn't necessarily interested in going back, but it would have made a difference to him before.

I don't know how the station found him to interview him. I remember very clearly a different person with the same name writing into the student newspaper very irritated because now everyone was thinking he was gay. If you saw the story, they looked nothing alike, but people...

I am pretty sure he was graduated by the time I got back to school (most people I knew were), so I have not seen him since. I still remember that footage of him walking across campus, and being in the dorm room together talking... those images are vivid.

There were gay students at my high school, but I did not know they were. The Oregon Citizens Alliance was actively campaigning against "special" rights for gay people while we were there, and there were plenty of reasons to keep closeted.

College was the first place where I was finding people who were out and proud. Getting to know them was its own education. There wasn't any recruiting. It would feel condescending to say that they were just people, humans... of course they were, but much of what I had seen before had painted them as these horrible perverts.

No. That's not how it worked.

Here's another memory. I got on Facebook in late 2008. Reconnecting with many of the guys from school, they were frequently teasing each other about being gay: lots of Brokeback Mountain jokes. That gradually faded away. I remember mentioning it to one of them when I saw him in person. I think he said something to the effect of having to grow up sometime, except it was not just that. Believe me, he has the potential to still be very immature. However, at one point it became real to him that there are gay people with real feelings, and using their identity for cheap jokes is gross.

It seemed we had successfully moved from a world that would support domestic partnerships if they were not allowed to call it marriage and where you could be a gay soldier as long as you didn't talk about it to a world where gay couples could get married in any state, individuals could serve in the military openly, and straight men could relate to each other in ways other than humorous homophobia.

I wanted to write about this because I think it illustrates how well public opinion and legislation can work together. Before Don't Ask Don't Tell, there were gay rights activists focusing on unfair military dismissals. There were Pride events and demonstrations. There was the AIDS quilt. There was determination against the counter-programming.

I understand why people rail against incrementalism, but it is easier to make continued progress in the right direction than to have to keep fighting the destruction that gets wreaked so quickly and deliberately.

It had looked like we were past all that, but then you get transgender rights being targeted and "Don't say gay" and book banning and even young people who are gay getting mad about leather at Pride and the use of the word "queer".

Dominator culture doesn't let up, and so we can't let up either, regardless of whether or not we are the target. For one thing, they will keep narrowing definitions, because there always need to be more people to oppress.

But, also we should just care about each other. 

In many ways, the children of my generation are better, being supportive and inclusive and a lot of them have great support from their parents. 

It is not an excuse to get lax. Some of the worst people in the world are working very hard. 

What will we do?

Not justice

I did not post last Friday. This was not for a lack of material, but kind of too much material (but also work being busier and the tiredness growing).

So this post may not be a good one, but I want to write about some of the issues with the trials of the killers of Latasha Harlins and Vincent Chin. There were significant differences, and similarities.

In the case of Vincent Chin, there was an increasing sloughing off of responsibility.

The officers who showed up to on the scene did not treat Ronald Ebens like they had just seen him beat someone to death with a baseball bat. They were off-duty, but still, that's a really violent crime and they caught at least the end of it.

That preferential treatment may be why he was treated kind of lightly at the station, where things kept being easier than they should have been.

That is not necessarily why the prosecutors were not in court on the day that Ebens was convicted. That was not even that abnormal, but someone should have objected to the 2nd Degree Murder charge being dropped down to manslaughter. Even if the DA's office would have wanted a plea bargain, in theory they would not want a brutal killing to result in no jail time; only probation and a fine.

There was no plea bargain in the case of Soon Ja Du; the jury found her guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and then Judge Karlin suspended the prison sentence, again opting for just probation and a fine.

I think Judge Kaufman has the most apt quote, regarding Ebens' sentencing:

"These weren't the kind of men you send to jail... You don't make the punishment fit the crime; you make the punishment fit the criminal."

Meaning men who would pick a fight in a strip club, hunt down the person later, and then one would hold the victim while the other beat him in the head with a baseball bat. Because they had jobs (well, the one was laid off, but he used to have a job). 

