#british tribal class

[neechees]

Historical Indigenous Women & Figures [6]:

Queen Nanny: the leader of the 18th century Maroon community in Jamaica, she led multiple battles in guerrilla war against the British, which included freeing slaves, and raiding plantations, and then later founding the community Nanny Town. There are multiple accounts of Queen Nanny's origins, one claiming that she was of the Akan people from Ghana and escaped slavery before starting rebellions, and others that she was a free person and moved to the Blue Mountains with a community of Taino. Regardless, Queen Nanny solidified her influence among the Indigenous People of Jamaica, and is featured on a Jamaican bank note. Karimeh Abboud: Born in Bethlehem, Palestine, Karimeh Abboud became interested in photography in 1913 after recieving a camera for her 17th birthday from her Father. Her prestige in professional photography rapidly grew and became high demand, being described as one of the "first female photographers of the Arab World", and in 1924 she described herself as "the only National Photographer". Georgia Harris: Born to a family of traditional Catawba potters, Harris took up pottery herself, and is credited with preserving traditional Catawba pottery methods due to refusing to use more tourist friendly forms in her work, despite the traditional method being much more labour intensive. Harris spent the rest of her life preserving and passing on the traditional ways of pottery, and was a recipient of a 1997 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States. Nozugum: known as a folk hero of the Uyghur people, Nozugum was a historical figure in 19th century Kashgar, who joined an uprising and killed her captor before running away. While she was eventually killed after escaping, her story remains a treasured one amongst the Uyghur. Pampenum: a Sachem of the Wangunk people in what is now called Pennsylvania, Pampenum gained ownership of her mother's land, who had previously intended to sell it to settlers. Not sharing the same plans as her mother, Pampenum attempted to keep these lands in Native control by using the colonial court system to her advantage, including forbidding her descendants from selling the land, and naming the wife of the Mohegan sachem Mahomet I as her heir. Despite that these lands were later sold, Pampenum's efforts did not go unnoticed. Christine Quintasket: also known as "Humishima", "Mourning Dove", Quintasket was a Sylix author who is credited as being one of the first female Native American authors to write a novel featuring a female protagonist. She used her Sylix name, Humishima, as a pen name, and was inspired to become an author after reading a racist portrayal of Native Americans, & wished to refute this derogatory portrayal. Later in life, she also became active in politics, and helped her tribe to gain money that was owed them. Rita Pitka Blumenstein: an Alaskan Yup'ik woman who's healing career started at four years old, as she was trained in traditional healing by her grandmother, and then later she became the first certified traditional doctor in Alaska and worked for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. She later passed on her knowledge to her own daughters. February 17th is known as Rita Pitka Blumenstein day in Alaska, and in 2009 she was one of 50 women inducted into the inaugural class of the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame Olivia Ward Bush-Banks: a mixed race woman of African American and Montaukett heritage, Banks was a well known author who was a regular contributor to the the first magazine that covered Black American culture, and wrote a column for a New York publication. She wrote of both Native American, and Black American topics and issues, and helped sculptor Richmond Barthé and writer Langston Hughes get their starts during the Harlem Renaissance. She is also credited with preserving Montaukett language and folklore due to her writing in her early career.

part [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] Transphobes & any other bigots need not reblog and are not welcome on my posts.

[cottoncandytrafficcones]

10 Cool Jewish Women from Modern Day! Part 1

Raquel Montoya-Lewis, an American attorney and jurist on the Washington Supreme Court. Born to a father descended from the Pueblo of Laguna, she is a member of the Pueblo of Isleta. Her mother, born in Australia, is Jewish. She was also a professor at Fairhaven College, and was a judge for indigenous courts including the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe and the Nooksack Indian Tribe. She is the second Native American person to sit on a state supreme court, and the first enrolled tribal member!

Dana International, an Israeli pop singer. Born in Tel Aviv to a family of Yemenite descent, she identified as female from a very young age, and was inspired by Ofra Haza to become a singer. Dana was chosen to represent Israel in Eurovision 1998 with the song "Diva," and won the contest with 172 points. She represented Israel again in 2011.

Liora Itzhak, an Israeli singer from the Bene Israel Indian community. She moved to India at the age of 16, returning to Israel eight years later. While in India, she sang with Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan, and performed in the Bollywood film Dil Ka Doctor. Her music has gained recognition in both Israel and India. During the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Israel in 2017, she sang the national anthems of Israel and India.

Carol Man, a Hong Kong artist born into a traditional Chinese family. She converted to Judaism, and often combines Jewish and Chinese elements into her work, which includes a step-by-step guide to Chinese-Hebrew calligraphy. Featured in the Jewish Renaissance magazine and the Jewish Art magazine, she often gives workshops on her style of art.

Qian Julie Wang, a Chinese American writer and civil rights lawyer. Her father was a professor of English and critic of the government, which led to her family having to flee China. She graduated from Swarthmore College with a BA in English Lit, and earned her JD from Yale Law. She converted to Judaism, and founded a Jews of Color group at Manhattan Central Synagogue.

Sarah Avraham, an Indian born Israeli Muay Thai kickboxer. She was born in Mumbai to a formerly Hindu father and a Christian mother. Her family was close friends with Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, who were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. A year after the attack, her family converted to Judaism and moved to Israel. She volunteers as a firefighter, and is considering studying medicine. In 2012, she won the Israeli national women's Thai boxing championship in her weight class; in 2014, she won the Women's World Thai-Boxing Championship in Bangkok in her weight class.

Leza Lowitz, an American writer born in San Francisco who has written, edited, and co-translated over twenty books. She is an internationally renown yoga and mindfulness teacher. She has often written on the topic of expatriate women. She is married to a writer and translator, and has one son. Her work is archived in the Chicago U library's special collection of poetry from Japan.

Ellie Goldstein, a British model born in Ilford, Essez. She has been modeling since she was fifteen, and has worked on campaigns for Nike, Vodafone, and Superdrug. She is the first model with a disability (Down syndrome) to represent Gucci and model their beauty products.

Ashager Araro, an Ethiopian-Israeli activist. Born while her parents were traveling during Operation Solomon. She studied government, diplomacy, and strategy at the IDC Herzliya. She is a feminist who has spoken out about racism and police brutality. In early 2020, she opened a cultural center in Tel Aviv dedicated to Ethiopian Israel culture called Battae.

Sarah Aroeste, an American singer, composer, and author of Northern Macedonian descent. Her music often referred to as "feminist Ladino rock." Born in Princeton, her family emigrated to America from Monastir/Bitola during the Balkan Wars. In the late 1990s, she noted the lack of a revival for Sephardic music despite the revival of klezmer, and started her own Ladino rock band in 2001. One of her albums is named after Gracia Mendes Nasi. In 2015, she represented the US in the International Sephardic Music Festival in Cordoba. She has written several books, including children's books, with Sephardic themes. (Fun fact, I met her at the Greek Jewish Festival in New York!)

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Imho people put too much in the houses. Like they're basically just social cliques, and the sorting hat was definitely taking into account what would or wouldn't destroy their social lives.

I mean, people put as much into houses as the characters seem to put into houses.

For the characters houses are meaningful, they are social cliques and I'm sure the Sorting Hat pays attention to the social situation the student would be in, but there is an element to these traits, to the values a student has when sorted. But more importantly, wizards think about them as so much more. They are a sign of status, legacy, and worth. Like, little 11-year-old Draco says he'd just leave if he was sorted into Hufflepuff because, in his mind, it would mean he isn't worthy of the other "better" houses.

And Draco isn't the only one. Hagrid calls all of Slytherin Evil, practically all the professors play favorites, Ron is worried over not being in Gryffindor because all his family is in Gryffindor, Neville worries about being in Gryffindor because he doesn't think he is worthy of the house reputation because of what his grandmother told him, and students repeatedly fall into the trap of "Wait, why aren't you at X house?" When someone's behavior deviates slightly from the stereotype of their own house. Like, Terry Boot, when told Hermione cast a NEWT Gemino charm, asks her: "How come you aren't in Ravenclaw?" Because they're supposed to be the smart guys.

Basically, the Wizarding World treats houses like a Big Deal. Even adults who graduated decades ago still have pride in their own house. Actually, there are real-world examples of things like that.

I mean, school houses are a British commonwealth thing that exists in public boarding schools. In these irl houses, students take pride in their house, wear their house colors, and are incredibly competitive with other houses. There are schools that apparently have family houses, an in, if a student's sibling/child arrives at the school, they'd go to the same house as their family member.

(I got this from reading online, as I never encountered a school like this irl, but the internet tells me they exist)

But if we talk about something I'm more familiar with, I taught in a sorta summer course thing for teenagers, and we divided the students there into classes since there were over a hundred of them. There wasn't really a difference between the classes, but each class had its name, symbol, and colors (and different staff members), and the students' tribal instincts kicked in. They got super competitive with the other classes and had their closest friends basically exclusively within their own class. We often caught them making fun of other students for being in another class (something that meant literally nothing). So the staff put a lot of effort into creating activities for the entire group without class separation to try and fight that.

Humans are tribal creatures, we have a built-in mechanism that tells us to come together in groups and think our group is the best. A house system just happens to kick that instinct into gear, but it's always there.

So, it's not that weird that that's how Hogwarts houses are treated in universe, and the fandom gives them the same importance characters in universe seem to give them. Because to them they are that important.

(Of course, not all characters have the exact same opinion about the house system. There are adults in the Wizarding World that don't actually care, but then there are many who do)

Now, houses aren't necessarily a bad thing, humans have this tribal instinct for a reason. We need to feel like we're part of a community, a sense of belonging is something most people seek be it subconsciously or consciously. And there is joy in being part of something that has a long history and that you can be proud of. The problem is when these groups start to define people more than their own person as an individual does. And, shockingly, I don't think the Wizarding World has that problem on a cultural level.

