#multiracial flag

[arco-pluris]

Multiracial Flag

It can represent biracial, triracial, and among other people of mixed races. Multiraciality represents having multiple racial identities in one's ancestry.

There are other words that describes this.

[burningchandelier]

People who aren't Jewish, please take a moment to listen to an American Jew.

I am a survivor of a white nationalist shooting. I am a member of a multiracial family. My sisters are Arab and grew up in the Middle East. I am writing from a place of knowledge, experience, and deep care.

American Jews are experiencing a level of terror that we are unable to describe and are afraid to talk about. For the past eight years, we have lived with rising levels of blatant antisemitism. We saw Nazis chant "Jews will not replace us" in Charlottesville. We saw a Nazi flag carried through our capitol during January 6th. We heard antisemitic lies and conspiracies touted as truth and fact by elected officials.

Many of us also saw our friends, neighbors, and loved ones decry these things. You talked about punching Nazis. You talked about opposing antisemitism. That was real nice of you.

Now the Jews in your life are seeing the stark reality that, when the chips are down, we are a replaceable cause of the month. Worse, we are the new bad guy for you to demonize.

I am not talking about the militarized, modern nation of Israel. I am talking about your American Jewish neighbor.

That is who you are harming when you equate Zionism with Judaism. That is who you harm when you spread news stories without fact checking them, when you repeat repackaged blood libel myths, when you say you "don't care anymore" about hurting Jewish feelings.

The leaders of Israel aren't seeing your posts. Your Jewish friends are.

Your friends who harbor antisemitic views see these posts and you are validating them.

If you want to promote peace and a free Palestine, please, by all means do. Put in the work. Call your representatives, demand ceasefires. Do what you can.

Just remember that the Jews you know are physically unsafe in the U.S. and you are not helping by throwing us further under the bus.

[edwardallenpoe]

Introduction

Basic info:

•my name is Teddy, I experiment a lot with names so if you get confused Poe works fine

•I use He/Hir and Hy/Hym pronouns

•I am a minor

•I’m mixed/multiracial white and black, and talk about racial issues and focus on blackness and POC issues a lot on this blog

•I’m autistic, plural, and other mental disabilities/disorders, (mental health/plural sideblog: @armydreamersys) and I talk about disability stuff on here

•I’m a genderqueer butch/stud and (recently learned) intersex cistranssexual man, and talk a LOT about queerness on here as well

•I’m a polytheist eclectic pagan (religious sideblog: @hewashalfofmysoul3 )

•I’m a therian/Otherkin ( therian/Otherkin and coining sideblog: @buddy-barks )

•I’m really into fandom and talk a lot about different fandoms and write for different fandoms (AO3: @edwardallenpoe )

•I’m also a socialist/communist and fucking hate capitalism and fascism. Period. Free Palestine, Congo, Sudan, land back, BLM, stop asian hate, abolish the prison system, ACAB, all of that.

Interests (° for spinterests):

•Sherlock Holmes (ACD, Granada, BBC, s&co, ect.)°

•Yaelokre/Meadowlark°

•LOZ (ToTK, BoTW, OOC, ect.)

•Tolkien (LoTR, The Hobbit)°

•Star Trek (TOS, AOS, DS9)°

•Hannibal (books, ABC, ect.)

•Stephen King stories (IT, Carrie, The Shining, ect.)

•history/Archeology/anthropology°

•bears (objectively the best animal of all time. Pls don't ask me about bears unless you want me to never shut up)°

•LGBTQ/Queer history, literature, topics, everything lol°

•MOGAI/LIOM flag coining

•body building

•and many more!

DNI:

•Men/Minor DNI accs

•exclusionists

•anti good faith identities

•aphobes of all kinds

•TERF’s/SWERF’s/Radfem's

•Radqueers/transid(transrace, transintersex, transabled, ect.)

•Intersexists

•transandrophobia deniers

•pro-contact/harmful para’s

•ableists/anti-para’s/anti-recovery/believe in personality/narcissistic abuse

•anti-endo/nontraumagenic systems/sysmeds

•transmeds/truscum

•pro-israel/zionists

And more. If I don’t like you I’ll block you, seriously. Please, follow your own DNI.