He never said that it was because they were white, and he was appalled by that insinuation, but what part of their previous lives made murdering okay?

For Judge Karlin, perhaps she was kind of impressive in her understatement:

"Did Mrs. Du react inappropriately? Absolutely. But was that reaction understandable? I think that it was." 

Thanks for acknowledging that shooting a 15 year old in the back of the head is inappropriate.

Karlin later complained about political correctness, so we know where she stands.

(Remember that "political correctness" comes from an effort to use more specific, respectful language where we can understand things better, which might help you understand how you are influenced subconsciously. https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/03/waking.html)

There is some discomfort for me in writing this, because the carceral state does more harm than good. I apparently am not truly a prison abolitionist, though, because we do not have something in place for cases like this. I would absolutely rather prevent the murders than punish the murderers, but we are really not there yet.

(I don't think it is a coincidence that one well-known prison abolitionist has chosen an abuser over his victims.)

 I'm not against the concept of double jeopardy, either, because I totally believe in court abuses, but when a case is so blatantly unjust, where is the remedy?

Well, civil cases. 

As it is, there were two civil cases against Ebens. He lost the first one, and then appealed and won. There were two main factors in the later victory. In the second trial the defense exploited differences in the prosecutor's speech to claim that she was coaching the witnesses. Her attempts to make sure everything was right was able to be turned against her.

Probably more importantly, Ebens did not testify at the second civil trial. In the first one, his testimony consisted of only remembering things that spoke in his favor, but he was not able to remember anything that might have worked against him. The first jury did not find that convincing. He did not have to testify against himself, so in the second trial he did not and came off better.

Mainly, it all makes me think of a different quote:

Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.

This neglects intersectionality -- one of the killers is a brown woman -- but as long as there are people whom it is okay for you to abuse and bully and threaten and kill, then maybe you can put up with those who are allowed to abuse you.

It's not good for anyone, but there are those whom it hurts more. 

That is not exactly what the other aspect is, but it relates, so that will be the other post.

Related:

https://slate.com/business/2022/06/wilhoits-law-conservatives-frank-wilhoit.html

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pocharaponneammanee/benjamin-brennan-fraternity-hazing-coma

Concerted effort

For examples of dunking not being helpful, one is playing out in real time with Kentucky governor Andy Beshear. A Democrat, he has tried very hard to do good things but is hamstrung by a obstructive state legislator entrenched in place via gerrymandering. He does frequently refer to prayers, and that is what is being jumped on in tweets in the aftermath of a recent shooting. 

Certainly there are frequent meaningless references to thoughts and prayers, but that is not what is happening here, and that is not something the tweeters care to check. I assume they feel smart and righteous, and also that it will do nothing other than give them that ego boost.

In terms of effecting change, there are a few examples that come to mind, but I want to start with the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

One of the things that made it effective was that there were clear goals. The rules about Black passengers having to ride in the back of the bus did not only mean people standing, even when there were seats available, or when they had been on longer. It also meant that sometimes people would pay their fare, then as they had to walk outside of the bus to the back door, sometime the bus would drive away. The rules gave the drivers an easy and tempting way to abuse power. 

That allowed for an easy goal of ending the busing segregation laws, with the added goal of the hiring of Black drivers. That would not only add some jobs to the community but also increase the odds of finding a friendly and respectful driver. Reasonable goals, but not something that those in power would have an interest in, if for no other reason than that those in power do not like change to the status quo.

How do you resolve that? Economic pressure is a great way to affect those in power. Suddenly excuses about not being able to make changes because it would be bad for business are coming up against significant business losses that are actual, not imagined. 

That pressure needed to be maintained for long enough (a little over a year), and there are people who depended on the bus for transportation. 

Organizing is more than choosing an action and advertising about it; it is making it possible. In this case, that meant organizing carpools. It got taxi drivers driving for bus fare, which is a personal sacrifice. It involved some people walking, perhaps uncomfortable distances. It involved fundraising, like the cooking efforts of Georgia Gilmore.