Like Scabior says:

“So you aren’t wanted, then, Vernon? Or are you on that list under a different name? What house were you in at Hogwarts?” “Slytherin,” said Harry automatically. “Funny ’ow they all think we want to ’ear that.” leered Scabior out of the shadows.

(DH, 386)

Houses aren't everything. Even a Slytherin who knows where the common room is but has a suspicious name and says Voldemort's name is cause for suspicion. Being a proven Slytherin doesn't necessarily save you because they don't expect all Slytherins to back them. Because there are those who don't and they seem very aware of it. We also don't really see jobs that are reserved for certain houses.

I think some wizards do generalize more based on houses, but I think the majority of their adult population is aware that people are individuals outside of their houses.

Basically, I think the wizarding world's treatment of houses could definitely be way way better, it isn't as bad as it could be (which isn't a high bar since I expect the worst from the Wizarding World).

[dailyanarchistposts]

Imperialism, Capitalism, and the State

To understand the current situation, we must first demystify the political system in Iran.

Iran must be understood as a capitalist society and its state, both before and after the revolution, as a capitalist state. No amount of demagogic proclamations can change the fact that the Iranian state, while possessing many features peculiar to itself, is nonetheless a particular form of bourgeois class rule, a fact visible not only in its internal social relations, but also in the role it plays in the world system.

Through the course of the nineteenth century, Iran went through a process of integration and peripheralization into the rising capitalist world system. The Qajar dynasty (1794 to 1925) that ascended the Peacock Throne at the end of the previous century was quickly caught in the “Great Game” between the Tsarist Russian Empire and the British Empire as they both became more assertive in Asia. Military defeats resulted in the imposition of unequal treaties that not only led to a loss of territory but also included terms that established political and economic dominance. Iran was opened up to European commodities, while domestic production increasingly became geared towards the world market.[2]

Qajar Iran was a system that can be described as tribal-feudalism.[3] The state was not a centralized modern state. The Shah (king) ruled through various local nobles, landlords, tribal-chiefs, and senior clergy who formed the landed aristocracy and played the role of the respective powers in their locality. The latter ruled over a large mass of peasant villagers and nomadic tribes-people. There was no national army, only armies tied to local lords and chiefs. People were divided up according to ethnic groupings, tribal or religious sects, and spoke a variety of languages and dialects.

In the urban centers, which often served as provincial capitals, the center of economic life was — and to a large extent still is today — the bazaar, the traditional commercial center in the urban Middle East, with the merchants and artisans who inhabit it being collectively known as bazaari.[4] The bazaar was not just the center for shops and trade, it also often contained public baths, tea houses, as well as the central mosque. It is common for bazaari and clergy to have familial relations. Wealthy bazaaris fund the mosques and seminaries, religious processions, donate to charitable foundations, and form the main financial support for many religious affairs. Landholdings of the senior clergy and wealthy merchants increased over the course of the 19th century, with the clergy gaining land through religious endowments and donations by rich aristocrats and merchants. This relationship between the bazaari, as the traditional bourgeoisie, and the clergy is important for understanding the politics of modern Iran, and the 1979 revolution in particular, for it was this clerical-bazaari alliance that lay at the heart of the revolution, serving as the base of the Islamic Republic.

This process of integration into the world market, particularly in the form of European domination, contributed to the development of bourgeois national consciousness among merchants, clergy, and artisans. Struggles against foreign concessions and other forms of foreign domination became more commonplace as the merchant bourgeoisie of the bazaar became more assertive, solidifying a bourgeois form of national consciousness. This combination of a material-financial force in the merchants and the ideological force of the clergy transformed the traditional bourgeoisie into a genuine political force.

The integration and peripheralization characteristic of the nineteenth century brought with it close economic ties between Iranian and Russian merchants, but also contributed to the embryonic development of a modern working class. The reality of this process hit home in Iran when the global depression of the 1870s provoked a drop in agricultural prices. Worsening conditions in the countryside forced peasants to leave their villages in search of work. Naturally, they were drawn to the growing industrial centers of the Russian Caucasus, particularly the new oil industry, the center of which being the city of Baku.

Baku’s oil fields were a crucible for working-class radicalism. In the late nineteenth century, the city attracted hundreds of thousands of Iranian migrant workers to the growing industry where they encountered the organizing of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP), itself formed in 1898. Not only Iranians, but people from all over the region traveled to work in the industry, with the result that the city boasted a significant multi-ethnic and multi-religious working class. Employers stoked hostilities often, and Iranian workers and activists in the region became involved in many of the strikes organized by the party. It was a strike wave in Baku that sparked the events that would lead to the Russian Revolution of 1905. Amidst this wave, workers gained crucial experience in party activities and strikes, and it was during the same year the Social Democratic Party of Iran (SDPI) was founded.[5]

The 1905 Revolution would directly influence bourgeois national revolutions in Asian nations such as China and Turkey, but given its proximity and its historical ties, it was felt most immediately in Iran. For Russian and Iranian Social Democrats, the revolution in Iran was directly tied to the revolution against the Tsar. Following the Tsarist reaction just north of the border, many revolutionaries turned their attention south to Iran. The revolutionary wave landing in Iran at the end of the year marked a crucial turning point, ushering in the twentieth century with the Constitutional Revolution and Civil War (1906–1911).[6] This revolution had a number of parallels with the one in Russia, and can even be seen as an extension of the latter, as it proved to be a similarly bourgeois national-democratic revolution with a strong social democratic element. Although it would not succeed in fundamentally altering the state or economic relations, it was nonetheless of great cultural-political significance, and every political tendency that will go on to shape the landscape of 20th century Iran draw their roots there. It also prolonged the bazaari-clergy alliance that had developed in the protests against foreign concessions, but did so while introducing a revolutionary element into the nascent working class and social democratic movement. Along with the struggle for a national assembly, or Majlis, we also witness the appearance and growth of the anjumans, or provincial councils that — as with the soviets — became sources of popular power that pushed the revolution further. In 1909, the first modern industry-wide trade union was established in Tehran among print shops and newspaper workers. 1910 saw the first industry-wide strike, which included all the major newspapers in Tehran. Their demands included, among other things, the eight-hour day and the installation of a minimum wage.

Faced with the threat of revolution from below and an ascendant Germany that was becoming increasingly more assertive in the Middle East, the Russian and British empires put their differences aside and came to an agreement in Asia which was formalized as The Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1907. The agreement made the division of Iran into Russian and British spheres of influence official, and served as a decisive step in the construction of alliances that would eventually erupt into world war.[7] The December 1911 Russian-British invasion and occupation of Iran put an end to the revolutionary wave that had been ongoing since 1905. The Tsarist armies in particular oversaw a reign of terror against Iranian and Russian revolutionaries. While the parliament survived, it did so merely as a basis for aristocratic rule. The constitutional revolution posed, for the first time in Iran, the still crucial question: how should radical socialists relate to broader, popular democratic revolution? And it did so while demonstrating another persistent truth: in the face of social revolution bourgeois democrats will turn to imperialism and reaction.

Two years after the Anglo-Russian intervention that ended the Constitutional Revolution, the imperialist rivalry broke out into world war in 1914. Although the Iranian government officially declared neutrality, it proved powerless to prevent Iran from becoming part of the Middle Eastern theater of war between the Anglo-Russian alliance (‘Entente Powers’) and the Ottoman-German alliance (‘Central Powers’). The war had devastating effects on Iran, as it did on any place that was treated as a battleground for imperialist slaughter. Roughly two million people died from the violence of war, famine, and disease. The situation underscored Iran’s colonial situation, as the country was helpless in the face of foreign powers that effectively did as they pleased within its borders.

At this point, Iran proved to be an independent nation only in name, with the central government serving as a mere shadow for other powers. As was the case before the constitutional period, the central government had no real power outside of the nation’s capital, and even there, such power was constantly disrupted by foreign intervention. Local tribal chiefs and aristocrats seized the opportunity to assert themselves and by the end of the war, clearly constituted the actual powers in their respective regions, going so far as to strike deals and sign treaties with imperialist powers directly without any involvement of, or mediation from, the central government.

The 1917 Russian Revolution fundamentally altered the situation, and breathed new life into the revolutionary forces. The Bolsheviks removed Russian forces from Iran while abolishing all Russian treaties and concessions over the country. The fall of the Romanov Tsar also marked the removal of the Qajars’ principal patron. Following the removal of Russian and Ottoman forces at the end of the war, the British became the dominant imperialist power in the Middle East. The British had initially thought to turn Iran into a protectorate, but the possibility proved untenable. Anti-British sentiment was increasing, and they had quite simply spread themselves too thin. Most importantly, the October Revolution had ushered in a new threat of social revolution. Bolsheviks-aligned Iranian socialists formed the Adalat (Justice) Party, which in 1920 became the Communist Party of Iran. More than perhaps anything else, it was the October Revolution that threatened both the British and the local ruling aristocracy. By 1920, this threat had spread to the northern province of Gilan with the establishment of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Iran. The Red Army now had an official presence on Iranian soil, and succeeded in pushing out both British and Iranian forces from the area.[8]

This presence forced a change in the imperialist strategy of the British. Whereas the latter had thus far supported various local nobles and tribal chiefs in an effort to maintain their influence, this tactic (in addition to direct occupation) was beginning to prove unstable in the face of the Bolshevik threat. Alongside many among the Iranian ruling class, the British searched for a strongman who could seize power, restore order, and protect their interests from the threat of social revolution. It was in this context that an officer from the Cossack Brigades named Reza Khan distinguished himself as the best candidate for the job.9 He was encouraged to organize a coup, the result of which would be an insurance of security and the withdrawal of British forces from the region.

