#colonisation

[words-and-coffee]

Alice Te Punga Somerville, Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised - Kupu rere kē

[ID: A poem titled: Kupu rere kē. [in italics] My friend was advised to italicise all the foreign words in her poems. This advice came from a well-meaning woman with NZ poetry on her business card and an English accent in her mouth. I have been thinking about this advice. The convention of italicising words from other languages clarifies that some words are imported: it ensures readers can tell the difference between a foreign language and the language of home. I have been thinking about this advice. Marking the foreign words is also a kindness: every potential reader is reassured that although you're expected to understand the rest of the text, it's fine to consult a dictionary or native speaker for help with the italics. I have been thinking about this advice. Because I am a contrary person, at first I was outraged — but after a while I could see she had a point: when the foreign words are camouflaged in plain type you can forget how they came to be there, out of place, in the first place. I have been thinking about this advice and I have decided to follow it. Now all of my readers will be able to remember which words truly belong in -[end italics]- Aotearoa -[italics]- and which do not.

Next image is the futurama meme: to shreds you say...]

(Image ID by @bisexualshakespeare)

[justacynicalromantic]

Bruh.

A-b-a-n-d-o-n-e-d.

Bruh.

Yeah. People casually abandon pianos right in the middle of streets. It happens. Don't question it.

The thread is titled "Most heartbreaking photos in history" btw

Awwww a young Russian playing on a piano of people who he killed and whose town his army burned and bombed to the ground. So "heartbreaking"✨️✨️✨️

😐

[mahoganygold213]

[inthisvaleoftears]

When they refer to wilderness as "virgin land," it sounds like rape. i think that when they say it's virgin land they will take it and use it without its consent. they never ask permission, they don’t care about hurting it. there’s no love for the earth, there’s no kindness for it. it is always about benefit and it’s always about disregarding its pleas to stop. although silent, it is screaming. because it cannot speak, and because it cannot defend itself, it’s taken advantage of over and over. because this is just as violent as rape. you’re not living in it, you’re killing it. you don’t respect it. the people who did, who rightfully venerated it, have been driven to near extinction. you’d rather call them “pagans” and “””primitive””” than listen. the earth is dying and that’s good. but it’s only good for you.

[foxglovevibes]

Remmick taking comfort in the Lord's Prayer, despite his obvious fucking DISDAIN of it, really just ties into what Annie said about vampires and I cannot get enough of it-

To elaborate, when Annie realises what they are truly up against, she specifically talks about how when your soul gets trapped when you become a vampire. That it festers within your body, gets tied up in any lingering hate/negative emotions that you experienced when you were turned and twists you into something that isn't you anymore, no matter how unchanged you feel or appear to others.

And that just so clearly captures who Remmick is, someone who was left alone to deal with his demons, his heartbreak at losing everyone he loved and not being able to pierce the veil to see them again? Memorizing that prayer as a way to stoke the misplaced righteous anger that clings to him like a second skin, to the point where it has warped him and blinded him to the harm he causes others in his desperation to be known, to be validated in his desire to connect with others the way he used be able to.

Which in and of itself is a testament to how being given the power to "liberate" others can be so easily twisted by selfish desires and needs, especially when someone like Remmick (I don't even really need to spell out what I mean when I say that-) is involved, where becoming the oppressor where he was once the oppressed feels justifiable to him and his actions, regardless of how horrific they truly are.

[tomorrowwithme]

do you defend Bajrang Dal for killing a man and his two young sons

Hello. Welcome to my asks. I actually thank you for asking this question because it gives me the opportunity to give my answer, which I love to do.

First of all, you are referring to the Graham Staines case. He was a missionary pastor who was converting tribal people in India into the Christian cult. He used to sexually assault women he had lured in. Tribal people, scared and not knowing what to do, especially in a country where the law and order does not work, saw few options. even after Staines' crimes, he got a posthumous award from the government of India and the people who resisted him were jailed for a long time.

Why are white people coming to India to convert people into Christianity? Haven't they gotten the memo that India is no longer a colony?

Just look at that. What kind of audacity do these people have to say vile, anti-Hindu things like this whilst enjoying the hospitality of Indians? The colonisers came, looted and wrecked India and they still think that India is a colony and that they can do and say whatever they please. 

India wasn't the only place where the Christians carried out there heinous atrocities.

The Native Americans in United States and Chile are protesting against the same entity. This entity exploited their children. This entity eradicated their culture, and physically, mentally, and sexually abused their children. This entity is the colonial structure empowered by the Christian Church and missionaries. Most socially conscious, progressive people are outraged by what the church did to the Native Americans, and completely support the Native Americans seeking justice. Why is it, though, that when we Hindus seek justice against the colonisers and the neo-colonisers for sexually exploiting and abusing our children, that is Hindu extremism in your opinion?

The pope of the Christian faith apologised to the Native Americans in Canada, whose children were physically, psychologically, and sexually abused in Canadian residential schools. years ago, Hindus also sought for apology from the Christian church for physically, psychologically and sexually abusing Hindus' children and coercing them to convert to Christianity. However, when we Hindus demand apology for the transgressions against our humanity, we are called extremists and fascists by your kind. It seems like your goodwill only extends to the people who are thoroughly subjugated and have no nation of their own anymore.