Userboxes:

(I'll update this as I make more, you can use these if you want or can request userboxes made for you @buddy-barks )

Anyways, enjoy your stay🖖🏾

[ausetkmt]

Meet the ‘sisterhood’ making noise — and history — for Mardi Gras

At the edge of the square, members of the St. Mary’s Academy Cougar Marching Band stood stone-faced as they awaited the parade in tight formation. The band’s drum majors, Gilbrelle Stokes, 18, and Charland Thibodeaux, 17, stood at the ready, blue whistles in their mouths, as they prepared to direct the school’s 150-member marching unit, complete with a band, color guard, majorettes, flag team, dancers and cheerleaders.

Thibodeaux, a senior who has been marching with St. Mary’s since the third grade, was unfazed by the pressures of commanding such a large group.

“I always feel ready,” she said. “I been doing it so long.”

Marching band culture in New Orleans is ubiquitous, with groups performing at parades, weddings and funerals alike. Most locals can name their favorite high school bands, which are a highlight of Carnival season for all. School marching bands also serve as a training ground for the pipeline of talented professional musicians who steadily emerge from this birthplace of jazz.

“Band is a culture here unlike any other place,” said Pamela Rogers, 66, St. Mary’s president and acting principal. Sharp. Witty. Thoughtful. Sign up for the Style Memo newsletter.

“Bands define schools,” she continued. “And everyone knows we’re the girls with the skirts.”

St. Mary’s Academy’s skirt-wearing band first formed in 1937, making it the oldest Black girls band marching in the city. Today, it is one of just a handful of all-girl bands to regularly appear in Mardi Gras parades.

The school opened its doors in the French Quarter in 1867 and is still run by the Sisters of the Holy Family, a Black Catholic order founded by Henriette DeLille in 1842. DeLille, a multiracial nun (and current candidate for sainthood), believed in providing education for girls of color even when doing so was illegal. St. Mary’s was the first secondary school for Black girls in New Orleans.

This year, the St. Mary’s band will don new skirts for the first time since 2005, when its blue and gold uniforms had to be replaced after Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters destroyed the school. The new skirts are a touch shorter than those they are replacing — a move staff hoped might increase student interest in the band. They’re still quite long though, even by Catholic school standards.

This Mardi Gras season also marks the first time Raynice Crayton, 27, will be at the band’s helm. A St. Mary’s alumna who joined the band as a seventh-grader, Crayton has already more than doubled band membership during her short tenure as director.

The group’s 52 players have varying levels of experience, from novices to passionate musicians, and they range in grades from fourth to 12th. In New Orleans East, where the school’s campus has been located since the 1960s, Crayton spends hours teaching girls the 10 tunes they will perform this Carnival, ranging from traditional music to a Janet Jackson song to the group’s favorite this year: “Talking in Your Sleep” by the Romantics.

“A lot of people don’t understand this, but band is a sport,” Crayton said.

The group’s schedule is packed tight, with the band performing in eight parades this Carnival season over the course of just two weeks, in addition to their regular school obligations and band practices. Parades last hours and typically happen rain or shine. The girls must traverse tightly packed 3.5-mile routes, all while carrying heavy instruments, entertaining rowdy crowds and dodging beads, puddles and occasionally horse manure.

The Cougars carry fiberglass sousaphones, which are lighter than the traditional brass, and use smaller-size bass drums. Gayland Thibodeaux, 53, a nurse, St. Mary’s alumna and mother to the band’s drum major, provides medical support to students along the parade route. She carries the requisite wraps, bandages and medications, plus some extra “girl stuff” in case of emergency.

High school bands have been a part of Mardi Gras festivities since the 1930s, though predominantly Black bands like St. Mary’s were not welcomed into some well-known parades until the 1960s. This weekend, the girls marched in Endymion, one of Mardi Gras’ largest and most well-attended parades, a decades-long tradition.

Ra-Saiya Lovick, a 13-year-old seventh-grader who is new to St. Mary’s, said this will be her first time marching in Carnival parades, a lifelong dream. Lovick, a cymbal player, is thrilled to share the experience with her all-girls band.

“It’s so cool, because you don’t see no boys around. It’s no boys drama,” she said. “It’s like a sisterhood.”

n a city famous for its music, few local institutions have nurtured young Black female musicians quite like St. Mary’s.

The Original Pinettes Brass Band, founded in 1991, originated at the school and today plays regularly across New Orleans and beyond. Still, the band’s tagline – “the only female brass band in the universe” — is indicative of just how far there is to go.