[3rdeyeblaque]

On October 3rd we venerate Ancestor & Saint Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiakaka aka Black Sparrow Hawk on the 185th anniversary of his passing 🕊 [for our Hoodoos of First Nations descent]

Black Sparrow Hawk was a great Warrior military tactician, & Medicine Man of Sauk Nation, who is best known for the war that bears his name, as the last Indian-Euro war fought east of the Mississippi. It was his defeat signaled the end untimely of 200 years of armed resistance against European colonization on Turtle Island.

Black Sparrow Hawk (Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak) was born into the Thunder Clan of Sauk Nation around 1767 & was a member of the Warrior Class. He was the son of a highly respected Medicine Man and would go on to inherit his father's Medicine Bags after he was killed in battle. Though polygamous, had only 1 wife. They had 5 children. They later lost their eldest son & youngest daughter within the same year. Black Hawk mourned the deaths of his children for 2 years - in Sauk tradition.

At age 15 he wounded his first enemy in battle, which initiated him into the Warrior Class & earned him the right to paint his face and wear feathers. From then on he continued to bravery & tactitcal skills on the battlefield. During the War of 1812, Black Hawk's warriors fought alongside the Shawnee on the side of the British Army against the U.S. colonies. Despite the misnomer given by the Europeans, Black Hawk was NOT a chief, he was highly respected & influential leader of a political faction within the Sauk nation that believed in preserving the traditional ways of life before European invasion.

In 1804, five Sauk and Meskwaki chiefs were tricked into signing a treaty with the U.S gov, selling nearly 51 million acres of tribal lands in Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin in exchange for various goods & a $1,000 yearly annuity to be paid to the nations. Despite this blatantly illegal act, the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty. The treaty stipulated that the Indians could remain on the ceded lands as long as that land was not wanted for white settlement. As more colonizers invaded Saukenuk territories, tensions rose. To avoid anymore bloodshed, the Sauk and Meskwaki moved to the west side of the Mississippi. However, Black Hawk and his followers refused to give up their lands & remained in Saukenuk. When tensions peaked, the Governor of Illinois dispatched military troops to force out the remaining Sauk and Meskwaki. Black Hawk led his followers across the river out of Illinois & into Iowa during the night.

This spurred Black Hawk to wage the war so named after him, against the U.S. to reclaim their ancestral lands. He led about 1500 followers across to the eastern bank of the Mississippi. This threw the entire frontier into a panic. The Black Hawk War went in for 15 weeks, ending the Battle of Bad Axe in Wisconsin. At its end, starvation, deprivation, & exhaustion killed off 2/3 of his followers. Though he along with 5 of his closest companions, including his eldest son, escaped before the Battle, they was captured 6 weeks later & imprisoned. They were released into the custody a Sauk leader named, Keokuck - Black Hawk's arch political rival - & was directed to follow his counsel and advice. From then on, Black Hawk was no longer recognized as the political leader of the Sauk. In the end, Black Hawk lost more 1,000 folders to the War & more Sauk- Meskwaki territories were taken as war reparations.

Black Hawk would go on to dictate his autobiography to an interpreter. "The Life of Black Hawk" was published in 1833. Despite his dishonor & shame among the Sauk, Black Hawk had ironically achieved fame and great admiration among his former enemies.

After his death, Black Hawk was buried sitting upright inside a small mausoleum of logs. Soon after, his grave was desecrated by grave robbers. His remains were eventually deposited in a museum in Burlington, Iowa which burned down in 1855.

As one of the most feared, yet respected First Nations leaders in history, at the core of his legacy - despite defeat- was his hard-fought battle to preserve the ancestral homelands of his people & preserve their traditional ways of life in the growing shadow of European colonization.

“I am a Sauk…I am a Warrior.” - Black Hawk's final proclamation.

Offering suggestions: play traditional Sauk music, deer or buffalo meat with cornbread/squash/beans/berries/honey, tobacco smoke

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

[niibaataa]

Nishnaabe Nagamonan

Disclaimer: Some works deal with historical wrongs, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, colonialism, and residential/boarding schools. Exercise caution.

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is a member of Saugeen Ojibway First Nation. Akiwenzie-Damm has served as Poet Laureate for Owen Sound and North Grey. In 1993, she established Kegedonce Press, a publishing house devoted to Indigenous writers. She has also authored Without Reservation: Indigenous Erotica.

Works: (Re)Generation, My Heart is a Stray Bullet.

Marie Annharte Baker is a member of Little Saskatchewan First Nation. Annharte's work concentrates on women, urban, Indigenous, disability, and related topics. She critiques life from Western Canada. After graduating with an English degree in the 1970s, she became involved in Native activism and was one of the first people in North America to teach a class entirely on Native women.

Works: Indigena Awry, Miskwagoode, Exercises in Lip Pointing.

Lesley Belleau is a member of Garden River First Nation. She is noted for her 2017 collection Indianland. She has an MA in English literature from the University of Windsor and is working on a PhD in Indigenous Studies from Trent University.

Works: Indianland.

Kimberly M. Blaeser is an enrolled member of the White Earth Reservation. Blaeser served as Wisconsin's Poet Laureate from 2015-2016. She is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Miluwakee. A contemporary of Vizenor, she is the first critic to publish a book-length study on his fiction. She has been writing poetry since 1993.

Works: Apprenticed to Justice, Trailing You, Absentee Indians and Other Poems.

Diane Burns was a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles band. Burns was Anishinaabe through her mother and Chemehuevi through her father. Burns attended the Institute of American Indian Arts and Barnard College (within Columbia University). She was also an accomplished visual artist. She is considered an important figure within the Native American contemporary arts movement.

Works: Riding the One-Eyed Ford (available online).

Aja Couchois Duncan is a Bay Area educator, writer, and coach. Duncan is of Ojibwe, French, and Scottish descent. Her debut collection won the California Book Award. She holds an MFA in creative writing from San Francisco State University.

Works: Restless Continent, Vestigal.

Heid E. Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain band. Erdrich is a granddaughter of Patrick Gourneau, who fought against Indian termination during his time as tribal chairman from 1953-1959. Erdrich holds a PhD in Native American Literature and Writing. Erdrich used to teach, but has since stepped back from doing it full-time. She directs Wiigwaas Press, an Ojibwe language publisher.

Works: Cell Traffic, The Mother's Tongue, Curator of Ephemera at the New Museum for Archaic Media.

Louise Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain band. Erdrich is a granddaughter of Patrick Gourneau, who fought against Indian termination during his time as tribal chairman from 1953-1959. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the Native American Renaissance. Owner of Birchbark Books, an independent bookstore that focuses on Native Literature.

Works: Jacklight, Original Fire, Baptism of Desire.

David Groulx was raised in Elliott Lake, Ontario. Groulx is Ojibwe and French Canadian. He received his BA in Literature from Lakehead University and later studied creative writing at the En'owkin Centre in British Columbia. He has also studied creative writing at the University of Victoria.

Works: From Turtle Island to Gaza, Rising With a Distant Dawn, Imagine Mercy.

Gordon Henry Jr is an enrolled member of the White Earth Reservation. Gordon Henry Jr holds a PhD in Literature from the University of North Dakota and is currently a professor of English at Michigan State University. He has authored several novels and poetry collections and is a celebrated writer in Michigan.

Works: Spirit Matters, The Failure of Certain Charms.

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was Born in Sault Ste. Marie on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Schoolcraft was given the name of Bamewawagezhikaquay ('Woman of the Sound that the stars make Rushing Through the Sky') in Ojibwe. Her mother was Ozhaguscodaywayquay, the daughter of the Ojibwe war chief Waubojeeg. Her father was fur-trader John Johnston. Johnston is regarded as the first major Native American female writer. She wrote letters and poems in both English and Ojibwe.

Writeup containing works.

Denise Lajimodiere is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain band. Lajimodiere is considered an expert on Native American boarding schools following her work Stringing Rosaries, published in 2019. She is a poet, professor, scholar, and the current Poet Laureate of North Dakota.

Works: His Feathers Were Chains, Thunderbird: Poems, Dragonfly Dance.

Linda Legarde Grover is a member of the Bois Forte Band. She is a columnist for the Duluth Tribune and Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies at University of Minnesota (Duluth). She has written poetry, short stories, and essays.

Works: The Sky Watched, Onigamiising.

Sara Littlecrow-Russel is of Ojibwe and Han-Naxi Métis descent. Russell is a lawyer and professional mediator as well as a poet. She has worked at the Center for Education and Policy Advocacy at the University of Massachusetts and for Community Partnerships for Social Change at Hampshire College.

Works: The Secret Powers of Naming.

Jim Northrup was a member of the Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota. Northrup lived a traditional lifestyle in his early years. As a child, he attended an Indian boarding school where he suffered physical abuse. Later in life, he served in the Vietnam war and experienced PTSD. Much of his poetry comes from these hardships.

Works: Walking the Rez Road, Rez Salute: The Real Healer Dealer, Anishinaabe Syndicated.

Duke Redbird was born in Saugeen First Nation. He became a ward of Children's Aid at nine months old when his mother died in a house fire. He began writing to give words to his experiences as an Indigenous man raised by white foster families. He is recognized as a key figure in the development of First Nations literature.

His poetry is available on his site.

Denise Sweet is a member of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Sweet served as Wisconsin's Poet Laureate from 2004-2008. She has taught creative writing, literature, and mythology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Works: Songs for Discharming, Palominos Near Tuba City.

Mark Turcotte is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band. Turcotte is a visiting assistant professor of English at DePaul University. He has published two books of poetry. His chapbook, Road Noise, was translated into French.

Works: The Feathered Heart, Exploding Chippewas.

