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hellomynameisbisexual · 2 years

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Research notes that more than half of the LGBTQ+ population identifies as bisexual. But given the alienation bi+ people—an umbrella term for those who are bisexual, polysexual, pansexual, and omnisexual—face within the community, you wouldn’t necessarily know it.

According to LGBTQ+ activist Robyn Ochs, editor of the anthology Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World and Recognize, the "B" for "bisexual" that got added to the acronym in the late '80s thanks to the hard work of bisexual activists was mostly performative. “The “B” got added, but that didn’t mean that 'LGBTQ+' suddenly became welcoming of bi+ individuals,” she says.

It's still too often the case that bi+ folks face both overt and covert biphobia within the LGBTQ+ community, which contributes to compromised mental health for bi+ people. And, as a bisexual writer and activist myself, I can personally attest that biphobia is even more devastating and isolating when it comes from within the LGBTQ+ community—my own community. “For the health of the LGBTQ+ community, we need to banish the biphobia within it,” says Ochs. Below, bi+ activists share ideas for how to eliminate biphobia in the LGBTQ+ community, which should be more inclusive of bi+ people.

5 ways to end a history of biphobia in the LGBTQ+ community

1. Quit saying that the “bi” in bisexuality reinforces the binary

One of the most damaging and widespread myths around bisexuality is that it reinforces the gender binary, or the idea that there are just two genders: men and women. That's not true, as evidenced by the 1990 Bisexuality Manifesto which reads, “Bisexuality is a whole, fluid identity. Do not assume that bisexuality is binary or duogamous in nature: that we have "two" sides or that we must be involved simultaneously with both genders to be fulfilled human beings. In fact, don't assume that there are only two genders.”

Unfortunately, this myth is one that holds steady and contributes to biphobia in the LGBTQ+ community. In my DMs just last week, someone said, “It’s messed up that you identify as bi when you’ve literally dated someone non-binary.” And another person said, “I don’t know why you would identify as bisexual when you could identify as pansexual and nod to the fact that you date non-binary people.”

What's key to remember is that bisexuality may have a slightly different definition depending on who is defining it, says Ochs. For example, many define bisexuality either as attraction to two or more genders, or as the attraction to those whose genders are similar and also dissimilar to their own. My personal favorite definition of bisexuality is one put forth by Ochs: “I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted—romantically and/or sexually—to people of more than one gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree.”

The bottom line? “Listen to the bi+ people who say that their identity includes nonbinary people,” says Ochs.

2. Learn the real LGBTQ+ history of bisexuality

Despite what popular movies like Stonewall, How To Survive a Plague, Milk, and The Normal Heart might have you believe, it wasn’t just white gay men who have been on the frontlines of change. Bisexual, trans, and Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) are often left out of the narrative. Did you know, for instance, that self-identified drag queen, trans woman, and activist Marsha P. Johnson played a key role in the 1969 Stonewall Uprisings, which are now known as the first-ever Pride as well as a pivotal point in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality?

Ignoring the hand that bisexual people—and more specifically, transgender and Black bisexual people—have played in the LGBTQ+ movement from the start is not just biphobic, racist, and transphobic—it’s also ahistoric. Educate yourself by engaging with the content on Bi History’s Instagram, read this article about bisexuality, put out by GLAAD, and buy We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown

3. Banish commentary that perpetuates biphobia in the LGBTQ+ community

The first step for ending biphobia in the LGBTQ+ community is acknowledging that it already exists. “Whenever I post about biphobia on my Instagram, there’s a weird skepticism from people who aren’t bi+ who follow me about whether or not it's real,” says Gabrielle Alexa Noel, bisexual advocate, founder of Bi Girls Club, and author of the forthcoming book, How To Live With the Internet and Not Let It Ruin Your Life. To be clear, it’s sadly very very real.

Next, become aware of when you’re experiencing biases against bi+ people based on myth and misconception. Don’t want to date someone bi+ because you think they’ll cheat on you? That’s biphobic. Don’t want to date someone bi+ because you think they’re more likely to give you an STI than your monosexual partners? Biphobia again. Nervous you won’t be enough for someone bi+? More biphobia.

Once you recognize when biases come up, as psychologist David Amodio, PhD, previously told Well+Good, “You [can] make sure these biases don’t influence your behavior.”

4. Stand up against biphobia

Once you’ve recognized and begun to address your own biphobia, you can begin recognizing when other people—regardless of their gender or sexual orientation—are being biphobic as well. And then, call them in. “It can’t be just out bi+ people who respond to instances of biphobia,” says Ochs.

Bisexual writer and activist Olivia Zayas Ryan agrees adding, “just as bisexual folks would go to bat for lesbian and gay people if someone said something blatantly homophobic or lesbophobic, gay and lesbian folks should be standing up against biphobia.”

In any group of people, it just takes one biphobic comment to make bi+ people feel unsafe and unwelcome—and just one person speaking out against it can make a big difference. “Publicly responding to biphobic comments tells bi+ that you're an ally, while also educating everyone about what behavior is and is not allowed in your space,” says Ochs.

5. Trust that bisexual folks are invested in the queer community

“There’s this weird, widespread assumption that if bi+ women are embraced by the LGBTQ+ community, we’re going to sully the space by bringing our cis-het male partners,” says Ryan. This is false.

For starters, not all bi+ women date men. Furthermore, it’s important to understand that bi+ people are LGBTQ+ and are equally invested in maintaining the safety and queerness of LGBTQ+ spaces. “I just wish people would trust that bi+ people don’t have any interest in ruining the vibe of LGBTQ+ spaces,” says Noel.

It sounds obvious, but “we, bi+ people, benefit from being in LGBTQ+ spaces, too,” she adds.

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mintblooded · 6 months

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If true, then why? Why would she do it? Was it because there was a vacuum of Native celebrity at the time, and out of goodness she wanted to fill the void in service of Native people? Or was she satisfying an inner calling that an assumed Native persona sat better with? Or was it merely a showbiz gimmick at first but naturally had to become a lifelong lie that needed to be both promoted and protected at all costs?

[…]

At this point, as I read and listen to diehard fans reacting to the news, especially Indigenous admirers, I am not at all surprised by how firmly they stand in her corner, regardless of the evidence. Nor am I surprised by their targeting of the messenger. More than anything, their reaction reflects just how entrenched her unadulterated cultural status has become in their hearts and minds — and eyes, too, if you consider those who say, “Just look at her! How could she not be Native?” Thus, the prospect of her status being easily dislodged isn’t likely.

But if it is, or as part of the process of doing so, other questions need to be asked, and not just of Sainte-Marie.

The first one that comes to mind is learning the identity of the PBS executive who ignored Sainte-Marie’s brother, Alan, who had warned she was not who she claimed to be. What does this person have to say? And for that matter, both PBS and Sesame Street should be questioned, given each played a significant role in establishing her claim to being an “Indian.”

Relatedly, honouring programs such as the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, the Juno Awards and others played a role in furthering Sainte-Marie’s claims, not to mention bestowing an American citizen with Canadian accolades, and so each should be questioned as well. At this point, given the far too many examples out there, the broader question of media culpability when it comes to perpetuating “pretendians” should be vigorously examined.

#buffy sainte Marie

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cafffine · 3 years

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Hey guys, I’ve decided to stop publishing Saltcoats for a number of reasons. I'm aware that many of you are going to initially be let down or confused, but hopefully once you’ve read through this post you’ll understand why this had to stop. I’ll try to hit all my points, but of course if you have any questions pls feel free to dm me or reply to this post.

DISCLAIMER: Ending this fic was a decision I came to by myself! No one asked me to do this, though many did help, and if you have something to add please do not bring other tumblr or ao3 users into the conversation unless they’ve explicitly said they’re ok with that. It’s a draining and heavy topic (not to me, but for those affected) and I don’t want to cause anymore unneeded distress.

Also, I’m the only author, all the problems with this story were created by me, and were biases I should have recognized and acted on much sooner. I’m very thankful to all the people that have reached out to me about the negative impacts on this fic, but it really does come down to: I wrote and published a story that was fundamentally ignorant of its setting and racist. So now I have to do my part to apologize and educate myself/take accountability.

First off, this was a flawed concept to begin with because I was trying to do a low fantasy setting with aliens in period clothes and a work of historical fiction at the same time, and those are not things you can go halfway on.

Historical fiction that centers around people of color has a long history of simply going race-blind and faking diversity by giving poc the roles of white people in Eurocentric stories and erasing their identities. (This article about Bridgerton explains the problem better than I could.) And it was something I tried to avoid by still having the Fetts written as immigrants from Aotearoa (NZ), but completely missed the execution on because I didn’t commit to full historical accuracy in all characters and aspects of the story. Meaning, I might as well have gone race-blind because you can’t pick and choose what to include, it’s just as racist.

This creates situations like the Fetts being immigrants facing real life oppression while the Organas, also people of color, are unaffected by the social climate and living as members of the British upper class. That’s not accurate to any version of history and ends up wiping clean any point I was trying to make about race and oppression. That also extends beyond the Fetts, I was not addressing how the american characters come from a country that still allows for the ownership of slaves, the British oppression of Scottish people and their culture, or even an in-depth look at real Queer communities of that era. (and more)

Given the real life historical climate in the 1850s, a multi-racial story like this one is not successful, and is racist in its ignorance of the struggles of poc, immigrants, and the intersectionality that had with class and crime.

In addition, the Fetts being written as criminals, even if it is framed as a morally correct choice*, is still playing into negative racial stereotypes that shouldn’t have been ignored.

* I should add, I don’t mean to make it sound like i’m creating excuses for myself when I give explanations for some of these choices such as “but it was framed as morally correct”, that doesn’t lessen the damage being done, it’s still racist, I guess I'm just trying to show why so many of these things went overlooked for as long as they did, and how easy it is for white/privileged people to find mental loopholes around racism when you’re not being sufficiently critical of yourself.

On another note, the Fetts being indigenous immigrants to Britain in the 1800s is not something I should have tried to tackle in fanfiction - a medium that often lacks nuance and can easily end up romanticizing or glossing over most heavy topics. This goes for period typical homophobia, addiction, and class struggles as well.

That being said! I’m not implying that any of those things should be completely ignored in fanfiction. Addiction, for example, is something very close to me that I do still want to explore in fanfic for the purposes of education and normalization, I’m not telling anyone what not to write, just checking myself. Because in a story like this where literally everything is so heavily dramatized and also applied to characters of color by me, a white person? It’s only going to end up being out of place, lacking in historical accuracy, and wholly disrespectful.

Another major problem I wanted to address is the relationship between a rich white person and a poverty stricken poc. That's a bad stereotype to begin with, but then I tried and failed to frame Obi-Wan as ignorant and biased to a point where his social status plays into the theme of class critique. But, if he’s still being written as Cody’s love interest, all his negative characteristics are ultimately going to be ignored and excused by the narrative (by me).

I’m not trying to end this conversation, I’ll always be willing to talk about this to anyone who’d want to say/hear more, but I don’t want run the point into the ground with over-explanation.

So, in conclusion, this fic had to stop and be broken down into the problem that it was. All white authors who write for the clones need to be hyper-vigilant about the fact that we are creating narratives for poc, and that our inherent racism is always in threat of being baked into in the stories we publish and spread to an audience. I was in the wrong when I wrote this story, and it should never have gone on for this long. I apologize for both my actions, and to anyone I may have hurt along the way.

This is getting posted on ao3 in the fic, and then, for now anyway, the fic is going to be deleted after a week. I’ll leave this post up and answer everyone unless it's someone trying to change my mind. Also, if I ignore an ask please send it again, tumblr might just have deleted it. I don’t want to try and bury this or run from my mistakes, I just don’t think that leaving the fic up where it can still find an audience will do anyone any good. Thank you for reading

If you're interested here's some resources I've been using to educate myself further:

What caused the New Zealand Wars? - An excerpt of the book by Vincent O'Malley of the same title. It gives a good summary of the violent colonization and oppression of Māori people and their culture by the British empire.

NZ Wars: Stories of Waitara (video) - Very educational documentary about the NZ wars and British colonialism. There are some historical recreations that get violent so pls watch with caution.

Historical American Fiction without the Racism - Tumblr post by @/writingwithcolor that talks specifically about Black people in the 1920's, but makes a good point about race and historical fiction in general. I'd recommend any post from this blog, especially their navigation page just a lot of great resources

Who Gave You the Right to Tell That Story? - An article about writing outside of your race that includes a diverse series of testimonials

History of Scottish Independence - Details the colonization of Scotland by the British empire, sort of long, can cntrl + f to "The Acts of Union" for a more direct explanation.

The best books on Racism and How to Write History - A list of well written and diverse works of historical fiction and why they are good examples of representation

I have a lot more that I can share if you're interested (x x x x) but this post is getting a bit too long.

#I proofread this a lot but I'm sure there's problems with this post too #If anyone has something they want me to change or of theres anything I said that was offensive I'd appreciaite any help fixing it #but also I'll be rereading this all night and it will likely change before I put it on ao3 #saltcoats #racism

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allthefilmsiveseenforfree · 3 years

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Arsenic and Old Lace

You know what genre I would absolutely love to see make a comeback? The good old-fashioned farce. One main location, lots of characters in and out, misunderstandings, shouting, classic physical comedy, mistaken identities, larger-than-life ridiculous characters. When’s the last time we had an honest-to-god mainstream farce released at the box office? The closest I can really think of is Weekend at Bernie’s - that’s the level of greatness we’re dealing with here. Mom requested that I review one of the greats, Arsenic and Old Lace, which I had seen before but long, long ago. What makes this one of the greats? Well...

The play this 1944 film is based on is from 1941 and its been in continuous production ever since, so that’s a pretty good first line to the resume. The story concerns a notoriously anti-marriage theater critic named Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) who falls madly in love and gets married to Elaine (Priscilla Lane). Before they can go on their whirlwind honeymoon, they stop by the home of Mortimer’s aunts (Jean Adaire and Josephine Hull) and that’s when things really go off the rails. See, the aunts have rooms in their house for rent, and they have this habit of poisoning the old, single men who come through looking for a room to rent and Mortimer’s cousin (John Alexander), who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, buries the bodies in the basement. Which would be problem enough on its own but then Mortimer’s psychotic brother Johnathan (Raymond Massey) comes to town and things REALLY go awry.

