Gina Harris's Blog, page 33

News you might be able to use

This week I learned of someone's car being stolen from the a dealer's lot after having been dropped off for service. 

(I do not know the victim, but I know the victim's roommate.) 

It is common practice for there to be a drop box for keys so you don't have to drop the car off during service hours. Not having your car is inconvenient, and that is a way of making things more convenient.

This drop box was emptied of all of the keys overnight.

This is apparently a new thing: drop boxes are being emptied or raided or removed, and lots of cars are being taken this way.

This does of course lead to an even greater inconvenience, which can be exacerbated by risks of home robbery if you left your garage door opener in the car, or identity theft if you left your registration.

We were appalled and upset on behalf of one person that got their car stolen, but the conversation with the police made it sound like a trend. They also made it sound like because it is property crime that the city (Beaverton) would probably not be pursuing it, but that Washington County might.

The reason I am writing about it is because then there was this comment in the conversation, "And you don't hear anything about it on the news."

That seems like good information to have. If nothing else, businesses should be notified and maybe post signs advising that people shouldn't drop their keys off, or so they secure the drop boxes better, or hire night security.

It could make a good news story for consumer protection: don't leave your registration in the glove box! Don't leave your garage door opener in the car. Maybe don't leave the door between your garage and your house unlocked. Maybe -- no matter how inconvenient it is -- find a way to drop off your car during business hours.

I have not watched much local news for a while, so I was not sure if it wasn't being mentioned. 

Searches weren't too encouraging. There was nothing on that method.

The top results were a story about a car thief who found a child in the back seat, so came back and lectured the mother. Seriously, it's like that's the only car theft story that anyone cares about.

I did also find a story through KGW about Portland mayor Ted Wheeler creating a task force, and the cops were going to work with cancer doctors at OHSU to understand tracking. (Frankly, I am not sure that knowledge will correspond, but okay.) I also did find some articles about dealer thefts, but those were all about forcing locks. There was one about key thefts, but that was about the keys for the cars for sale being stolen, and not the cars. (That sounds more like a really annoying, expensive prank.)

Now, there is always the possibility that the issue was misrepresented by the police, in terms of how common it is, or how likely to be pursued; they will tend to spin things in a way that facilitates budget increases.

That is all the more reason that you need a press that questions and reports. It does not feel like we have one.

I had been thinking about that more for national issues, but your backyard matters too.

Anyway, if you are getting your car worked on, careful with that drop off.

May Daily Songs: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

I usually wait to post about the songs until after I have played them all, but I don't know that it's really necessary. It may very well feel weird enough that I never do it again, but I thought I'd at least try it.

Therefore, there are only dates by the songs already posted. There are 31 total, taking us through the end of May. I currently have no intentions of changing the order, though there is not any special pattern to the order. Well, I did start with James Iha because he is probably the most famous of these Asian-Americans, by which I mean United States residents of Asian descent.

That was one change this year. Previously I have not paid a lot of attention to country of origin. That means I did not use anyone based in Japan or Korea (last year I did) and I even left out those Asian-Canadians that I had really liked last year.

I also did not use any Pacific Islanders from islands that are not US, so no New Zealand bands.

There are a lot of ways of viewing how to organize these heritage months. They can all have merits in different ways, so it can be good to change it up from year to year.

But yes, it means I am sorting people based on race and country of origin.

Another thing I did differently this year was focusing on individuals rather than bands. That left open the possibility of using Smashing Pumpkins and Linkin Park. As it is, James Iha and Mike Shinoda both have a fair amount of solo work.

It also means I have a Jonas brother in here -- which makes me cringe a little -- but DNCE is not included for him; it's for JinJoo Lee.

There continue to be recurring favorites, but I think my favorite new discovery is Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. Having some previous familiarity, I am starting to really enjoy Kishi Bashi. 

I also wish I had known about Only Won's "12 Days of Dim Sum" for Non-White Christmas.

I don't know what I will do for December this year, but I enjoy seeing how things develop.

