---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
refugia <refugia@zoho.com>Date: Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 2:57 PM
Subject: Subject: Re: [sudo-discuss] Dia de los Muertos fundraiser: is happening?
To:
hepkitten@gmail.comThe time you put into these emails are your own choice. The sudolist is much larger than sudo's membership. I'm not sure who either of you are. I don't see you at sudo. I don't sympathize with your or Sonya's perspectives but you are probably both well interventioned. Sniping on burner's cultural appropriate of indigenous culture is bit too easy and those types of discussions are best had in person if your intent is not malicious. People get defensive and close off if they think they are being called out as racist.
If your intent is to be politically correct in your speech don't use the terms hispanic or latino, especially when talking to strangers. In the liberal lexicon they are vague racial-cultural. Just say spanish speaking, if that's what you mean and won't confuse people further. People are confused on their own.
The terms latino and hispanic are used to erase peoples indigenous identity. I think that sort language and the obfuscating conception of race are much more damaging than white people painting skeletons on their face or making altars. Call first nation peoples by their actual names. Don't lump them all together. It's a habit that americans should stop, especially if they regard themselves as some sort of radical.
The holiday is a derivative of the Nahua holiday. Speaking spanish doesn't give one special dibs on venerating their dead. In Mexico it's been appropriated by mexicans broadly, by non-Nahuatl speaking indigenous peoples, mesitizos and white mexicans. In mexico it's a constructed national holiday (like american halloween) with a multitude of local variations. You don't get this sort of exclusionary discourse about who can participate in the holiday in Mexico but you do see criticism of Halloween elements being included in dia de los muertos. In the post-revolution era there was a campaign to invent a national identity in a huge and extremely diverse territory. The sugar skulls used in dias in other part of Abya Yala are post-colonial. Sugar aint from here:)
There are other related versions of the holiday not related to the Nahuah, Guede, Finados. All souls day is a european christian holiday which is part of many the of the modern syncretic versions of the holiday. Most traditional cultures on all continents have a similar holiday around this time year.
What does it mean to establish consent with another culture, consent to participate in ceremony? There real tensions in between the ideas of the free culture movement and left wing attempts at non-colonial intercultural relations y understanding.
Anywhoo the only event happening at the omni is a Haitian dance performance. There was no proposal for the event at a sudo or omni meeting. It's not worth spending that much time writing emails.
Saludos,
Patrick