It’s Friday the 13th, which has always been a lucky day for me — so I’ve decided this is also the day in which I shall restart my blog in hopefully new and interesting ways! For example, if you wish, you can soon listen to me speaking my thoughts, rather than simply reading it yourself….
Writing up interviews is not easy! From an anthropological perspective, there’s always the worry that I’m committing the ethical crime of appropriating someone else’s subaltern culture. Racially I’m white, and I don’t want to even accidentally appear to act like I’m either stealing the words of, or attempting to speak for, any of the minority…
I love the idea of a day for giving gratitude for friends and family, for one’s warm/fed/dry/whatever circumstances, or even simply because feeling grateful helps one to appreciate life more. Just for fun I cooked for a few years… and then I’d had enough of that! We started celebrating at nice restaurants instead. Good food…
This makes me feel bad — so it must be bad! On deeper examination of this issue, I believe the selfish desire to profit regardless of the pain or damage it causes others is behind the deliberately inaccurate reframing of cultural appropriation as something good. For example, I’ve seen terms such as “cultural evolution” and…
But why does it matter? Well, I feel it’s always easier to understand something when it’s personal… so let’s do a little thought-exercise. Yes, I know what this example will most properly describe is something more like a copyright issue, but work with me here; I’m trying to explain something conceptual in an emotive matter,…
A few years ago I was in a class about being a good ally to people of color, or POC. It is a sad fact that often any such class on allyship is least well attended by those who most need it. As a white woman I can certainly understand that — had it not…
(A review written in August 2005 of a book suggested by the Philosopher’s Café group I used to attend. This review, while not that enthralling, is referenced in a later and better blog I wrote on torture. Both are creepily pertinent to today’s issues) – – – – – – – – – – –…
(A review written in August 2005 of a book suggested by the Philosopher’s Café group I used to attend. This review, while not that enthralling, is referenced in a later and better blog I wrote on torture. Both are creepily pertinent to today’s issues) – – – – – – – – – – –…
(A review written in August 2005 of a book suggested by the Philosopher’s Café group I used to attend. This review, while not that enthralling, is referenced in a later and better blog I wrote on torture. Both are creepily pertinent to today’s issues) An extremely quick read with humorous cartoons on every page; this…
I found myself somewhat disturbed when the older white male speaker confidently asserted that Gandhi was the first person to really codify nonviolence. Had the speaker never heard of the extensive uses of nonviolence, both interpersonal and inter-clan, by many of the indigenous peoples of North America? The Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) in particular leap to…