#usa diaspora

[bsof-maarav]

Diversity win: this antisemitic mob is multicultural

[secular-jew]

[vintage-ukraine]

Ukrainian girl painting a pysanka for Easter in Minneapolis, USA, 1941

[useless-catalanfacts]

Did you know that the Catalan vault can be found in many buildings of the United States of America?

Here's some examples:

Grand Central Terminal, New York City. Photo from Getty.

Boston Public Library. Photo by Michael Freeman/Boston Public Library.

Ellis Island Registry Room, New York. Photo by Mike Ward on Flickr.

City Hall station of the New York subway. Photo by Michael Freeman.

The Catalan vault is a brick arch that is widely used in traditional Catalan architecture. It's also present in other parts of the Mediterranean, but not as common. Its main characteristic is that it's built with the longest side of the brick facing down (usually, ceilings are made with the shortest side facing down) and with a very gentle curve, resulting in a strong self-supporting vault that allows covering a whole room without needing columns or pillars in a way that would be impossible with other kinds of masonry, and also makes it possible to build it quickly and without needing centering (the wooden structure used to support the vault or arch while it's being built, and which is removed once it's made).

So how did it make its way to the USA?

It was brought by the Valencian architect Rafael Guastavino i Moreno (1842-1908). He had already designed important industrial buildings in Catalonia, including the factory that later became the Industrial School in Barcelona and La Massa theatre in Vilassar de Dalt, among others. At the time, in Catalonia, the Catalan vault was being widely used to cover ceilings in factories.

In 1881, Guastavino moved to New York City (USA), where he used the Catalan vault to cover big ceilings, which made him gain some fame for it. He patented the vault in the USA with the name "Guastavino system".

At the time, Americans were very worried about buildings catching fire, because it often happened and had caused a huge destruction in the Chicago 1871 fire. As a response, in 1883 Guastavino bought a patch of land in Connecticut, built two houses in it using the Catalan vault, and set them on fire. He took photos of the whole process to document it and prove how this architecture style is efficient in the case of fire. He wrote about it in the magazine Decorator and Furnisher and soon won the contest to design the Progress Club's building in New York City, which made him famous among architects in the area.

He created his own company (Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company) which was focused on building the Catalan vault. He was hired for many buildings and this architectural element spread. Most churches with stone vaults built between 1890 and 1940 in the USA were designed by Guastavino's firm, as well as many other buildings across the country, particularly New York and Massachusetts.

He's buried in the St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville (North Carolina, USA), a building he designed.

[anghraine]

There's something really strange and creepy about the self-appointed diaspora police who fixate on the exact breakdowns of strangers' ethnic backgrounds.

Yeah, I get the "I'm 1/32nd Cherokee princess" thing but "is your blood puuuuuure" is super gross as well, especially if the person doing it has nothing to do with the community in question.

[psychopomp-recital]

Okay folks let’s talk-

So so tired of Non-Americans trying to erase the identities of Americans. In particular European-Americans (Americans with European heritage).

We are still here. Our cultures are still here. It is not a monolith. You can’t ignore YOUR history by invalidating ours. Your countries played a part in the colonization process of these lands. You are not blameless.

I linked below the entire post from @Therootcircle on Insta I think EVERYONE should be reading it. And read the comments too.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lisa Fazio (@therootcircle)

[lgbtlunaverse]

The thing is: there's actually absolutely nothing wrong with modern/university/highschool or whatever AUs that take characters originally from japan or china or korea or any other country and plop them in america. There's a huge and varied disapora population in the us, and if the (usually usa) author wants to write about characters in a setting familiar to them that's perfectly normal and fine.

But what gets really jarring is when a fic clearly takes place in the united states but it doesn't know it takes place in the united states. Characters are just going to us-style schools and colleges and eating fluffy pancakes with maple syrup but they're also still using honorifics like -ge or -hyung or -kun and names are said last name – first name so you think ok they live in the usa but speak their native tongue around each other. That makes sense. Except it's never actually mentioned or talked about and no one ever switches to english in public, no one is relieved to have friends from the same ethnicity, no one has family that still lives overseas, no one talks about not being able to get certain ingredients at the grocery store to cook their favorite childhood dishes, and no one in general seems to be even be aware that they're diaspora. As if the fic isn't even meant to be in the us.

It's like the reverse of ace attorney's japanifornia, instead of a los angeles with an incredible amount of japanese cultural influence they live in a japan where everything just happens to be usamerican.

[luvmesumus]

[molkolsdal]

Gauri Gill dedicated almost eight years to her photo series "The Americans," capturing the lives of the South Asian diaspora in the United States. Her extensive travels took her from New York and New Jersey to California, the Midwest, and five Southern states. The resulting color images depict everyday scenes within the South Asian community, showcasing individuals in saris and dastars, engaged in activities such as eating, talking on the phone, attending weddings, socializing in clubs, and participating in sacred Hindu rituals. Through "The Americans," Gill juxtaposes the personal lives of the South Asian diaspora with broader notions of American identity and culture.