E. Donald Two-Rivers was raised in Emo Township, Ontario. He moved to Chicago at age 16 and became involved with the Urban Native community there. A playwright, spoken-word performer, and a poet, Two-Rivers had been an activist for Native rights since the 1970s. He was the founding director of the Chicago-based Red Path Theater Company.

Works: Powwows, Fat Cats, and Other Indian Tales, A Dozen Cold Ones by Two-Rivers.

Gerald Vizenor is an enrolled member of the White Earth Reservation. Vizenor has published over 30 books. He taught at the University of California for many years and is currently at the University of New Mexico. He has a long history of political activism and he is considered one of the most prolific Indigenous ironists writing today.

Works: Favor of Crows, Cranes Arise, Empty Swings.

[tristan-47]

Questions on Chapter 3 : Mediations

The relation between words and music have been in 3 terms, one as a Intermediate relation within the Music Industry who produce and compose music, the arising conflicts between them and their CEO and Artists lead to a gatekeeping strategy with a tighter control on how music is distributed, then there is a Transmission relation with how Music is distributed and how technological progress by Instruments and the Media has put the music Industry on a forwards Path and finally, there is a Social relationship with the transition of that Music within people of different classes and their societal struggles of their own time as put forward by HARKER . We can also consider these relations have evolved over time to be conflictual at first but being more and more coordinated, the advent of Printed Sheet Music has been looked back upon by some Historians as a replacement to Oral Tradition with VINCENT responding to these retrospectives as the fact that the change as inevitable with some songs being already handwritten back then as well as it did not replaced Oral Tradition as being "magnified" but Sheet Music rather than being commercialised under the Press as well as rebutting arguments about the instant accessibility of the Early Middle Ages and Antiquity where word of mouth was often not the case. This argument can be further backed up with the "Second Oral Tradition" that is the Radio Broadcasting.

2. About the case of Images, we can see that it also has been seen as a contradiction that resolved into Complimentation. Indeed, with the Advent of the supposed "Competitor" to Radio, the Music Video, the Song became an Audio-Visual Furniture who became use in wider Areas, either at Home or in the public , this led to criticising by KAPLAN and others that Music became nothing more than Tribal with the Image dominating and surpassing Music who is reduced to a "Elaborate Advertisement" where Music became a Score rather than the centrepiece. In response to these criticisms, GOODWIN argued that the "Sound-Image" relation is connected by an Iconographic way, an Index way and a Symbolical way where the Iconography is just the Artist's expression referring to the actual Tone the music is supposed to be played, the Index is the connection between an object projected on the screen and the song itself with backgrounds elements like a Crowd placing the Song in a specific context and a Symbolical way where the Action or Object is linked to a cultural and societal meaning like an Electric guitar representing Power. This three way thinking immediately links the Music Video to the Cinema's Industry where the Video either follows in a diegetic way, rejects in a non diegetic or makes a parallel with the actual lyrics of the song similar to the Cinema's convention, this can be seen in David BOWIE's "Let's Dance" where the dissonance between the message of the Title and the actual message of the Video being to taking action against the Racial Aboriginal Issues in Australia.

3. These impact Audiences in a multitude of ways. Indeed, looking back at the Radio itself as a Object who is receipting waves, it led to the formation of Active Listeners who became more and more nomad with the Advent of the Transistor, this along side the retransmitting of Musical events, something the British Broadcast Corporation was a pioneer at, led to an increased audience of far away people who were never targeted at all by these events. The rise of Radio Programming led to Songs having a shorter popularity lifespan but at the advantage of having a greater audience, this also led to conflict with whenever the Programming should be regulated like in Europe or not like the United States of America, this also led to conflict with promoters and broadcasters who wanted to play Songs on the radio with the Advent of Pirate "Illegal" broadcast who often clashed against the States Authorities.

4. The Lyrics are related to the Music Video because they both are complimentary to each other. Micheal JACKSON's "Thriller" fits the argument perfectly with the title "Thriller" being a reference to the Shock during the viewing of a Horror Movie with the clip appropriately starting at a Cinema. Then, the Lyrics point out that the setting is at Midnight Time and the Listener "You" is in confrontation with the personification of a Monster being called "Evil", "Beast" or "Creature", thus the Clip puts the Action at Night time and expands on the concept by having the Listener in the shoes of a Woman and Micheal himself telling the Story. However, the clip also enhances the story by setting in a Cemetery despite not being reference in the story who is focused on the Sensation of being scared, there is also the Plot Twist of the Storyteller himself being a Monster as we see participating in a Cult of Zombies and being completely deformed by the end which is completely absent from the Original Lyrics which makes it even more horrifying in hindsight.

However, this is not always the Case with Bonnie TYLER's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" being the perfect counterexample. Here, the lyrics and Video does not match up at all. the lyrics talk about a Woman wanting her lover to come back as she completely "Fall appart" and feels "A Total Eclipse of the Heart"... The Video, on the other hand, seems, from further inspection, to be focus on the "Dream of something wild", as we see the Woman's hallucinations seeing a Bird flying off a Door, a Classroom of Men looking like her husband, a Man with Angel Wings and other far fetched visions. This feels like she is completely losing touch with reality the more time passes as she is without her Lover and she doesn't care that the Mansion along with herself is falling through Chaos...

The total disconnect between the Video and Lyrics is something that the "Literal Version" of the Song makes fun off, mostly the fact that TYLER who is acting the Women does not seem to convey well enough that she is "tired of listening to the sounds of my tears", or being depressed and that the Hallucinations presented seems off putting to say the Least with a Presence of a Ninja Clan or a American Football Team interrupting the Action despite the fact of being the point of her "wild dreams".

Then, we have Foster The People "Pumped up Kicks" who we can barely describe as a Proper Music Video where we see then performing their Music in a Studio with a similar energy to a Middle/High School Band, the only link there is with the Lyrics, but Mark FOSTER, Isom INNIS and Jacob FINK, who was one of the mains at the time, made the Right Call to not even attempt to make a Video out of the Lyrics.

The Lyrics talk about a kid named Robert who is disguised as a "cowboy" with a "rolled cigarette" who found a "six-shooter gun in his dad's closet" with a box of Munitions and is on a killing spree of his entire School with his other classmates with their "pumped up kicks" are running away from his "gun" and "bullets", while his dad is "coming home late". Any attempt at trying to tell this story, which is literally a retelling of the Columbine School Shooting in a Video Form, whenever Live Action or Animated, is an immediate non starter because Infanticide is completely censored in all Media across the Western World and would cause an obvious Backlash even if it was Screened in Adult Movie Theatres...

[worldwidemovies012]

Thangalaan review

: Pa Ranjith's film is intertwined with some fantasy and mystical realism. A must watch for Vikram fans.

Thangalaan is a period action drama starring Vikram, Parvathy Thiruvothu and Malavika Mohanan in the lead roles. The film is directed by Pa. Ranjith, produced by Studio Green K.E.Gnanavel Raja and the music is scored by G.V. Prakash Kumar.

Premise:

Britishers are in a wealth hunt, they take tribal people to work for them. Strange visions of Vikram to lead the troop to the Gold-rush area. What happens after forms the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction:

Gold is the base of the film, the film showcases how it was handled in the 19th century by our rulers. Well-researched in terms of landscape, the way people look and the terms they use, which is sure to take the viewers back in time. The fantasy element is intriguing, the dynamic development of it is one of the few appreciable aspects of the film, the closure to it makes sense, sadly it is rushed by leaving no impact. The first half is like an adventure flick, with many different themes tried, but the result is extremely flat.

No clarity in the fight scenes as to who is winning and who is losing, the Black Panther sequence is a big dud with poor vision and the heavy smoke effects used lowers the visual standard.

Pasupathy’s humour portions are a big relief to the dry screenplay. The second half starts on a promising note with a few good scenes, displaying the happiness of the tribes for receiving new clothes, how the British treat the tribe with respect until they get to the Gold and shows their true nature after that, etc. Post which the film becomes dull with the slavery part not turning out to be emotional on-screen, the payoff is also very weak by bringing in a clumsy platter which is hard to consume. The biggest drawback of the film is the dialogue modulation of the artists which is probably authentic for the period, but had to go through hell to follow and understand.

Performances:

Chiyaan Vikram’s limitless efforts are evident on-screen, showing great variety in makeover, body language and expressions. Parvathy Thiruvothu is very casually natural on-screen, her scenes with the hero are lively, but the script required more to utilize the chemistry between them. Quite a challenging role for Malavika Mohanan, she has given her best, just wish she had more highlight action scenes to prove her full-potential. Pasupathy’s character started off fascinatingly, but then the arc was left abruptly without giving a proper ending it deserved. Stone-faced villains, the issue with foreign actors’ performances which the most Indian films have exists here too. The other supporting characters are written in a half-baked manner that we don’t get to feel for them.

Technicalities:

Meticulous work by G.V.Prakash, top quality songs overall, especially the Minikki Minikki track stands out and it is beautifully placed in the film. Solid score, his music made a lot of weak situations better, he has focused on what instruments to use as well. The visuals are first class, strong production value and location recce have led the team to explore new terrains, however the action is captured in an unimpressive manner. A lot of edit patterns and jump cuts are fascinating, but finesse is missing when things are simple, the packaging fails to engross. VFX is a mixed bag, the models look neat during the static shots, but the motions aren’t done right to make the sequences believable. Stunts lack punch, the approach is realistic but the output feels hurried.