Those efforts combined people being willing to sacrifice, but also not ignoring the efforts that others had to make. That comes from community and caring. 

Protest efforts may start with anger, but that is a limited fuel.

Stirring up emotional responses matters too. 

I remember talking to a family friend about some of the demonstrations in the 60s. Younger then, anything that happened before I was born seemed a long time ago, but she remembered seeing those those fire hoses and police dogs in Birmingham, and being shocked.

White people up North and out West had their own prejudices, but there was a viciousness that they saw there that they could not have imagined. 

It was a strategy at the time that demonstrators would be well-dressed and use passive resistance; they knew the power of those images would help them. The influence of public opinion made it easier for politicians to pass bills that protected civil rights.

It was a lot of work. It is not just the marching and the telephone trees and cooking and car pooling, but also putting all of that together and being in for the long haul and working with people who annoy you. That all goes into it.

And as much as you can influence public opinion and get new laws passed and old ones struck down, there is always another force trying to ruin it.

This will be continued.

Dunking

This post is primarily inspired by two recent occurrences, and the delight they caused liberal/progressive/leftist people: Bethany Mandel not being able to define "woke" when asked (despite having written a whole book on it) and John Steward "demolishing" Oklahoma state senator Nathan Dahm over gun control:

https://www.thewrap.com/jon-stewart-gun-rights-oklahoma-senator-clip/

What I want to stress most is that no one is demolished.

Senator Dahm is doubling down and asking for a rematch on Joe Rogan.

Bethany Mandel says she was humiliated, but her article about that is self-serving, blames an anxiety that her family was going to be criticized, and still never defines "woke" (though she admits it is a reasonable question, which is big of her).

https://www.newsweek.com/define-woke-bethany-mandel-conservative-book-1788538

Conservatives are tweeting their own definitions of the word, which lie and deflect.

In Mandel's defense, answering honestly -- especially to a Black woman -- could have been awkward. If you're going to accept the interview, you should have a strategy for that.

(And this is where it's good that I wrote about "woke" last week, because now I can link to it and move on: https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/03/waking.html) 

My take is that these dunkings do more harm than good.

I understand that sense of glee that we are smarter than them, but you should not need any additional proof. 

Plus, a lot of it is more about calculated evil than a lack of comprehension. It is hard to tell with some, I admit. Some are probably more manipulated than manipulative, but this is still not the way to reach them.

Instead, it reinforces their sense of being besieged by evil liberals, it gives their lies a platform, and breeds a culture where a (false) sense of domination is prioritized over actual good.

(Speaking of giving a platform, I am not including Lesley Stahl and Marjorie Taylor Green in this because it doesn't seem like there was even a dunk.)

This is not about conservatives' hurt feelings; this is about progressives' shriveled hearts.

I know there are a lot of different words that can be used, and I am willing to have that discussion. 

In this case, I lean towards "progressive" because that seems to be be the chosen self-identifier for many of those who focus more on scoring points against their rivals than working toward legislation or grass roots organizing or mutual aid or something that will help somebody.

In fact, that inner need to dominate is the kind of thing that results in some people resorting to guns for a final assertion of their dominance, where they will die but they will take others with them.

This does not accomplish anything good, and there is so much good to be done. We need to be feeding people, registering voters, making health care -- including mental health -- care available. There is so much work to be done.

The dopamine rush from feeling better-informed than someone who could not care less is a hollow substitute.

I know there are some who argue that these victories are important for shifting the conversation, and that will bring change.

I have doubts, but that will go into another post.

I did not like "Inside"

I do not appreciate all of these streaming channels with exclusive content where you need to be subscribed to have access to certain materials. There are a few different ones where I have a list that I will get to eventually, and only temporarily.

There was a Netflix list, but due to an evident promotion of transphobic content, gouging new subscription rules, and some other concerns, I was avoiding it. Then it was the only place to watch A Love Song for Latasha, which I felt I had to see before blogging about the other related content, and here I am again. 

