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all-hail-the-witcher · 4 years ago

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so now that its been over a year since ive graduated high school id like to tell you all a story that ive been thinking about a lot recently. its a bit long, but i promise its worth it.

this post gets political, fair warning

for context: i went to high school in a very upper middle class, very white town. everyone i talk about in this story is white.

trigger warning: mentions of the german political administration during ww2, their tactics, and extreme right politics

junior year i took ap us history. the class itself was absolutely fantastic, definitely one of the best i took in high school. but we had Quite the assortment of kids...

my high school had this dumb thing called the university program. essentially you applied in 8th grade and it was advertised as this Special Accelerated Learning Program. spoiler alert: it was pretty stupid, all we did was take a certain number of ap classes per year and do x amount of community service. everyone hated it but we all stuck it out cause you got a chord at graduation. so if you were in the university program, you started only being in class with like a variation of the same 75 people. ap us history was one of those classes.

in our class we had quite the mix: 98% of us were members of national honor society but in addition we had the girl who would go on to be the salutatorian, this one guy who knew more about bitcoin than anyone should, two football players who were actually not assholes, and this really passionately german kid.

now this german kid, were going to call him s. he was...interesting. he was very very smart (everyone thought he was going to be valedictorian but he wasn't) but he took his ethnicity very seriously. and when i say ethnicity im referring to that period of german history from 1939-1945. s knew far too much about german politics, esp ww2 german politics (if youre picking up what im putting down there) and he often went as far as to “correct” our various teachers whenever germany came up and talk about very radical right ideas. but our apush teacher was a no-nonsense kinda lady and had no problem telling him “s youre wrong” which all of us absolutely Loved.

the other person in our story is one of the not asshole football players. we’ll call him d. he was what you Wished football players were like, nice, funny, almost like a class clown, would no doubt stand up for anyone getting shit talked, talked to everyone in class no matter what their “group” was and he was really smart, but not in an in your face kinda way like s was.

so anyway. in apush we would periodically have these Round Table Debates, where there were 4 groups: 1 group of jurors who would ask questions and then three teams that were defending their own stance on whatever historical argument we were having. our teacher would sit in the back corner and take shorthand notes on what we were saying, essentially leaving the entire discussion up to us except to tell us when it was time to move on to the next group. we all Loved round table debates because we were all an intelligent group and ended up having really deep and insightful debates and also whichever team won got 5 points of extra credit as did the juror who asked the best questions. about halfway through the year, we had a debate on what to do with the philippines after world war 2 (because they were technically a us colony at that time)

i dont remember what the three different stances were that we were arguing, but i do remember that d was one of the jurors and had asked one of the teams a question. s happened to be on this team and he answered the question. they went back and forth for awhile and things started to get Pretty Heated. we were all watching them intently, not really understanding a good half of what was being said because s had a way of talking in complicated circles that took at least 5 braincells minimum to understand, and all of us being crazy ap students, only had about 2 brain cells each.

but then, s said something in his usual backwards fashion, and d paused dramatically, staring at s intently and all of us were collectively like o shit. i have never heard a classroom that quiet, you could hear a literal pin drop. we were all waiting for 1. d to decipher what s had just said and 2. see what he was going to say in return.

several long moments passed. d leaned forwards in his seat, so far that it looked like he was going to tip the desk over, and, looking completely and utterly baffled, opened his mouth and said:

“are you defending e t h n i c c l e a n s i n g?”

the entire classroom e r u p t e d. cause holy shit, we all knew that s had some, to put it very simply, problematic conservative viewpoints that linked back to ww2 administration germany, but no one had ever called him out on it before (aside from our teacher telling him to be quiet during her lectures). and also this was supposed to be a history role play debate of sorts, the whole point of it was to take on a viewpoint that might not be your own and argue it to the best of your ability. but d knew and everyone else in the class knew that ethnic cleansing was not something that s was pretending to defend for the sake of the debate (public school might be wild but we never touched that topic in a debate setting because our teacher knew that it would make people uncomfortable to argue in favor of), it wasn't even in the prompt sheet, it was something that he had come up with entirely on his own.

so when s started spewing random nonsense as an attempt to backtrack and take back what he had just said, d started shouting back at him about how it was wrong and was halfway out of his seat, fists clenched, ready to literally fight s (if you recall, d was a football/baseball/wrestling guy, at least 6 feet tall, and as far as high school guys go, pretty jacked. he was Scary when he was mad)

it was at this exact moment that our teacher spoke up (which she n e v e r did during debates). she looked pretty shocked at the whole turn of events (as in, s defending ethnic cleansing, not d almost decking him) (and nothing ever phased her) and said, as calmly as she could muster, “alright. lets move on to the next question.”

we were all 16/17 year olds. we couldn't vote yet, but we still had very strong opinions. and d knew the implications of s’s opinions, knew that they were hurtful to other people, promoted the hurting of other people, and called him out on it. publicly. in front of our history class, filled with his friends and peers, our teacher, and some of the smartest kids in our grade.

after that day, s never suggested radical right ideas in class again, and if anyone else had similar ideas, they kept them to themselves. and from that point on d had my complete and utter respect.

now, im not telling you to almost beat up your classmate in class in front of your teacher and risk suspension, but if someone you know has a viewpoint (especially a young person) that is hurtful or promotes hate/harm to a group of people, dont be afraid to try and educate them. we might be young and the older generations might brush us off, but in a few years its going to be this generation pulling most of the weight in polls. educate your ignorant friends, family members, classmates etc. every little bit helps. and education is the only way that we will be able to promote change. this is not a battle that we are going to win overnight, but that doesnt mean we should ignore it if it doesnt affect us.