[kazhanko-art]

I’m glad Canada is continuing to contribute to Ukraine, and there’s supposed to be aid for the next 5 years at least, but I worry it won’t be enough. I wish the budget for Ukraine was bigger; though I’m far from an expert in economics, I think GDP wise we could afford it (granted, in terms of actual military equipment we weren’t on the best footing, and I guess we weren’t meeting our NATO commitments in funding)

But also, even if we donated more, there’s no way we can meet the aid that is stalled in the US. Even if we combined our aid with other countries that’d be a huge commitment. That aid could save so many lives, it COULD HAVE saved so many lives. So many soldiers, so many civilians, and it’s all being stalled because a bunch of Americans need to have an ego stroke about it

Of course, that’s not just an American issue, plenty of countries have had asshats, including here, trying to stall aid, shit talking Ukrainians, celebrating russian crimes. It’s just the amount on hold, the steaks at play, and Ukrainians being told by the US specifically not to bomb the russian refineries is making it especially frustrating right now, and I know that it’s a lot worse for those in Ukraine, or family in Ukraine. It doesn’t take a lot of time in online Ukrainian spaces to know how dire things are, and how scared everyone is.

I don’t know how much we can make up for it, but if you’re a ukrainian diaspora member or ukrainian supporter, maybe try to mind local information on organizations and events in your countries that can lobby for more aid and support. And besides that, ukrainian organizations to donate to. United24 is always a good default. But if there’s any others please share them.

[bsof-maarav]

Will they ever begin to wonder why the only Jews in their circles are Jews who feel no social obligations to any specific Jewish community; Jews who lack even the most fundamental knowledge of their own history, let alone the history of Jews from other parts of the diaspora; Jews who recoil from the thought of belonging to any Jewish collective that is not just a grouping of tokens but is fundamentally Jewish in its nature; Jews whose stake in being Jewish goes no deeper than some vague "cultural" reference to humor or bagels or buffoonish stereotypes; Jews who have never demonstrated a degree of solidarity with other Jews that is remotely commensurate with the loyalty that is demanded of them on the basis of whatever their non-Jewish circle claims to value; Jews who allow themselves to be externally defined;

Jews who preemptively disavow their own culture, traditions, history, and/or country to make others comfortable with them; Jews who do their utmost to reduce the friction between their culture and everyone else's, who are quiet about any ways in which they deviate from the group norm; who are quick to say that the only value in something Jewish is as an object lesson to be universalized and used in the service of someone else's liberation...

[secular-jew]

Even if I convert I’ll never really be accepted as Jewish in America because I’m black. Even though my country has ruins of synagogues :(.

I’m really sad, but I will still convert anyway!🩷

Your observation is absurd and glad you're going through with it, IF IT'S WHAT YOU WANT.

Judaism doesn't seek or force conversions on anyone. It is not a proselytizing conversion ideology like Christianity or Islam. So it's entirely up to you.

As for the issue of acceptance. First, I'm glad you don't care what other people think. Are you converting for you, or for someone else? Never worry bout what someone else might think, it's a waste of brain power and causes useless anxiety.

No one really cares about skin color, except politicians who use this and any excuse to divide along racial, ethnic, and gender lines. The leftists, 'sexiste and Democrats are professionals at doing this.

There are entire entities of black Jews from the MENA, and if you're looking for black Jewish role models in the U.S., Sammy Davis Jr was a well know converted Jew who was accepted as such anywhere and everywhere. Other black American Jews include Drake, Rashida Jones (daughter of Quincy Jones), musician Lenny Kravitz, SNL star and actress Maya Rudolph, actress Kat Graham, musician Ben Harper, Tracee Ellis Ross (daughter of legend Diana Ross), actress Lisa Bonet, Nell Carter, Daveed Diggs, Rain Pryor (daughter of Richard Pryor). I could go on and on.

[vintage-ukraine]

Prof. Granovsky inspecting his personal Pysanka collection on display at the library in Minneapolis, USA, 1940

[susansontag]

people will embark on book challenges to only read african authors or asian authors and then most of what they read are books written by black and asian americans etc. or canadians. or british. and like. obviously this is great too but maybe more people should arrange these reading challenges so people won’t solely read diaspora fiction but maybe read some stuff from around the world that wasn’t originally written in their native language by people who may have cultural experiences that could frankly still be similar to their own. I just feel it’d be worth making that distinction

[propalitet]

I hate when diaspora acts as if they know or understand how living here is. I hate when they come here from a country where their salary is 5 times bigger, where they live in a huge house they bought 2 years ago and then have the nerve to comment and COMPLAIN about life here. Kill yourself then, leave us alone, you and your family left for a reason so stay where you went if you hate it here so much.

[beautiful-basque-country]

Kaixo! A million people have probably already mentioned this to you, but have you heard that a PhD in Basque studies is offered in the US? It is through the University of Nevada, Reno. The last ask on heritage study of Basque reminded me of this. Cheers! -

Kaixo anon!

Yes, yes, I knew! That's a great example of how important the Basque diaspora is over there ^_^.