I am going to try and catch up over the next two months, but I really need to watch The People versus Billi Holiday for something else, and that's on Hulu.

In the process of catching up, I finally watched Inside: Bo Burnham, about which I'd heard very good things.

I did not like it. People whom I really like and admire love it. I didn't.

I have to admit he is incredibly talented. Just thinking about the filming conditions and constrictions and what he was able to produce, and the visual quality and the musical quality... yes, I can imagine him doing very well at brand consulting. 

I think a big part of my issue with it was an age difference. It is not just that he was fretting about turning 30 while I am relieved to be past those specific pressures of youth, but also some perspective, perhaps.

He kept striking at his awareness of where he was with his white privilege and his knowledge of structural racism, and being kind of vicious with himself about it. That doesn't actually help anyone. 

Being aware of your own shortcomings is a great reason to highlight other voices with more experience and knowledge. Granted, that doesn't necessarily make for good comedy, but I am not sure that his approach did either.

I assume that for the people who responded strongly to it, they had felt some of the same pressures of isolation and the personal shortcomings; seeing someone be that open about their weaknesses was powerful. 

I believe my issue with it was the self-absorption, which he seemed to loathe without overcoming.

This reminded me of one of the parts of literature that has annoyed me most, from Joseph Heller's Catch-22.

“The night was filled with horror, and he thought he knew how Christ must have felt as he walked through the world, like a psychiatrist through a ward full of nuts, like a victim through a prison full of thieves.  What a welcome sight a leper must have been!”

Seeing horrible things and feeling really bad while you keep on walking is nothing like Christ; he stopped and helped. You would not have his abilities, but who knows where life might lead once you get over yourself?

Watching the special, I was most impressed with the opening number, started having some concerns early -- especially during "Face Time With My Mom (Tonight)" -- and then he really lost me on "White Woman's Instagram".

There is a casual contempt for people (probably just coincidentally women (though it might not hurt to do a misogyny check) in the song itself. Where he completely lost me was the middle of the song when it carries that contempt to the grief of someone who lost her mother, and probably lost her relatively young, based on the things that happened over the ten years. 

That is a real pain. Maybe it's not everyone's cup of tea to post on Instagram about it. Maybe the way some people post feels kind of staged; lots of people present their best selves on social media, though they do that in other social contexts as well. It's not like no one criticizes the people who display all of their messiness. Nonetheless, grief is a real thing, it hits on anniversaries, and if something is on your mind it's pretty normal to post about it.

So do you hate that these women have an outlet? Do you hate that the outlet is shallow? Are you assuming that the person's Instagram tells you a lot about that person?

I know shallow and superficial people exist, and some people try and be deep and are actually kind of silly... they are still people. They still have feelings. They still have value.

Do you think skewering your mother and women who like pumpkin spice lattes is going to overcome white supremacy?

Or does it just make your own self-loathing feel a little more manageable? At least I recognize my privilege!

One more thought: one of the other people who loved the special and thought it was great tweeted that Burnham was like Douglas Adams. That was more about his storytelling, but that reminded me of how much I expected to like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and how much I did not. I didn't like it because I sensed a contempt for people in it.

Maybe we deserve it sometimes, but it doesn't help anyone. 

On a personal level, I hate that. It makes it impossible for me to enjoy the content, regardless of other considerations of quality.

Bo Burnham is young and talented and I believe he means well; he will probably get better.

(There might be something to dwelling on if there are some common denominators between these authors and creators that have issues with self-absorption and contempt of others.)

Either way, before I let Netflix go again, I should re-watch Nanette and Douglas, which I adored the last time around. 

Of course, Hannah Gadsby is closer to my age., but that might be just a coincidence.

Waking

Exciting sneak preview for next week: I am going to reference Bethany Mandel not being able to define "woke". 

It's not even a major point, but what I realized is that if I did that today, I would be tempted to go on a tangent, especially because I have had some thoughts on the use of the word. 