(oh and yes, d totally got 5 extra credit points from that debate)

((if this post offends anyone or is wrong in any way let me know and ill take it down or edit it))

#black lives matter #dont you even think about stopping the fight #blm #tw nazis #tw ethnic cleansing #educate people!!

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dansnaturepictures · 5 years ago

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21/06/19-Seahouses, St. Abb’s Head in Scotland and Budle Bay

Today started with me doing what I knew probably with us needing to vacate the cottage by fairly early tomorrow morning would be my last walk by the coast by the cottage this holiday, exploring the coast path and Seahouses Harbour which I have come to adore this holiday. It was magical to do the walk one last time, the sun was in and out when I walked up but all of a sudden over the sea I could see patches of glistening water as shown in the 1st picture I took today in this photoset.

Also magic was that as I savoured the sights that made this holiday so amazing, including the Farne Islands for one of the last times, I Iooked and saw from a little way away the Kittiwakes which I have marvelled at so much on this cliff and Fulmars too. I thought I wanted to hear them once more so should I walk closer. But at that moment the wind possibly just carried the sound a little and I could hear them from where I was. I saw so much else on this little walk showing what a truly wild area it is as indicated in my wildlife sightings summary below.

This afternoon we did something I found really exciting, take the chance to cross the border into Scotland for my second visit ever! St. Abb’s head was the location. I found it some of the best coastal scenery this holiday, and the nature reserve with a nice lighthouse reminded me very much of Durlston at home (sort of). What a lovely place to come for the day. I took the 2nd and 4th pictures in this photoset of beautiful views there, the 5th of the lighthouse, the 7th of the Mire Loch there and 9th looking down into the harbour.

I also got more great chances to see the seabirds here, I saw many Guillemots some shown in the 3rd picture I took today in this photoset, Razorbill, Kittiwake, Fulmar and Shag. Ladybirds were seen a lot throughout. I even saw something I had hoped coming here might allow us too, Gannets in good numbers and fairly close in too. It was a bird I had only seen twice this year, at Portland in January and on my Farne Islands cruise on Monday.

The reason so many were about is because at the end of the walk where we went up to and turned back a famous Gannet colony Bass Rock was visible in the distance, as shown in my 6th picture in this photoset. This brought me a lot of joy and even though we didn’t go there this felt like a seabird pilgrimage of a week seeing both this and going on the Farne Islands both iconic British locations for seabirds.

Attention turned to butterflies on the way back as we knew rare Northern Brown Arguses could be seen from here. We saw a couple of nice people crouching over a fenced off area where they said it could be seen on a sign nearby. It was as if they were looking at a butterfly far away and when we asked them they were. They very kindly showed us one which was a Northern Brown Argus! This was clearly a new butterfly for us, and a special and rare one summing up how today was a huge bonus add on to this week away. It was my 45th butterfly species ever and 31st this year. We saw a few more as we walked on and the in and out sun was really coming out. I took the 8th picture in this photoset of one.

It’s a great journey to go on given Brown Argus wasn’t one I’d seen in 2018 at this stage a year ago. I saw one in May this year. Last year I finally saw one in July as it was butterfly 39 on my year list, then making 2018 my joint highest ever year list. This proved a moment to allow me to brush up my ID skills for a butterfly I’d been shown a lot before so I could have possibly seen it before during last year looking back and not quite known.

But as Painted Lady did in my Yorkshire holiday last year, Northern Brown Argus gives me belief I can beat or level my current personal record 42 total of last year for butterflies. This is because if I saw all of the butterfly species I think I have a chance of seeing of the summer ones yet to come out or I am yet to see I would finish on 43 butterflies. Lots of factors come into play about so many of these, many I cannot assume I will see and others I just might have a bad year for you never know. The weather is obviously crucial too. But with two butterflies seen this year that I didn’t last year, I would love to get into the 40’s for butterflies seen this year which I was in heaven at doing for the first time last year as I have mentioned so many times.

I’m so sad to be going home tomorrow really, but this is a nice little challenge to keep me occupied on weekends between now and my August holiday to Rutland. Lots of 2018 throwbacks today then with visiting Scotland my 21st birthday trip to the Cairngorms in January a perfect start to maybe my greatest ever year for wildlife last year and saying what I was about butterflies this time last year and it was so brilliant to end it. But 2019 continues to live up to it so well. It was nice to see the Lindisfarne area as came back into Northumberland for our last night here. We then took a look and scan with the binoculars over the lovely Budle Bay and I took the 10th and final picture in this photoset looking over it.