Two years ago, Troy Sawyer, 44, an award-winning trumpet player and music educator who grew up marching with the all-boys St. Augustine band, founded Girls Play Trumpets Too in response to the gap he saw between how girls and boys fared in the New Orleans music scene.

“For a long time, I felt like girls and women could not play the trumpet on the professional level, because I didn’t see any doing it,” he said.

Sawyer’s organization aims to teach girls about overlooked female musicians in history while also fostering their musical skills.

In New Orleans, such skills can be more than a hobby: Crayton, the St. Mary’s band director, received a full-ride college scholarship for her tuba playing.

“When I joined the band, it was always, ‘Boys play tuba, boys play drums,’” she said. “So those were the first instruments that I went to, because you already counted me out.”

Back on the parade route, Rae’Lynn Walker, a 13-year-old eighth-grader, was excited to play her weathered sousaphone for the thousands of onlookers awaiting the bands. The instrument – now held together with a bit of tape – is the same sousaphone Crayton played when she was a student.

“We’re making history,” Walker said with a smile. “And the crowds notice.”

On St. Charles Avenue, Marie Bookman, 60, shouted, “Girl power!” as the Cougars marched by her. Bookman, a former magistrate court commissioner, said she loves seeing an all-girl band.

“It gives them the opportunity to reach higher goals,” she said. “They can compete with the men, and not just cheer for them.”

Crayton hopes the band will continue to serve that purpose for many decades to come.

“We are not here to see the parade,” she reminded her girls before Sunday’s long march. “We are here to be the parade.”

[alliluyevas]

re: last night's discussion of classic lit/assigned readings/Reading Faulkner...I do want to read Absalom, Absalom sometime in the near future but I am also interested in reading some critical analysis on Faulkner's work. I obviously have my own thoughts but there's also been a ton of really interesting scholarship including a few books I've flagged for myself that sound really promising. For instance:

Faulkner, Mississippi by Edouard Glissant

In 1989, while teaching literature in Louisiana, the Caribbean writer Edouard Glissant visited Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's home in Oxford, Mississippi. His visit spurred him to an original and powerful reappraisal of Faulkner's work. Like Faulkner's literary descendants in the United States, Glissant is fascinated by the stories of Yoknapatawpha County and disturbed by the author's equivocations about the racism there. Glissant, however, stands in a distinctive relation to Faulkner and his county: as a black Martinican, he is descended from slaves; as a native French speaker, he first encountered the great novelist's work in translation. Faulkner, Mississippi is a distinctive look at an American icon by a writer deeply involved in the issues of Faulkner's work. Glissant sees the racial complexities of Faulkner as the key to his influence in the next century, and presents Faulkner as the progenitor of Flannery O'Connor, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alejo Carpentier, and Toni Morrison, who all write fiction in which the characters are implicated in a single multiracial calamity. He exhorts the reader to "Look him straight in the eyes, the son of the slave and the son of the slave owner" -- and Glissant's own clear-eyed gaze makes this book a revelation about the work of one of our greatest but still least-understood writers.

The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War by Michael Gorra

How do we read William Faulkner in the twenty-first century? asks Michael Gorra, one of America’s most preeminent literary critics. Should we still read William Faulkner in this new century? What can his works tell us about the legacy of slavery and the Civil War, that central quarrel in our nation’s history? These are the provocative questions that Michael Gorra asks in this historic portrait of the novelist and his world. Born in 1897 in Mississippi, Faulkner wrote such iconic novels as Absalom, Absalom! and The Sound and the Fury, creating in Yoknapatawpha County the richest gallery of characters in American fiction, his achievements culminating in the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature. But given his works’ echo of “Lost Cause” romanticism, his depiction of black characters and black speech, and his rendering of race relations in a largely unreconstructed South, Faulkner demands a sobering reevaluation. Interweaving biography, absorbing literary criticism, and rich travelogue, The Saddest Words recontextualizes Faulkner, revealing a civil war within him, while examining the most plangent cultural issues facing American literature today.