I believe the point I want to make next week will go better if I get this out of the way. That is called knowing myself, including knowing my tendency to take a roundabout path to a conclusion, believing that it can clarify the logic.

Let me start with "political correctness".

What I most associate with this specific term is displeasure when people started objecting to the R-word. Yes, I remember people complaining about other racist and sexist jokes not being received as funny as political correctness, but mostly I remember it with ableism. 

It may stick with me because I remember that the mocking associated with that word seemed to mimic cerebral palsy, but the word itself when used properly was referring to delayed cognitive ability. If you were a terrible person, not having one catch-all word that you could use to insult and marginalize a large and diverse group of people might be inconvenient, but it's not the sort of complaint that I sympathize with.

"Politically correct" was the key insult for a long time, the justification being that it stifles free discussion, and we all know how important freedom of speech is. I agree, but if you can't communicate effectively without showing respect to other groups -- especially when that relates specifically to marginalized groups where there might be a history of oppression that needs to be dealt with openly -- that is a "you" problem.

Shortly after getting on Twitter, I became aware of a new insult: "social justice warrior".

I personally would not have found that to be an insult, but something aspirational. However, that's how it was being used, with the idea being that any sentiments in favor of social justice were insincere desires for prestige and acceptance.

Here is another potential "you" problem: if you don't care about justice or fairness and are too cynical and self-absorbed to even begin to feel such things. You can insult people that way, but that says more about you.

Which brings us to "woke".

It is not something I have ever called myself, largely because it seemed easy to rate yourself too highly. Sure, I know stuff... and then discover more things that you did not know.

What I do remember from that time period was finding things that once known, could not be unknown. Those common expressions have a racist background. These practices are inherently unfair; while these other practices would not be inherently unfair except for the structure they are interacting with.

It can be an uncomfortable process. One day you have a basic idea that racism is bad but there are a lot of things that don't seem to be racism, and then you realize they are. It's not just neighborhoods and inherited wealth and policing trends; those are all important, but they are obviously important. You know that and are frustrated, but it seems like all you can control is your vote.

But let's say in your circle of acquaintance you have people who changed the name of "Hillsboro" to "Hillsburrito" (because so many Mexicans live there) or Canada's Vancouver to "Hongcouver", with a bit of a fake Chinese accent (because so many people from East Asia buy property there)... that's just being cute, right? 

You go from being shocked at how many expressions that are "cute" or "funny" have racist roots, and then it stops being shocking because you see how it was practically inevitable. 

You used to not notice, then it makes you cringe, and then you need to say something.

Maybe they will be embarrassed or irritated, or maybe they will cast you as an enemy of freedom of speech.

If we are being intellectually honest, it should not be such a hard concept for anyone to understand. Plato was working toward a different point, but I think we can find a clear correlation to the concept described in the allegory of the cave. There may be another, stronger correlation...

“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time. ”  -- James Baldwin

You can work up a fair amount of rage without being Black. 

I don't say that to center myself, but to acknowledge that there is a price to be paid for becoming aware. You get angry. There is no ignorant bliss, but ideally you work toward making things better. You have more empathy, and more of an eye for injustice. Maybe you see a police interaction and you start recording.

And you correct people on their racist language.

Because we should know. We should know how we got here. We should know how it affects people. We should let go of those illusions.

If what you want is the right to keep on being ignorant and oppressive without having to think about it, that's a you problem, making it a very legitimate question whether struggles to define the word are actually about trying to not sound horrible.

I have no obligation to support someone's ego in ignorance. Wanting that could be something worthy of mocking, but the mocking doesn't really help. 

That's what I was going to write about today, but next week should work better, now that I have rambled enough about "woke".

Motown and Stax Records: Daily Songs

I had probably started thinking about focusing on Motown for the daily songs before I went to the Oregon Historical Society; that started after reading Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound by Andrea Davis Pinkney.

It was at the exhibit that I started thinking about including Stax Records.

https://sporktogo.blogspot.com/2023/01/pdx-motown-sound-of-young-america-at.html

As I started looking at their respective hits, it seemed like it would be possible to go year by year with a hit from each, at least through the 60s. Stax went bankrupt in 1974. Obviously Motown lasted longer.