Some thoughts:

Cary Grant donated most of his salary to charity for this film, a lot of it to the war effort in England. It’s like, you think he’s dreamy and then he just gets dreamier. What a stand-up guy.

Jean Adaire and Josephine Hull reprised their roles from the Broadway play, and you can really tell how comfortable and lived-in these roles are for them.

Imagine a world in which a drama critic is so well known that random beat reporters would know him by sight. Man, the 40s were a trip.

The Midatlantic accent is strong with Cary Grant in this one - I had to turn on subtitles after the first scene.

I love Abby’s little bouncy run.

Cary Grant is writing a textbook on facial expressions with this role. I had no idea he was such a gifted physical comedian, and this is an absolute tour de force for him.

How odd, on Halloween apparently in the 40s, children didn’t get candy, they got whole jack-o-lanterns and whole pies. Man, kids today are getting robbed!

I love that the main problem with sending Teddy to the sanitarium is that they already have too many Teddy Roosevelts and could use some Napoleon Bonapartes instead.

I completely forgot this entire Jonathan subplot from the first time I watched the movie, and I kind of hate it. I think the whole murder aunts thing gives the film enough comedic mileage, but I guess there does have to be some kind of other plot device that would lead to multiple bodies and multiple murders and the ol’ switcheroo. For me, everything concerning Jonathan kinda drags, though.

It’s hilarious to me that in old movies, romantic couples didn’t need to have any kind of chemistry or mutual interest or any connection at all other than being a handsome man and a beautiful woman. I like Mortimer and I like Elaine, but I have no idea why on earth I’m supposed to buy that they’re in love. They’re hardly on screen together!

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but there sure is a lot of casual racism being flung about. The aunts being so affronted that a “perfectly good Methodist is going to be buried with a foreigner” and Mortimer telling the story of his ancestor being crazy because “when the Indians were scalping the settlers, he was scalping the Indians.” It’s not a great look, but like - this is America, we have built our houses on the bones of indigenous people and watered our fields with the blood of slaves.

The meta commentary with Cary Grant’s long monologue about how people in plays and movies never hear anything, they’re all so stupid because they’re hanging out in a house with murderers and not even being scared or worried is so good. You can see how the humor and craftsmanship of this writing would inspire someone like Wes Craven writing Scream or Phoebe Waller-Bridge writing Fleabag or any other self-aware smirking postmodernist gem.

What I’m trying to say is that this movie is still genuinely FUNNY, and the pace feels quick and steady enough to keep you engaged and wanting to know how on earth Mortimer is going to escape this night alive.

What’s interesting is that even in 1944, the plot of this play/film is that cops are absolutely useless at their jobs, protect their own at all costs, and ignore evidence in favor of protecting their friends. The more things change, the more they stay the same y’all.

Do yourself a favor and seek this one out immediately. It holds up so well (in spite of a few problematic attitudes), the physical comedy is superb, and the madcap energy of the whole thing makes it feel incredibly modern and fresh even after 80 years.

#1209n2020 #arsenic and old lace #arsenic and old lace review #cary grant #raymond massey #priscilla lane #jean adaire #josephine hull #john alexander #movie reviews #film reviews

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genius-with-a-j · 4 years

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I have had a Sanders Sides college AU bouncing around in my head for a few weeks and the gremlins have been begging for me to let it out so here is some of it:

Virgil:

Sophomore

Undecided major (will eventually go with psychology major and creative writing minor)

Purple hair, very pale (actually has celiac and diabetes and struggles with eating enough)

Actually has a lot of health issues but was still determined to go to college

Skinny boi, into the emo scene still, has purple hair

Has severe anxiety (social and otherwise) and mild to moderate depression

Goes to on-campus counseling

Has an emotional support black cat named Gerard (yes after Gerard Way)

Has okay grades, like a B-/C+ student

Lives in a dorm that’s basically apartments, everything is very separate and it’s mostly grad students there

Not super into extracurriculars because anxiety but does volunteer at an animal shelter

Is reluctantly a barista in like a very indie coffee shop off-campus

Went to a really big high school where he felt very ignored and lost in the crowd

Logan:

Senior

Mechanical and electrical engineering double major with an artificial intelligence emphasis and a computer science minor

Has also considered picking up a math minor or expanding to a double degree

Dark brown hair that’s always just a little messy, tan skin

Angular features, half-Korean and half-Hispanic

Speaks several languages, all weirdly perfectly

Korean, Spanish, English, some Mandarin and some Japanese

Has major depressive disorder and autism

4.0 with ease

Apartment coordinator who was an RA for two years and hall gov president before that

Involved in the robotics club, chess club, head of the engineering society

Went to a large high school, was a standout, won many awards and was valedictorian with like a 4.3 GPA

Patton’s boyfriend, they’ve been together for like 3 years at this point

Patton:

Super senior, this is his 5th year

Changed major a lot, has finally decided on animal science, wants to be a vet tech

Curly, blonde hair and lots of freckles

Chubby, very soft and huggable

Jewish

Genderfluid! Is fine with any pronouns and wears whatever he wants (normally big sweaters and ugg-style slippers)

Struggles with depression and a touch of OCD

Dyslexic

Super empathetic and frequently gets compassion fatigue

Solid C student in most things, but is SUPER good at animal-related classes and pretty bad at math (so Logan helps him)

Lives with Logan even though technically they don’t want apartment coordinators to have roommates but Logan is really good at his job and was basically like “if he goes, I go” so they allowed him to live there for free too

A very good baker and involved with a baking club on campus

Works at an animal shelter (yes that’s how he met Virgil)

Went to a small high school (20 graduating class) really struggled with being bullied, is glad to be away from his small, oppressive hometown

Logan’s boyfriend

Roman:

Junior

Theater and vocal double major with a creative writing minor

Obsessed with love stories, writes love-based plays and love songs, etc.

Plays piano, guitar, and trumpet because he was forced to learn a wind instrument

Black hair basically styled like a Disney prince

Mexican (is actually a DACA student)

Speaks fluent Spanish and English

Has complex PTSD from years of emotional abuse before ending up housed with Abuela

Depressed but going constantly, can’t stop because that’s how the feelings catch you

ADHD but doesn’t know it because he hasn’t been tested, his parents didn’t believe in it

Straight-A student in subjects he cares about but barely scrapes by in the required common core type classes because he doesn’t care and therefore is Unable To Learn

Lives with his brother in an off-campus apartment because Abuela asked that they live together so when she helps pay it’s just one rent payment for the two of them

It’s a bad apartment, it’s basically falling apart but it’s what they can afford

Delivers pizza so he can afford to live

Involved in the choir, jazz band, super active in the drama program, and has starred in multiple roles on the student-run TV network

Went to a small-ish high school (80 graduating class) and was a big fish in a small pond; he and his brother were very well-known

Remus’s identical twin

Remus:

Junior

Creative writing and theater double major with a criminal justice minor

Writes horror, also likes to write poems that seem sweet but are very dark

Majors in theater for the writing aspect more than the acting aspect

Criminal justice minor is because he loves true crime and wants to write accurate criminals in some of his horror stories

Black hair is normally spiked, has a white streak in front

Has that gross rat stache most of the time but will shave it off for a play or the like

Mexican (is actually a DACA student)

Speaks fluent Spanish and English

Has complex PTSD from years of emotional abuse before ending up housed with Abuela

Also depressed, but instead of avoiding his problems embraces them in a way that’s pretty uncomfortable, can be a little too open sometimes

Has OCD that really messes with his head but tries to embrace the intrusive thoughts and blurt them out because he thinks that’s how he wins even though it doesn’t quite work that way

People thought he had Tourettes because of it, but he doesn’t, he has control over what he does (besides the OCD compulsion part of it but that’s different than a tic)

ADHD but doesn’t know it

An impressive writer and excels in his creative writing and theater-based classes but is just awful at other classes because he gets bored and ends up making games out of assignments like trying to freak out his professors or spelling out messages down the side of the page with the first letter of every line

Lives with his brother in an off-campus apartment because Abuela asked that they live together so when she helps pay it’s just one rent payment for the two of them

It’s a bad apartment, it’s basically falling apart but it’s what they can afford

Writes smut for money online

Super active in the drama program, often directs or writes the screenplays, has also written for the student-ran TV network, wrote a whole Twilight-zone-ish show that was pretty popular, enjoys poetry slams

Went to a small-ish high school (80 graduating class) and was a big fish in a small pond; he and his brother were very well-known

Is kind of dating Dee, they’ll both tell you it’s complicated and they like it that way

Roman’s identical twin

Dee:

Freshman

Political science major with a criminal justice minor

Wants to be a lawyer or politician to make changes for marginalized groups

Indigenous

Has vitiligo, it primarily affects the left side of his face (even his left eye is almost hazel instead of dark like his other eye) and also his limbs and his stomach

It started in high school and he was teased pretty bad for it, was afraid college would be the same way

He wears gloves to hide it because he’s kind of ashamed of it, he feels like people think he’s gross-looking

Has very thick, dark hair that’s always a little shaggy, wears a lot of hats

Depressed

Very defensive and guarded, doesn’t want people to know who he truly is

Not a pathological liar, but he does lie to protect himself

Was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder because of his fear of losing people and his lack of emotional regulation

Was raised in a really turbulent household and has trust issues because of it

An honors kid

Nearly has a 4.0, is really good at writing and arguing and history, only struggles with science

Lives in the honors kid dorm, is involved in hall government

Works as an intern (paid) with a local firm

Involved with Model UN and debate team

Went to a medium-sized high school and was very good at blending in

Is involved with Remus

So yeah!!! That’s most of it, I plan on writing stuff about it, feel free to ask questions if you have any, I’d love to answer

#sanders sides #remus sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #deceit sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #college au #my aus #when the gremlin demands i write i have no choice

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richincolor · 5 years

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Book Review

Title: An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People Author: Roxanne Dunbar adapted by Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza Publisher: Beacon Press Pages: 270 Availability: On shelves now Review copy: Purchased

*Full lDisclosure – I (Crystal) know Debbie Reese.

Summary: Spanning more than 400 years, this classic bottom-up history examines the legacy of Indigenous peoples’ resistance, resilience, and steadfast fight against imperialism.

Going beyond the story of America as a country “discovered” by a few brave men in the “New World,” Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity.

The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history.

Review: United States history has been taught and told from the dominant cultural perspective since its founding. In this book readers are given the opportunity to see this history from an Indigenous view. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz shared this history in the original book several years ago and now Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza have created a version for young people and educators. These are many facts and stories that have been left out or glossed over in typical history books and media. For many, the facts contained in this book will be completely new and perhaps even shocking. Many times, history texts aim to show U.S. in a positive light and don’t point out some of the evils the government and others have perpetrated in the name of such things as progress or safety. There are also key concepts like sovereignty that have been omitted by design or out of ignorance. Many people in our country do not understand what the word sovereignty means in regards to Indigenous nations. This book and the original work share the history that people need to know in order to understand how our country arrived at present day with situations like the Standing Rock protests. Readers of this book will see that so many things make sense once the blanks have been filled in and the missing puzzle pieces are out on the table.

Even the names of things, which may seem like a small thing to some, tell a different story than the one many have heard before. The Massacre at Little Big Horn rather than the “battle” is not what most non-Native people have been taught. This is one example of how the framing of events have been shaping how we understand the past. Another example is when it is revealed that White people were getting paid for Native scalps. Texts written by White authors have been omitting important details like this for far too long. There are far too many instances of issues like this to note them all.

Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza have not simply adapted the words and provided facts from the original book, but they have included additional visuals and even more importantly, activities and prompts. These activities and prompts will help make the information more understandable. They will also help readers to become more critical consumers of information and resources of all kinds. Mendoza and Reese provide facts and then encourage the reader to question what we read and consider how the words we read shapes our thinking and how we perceive the world.

Recommendation: Get it now. This is a look into the history of this country that all people should experience. Teachers of all levels should be aware of this history along with young people.

#Debbie Reese #Jean Mendoza #An Indigenous Peoples' History of the U.S. for Young People

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hazienda-de-novales · 5 years

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NUEVA ESPAÑA: 🇲🇽🇵🇭 Filipinas de Hispana Mexico! Viva! Mabuhay!

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PRESENT day Mexico & The Philippines are basically similar countries separated by a vast ocean. Both spent 400 years together as sister nations in a shared colonial legacy. Almost over a combined total of 850 years these nations became forcibly invaded and under Spanish colonial rule. You think similar last names and world class champion boxers is all Filipinos and Mexicans share in common?

Filipinos have forgotten that they were administered by the Vice-Royalty of New Spain, present-day Mexico. In Mexico’s view, the Captain General in Manila actually reported to the Viceroy in Mexico City, not to Spain. Hence, the Manila colony was a dependency of the Vice-Royalty of New Spain. This arrangement was to stand until Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1815.

Filipino influence on Mexican culture and vice versa is very apparent. Especially, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, where people today continue to imbibe tuba, a drink derived from the coconut tree. Filipinos revolutionary contribution to the Mexican Revolution, Independence and Mexican traditions is highly ignored by most historians but like this video says you can’t deny history. As our contributions is invaluable.

How did Mexico & the Philippines romantic international relationship begin?

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DE MANILA-ACAPULCO GALLEON TRADE (1565-1815)

In the late 17th century to the 18th century, the Manila-Acapulco was a galleon trade that extensively began as Europe’s largest important and historical cash crop investment deal and the very first stage of modern Globalisation. Every year the galleon connected the Mollucas (Malaysia, India, Burma, Philippines, Siam, Indonesia etc) to Europe and the New World (Hispaniola & The America’s) via her connection with the Spice Route that continued to supply riches, spices and prized luxury items that gave immense untold fortune and wealth to fuedal Europe and the greater West for over 250 years.

Over two hundred centuries, about a hundred galleons were built in the Philippines. Most of them built by expert craftsmen the Spanish knew as Cagayans in the provinces of Pangasinan, Albay, Mindoro, Marinduque and Iloilo. Actually, due to our strong maritime culture. The Spanish galleon ships were influenced by the sleek and swift design of the Visayan Karakoa, (the archetype modeled boats our Polynesian cousins voyaged on - and a identical upsized version of the outriggers in Disney’s “Moana”.) These karakoa, or proa or “balangai” ships could travel 5 x’s faster than anything European at the time. Intimidating and more durable too.