William Faulkner and Southern History by Joel Williamson

Indeed, to a degree perhaps unmatched by any other major twentieth-century novelist, Faulkner remained at home and explored his own region--the history and culture and people of the South. Now, in William Faulkner and Southern History , one of America's most acclaimed historians of the South, Joel Williamson, weaves together a perceptive biography of Faulkner himself, an astute analysis of his works, and a revealing history of Faulkner's ancestors in Mississippi--a family history that becomes, in Williamson's skilled hands, a vivid portrait of Southern culture itself. Williamson provides an insightful look at Faulkner's ancestors, a group sketch so brilliant that the family comes alive almost as vividly as in Faulkner's own fiction. Indeed, his ancestors often outstrip his characters in their colorful and bizarre nature. Williamson has made several the Falkners (William was the first to spell it "Faulkner") were not planter, slaveholding "aristocrats"; Confederate Colonel Falkner was not an unalloyed hero, and he probably sired, protected, and educated a mulatto daughter who married into America's mulatto elite; Faulner's maternal grandfather Charlie Butler stole the town's money and disappeared in the winter of 1887-1888, never to return. Equally important, Williamson uses these stories to underscore themes of race, class, economics, politics, religion, sex and violence, idealism and Romanticism--"the rainbow of elements in human culture"--that reappear in Faulkner's work. He also shows that, while Faulkner's ancestors were no ordinary people, and while he sometimes flashed a curious pride in them, Faulkner came to embrace a pervasive sense of shame concerning both his family and his culture. This he wove into his writing, especially about sex, race, class, and violence, psychic and otherwise. William Faulkner and Southern History represents an unprecedented publishing event--an eminent historian writing on a major literary figure. By revealing the deep history behind the art of the South's most celebrated writer, Williamson evokes new insights and deeper understanding, providing anyone familiar with Faulkner's great novels with a host of connections between his work, his life, and his ancestry.

I think all of these books sound really interesting and would provide new critical lenses with which to analyze the books :)

[hazardous-waste-containment]

I as a Jew wouldn't say what they are doing is like the Holocaust. But I do think the Israeli government and the IDF can be compared to the Nazis of WW2 in regards to power and culture within a government.

@castrateurfate Comparison does not mean equivalency. We can compare Israel and the Third Reich, and if we do we find that the differences are greater than the similarities.

It's an obvious fascist state with intense racial hatred and willingness to ennact violence to justify said racial hatred.

Israel is not an “obvious fascist state,” it is for the most part a parliamentary democracy. It’s an ethno-state in the general sense of a state with an explicitly ethnic character – officially “the nation-state of the Jewish people,” with a Jewish flag and anthem, a Jewish army, exclusive official status for Hebrew, a legal mandate to promote Jewish settlement, and a functional ban on interfaith marriage – but it’s not a strict racial democracy like South Africa: there are Basic Laws theoretically providing for equal rights regardless of race or religion; arbitrary military rule over Arab citizens ended in 1967; Arab-Israelis vote and run for office to be represented in the same multiracial parliament as Jews. It is of course a failing parliamentary democracy, hobbling from crisis to crisis with increasing parallels to electoral authoritarianism in Russia or Turkey, but those aren’t fascist systems either.

(The United States, I would note, was a democracy during the ethnic cleansing and genocide of indigenous peoples, during countless brutal military occupations, during the early twentieth century’s racist citizenship laws, etc.)

Unlike in the handful of countries where interwar fascist movements were successful, there has been no seizure of power by a revolutionary party serving as the nucleus of new state institutions, no aspiration to total control of society or mass mobilization through the party organizations, no ideology and culture of the infinite power of human will and the resurrection of the nation in a new life, and no attempt to level the social order and transcend capitalism. Since we’re making Nazi comparisons specifically, there’s no concept of biological races as the basic actors of history, of racial purity as the key to the health and prosperity of a nation, of a supreme master race that’s the source of all creative values, of continuous expansion to build a new empire, or of the racial reengineering of a continent including the complete physical extermination of a group of people seen as an inherent and eternal enemy of the race. The closest thing to any of this in Zionist history was the militia led by Avraham Stern between 1940 and 1942.

As far as I am aware the ultimate goal of Israeli political leadership is to secure an Israeli nation-state across all the territories currently held by Israel, which means making an undisputed claim to the land, which means uniformly establishing a solid Jewish majority and eliminating any distinct Palestinian national identity. Palestinians will either be assimilated as a nonspecific Arab minority, expelled, or killed. This is absolutely a genocidal program but it is not Nazism. Do you seriously believe that “intense racial hatred” and “willingness to ennact violence” are unique to the Nazis?

Their treatment of Palestinians is closer to how the Nazis treated Africans in Africa than how the Nazis treated Jews in Europe.