Wildlife Sightings Summary: (Seahouses) Two of my favourite birds the Fulmar and Kittiwake, one of my favourite butterflies the Red Admiral. Sandwich Tern, Eider, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Linnet, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swift, Swallow, Starling and House Sparrow. (St. Abb’s Head) My first ever Northern Brown Argus, two of my favourite butterflies the Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral, six of my favourite birds the Gannet, Guillemot, Razorbill, Kittiwake, Fulmar and Buzzard, Painted Lady, Small Copper, Common Blue, Large White, Meadow Brown, Shag, Cormorant, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Jackdaw, Rook, Woodpigeon, House Martin, Swallow, Linnet, some nice black moths like I saw the other day in the Northumberland National Park and lots of Ladybirds.

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cabreraarchive · 3 years ago

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If you're Native American, there's a good chance that you've thought a lot about blood quantum — a highly controversial measurement of the amount of "Indian blood" you have. It can affect your identity, your relationships and whether or not you — or your children — may become a citizen of your tribe.

Blood quantum was initially a system that the federal government placed onto tribes in an effort to limit their citizenship. Many Native nations, including the Navajo Nation and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, still use it as part of their citizenship requirements.

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Love And Blood Quantum: Buy In Or Die Out?

And how tribes use blood quantum varies from tribe to tribe. The Navajo Nation requires a minimum of 25 percent "Navajo blood," and Turtle Mountain requires a minimum of 25 percent of any Indian blood, as long as its in combination with some Turtle Mountain.

Blood quantum minimums really restrict who can be a citizen of a tribe. If you've got 25 percent of Navajo blood — according to that tribe's blood quantum standards — and you have children with someone who has a lower blood quantum, those kids won't be able to enroll.

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So why keep a system that's decreasing your tribe's rolls and could lead to its demise?

"I use the term 'Colonial Catch 22' to say that there is no clear answer, and that one way or another, people are hurt," says Elizabeth Rule. She's a doctoral candidate at Brown University who specializes in Native American studies, and also a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.

"The systems are so complicated," she explains, "but it's all part of tribes deciding on their own terms, in their own ways, utilizing their own sovereignty [to decide] what approach is best for them."

As we explored blood quantum in this week's episode, we thought a primer of what, exactly, this system is and how it works — or doesn't — might be useful. Here's my interview with Elizabeth Rule, edited and condensed for clarity.

First of all, what's blood quantum?

Blood quantum simply is the amount of "Indian blood" that an individual possesses. The federal government, and specifically the Department of the Interior, issues what is called a "Certified Degree of Indian Blood," and that is a card similar to an ID card. So the way that blood quantum is calculated is by using tribal documents, and usually it's a tribal official or a government official that calculates it.

But really it's a mathematical equation. So the quantum is a fraction of blood that is derived going back to the original enrollees of a tribe who were counted on Census rolls, and then their blood quantum was documented, and usually those original enrollees had a full blood quantum. Typically.

How did people know that those original enrollees had "full blood quantum"?

Well, they didn't. And that's that's one of the major problems with blood quantum today is that a lot of times, the people taking the rolls were federal government officials who were unfamiliar with Native ways of establishing and defining their own communities.

And so, for example, these officials would mark someone potentially as "full blood" when potentially that person was not. And that assumption was based on their appearance, on their level of cultural involvement with their community.

But a great example for how to understand this problem in real life is that there is a history of freedmen who are black individuals who were living as fully incorporated members of Indian tribes. And when these original roles were taken, oftentimes these freedmen were not included, even though those individuals may be of mixed heritage: black and Indian. Because of their black appearance, they were listed on a separate roll. And today, the ramification is that they do not have that original enrollee [in their past]. They do not have enough blood quantum, and therefore oftentimes cannot be extended tribal membership.

Can you talk to me about how the concept of blood quantum came to be used for Native tribes?

Certainly, American Indians have been racialized. But our primary identity continues to be a political one. Blood quantum really emerges as a way to trace race between generations of Native people starting at the turn of the 20th century. And again, I think it's helpful to understand the way that blood quantum works through another example that people may be more familiar with — and that's the "one drop rule."

Blood quantum emerged as a way to measure "Indian-ness" through a construct of race. So that over time, Indians would literally breed themselves out and rid the federal government of their legal duties to uphold treaty obligations.

The one drop rule measured the amount of "black blood" that black people had in society. And that ensured that every person who had at least one drop would be considered black and would be covered under these discriminatory laws and, even in the earlier days, enslaved.

One of the questions that kept coming up is: OK, so why don't tribes just ditch these blood quantum requirements and switch to an enrollment requirement that uses lineal descent? (Lineal descent basically means that, if your ancestors were enrolled in a tribe, you can be, too.)

That is the question of the century. And first, I want to be clear that I don't intend to speak on behalf of any specific tribes or even on behalf of my own, but I'm happy to walk you through some of those arguments that exist in support of maintaining blood quantum requirements for tribal membership. ...