FACT: One of every five members of these galleons fleet were Filipino natives…it went as high as 50 to 80 percent Filipinos annually. The other crew members were Spanish insulates, Mexican mestizos/creoles like the Salcedos and Aztec Indios and Portuguese.

With so many Mexicans sent to the Philippines within a period of 250 years, it is not surprising then that Mexican language, culture and norms have become integral part of the Philippine consciousness, and this dispersal of mixed native interbreeding explains why some Mexicans and Filipinos look-alike.

LAS PIÑAS & MĒXIHCO

Mexico, for their part, with the Manila-Acapulco Galleons believed that they were directly trading with China. Many Mexicans today think that the galleons sailed directly to Chinese ports. This wrong perception is even reflected in the official marker in Fort San Diego in Acapulco commemorating the La Nao de China. The marker wrongly depicts the galleons as directly sailing to China, not to the Philippines.

What is clear is that the Philippine Colony would not have survived through the centuries without the assistance of Mexico. When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi sailed from Mexico in 1564 to settle the Philippines, he found the living conditions there very difficult.

The farm animals and horses brought from Mexico did not acclimate well with the tropical heat. Legazpi’s soldiers and sailors had to scrounge food from one island to survive. Chroniclers described living in the Philippines as “cuatro meses de polvo, cuatro meses de lodo, y cuatro meses de todo.” (Translation: Four months of dust, four months of mud, and four months of everything). Todo, in this instance, refers to anything that killed the White Man, including tropical diseases, typhoons, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

Legazpi’s luck turned when he stumbled upon Cebu. This is the same island where Ferdinand Magellan met his fate in 1521. There he learned of the existence of a large Muslim settlement in nearby Luzon called Amanillah. (Or Maynilad, depending on which book one choses to believe). He sent Juan de Salcedo and Martin de Goiti to reconnoiter the Malay community for interpreters and translators. See: ( “Enrique de Mallacca” ).

FACT: Despite, Western-Eurocentric histories inaccurate account of truths proclaiming Europeans as the first to circumnavigate the globe. Enrique de Malacca or Henry The Black, was a dark-skinned ‘Malayan’ (rumoured to be a Cebuano) who in fact, contrary to belief had become the worlds very first circumnavigator of the globe.

Salcedo and de Goiti found Chinese traders (and sea pirates) in Amanillah (or Maynilad). This discovery became the key for the survival of the nascent Spanish colony. The discovery of the Chinese traders, the subsequent discovery of the tornavuelta or the return route to Mexico by Fray Andres de Urdaneta, and the establishment of the Spanish settlement in Manila became the foundation of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade that was to last for 250 years.

More on the Galleon trade...

The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade made Manila an entrepôt of commerce between the Far East and the New World. The galleons embarked from ‘Manila’ which had been a trade hub capital for ancient Chinese, Japanese, Persians, Arabs, Indians etc for nearly 900 years. Ships were loaded with spices, silk, gold, damask, Chinese porcelains, pearls, plants, cotton, indigo, jade, ivory, incense and lacquer ware. These were paid for in Mexican silver coins which became the dominant currency in the Far East. In return, the galleons brought from Mexico the “real situado” (royal subsidy). These were minted silver coins from the mines of Zacatecas in Mexico and Potosi (present-day Bolivia).

It is important to note that without the real situado, the Spanish colony in Manila would not have survived. The Spaniards did not make the new colony self-sustainable. There was never enough Spaniards in Manila to enable a total conquest of the rest of the archipelago. The Spaniards in Manila were more of adventurers, rather than able settlers. They set off to other parts of Asia to look for treasures and adventures. The demand of labor in Manila was so acute that Spanish authorities even had to import black slaves.

The ingenious solution to the manpower shortage problem was, of course, to source them from the New World. Mexico is merely a four or five month-sail by ship. In comparison, sailing to Spain via the Cape of Good Hope took one year. Hence, the vast majority of colonial administrators, missionaries, and soldiers deployed to the Philippines were Mexico-born Spanish, Mexican creoles and indigenous Mexican Indians.

FILIPINOS FOUGHT IN MEXICOS REVOLUTION FOR INDEPENDENCE AGAINST SPAIN

The role played by Filipinos or strictly speaking, Filipino-Mexicans in Mexico’s struggle for independence were very visible.

Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain was started by a priest, Fr. Miguel Hidalgo In Dolores in 1810. Morelos picked up the fight in Western Mexico and personally recruited about 200 native Filipino-Mexicans to join his army. The Filipinos were under the command of legendary general Vincente Guerrero, who later became the first black president of Mexico.

(Above) Vincente Guerrero a Afro-Amerindian mestizo (with possible Filipino ancestry).

Viva La Independencia!

Two Filipinos who fought loyal by his side we’re indentified by historian Ric Pinzon as Francisco Mongoy and Isidoro de Oca. In Mexico they distinguished themselves in battle against Castile-Iberian (Spanish-Portuguese) government troops and are celebrated in the state of Guerrero, Mexico and regarded as legendary folk heroes.

De Oca and Mongoy became brigade commanders in the army of General Jose Maria Morelos in today’s state of Guerrero in the Pacific coast of Mexico from 1810 to 1821. In fact, when Guerrero finally surrendered in 1829, he was accompanied by two Filipino soldiers acting as his right hand compadres. It was Filipino revolutionary; Miguel de la Cruz and a certain black Filipino Aeta indigenous-native (who had no name) but Guerrero had freed from the compulsory system of indentured slavery called “Polo y servicio ” that saw “Filipinos” burdened under a form of enslavement. “Filipino” males aged 16-60 were required to work 40 days a year for the government.

Pinzon also says three former Mexican governors of Guerrero, where present day, Alcapulco is located, had Filipino ancestry. Juan Alvarez, born in Espinalillo, a former Filipino colony in Mexico, actually had Filipino native ancestry and went to become president of Mexico in the late 1800s. A Filipino revolutionary ‘Alejandro Gomez Manganda” whom been heavily involved in the 1910 Revolution became governor of Guerrero, Mexico in the 1940s.

Colonial Caste System

Reminding the reader the term “Filipinos” at the point of reference highlights the cultural hegemony taken place after the Spanish colonial days of ‘Nueva Espana’ (Mexico-Philippines). Saying “Filipinos” in this context reduces the history and people of the 7,108 Islands former pre-colonial kingdom civilisation since its adjectivley improper due to the fact there were NO ‘Filipinos’ recorded at the time. The term ‘Filipinos’ just got used in speaking lexicon to describe the inhabitants of the archipelago in the late 19th century.

At first it was used by themselves.

“Filipinos’ first began as a title refering to the elite Spanish (“insulares”) who were born in “Las Islas de Filipinas” as it was earlier called. This status got afforded also to mixed “Insulares” creole/mestizos with pure Iberian blood whose father and mother were known in the Spanish colonial caste system as (“principales”) a.k.a (“Peninsulares”).

Peninsulares were corrupt, beauracrats and plundering thieves responsible for introducing the land distribution system called “encomiendas”. Interestingly, the said subsidy, a “real situado” usually amounting to 250,000 Mexican pesos, did not come from the Royal Treasury based in Mexico City but consisted of custom taxes imposed on products brought by the galleons in Acapulco. After these were collected, the subsidies were sent to Manila by the returning galleon. Therefore, the Spanish viceroyalty was not preoccupied by appropriating funds for the Philippines, because Mexican buyers were indirectly paying for the financial support of the said colony.

In addition, the value of the “Real Situado” was not standard; although it was fixed at 140,000 pesos in 1700, the actual amount depended on the needs of the moment.

The most known Peninsulare was Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who colonized most of Northern and central Philippines. The black ebony Austroasiatic indigenous “negritos” (Spanish for ‘Short Blacks”) and the Malay-Polynesian brown skinned natives were derogatorily termed “Indios” by the elite. The official establishment of a nearly made Philippine republic and the constitutional “Filipino” citizen had been decided in the honour of royal crown King Philip II of Spain after there was a time for an anglicisation period of the namesake.

Philippines literally translates to “Isles of King Philip”.

Filipino nationalism grew originally along the:

(“Illustrados”) they often were church clergy, scholars, governors who wealthy enough to become acedemic, were idealists, free thinkers, artists, usually a member of Freemasonry and born into the upper-middle class. But, some are not born wealthy like revolutionary Apolinario Mabini who grew up in a family of farmers. Due to shifting economic powers changing these insulares often moved to capitalist driven entrepreneurs owning large parcels of lands called “haciendas”. They could be mixed or born of (“principales”) and (“creoles”) decent. Or both. There were a few main types of Creoles/mestizos.

Types of Mixed Mestizos

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Mestizo means somebody who is a hybrid of mixed heritage. Normally, associated in Latin America and the Philippines with children of racial inter-marriage.

Mestizo de Espanol - was a person of mixed Filipino and Spanish heritage.

Tornatrãs - was a old Spanish term for mestizos mixed with definite Spanish, Chinese and native Filipino heritage. Nearly every popular Philippine hero was one. Every Filipino today can claim this.

Mestizo de Sangley - was a mestizo not necessarily indexed or are coming from Europeans. A person of de Sangley background was a Filipino or any racial descent who married a Chinese.

The mestizo race fare better than the natives due to the fact that their ancestry provides leverage and connections, which becomes a big advantage in a feudal and colonial society. They may have better relations with the local governors or with the church as they are favored more compared to the common man. Parents of mestizos may have been an alcalde or another important position in the goverment or perhaps an insulare wishing to expand power and territory. In the case of expanding territory, this has been a major motive for most of the arranged marriages that came about during the era.

Secularization was a big deal during his time as Missionary priests (Dominicans, Jesuits, Augustinians, etc.) protested to being supervised by Bishops in running parishes, stating they’re not under a Bishop’s jurisdiction. True enough, because Missionary priests spread Christianity. So the Church started training secular priests to manage parishes for the Bishops. Padre Pelaez sided with the seculars which earned him the disdain of many powerful priests. Unfortunately, he died in an earthquake that struck Manila and destroyed the Manila Cathedral in 1863.

CHINO FILIPINAS

Fact: The earliest recorded Chinese settler communities first in Mexico were not Chinese. The ‘Chinos’ as referred to by Mexican Natives (for looking like people from China) were indeed not Chinese. ‘Chinos’ as they were recognised were common men from the Philippines.

Early Chinese settlers, aka Mestizo De Sangleys in the Philippines were artisans and petty traders but their children with Filipinos were granted special rights and privileges under the Spanish Crown. Eventually, the mestizo de sangley were allowed to lease lands from friar estates and earned from it. Later on, they came to own many lands by benefiting from ‘pacto de retro’ which states if a farmer can’t pay the money they borrowed, the land is kept by the money lender. A huge number of farmers lost their lands this way and the money lenders’ lands kept growing and growing. People nowadays call this “investment.”

The special rights and privileges awarded to mestizo de Sangleys is also the reason why you often get a lot of ‘Chinito’ looking Filipinos abroad today. Most descendant of Chinese-Filipinos families could afford to move abroad.

De Sangleys were often instantly hired by the Spaniards to overseelabour and infrastructure in the colonial society of Las Pinãs. Unlike the natives the were less likely to revolt, and their skin passed for white therefore favoured a lot more. Native Filipino “Indios” resented working for Spanish-Castiles. Often, working meant little next to no daily wage, no food, rough supervised treatment from the law and worse. These native “Filipinos” worked like slaves on plantations/farm land belonging to their original custode and of their own ancestral domain.

Spanish insulare families and families with Mestizo de Sangley heritage exist today as the majority of the Philippines ruling elite. It’s a fact Chinese-Filipinos own more than 85% of the Philippines politics, media, stock market and business franchises.

Really, its not a sufferable caste system like India’s. Its more of classification for valid reasons, but yeah, any grouping or classification brought about brings discrimination. And we, the modern Pinoys, had inherited that colonial thinking of having a foreign ancestry is something to brag about. Get real. Almost everyone here has a bit of foreign in our blood.

NATIONALISM: ‘FILIPINO’ is adjectively improper.

Only in the 1890’s with reluctance and recent activities done by working class revolutionary nationalist heroes such as Andres Bonifacio were the lower class “Indios” included in the Nationalist movement, and by the time of the Katipuneros insurrection of 1898 that triggered thirteen sporadic years of jungle warfare against Americanos in the (Philippine-American War) which became the exact point in time the term ‘Filipino’ applied to every inhabitant of the islands. Even the unconquerable Muslim Moros fighting for sovereignty in the Southern most islands till this present day had temporarily agreed.

Manifest Destiny

The term “Filipino” would have become current in English through the Americans, who betrayed the Filipino revolution of 1898 and established their own colonial rule, under the grand delusion of ‘Manifest Destiny’.

‘Manifest Destiny’ was basically a conceptual idea based around racism and white superiority. Apparently seen in a premonition from the U.S President Arthur McKinnleys eyes himself when God appeared to him in a dream, the entity bestowed upon him a right from the Almighty High to tame, cleanse, civilise and subjugate the native and indigenous “Indios” of The Philippines. They did however co-opt the ‘Filipino’ elite into the colonial system, unlike the Spaniards. Promoting it through a policy of imperial U.S public school indoctrination and ‘Filipinization’.

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Native ‘Luzones Indios’

Filipino native sailors on the Manila-Alcapulco galleons (1565-1815) remembered as “Nao de China” or “Nao de Acapulco” by some has been estimated at about the 200,000’s range. This 200,00 range of native Filipinos travelling to Mexico since 1565 has obviously through generations doubled, and lead to a significantly dense population of Mexicans currently living in Mexico with Filipino ancestry. Although, it is not one hundred percent sure about how definitive evidence and statistics could be as to who are decent originally from the ‘Luzones Indios’.

Most of the Filipinos on board were known as ‘Indios’ natives like the Native Mexicans and Americans (due to ‘phenotypical’ resemblances in the physical and cultural similarities). They were brought to Mexico on these fleets as mostly indentured slaves, civil servicemen and soldiers.