Daily Songs:

5/1 “Beauty” by James Iha
5/2 “Rush” by Ravenna
5/3 “Are We There Yet” by DUMBFOUNDED
5/4 “Ordinary Pleasure” by Toro y Moi
5/5 “Tenderness” by Jay Som
5/6 “When We Swam” by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
5/7 “Sutures” by The Slants
5/8 “Rest Before We Go To War” by Ogikubo Station
5/9 “Cake By The Ocean” by DNCE
5/10 “Carry On Phenomenon” by Kishi Bashi
5/11 “Ray” by Clones of the Queen
5/12 “Magic” by The Linda Lindas
5/13 “Hummingbird” by Run River North
5/14 “Kawika” by Jake Shimabukuro
5/15 “50 Thousand Deep” by Blue Scholars
5/16 “Ready” by MILCK
5/17 “Passionfruit” by Yaeji
5/18 “Dreaming Awake” by Low Leaf
5/19 “Always Need You” by Melissa Polinar
“Galaxies: The Next Level” by Mountain Brothers
“Strings” by Asobi Seksu
“Shivers” by Katherine Ho
“Kitty Party” by Awaaz Do
“Nobody” by Mitski
“Boyish” by Japanese Breakfast
“A Thousand Cuts” by Ruby Ibarra
“Butterfly” by UMI
“Promises I Can't Keep” by Mike Shinoda
“Hard Glance” by Bodysync
“Turn This World Around” by Only Won & Larissa Lam
“Faded” by Zhu
“No Turning Back” by CHOPS

Don't Forget to Vote!

I know, I thought I was done.

I keep seeing reminders about the election, though, even though my ballot was turned in two weeks ago.

I guess it is also a reminder that we are connected to each other, and need to care about each other and be aware of each other.

It sounds so simple and obvious, and yet there is evidence that it isn't.

Don't let the fascists win.

Movies: The Woman King and Till

I am not putting these two movies in opposition to each other. I will do some comparison on the roles they fill.

I mentioned last week that I was delaying this post because I wanted to watch one more movie first. If anyone was wondering, that was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The Dahomey Agojie had some influence on the Dora Milaje, and I didn't want to watch the movie and find all of these meaningful connections that would have made sense to mention.

That was not really an issue. I also finished The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with its own Dora Milaje cameo. For all three movies and the series, what I thought of most of was grief. That is never too far from my surface. I might write more about that later, but for now I am going to finish being mad at "The Actor".

One thing all three movies share is that they would be good for the actor to see. His inability to imagine a Black woman dressing elegantly and speaking with sophistication may indicate he has not watched enough films that were centered on anything other than white men.

The majority of the films that would have been available for his viewing -- especially as it pertains to his Oscar voting -- would center on white men. Some of his comments indicate an aversion to watching anything that doesn't center him, but I think that is a big part of how he became an ass. It's worth addressing.

The Woman King barely has any white men in it, even for villains. In Till there are friend groups and family and even a whole little town that are all Black. That is real life; Till is based on a true story, while The Woman King has a historical background, even if the story lines for the main characters are fictional. It is good to see that there is more to life than our own experience. It makes for a terribly small world if you won't.

Having watched them, I can see justification for at least nominating Gina Prince-Bythewood for Best Director, regardless of whether she would have won or not. (Honestly, I think having twice as many Best Picture nominees as Best Director nominees makes for some weird mixes.)

The case for a Best Picture nomination would be exciting action with clear cinematography, where everything could be tracked and comprehended. That includes some things that could have easily been too gratuitous if they were shot differently. One aspect of that -- which I only know from seeing a blurb -- is they did not really have a stunt pool at the filming location. Part of the preparation for the film included finding and training a stunt crew (which comprises most of the cast) from scratch. That is an accomplishment. Meanwhile, for as much sense as it makes to focus on the action, the film never loses its place emotionally.

I know there can be many arguments made for many movies, but there is a tendency to default toward the established white guys, and the 2023 nominations showed that. The overwhelming success of Everything, Everywhere, All At Once can belie that, but no, there hasn't really been that much done to counteract #OscarsSoWhite.

Of the two, The Woman King is a more enjoyable movie than Till, feeling more rousing and appealing to some unlikely audiences.

Till is probably more needed.

That's not a contest; we can see more than one movie per year. There are ways in which The Woman King is more fun, and everyone with any advance knowledge of Till can foresee that there will be emotional pain in the viewing. I want to take some time to make the case for Till.

Maybe the biggest argument is that Carolynn Bryant just died on April 25th. When I posted about "The Actor", she may not have been buried yet. This is our history, and fairly recent history at that. There are real people depicted in that movie that are still alive.