You’re either referring to the occupation of Tunisia, which wouldn’t make much sense, or you’ve confused the Nazis with the Italian Fascist invasion of Ethiopia, which admittedly does fit somewhat better.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

My Campus Au update and enter for @the-slumberparty got flagged immediately so here's the link.

[bearlee-sensitive]

Tw:slight vent/cussing

I love but hate being mixed. I have so many different cultures I get to experience and learn about. But I also have to deal with racism from all sides. I never feel accepted. I'm mixed with several different native tribes and different countries and no one ever believes me so I'll only tell them I'm Indeginous or give a specific country. I can't ever say I'm black or African cause I'm "too light" or "don't look African"

People assume I'm Hispanic, usually mexican.

Its getting tiring. I wanna be able to claim all my cultures but people just suck. The only way I can prove I'm African is showing a picture of my grandpa,and people don't believe my dad is African cause he's lighter, and no one believes my mom is Indeginous cause they're "too white to be Indeginous" they're mainly european Indeginous, Sami people.

When will people learn that mixed people exist or that mixed people aren't just two things

I have many multiracial friends

One of my friends is Indeginous, Hispanic and european (Cree, Mexican and Italian)

Another is African, South American and south and east Asian (Nigerian, uruguayan,Indian and Japanese)

The next time I get told I'm not something cause I don't look it I'm gonna lose it. I'm so done with people like that

I can't even wear my jacket with all the flags of my people on it without being told that I'm "holding on to that 1%" not only is blood quantam toxic as fuck, it's annoying especially when you don't know your exact percentage

I actually forgot what my percentages were cause I haven't opened my dna results, I actually deleted 23&me cause someone tried to steal my phone and look. So I'm done

That's all for now

[transfloridaresources]

January 06, 2024. 630pm Lake Eola Park Orlando, FL

[Photo ID: Green background with white stars. A dove flies in the top, left corner holding a Palestine flag in its beak. Illustrated, multiracial carolers sing in the bottom, left corner. Logo for Central FL Queers for Palestine is in the right corner. Red text reads: 'Caroling for a ceasefire. Holiday cheer will not continue as normal during a US funded genocide! Bring your instruments & sing classic Christmas carols with a twist for the last night of the Lake Eola holiday decorations.' /End ID]

[Photo ID: Green background with white stars. A dove flies in the top, left corner holding a Palestine flag in its beak. Illustrated, multiracial carolers sing in the bottom, left corner. Logo for Central FL Queers for Palestine is in the right corner. Red text reads: 'Caroling for a ceasefire. All are welcome! Regardless of singing ability. DM to join. When: Jan 6 at 6:30. Where: Lake Eola (DM for exact location). We will also have a zoom meeting on Jan 6 at noon to go over the music and plan.' /End ID]

Our carolers are back! 🎶 Join us at Lake Eola for one last time this season on January 6th at 6:30pm 🇵🇸 Source (DM them)

[hakesbrother]

Promote Your Home Fast For The Next Worth

They moved into the SBC Center in 2002 (since renamed the AT&T Center), built with public funds. San Antonio is home to the first museum of contemporary artwork in Texas, the McNay Art Museum. An out of doors show at North Star Mall features 40-foot -tall cowboy boots. San Antonio is also home to a number of industrial amusement parks, together homes for sale san antonio with Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Morgan's Wonderland, a theme park for youngsters with particular needs. Kiddie Park, featuring old school amusement rides for kids, was established in 1925 and is the oldest youngsters's amusement park in the united states

Texas was the first state to have major cities develop by railroads rather than waterways. San Antonio grew to become the biggest Spanish settlement in Texas; it was designated because the capital of the Spanish, later Mexican, province of Tejas. From San Antonio, the Camino Real , was constructed to the small frontier town of Nacogdoches. Mexico allowed European American settlers from the United States into the territory; they principally homes for sale san antonio tx occupied land in the jap half. When Antonio López de Santa Anna unilaterally abolished the Mexican Constitution of 1824, violence ensued in lots of states of Mexico. During the Spanish–Mexican settlement of Southwestern lands, which took place over the following century, Juan Leal Goraz Jr. was a distinguished determine.