Filipino Indios namely the ‘Luzones Indios’ made up mostly of Aeta/Ati negrillos/ native Kapampangas/Pintados/ & Eskaya tribesmen etc were responsible for helping the Spanish empire explore and “discover” today’s U.S locations from Louisiana to a large proportion of the West Coast regional area of modern ‘America’ such as California.

A lot of these “Filipino” “Indios” inter-married with many local girls and settled as naturalised citizens of the nation country of Mexico. They happened also to be mercantile soldiers who fought under Spain and became valued by the Iberian-Castile (Spanish/Portuguese) government for their extensive sea faring knowledge and navigation skills in and around the Pacific Ocean & Asia to the continent of the Americas.

Filipinos First in The Americas?

The first ever recorded ‘Filipinos’, perhaps in fact the first migrants of ‘Asians’ ever on the American continent has to chronologically be categorised by record accounts.

Is it the ‘Pensionados’? An elite scholarly class of ‘Filipinos’ invited by the U.S government to study in 1906, in American universities in places like Hawaii and Washington during America’s occupation of the Philippines? Was it the ‘Maynila Men’ of New Orleans? The Filipino men who joined with ‘Americans’ and helped make what would later become the United States of America fight arduously against the British Invasion during the battle of New Orleans, and allied joint forces with them in the war of 1812. Also, making Louisana their home as early as the 1760′s? Or, was the first Filipinos on the continent? the native sailors of Pampangca? the ‘Luzones Indios”?

Filipino natives from ‘Las Islas Filipinas’ whom respectfully helped the Franciscan Friars found and establish the first earliest cities and towns that is now California.

Did you know? The province of Texas at the time of Domingo Ramóns 1716 expedition located on the borders of Mexico, Louisiana & Missouri Territory primarily was given the secondary name ‘Nuevo Reino de Filipina’ but more infamously, Texas was known officially throughout the entire colonial period as ‘Nueva Filipinas’ (New Philippines).

If you tried and made guesses to any of the ‘Filipino’s above however? they would all technically be incorrect.

The first Filipinos who ‘settled’ in the New World society of the Americas (with understanding the South-West part of present day United States was once the country Mexico.) Were leaders of ‘Conspiracy of 1588-89′. Four, royal rebel deviants insanely pissed at the Spanish colonizers for stealing their native land and changing the order and way of life. They were the four followers of Magat Salamat, the son of Rajah Lakandula who was the chieftain of Tondo, Maynillad (Manila) at the time.

Gabriel Tuambacan, Francisco Aeta, Luis and his son Calao (whose families name we’re not recorded) became the first “Pinoys” (Filipinos) to be exiled to the state of Mexico by Governor Santiago de Vera in 1588 after their first abortive revolt against Spain.

Their exile destination was Acapulco, Mexico but they first landed reportedly at Baja, California, 1588.

‘The Magat Salamat’ - ‘Conspiracy of 1588-89′

Why were Magat Salamats followers exiled?

Historically speaking, this plot or “conspiracy of 1588-89” is important. It was the first concerted attempt of the Filipino to oust the Spaniards and gain their freedom with the help of a foreigner, the Japanese. Also, with the Sultan of Borneo’s help to aid the conspirators.

The only extant original document that throws light upon this ‘revolt’ is from the actual written ‘report’ of Estaban de Marquina, notary public of Manila, to Santiago de Vera, Governor General of the Philippine islands (Reprinted in Blair and Robertson, “The Philippine Islands,” Vol 7, pp 95 ff.).

Unfortunately, historiography records that documented these perambulate and turbulent times of ancient pre-colonial Rajas (Kings) & Datus (Chiefs) that ruled over the Islands before the Spanish conquerers invaded, had lead the first native resistive fight against the Spanish Conquistadores. It has always been written in the unimaginative galls of the debunking school of historians, and some even dismiss the “Conspiracy of 1588-89″ with the bare few sentences actually written and described from the likes of Augustinian historian Martinez de Zuñiga, in his “Historia de Philipinas,” and the oidor-historian, Antonio de Morga, in his “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas,”. This clearly may have been due to a lack of sources or frankly to the fact that they looked upon the matter from the prejudiced Spanish point of view. Sadly, there is barely a documentary source to represent the Filipino side of the subject.

(Above) El Galleon Dia Manila-Acapulco (Cartographic routes)

LEARN MORE about the plot, the conspiracy, and the failed revolt that arguably initiated the Island nations first semblance of their revolutionary forces ‘The Katipunan’ against the oppressive Spanish colonial empire. 300 years before the ‘KkK’ was founded by Dr. Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo etc.

REVOLUTIONARY FILIPINOS EXILED TO MEXICO. VICE VERSA, NATIVE-MEXICAN REVOLUTIONARIES EXILED TO THE PHILIPPINES.

With the Spanish colonial occupation of the Philippines. Native blooded Filipinos, and indigenous, “Indios”, and individuals from every ranks of the caste system, often got punished by execution, if not. Exported for exile to places like (Ladrones Islands) Guam and Mexico. Through the years, the Spanish used mainly both New Spain (Mexico) and Manila as the dumping grounds for what Spanish authorities considered ‘subversives’ or luminary ‘deportees.

Find out more: https://notesfromalonghotsummer.com/subversives-and-deportees/

Nueva Espana was the cultural interchange between the two colonies (Philippines & Mexico). What Filipinos today regard as a Spanish influence in food, language, and customs may in fact be Mexican in origin.

We have acculturated and adopted so many things from Mexicans in Filipino culture. Besides the monetary standard the Peso, and celebrated holidays in both countries such as “Dia de los Muertos” (day of the dead). This day is known as “Todos Los Santos” in the Philippines. Mexicans and Filipinos alike troops to the Campo Santo. Strangely, this is the same term used by Filipinos and Mexicans to describe a cemetery. For two days, they bring food, flowers and candles to their departed ancestors.

Systema Kultura

There are many social and cultural elemental exchanges that occurred, you probably didn’t know about. For example:

Religion

1. Christian Catholicism religiosity amongst Filipino and Mexican folk perhaps is the most obvious display of Spain’s lasting hispanicized influence on the hundred native indigenous cultures they genocided, and raped to near extinction. It personally feels like it slaps and confuses the intelligence of the ancestors who fought for their very ancestral homes away from invaders to strictly follow the invading colonizers religion. Despite this, acts of holy devotion towards the “Santo Ninõ” (baby Jesus) and the veneration of “Our lady the virgin of Guadalupe” is a shared custom between Mexicans and Filipinos only.

Millions of Mexicans troop every year to the Basillica Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Patron Saint of Mexico. It turns out that Filipinos have also chosen Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Heavenly Patroness of the Philippines. She is known in the Philippines as the Virgin of Antipolo or, formally, Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje .

Linguistic Exchanges

2. A lot of important often used words in our National Tagalog language actually come from indigenous Mexican/Azteca “Nuahati” root based language. According to Wikipedia over 200 loanwords in Tagalog borrow from “Nuahatil”. Some of these may include: palanque, achuete, atole, balsa, bangueta, cachauete, cacao, caimito, calabaza, camachile, camote, calachuche, chico, tiangui, tocayo, zacate, Zapote…and guess what? Our very words for Mother and Father in Filipino Nana[y] and Tata[y] are of indigenous Nuahtil Mexican/Aztec origins.

Traditional Songs, Plays & Dances

3. Although modern Filipinos are not aware of it, a number of traditional Filipino dances and musical compositions of ours originated from Mexico not Spain! The “la paloma”, “Sanduga Mia”, “Jarabe” and “Pandango de Sambalillo” for example we’re composed and first heard in the New World. The traditional National attire for men in Mexico, Philippines and even Cuba are exactly the same. The attire is a shirt originally made from pineapple fibre and is worn by men commonly used in special occasions, and in our dances. It is called to Filipinos “Barong Tagalog”. It is said to have been copied from the “guayabera” aka “Camisa de Yucatan” outfits worn by Mexicanos nd some Cubanos. All three countries claim to have originated the design.

(Our Indio natives from Philippines and the Mayan-Aztec descendant indio natives of Mexico must have worked together the special attire during the colonial days and more likely it was contributed in the provinces (probably in Jalisco or Guerrero in Mexico). Not surprisingly, the highest demographics of Filipino-Mexicans is in Jalisco and Guerrerro.

La China Poblana

Another, significant sign of the cultural impact Las Islas Flipinas had on Mexico is shown in the National attire for Mexican women. The beloved ‘China Poblana’ dress.

The myth surrounding this unique dress made for girls and women all over Mexico (especially in Puebla, Mexico) is around the years 1619 a historical women figure in Mexican history appears out of nowhere. Truth, be told her origins remain quite ambiguous. Legend and oral folklore says she is prominently best remembered to be a so-called princess of ‘Asian’ decent, first sighted wearing a native ‘Filipino’ dress that can easily be identified in the Philippines Boxer codex. Her real name by the way, was “Mirrha”.

According to written biographical accounts about ‘Mirrha’ aka Catarina de San Juan. She claimed a royal lineage that originally supposed goes back to India in a country governed by the ‘great Mughals’. Her maternal grandparents was the rulers of all of India and Arabia. The abduction of her and her brother (perhaps found in the Mollucan pirated seas) had seen them both shipped as slaves to the Manila port in the islands of the Philippines bought by Spanish merchants to be brought upon a Manila-Acapulco galleon vessel on her annual trip to Acapulco, Mexico. She was sold as a slave to Captain. Miguel de Sosa in Puebla, Mexico.

‘Catarina de San Juan’ was her Christianised name. She’s been pleaded by native Mexicans for the church to beatify her soul. She was remembered as a famous religious oracle. Apparently, she got along really well with the local natives and she is known to have had healing powers, psychic abilities and walked with an unrivalled graceful aura about her. ‘Catarina’s’ definable reverence in Mexican society has long made her memory the catalyst image of “womanhood” in Mexico and has inspired the centuries long impact of fashion in Mexico. Including, popular Mexican-Indian womanist icon ‘Frida Kahlo’ who considered ‘Catarina de San Juan’ the symbolised epitome of beauty.

Traditional Foods/ Meals

4. Some of our popular traditional Filipino native food and dishes, and vice versa for the Mexicans; are actually stylised cuisine-by-products of Mexico and Philippines. Actually culinary was perhaps the biggest shared contribution. Having assimilated, inter miscegenated and influenced in people exchange and cultural presences during our 300 year long united colonial legacy and shared centuries as sister nations this was only expected.

In 1618 - 74 of 75 crew members of the galleon “Espiritu Santo” abandoned ship. They were then asked by local native Indians to teach them how to make “tuba”, or sold in the side streets of Mexico as “tuba Fresca”. A inexpensive wine made from coconuts. The Filipino native Indios also imparted their know-how in making ‘cerviche’ (seafood kinilaw) and other unique ways of broiling fish and shrimp.

While it is common knowledge that Mexican mangoes came from the Manila men and their homeland. Does it really come as a surprise the coconut tree, they call Palmera, also originated from the Philippines? The state of Guerrero where Acapulco is located, is Mexico’s biggest producer of coconuts and coconut products. Filipinos introduced a wide range of native flora, and fruits to Native Mexicans like, carambola (star fruit), rambutan, papaya, tamarind, and even sugar bananas that miraculously survived the long trip across the Pacific and thrived in the New World. Mexican natives brought vice versa to Las Islas Filipinas plant-fruits like the Cacao, pineapple, pomegranate, maize, guava and avocado.

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Food plates in the Philippines such as: Escabeche, Leche Flan, Lechon, Chicharron, Turon, Mango Suman, Empanadas, Tinola, Caldareta, Pan de Sal, Spanish style Tilapia, Laiing, Puchero, Maja Blanca were inspired originally from native Mexicans.

For Mexicanos famous Mexican dishes like: Sopa Azteca, Pollo en mole, Mollettes, Churros, Carne en su jugo, Flautas, tostadas de rajas, tortillas and choco pan de maya, and even famous present cervesaz (beers) in Mexico like Cerveza Negra, Modelo were originally crafted and influenced by intermingled native Filipino and Mexican societies. Tequila, moreso the distilling method of Mezcan, dare, I say was also a consumer good and creation with origins from Filipinos.

What Happened?

Mexican influence and ties to the Philippines was lost indefinitely and cut off before Philippines could achieve successful independence from Spain and gain aid and the promised militant assistance from our Mexican revolutionary brothers and sisters in arms around 1823. From that time on Spain had seized the Manila-Acapulco galleons trade and terminated our nations relations with Mexico due to the growing fears of our combined rebel, insurrectionist revolutionaries joining to conspire and grow bigger with our Americanised Latino counterparts in Mexico.

Despite this however, Mexicans, and Filipinos have always long been allies in community solidarity and unionized strengths within present day society in Central America (United States of America). Even during WWII the first and only international military aid ever offered from Mexico’s military army was when The Aztec Eagles Squad was sent to the aid and assistance of the Philippines troops (could that serve as the promised revolutionary help Vincente Guerrero and other Mexican revolutionaries promised to The Philippines to give back in Nueva Espana days?). Also, especially in the affinity shared between them with the Los Angeles Chicano “gang” (native resistances) culture, West-Coast rap music accomplishments & cultural brown political movements like the La Raza movement and Cesar Chavezs (UFW) United Farm Workers.

UFW was a Civil rights activist group lead by mainly Mexican & Filipinos. They fought in solidarity beside each other, The Black Panthers and the Yellow Perils.

The UFW movement was extremley detriment and important to Filipinos, Mexicans and other identifable Latino groups in the 70s and 80s with their fight against oppressors and in their similar opressed struggle for equality, fair work wages and battles against institutional racism and white cultural supremacy.

NUNCA OLVIDEZ!

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delhi-architect2 · 4 years

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Journal - Pascale Sablan on Architecture’s Role in Fueling Social Change

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If there’s any silver lining to the chaotic, tragic mess of 2020, it’s that deeply entrenched issues that are routinely ignored and downplayed have been brought to the fore. The two most clear examples of this are the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the frailties of the American healthcare system, and the senseless murder to George Floyd, highlighting the fact that racial injustice has and continues to brutalize black people. The gravity of both of these occurrences has been exacerbated by poor leadership, complacency and most of all systemic racism, which is ingrained in every facet of American society.