The thing that I've found to be most interesting about both arguments — in support and against blood quantum requirements — is the language of survival. So, lineal descendant supporters think about high memberships through the lens of existence as a resistance right. And so there's a desire to build up tribes' numbers and capacity in order to survive and perpetuate the tribe.

On the other side, those who defend blood quantum requirements also evoke this language of survival, and they look upon those blood quantum minimums as a way to preserve an already existing closed community that's very close and ... usually very culturally connected.

Even though they're using what a lot of people say is a "Colonialist construct"?

Yes. And I don't think that anyone would argue that it isn't that. That history is very clear. But, tribes today of course have to adapt, and blood quantum for some tribes in their view has been a way to preserve their community.

I also want to emphasize that it is the tribe's sovereign right to determine their own membership and whether that involves a blood quantum minimum or lineal descent system.

Ultimately their decision has to be respected in order to uphold tribal sovereignty.

You've used the phrase "personal gains" before to refer to some people who might've claimed Indian heritage. Can you walk me through what specifically those personal gains look like?

You hear every time a tribe changes over to lineal descent, or that there is a newly recognized tribe, for example, that usually there's a mass group that's interested in joining. And potentially, some of those incentives would be financial gain if the tribe, for example, has gaming revenue or other industries. Of course, there is a desire on some individuals' part to claim an identity for affirmative-action purposes. But again, I would say that is certainly the minority of this side of the cases. But it does happen and I just want to point it out again to show that there are difficulties on both sides and that there's not a clear-cut answer yet.

If each tribe is able to determine their own their own enrollment requirements, are there any tribes out there that you've heard of that are deciding to forego lineal descent and blood quantum — and deciding to use another completely different method?

I have heard of one example in Canada, where a First Nation has decided to open enrollment to people who have no Indian ancestry at all. Meaning that those individuals don't meet the federal Canadian requirements of being a "status Indian," and they also don't have that blood quantum or descendancy from an original enrollee. It's an extremely progressive and interesting move, and they're really changing the game.

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republicstandard · 6 years ago

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What Archbishop Sentamu calls a “Childish Dream” is in Reality a Biblical Vision

“Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?” sings Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. “Why can’t Anglicans teach their bishops how to speak or read or write?” is a dirge of desperation you’re tempted to sing each time you read an episcopal edict in the press—irrelevant or entertaining at best, idiotic or irritating to the point of triggering head-banging at worst.

To frame our jeremiad more theologically: “Why can’t Anglicans teach their bishops how to read the Bible?” Clinical psychologist Prof Jordan Peterson is neither a churchgoer nor a confessing Christian. Yet Peterson expounds the Bible with eloquence and rigor, demonstrating the depth of its ancient wisdom and the breadth of its relevance for today’s culture, politics, morality, and life.

Millions of non-Christians, many of them young Western men, are hungrily devouring Peterson’s YouTube lectures on the Bible. There is indeed a famine, not of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord, as the prophet Amos declared. But try getting 50 young white men to listen to the diocesan bishop teach Genesis or even the sexy Song of Songs, and if it’s successful, I’ll change my surname to Sentamu.

“There’s little space or time for theology, and especially not academic theology … certainly not on the bench of bishops, and increasingly not amongst the deans,” said Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark, last week in his eulogy for scholar-priest David Edwards.

You don’t see much of the Word translated into words when our prelates deliver their pronouncements. This has been starkly evident in the case of Brexit. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Bishop Nick Baines of Leeds and almost every bishop in the House of Bishops (except Mark Rylands) voted to remain in the European Union (EU). Not a single bishop made a biblical case defending the globalist vision of the EU or critiquing the nationalist model of Brexit.

John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, has yet again splattered his ink on Brexit in the Yorkshire Post. He pleads for democracy, compromise, and neighborliness, but pitifully culminates a page of pious platitudes with a note of surly contempt for the majority of Anglicans and 17.4 million people who voted Leave.

“The idea of a ‘pure’ or ‘maximal’ Brexit, which would somehow make a clean sweep and give us a completely blank page to write on, was a childish dream, and no serious politician should have entertained it,” Sentamu patronizingly pontificates.

“But quite why he should feel the need to insult the intelligence and maturity of those who have qualms about the constitutional position, or who might prefer a ‘hard’ or ‘real’ or ‘pure’ Brexit for other reasons, is a mystery,” asks veteran commentator Adrian Hilton on his Archbishop Cranmer blog. “And for those who don’t attend church, Dr. Sentamu is informing potentially 17.4 million people that their desire for the United Kingdom to become a sovereign, democratic, self-governing nation is ‘childish’,” adds Hilton.

Sentamu entreats that our “first concern must be maintaining respect for democratic law-making institutions, which are under heavier pressure today than for more than a century”. Pray, can he not see how transferring legislative and judicial powers to the EU has sabotaged democracy and reduced Britain to a colonial vassal state?

The Archbishop predicts that a “permanent loss of confidence in governmental institutions always results in civil unrest and violence”. But it is not a second referendum, but the mission creep of a supra-governmental institution with imperialist ambitions that stealthily at first, but now with increasing impunity, tramples on national freedoms, that will result in violent resistance.