Primary bathtub options French doors, dual vanities, two walk-in closets, two linen closets, center garden tub and a separate glass enclosed shower. Private visitor suite with a full rest room and walk-in closet close to entrance of home. Utility room and dust room just off the overhead storage. Beautiful and spacious 2 story with basement walkout stage, 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths and a pair of half baths with 3 automobile storage, game room, and media room. Open idea living space consists of household room with beamed ceiling and hearth, gourmet kitchen with huge island, and breakfast space. Master features spacious, hooked up bathtub with 2 giant walk-in closets, one leading to giant utility room.

Ratings are based on a comparability of take a look at results for all colleges within the state. It is designed to be a starting point to assist mother and father make baseline comparisons, not the one consider selecting the proper college for your family. Offer, if any, may differ locally and is not obtainable in all communities and is subject to certain terms, situations, and restrictions.

In the 2000s town annexed a quantity of lengthy slim corridors along main thoroughfares in outlying areas to facilitate eventual annexation of progress developing alongside the routes. The city planned to annex almost home builders in san antonio 40 further sq. miles by 2009. It pursues an aggressive annexation policy and opposes the creation of other municipalities within its ETJ. Nearly three-fourths of its land area has been annexed since 1960.

The Latin Church's Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio was established on August 27, 1784, beneath the then Diocese of Galveston. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 census decided San Antonio had a inhabitants of 1,434,625 residents in 2020. Ethnically, 64.5% had been Hispanic or Latin American of any race. In 2020, its racial and ethnic make-up new home builders san antonio was 23.4% non-Hispanic white, 63.9% Hispanic or Latin American of any race, 6.5% Black and African American, three.2% Asian, and a pair of.3% multiracial or some other race. San Antonio and New Braunfels, forty miles to the northeast, are a variety of the most flood-prone regions in North America.

The housing market favors these stunning residences because of how they're built and the place they are located. If you promote sooner or later, you’ll doubtless profit from an incredible return on your investment. New homes for sale within the San Antonio, Texas, area, Chesmar Homes has you covered. Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the very best and lowest temperature readings during a complete month or year) calculated based mostly on information at mentioned location from 1991 to 2020. KSTX additionally broadcasts "Riverwalk Jazz", featuring Jim Cullum Jazz Band at The Landing, a fixture on the River Walk since 1963.

There had been 2,206 new listings throughout the final 30 days as nicely. The more homes available on the market, the more selections patrons have. Search for San Antonio luxurious homes with the Sotheby’s International Realty community, your premier useful resource new homes san antonio for San Antonio homes. We have 1,555 luxurious homes for sale in San Antonio, and 51,307 homes in all of Texas. Homes listings include trip homes, apartments, penthouses, luxury retreats, lake homes, ski chalets, villas, and lots of extra life-style options.

VIA provides 90 regular bus routes and two Downtown streetcar routes. VIA also provides a special service to city events including Spurs video games and city parades from its park and journey places. San Antonio was named by a 1691 Spanish expedition for the Portuguese priest Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is June thirteen.

[shyshitter]

gay people🫡💪😤🙏🥰🏳️‍🌈🌈🥹🙌🌮😩😌❤️

[mixdgrlproblems]

oh wow, what do you think a mixed community flag would look like? remember the post says its just for fun so let's be nice. i found this on fb but please tag source. 🏳️🏴🏁 #flag #flagfriday #mixedcommunity

[luvmesumus]

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[providencereiki]

Don’t Be Afraid of Being Alone. Be Afraid of Being In A Bad Relationship

Don’t Be Afraid of Being Alone. Be Afraid of Being In A Bad Relationship

Being alone. One of the greatest fears many people experience. Those in difficult and/or toxic relationships debate between being alone and being in a bad relationship often, even daily. Being alone can be a terrifying fear that can create desperation and self-destruction. How do we know when a relationship has gotten to the point that being alone is less challenging than being present? (more…)

[fairykukla]

Our Flag Means Death ate my evening.

It's everything people are saying. I'm dazzled.

I'm an artist and a storyteller. This affects how I interact with media sometimes. As an artist and a storyteller this series is brilliant. The writers skillfully wove together several character arcs, interesting historical flavor, and carefully placed anachronisms to draw a modern audience in and give them the feel of the period.

Is it perfectly historically accurate? No. Am I bothered by that? No. Because they're deliberately showing us history that doesn't ever get seen in other historical dramas.