The events following George Floyd’s death have embroiled America in a state of social unrest, with countless ongoing protests calling for greater accountability and major systemic changes. Everyone, from individuals to entire industries, have been placed under a microscope to see how they’ve perpetuated and benefited from the oppression of others.

While it’s easy to identify the police as a major agent of systemic racism, it’s much harder to do so for entities that act on a much more subtle level. This is dangerous. When it comes to the architectural profession, it’s difficult to immediately recognize its place within today’s social climate. However, it is not exempt and, in fact, its role in fueling racial injustice is quite large. To better understand the role architecture plays in framing American society, and the ways in which the industry can fuel the advancement of people of color, we spoke with architect and mentor Pascale Sablan.

Pascale Sablan, image via AIA

Pascale Sablan is only the 315th living black, female architect to receive licensure in the United States. She is a senior associate at New York-based firm, S9Architecture. With a career spanning more than a decade, Sablan’s work includes a number of commercial, cultural and residential projects across the U.S., Asia and the Middle East. Pascale Sablan’s accolades include the AIA New York/Center for Architecture Emerging Professional Award in 2014, National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) member of the year in 2015, and the 2018 AIA Young Architects Award.

On top of this, Pascale Sablan is also the founder and executive director of an organization called Beyond the Built Environment, which aims to address inequality by creating platforms and greater visibility for women and diverse designers. Pascale Sablan’s work and achievements go on, and they’re incredibly pertinent to the current state of the world. Read below, in her words, the way we can design a better future.

Nathaniel Bahadursingh: How do you think architecture is situated within issues of social injustice?

Pascale Sablan: Our role as architects is to listen, to hear, and to feel the cries and what is being demanded by the communities for these injustices, and serve as a resource for not just wealthy clients, but for the greater public. Our charge is making sure the world is more equitable and just. So really, our approach is not to assume that we are leaders here, because for us to be leaders would mean that we’d be highly educated and understand the process and the dynamics of a suppressive infrastructure well. These are expertise we do not have.

Therefore, this is a moment for us as architects and designers to pause our thoughts and listen to what is being said, do research in terms of the injustice, work collaboratively with the community to get those answers, and find a solution together.

SAY IT LOUD – New York, View of Exhibition, Curator Pascale Sablan, Designer Manuel Miranda; image © Cameron Blaylock

In your opinion, what are some immediate actions that firms and educational institutions can take to initiate change in this critical moment?

First, I think putting out statements is important. It’s critical that all designers and architects participate in this conversation and make actionable items in these statements. Remove the pressure that the statement must solve everything in one statement. It should be two, three, four, five statements. It’s an ongoing conversation on a very complex issue that we are all trying to solve, and that’s going to take time; it’s going to take dialogue. So, I think putting out actionable statements is important, and I think putting actual dates and metrics of success for measurement and accountability is equally important.

As the founder and executive director of Beyond the Built Environment, I’ve put out my statement for dismantling injustice that basically launches three major initiatives. The first is called SAY IT WITH – MEdia. The idea and root of this initiative is to have publications take a commitment to tracking and increasing the content of diverse designers in their publication by 5% annually until 15% at a minimum is reached, whether that be print, digital, or broadcast. This is about removing the entire burden and onus of us to elevate our identities and distribute this commitment with media outlets. This pledge by publications works in tandem with elevating the stories of under-represented groups, researching the history of women and diverse designers, and tracking, maintaining and publishing our progress of increasing women and BIPOC representation of those featured in their publication.

The second initiative is the SAY IT LOUD – Now Exhibition. SAY IT LOUD is part of a traveling activation exhibition series that elevates local diverse designers, where we’ve produced and curated 15 exhibitions that have successfully elevated the contributions of 250 great diverse designers. The goal of this initiative is to double our library to the number of 500 profiles of diverse designers, not just in the US, but all over the world. We have a call for submissions and September 1st is the deadline. We are seeking diverse (Black, Indigenous, People of Color and women of any ethnicity) designers (architects, interiors, landscape, planners, environmental, engineers, students, and artists) that have an impact on our built environment to submit their work. The biggest challenge is convincing diverse designers that they are worthy of praise and elevation.

The third initiative is Data to Define Policy. As a designer and an architect, I’m a huge advocate that throughout the design process, we need to engage the community and ask them the questions that cultivate an understanding of what they need. The same is true with the advocacy process. As leaders, board members and people of power work to create policy that will help solve some of these issues, the first thing we must do is ground the work. To make our efforts relevant and effective, we must communicate and have conversations with the oppressed communities that we are fighting for in order to understand their unique stories and needs.

Therefore, after we’ve reached our goal of 500 new profiles and having a database and network of 500 diverse designers, we’ll pair up with Remesh, a live communications software that will allow us to have discussions about injustice, where they’re receiving it, and how they’re dealing with it. That will allow us to identify institutions and key characters that are pushing those oppressive agendas and find ways of dismantling them.

In a time that feels clouded with performative gestures, how can the architecture industry ensure sustained, meaningful change?

I want to echo the previous point that we must not just put a statement in camaraderie and solidarity, but to actually put action items. It’s not enough to show up to a funeral and your condolences; it’s to bring the lasagna too. How are you contributing to dismantling the system that brings pain, injustice and oppression? How are you going to leverage your position, work and power to fight to eradicate racism from our profession, our built environment and in society as a whole? Then it’s not a gesture; it’s a plan of action.

When it comes to the advancement of Black people in architecture, what does individual advocacy look like? What responsibility lies on the individual architect?

Well, many architects tend to look towards their employer or their firm leaders or even organization leaders to give us direction. We are frozen while we wait for those in charge to define how to change our industry, to make meaningful changes, how to be proactive, and how to be effective in the work. Unfortunately, the reality is that not all firms will take any positions on the matter that is gripping the heart of our society. It’s incredibly important for us as individuals to feel empowered to make a difference, to make a change, and to work towards justice with or without our firms.

Through volunteering with organizations such as NOMA, the National Organization of Minority Architects, or other similar organizations that have always been advocating for justice in both the built environment and in the profession, we can find the leadership we are seeking from our firm and industry leaders, and push for immediate action.

However, I would also like to offer that advocacy work can and should start on your block, in your neighborhood, in your community. See what injustices are impacting your town, and take that as a beginning standpoint. Once you’ve identified the community’s specific oppressions, whether that be architectural or other, you should reach out to the community leaders and get more information, understand the politics of the issue, understand the institutions, and the characters that perpetuate the injustice. Together with that deeper level of understanding, ask how you can get involved. Let’s make the fight for justice personal; bring it home to your family, your neighbor, your block and your community, and make them better and more just.

SAY IT LOUD – United Nations Worldwide, United Nations Information Centre New Delhi, Curator Pascale Sablan; image © United Nations Information Center

What do you think the barriers are to finding greater representation in architecture and design?

The answer to this question led me to my first dismantling injustice initiative, SAY IT WITH – MEdia, which is really to stop trying to put the onus on us to elevate ourselves, but also having publications and awards juries to seek out our information as well and to elevate us. To cease the practice of only elevating one designer of color or one woman design and make them the end-all-be-all to showing diversity in the profession. The publications must dismantle that barrier and really work to elevate the plethora of us that exist. I think about the young students that we mentor who go home and Google “great architects”, a search that yields 50 faces and names. One is a woman, nine are people of color, and zero are African-American.

The list of 50 ranges from contemporary all the way down to when architects were Ninja turtles, like Michelangelo and Rafael. I visited Google’s headquarters and spoke with their team, and asked them why was this the outcome of the search. Their statement was “Pascale, there’s not enough content on the web that actually specifically calls you all as great.” Understanding that, I launched the Great Diverse Designers Library, where we are identifying and profiling these designers as great.

We showcase their work, their bio and headshots, their journeys and their proudest achievements. It’s a way to avoid these superficial articles / lists that just gives us 2 or 10 or 15 or random numbers of people to be aware of without showing their impact to the built environment. This library, which is composed of all the information we gather from our various SAY IT LOUD Exhibition, is now serving as a business development directory for people to be able to find and identify local talents in their region. Being able to hire them to do work serves as a way of creating more content that call us great!

SAY IT LOUD – United Nations Worldwide, United Nations Information Center Bujumbura, Curator Pascale Sablan; image © United Nations Information Center

How would the built environment look different if more black voices were in power in architecture and design industries?

I don’t want to make the assumption that just because one is Black or Latino or Asian that they’re only going to work in their own communities, because historically that hasn’t been the case. But, the idea is by creating a more just and equitable profession in the built environment, you will then be creating diversity and inclusion. J.E. = D.I. The way that the built environment would look different when we eradicate racism and oppression from the world begins with the removal of poorly appointed architecture, together with the creation of reformative spaces that serve as a scaffolding of support for the community’s hopes and aspirations for the future. There isn’t a prescribed aesthetic or form of this Just world; it will be formalized once the profession accepts the task of envisioning and constructing it.

For instance, when USGBC was creating their LEED certification process, they studied the issues and developed criteria that would solve an enormous environmental crisis. The idea was that, by developing these metrics of accountability, it would make architecture more sustainable. During that process they were careful to not script or force a “green” design, instead allowing the industry to be inspired by these challenges, and to respond through their designs.

Therefore, this effort is to change architecture’s role of perpetuating racism and injustice to one that strives to eradicate it. The resulting design of that new world is left to the imaginations and talents of the architects and designers who rise to that challenge. The work starts with understanding of how racism manifests into the built environment — how it shows up in the brick and mortar — so that we can disassemble it and make sure that is not part of our design, technique and process moving forward.

Currently, Black people are fighting on a lot of fronts, from combatting structural racism to navigating a day-to-day life in white spaces. How can this burden be divided? And if so, what would that look like?

The reality is that many people of color, from Black to Indigenous architects and designers in the industry, have been carrying multiple identities and being careful about which part of their culture or identity they allow to be present in the workplace. One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the people who are being oppressed do not take on the burden of solving it alone. Making suggestions to provide information and clarity will really allow everyone to participate in the disassembling of racism and oppression. Therefore, as employers, firm and organization leaders we must be vigilant to avoid tasking your diverse designers with the lion’s share of the work.

It is powerful and important to understand that we’re all behind this mission to ensure that racism is not part of our future as a country and as a people. Regardless of your gender and/or race, we are working towards that mission together. Although I am guilty of this as well, it is important that we do not overburden ourselves with taking on the responsibilities of solving these issues. It’s not our part, it’s not our role to take; it’s an effort that’s going to require the entire community to participate in.

However, I will say as architects, if we do not show up for this call to action — if we decide to maintain our irrelevance in the fight for civil rights — we will be left behind. This is not a fad. This is not a trend. This is not going to go away. Justice will be found in the built environment and I really hope that, as architects, we are part of the conversation and a positive force in that movement.

If not, we will be taught the same kind of lessons that ADA, the American Disability Act, taught us. People pleaded with us, the profession, with regards to making our structures and our projects more accessible, but we ignored them. We chased glossy high rise buildings that were higher than the one previous. The oppressed community responded by going to city hall and literally climbing the stairs on their forearms and elbows to show visually and figuratively how the built environment has failed them. Now it is law, rightfully so, and all new construction projects must be accessible.

The American Disability Act is one of the most powerful and most inspiring moments of protest and advocacy. It shows us as architects that in order to maintain relevance, we must be a positive force towards justice. We need to hear, listen to the cries of those who are oppressed, and if we do not show up in a meaningful way, the community will find another way to reach the justice that they deserve.

If you are a diverse designer, submit your profile for the SAY IT LOUD – NOW initiative. Prizes include:

Feature in the SAY IT LOUD – NOW Virtual Exhibition

Inclusion in the Great Diverse Designers Library

Name, business or work promoted in publications, on websites and social media

Per your election, application will be considered for future SIL Exhibitions

Potential to be featured in the Great Diverse Designers Textbook

The deadline for submissions is September 1st 2020. Head this way to submit.

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The post Pascale Sablan on Architecture’s Role in Fueling Social Change appeared first on Journal.

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bluewatsons · 4 years

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Antonio Ventriglio et al., Relevance of culture‐bound syndromes in the 21st century, 70 Psychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences 3 (2015)

Abstract

Culture‐bound syndromes were first described over 60 years ago. The underlying premise was that certain psychiatric syndromes are confined to specific cultures. There is no doubt that cultures influence how symptoms are perceived, explained and from where help is sought. Cultures determine what idioms of distress are employed to express distress. Rapid globalization and industrialization have made the world a smaller place and cultures are being more influenced by other cultures. This has led to social and economic changes in parts of the world where such syndromes were seen more frequently. In this review we illustrate these changes using the example of dhat syndrome (semen‐loss anxiety). The number of syndromes in the DSM‐5 has been reduced, acknowledging that these syndromes may be changing their presentations. Clinicians need to be aware of social and economic changes that may affect presentation of various psychiatric syndromes.

Recent changes in the DSM‐5(1) may have abandoned the term ‘culture‐bound syndromes’ but in many parts of the world its use continues. Over 60 years ago, these syndromes appeared as exotic, alien, indigenous conditions seen in cultures that were also seen as less psychologically developed. Over the years, many of these syndromes have been reported from multiple cultures using different idioms of distress.

There is no doubt that cultures influence how people experience emotional distress, how they express it and in what terms and, more importantly, from where they seek help. Historically, colonizers saw those who were being ruled as exotic natives who were perhaps not very psychologically sophisticated and therefore ignorant and objects of observation. These psychiatrists and many anthropologist observers ignored existing indigenous health‐care systems, idioms of distress and the therapeutic interventions used by these populations. In many health‐care systems, the approach is much more social rather than biological and even when the body is affected, social factors are seen as playing a major role.

Background

Yap(2) was the first to describe culture‐bound psychogenic psychoses – a term subsequently abbreviated to ‘culture‐bound syndromes.’3 These were seen as ‘rare, exotic unpredictable and chaotic behaviors at their core among uncivilized people.’ There is no doubt that this was a reflection of the existing diagnostic systems where these systems were often difficult to classify. Bhugra and Jacob4 suggest that these behaviors were diagnosed with somewhat limited understanding of the cultural context. On the one hand, this is really surprising, as psychiatry is a medical specialty strongly influenced by cultural and social factors; but on the other hand, psychiatry may reflect somewhat rigid, patrician and paternalistic views.