What on earth gave Sentamu the idea that Brexiteers voted for a “compromise”? We voted for Britain to take back her sovereignty. Of course, we never had any “childish dream” that we would have a “completely blank page to write on” because we knew we could simply draw on centuries of common law and democratic traditions and our relationships with 53 countries of Britain’s Commonwealth and our special relationship with the US. England is the mother of parliaments, doesn’t Sentamu know this?

But back to the Bible. Sentamu and Welby both claim to be evangelical Christians who believe in the divine inspiration and authority of the Bible, as well as its relevance to the modern world. The Bible chronicles a conflict between “two antithetical visions of world order: an order of free and independent nations, each pursuing the political good in accordance with its own traditions and understanding; and an order of peoples united under a single regime of law, promulgated and maintained by a single supranational authority,” notes Yoram Hazony in The Virtue of Nationalism.

Hazony, who combines a rare skill as a biblical scholar and political theorist, shows how the imperial powers of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, continually attempted to establish empires that would impose a universal political order “to create a unified international realm in which men could live together in peace and prosperity”. Imperial intentions were noble, not nefarious!

But the Bible, he points out, is concerned with the independence of nations, despite the obvious economic advantages of an Egyptian or Babylonian peace that would unify humanity. The biblical prophets aspire to the vision of a free and independent Israel living in harmony and justice with other free nations and not to a global empire—which as I wrote in a previous column is the hubristic vision of the Tower of Babel—mocked and toppled by God.

Nationalism is not a bad word. It is a biblical word. Nationalism is a blessing and globalism is a curse, in biblical theology. Globalism is imperialism redivivus, re-heated in a microwave made in Strasbourg.

So why do Sentamu, Welby and the House of Bishops prefer “Babel” to “Israel”? Is it because they are marinated in the globalist ideology so chic among our elite? Is it because they are so isolated from ordinary Britons in small towns who love our green and pleasant land and its traditions more than they love the postmodern glass and steel Towers of Babel in Brussels? Or, is it, because they no longer view the Bible as “a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path?”

Sentamu tells us that he went through Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal document “with a fine-tooth comb”. Perhaps, his proclamations would have some prophetic power if he spent more time going through the Holy Scriptures with a fine-tooth comb. He might also join those who are demanding to see the full Brexit legal advice and go through the small print with a fine-tooth comb.

I never expected Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, to attack Theresa May’s deal with a flame-thrower. What Sentamu hails as the beatitude of “compromise”, King excoriates as “incompetence of a high order”.

What Sentamu sees as the “art of the possible”, King lambasts as beggaring “belief that a government could be hell-bent on a deal that hands over £39 billion, while giving the EU both the right to impose laws on the U.K. indefinitely and a veto on ending this state of fiefdom”.

While Sentamu says a second referendum will unleash the four horsemen of the apocalypse, King notes with prophetic perception: “Vassal states do not go gently into that good night. They rage”—violently as we are seeing in France where Emmanuel Macron has exalted the “green” good of the globe above the good of his people.

Professor Higgins from Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion loved the English tongue. Our archbishops and bishops love the Newspeak of Babel. Perhaps Higgins would adapt his diatribe to the episcopal “prisoners of the gutter, condemned by every syllable they utter” and call for them to “taken out and hung, for the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue”. Garn!

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folukeifejola · 6 years ago

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I am constantly looking for films set in colonial Africa. For some reason they are very rare. I wonder why? There is an old movie starring Pierce Brosnan (one time 007). Mister Johnson. And not many more. However, I found one recently on Netflix. ‘Palm Trees in the Snow‘ It is a lovely Spanish language historical romantic drama set on Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea [not Guinea Conakry, and not Guinea Bissau, and definitely not Papua New Guinea].

It would be a good idea to watch it (if you have access) before reading this article. Let me call out Baba Spoilers.

Baba Spoilers, Announcer Extraordinaire

Spoilers O! tueh tueh

In other words, there will be massive movie spoilers in this article.

A little background information about Bioko Island: It used to be called Otcho by the Bubi people who have lived there since approximately the 7th century BC. In 1494 it was renamed Fernando Pó in honour of Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó after he ‘claimed’ it as a Portuguese colony. The Portuguese developed the island for sugarcane crops among other things. Fast forward a few hundred years, during which the Dutch turn up briefly as well. In 1778, under the Treaty of El Pardo, Portugal ceded Bioko, Annobón, and the Guinea coast, Rio Muni, to Spain, together forming modern Equatorial Guinea, in exchange for territory on the American continent. Then the British also make an appearance. One tiny island, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, British. (Why only them???) But from 1843, the Spanish regained control of Bioko, using it as a dumping ground for undesirable Afro-Cubans and Spanish people they didn’t like. From this time till independence in 1968, Spain developed large cocoa plantations for which thousands of West African workers were imported as labourers. And here begins our story…

Map of Bioko Island; Equatorial Guinea

The historical scenes on Bioko in the film begin in 1953. It’s a film of a book. I am assuming you have watched the film and realise that it is a very moving story. Good acting and exceptionally beautiful visually. [I would watch it for the visuals only]. Also good music. Bisila’s song is very emotional. I really love the scene with the turtles on the beach and the accompanying metaphor spoken by Anton. ‘One never forgets where one was born.‘ As you can see from the map, Bioko is very close to Nigeria. And so, Nigerians turn up a lot in the story. When there is a party, the Nigerians are in charge of it. Naturally. So generally, I would recommend it. Please watch it and let me know what you think of it.

