Monday, February 29, 2016

FEBRUARY - EPISODE TWO: WINTER 2016


WISDOM OF THE SAGES

EPISODE TWO – WINTER 2016

Hello People of the World;

Here we are with the shortest month of the year. But, since we are in a Leap Year, the shortest month gets an extra day, yet still remains the shortest month. Weird, how that works. Leap year also means that there will be all kid of folk clamoring for a reason why we get an extra day ever for years. CLICK HERE for the explanation. Then, simply never ask again. (Hint: it is about how the earth moves around the sun. Which might catch you off-guard)

Speaking of being taken off-guard: I should also take time to note CHICAGO BLIZZARD 2016! Yep, once again, Chicago, as it does for everything except hockey, girded its loins in preparation for the Biggest Thing Ever, in this case – the WORST SNOW STORM IMAGINEABLE!!! Then, much like Chicago does with everything except hockey, nothing the fuck happened. It was the worst of letdowns, much like Chicago at anything except hockey. Yet, we will complain about something weather related.

On that note, let’s get this month’s edition started, shall we:

1 :[ Speaking of Valentime’s Day; Love is a chemical reaction: and all the poems saying “If that’s all you think, you’re not as awesome as I think I am.” But, it is. That feeling of “love” is a chemical reaction in the brain. Science has explained it many times over. But the holier-than-thou have to always condescend to us and explain that it is only their true enlightenment that makes love possible. Please. So, stop trying to force your silly feel-good nonsense on everyone. Before you say that scientists are doing that too; they are not. They are showing us how the Universe IS. Whenever we discover more, we uncover how much we really do not know.

So shut up with your condescension.


2 :[ There always comes a time when you buy into your Own Hype. That you think your stuff is so “the shit” that people need to pay for the privilege of looking at or owning a piece of it. That, your opinion, shaped by audience feedback, is what they really want. So, forget trying to be original, forget trying to be on the outside of broken systems, as long as you think you are the best and they pay for what you “love to do”, forget that you continue to benefit from those broken systems, forget integrity.

People have many differing ways of excusing the fact that they sold out.

It is not art. It is your job; just do not call it a “revolution”.


3 :[ Failed to Mention #4: I finally got to watch the incredible documentary "What Happened, Miss Simone?" on Netflix this month. Last year, "The Amazing Nina Simone " was one of my top 10 movies last year. "What Happened, Miss Simone?" is another great doc about this amazing person. It was heartbreaking and raw, and did a great job in showing the humanity behind the persona.

Audiences, reviewers, and participants seem to want to set these two documentaries at odds with one another. Much like what happened with Nina Simone in her life when audiences, reviewers, and people she knew were setting her at odds with herself, never knowing the bipolar and mental health issues she was enduring at a time when these things were not known.

No matter how contentious the relationship is between the two docs and their makers, if it is contentious at all, I do not think there is a better way to tell her story, to honor her accomplishments and struggles, to reflect such a multifaceted personality Nina Simone was, than to have these two documentaries about her. In fact, now knowing what I learned about her from both films, it seems almost proper. Both teams should be very proud of bringing to life the story of the Amazing Miss Nina Simone with these two films.


4 :[ All I have been hearing from way too many people is that we have become “Too PC?” What does that even mean? Seriously. Then, those who try to work for a better society are derisively dismissed as “social justice warriors”. What is wrong with wanting social justice? They all complain that making the world “Too PC” is akin to censorship. What horseshit. It then becomes obvous that people have no clue what censorship actually is.

Is it censorship, or, an inability to take responsibility for your actions and words? Seinfeld and Rock are pretty much cowards for not wanting to perform at colleges because “they are too PC”. That is supposed to be a GOOD thing, right? That the next generation is smarter than ours and has deemed something like the word n****er to be a bad thing and not used to describe a group of people. That is a good thing right?

All “PC” people are asking is for the person stating something stupid or offensive, to take responsibility for saying it. Stop hiding behind comedy and “it’s a joke” and “it’s supposed to be funny” and take some responsibility like a man. Show some consideration before you say something stupid. Then, if you willing to take responsibility for the words coming out of your mouth, then go ahead and say them. Just be ready for someone to be offended. But do not act like your free speech is being impugned because you said you hoped some woman gets raped, okay?