In this commentary, we review the historical and current status of culture‐bound syndromes using dhat (a syndrome of semen‐loss anxiety seen very commonly in the Indian sub‐continent) as an illustrative example.

Nosological timeline

Yap first defined culture‐bound psychogenic psychoses in 1962.2 He modified the term to culture‐bound syndromes 7 years later3 and subsequently several such syndromes have been described and studied. In 1992, the ICD‐105 used the term ‘culture‐specific disorders’ and 15 years later the DSM‐51 abandoned the term to replace it with cultural concepts of distress (see the study by Ayonrinde and Bhugra for further discussion).6

What does ‘culture‐bound’ really mean? We believe that the concept of boundedness and whether certain illnesses are really bound to certain cultures is problematic. In particular, old traditional boundaries across cultures are becoming more porous and, with rapid globalization, cultural factors are becoming perhaps more diffuse and more accessible. The rapid increase in the use of social media and inter‐connectedness through increased and rapid access to media, including the Internet, has added another complicating and complex dimension.

Culture‐bound Syndromes in the Diagnostic Manuals (DSM and ICD)

As mentioned earlier, the rise of culture‐bound syndromes may be a reflection of the rise of Western diagnostic and classificatory systems and also the long‐standing impact of colonialism. Recent shifts in the DSM‐51 may indicate a change away from these factors. The two major psychiatric classificatory systems have used these syndromes in slightly different ways. Interestingly, the ICD‐10,5 which is a more culturally sensitive system, acknowledges that these syndromes are not easy to fit into classificatory categories.

ICD‐10 (1992)

The ICD‐105 recognizes a number of culturally uncommon symptom patterns and presentations referred to as ‘culture‐specific disorders.’ While acknowledging that these syndromes have diverse characteristics, they also have two common features:

They are not easily accommodated in established and international diagnostic categories.

Their initial description is in a particular population or cultural area and their subsequent association is with this community or culture.

The ICD‐10 has thus made cautious and tentative associations between cultural syndromes and recognized psychiatric categories, but the problem again is that these are culturally specific. We argue that these are reported from other cultures too and are not exclusive.

DSM‐IV‐TR (2000)

In the DSM‐IV‐TR,7 culture‐bound syndromes were seen as recurrent, locality‐specific patterns of aberrant behavior and troubling experience that may or may not be linked to a particular DSM‐IV diagnostic category.

The following characteristics were seen as crucial for culture‐bound syndromes:

Indigenously considered illnesses or afflictions – therefore a recognition within the society as a deviation from normal or healthy presentation.

Local names – the ascription of a specific local name to the experience of mental distress. This is often in the indigenous or key language of communication and may be components of folk diagnostic categories.

Symptoms, course and social response often influenced by local cultural factors – for instance the folk healing systems for the symptoms based on the explanatory model of the experiences.

Limited to specific societies or cultural areas – this may be a geographical region, areas with shared ethnic history or identity. For instance some cultural practices and artifacts of the Yoruba culture of western Nigeria may also be found in Brazil.

Localized – therefore experiences that are not globally recognized or span different regions.

The DSM‐51 discarded the concept of culture‐bound syndromes with a preference for the term ‘cultural concepts of distress.’ This has been defined as ‘ways cultural groups experience, understand, and communicate suffering, behavioral problems, or troubling thoughts and emotions.’ Consequently three cultural concepts have been identified: ‘syndromes’ (clusters of symptoms and attributions occurring among individuals in specific cultures); ‘idioms of distress’ (shared ways of communicating, expressing or sharing distress); and ‘explanations’ (labels, attributions suggesting causation of symptoms or distress).

Interestingly, the DSM‐5 emphasizes that all mental distress is culturally framed and acknowledges that different populations carry varying and culturally determined ways of communicating distress along with explanations of causality, coping methods and help‐seeking behaviors.

Changes in the Diagnostic Manuals (DSM and ICD)

For a time, there was an expansion in the number of culture‐bound syndromes from 25 syndromes in the DSM‐IV‐TR, but it has come down to nine in the DSM‐5. Not surprisingly, various concerns have been raised about the diagnostic validity of culture‐bound syndromes.8, 9

Culture‐bound syndromes are culturally influenced and, we would argue, also influenced by existing health‐care systems. Semen‐loss anxiety has been reported from many parts of the world as loss of semen due to nocturnal emissions or masturbation, and the condition affects individual notions of masculinity.

Dhat, or Semen‐Loss Anxiety Syndrome, in the Indian Sub‐Continent

Etymology

Dhat, or semen‐loss anxiety syndrome, includes symptoms of semen‐loss, which lead to complaints of weakness and anxiety. The word dhat is derived from the Sanskrit word dhatu, which means metal in Sanskrit and is also used as a colloquial term for semen. Early descriptions in 1960 by Wig and colleagues from north India observed that dhat syndrome involved many vague somatic complaints of weakness, fatigue, anxiety, loss of appetite, guilt and sexual dysfunction, which were seen as a direct result of semen loss following masturbation, nocturnal emissions or micturition.10, 11

Such symptoms have been noted in ancient Indian Ayurvedic texts dating to about 5000 BC. In these texts, semen production was described as ‘…food converts to blood which converts to flesh which converts to marrow and ultimately to semen.’ Each of these steps is supposed to take 40 days,12 thus making semen incredibly precious. These symptoms are widely recognized across the Indian subcontinent and folk and traditional treatments are easily available and widely sought, even though very little evidence exists for their success. We hypothesize that these treatments may work as placebo as the practitioners may be able to understand the cultural context.

As mentioned above, there is no doubt that, for men, semen‐loss and the resulting anxiety are incredibly important. Attitudes to masculinity, male sex roles, procreation and fertility all play a role in generating such anxiety. Similar values and anxieties were seen in industrial countries, such as Britain and the USA, in the 19th century. Dietary supplements, such as corn flakes and crackers, were advertised and sold as treatment for semen‐loss anxiety.3, 8, 9 In the Indian sub‐continent, faith healers and traditional healers continue to offer various types of food supplements, herbs and treatment strategies. It will be important to explore whether such anxiety has disappeared from industrial nations and the subsequent role globalization is likely to play in eliminating such anxieties or whether, on the other hand, it may further contribute to it. Urbanization is also likely to play a role as increased access to education spreads and higher levels of education and changes in understanding masculinity may well lead to a further reduction of the condition.

The future of culture‐bound syndromes or culture‐specific manifestations of distress as a range of disorders is uncertain, even though the DSM‐5 has taken the right steps. Recent reports of hikkikomori from Japan (where teenagers become withdrawn socially) raise a wider question as to whether this is a genuine response to changing pressures related to social media or something entirely different. There have been case reports from other parts of the world too.13, 14

The evolution of other culturally specific diagnostic systems, such as the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders,15 may indicate a shift in some cultures from a universal classification of mental disorders to a more culture‐specific classification. We believe that psychiatry as a profession needs an urgent debate on universalist versus relativist classificatory systems.

Conclusions

With cultures in transition in many parts of the world as a result of inter‐connectedness and globalization, it is critical that clinicians are aware of how local cultures are changing. We believe that it is extremely likely that culture‐bound syndromes will no longer be culturally bound but culturally influenced. As a result of globalization, resulting and associated industrialization and urbanization may well lead to changes related to a move towards societies becoming more modern and less traditional, which in itself may change the perceptions and idioms of distress. Consequently, it is likely that not only will the expressions and idioms of distress change but so will the pathways to help‐seeking. We hope that, as a result of globalization, better understanding across cultures will lead to more balanced and nuanced approaches to diagnostic categories.

References

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Washington DC, 2013.

Yap PM. Words and things in comparative psychiatry with special reference to exotic psychosis. Acta Psychiat. Scand. 1962; 38: 157–182.

Yap PM. The culture bound syndromes. In: Cahil W, Lin TY (eds). Mental Health Research in Asia and The Pacific. East-West Centre Press, Honolulu, 1969; 33–53.

Bhugra D, Jacob KS. Culture bound syndromes. In: Bhugra D, Monro A (eds). Troublesome Disguises. Blackwell, Oxford, 1997; 296–334.

World Health Organization. ICD-10: International Classification of Diseases: Classifications of Mental and Behavioural Disorders, 10th edn. World Health Organization, Geneva, 1992.

Ayonrinde O, Bhugra D. Culture bound syndromes. In: Bhugra D, Malhi G (eds). Troublesome Disguises, 2nd edn. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2015; 231–251.

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn, text rev. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC, 2000.

Bhugra D, Sumathipala A, Siribaddana S. Culture-bound syndromes: A re-evaluation. In: Bhugra D, Bhui K (eds). Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007; 141–156.

Sumathipala A, Siribaddana S, Bhugra D. Culture-bound syndromes: The story of dhat syndrome. Br. J. Psychiatry 2004; 184: 200–209.

Wig NN. Problems of mental health in India. J. Clin. Soc. Psychiatry 1960; 17: 48–53.

Malhotra HK, Wig NN. A culture bound sex neurosis of the Orient. Arch. Sex. Behav. 1975; 4: 519–528.

Bhugra D, Buchanan A. Impotence in ancient Indian texts. Sex. Marital Ther. 1989; 4: 87–92.

Teo AR, Fetters MD, Stufflebam K et al. Identification of the hikikomori syndrome of social withdrawal: Psychosocial features and treatment preferences in four countries. Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry 2015; 61: 64–72.

Kato TA, Shinfuku N, Sartorius N, Kanba S. Are Japan’s hikikomori and depression in young people spreading abroad? Lancet 2011; 378: 1070.

Chen YF. Chinese classification of mental disorders (CCMD-3): Towards integration in international classification. Psychopathology 2002; 35: 171–175.

#psychiatry #medicine #maladies #culture-bound syndromes #dhat #psychological distress #global psychiatry #neurosis #culture #globalization

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karpedayam · 6 years

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Day 22 - Girl’s Night - June 11 Yoga was finally on the rooftop again today. The Cornell students arrived and they started their yoga today so we were kind of back at square one. I mean we’re pretty sore from climbing all those stairs over the weekend still so it was nice. The sun was just starting to shine super bright and a light drizzle started as we were ending class in chavasana which was really nice. Our morning classes got cancelled so I went to the library and started thinking about essay topics.

Sustainability today was pretty overwhelming. We learned about the East India Company as the first super corporation and all the crazy stuff they did. What I found interesting was that they had negative attitudes toward Indian people and he said that was the reason they didn’t settle. I would argue against this as they had similar attitudes toward indigenous people in Canada and they still settled. I would suggest that the textual basis of their religious identity played a role in this because it would’ve held a certain authority to the British as they also came from a textual religious tradition, which in turn informs the textual basis and authority of Western knowledge systems. They might not have wanted to convert the Indian people because they recognized their tradition as valid because it was textual. I think I’m going to write my paper about this because my fourth year seminar last semester dealt with Biblical authority and the authority of Western knowledge as it relates to residential schools. It’d be interesting to compare this to the Indian colonial context.

What I also wonder about is the extent to which Britain should be held accountable for the damage they’ve caused in their exploitation of Indian resources and people in their colonial history. Canada is rightfully (slowly) working on reconciliation of the impacts of our colonialism, and just because the colonialism wasn’t settler-based in India shouldn’t mean Britain should get away with the ongoing impacts of their exploitation. I talked to some of the Indian intern students at lunch about this and they there’s a prominent figure in India with similar opinions who I could research for my essay. Woohoo!

In the afternoon we had a movie in Sustainability about the impacts of uranium mining on tribal communities in India. It is so fucked up, there is no other way to put it. It’s called the Buddha Weeps in Jadugoda because the first nuclear explosion in India was called the Buddha Smiles. Anyway tailing dams are built for the mines and don’t tell the tribal people the truth about radioactivity and then communities have recently had crazy high rates of birth defects, sterility, cancer, skin disorders and Down Syndrome. Government health officials (who are influenced by corporations) blamed it on alcoholism and unhygienic practices. It’s interesting how alcohol is used as a scapegoat here. Addiction is used to give minorities a bad name when it is not the root illness. This happens in Canada too and no one even cares to understand that the real issue is that people are being forced from their land which is tied to their social and spiritual identity, their traditional knowledge and economy. They are not being treated like people by our supposedly democratic governments. I think it’s because within the capitalistic mindset these spiritual realities are not taken into account. People are their identities, and their identities are informed by their beliefs. If we ignore/don’t prioritize these knowledge systems then we are necessarily oppressing people.

This documentary showed the voices of the tribal people and they never had diseases like this before. It really makes me think about how scientists are often funded by corporations to deliver specific results that support a certain narrative. So you could say I’m glad I left the science world because right now it seems like a sham to keep minorities oppressed and keep the 1% wealthy (I know this is only true to a certain extent, science is used for awesome stuff but it’s not always ethical - Dr. Vombatkere is intentionally showing us the other extreme which main media won’t show so we can have a balanced view of things and decide what we will take from it).

Additionally, the tribal community (Adivasis) had many peaceful protests but police brutality was inflicted upon them. It’s crazy how this happens worldwide - the police are really only here to protect laws that corporations have their hands in making, and this often means that they’re only protecting non-marginalized people. Even the documentary we watched could be a means to prosecute by that Act that I mentioned previously that was passed in 1962 about not questioning nuclear energy. Opposing the establishment has very real consequences on real people who are trying to defend their land, health, justice, beliefs, and equality which is all in the damn constitution.

Needless to say it was a lot to stomach and it makes you feel kind of helpless because what can you actually do about that? Julia asked that question and Dr. Vombatkere said we can start in our country and I think that’s so important. In Canada we are so blissfully ignorant to the real issues that our indigenous people are facing, and instead we focus on all these other “poor” countries when we’d be better off trying to do something in our own country where we actually understand the context.

I was exhausted most of the day after this quite frankly, we laughed a lot at dinner especially Saku because I was so tired I could barely chew and I kept unintentionally making funny faces lol. Mary, Julia, Anger and I hung out in Anger’s room and we had such interesting and meaningful conversations for HOURS. It was amazing. These girls are amazing. I have so much love for them and all that we’re learning from each other. God women fill my heart.

PS I didn’t take any pictures today so enjoy this baby cow in a rickshaw that Saku saw yesterday!