There a few things I have issues with though. (Obvs! I have written a nearly 2000 word article!) For a film set in Equatorial Guinea, we hear very little from actual Equatorial Guineans. All the scenes are focused on the foreigners. Despite this being a love story, even the poster does not centre the heroine. Erasure and gaze are deployed here. Where is the centre? Who is the story about? Who is it being told for?

It is worrying that the black men are largely depicted as aggressive, hypersexed and mute. Colourism also comes into play; the darker ones speak less and are more violent. Bisila’s husband, Mosi, is practically silent throughout the whole nearly 3-hour movie. As a key part of the central love triangle that seems a bit reductive. In contrast, did dastardly Jacobo really need that much screen time? Gustavo, who seems to be the resident African nationalist has barely any lines. We know that the Spaniards are fearful of the political change of independence, but what about the perspectives of the people of Bioko and Equatorial Guineans? Yes, it is a love story, but there was enough room and time to fill in the gaps in the political context especially as that political context has a profound effect on the story and the protagonists.

I would definitely have loved to hear more of Bisila’s thoughts. What does she see in Kilian? When the story gets to her bit of narration, there is a foregone conclusion that she has feelings for Kilian, with no foreshadowing of that in their prior interactions. Of which they had very few. He did not even know her name! Also the oversexualisation of interracial encounters in the movie was a bit problematic. Julia & Manuel for e.g. don’t get the same treatment. It felt like a metaphor for the exotification and fetishization of Africa.

There was some misogynoir going on there with the gaze on Bisila’s body. She was undressed for a large part of the movie. A hint of fetishization and exotification again seemed to be in play. So, this feels to me like a metaphor. Africa constantly being stripped and laid bare, open to a certain type of exploitation often couched as benevolent. In most of the movie Bisila lacked agency and this lack of agency was not really addressed.

I watched the movie with the English dub, if you do not understand Spanish, you can either do that or watch with subtitles. One thing that completely jarred, with the English dub, was the dubbed voices of the black people. Without exception they all spoke with African American accents. ALL OF THEM. It was so incongruous that I found it difficult to concentrate on what they were saying. Close your eyes you may be watching Atlanta… or something similar.

The movie used a very light hand on the nature of colonialism and the colonial plantations. This is basically the context of the action in the movie. And it was mostly shuffled off to the background, and the way in which the power dynamics of that context affected the protagonists and their choices I think was largely discounted. I wonder if this is the same in the book. If you know let me know. But it felt like a movie about a flood in which no mention is made of anyone got wet, or a setting based on a towering inferno where no mention is made of burning people burning or a movie set against the backdrop of a famine where access to food is not really addressed.

So a little bit of political context and some legal points (I look at everything through the eyes of the law, I am after all, a lawyer and a teacher #canthelpmyself. Sue me. If you dare). One thing people seem to forget, or are unaware of is the fact that White-owned plantations existed not only in the US, but in most of the Americas, as well as across Africa and Asia. When the slave trade was outlawed, these plantations did not cease to exist, and people who had engaged in slavery – slave and plantation owners – still needed cheap labour for these plantations. This was vital, not just to those individuals, but also the nations for which their produce provided a lot of revenue. To ensure that economies did not tank, colonial governments gave plantation owners low-cost land grants. They also forced the local population to work on the plantations. Monopolies were created by preventing the sale of crops grown by other farmers. These state-supported plantations often produced most of a colony’s exports. Similar in many respects to plantation slavery. These labour relationships were sometimes called indentured servitude – so, not slavery. That’s the ‘beautiful’ thing about the law. As the example by Sundiata illustrates:

‘the labourer found himself working for the period of the advance, three months, as unpaid labour’ [Sundiata, 1974: 104]

Planters detained labour but failed to pay their contracts, resulting in a situation of de facto slavery.

So it is interesting how the legal abolition of a thing (in this case slavery) often results in the evolution of the thing a step away from the legal definition of what it used to be, but in spirit, more or less the same thing. Such that legally the doers of the newly made thing cannot be convicted for doing the abolished thing, but by taking just one tiny step away from the old doing, the old results are kept alive. (Gregorio’s use of the whip is many shades of Kunta Kinte and Roots.) This also exposes the dangers of naming things. Once a named thing is legally defined and confined, to be the named thing, a thing must fit into all the boundaries of the definition. If it does not, then, it is not the abolished thing. It is a new thing for which new resistances must be mounted. And the cycle continues. Thus using indentured labour on African plantations was (legally) not the same as using enslaved Africans’ labour on plantations in the Americas. But in truth the power relations remained largely the same.