It is all about context: no one is censoring you. You still have the right to say what you want, just as those hearing your words have the right to be offended and say something back. Just because you are on the wrong side of this does not mean your rights are being violated. If you are such a pussy that they make you feel like you cannot say something for fear of offending some one then that is on you because you are self-censoring. No one is passing laws to make your “great” thoughts illegal and they are not throwing you in jail or cutting out your tongue to silence you. You are making your own decision to be afraid of offending someone. That’s all. All these “PC Warriors” are asking is that you at least have some consideration before you say something stupid and to not act all victimized if you’ve gone too far and offended someone and they reacted…. Is that too PC?

Next topic: What do we really mean when we say “Decolonize”?


5 :[ Learned Behaviors: One of the many weird things I ask of my class is to show me how they tie their shoes. When it comes to breaking through on Native experience versus expertise, it comes down to learned behaviors. How does this apply to progressive thinking and changing status quos? What we learn is not so important as how we learn something. We can be taught to thinking about every situation from differing perspectives coming to more inclusive solutions, be we are never raised to think like that. We are raised to think in binary terms: right or wrong, strength or weakness, peace or war, black or white.

This comes from our education systems and our social environments. If everyone who has authority over you tells you that the world is one way then you will never question it. In school, we are never taught a complete history of our United States, pushing into our Santa Claus Eligible soft spots, that Indians were aggressive beast who blocked the Nation’s progress west and now they are extinct. You might think that you have escaped these sorts of things but I know many are just now learning of these histories because many of my college students thirsted for Native history when their elementary and high schools failed to provide the proper context of history.

Here is a simple thing about learned behaviors that blew my mind when I realized it and it should make you think as well: Why Are We Drinking Milk from the Carton?

Many will joke that is how we have always done it and some will say that they are just “too lazy” to get a glass. Think about it: from the moment we enter Kindergarten to the time we leave high school, what are we drinking our lunch milk out of? That is right: we drink out of the milk container because we have been conditioned to from all of our years in school.

Imagine how that impacts how we learn US History, the sciences, or math.

I was in a “Culture, Race, and Media” course at Columbia. Which was required to graduate, which is one of the great things Columbia does right. In it we talked about how TV ads, and ads in general influence our behaviors. Many defended video games and that, that was never the intent of their favorite movies, but the media on a subconscious level does influence us. One too-cool guy, (Side note: there were hipsters at Columbia LONG before they became a thing and this guys was proof of that) was stating that since he we too smart, he never watches TV anymore and is never influenced. (He never stated that he was too smart but the implication was there in his tone.), but he only remembered TV commercials from his youth.

But he neglected to think that, that was worse because we subconsciously remember such things as ads as kids and it does influence us. He never made that connection. I failed to point it out at the time and I try to every chance I get now. Which is also how we have this whole nostalgic-hipster movement going on right now which is ruining art and media, by turning them into crass commercial products aimed at people who think they are so smart for remembering or recognizing those things.

That is what learned behavior does to us on a subconscious level. Now, how do you tie your shoes?


6 :[ Here is something I learned only recently: “oh-BO-po” is how you pronounce “Au Bon Pain”, the chain café. What are you gonna do? It’s French….


7 :[ I remember seeing a meme which stated, “Being labeled as ‘angry’ means you are having an impact.”

Which is why, since the time of first contact, Native peoples have been labeled as “Angry” and “Aggressive” so as to depower their anger in these modern times, so our activism and righteous anger will have no voice. Because, those Natives are always angry, ignore them, right?


8:[ Now, I have been running into all kinds of guys that are much, much taller than me lately. Almost ever where I go now there are at least two guys (In some cases, a woman) my height or taller. Do not get me wrong, the reason I notice them is that they stand out against the sea of average. But it does feel oddly connective while at the same time, wildly lonely to see other tall people trying to navigate a world not made for them. Still, the thought does cross my mind when I marvel at their height, “So, this is how it feels…”


That will do it for this month.

Those in favor of being politically incorrect, or who want to give me a lesson in racial politics, or who want to ignite the good old “Oppression Olympics” once again, will probably school me on that situation. That’s fine, as long as you are able to make a good argument that is rational and sane. I am always open to change my view on things. I am not so egotistical to think my opinion is the way the world should see things. I will not censor your comment just because I think they are wrong.

I don’t know, maybe I am wrong about all of it. So, let me know what you think and as always, feel free to comment, correct, or contradict anything you read here. My ego is such that I think I can take it. I dare you. “Think you can take me? Well go ahead on. It’s your move.”

Until next month, remember “I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”


2016 Ernest M Whiteman III