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healthandfitnessrecipes-blog · 6 years

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How One Cafe Is Making Vegan Food More Accessible

https://healthandfitnessrecipes.com/?p=1914

Brooklyn’s Sol Sips is serving its community with sliding-scale pricing

This story was originally published on Civil Eats.

When she was 19, Francesca Chaney wrote in her journal that she wanted to open a vegan café. It would be a place, she imagined, where her friends and family could gather and eat plant-based food. For young people who are surrounded by organic grocers, boutique cafés, and fancy restaurants, that type of dream may seem easily within reach. But for Chaney, a native of East New York, Brooklyn, it meant envisioning a business unlike any of the bodegas and corner stores that occupied her community.

Two years later, her vision became a reality and Chaney opened her pop-up shop, Sol Sips, in the nearby neighborhood of Bushwick. But the community she hoped to serve didn’t show up. While there was rarely an empty seat in her café, she was frustrated by the lack of old-timers, families, and people of color like herself passing through the shop. “By the third week of the pop-up,” she says, “it was like a hipster spot. No one from the neighborhood was coming in.”

And so, one Saturday she tested out a brunch menu with sliding scale prices. And it worked; folks from the neighborhood started showing up.

“It just felt like a really, really good day,” she remembers of the first brunch, for which she created a special menu featuring a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, her friends’ old before-school favorite, but with modified ingredients—the bacon was tempeh, the eggs were made of chickpeas, and the cheese was dairy-free. “So many different people were coming through,” she says. “More indigenous people, more Latinx people, more Black people.”

In April, Chaney made the pop-up location permanent, and the brunch has become so popular that she advises customers to call for a table before they arrive. After a wait at the register, the cashier asks, “How much would you like to pay?” For anywhere between $7 and $15, you can enjoy a main dish and drink that might otherwise have cost $20. Her goal for the weekly brunch? Making vegan food something that everyone can take part in.

“The work [Chaney] is doing should serve as an inspiration to all East New Yorkers and Brooklyn folks,” says Rafael L. Espinal, Jr., a New York City Councilmember representing Brooklyn’s 37th district. “It shows that no matter where you’re from, you are able to succeed.”

Changing a Neighborhood

Getting Sol Sips off the ground was no easy task. With a yellow and green window sign that reads “Vegan Bevs & Bites,” the tiny café offers healthy food and drink at affordable prices and serves a community that has been largely ignored by the mainstream wellness movement. Chaney relies on two waffle irons and a hot plate with four burners to make all of the items on her menu. An array of herbs and roots in glass jars sit on shelves above a small prep space where Chaney chops vegetables.

While it serves drinks similar to those on other juice-bar menus, the space is completely its own. The cover of a children’s picture book propped prominently against one of the café’s exposed brick walls features a young Black girl dressed as a queen. A revolving array of Chaney’s friends’ artwork hang above the two-person tables squeezed into the long room.

In Bushwick, where nearly 90 percent of residents are people of color, one in five people are food insecure, meaning they face significant challenges in accessing enough healthy food. While shoppers on the Lower East Side of Manhattan enjoy 230 square feet of retail food space per 100 people, Bushwick residents have access to only half that amount.

There are also far fewer supermarkets there than in wealthier New York neighborhoods. To buy groceries, most Bushwick residents must travel to other neighborhoods reach stores with fresh produce. Even as grocers and food retailers come into neighborhoods like this, they often cater to the desires of the new residents who can afford expensive food. And while a new Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s in the neighborhood might mean more healthy options, a home’s proximity to those stores often raises property rates and prices out longtime residents.

Chaney wants her café to run counter to that trend.

“Chaney’s space plays an important role in demonstrating that businesses can succeed if they choose to run a socially conscious space that is sensitive to the demographics of the community,” Councilmember Espinal says. “It should serve as a model for how all new businesses operate in communities with a diverse population.”

Chaney is not the only one who is fighting to make vegan, health-conscious food more accessible. In Maryland, former engineer Jerri Evans quit her job and launched Turning Natural, an affordable juice bar in an area otherwise devoid of healthy options. Dell’z on the Macon in Charleston, South Carolina puts a price range next to each of their dishes. A note sprawled across the bottom of their large blackboard menu reads: “Pay what works for you!”

Closer to home, a range of businesses served as inspiration for Chaney as she envisioned her café. At the intersection of farming and activism, Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, New York, subsidizes the cost of their produce and delivers CSA boxes to SNAP recipients, with the intent of ensuring that “no one is denied access to life-giving food due to their economic status.” Chaney credits Playground Coffee Shop—a Bed-Stuy establishment that hosts events by artists, poets, and activists—for helping her understand what an unconventional café could do with its space.

“I’m surrounded by these organizations and these people who are doing the groundwork to shift the narrative of representation,” Chaney says. “That type of energy has been a huge reaffirmation to me.”

Connecting with the Intended Clientele

In January, Chaney launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to help pay for supplies and renovations. Thanks to media buzz including an article in Essence, and support from her friends and family, she raised $4,000 of the $50,000 goal, and donations ranging from $5 to $500 continue to roll in.

For now, Chaney wants to make sure the new café is running smoothly. But she’s already thinking about next steps. “Before the end of the year, I would really love to have another space like this in East New York,” closer to her home. From there, she imagines opening shop in Brownsville, and maybe even expanding her operation outside of New York. “Apparently we’re trending [on social media] in Berlin,” she says with a laugh.

Does Chaney ever feel overwhelmed by what she’s trying to accomplish? The truth is—yes. “I’m 21. I’m Black. I’m a woman. I’m also from a neighborhood that’s low-income, high-poverty,” she says. “There are times when those identities can become obstacles.”

But most of the time, Chaney doesn’t question herself. At Sol Sips’ recent ribbon cutting ceremony, a wave of supporters came to try the food. But, as Chaney was most excited to see, there were crowds of old-timers, families, and neighbors, chatting and enjoying the vegan bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches.

Chaney’s goal, she says, was never to be the spokesperson for a movement. “I’m just creating a space where people can chill, not have to pay too much money, and enhance their quality of life a little,” she says. But on Saturdays, as a line of people winds out the door, it’s clear just how many people have been waiting for the space to exist.

• What Could the Next Farm Bill Mean for the Organic Program? [Civil Eats] • A Facebook Group That Helps the Queer Community Fight Hunger [Civil Eats]

Credits: Original Content Source

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intersectionalculture · 6 years

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So You’re Afro-Latinx. Now What? Congratulations, mi negra! It finally happened. Today you looked into the mirror and said, “I’m black. Soy negra. Vaya.” You embraced your black or brown skin, your curls and kink. No small feat for a Dominican. You’re ready to forgo the centuries of Dominican anti-Africanism and embrace your brothers, sisters and cousins of the African Diaspora. The reality is, there is no “black coming-out party.” Soon it will begin to sink in that everything black, everything African Diaspora, is appropriated, commercialized, monetized and exploited. Arguably, the term “Afro-Latinx” is suffering from “gimmification.” Within our community, there are Afro-Latinx who pretend black when it is convenient and then try to blend right back into anti-blackness when it is not. The colonial trauma and legacy of self-hate continues to morph into stranger things. Thankfully, many Afro-Latinx are sharing their stories. Read this excerpt from Yesenia Montilla’s poem “The Day I Realized We Were Black,” from her collection The Pink Box: because my godparents were Irish-American because I had suppressed my blackness because my brother shook me when I told him he was stupid we were Latino because he had missed his Jersey to Port Authority bus because he was walking to the nearest train station and lost his way because he was stopped by the police because he was hit with a stick because he was never given the right directions even though he begged because trash was thrown at him from the police cruiser’s window as he walked because he was never the same because we’re black because we’re black and I never knew I was twenty-two Or my 2015 Gawker essay, “Hiding Black Behind the Ears: On Dominicans, Blackness, and Haiti”: America thrusts black or white upon you quickly, and you have to decide, you have to know who and what you are. Life in the Dominican Republic had been too culturally ignorant and insular. Meanwhile in America, some Eurocentric or Castilian Latinos pass for white, but Afro-Latinos are either self-hating or catching hell or both, or just plain confused about who they are. Most of the Dominicans I know have a recognizable African lineage, but too many are quick to claim Latin American status as opposed to Afro-Caribbean identity. But let’s be honest: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Haiti aren’t in South or Central America—they’re in the Caribbean. We need to re-examine our historical cultural selves. I agree that race is a construct, but identity is a necessity. These stories are necessary, and we still need to shift the focus on strengthening the intersections of our common African heritage and struggles. Remember: We’re not creating a brand. Your identity is not a marketable widget. We do want to move ever closer to a reunification of displaced African people: a political, social, economic, technological and global reunification. Europeans hoard resources and exact power in the name of whiteness. We need to come together and go a step further by accepting our African heritage and by working to eliminate the “color” construct. That being said, all the new terms flying around are confusing: Latinegr@, Blacktino (my fave), Afro Latinx, Latinx, Afro-Latino and Afro-Caribbean Latino. You’re probably wondering which one of these applies to you. In his article “Afro-Latinx: Representation Matters,” Jose Figueroa defines “Afro-Latinx” this way: An Afro-Latinx is a black person from Latin America. Despite sharing the identity of Latinx, colonial structures of privilege and power thrive within the community ... black and indigenous Latinxs are consistently forced to the sidelines and denied, despite their strong influences to Latinx culture. Recognizing and accepting your African heritage doesn’t mean you pretend that you’re African American. Don’t parrot, imitate, appropriate or otherwise “act” African American. That shit is offensive to the African-American community, and stupid. We are a large black family, and we’re all unique based on our experience in the Diaspora. Embrace the beauty of our differences. You have a Caribbean identity, and because people of the African Diaspora share so many traits, you don’t need to play roles. Fact: White supremacists don’t care that you speak English, Spanish, French, Creole, Portuguese, etc. Observe what a Ku Klux Klan leader told Univision news anchor Ilia Calderón, live on camera, during an interview: “To me you’re a nigger. That’s it.” Language is just another of the master’s many tools. The African Diaspora speaks more European languages than we do languages native to the continent of Africa. We embrace the master’s languages as if speaking them makes us special. Coño. Colonial empire builders believed in the exceptionalism of their culture and language. They branded the native languages of the lands they conquered as unfit for instructional purposes; stripping us of our native languages facilitates stripping us of our identities. Show up for black people and support Afrocentric movements—globally, black folks in America (see Black Lives Matter), in Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, France, Germany, South and Central America, and the continent of Africa. The Inter-American Foundation observes: There are significant Afro-American populations throughout the region [South and Central America], although some have been reluctant to acknowledge them. Throughout the 20th century, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile have insisted that they were white nations with few or no citizens of African descent. ... In the Dominican Republic, people visibly of African descent constitute a majority, but because African ancestry is stigmatized it is commonly denied even when it is obvious. ... Afro-Latin activists are changing the national dialogue by insisting that the African and Afro-American contribution to the national culture be recognized. Many African descendants are now realizing that in their home nations they are black first and a citizen second. In his essay “Why It Is Necessary That All Afro-Descendants of Latin America, the Caribbean and North America Know Each Other More,” Afro-Cuban history scholar Tomás Fernández Robaina writes: It is very important that we recognize how this struggle began long ago, when we did not call ourselves “Negroes,” “African-Americans,” or “Afro-descendants,” as has been used more recently, but as “Cubans,” “Mexicans,” “Colombians,” “Brazilians,” identified, rather, as citizens of our respective countries, and as such, rightfully evidenced in our constitutions. Beautiful words, which, in practice, have been mostly lies ...[Emphasis added.] You will not all of a sudden become the epicenter of knowledge on black identity and the African Diaspora because you read a few articles. Don’t pontificate to Afro-Latinx who don’t get it and don’t want to get it. Keep discovering the facts for yourself and, if you’re fortunate, with a community. Find your truth and be open to listening to other people’s stories. Check out Alan Pelaez Lopez’ article in Everyday Feminism: But especially, I thought I couldn’t be Latinx, because everywhere I went, I was labeled “African American,” “mulatto,” “negro,” and so on. But, the reality is that there’s no need for me to apologize to my younger self and there’s no need for you, my fellow Afro-Latinx sibling to apologize because there is no manual on how to navigate being both Black and Latinx. If you are reading this, I hope you understand that being confused is not your fault, that having questions is okay, and that you’re not the first to learn to accept your full Black self and your full Latinx self. Let me get something clear: you are not an impostor! Visit African countries. I had the European trip fever. I wanted to go to Paris and Madrid, and I have visited London and the Canary Islands. Ultimately, the time away with my family was nice, but the trip didn’t bring me closer to my roots. This yearning to visit the master’s cities is the same as the urge to learn the colonizer’s languages (Ooh la la, I speak French, Italian, German). Yes, European cities are beautiful places, but built on the corpses of colonialism. The next international trip I want to take is to Ghana. Read up. Take courses and workshops. Watch documentaries like Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s Black in Latin America (free on YouTube or PBS). Get your hands on books like the ones in the Ain’t I a Latina article “10 Afro-Latina Authors You Should Know.” The website teachthought has compiled a list called “25 of the Most Important Books About Racism and Being Black in America.” Blavity compiled a list of books by Afro-Latinas: “11 Must-Read Books That Center Powerful Afro-Latin@ Narratives.” Find the intersections created in our communities by the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords and the Brown Berets. Visit the Civil Rights Digital Library online. The HuffPost article “Who Benefited From the Civil Rights Movement” briefly demonstrates how the movement became a blueprint for every other marginalized community in America. But be wary as fuck, too. Your family and that clique of cousins who can pass for white might not be ready for this new woke version of you. Get ready for an intervention from the primas and the tías, the mamis and the abuelas, when you decide to stop relaxing your hair and go natural. “Tu ta loca muchacha el Diablo!” Or when you finally call bullshit on that anti-blackness you’ve been hearing your whole life. You are going to be challenged on this newfound blackness; hold fast. And please, whatever you do, don’t expect to be welcomed by all black people, either, simply because ta-da, you dique woke now. Many people of color feign blackness when it suits them, then relapse right back into their self-hating and black-denying ways. You’ll have to forgive us if we’re not ready to grant you a plaque on a building somewhere. Yes, you will get some side eye, and yes, you must learn to deal with it. Black people from Trinidad to Mississippi have seen the “gimmification,” and appropriation of blackness ad nauseam, and we’re not here for that. Be proud, be aware and be emotionally intelligent. A post on the website Lipstick Alley, “A Recent Trend in Many Latinos Identifying as Black/Afro Latinx for Convenience,” reveals what some folks in the African-American community find problematic. I’ll end with a cautionary tale about relapses. My man Sammy Sosa meant a lot to me during the ’90s, and especially during the 1998 home run chase. Here was a paisano representing pa la gente, a Dominican who looked like me shining in the unforgiving American spotlight. After the performance-enhancing-drug drama and the fall of Sosa and Mark McGuire, America did what it does best: It forgave its white heroes—McGuire and, ultimately, Ryan Braun. Then it burned Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds at the stake. I don’t know how much that had to do with Sosa bleaching his skin white, but damn, Sammy, just damn. It’s possible Sosa believed that going white would let him back into that spotlight, into the realm of white forgiveness. Or maybe there’s a deeper trauma at work. Listen, I still love Sammy Sosa, but don’t go out like Sammy Sosa. Don’t relapse. Bueno mi gente; stay woke, stay black.