There is good directing here too. The cinematography is beautiful, and there is a mix of the subtle and the not. For example, Emmitt Till had a slight stutter. There is a scene where you can kind of hear it; it's not distracting, no one makes a big deal out of it, but you know.

When his mother first sees the body, there is no holding back. She had fainted earlier, learning that his body was found. As they arrive to view the body, a wheelchair is on hand, just in case. It is needed, not because she is unconscious, but because her wailing and sobbing is overpowering.

As uncomfortable as her grief is, that is our past, and there are too many examples that also make it our present.

Add Jordan Neely to that list.

Maybe what we most need to hear is something said by Mamie Till-Mobley at the end.

"One month ago I had a nice life in Chicago. I had a son. When something happened to the Negroes in the South, I said, 'That's their business; not mine.' Now I know what happens to any of us, anywhere in the world, had better be the business of us all."

We need to know to not be complacent just because it isn't us this time.

I remember when the movie first came out, a white woman approached a Black woman telling her that she had to see this movie. The Black woman tweeted about seeing those pictures in Ebony, with them being regularly re-published. 

I think the other woman's motive was showing herself to be a good ally: "I saw that Black film! I got it!"

It's good that she saw it, because we are the ones that need to see it. And maybe it goes down easier hearing a Black woman warn against the complacency. There's a lot of room for improvement.

Till is a movie that can remind us. 

It does hurt.

Spotting school board fascists

My sister recently saw a Facebook post about how you can recognize the more fascist candidates by how many signs they have. For that, the clear winner is Jeff Myer, running for Beaverton School District.

We laughed, but there is an element of truth. The original comment was about being more likely to get corporate sponsorship. That is true, but also, volunteer efforts are more coordinated on that side. They often have a sense of mission against those live-and-let-live heathens, and know they are surrounded by wickedness, so they work hard at it.

When you actually do believe in living and letting live, it is easy to think that the rest of the world is that way. Well, maybe a lot are, but they often get apathetic about school boards and things like that. If you really want people to be able to live well, apathy won't do it.

As it is, having read about Jeff Myers', I see those signs (all over!) and get irritated. Someone who hasn't read might think, Well, a lot of people like him; he's probably pretty good. Then, if they do vote, and they see the other candidate's name is Justice Rajee, all of that might render a subconscious influence when what we really need is consciousness.

There are a few other commonalities that I think are worth pointing out.

Transparency

That is the current key word that the fascists keep throwing around. The repeated use helps give the impression that we have been lied to, and they will fix that. The most obvious contradiction is when they keep saying "You can check the site," because so much information is up there. That belies a transparency issue.

The other problem with that -- which may require a little more digging -- is that when you do check on the candidates' statements, there are some pretty clear lies shrouded in vagueness. I spent some time checking claims for candidate Bart Rask at https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/05/do-they-know-or-care-that-they-are-lying.html. 

Vague lies are the opposite of transparency.

One friend suggested "transparency" was a replacement for "all kids", remembering that last time around there was more of a focus on the danger of CRT to the self-esteem of white kids. 

It may be instructive that after Newberg voted in several fascists, an unvaccinated teacher showed up to school in blackface as a "Rosa Parks" style stand against the way she was marginalized by not being vaccinated. She spoke about "all kids" being marginalized in some way. (Though you could argue that the white kids texting about a slave auction, speculating on bids for their classmates of color, and calling for another Holocaust were not acting like they felt marginalized.)

I did see comments worrying about the self-esteem of white kids, but what we saw was that was not really a problem. Students learning about a racist past did not make them feel evil, but increased their awareness of the past and present.

This year the focus seems to be more on what a poor state the schools are in, having missed two years of learning. 

I think most people will know that their children have not missed two years worth of school as we enter into the fourth year of the pandemic. However, the candidates have two goals here.

One is their belief that any attempts to prevent contagion are a wasted effort, which goes along with their general conservative bent (even though that is not exactly how conservatism used to operate, and one reason why I use "fascist" so much).

The other reason that is important is that calling it "2 years of learning loss" is that it does not give credit for the efforts that were made and the learning that was accomplished. It is an insult to the work of the staff and the students, but fascists need to put others down; no one else has any good points. (We will explore this more later.)