And this brings to the crux of my article. It is amazing how a narrative has developed suggesting that interracial relationships signify a move towards ending racism, when we know that heterosexual relationships do not signify less sexism. In many cases, they actually just signify misogyny. We must always talk about the power dynamics. Without discussing the context above, Kilian and Bisila’s relationship is not examined with any reference to the power dynamics between them. Even though some of the horrors of the system are shown, there is an attempt to cast Kilian as an innocent caught in a system beyond his control. But he is still complicit in the system and benefits from it. Gregorio ‘provokes’ Kilian to the point where Kilian violently whips an African. Innocent? When he sees Bisila for the first time, he is in the process of ‘falling in love’ with the sights, sounds and smells of the country and she appears as a physical embodiment of this desire for an exotic Africa.

And this is my question and observation on the true meaning of love; this has been examined in an article by Panashe Chigumadzi who articulated my feelings thus:

‘love without justice, without a reckoning with the history that has created our present realities, is not really love at all.’ Panashe Chigumadzi

Palm Trees in the Snow is a beautiful and romantic movie, in which the romance is so overwhelming that we may fail to note the absence of love. A love that does not acknowledge the history that created Bisila and Kilian’s realities. Love without justice.

Bibliography

Sundiata, Ibrahim K. “Prelude to Scandal: Liberia and Fernando Po, 1880–1930.” The Journal of African History 15, no. 1 (1974): 97-112.

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Palm Trees in the Snow: I am constantly looking for films set in colonial Africa. For some reason they are very rare.

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laughinglion · 7 years ago

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Adventures on Kangaroo Island: Laughing Lion Gear Tested Down Under

When we first told people that we were traveling to Kangaroo Island, many people thought we were using a nickname for Australia. That is not the case. There is a wonderful island just off the coast of Adelaide in South Australia. It is Australia's version of the Galápagos Islands with massive amounts of wildlife and beautiful landscapes. With less than 5,000 people and over 80,000 marsupials, you truly are a guest in mother nature's backyard.

Laughing Lion prides itself in testing our gear in all environments. From high to low, cold to hot, we want our gear to be durable for any adventure. Kangaroo Island is one of the most remote places in the world, and we recommend it for everyone. If you are heading to Australia, make sure to stop on KI. We can definitely say that our dry bag is KI proof and we certify its durability for all of your KI adventures.

We spent a week on this great island, and we could've easily spent a month. There are so many beautiful places to visit on the island, and we could not make it to every corner. We hit some of the highlights for you below.

Vivonne Bay

Vivonne Bay is on the south central coast of Kangaroo Island. Looking towards the water, you feel a cool breeze and icy water. It shouldn't be a surprise. There is no land mass in between you and Antarctica. While it can be a little chilly, the air is fresh and the water is tremendously clean. The beach at Vivonne Bay has been voted the most beautiful beach in Australia multiple times over the past ten years.

Look to your left, then look to your right. You will not see another soul for miles. It is relaxing, and it feels like you've stumbled upon a lost island. There are no hotels near it. Barely a cellular signal. No restaurants. The surrounding area is filled with private residences, and a few miles away there is a single hostel. Even the gas station on the main road is out of operation.

For the testing session in Vivonne Bay, we stayed at a private residence that had many wild birds and goannas. The waves were dangerous at times, but the dry bag held up without any hiccups. The sea has a strong undertow, so it is not advised to venture into the water unless you have a strong swimming background.

Seal Bay Conservation Park

Not too far east from Vivonne Bay is yet another magical place. The Seal Bay area holds the third largest sea lion colony in all of Australia. Since the 1960's it has operated as a national park that protects the sea lion population.

[caption id="attachment_146" align="aligncenter" width="447"] On Kangaroo Island, this seal was mesmerized by our dry bag.[/caption]

They are very active animals. Our team saw countless sea lion pups running around while many of the adults slept on the beach. Sea lions are great hunters, and they work on a 3 day on/3 day off schedule. For 72 hours, they will hunt for food, and then after all of that work, they will come ashore to rest on the beach.

For anyone traveling to KI, this is a must visit. The experience is one of a kind. We also got the Seal of Approval from one of the little sea lion pups.

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Flinders Chase

Hiking is a great way to have fun on Kangaroo Island. The best place for hiking is on the far west portion of the island in Flinders Chase National Park. You need to make sure that you are fully stocked with food, water, and fuel. It is extremely desolate, and the restaurant at the main entrance is only open for limited hours. Making sure you have enough fuel is important because it is possible to drive two hours without seeing another vehicle while in the park. Don't run out of fuel.

With all of those disclaimers, Flinders provided an amazing time for our team. There are many trails and paths to hike, and they are suitable for every experience level. From beginner to extreme, Flinders has you covered. Our favorite hike was Ravine des Casoars. Located in the northwest corner of the park, you will stumble your way through a forest trail and then be surprised by a beautiful beach surrounded by caves. At low tide, you can even sneak into the caves...just make certain it is low tide so you can easily get escape.