Bottomline

Fantasy element is fine when it stands alone, falters when blent with reality. The film misses to hold the interest except for the initial chunk in the latter half. Had immense potential to be a hard-hitting flick, but it never took off from the ground level.

hindi:- थंगालान समीक्षा: पा रंजीत की फिल्म कुछ कल्पना और रहस्यमय यथार्थवाद से जुड़ी हुई है। विक्रम के प्रशंसकों के लिए यह फिल्म अवश्य देखें।

थंगालान एक पीरियड एक्शन ड्रामा है, जिसमें विक्रम, पार्वती थिरुवोथु और मालविका मोहनन मुख्य भूमिकाओं में हैं।

फिल्म का निर्देशन पा रंजीत ने किया है, जिसका निर्माण स्टूडियो ग्रीन के.ई. ज्ञानवेल राजा ने किया है और संगीत जी.वी. प्रकाश कुमार ने दिया है।

प्रस्तावना:

अंग्रेज धन की तलाश में हैं, वे आदिवासी लोगों को अपने लिए काम पर ले जाते हैं। विक्रम को सेना को गोल्ड-रश क्षेत्र में ले जाने के लिए अजीबोगरीब दृश्य दिखाई देते हैं। उसके बाद क्या होता है, यही कहानी का सार है।

लेखन/निर्देशन:

फिल्म का आधार गोल्ड है, फिल्म दिखाती है कि 19वीं सदी में हमारे शासकों ने इसे कैसे संभाला।

भूदृश्य, लोगों के देखने के तरीके और उनके द्वारा इस्तेमाल किए जाने वाले शब्दों के संदर्भ में अच्छी तरह से शोध किया गया है, जो दर्शकों को निश्चित रूप से समय में पीछे ले जाएगा।

फंतासी तत्व दिलचस्प है, इसका गतिशील विकास फिल्म के कुछ सराहनीय पहलुओं में से एक है, इसका समापन समझ में आता है, दुख की बात है कि इसे जल्दबाजी में बनाया गया है, जिससे कोई प्रभाव नहीं पड़ता।

पहला भाग एक साहसिक फिल्म की तरह है, जिसमें कई अलग-अलग थीम आजमाई गई हैं, लेकिन परिणाम बेहद सपाट है।

लड़ाई के दृश्यों में कोई स्पष्टता नहीं है कि कौन जीत रहा है और कौन हार रहा है, ब्लैक पैंथर का दृश्य खराब दृष्टि के साथ एक बड़ा डफ है और भारी धुएं के प्रभाव का उपयोग दृश्य मानक को कम करता है।

पसुपथी के हास्य भाग सूखी पटकथा के लिए एक बड़ी राहत हैं। दूसरा भाग कुछ अच्छे दृश्यों के साथ एक आशाजनक नोट पर शुरू होता है, जिसमें नए कपड़े प्राप्त करने के लिए जनजातियों की खुशी प्रदर्शित होती है, कैसे ब्रिटिश जनजाति के साथ सम्मान के साथ व्यवहार करते हैं जब तक कि वे गोल्ड तक नहीं पहुंच जाते और उसके बाद अपना असली स्वरूप दिखाते हैं, आदि।

इसके बाद फिल्म सुस्त हो जाती है क्योंकि गुलामी वाला हिस्सा स्क्रीन पर भावनात्मक नहीं बन पाता है, भुगतान भी बहुत कमजोर है क्योंकि एक भद्दा ��्लेट पेश किया जाता है जिसे पचाना मुश्किल है।

फिल्म की सबसे बड़ी कमी कलाकारों के संवादों का उतार-चढ़ाव है जो शायद उस दौर के हिसाब से प्रामाणिक है, लेकिन इसे समझने और समझने के लिए नरक से गुजरना पड़ा।

प्रदर्शन:

चियान विक्रम के असीम प्रयास स्क्रीन पर स्पष्ट हैं, मेकओवर, बॉडी लैंग्वेज और भावों में बहुत विविधता दिखाते हैं।

पार्वती थिरुवोथु स्क्रीन पर बहुत सहज रूप से सहज हैं, नायक के साथ उनके दृश्य जीवंत हैं, लेकिन स्क्रिप्ट में उनके बीच की केमिस्ट्री का उपयोग करने के लिए और अधिक की आवश्यकता थी।

मालविका मोहनन के लिए काफी चुनौतीपूर्ण भूमिका, उन्होंने अपना सर्वश्रेष्ठ दिया है, बस काश उनके पास अपनी पूरी क्षमता साबित करने के लिए और अधिक हाइलाइट एक्शन दृश्य होते। पसुपति के किरदार की शुरुआत आकर्षक थी, लेकिन फिर आर्क को बिना उचित अंत दिए अचानक छोड़ दिया गया।

पत्थर के चेहरे वाले खलनायक, विदेशी अभिनेताओं के अभिनय की समस्या जो कि अधिकांश भारतीय फिल्मों में होती है, यहाँ भी मौजूद है।

अन्य सहायक पात्रों को आधे-अधूरे तरीके से लिखा गया है कि हम उनके लिए कुछ महसूस नहीं कर पाते।

तकनीकी बातें:

जी.वी.प्रकाश द्वारा किया गया बेहतरीन काम, कुल मिलाकर बेहतरीन गाने, खास तौर पर मिनिक���की मिनिक्की ट्रैक सबसे अलग है और इसे फिल्म में खूबसूरती से रखा गया है।

सॉलिड स्कोर, उनके संगीत ने कई कमज़ोर स्थितियों को बेहतर बनाया, उन्होंने इस बात पर भी ध्यान दिया कि कौन से इंस्ट्रूमेंट का इस्तेमाल करना है।

विज़ुअल बेहतरीन हैं, प्रोडक्शन वैल्यू और लोकेशन रेकी ने टीम को नए इलाकों की खोज करने के लिए प्रेरित किया है, हालांकि एक्शन को बहुत ही कमज़ोर तरीके से कैप्चर किया गया है।

एडिट पैटर्न और जंप कट बहुत आकर्षक हैं, लेकिन जब चीजें सरल होती हैं तो बारीकियाँ गायब हो जाती हैं, पैकेजिंग भी ध्यान खींचने में विफल हो जाती है।

वीएफएक्स एक मिश्रित बैग है, स्टैटिक शॉट्स के दौरान मॉडल साफ-सुथरे दिखते हैं, लेकिन दृश्यों को विश्वसनीय बनाने के लिए गति सही तरीके से नहीं की गई है। स्टंट में दम नहीं है, दृष्टिकोण यथार्थवादी है लेकिन आउटपुट जल्दबाजी में किया गया लगता है।

बॉटमलाइन

फ़ैंटेसी एलिमेंट अकेले होने पर ठीक है, लेकिन वास्तविकता के साथ घुलने-मिलने पर यह कमज़ोर पड़ जाता है।

फिल्म के दूसरे हिस्से में शुरुआती हिस्से को छोड़कर बाकी हिस्सा दिलचस्पी बनाए रखने में विफल रहा। इसमें एक दमदार फिल्म बनने की अपार संभावना थी, लेकिन यह कभी भी जमीनी स्तर पर आगे नहीं बढ़ पाई।

[canichangemyblogname]

It seems many colonial conclusions rely on an ahistorical analysis or critical lack of historical context. I saw a post today that claimed there are no terms for US colonial expansion and the people who support it. And— like— yes there is? And a problem is that the words for it are still regarded with positive connotation by most of the US public today.

May I introduce you to:

While coined in 1845, the term refers to an ideology of U.S. expansionism that dates back to the first colonial contact between Europeans and First Nations People.

We also have three terms for the people who subscribed to this ideology, two for the earliest settlers: colonist and pilgrim, and one for the later settlers who expanded west: pioneer. The change in terms came with the change in power following the Colonist Revolution against the British, with “pioneer” being used as early as the 1780s.

However, an overarching term commonly used nowadays is just “colonizer,” and if you did not know this, then there are not enough indigenous North Americans in your life.

Now, I don’t expect non-US Americans to have known this. And, I’m also going to be honest, this post isn’t primarily directed at non-US Americans because the people I hear claiming that the US has no terms for its colonial ideology are Americans themselves. So, this is primarily directed at them.

I know you learned this in history class. Stop lying to people in an intellectually dishonest attempt to paint decolonial movements as hypocritical and supporting a double standard that refuses to call out or critique US imperialism. The only reason you aren’t hearing analysis and critique of US imperialism and expansionism is because you’re not seeking it out and surrounding yourself with people who support movements like Land Back.

Contrary to what Elon Musk and white supremacists like him want people to believe, “decolonization” is not a dirty word and it is not a call for genocide (most of them claim it’s a call for white genocide, specifically).

[panatmansam]

Churchill at the Battle of Omdurman

I'm an American but I have always been interested in the history of the British Empire. I am not an admirerer. I do admire the British people but not the British class system. Nevertheless, I am particularly fascinated by the final wars of Empire in Africa against tribal peoples and various Islamicist groups.

In one of the final such battles, the battle of Omduran, in 1898, the Brits led their final cavalry charge. The romantic ideal of the cavalry officer mounted on a spirited mount known as a "charger" with saber drawn or a long spear known as a lance at the ready had been a staple of military glory since Roman times. It seemed that the soldiers sensed that times were changing and young officers pulled every string to be transferred into the understrength cavalry outfit known as the 21st Lancers. One such man was the twenty-year-old Winston Churchill. The 21st had never in 20 years of its existence been in a charge. This was about to change.

The commander of the Lancers saw a line of enemy soldiers armed with spears and swords along a ridge. Then, with no reconnaissance and with all of the self-confidence of the white man fighting the black man in 1898 he had the bugler sound the charge and the Lancer galloped forward toward the enemy. What they discovered to their horror was that the enemy on the ridge was just a portion they faced there was a hollow in the landscape FILLED with three thousand enemy soldiers who used their razor-sharp swords to cut the hamstrings of the horses and then to cut the dismounted British soldiers to pieces. Winston Churchill barely made it through alive. History might hare been very different if he had been cut down like so many others in the regiment.