You will also see many references to involving parents. That sounds good, except they don't mean that there should be information online and meetings and volunteer opportunities; that already exists. 

They mean that parents have to explicitly say "yes" to sex education. This would make sense if the schools were truly teaching 10-years olds sexual positions, which they are not. The majority of what they are teaching is how to set boundaries and recognize and seek help for abuse, and how to respect other people. I don't deny the importance of knowing how to navigate puberty, but those other parts are essentially anti-fascist, so that's what they really hate.

The most blatant lies are about the comprehensive sex education, and that's not a coincidence.

They make their platform sound good, but you don't have to look that hard to see the problems. You do need to look at least a little.

Public schools are so important, and so many of the people campaigning for the fascists are not even sending their children their, opting for home schooling or the Heritage Academy. They care, but in ways that are ultimately destructive.

So we need to care for good.

Related:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/05/school-board-elections-dont-let.html

April Daily Songs: Top Songs 1991 - 1994

I know I said I was going to write more about the movie from last week today, but I realized there is one more movie I have been meaning to watch that could be relevant. I will watch it this weekend, and the movie post will go up next week. 

For now, some music.

After going through each year of the 80s, I started thinking about the 90s.

Decade transitions don't happen neatly on the zeroes anyway -- that is part of why I included both 1980 and 1990 in that round -- but I thought that at least for the first few years, I would like to explore.

My not particularly scientific method has been typing "top songs" paired with whatever year I am working on, and then listening to any I don't recognize, as well as noting the ones I like. Part of what makes it less scientific is that there is usually at least one song listed twice, and sometimes different songs pop in and out on different searches, but you do get an overview.

I'm not saying there weren't any 80s songs that I didn't recognize, but the number spiked as we got further into the 90s.

That was partly expected. I had mainly gotten my music knowledge from music videos, not listening to the radio much. I would have been watching less as I went off to college anyway, followed by not watching at all during my mission, but there was another change happening with the 1992 introduction of The Real World. 

Advertisers did not love the unpredictability of music channel programming. Sure, people tune in a lot, but might easily channel surf if they catch a video they don't like, or that has been overplayed. There were attempts to resolve this with programming blocks like Club MTV, Yo! MTV Raps and Pop-Up Video, but just being able to sit and watch videos was going away. 

After my mission, I ended up pretty disconnected from contemporary music. I would sometimes find bands I liked through other people, but even then I was often wrong about where they fit into the timeline. New to me did not mean new to everyone else.

For 1991, most titles were familiar. For a few that weren't, once I listened to them, the memory came back.

Some of my selections for 1992 are songs I remember hearing around Fresno, but that was later. Their popularity transcended years (especially "Jump" and "Rump Shaker").

I was not listening to contemporary music (except for those streets) from February 1993 to August 1994, so you would think that 1993 songs would have been less familiar.

I recognized nine 1994 titles and only liked four of them. Some that I listened to did sound familiar later, and some were not terrible, but it was mainly not fun. It was also the first year where I needed to repeat a band for that year. (That was Green Day, as is only right.)

Part of what helped me fill out 1994 was two covers of older songs for movie soundtracks. That was Wet Wet Wet covering The Troggs' "Love Is All Around" for Four Weddings and a Funeral and General Public covering The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" for Threesome. I did not know those covers existed, but I haven't seen either of those movies.

And Elton John and Kiki Dee did a version of Cole Porter's "True Love" in 1993; who knew?

In retrospect, I missed a lot of 1993, but I also remember writing home and asking my family to please grab two songs for me because I realized I would want to hear them again. They got me Snap's "Rhythm Is A Dancer", but they could not find me Culture Beat's "Mr. Vain" because I got the name wrong. If I'd seen a video for it, I could have read it off. 

(It took me years to find that one.)

The best find was Digable Planets, charting in 1993 with “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”. 

The weirdest discovery was "Stay" by Shakespears Sister. That was from 1992, so I don't know how I missed it.

Most irritating was Tim McGraw charting twice in 1994 with hopelessly saccharine "Don't Take the Girl" and offensively racist appropriation on "Indian Outlaw"; that's what's crossing over?!?

The runner-up for most irritating was Lisa Loeb. That Geico commercial really nailed her, but at least it is shorter than the song.

I should probably listen to more Toad the Wet Sprocket (having previously only known "All I Want") and Meat Puppets.