Just imagine going on a long hike through a blistering and humid forest, and popping out to this:

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Flinders Chase is home to one of the most interesting pieces of nature, the Remarkable Rocks. They are located only a short drive from the main entrance. They have been formed by wind, sea, and erosion for over 500 million years. Be careful when you get there because the winds are intense, and if you were to fall, it is a 200 foot drop into the below sea. The formations are each unique, and many of them resemble wildlife. One of the most famous rocks resembles a bird of prey.

Not too far from the Remarkable Rocks is Admiral's Arch. You can hike from the Rocks, or you can hop into your car for only a short drive to the parking lot near Cape du Couedic Lightstation. The drive between these two landmarks is stunning, and you won't lose adventure points if you decide to drive rather than hike.

From the top you can see and hear a large New Zealand fur seal colony. You will see them playing on the rocks and water below. To get to Admirals Arch, you need to climb down the stairway for a few minutes, and then you will see this view:

We visited on a cloudy day so the arch is a little muted. On a clear day, around sunset, you will get an amazing view through the arch.

These are just a few of the highlights in Flinders Chase National Park. You could easily spend weeks adventuring and exploring its many trails. If you love beautiful vistas and great wildlife, Flinders is a must.

Hanson Bay

Hanson Bay is one of the lesser known beaches on Kangaroo Island, but it is also one of the most beautiful and serene. The water is a little chilly, but the local fishermen will tell you it is great for fishing. If you peer out, you can see sea lions, dolphins, and the occasional shark fin poking out beyond the big waves.

The dry bag held up well in the rough waves of Hanson Bay. We also got to experience the local animal sanctuary's nocturnal tour. Most of the wildlife on Kangaroo Island is nocturnal, so you don't always see them when you adventure in the daylight. For a low price, the Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary offers a two hour nocturnal tour where you will see all of the regulars: echidnas, wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, and other animals. The sanctuary also offers great cabins that overlook Hanson Bay.

Stokes Bay

The best beach on Kangaroo Island. Stokes Bay is located on the northern coast of KI, and it has much warmer water when compared to the southern coast beaches like Hanson Bay and Vivonne Bay. Our tests showed a 10F degree difference when compared to the Hanson Bay water temperatures. The northern coast seems to get more sunlight too, so you definitely want to have sunscreen.

Stokes Bay beach looks odd when you first arrive. There are many signs directing you to a beach, except all you see is a large rock formation. Yes, the beach is hidden. After ducking and diving through the cave for five minutes, you pop out and see this:

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The waves are decent for surfing. While the southern coast has much bigger waves, the northern waves are a lot safer. In the distance we were able to spot a few dolphins playing about 200 meters off shore. There are no trees, so protective shade is non-existent. Be sure to bring a pop-up tent or beach umbrella because the sun can get brutal.

The warm water and great weather at Stokes Bay beach make it a definite stop for anyone coming to KI. While the southern waters were great for fishing, the northern beaches are great for surfing, beach fun and kayaking.

Dashwood Bay

On the north coast between Stokes Bay and Emu Bay is a little beach called Dashwood. It is not on every Kangaroo Island map, so you might have to ask a local about it.

Many tour operators offer expensive dolphin swim tours, but if you want to save some money, you can head to Dashwood where the dolphins love to play in shallow waters.

When we visited Dashwood, the weather was stormy and rough so we weren't able to spot any dolphins. Although, based on the video below, Kangaroo Island locals can see and play with them on a regular basis.

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Emu Bay

Emu Bay is where you go when you don't want to get too far from civilization. Located not too far from the main town, Kingscote, and the airport, it provides a relaxing environment where you can still get a cellular signal.

The water at Emu Bay is the calmest we saw on Kangaroo Island. The beach is packed down so cars drive along it like a dirt highway. This makes it much more of a BBQ and hang-out beach rather than a relax in the sun beach.

After the day closes, many locals use the beach at Emu Bay as an outdoor happy hour. Music playing and relaxing by the water, locals chat about the day and observe the wildlife. A local flock of pelicans make Emu Bay their home and they were quite interested in the humans.

Summary

Kangaroo Island is an incredibly difficult place to adventure. There are two ways to get onto the island. The first option is an expensive ferry that can take a half-day from Adelaide. The second option is a flight from the Adelaide airport. Due to the small airport in Kingscote and a lot of fog, the thirty minute flight might take all day. Both on the arrival and the departure from KI, our flights were delayed 3-4 hours due to problems with fog.

While there are tour operators that offer 1 and 2-day tour options, it is ridiculous to think you can get a feel for this wonderful island with less than 48 hours of exposure. Our team spent a week, and we could have spent a month. It is an amazingly beautiful and remote place. With a 20 to 1 marsupial to human ratio, it is hard to not enjoy the wildlife. However, they love to play at night, so it is important to not drive between dusk and dawn. We had a great time and luckily never hit any of the wildlife. The Laughing Lion team loves to test all over the world, and this is one of our favorite spots. For an adventurer looking to get back to nature, there is not better spot in Australia. We cannot wait to return.

Originally Published Here: Adventures on Kangaroo Island: Laughing Lion Gear Tested Down Under

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