[jfbuckley]

I couldn’t give two hoots. If they want to “discuss” it, they can discuss it. They can discuss it for ever and ever. They can even make formal, binding resolutions to make us pay. They can do what they like. Again, I couldn’t give two hoots, because:

We ain’t paying!!

The slave trade is of course a shameful blot on our history. Most reasonable people accept that. We have to realise that we can’t change the past.

- As well as recognising how awful slavery was, we also have to realise that all countries were doing it.

- Some are still doing it today, 200 years later.

- We would do well to recognise that Britain was the first country in the world to abolish it.

- We should also remember that in the nineteenth century when the Royal Navy ruled the seas, it spent most of its time patrolling the oceans to stamp the trade out.

- We need to remember those tribal chiefs, kings and Arab traders in West Africa who profited so much from the slave trade.

- We also need to remember that the trans Atlantic slave trade could never have got off the ground without the full scale participation of those African chiefs and Arab traders - why are their descendants not being chased?

- Finally, and not leastly, we need to recognise that the British working classes in the Northern Mill Towns were held in conditions every bit as bad as slavery - where is MY compensation?

=======

I’m sick to death of this hand wringing guilt trip that so many people are on.

I believe that Britain can be rightly very proud of its record in being the first country to ban the slave trade and doing so much later on to keep it stamped out.

We should also recognise that these Caribbean countries that are clamouring for reparations, have been massive beneficiaries of being in the Commonwealth. Britain could have simply walked away, as many other imperial powers did. We didn’t, and many of these countries are far more affluent than their neighbours because of it.

[the-delta-42]

Airfix - Sink the Bismarck - Part 6 - British Tribal-Class Destroyers - HMS Cossack - HMS Sikh

[dwestfieldblog]

THE ENGLISH REFUGEE

The return of the technical hitch hiker…looking to claim apolitical asylum for a lunatic, not exactly a diplomat but a fine ambassador of all that is best in English kulcher. Keen to restart a stalled life and hopefully be a long term tolerated guest under minimal foreign suspicion. After 27 months and still counting, trying hard to avoid getting too deep in the mass British mind set. ‘Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way’. ‘What do the English know of exile? They cannot bear it. Everywhere they go they create another Surrey, New Zealand mutton and mint sauce.’ Tell that to Jaz in Argentina.

But apparently, ‘The mind must be broken up into a form of insanity before it can be transcended’. ‘I had so many dreams, made so many breakthroughs, but you my love were kind…’ (Bowie -Time). ‘Dave, my mind is going’ (2001)

Paranoia of anything alien to religious or state dogma is encouraged by both and it is laughingly easy to manipulate human nature with racial stereotypes to inflame. Suspicious of the Stranger, the immigrant, the refugee, the sneaky Jew, the Moslem terrorist, the foreigner looking to undermine and subvert… And in the West, the people ranting about this the most, are all being spurred on by the countries which truly DO want to divide and conquer. Can’t repeat this enough. The blind patriotism of the masses is being used against them like martial arts. (Hello Vladimir). Use the opponents own force with minimum effort on your part. Little bit of financing and propaganda and just let the enemy pull itself to bits in the name of ‘national pride’. Hello UK riot puppets.

The spirit of Khton is alive and foul again in Russia…spy on and inform on your neighbour before they do it to you. Keep the population focused on the virus of fear rather than the Mafia like utter corruption of the regime. Starting over here and the US too… ‘See something, say something.’ Pavlov dog whistlers such as the amphibian faced smiling gargoyle Farage and his chum, the orange reptile, have far too much fascinated respect for the way Putin abuses power. Any tactic to keep the population afraid and pointing fingers at scapegoats and away from their open criminality. Egging on their testosteroned tribal followers with targets, hordes of youth triggered by anti-social media, aka; ‘…the nihilistic emotionalism of those young men who, rather than gain knowledge of the world, would change it to make it accept their ignorance.’

The glitz and the bling of the vapid in America (etc) has an easy counterpart in Russia, with ostentatious kitsch (I knew him well) and appallingly tacky displays of ill-gotten wealth…no wonder Forest Trump and his family copy Putin’s oligarchal realm of dachas so much. All these types genuinely don’t give a quark sized damn how they get their money and possessions, as long as their egos get given regular hand jobs/clitoral stimulation to aid the illusion they are immortal, special and important, rather than ultimately impotent.

Meanwhile, the hoi polloi proles (that’s most of us) pay more and more, get less and less, running a marathon to stand still and existing just to survive, whereas those who donate to whichever British government, get knighthoods, a politician’s ear and more moolah. And a revolving door appointment on several boards of directors. And a large gratuity of shares. Being rewarded for corruption, greed and failure seems a little unfair, eh? The only thing which ‘trickles down’ from the mansions on the hill is excrement for the poor to clean, polish and eat. Directors lay workers off to ‘save money’ in cutbacks and then award themselves bigger bonuses, leading to job losses and price increases.

The rich themselves hold their money in offshore accounts, thus costing the country even more in lost revenue. The middle classes worldwide have a pathetically forlorn hope of reaching a higher status, seemingly not realising they are the ones supporting those who will keep them financially average all their life. And, like a majority of the poor, vote for those who couldn’t care less about them. The working class endlessly voting for snobs from Eton, is a remarkable English phenomenon. The ‘people’ are cowed from being beaten daily, too submissive to fight back and exhausted from living. Oh well. Orwell.

The arrest of Pavel Durov, Mr. Telegram, appears to be long overdue, another James Bond super villain in the making (check him out) …like the increasingly deranged X man Musk who thinks moderation is a ‘propaganda word’ for censorship, and should also not be allowed anywhere near the internet. Free hate speech for everyone! He, like so many others on the Right (Wrong) seem to be listening only to their own prejudices, amplified by Q Onan and their pustulant foulage. Western mutants supported by the Kremlin, pushing their twisted narratives to Manchurian candidate the stupid. Hello Tenet. Vast online media advertising cyber billboards…

(Repeat after me… ‘YOUR CONSPIRACY HERE’.  Neuro linguistic programming hypnotises us into litanies which create our personal reality…and then seek to impose it upon others. Works like a charm, quite literally.)

Shepherdess no temptation that Poussin Teniers hold the key peace 681 by the cross and this horse of God I complete this daemon guardian at noon blue apples. Could not have put it better myself. True dat. Word. Verbatim.

Two days after the event, I watched the Kamala/Trump debate in utter voyeuristic joy. Harris was magnificent…and politely allowed Donald to waffle his deranged porcine sewage of second-hand fascism. Hungry Haitian migrants are apparently wolfing down dogs in Ohio and in Hungary, Victor Orban thinks Trump is great. (He would, another autocratic servant of Russia who wants control over all media and the law, pelican necked birds of a feather…) And his bleak statement that he would ‘end’ the war in Ukraine, after having been asked whether he actually wanted them to win was chilling. No wonder that guy waited in the bushes at the golf club. Third times the charm, eh?

Jabba the Trump and maggot sons on X (of course) for World Liberty Financial... ‘to make crypto and America great by driving the mass adoption of stablecoins and decentralised finance.’ Something he himself called a scam before realising his followers adore such ruinous diversions.  A criminal scheme to divert actual wealth and value away from the unwashed voters and into the wallets of the one per cent. (‘All the regulations of mankind are turned to the end that the intense feeling of life may be lost in continual distractions’ Nietzsche. (And those distractions are encouraged by those who control. Hey! Look over there! Did you SEE that? As their hand goes deeper into your pockets) As for him tweeting (X-ing?) ‘I HATE Taylor Swift!’, this man truly is a poisonous child brat, a dangerous clown.As is Vance. Get them far away.

(You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you. So, that’s me done and dusted. Tiny is as tiny does. But I do LOVE what I love. Music, good people, art, comedy and astral magick…)

Pope Francis almost seemed to me to be one of the most decent in forever…but then he had to say the upcoming election in the USA was a choice between the ‘lesser of two evils’. Kamala as ‘evil’ because she supports abortion rights. Compared to Donald, who is genuinely evil in just about every single way possible. Trump repeated the insanely false claim that some states allow abortion AFTER the baby is born. Which would be murder itself. As Consolidated sang; ‘Do you think women want to kill their own babies? If you got your own twisted baggage then maybe.’

The fact that there are states in the US and states of mind where anyone is arguing that the health of the mother is less important than a foetus, seems mentally ill to me. She’s poor, got three kids and was raped by a crack addicted family member. To reiterate my feeling; It is ONLY the woman’s choice. Or just sterilise the men who think all abortion is wrong. That might help to clear the field for compassionate morality.

Goddess, I am looking forward and inward to; ‘…a quite specific electromagnetic-gravitational field in which mind can manifest without organic bodies.’ Of course, this will only be available to the exact people who should not be saved (in my feeling) much like the special nuclear shelters for politicians and generals. This is why the individual needs to internally connect, then out, sideways and across… All thinking is done with left front lobe, which is a ‘digital computer’. Right front lobe is an ‘analogue computer’. Magick is the moving from left frontal lobe domination to right frontal lobe domination. ‘From digital linear, Aristotelian thinking to analogic, synergetic, non-Aristotelian thinking.’ Stick that in your third eye until you cum.

(Awareness…What are you? ‘I am awake’. Said Buddha beaming beatifically under the Bo tree with a figgy surfeit of serotonin in his bloodstream.) “Is…. the idiocy of the word haunts me. If it were abolished, human thought night begin to make sense.  I don’t know what anything “is”; I only know how it seems to me at this moment.’ Respect my beliefs. No, why, are they provable?