1991

3/22 “The Motown Song” by Rod Stewart with The Temptations
3/23 “Real Real Real” by Jesus Jones
3/24 “Romantic” by Karyn White
3/25 “Rush Rush” by Paula Abdul
3/26 “Every Heartbeat” by Amy Grant
3/27 “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” by PM Dawn
3/28 “I've Been Thinking About You” by Londonbeat
3/29 “Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)” by Roxette
3/30 “Now That We Found Love” by Heavy D
3/31 “I'll Be There” by Escape Club

1992

4/1 “Jump” by Kriss Kross
4/2 “Tennessee” by Arrested Development
4/3 “Rhythm Is A Dancer” by Snap
4/4 “Jump Around” by House of Pain
4/5 “Rump Shaker” by Wreckx-n-Effect
4/6 “Just Another Day” by Jon Secada
4/7 “Friday I'm In Love” by The Cure
4/8 “Please Don't Go” by KWS
4/9 “Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough” by Patty Smyth feat. Don Henley
4/10 “Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg” by TLC

1993

4/11 “What Is Love” by Haddaway
4/12 “I Don't Wanna Fight” by Tina Turner
4/13 “Insane In The Brain” by Cypress Hill
4/14 “If I Had No Loot” by Tony! Toni! Toné!
4/15 “Boom! Shake the Room” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
4/16 “Linger” by The Cranberries
4/17 “Regret” by New Order
4/18 “Mr. Vain” by Culture Beat
4/19 “Whoomp! (There it is)” by Tag Team
4/20 “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” by Digable Planets

1994

4/21 “When I Come Around” by Green Day
4/22 “Another Night” by Real McCoy
4/23 “I'll Stand By You” The Pretenders
4/24 “I'll Take You There” by General Public
4/25 “Love Is All Around” by Wet Wet Wet
4/26 “Fall Down” by Toad the Wet Sprocket
4/27 “Sour Times” by Portishead
4/28 “Backwater” by Meat Puppets
4/29 “No Excuses” by Alice in Chains
4/30 “Basket Case” by Green Day

School Board Elections: Don't let the fascists win!

My Sunday blog and this blog seem to be colliding more lately. Sunday I posted about being caught off guard by school board elections.

https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/04/maintaining-hope-and-motivation-in-dark.html

Last time they were happening, I wrote ten posts on this blog and at least two on the other. I was alarmed to find strong organizing efforts in multiple (I think 27) Oregon school districts. They were running candidates who were against COVID mitigation efforts (this was in 2021, before there was even a vaccine). They were also strongly against any teaching of Critical Race Theory, meaning -- of course -- not the legal field of thought but any social or historical teaching acknowledging that there has been racism and that it is wrong.

Also, they were against supporting queer kids, before "Don't say 'gay'" was a thing.

(Although they do not self-identify as fascists yet, I will use that term for convenience.)

They're back.

They don't seem quite as strong as last time, which is nice, but they can still do a lot of damage.

I am most familiar with Beaverton and Hillsboro school districts. Between the two, only one of seven candidates won, fortunately. Newberg did a lot worse. Shortly after the election, they had several racist incidents (including a teacher showing up to school in blackface to protest vaccine requirements) and responded by banning the Pride and Black Lives Matter flags.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/newberg-oregon-school-district-sinks-to-new-low-after-blackface-mock-slave-trade-scandals

There are residents commiserating on a message board over there about voting them out this time. Good, but keeping them out in the first place is better.

I appreciate that the Hillsboro fascists have a web site that makes identifying their candidates easy:

https://communitiesforsensibleschools.org/  

Since their candidates are Terri Kam, Shawnna Arns, and Bart Rask, then the candidates who are least likely to create an environment hostile to poor students, students of color, and queer students (plus teachers, scientists, and non-Trump voters) are See Eun Kim, Ivetta Pantoja, and Patrick Maguire.

I hate doing it that way -- voting against candidates more than for them -- but when you have candidates passing off hate as morality and transparency, there is good reason for it.

It is also inspiring some excellent candidates. As many people as there are who seem like they don't know or care, others are responding and volunteering and organizing.

For Beaverton School District I am excited to support Justice Rajee for Zone 6.