Looking at their hits, there are some very iconic, important songs in music history coming from both companies. 

Reading a little bit more about the production of "Green Onions", there was some reference to that being more of a "Stax" sound. It might be fair to say that Stax was a bit funkier. Maybe Motown was more focused on gaining the crossover audience. (Is that why Petey Greene hated Berry Gordy so much?)

I still can't deny the positive impact. 

After a few years you start seeing hits that could have easily been produced by Motown coming from Atlantic and other labels; would they have signed those artists without the success of Motown and Stax?

It is fairly well known that MTV was not playing Black artists until they wanted Michael Jackson, and CBS made that access contingent upon giving access to other artists. Would CBS have been in that position without Motown?

If Motown stayed strong longer than Stax, you see a real slowing down in the 80s, with a bit of a resurgence in the 90s that owes a lot to Michael Bivins.

If Motown had given us nothing but Stevie Wonder, and Stax had given us nothing by "Green Onions", I would still call it good artistically. (Realistically, financially that would probably not have been enough.)

As it is, they gave us much more. A sampling of songs to back that up follows.

First, on a personal note, this was also an important list for me as I realized I had no way to post the daily songs while I was on vacation. I didn't want to give up any songs, and I couldn't let it go into February because I had big February plans.

So, there is a big gap, then the list resumed in March. I decided to add more songs, bringing the total to 40. Changes in the original sequence are noted, as are the year of the hit and the label.

Daily Songs

1/1 “Please Mr. Postman” by the Marvelettes (1961 Motown)
1/2“Last Night” by The Mar-Keys (1961 Stax)
1/3 “Do You Love Me” by The Contours (1962 Motown)
1/4 “Green Onions” by Booker T. & the M.G.'s (1962 Stax)
1/5 “Heat Wave” by Martha and the Vandellas (1963 Motown)
1/6 “Walking the Dog” by Rufus Thomas (1963 Stax)
1/7 “My Guy” by Mary Wells (1964 Motown)
1/8 “I've Got No Time To Lose” by Carla Thomas (1964 Stax)
1/9 “I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” by Four Tops (1965 Motown)
1/10 “In the Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett (1965 Stax)
1/11 “You Can't Hurry Love” by the Supremes (1966 Motown)
1/12 “Hold On! I'm Comin'” by Sam & Dave (1966 Stax)
1/13 “Knock On Wood” by Eddie Floyd (1966 Stax)
1/14 “I Was Made To Love Her” by Stevie Wonder (1967 Motown)
1/15 “Born Under A Bad Sign” by Albert King (1967 Stax)
1/16 “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye (1968 Motown)
1/17 “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding (1968 Stax)
1/18 “What a Man” by Linda Lyndell (1968 Stax)
1/19 “Private Number” by Judy Clay and William Bell (1968 Stax)
1/20 “I Can't Get Next To You” by The Temptations (1969 Motown)
~ vacation ~
1/28 “The Sweeter He Is” by The Soul Children (1969 Stax)
1/29 “War” by Edwin Starr (1970 Motown)
1/30 “I Just Want to Celebrate” by Rare Earth (1971 Motown)
1/31 “Mr. Big Stuff” by Jean Knight (1971 Stax)
~ February, Black History Month ~
3/6 “Theme from Shaft” by Isaac Hayes (1971 Stax)
3/7 “Papa Was a Rollin' Stone” by The Temptations (1972 Motown)
3/8 “I'll Take You There” by the Staple Singers (1972 Stax)
3/9 “Touch Me in the Morning” by Diana Ross (1973 Motown)
3/10 “Help Yourself” by The Undisputed Truth (1974 Motown)
3/11 “Old Fashioned Love” by The Commodores (1975 Motown)
3/12 “Don't Leave Me This Way” by Thelma Houston (1976 Motown)
~ added ~
3/13 “Down To Love Town” by The Originals (1977 Motown)
3/14 “It's My Turn” by Diana Ross (1980 Motown)
3/15 “Let It Whip” by Dazz Band (1982 Motown)
3/16 “You Are” by Lionel Richie (1983 Motown)
3/17 “Go Home” by Stevie Wonder (1985 Motown)
3/18 “Rub You the Right Way” by Johnny Gill (1990 Motown)
3/19 “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men (1991 Motown)
3/20 “Iesha” by Another Bad Creation (1991 Motown)
3/21 “Back At One” by Brian McKnight (1999 Motown)