Will there soon be an unholy total war between Israel and the Arab world? Benny boy certainly seems intent on provoking one…anything to avoid he and his wife being arrested. Never trust a leader who seeks to usurp the legal system by replacing judges and repealing laws to save their own skins. Hello Boris, Ergogan, Orban, Modi, Benny and Trump…all the nice guys. Leaders of democracies all, but which have been and are changing their countries systems, thanks to their desire to remain outside of prison. And all saying they are doing it in the name of…that’s right, ‘the country’. ‘God’ is on every side…

‘It was a war between a couple of psychotics (which) wasted millions of lives and achieved nothing but a small shift of boundaries. Better to lock them away with maps and toy soldiers, where no real harm is ever accomplished’. Michael Moorcock. Wonderful idea. Any time two leaders get rabid with threats about using nuclear weapons, black bag the mfs and let them wake up in a soft room. Pat them on their heads, patronise them with kindly smiles and say ‘aww, bless’ at their senility of god complexes and narcissistic personality disorders.

‘The historical linkage goes by no single name, just a charged mission to resist forever any and by all means by which an authoritarian elite seeks the eradication of free will, free thought and individualism. …you have to keep a close eye on the bastards.’ Mick Farrren.

From the unfragmentary non-atomic fact of my universality, I wish you love, good health and humour (with an O) and let’s hope the election sees that whorebeast and his tribe utterly eviscerated on November 5th.

[dailyanarchistposts]

The Pahlavi Regime

The coup of February 1921 that brought General Reza Khan to power set into motion the creation of the modern centralized Iranian nation-state. The Pahlavi state should be seen alongside the other right-wing nationalist regimes that arose around this time in response to both the dissolutions brought about by WWI and the threat of the October Revolution. Reza Shah may be fruitfully compared to his contemporary in Turkey, Atatürk, as well as the models of authoritarian nationalist development seen in Germany, Italy, and Japan. As with these latter cases, the Pahlavi regime was “the product of a counter-attack by a weak capitalist class against a revolutionary movement, in a country that has slipped behind in the process of capitalist development. This class could only redress this position by repression and state-directed economic growth.”[10]

The political logic of this period can be summarized as state-building. Once the new government negotiated the withdrawal of Soviet and British troops, it moved to crush all remaining forms of opposition and centers of power. The powerful tribal armies were brought to heel, while autonomous and local powers, as well as rival officers in pursuit of power, were all crushed. A modern army capable of effectively asserting state power was assembled, followed soon after by nationwide conscription, government ID cards, the abolition of aristocratic titles, and the imposition of formal sur-names. Since the central pillars of the “new order” were a modern army and bureaucracy, the regime sought to extend the power of the state to all realms of society. Local languages were banned, and Persian was made the official language of the country. A modern educational system operating beyond the control of the clergy was established, and something similar was done with the courts, ushering in a modern legal system independent of the religious orders. Perhaps the most symbolic of these changes was the ban on the chador, which, alongside the rest of such reforms, provoked the ongoing ire of the clergy.[11]

Many reformists, and even some to their left, initially supported Reza Khan. Like the Lasalleans in support of Bismark, they thought that by supporting Reza Khan they could push through many of the reforms that ran into dead ends when employing exclusively democratic channels. In 1925, the Qajar Dynasty was abolished, but unlike Attaturk, who founded a republic, the following year he crowned himself Reza Shah Pahlavi and founded a new dynasty.[12] Reza Shah continued solidifying his rule with an iron fist. The regime promoted a chauvinistic nationalist ideology that appealed to the imperial glories of pre-Islamic Persia. The state in this period can be best summarized as a monarchical-military dictatorship.

While the environment was repressive, the industrialisation projects of this era increased the size and importance of the working class, within which communists organized successful union drives. This culminated in 1929, when a massive strike broke out at the Abadan oil refinery complex, which was under the ownership and control of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The strike shook the ruling classes in both Iran and Britain, and served not only as a key event in the history of the working class movement in Iran, but also as a test for the state’s ability to maintain social order. The government responded with a great show of force, ratcheting up repression against communists. In 1931, a new law was enacted that criminalized the teaching and promotion of “communist” ideologies, banned trade unions, made striking illegal, and initiated a new wave of repression of socialist activists and intellectuals were imprisoned.[13]

Although the Pahlavi state enjoyed a degree of independence from the dominant classes, this also tended indirectly to facilitate the latter’s rule. Under both Pahlavi Shahs, it was through the state that capitalist development and industrialization took place. It was through the state that the modern capitalist class was consolidated and expanded, a fact that would remain no less true under the current day Islamic Republic. In many respects, it could be argued that both the Pahlavi regime and the Islamic Republic share features with the imperial state of Napoleon III after the coup of 1852: the latter built a state that was relatively autonomous from the ruling classes, yet which was in the end to the benefit of those classes as a whole, having “destroyed the political domination of the bourgeoisie only to preserve its social domination.”[14]

The reign of Reza Shah came to an end with World War Two. In the intervening years, the Iranian regime grew closer to the axis powers, particularly Germany, with whom it had affinities both political and ideological. The number of German advisors, engineers, and workers had increased greatly. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Allies wanted to use Iran to send weapons from the Persian Gulf to the Russian front. When Reza Shah refused, the Allies promptly invaded and occupied the country. Reza Shah abdicated in favor of his young son, Muhammad Reza, and lived the rest of his life in exile.

The Allied invasion of 1941, which caused the fall of Reza Shah’s dictatorship, opened up a period of popular political mobilization and activity. Political prisoners were released, trade unions reconstituted themselves, and political parties began to come into shape. While the invasion caused the fall of Reza Shah, the Allies still maintained the state, particularly the monarchy and the military. The Allies would occupy Iran until after the end of the war, with once again the Soviets occupying the north and the British occupying the south. This is also the beginning of the American involvement in Iran, with a military mission sent to Iran to rebuild the army.

When the communist prisoners were released a core of them founded the Tudeh [masses] Party, which would be the official pro-Moscow communist party in Iran. The party had a democratic-populist platform and attracted many intellectuals and middle-class elements. It was also a major presence among the industrial working class, organizing what would be by the end of the decade the largest trade union confederation in the Middle East.

After the war, Iran would be the stage for the confrontation of many social struggles, as well as the first conflict of the cold war. In 1946, the Soviets continued to occupy the north after the agreed upon allied withdrawal. Two autonomous republics were founded in Mahabad and Azerbaijan under the protection of the Red Army. At the same time, a number of communists were included in the post-war coalition government. The Soviets withdrew their forces, and the imperial army moved in with great repression. The communists were also pushed from government, as would be the case with the fall of the coalition governments of France and Italy in 1947. This was the first victory of the new US-Iran military alliance that had begun during the war.

Following the Second World War, the movement for Iranian national independence experienced an upsurge, focused on the demand to nationalize Iranian oil. At the center of this surge was the National Front, led by Dr. Muhammad Mossadegh, who soon gained a mass following and was made Prime Minister in 1951. The National Front was not a party with a single ideology, but an alliance of various parties united around national independence through the oil question. When parliament voted to nationalize the oil industry, the British reacted immediately by imposing an economic blockade on Iran. The result was a great strain on the economy and a major increase in social tensions. The Tudeh Party was increasingly showing their strength. The United States feared that the uncertain situation would create an opportunity for Tudeh to seize power. This was the beginning of the successful coup by pro-Shah rightist military generals in 1953.[15]

The 1953 coup closed the door on the social movements that had opened up with WW2. The period that followed was one of severe repression. The coup would solidify the position of the Shah and the military against all rivals and competing sources of power. It also established the United States as the dominant imperialist power, supplanting the British. The main weight of the repression came against the communists in the Tudeh Party. The party’s network was rooted out and the trade union confederation destroyed. Many militants were imprisoned, executed, or went into exile. It was in order to facilitate this new order that the US helped the regime set up a new secret police force, the Organization for Information and Security of the Country, known commonly by its Persian acronym, SAVAK. Its name would come to be synonymous with repression and torture under the Shah’s dictatorship.

[inventedworld]

THE SAVAGE ARTS

Except for those things done solo, creative enterprises are often condensations of oppression. 

Think that’s nuts?

The Benin Bronzes exemplify a raging debate about worst parts of cultural appropriation. They’re housed in the British Museum as artifacts obtained by murderous plunder after a long history of colonial occupation. They should be returned to Nigeria, one argument goes, as a form of repatriation of cultural identity, stolen goods returned to their rightful owners. (The Bronzes come from The Kingdom of Benin, which is now part of Edo State in Nigeria.)

But who, really, are the owners? The ethically dubious government currently in charge of Edo State? The aging— and also corrupt—hegemonic leader of a Benin tribal group who claims royal family ownership of those artifacts? A regional museum in Benin that’s unlikely to preserve, let alone properly display these rare artifacts? A major new museum scheduled to open this fall that wants to be seen as the proper steward for these artifacts?

The Brits assert that under their care the Bronzes at least have a chance to be protected, displayed, appreciated by diverse audiences, and not disappear into private collections of shady repute. That’s not bad, but it’s still not adequate. The British Museum’s reasonable sounding justification cannot be a morality cloak for the history by which they acquired these pieces. Unfortunately the other options about a lasting home of these artifacts do not feel adequate either. 

I’m digressing from my initial assertion, but not by much. The real problem here is that I have no idea how to resolve this ethical conundrum, or the many similar examples of improper cultural claims around the world. 

Let’s go back and review the initial charge: creative enterprises are condensations of oppression. The Benin Bronzes aren’t actually bronze. Most of them are actually made of brass, created as an indirect product of malevolent behavior on the part of the royal families that enabled their creation. Benin royalty earned its wealth largely by selling its own people into slavery, essentially amplifying the already barbaric tendencies promulgated by European powers at the time to sell people at auction. Slavery makes money, however, and some of the resources that historically accrued to The Kingdom of Benin contributed to the creation of these pieces. They were commissioned as elements of decor, and in some cases family memorials for the ruling class. In short, there are no “good guys” in this tale, even as the artworks at the center of the story present an extraordinary record of culture, craftsmanship, and history: condensations of oppression.