The difference does not seem as extreme for the Zone 3 candidates (I ended up choosing Maham Ahmed) and Zone 7 is uncontested. 

That is part of what I mean about the fascists not seeming quite so strong this time. 

With the other Zone 6 candidate, the difference is very clear, but I think I want to address that Sunday (preparedspork.blogspot.com). That will focus on spotting the fascists.

For now, I want to address one other thing that I find interesting but am not sure what it implies.

I had heard third-hand that the water board was getting politicized. I am not sure that is true. 

Both Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue District and Tualatin Valley Water District have some atypical candidates running alongside the more conventional candidates. Yes, that does mean brown men running alongside white men, but it is not merely that. It is that you have an electrical engineer running against a someone who has been a paramedic and volunteer and on the budget committee for the fire district in that race.

I tried comparing other races, like Banks Fire District. Even with at least one candidate who does not seem to have any relevant experience, there is nothing really striking. The position for the Forest Grove Rural Fire District seems to be uncontested.

It makes me wonder what is going on in Tualatin Valley?

Those four candidates do seem to have ties to Intel and to the refugee community. They mention concerns about diversity and poverty, which I like. 

However, the similarity spread out over different positions in unconnected races does not seem likely to be a coincidence. I don't mind that, but I would like to know more about what is happening. If someone is organizing, that can be fine, but who is behind it, and what are the larger goals?

Please tell me it's not Scott Presler. He seems to be focusing on voter registration now, but there are always more.

I hope for more clarity on that to come. For now there is plenty of clarity on schools, and I implore you to actively vote against fascism. Study the candidates. Talk to your friends. Vote.

What happens in our schools is vitally important. What happens on the national stage matters, but it's not all that matters.

Election day is May 16th, and ballots and voter guides are already out.

www.washcovotes.org

The "Actor": Dissecting his words

You may already be aware of Entertainment Weekly interviewing four anonymous Oscar voters: an actor, a director, a marketing specialist, and a costume designer.

https://ew.com/awards/oscars/2023-oscars-secret-ballot-academy-awards-voters-share-juicy-picks/

I know I am not the only one who was frustrated with the actor, but the other written pieces I have seen seem to be more that it happened, without analyzing why.

Here is my take.

I will note starting out that because the interviews are edited -- which makes sense -- there may be wrong impressions, but comparing all four interviewees the actor seems to be the most freely critical, often with longer quotes but still no substance.

He also uses "wokeness" unironically, which is its own strong indicator.

Where he spoke most out of turn was regarding three snubs: Gina Prince-Bythewood and Viola Davis for The Woman King (Best Director and Best Actress, respectively) and Danielle Deadwyler for Till (Best Actress). 

(You may notice a common thread.)

I will not fault the actor for mentioning them, because those were big topics of conversation beyond the interview; it would have been weird not to mention them. However, sometimes you can know things, or you can not know things but be aware that you don't know.

I want to stress that the impression this man gives is one of incredible ego, and very critical of others already. (And he's an actor!) However, the largest amount of disrespect was shown to Black women. That is completely predictable based on everything known about misogynoir and intersectionality... but he does not know.

Here is the convenient thing about privilege: he misses glaringly obvious things, and still thinks he is smart. Privilege lets you think you are better than you are, which, frankly, tends to curb efforts and result in mediocrity.

The Actor on Deadwyler:

She was good. I mean, who wouldn't be good in a part like that? The strong, wronged mother. But you look at the real Mamie Till, she's not wearing all of these incredible gowns and beautifully made-up. I thought it was a confusing message. If they'd really [made a movie about] that woman, who was not used to being in the public eye and wore house dresses, she [wouldn't have] had one incredible outfit after another. The ego behind this pushing her to be a movie star was too blatant for me.

He seems to be under the impression that Mamie Till-Mobley was a housewife, or perhaps a maid. She was working in an office. Not only was it common at the time for professional women to be dressed up, but that was a common strategy of those working for civil rights (though that was about to get much more visible).  

They cover that in the movie, and why the NAACP thought she would be a great asset, so that shouldn't be too shocking, unless he did not watch the movie. I mean, he sounds like he watched it, but he admits to not seeing The Woman King.

I have a funny feeling he didn't see Selma.

The Actor on Davis:

It's like, come on. I think Viola Davis is talented, I didn't see Woman King, but I'm a little tired of Viola Davis and her snotty crying. I'm over all of that. 

