Week 6: Theories of Differences

            Reading V.F. Cordova: America reminded me of what I have been thinking about constantly. I have been searching for the truth and understanding of life itself which I feel like will last a lifetime on to life after death. Personally, it was a sign for me to read the words that the author says how she would never read the myths of Christianity to her Native American children. When she explains how the prophetess would then claim how “they” do not understand, it’s clear how it is really those who do not understand that all this time the differences that exist between society are meaningful in another way than what they truly think and thus, are harmful. The “Christian” view and the “real” view have outlined the reality, what is wrong and has caused the discriminatory processes and systems that is the foundation of what America was built on in the first place that disconnected humanity from its original roots of life.

            Of the Water and the Spirit was very interesting as I have never read anything like that before. I imagine many people would question the literature and deny that it is true, but if it is, wow. It reminds me of how I have started reading about the universe that we live in and it is intriguing how much more the world makes sense the more that I read and how many differences there is the farther I go and look. The way that they expressed their emotion and culture of death, how the author explained the process of how and why each event took place is powerful. The magical parts of it are mystical, and amazing to wonder about. I found it relatable to the society that we live in when the author said that the laws of nature are broken when someone goes “private.” It made me think of how the laws of nature are broken as the whole wide world is divided up into privacy sections, such as the actions and results of the possessive investment in whiteness and increasing inequality that is caused by those who are in power.

            There lived a little boy who was misled paints a picture that is impossible to erase as I can only imagine the reality of these places and lives that have been negatively impacted. The cities that have been built and then neglected, only to become homes of individuals and families that have struggled due to the suffocating lack of options to choose from, with no choice other than being misled is just one of the most hypocritical aspects of America as a result of the possessive investment in whiteness. There is a reason why the smoke darkened everything, as it had been allowed to burn in the first place. This country had all the resources it needed as a land full of freedom and opportunity but based on the many years that have passed, society has been divided in the very first place, deciding the way life is for people, depending on their skin color.

            After reading The Possessive Investment in Whiteness, I approach once again one of my weaknesses of how there are some things that I do not fully understand about the financial and economic crooks and chasms, and I feel like I cannot be any help if I do not. Although I do suspect corruption automatically and acknowledge that the possessive investment in whiteness exists, I feel inclined to live the rest of my life fighting against it. The question how I can do that still remains. Mia Birdsong in the TED Talk makes a perfect point about how the people themselves are the key to the solution, how we are magic. I think that is so true and that is one of the things that was taken away from us a long time ago, for the sole purpose of those in power controlling us all for the profit. It is discouraging to think about how many ideas and useful aspects of people there are that never even got the chance to share what they have to give in the world. They just need to be given the chance. It seems like the differences that exist are made to separate society on purpose, to keep many others from achieving better, and I am hoping that we can fix that.

            Lee Mokobe’s poem was one of the best poems I ever heard. To me, it explains exactly how society and gender has been shaped by religion, and how it negatively effects the LGBTQ community.

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            References
Birdsong, M. (2015). The story we tell about poverty isn't true [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/mia_birdsong_the_story_we_tell_about_poverty_isn_t_true.

Coates, T. (2008). There lived a little boy who was misled. The beautiful struggle: a memoir. Spiegel & Grau.

Cordova, V. F. (2007). America. How it is: The Native American philosophy of V. F. Cordova (40-45). Tuscon, AZ: Tucson University Press.

Lipsitz, G. (1998). The Possessive Investment in Whiteness. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Mokobe, L. A powerful poem about what it feels like to be transgender [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/lee_mokobe_a_powerful_poem_about_what_it_feels_like_to_be_transgender?language=en.

Some, M. P. Grandfather's funeral. Of water and the spirit: ritual, magic, and initiation in the life of a Shaman (56-73). Penguin Books.