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emulatingrizal-blog · 6 years

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The Forgotten and Abandoned Pride

An argumentative essay by Arra Celina S. Paragas

The colonization by the Spaniards initially paved way for the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) to be placed in a pejorative light, even to the demonization of their culture. IKSP or Indigenous Knowledge, Systems, and Practices have been bastardized and slandered in order to flush out the people from their mountains and into their house of praise - calling IPs Infieles (unfaithful) or Salvajes (savage or wild). The Americans, with the soft power of education, further meld and imbibed in us a culture of white-washing and shaming those who would not meet their pigmentation standards - and while both Caucasian races wounded not only the IPs in their pursuit of acculturation, they too, transferred our pride from rooting from the IPs to the mere pride of being colonized by them (Montanyosa, 2014). Stepping on our IP heritage also envelopes the problem of lowering our women’s value: the status of babaylans and binukots for example, who wielded cultural, spiritual, and sometimes politico-economic prowess became diluted as the aswang, manananggal, and other evil creatures permeated our culture in the attempt to solidify Christian Patriarchy.

The question then needs to be asked - has our sovereignty and freedom for the past century been beneficial to our already shrunken cultural minority? Did it create positive change for our indigenous brothers and sisters?

In this day and age, the not-so-socially aware Filipino might even ask an Igorot or an Aeta, or any IP some very bizarre and superfluous queries such as: is it true that you have tails attached to your bodies? How did you learn to speak Tagalog? Do you live in trees? - such questions not only insult the ones asked, but it is a perfervid indication that most of our countrymen remain ignorant and obviously lack the proper information (as it can be pinpointed to our colonial and commercial education system).

It seems that we are doing nothing, but many officials say otherwise -

The government, of course, plays an important role in the promotion of IP culture as well as engendering the 14 percent of our population to be well heard in regulation making and implementation - specifically the distribution of their ancestral lands (Hechanova, 2015). The Office on Northern Cultural Communities and its southern counterpart, the Office on Southern Cultural Communities have been merged into the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) with the Republic Act 8371 (Indigenous Peoples Right Act) of 1997 as its forerunner in strengthening and supporting its existence in the executive wing of our government. The main purpose of this RA is to acknowledge and recognize in the legislative aspect, the rights of the IPs to their ancestral domains. Unfortunately, the gap between the de jure or lawful recognition of IPs’ rights and their de facto or in-reality concretization of land claims merely mirror the fact that there is no clear on-ground implementation of said act (“Philippines Indigenous Peoples ICERD Shadow Report”, 2009); to add to this troubling realization, the Regalian Doctrine oftentimes encompasses the ancestral claims - as it is present from the governing laws of the Spanish colonization in our country and even in our current constitution (“WHAT IS THE CONCEPT OF JURE REGALIA?”, n.d.):. The aforementioned doctrine states:

“All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State…”

With the constitution being the father of all governing laws, this therefore prompted many legislators to view the IPRA law as unconstitutional. To add salt to the absence of land claims, foreign investors enjoy the conviviality of Filipino hospitality with their 40-60 (only in paper) divide of shares in corporations that hold large scale mining as well as logging activities that not only destroy the natural resources of our mother land, it also deters and inhibits appropriate development of IP communities that live in these areas (Collas-Monsod, 2015).

How does it continue? Some Agusanon Manobos (and surely not just this tribe) have been given the duplicitous choice between 500 thousand pesos or 2 percent royalty share - of course the Datus would opt to see the former as the better option for they do not know that billions are garnered every year. We can view this as exploitation of the low education of the tribal leaders and irony in the billions that onerous companies rake but only give 2 percent in tax as stated in the Mining Act of 1995.

Many tribal leaders are even converted by conglomerates into profiteering peons in exchange for their go-signal in ransacking the tribal communities; those who stay true to the interests of their chiefdom are either falsely accused of communist inklings or either spot-on fatally extinguished.

Among the pressing issues that bombard the IPs on an everyday basis, probably the most excruciating and heartbreaking is the fact that only a few countrymen truly care for them. The NCIP, which should aim to protect and acknowledge their rights, deviate from their true purpose and even facilitate the one-way partnership of conglomerates and tribal leaders. The current president is the first, if not mistaken, to acknowledge the plights of the IPs in his State of the Nation Address yet the actions of the current administration are antonyms of their pledges - red tagging is still rampant and land claims still persist to be in the minimum.

What needs to be done? Aside from the answer that the government needs to pick up its slack and produce and implement more nationalistic laws, the individual Filipino should also inform himself/herself with who the IPs are. It is a small step, that hopes to change the perception of every citizen, despite incremental.

When we acknowledge the fact that 14 million countrymen belong to the IP community, we will therefore know that they should no longer be called a minority. If every Filipino are compelled to study more of IP resistance against colonizers, we will find that lost spirit and pride in our roots that we once had. The moment we realize that our indigenous brothers and sisters scream for justice every day in the hopes that we may hear them, perhaps we will not remain deaf.

The dichotomy that has been set between the IPs and the non-indigenous promotes a conflagration of ideology and cultural identity.

Lest we forget, before anything and above all else: We are all Filipinos.

REFERENCES:

Collas-Monsod, S. (2015). Who is exploiting the ‘lumad’?. Opinion.inquirer.net. Retrieved from <http://opinion.inquirer.net/88664/who-is-exploiting-the-lumad> last November 4, 2017

Hechanova, E. (2015). PHILIPPINES: PROTECTING IP RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. Managingip.com. Retrieved from <http://www.managingip.com/Article/3421387/Philippines- Protecting-IP-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html> last November 4, 2017

Montanyosa, A. (2014). The Indigenous People of the Philippines throughout Colonization (How Majority- Minority Dichotomy came to be). Montanyosa.wordpress.com. Retrieved from <https://montanyosa.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/the-indigenous-people-of-the-philippines- throughout-colonization/> last November 4, 2017

Philippines Indigenous Peoples ICERD Shadow Report (2009). Tbinternet.ohchr.org. Retrieved from <http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/PHL/INT_CERD_NGO_PHL_ 75_9922_E.pdf> last November 4, 2017

WHAT IS THE CONCEPT OF JURE REGALIA? (n.d.). Batasnatin.com. Retrieved from <https://www.batasnatin.com/law-library/civil-law/land-titles-and-deeds/1350-the-concept-of-jure- regalia-regalian-doctrine.html> last November 4, 2017

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storyofmytattoo-blog · 7 years

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Mr Fix It

You are on the top of a 100 stores building with wings to fly, would you fly? Would you do it? Or you would not? The choice is yours. But remember there are outcomes (unknown) in both situations. Will you not trust your wings? Or would you trust the KARMA and fly? What? What? What would you do?

Let’s say you did not, then what? Let’s say you did fly, then what? What are you thinking? You are thinking about the possibilities and all the outcomes in both situations but why? Why? Why are you making all the outcomes when you have not even begun the first stage of your action? We are all confused and our confusion drags us to outcomes that we don’t even have a hind, is it not? Yet we all assume this and that before we even did something?

Life is funny and always like that. It makes us think and drag us to that corner of the world where we have to decide whether to stay or come out. Is it not? I think so. And so does artist Edward Swanson who has been in the industry since 2012 and have traveled across oceans and mountains to flourish the art (tattoo). Artist Swanson said, “Tattoo changed me into a whole different person, a better one; happier and stronger me.”

My option - Deadbeat artist or Scumbag Tattooer?

Growing up, I was always surrounded by the arts and myth. My mother is a potter you see, and was a bit of a hippie. It still remains the family business in fact. Our whole house was a huge studio where she made her crafts. We also had a lot of dusty old books. Some had tales of otherworldly things and bizarre illustrations. Others were catalogs of old ceramics and historic art. There were of course a lot of National Geographics lying around. It was the synergy of these influences that may well have put me on this path, or at least dictate aesthetics that interest me. But what were particularly fascinating for me were those patterns and symbols found on old ceramics. How these black shapes and lines interacted on three dimensional forms. And also what they signified. It is a visual language. It may not be obvious to an intellectual, but on a visceral level it makes sense. Though it may not be a literal picture (sometimes), it tells a story. It is these stories that ignites the imagination and defines our humanity.

Before I even had the inclination to be a tattooer, I was living in a warehouse squat and doing odd jobs, mostly construction, and some book illustration on the side. Sometimes I would get gigs hanging art at galleries. Even more rare, a few of my paintings managed to get into shows at those galleries, but I never really had luck selling anything. It was a fairly squalid and chaotic existence. But I was alive, and I got to make art. Eventually however, I felt like I needed more. I had fire but no direction. I needed to cultivate a discipline. That is how I met my first mentor. She suggested the idea of tattooing and offered to teach me a few things. So there was the crossroads: to continue as some deadbeat artist, or do something slightly more respectable like a Scumbag tattooer. The choice was obvious.

When I was first learning to tattoo I hated it. I was arrogant for sure. I had just completed my traditional training in fine art, and I was used to soft mediums like painting and drawings where you could be loose and erase your mistakes. The technique was more harsh, unforgiving and brutal than any medium I had encountered up until that point. And it intrigued me. When painting and sculpture came so easily, tattooing had my number and it pounded me into the earth like a tent peg. It made me mad with frustration and anguish. But it also cultivated an obsession to figure it out. So even when I struck out on my own and had no real guidance at all, it was my stubborn will and my desperation for survival that kept me on this path. And I continue to survive.

Tattooing to me:

Well, tattooing to me is a collaborative work between the artist and the customer. I believe communication plays a vital role. As an artist, I want to advance my sense of aesthetics and design, but still remain respectful to the patron and their conceptual needs. After all at the end of the day, they have to wear the damn thing, and I want my people to be stoked on what they have for years to come. People are not paper. They have feelings, and it is important to hear them in the design process. I should also note that I have never had the opportunity where somebody requested that I just "do my thing" on them and in some ways I do not know if I would do anyone any good with that request. I feel like the work should be inspired by the nature of that person whether it be a intellectual, emotional or spiritual. Enforcing too much of your own inner workings onto someone else just seems wrong.

It is not always a perfect arrangement though. Everybody has their own ideas about what this sort of work entails. So ego tends to get in the way of this process a lot and that always leads to trouble. I will admit sometimes I get a little too carried away with an idea and the person I am working with is not as ambitious. And sometimes the client has some instincts about a piece that aesthetically are not congruent with how I like to work. Hence the need for clear communication. And keeping your ego in check. Hahaha!

So in short, tattooing for me is like building a house. You do have to build it how the owner would like it, but you have to use your skills, judgment and expertise to make it livable and functional.

My Tattoos:

We live in a strange world where we hold identity in such importance. Most folk know who they are. They know where their people are from, who their ancestors are, and what culture they should participate in, whether it is something traditional, indigenous or capitalistic. Then there are those who are lost. And we are lost because we are disenfranchised by those who feel like they know better. And because our voices are perpetually judged and drowned out by the majority, we are forced to create new identities for ourselves in order to navigate the world around us. But though we are a lost people, we are strong as individuals. These tattoos serve to reclaim and define identity.

My tattoos are of a metaphorical and symbolic nature. They are the synergy of myth and stories, form and function. They are representative of my bloodlines, and my affinity for the land that I hail from. I am of Chinese and Swedish ancestry and I was born in the city of Oakland, California, ICECITY. I have had to fight my whole life in America to justify my existence to many who would not accept me for what I am. These tattoos are defiance to anyone who would wish to challenge me on this. Some are merely abstractions of my land: our rolling hills, our strong oaks, great red wood trees, the warm sun, the dusty earth and the rugged crash of the Pacific Ocean against our rocky coast. Some are reflections on the harsh nature of living in an urban environment and the ignored social ills that come with that life. They are songs of blood, struggle and memory. They are the embodiment of how I have lived, and my will to survive.

Tattooers are not Rock-stars:

I am pretty happy with what I am doing and all but I feel like I still have a lot to learn. I am very grateful for this trade, because in a lot of respects, tattooing saved my life. It changed me into a completely different person; I feel happier and stronger. I am way more confident. I have a place to lay my head that is all mine. And I have more respect and stacks that I have ever seen in my whole life. But what is that worth if your work becomes stagnant? I still want to be challenged by the work. I want to make art that has substance and that is appreciated by my clients and not of a shallow depth just for making money or petting my ego. I desire to constantly improve my technical skills and understanding of tattooing. I want to never stop learning, and keep the excess in check. If you think you have mastered it, you get complacent. You get complacent with the trappings of this line of work, you get a big head. And when you get a big head, you loose sight of what is important and then you will eventually cease to produce work that challenges others. And even though you surround yourself with people who worship the very ground you walk on, you know deep down that you're full of it. Your life is a lie. And then you die. And what is it all worth then?

Mr. Fix It:

Tattooers have all kinds of catchy stupid slogans that they fling at clients to help them earn a buck and look clever. I do not remember where I heard this but “When in doubt, Black it out." definitely applies to what I do. Most of my work is heavy black tattooing and it has been my style since day one. And incidentally, because of that most of my clients come for cover-ups. So I guess you can just call me Mr. Fix It: repairing broken lives and erasing bad decisions one big mag at a time...

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