I admit I haven't seen everything Viola Davis has done, but I don't think she does it that much. It gets attention, because it is giving up staying "pretty", which has historically been expected of actresses, but which is not how real crying looks. I guess my real issue with it is that I wonder if he has ever actually seen her cry or he heard a reference to it once and that is the impression that he kept.

He got even worse about her:

"When they get in trouble for not giving Viola Davis an award, it's like, no, sweetheart, you didn't deserve it. We voted, and we voted for the five we thought were best," he finishes. "It's not fair for you to start suddenly beating a frying pan and say [they're] ignoring Black people. They're really not, they're making an effort. Maybe there was a time 10 years ago when they were, but they have, of all the high-profile things, been in the forefront of wanting to be inclusive.

It would still be condescending without the "sweetheart", but that does make it more condescending.

Certainly, there hasn't been that much effort toward equity to be that tired of the effort yet, but also, I am not sure that she got that mad.

I admit, I do not follow show business that much, so I could have missed it, but there apparently was an Instagram post that is really pretty tame, and largely a show of solidarity with Gina Prince-Bythewood:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYTBIzPXUc/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=28917d42-581c-4d3d-a35d-e681cb9177fd

Where does "banging a frying pan" come from? Are you just interpreting a Black woman not going out of her way to show how okay she is with everything as "angry"? Are there any stereotypes you are not going to embrace?

As it was, finishing that quote is probably his low point:

Viola Davis and the lady director need to sit down, shut up, and relax. 

It is not even necessary to know her name or to have seen the movie to dismiss her.

Dude, I don't really know that you are white (I have my suspicions),  but I do know that you are an ass. You have been coddled too much by your privilege, and you believe your own hype.

I wish you a better understanding. That will probably only come the hard way. I am at peace with this.

I would like to give the movies some individual attention, so next time!

What are you doing?

The last post ended with a question: what are we going to do?

As I have been thinking over some of these topics, I have been thinking that "What are you doing?" is a reasonable question. It's an important question to ask yourself, and it's a reasonable question to ask me.

My hope is that as I answer the question for myself, it may help others in their own planning.

I really don't feel like I do much. I don't do any organizing. The last time I marched was 2017, but not that one. 

I don't do much in the way of volunteering.

I do try and keep up with direct giving. It is not that I am against 501(c)(3) charities; I have a regular payroll deduction to one to take advantage of employer matching. However, I also know that with organized charities there can be a lot of bureaucratic delays and attempts to weed out the undeserving that limit the ability to help. 

When I was trying to get my mother onto Medicaid and myself out of foreclosure, it seemed like every application that I went through needed to be completed three times due to poor instructions or pages being lost after being sent or something. It was an inordinate amount of stress and labor from someone already on the edge. If sometimes someone just says they need money and I send them some through Paypal, that seems better.

While I do periodically give to new or different people, I am also aware that I tend to keep giving to the same people over and over again, mainly because of health problems that incur repeated costs. Because of that, I am keenly aware that what I do is of limited usefulness. Having a better health care system and a more equitable economy would be vastly superior, but what is in my power is $40 via Paypal.

I had calculated how much I thought I could reasonably give, but I keep giving more as more needs pop up. It has become somewhat of an exercise in faith for me. When I got my tax refund, I was feeling good because I would have more to give and still be ahead, but still more needs popped up. After paying my bills I had $10.10 to last for a week, but it did last. 

I am not exactly recommending this, but it feels like my path and I rely on intuition a lot.

Otherwise, I am constantly reading and studying, trying to be better informed. I share that knowledge freely, through the blog and conversations. I am not sure if I really influence anyone beyond my sisters, but there is an influence there.

I have trained for other things. I became a Master Food Preserver about 23 years ago, and spent time teaching canning classes and answering questions at farmers' markets. About 15 years ago I trained for Community Emergency Response, and was ready to be called on, though it never happened.

I try and be aware of others and considerate of them.

I wear the mask. It is true that does more to protect others from me than me from others, which is frustrating, but if for no other reason than to signal to other immune-compromised people that I care about their safety and ability to participate in society, I will keep wearing it.

I used to do more. There were times when I had more money and could be more generous, and there were times when I had more energy. I used to see more people needing encouragement and respond to that more frequently. There are probably people I am missing now, and I hope other people are spotting them.