Are the costumes historically accurate? Well, yes and no; they're not accurate to the actual time period, but the costume designers are being spectacularly clever about it. Using some specifc types of fashion to depict specific types of characters as visual shorthand for the tale they're telling is a tricky feat to accomplish, but (for example) putting Stede in later-period finery and Edward in (almost) biker leathers works ridiculously well.

Every character has agency and authenticity, even the ridiculous ones. The cast is multiracial, and the show doesn't shy away from that fact. pirates were, by and large, marginalized people. There's even an exchange about it. "We are pirates because we have to be, not because we wanted to."

Stede has a crew of people that even other pirates kind of look down on. They're described by other sailors as "incompetent" and yet, Stede's ship runs smoothly with a minimal crew. (Ok, there's one big mishap. And it's freaking great.)

Does Stede give off big Aziraphale vibes? Yes! But that's not what I like best about him. I have to admit that someone dashing it all to pursue his dream is one of my favorite tropes.

I adore Taika Watiti. I have for a long time. His Blackbeard is ridiculously hot, and not because of the leather. (Ok, the leather is a bit hot.) His Blackbeard is whimsical. Mercurial. Terrifying and poetic by turns. Loves theatrics but gets tired of the same show all the time. Confident and powerful? Yes. Seeing him become vulnerable with his new friend? Delightful.

I have tiny nits to pick, and most of them land on Calico Jack. In point of fact, Stede Bonnet's portrayal in OFMD is slightly closer to the Jack of history, but they needed a Big Name to show up and be a real jackass. So I get what they're doing there, and I forgive them for it. (Because when the narrative is this good, I am apparently even willing to sacrifice my own favorite real pirate captain to make it happen.) I do wish they'd actually made him literally colorful, though. It's my only nit to pick with the costume design.

Otherwise? The music is delightful, the story is a wild ride, the characters are fantastic, the farcical nature of the plot is really fun and handled well, the performances are stellar, and I desperately want two more seasons.

Is it gay? Sure. Is just about gay pirates? No. Is it historically accurate that everyone would be so chill about the gay stuff? No, but I'm happy to have a look at a world like that. This is a fantasy setting, and I'm here for it. And to be fair, not everyone in that world is chill about it, but the pirates certainly are.

Plus, it has some of the best cameos!! Why is no one talking about the fantastic cameos! ?! Is it to avoid spoilers? Ok. I won't spill the beans. But whooo boy, there are some great familiar faces sprinkled throughout.

[hazardous-waste-containment]

Read an interesting article on the NRM website that tried to distinguish ‘fascism’ from ‘National Socialism’, which is not actually an uncommon or totally unfounded distinction. The argument was that fascism as practiced in Italy combined realpolitik, corporatism, and (authoritarian) nationalism, and that while National Socialism has all of these qualities, it is also racist, antisemitic, and fundamentally anti-Christian. I'd point out that plenty of revolutionary ultra-nationalist movements in interwar Europe did not fit either of these paradigms (Hungarism, Legionarism, Lapua) and thus perhaps they all ought to fall under the larger umbrella of generic fascism based on that core of totalizing ethnic rebirth.

The NRM's distinctions are remarkably similar to those drawn by feuding Nazis and Fascists in the mid 1930s – Fascists accused Nazism of being pagan, racist and barbaric, Nazis accused Fascism of being reactionary and capitalistic. (Granted, the NRM is not trying to slander fascism as its predecessors were, just to delineate its ideology from that of other far-right phenomena.) It is also, I suppose, true that the rare modern movements which self-identify as fascist (CPI, NBP) tend to also renounce racism. Patriot Front, of course, breaks the rule – they have a Roman fasces on their flag and have self-identified before as fascists, but they more significantly identify as National Socialists and are definitely biologically racist (and visited the NRM on their tour of Europe).

Mosley, always ahead of his time in fascist discourse, probably has the most coherent answer here:

4. Why is the Movement called Fascist?

Fascism is the name by which the modern Movement has come to be known in the world. [..] The alternative name for the modern Movement is the National Socialism used in Germany. [..] National Socialism and Fascism in my view are the same Movement, finding different expressions in different countries in accord with different national and racial characteristics.

He later goes on to explain specifically why the racial theories of British Fascism and German Nazism differ, seeing no contradiction since “They are German and we are English, therefore our views [..] will be different” — i.e. Britain was a global, multiracial empire while Germany lacked an empire and instead sought “a revived German race, geographically united.” Wonder what the NRM would think of that.