Two stories

I may have told one of these stories before, but I know I haven't told the other one.

Here is the good story. A few years ago I was talking to a woman whose daughter had gone through a period of being shut out by her friends in high school. It came up when I was working on the Long Reading list. We were talking about books and what I had been reading recently; she was very interested because it sounded familiar.

One thing I will always remember is that by then the friends were all reconciled, but you could tell the mother was not quite thrilled with that or trusting of them. I have seen this with other mothers, and it makes a lot of sense. You can hope everyone grows into a kinder adult, but we know that is not guaranteed.

The other thing I remember is being very impressed with how the adults handled it. The mother found out her teen was being bulled by former friends and spoke to the school. I don't remember if it was the principal or guidance counselor, but they asked the daughter what she wanted. She wanted to change her lunch period, because that is where the bullying was happening. She needed some space, and they gave it to her.

It sounds so simple and logical, but this is where we fail a lot. 

Maybe we are afraid they will ask for something we can't give. They might, but then we could always offer a counterproposal. If we want to help someone, at least hearing what they think they need seems like a good start.

Unless we don't want to help too much.

I worry that sometimes we don't. Maybe it feels like the appropriate thing to let those who can wield physical or social power use it and abuse it, because that's the way it's always been.

The most common response to bullying is to tell the bullied person to ignore it and they will get tired of it. That is a lie. We all know it's a lie.

Here is the bad story.

Way back in my early days of Twitter use, in addition to following a lot of musicians I liked, I also followed their family members and girlfriends. A lot of other fans followed them too, and it kind of seemed rude not to.

With one of my favorite bands, I actually interacted with two of the girlfriends a bit. 

One of my good qualities is a good memory, and thoughtfulness. If I see that you are interested in a certain topic or learn your favorite animal or something like that, I will let you know about pertinent things: I think you would like this book or this tour or this recipe. Stuff like that. Nothing big.

One day, one of the girlfriends sent me a private message thanking me for how sweet I had always been. I was so touched.

I didn't know it was goodbye.

Not all of the fans were nice. That was something I did kind of know, but it wasn't something I generally saw a lot, or even thought to check.

She deleted her profile, and eventually he did too. 

Going off of Twitter isn't exactly a tragedy, but why should you be harassed off of it because of whom you date? It's not like that leaves an opening that any of the bullies are going to get to fill.

Except that there are people who like it.

Internet trolls get increased self-esteem from their trolling. I would say that's a personality flaw, and that there are lots of ways to feel good about yourself that are better for you and everyone else, but there are those who would disagree.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/09/new-research-shows-trolls-dont-just-enjoy-hurting-others-they-also-feel-good-about-themselves/

(That is not a particularly new article, but it came up again recently, I believe due to discussion on Twitter moderation changes.)

A big limitation on how much good we can do may be a lack of interest.

There is reasonable disagreement on whether the best thing to do with trolls is block or mute or report or ignore or engage. 

If they are being a troll and loving it, there is probably not much you can do to improve them, but I do remember long ago someone that was trolling, along with others, and reaching out. While that was initially not appreciated, a point was made that I believe helped.

Perhaps there are times when it can feel good to be a jerk, or at least okay, but we aren't irredeemable yet. Certainly, it makes sense to think about what we do and what we enjoy and what the consequences might be for ourselves and others.

I will get back to that.

 

Related posts (two posts about that last incident, if you want it):

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/04/harassing-your-idols.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/04/teachable-moments.html