Cultural Appropriation Links/Posts

[chomiji]

I've been reading some remarkably well-written posts on this subject this week, and feeling sad and uncomfortable about whether I'm being part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

A point that's been made in a couple of these posts is that this isn't about me, Ms. White Person, and I believe they're correct: when people are feeling justifiably hurt and angry about the way they've been treated, it's not useful for me to pop up and - essentially - ask for expiation. Especially when they don't know me from a hole in the ground. So I have not been responding much except to say "thank you" for a couple of things that touched me in particular.

Anyway, here are a few of the things that especially affected me/attracted me. A much more complete list of recent links/posts is available at aqueductpress. Not everything listed here is recent, but I think it's all worth reading.

• Shame (essay by Pam Noles) - This was sparked by the really disgusting TV treatment of Ursula LeGuin's "Earthsea" books. To me, it's a very vivid explanation of why it's important to include positive characters of different races - especially protagonists - in SF&F.
• White People, It's Not All About You, but for This Post It Is - Deepad, who wrote one of the several posts that started this whole go-round off (I Didn’t Dream of Dragons), offers common sense and civility to worried people like myself.
• sparkymonster's List of Links for Clueless White People - From Rev. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" to recent postings by fans of color.
• Writers of Color 50 Book Challenge - This is a LiveJournal community. I think I need to get off my behind and do this. I keep meaning to read some Nalo Hopkinson, for example, and smillaraaq has recced some Sherman Alexie, and there are likely to be hundreds (if not thousands) of other good books out there that could stretch my brain a bit even as I enjoy them.

Thanks for listening. And really, do at least read the "Shame" essay.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to do that 50 book challenge (uhm...by pure coincidence of being told "It's like the X-Men, only as a detective agency and they're romance novels!" for Marjorie M. Liu's books, I'm actually off to a good start for the year.)

ETA: But you know, if you were allowed to count manga...

[chomiji]

I have a feeling that manga don't count ... although some of them certainly do give a window into a very different culture. If I was feeling a little less shy on the subject, I guess I could ask oyceter (or someone else who thinks about this topic seriously) whether she thought any manga or manhwa were valid for this concept. Maybe Dokebi Bride, for example?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The profile lists graphic novels as being eligible, but with as much manga as I read, I think it'd be cheating on my part. Something like Dokebi Bride or Vagabond (series based strongly in history and culture) would seem to be more valid than other series, though.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

My feeling is that while manga/manhwa/manhua certainly "count" in the sense of being by and frequently also about POC, the point of the challenge is to read books you might not have otherwise read, and so both broaden your own horizons and provide royalties and publicity to authors of color.

So if you're already reading tons of manga, you're not doing anything different. But if you don't normally read a ton of non-manga books by authors of color, reading more is more in the spirit of the thing.

[chomiji]

Agreed. For that matter, I don't generally read non-genre fiction by anyone ... . I tend to read as a comfort activity, so I could certainly stand to be a little more adventurous in what I choose to read.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

*nods*

That's why I thought I probably couldn't count manga. (Though I think I will still count Liu. While I didn't start reading her because she's a PoC author, the fact that many of the lead characters are PoC was also one of the major things.)

[chomiji]

Yes, Deepa is very intuitive about making other people understand. The funny thing is that when I've been reading some of the hurt, angry statements that have been made, I have the same ouchy achy feelings that I get when people describe physical pains to me, but how much of it is sympathy and how much of it is guilt ... ? So I've been really unable to think of what to say to most of what I've read - it all sounds stupid and wrong when I think of saying anything much.

I don't think you have to treat me completely with kid gloves for the recs ... one of the articles I did one November for the daily column was on Vine DeLoria Jr., and I read some of his writing online, and also I've been reading some of the articles on Oyate, about all the infuriating and hurtful things that happen and the reactions to them (I'd also discovered that site a year or two ago, either from "Source" research or from IBARW - don't remember which at this point).

And I may go ahead and buy at least one Nalo Hopkinson anyway, at some point - I don't have a lot of time, as you know, but I have enough funds to buy some new paperbacks, and it's another way of supporting people's work. Although considering how many of your books are currently at my house, you know I have no objection to borrowing!!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

That does sound interesting. Another that I'm curious about is Jade Lee. I stumbled across her books because rapid scanning off bookstore shelves for "Liu" made me stumble over "Lee." The fact that both have books in Dorchester's Crimson City series also contributed. I don't think I've ever heard of her before, though.

Re: Alexie recs cont'd

[chomiji]

Thanks for all the recs! Yes, I remember rachel's post, and your responses. I would love to see the movie, but you know how long it takes us to get together ... >sigh<

My first book for the challenge will probably be James McBride's Miracle at St. Anna, mostly because it's sitting right here - Karl bought it when the Spike Lee movie came out last fall - but also because I enjoyed The Color of Water. I was looking at some fantasy recs from theAngryBlackWoman and got a few more ideas as well. And oyceter and magicnoire have recced lots of things I might like, too.

Re: Alexie recs cont'd

[chomiji]

Heh, I started to watch it and realized how long it was ... I'll try again tonight. I need to get home early enough and actually write something real ... I keep getting bogged down in reading some more of the cultural appropriation stuff and it just makes me sad and it's getting less constructive at this point ... more like wacky hijinks with pnh and W**l S**tt***y. I need to stop doing that and write some of my backlog and start reading some of these new books we're discussing.