Finally, i'm making an assumption when I say that you also must be one of those people who support Palestine. It's just a gut feeling that I have. In that case, you were probably also reacting to the 7th of October Hamas attack like Najma Sharif here:

"what did y'all think decolonisation meant? vibes? papers? essays? losers".

The only difference is that the victims of Hamas had done nothing to them. Staines had sexually abused Hindus.

[words-and-coffee]

Kupu rere kē My friend was advised to italicise all the foreign words in her poems. This advice came from a well-meaning woman with NZ poetry on her business card and an English accent in her mouth. I have been thinking about this advice. The convention of italicising words from other languages clarifies that some words are imported: it ensures readers can tell the difference between a foreign language and the language of home. I have been thinking about this advice. Marking the foreign words is also a kindness: every potential reader is reassured that although you’re expected to understand the rest of the text, it’s fine to consult a dictionary or native speaker for help with the italics. I have been thinking about this advice. Because I am a contrary person, at first I was outraged — but after a while I could see she had a point: when the foreign words are camouflaged in plain type you can forget how they came to be there, out of place, in the first place. I have been thinking about this advice and I have decided to follow it. Now all of my readers will be able to remember which words truly belong in Aotearoa and which do not.

Alice Te Punga Somerville, Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised - Kupu rere kē

[justacynicalromantic]

“I would sooner come to an agreement with the Martians than with the Russians”

The former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine🇺🇦 speaks on his experience in working with Russian diplomats.

“I held many negotiations with the Russians. They don't want to come to an agreement. They spin like snakes on a frying pan, they lie, make promises, and don't fulfill them - that's their tradition.”

Volodymyr Ohryzko believes that, as of today, it is unrealistic to think that it is possible to sit the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at the negotiating table. He can make concessions only after the loss of Crimea, which is of sacred importance to the occupiers.

[whenua-and-moana]

Today someone said to me"not everything is about colonisation" and all I could think about was the irony that they were wearing a bikini swimsuit.

Bikini is a colonial misspelling of the indigenous name for the Pikinni atoll. It was one of the many places in the Pacific where Western countries tested atomic bombs. In order to carry out the nuclear testing at Bikini, the USA relocated the islanders to an atoll with no shelter, inadequate fresh water, and so little food that some islanders starved to death. They were exposed to radioactive fallout anyway. Castle Bravo, the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated by the USA, was tested at Bikini and sent radioactive particulate as far away as India, the USA and Europe. After detonating 24 atomic bombs on and around the atoll, the US told the islanders that it was safe to return despite knowing that radiation levels were (and still remain) dangerously high. Generations of islanders are still paying the price with their health and their lives.

The guy who created the bikini swimsuit named it after Bikini Atoll. He said that he wanted it to be "a bombshell" and "explosive" on the scale of a nuclear bomb. He said that "like the bomb, the bikini is small and devastating" and "atom bombs reduce everybody to primitive costume."

The point of this post isn't to suggest that we should stop saying bikini. It's a word in our language now, for better or for worse. My point is that colonialism and white supremacy are in everything. How do you heal, how do you move on, when the violence is embedded into our very vocabulary?

[women-throughout-history]

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley's journey began when she was seized from Senegal/Gambia at the age of seven and brought to Boston as a domestic servant. Despite her circumstances, she displayed exceptional intelligence and was taught to read and write by her owners, the Wheatley family. Her talent for poetry emerged early, and she gained recognition with her published elegy for English evangelist George Whitefield.

Facing obstacles in America, Phillis and the Wheatleys sought a publisher in London, where her collection "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" was published in 1773, making her the first African American to publish a book of poetry. Despite her literary success, Phillis faced personal challenges, including the deaths of her benefactors and financial struggles. She married John Peters, a free Black man, but their life together was marked by economic hardship and tragedy.

Throughout her life, Phillis continued to write and express her views on freedom and equality, addressing themes of slavery and injustice in her poetry. Despite facing increasing hardship and poverty, she remained committed to advocating for social justice until her death at the age of 31.

Phillis Wheatley's legacy as a celebrated poet and voice for the oppressed continues to inspire generations, reminding us of the power of literature to illuminate the human experience and advocate for change.

[kemetic-dreams]

Christianity arrived in South Africa with the arrival of European settlers, primarily Dutch colonists led by Jan van Riebeeck, who established a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, bringing with them their Dutch Reformed faith, which became the dominant form of Christianity in the region;. 

Key points about the introduction of Christianity in South Africa:

Early settlers:Jan van Riebeeck and his Dutch East India Company crew were the first to introduce Christianity to South Africa when they landed in 1652. 

Dominant denomination:The Dutch Reformed Church became the primary Christian denomination practiced by the early settlers. 

Later influences:Following the Dutch, other European groups like French Huguenots also settled in the region, contributing to the diverse Christian landscape. 

[w-r-pitt]

Flags of the British Empire in Asia, the Americas, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica and Europe.

[triumph-of-adaptation]

From the Battye Library of Western Australia, this photo was taken in the early 20th century and shows two Njamal men whose heights were recorded at 6’7″ and 6’5”. Marble Bar.

[nando161mando]

Real as hell.

[sssssssssw234459]

"Targaryen are colonisers!!!!!!!"

The first men and the andals are colonisers too then. But strangely, none advocate for the children of the forest...

[syrxos]

WHAT THE HELL MAN WE JUST GOT COLONISED. WHAT’S NEXT??

- Prince