Yup definitely. I think sometimes folks get a little behind on mailing list back and forths. I've been working on a response, but I also had to pick someone up from the hospital so haven't had as much time as I'd like to write something as carefully as I want it to be.

I want to add my +1 for now while I write a more elaborate response so that no one has to feel like they're in this one alone.

As much as I want people to come out and articulate these issues and concerns, I especially want them to do it thoughtfully and carefully. As allies, it's super important to consider the number of contexts that are all in play with eachother and sometimes operate behind the blinders that privilege often applies.



On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 5:38 PM, Hep Svadja <hepkitten@gmail.com> wrote:
Also this would be a stellar time for white allies interested in social justice and supporting minority voices to take up the heavy lifting of explaining why this is all problematic so I do not have to spend more hours on this topic as the sole voice speaking up and educating.

-hep

On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 5:34 PM, Hep Svadja <hepkitten@gmail.com> wrote:
Bringing this back to the list because, as per usual I do not enjoy being contacted offlist and berated about my culture, or berated about white people's entitlement to my culture.

This is a problem.

-hep

On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 5:32 PM, Sonja Trauss <sonja.trauss@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm from the east coast, Philadelphia. Philadelphia is 45,45,10 black, white, Hispanic (mostly Puerto Rican) + Asian (Cambodian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean and Chinese). As you can maybe imagine, day of the dead is really not a thing in Philadlephia. When I lived there, I never went to a DD party, or even really had heard of it. 

Here, in the bay, the racial/ethnic distribution is way different. I never meet Puerto Ricans any more, and there are way fewer blacks. There are more Asians and Hispanics. Not only is the current Hispanic population here bigger, this area was settled by Spanish soldiers (unlike Philadelphia, settled by Dutch and English mostly. Also some Germans). The Spanish settler influence is all over - in names, in the types of old buildings. The white people I meet here are Way more likely to speak Spanish than the people I grew up with. the white people I meet here know more about Mexico and Central America than the ppl back east. The point is, California is a way more Hispanic part of the US overall than anywhere I lived before.

Therefore, it is not surprising at all to see way more DD. Moreover, it doesn't seem strange to me that people who live near each other would celebrate the same holidays. The thing that makes many Hispanics celebrate day of the dead (seeing Hispanics celebrate day of the dead) also makes white people celebrate day of the dead. 
Put another way, is it weird to you how many atheists and non-Christians in America celebrate Christmas? Probably not - you can see that at on December 25th, Christmas is just the thing to do. 
When you see white people celebrating DD here, it's not because they want to steal your holiday, it's because your culture is pervasive here. 
Does that make sense?



On Friday, October 24, 2014, Hep Svadja <hepkitten@gmail.com> wrote:
hi guys:

a little bothered by the cultural appropriation of this event. as a Bay Area Hispanic I find it quite strange when groups of mostly white people with no ties to the actual culture of ddlm host events not in the actual spirit of this extremely reverent Hispanic holiday. basically if you don't build an ofrenda on your ancestors' graves every year i find it really problematic to be jumping aboard this holiday as you are clearly not of this culture. using it as an excuse for a dance party is even more questionable as is encouraging people with no understanding of this cultural holiday to dress up, which i understand is for the best of reasons but also pretty exploitative of a culture you don't belong to.  what is wrong with just making this a Halloween party and not contributing to the ongoing exploitation of local Hispanic communities of color?

-hep

* edited this to be less of a jerk.

On Thu, Oct 23, 2014 at 1:54 PM, yar <yardenack@gmail.com> wrote:
On Thu, Oct 23, 2014 at 12:42 PM, Lesley Bell <zvezdalune@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello!
>
> The Omni needs funds.  Dia de los Muertos is a thing. We would like to
> introduce new people to the space and expand our community.
>
> I have attached a flyer for a possible event, a funky transhumanist/Dia de
> los Muertos themed costume ball.  Should this happen? Is there a reason
> anyone would like to block?
>
> Also, steampunk zombies! Mechanical corpses! Post-singularity glittery
> things covered in LEDs! Ordinary awesome humans!

Looks fun! Right now the way to book events is:

1) check the calendar for conflicts: https://omnicommons.org/wiki/Calendar

2) submit this form: bit.ly/omniballroom

Full explanation and future changes to the process will go here:
https://omnicommons.org/wiki/How_to_book_events
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