But what of creative enterprises that don’t describe traditional “arts”? Consider modern products of industry. Nineteenth and early twentieth century railroads were built by underpaid workers, often in dangerous conditions, often without recourse for proper treatment. Same goes for the wage serfs in modern food manufacturing companies, or garment factories, or even a thick slice of contemporary cube-farm employees in air conditioned spaces. Sure, the relative comfort of working in downtown Indianapolis office space is profoundly better than a coal miner’s stooped and carbon-dusted existence, but the underlying paucity of worker agency remains a fundamental reality of capital influence. Ask any crew on a movie shoot to describe their working conditions. Even under the best production leadership it’s often a gladiator’s life. Wake, work like draft horses, wait, work some more, worry about getting the next gig, wait, then rush back to the arena before sunrise if fortunate enough to get a call. You can count on long hours and limited influence. You can count on endless tasks and sudden changes. You can count on not being able to predict your own schedule, which inevitably presents intense challenges for pursuing your own life goals. Yes, it beats indentured servitude, but the glamour of working in movies dissipates fast. Stars and producers get the lion’s share. If you work “below the line”, you’re a wage serf. The burden of employment becomes oppressive even as you clamor for the job.

There are other categories that hide in plain sight. Creative enterprises aimed at generating even the most compelling work can only emerge by co-opting other people who cannot marshal their own agency. 

Don’t roll your eyes. I’m not immune to the immediate, rising din from readers who claim that work should be celebrated rather than excoriated when made possible by leaders brave enough to spearhead creative initiatives. The inevitable continuation of that thought is that teams of working people are not necessarily oppressed: they are employed. 

Okay: true. To echo my lament about the Benin Bronzes, I don’t have a better framework to offer. To be transparent, at times I also willingly work for people on a range of creative enterprises, while at other times I employee people to help me achieve my own visions, such as they may be. But what I try never to forget in either scenario is that to do anything requiring more than my own two hands demands that other people subvert their own needs. Taken to an extreme —the creation of The Bronzes, for example—means that the efforts themselves inevitably discount the value of most of the participants. Payment for labor does not singularly exonerate the person who’s paying from treating workers well. It’s a start, but it’s hardly an end.

Writers or painters or textile artists working alone in their own private spaces present alternatives. We are inevitably moved by creative works of those who expertly ply their craft all by themselves. But if you want to build a bridge or run a restaurant or make a movie you need a crew, and that means you need a means of organization and control. 

You’re still chafing about this. (I just know.) You’re reading and thinking, “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course a big project requires lots of people to get it done, and that doesn’t automatically make it oppressive!” 

I think it does, but I’ll offer a subtle nuance to that charge. It doesn’t necessarily make YOU oppressive, at least in terms of your intentions. (Perhaps you ARE oppressive, but that’s another matter entirely.) But I don’t believe we should pretend. If the goal for a team of people is to create something, anything, with high standards, then there is automatically a savage intensity that accrues to the effort. It may be the best system we have—it may be the most efficient way to coordinate the requisite labor and skills to accomplish anything beyond the work of an individual alone—but just because there isn’t a better solution doesn’t mean there are no lessons to learn, or big thoughts to keep in mind.

Take it in steps: start with a job that only requires yourself. If you simply want to get a it done, you can choose to metaphorically phone it in or use some sort of pre-existing template. Of course, you can’t be surprised if nobody comes back to you for repeat business, or if your name and your work gets forgotten amid the swirling sands of time. Mediocrity rarely deserves much attention or memory. 

But if you actually care about what you make, requirements rise quickly. You either fight like mad to bring your idea to glittering, glowing life, or you wind up settling for something less. Fighting like mad for your own highest standards does not guarantee success (not at all!), but success rarely comes from anything less than than enormous commitment.

Now, let’s add the necessity of other people working on your project. If your goals are high, and you determine to fight like mad, and you must employ others, you’re going to lean on them to give you as much as they’ll endure. Your carrot is their paycheck. Your stick is a constant reminder that there are plenty of other people salivating for their carrot. 

The savage intensity required in the pursuit of excellence does not enable short-cuts or sub-standard results. Labor will be paid, but not if the work doesn’t meet your standards. That’s reasonable on its face, but again, it’s hardly sufficient. It’s always in the hands of employers to determine how labor will be treated. Expressions of humanity will always be asymmetrically skewed toward the creative leads. The higher the standards, the more likely that worker conditions will erode.

Along the way to getting a job past its checkered flag, many people settle for something less than creative apotheosis. That’s no crime. But if you aspire to make something beyond the ordinary, don’t fool yourself that mere adequacy will make your efforts eternal. The things history remembers are rare and precious and worthy of note precisely because someone cared to make them matter. “Savage” therefore connotes an imperative of action, a singularity of intention that is not easily governed or mitigated by intruding thoughts or strategies. “Savage” means capturing other people, either by chains, by salaries, or by charismatic force of will. Capture methods can be ethical, such as attracting people with decent wages and good health benefits and PTO, or capture can be oppressive and dehumanizing, like western companies and consumers look askance while Congolese workers dig up rare earth minerals in horrific conditions so that we can light up our fancy cell phones. The first version is, obviously, far better in terms of quality of life for those who receive dental benefits and fifteen paid days off. But taken to logical conclusions, people in power determine the rules, and workers delivering the labor must adapt to circumstances. 

Let’s go back to The Benin Bronzes. These artifacts describe condensations of labor. They also describe usurpations of autonomy and ownership, and disingenuous declarations of cultural preservation on the part of those who initially ordered their creation, not to mention  those who seek to retain them going forward. I’m glad they’re safe in the British Museum, and I’m sad they’re safe in the British Museum. Neither are good options, in similar ways that that wage servitude is simultaneously no way to live and also a legitimate, often honorable means for making a living. 

For creators, the take-home message carries a charge of responsibility. We must be honest about all of this. We must be honest with ourselves, and we must commit to being fair and reasonable with those who work for us. At no point should any leader ask for less than excellence, presuming excellence happens to be the goal. (It generally is for me.) But the corrosive power inherent in marshaling others to do things we cannot do by ourselves always threatens to erode the bonds of civility and respect. Without a foreground dialogue about agency and ownership, the artifacts of culture will always carry the scent of sweat and tears, no matter how well they’re polished. 

@michaelstarobin

facebook.com/1auglobalmedia

[lauvra]

Woke up feeling so off-centre that I wondered about my cycle then searched for answers on astrology.com ... Luna makes her debut into Aquarius, activating the sector of your chart that governs secrecy and solitude. Meanwhile, Mercury retrograde and Uranus form a harsh square that could lead to dramatic miscommunications, further inspiring you to lay low. Standing outside the MCG, my father said the thousands flocking toward the gates looked like Magpies -- neither of us had yet realised the Collingwood team were in fact: the Magpies. I wore a black and white checkered skirt and championed the Melbourne team, but we cheered for both during the match invariably. Collingwood Magpies VS. The Brisbane Lions. Honestly, the latter played more impressively, their passes were more clean and they appeared to utilise an intuition -- a kind of group-think demonstrated with a lot more ease than their opposition who were behind two goals with about five minutes remaining. One had scored a goal and continued to chew his gum (later a friend said he always does that, like a cow, it strikes her as hubris and she hates the player with a passion). My dad pointed out supporters starting to leave, but I remembered an historic moment in American baseball depicted in some rom-com and said I wouldn't give up just yet -- we've seen stranger things. Every so often, the dominant ratio of the home-town crowd would slowly build into a unionised chant: Cooooollingwoooooood, Coooooooollingwooooooooood, COOOOOOOOOOOOOLLINGWOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. I thought how strange, it felt less encouraging than haunting and outright taunting or more accurately, a threat to suggest: you better win, or else. It felt very British, actually, about as Punk and counter-productive as tossing bottles on stage out of love. I even mentioned this to dad and suggested then demonstrated an obvious, tried and true syllabic rhythm instead. A Brissy supporter three rows behind us spent the entire evening screaming profanities at his own team, only cheering with a tense hesitation despite them holding the lead. MAKE THEM PAY - OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES - WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? - FUCKIN' HELL, BILLY! - I'd never heard a name cried with such sincere desperation, I think it's my new favourite name. I couldn't help considering whether this red-faced young man may benefit from my evaluation that he didn't seem to much like his team -- in fact, he didn't seem to enjoy watching this game... at all. I knew better than to say so. I recognise he may be a typical Sports-fan™ who knows how these things go, I just hope he gets laid soon. Seagulls circled and surveyed the stadium. I wondered whether our behaviour struck them as strange but later realised: they don't care / we leave chippies here. I couldn't resist admiring the Lions who most resembled the kinds of guys from high-school who'd intimidate me into kissing their hand or fart on my head during I.T. class. The Melbourne team seemed borderline lethargic, too thoughtful or reliant on luck -- I remarked they didn't have enough hatred in their hearts. Each goal they scored was met with two levels of commercial screens flashing, a tribal drum appraisal, flashing of overhead lights and roars of acclaim. For the first time I understood beyond a spiritual sense what home ground advantage meant. So now we're down to 4 minutes in the final quarter and Collingwood score a goal, but they're still behind. I didn't crave a cigarette the entire time, my dopamine was naturally sky-high and look, I don't know the rules, hailing from the land of Rugby League as a teen I'd watch my boyfriend's training days with a kind of curious detachment, but after tonight, this sports™ stuff... I get it. The intensity, the tension and potential of vindication in it all. With 3 minutes remaining they score another and defeat Brisbane by one fucking point and are crowned the comeback-Kings. The lights, the drums, the roars and team anthem begin Good old Collingwood for ever, etc. etc. Not a bad first ever live football spectator experience. Noottta bad addalll.