I used to do a lot of work on making dolls for a local children's hospital, but that program has gone away.

I mention those things because circumstances change, and continue to do so. I have been through three bad unemployment/underemployment times, and two periods of bad burnout. Even as some resources were depleted, others were recovered.

As much as caring for my mother depleted me emotionally and financially, there have been strains from the Trump presidency and the pandemic that have worn down many of us; that is not just me.

With so many people burned out, we are all going to have to be kind to each other and look out for each other. A lot of the best people do not have much to give right now, but don't count yourself out.

My resources are limited, but what I do is consistent with my values. That is important to me.

What I do will also not harm my cause. Even if I cannot help as much as I want, I do not harm. That is important to me.

(Refer back to Dunking.)

Can I do more? Can I do differently? That is something that is worth asking regularly. 

I am starting to think maybe I should try doing some sort of letter writing. Would it be effective? Worth the effort? Do I even have the capacity for that effort? Or would that require dropping something else?

It's worth asking.

Model Minority

I am embarrassed to see that I did not mention one of the key sources for last week's post:

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoon.

Just to recap how we got here, I started reading about Latasha Harlins last July. It had seemed reasonable to bring her material up with Black Music Month, I guess because her death influenced so many musicians (especially Tupac Shakur).

Of course, I was running late, but I read Troublemaker by John Cho in July also.

In December I saw some artwork commemorating Vincent Chin; that's why I read Paula Yoon's book, which I got to in February.

I am not the first person to make the connection, but it is hard not to have those two deaths and court cases inextricably linked after reading about them. That is why I had to write last week's post. 

There is another factor that has been weighing on me, and I want to try and get to that here, about how these situations happen. My path may be clumsy.

Let me go back to The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender, and the Origins of the L.A. Riots by Brenda E. Stevenson. 

Both Stevenson and Yoon tried to be fair to all of the subjects, which I know is right but sometimes I just wanted to condemn them. 

I did feel early sympathy for Soon Ja Du. Working in the store was stressful for her. I am willing to believe that she felt pressure and that she was at times truly afraid.

I also do not think that it is a coincidence that in both documented times when she pulled out her gun, it was at teenage girls.

That is anger, but also lashing out a target that is safe. 

You do get angry about perpetual fear, but how much of that fear is based in reality?

The store had been robbed; that is true. Because it was in a Black neighborhood, the majority of the robbers were probably Black. In a white neighborhood, the robbers are probably going to be white.

The difference is that perception, where all Black people are perceived to be the same, and more easily seen as thugs and criminals. That does not happen by accident. Please understand that the people who are making the propaganda don't love the people who buy it.

It can be safer to attack a teenage girl than a grown man, but also it is safer to attack one who is Black. Systemic racism will discount her innocence and right to life. That makes it easier for a judge to find the lethal "reaction" reasonable, but it also makes the judge letting off the murderers of as Asian-American man easier.

I think that Soon Ja Du believed the model minority myth. Her people were hard-working and smart and good, not like the Black people that made up their customer base. There may have been some satisfaction in it, but based on the stress and anger and fear, it wasn't making her life better. Of course, she got to keep her life, and Latasha didn't.

In a different city a few years earlier, it could have been her husband murdered by disaffected white people, and his killers be the ones let off.

In Troublemaker -- the work of fiction -- Jordan is trying to move through Los Angeles at the time of the riots to get a gun to the store where his father is boarding up the windows. That leads to some trouble, but the title refers to the reputation he already has, for not being good at school... not being perfect, the way he is supposed to be. The expectations he was not meeting were a source of anger and frustration and parental conflict. The character is fictional, but the feelings are not.

One thing I had not expected, but that made sense, was the importance of Claudia Kishi (The Baby-Sitters Club) to Asian-American girls. That was not just for some representation, but also for representation that could be loud and artistic and struggle with math.

The boxes aren't always fatal, but they are never good.

And sometimes they do kill.

Related:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xg8apn/claudia-kishi-coolest-kid-in-the-baby-sitters-club-netflix-documentary

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/actor-john-cho-channels-childhood-self-debut-novel-troublemaker-rcna20930

Related, from me:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2022/12/vincent.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/04/not-justice.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/03/black-history-month-latasha-harlins.html