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6/22/2020 0 Comments One More Thing About Juneteenth...Alright, I've got one more thing to say about Juneteenth. And this one goes out to all of the American businesses and particularly the American theatres.
I want you to think about something: Would you post a generic ad for a class that'll happen in March on Christmas Day with no mention of the holiday? Would you send out a run-of-the-mill e-blast about an upcoming sale that has nothing to do with Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November? Would you post an ad for your winter show on July 4th rather than some square filled with fireworks and flags? Of course you wouldn't. It'd be downright ridiculous! How could you let these holidays be just another ordinary day? How short-sighted would you have to be to do something like that? Golly, Mr. Wilson, that's just bad advertising! And yet you're absolutely fine with doing any one of those things on Juneteenth without a single mention of the holiday or what it celebrates? Look: Christmas is alienating; it's a Christian holiday, and while many agnostic and non-practicing Christian families in the US celebrate it anyway, it excludes Jews, Muslims, Atheists, and a spectacularly wide range of people. Thanksgiving celebrates the Native Americans welcoming the Pilgrims to the "New World," after which those same Pilgrims promptly stole and pillaged the land, called it their own, and enacted an unending and horrific genocide, the repercussions and results (and actions) of which are still being felt (and performed) today. And the Fourth of July has become, at best, a parody of itself; more accurately, a celebration of backward thinking and historical revisionism and reductionism. But you know what holiday is not exclusive or exclusionary? Juneteenth. Homies, IT IS NOT POLITICAL. It is about America making a vital step toward getting its collective head out of its racist ass and, two years late, finally getting the news out that Black people who had been enslaved by white men (sic.) for the entire lifespan of this country were no longer to be treated as property. It is a celebration of moving this country-built-by-enslaved-people one step further toward walking the talk of "all [people] are created equal." It is not a political statement to mark the occasion. Because recognizing peoples' human rights is not political. And if you genuinely believe that it is, you've got a hell of a lot more work to do on yourself. It is, however, an exclusionary religious statement to mark Christmas. It's also problematic at best, blatantly racist at worst, to mark Thanksgiving. And it's sure as hell screwed up to fire off your Fourth of July fanfare while doing absolutely nothing to recognize and rectify the atrocious wrongs that have been inflicted upon Black – and BIPOC – people by this country since Plymouth Fucking Rock. So, to each and every one of you businesses – and in particular to you theatres – who let this Juneteenth go either entirely unmarked, or worse, sent out some general, self-celebratory advertisement, you have no excuse. You. Need. To. Do. Better. Now, look, I'm not saying I've been an active advocate of celebrating Juneteenth for my entire life. Hell, if I'm honest here, I only found out about it a couple of years ago (which I have a lot of guilt about, even though I understand that the fault goes way deeper into the systemically racist educational system I grew up in). But of all years... OF ALL YEARS... For you to either ignore or dismiss Juneteenth this year? There is just no excuse. So, if you're reading this, and that was you: you are part of the problem. Again: YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. And, while we're here, if you're a company, business, or theatre I've worked with, and you fit this category (I mean, shit, even if you don't, this is probably still true, but for sure if you do fit into this description), then guess what: I HAVE PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED RACISM AND PREJUDICE WHILE WORKING FOR YOU. That's not a "probably." That's a bona fide, Men's Warehouse "You're gonna like the way you look, I guarantee it" guarantee. There is not one place I've ever worked where I didn't feel like I was singled out, shamed, dismissed, or blatantly belittled as a result of my Mexican roots. And I have never once worked in a place where – when I've brought up how inaccessible or offensive either the building, the atmosphere, the language, or the whole mentality of the company is for people with disabilities – I've been met with anything shy of derision. So, yeah: you've been part of the problem. And you're still part of the problem. You just never noticed. Because, from your place of privilege, you just simply didn't have to. And whether I or anyone else has brought it to your attention, it's been happening. And you just did it again. So consider this your final warning. STOP. BEING. RACIST. Do better, y'all. Now lace up your colonialist trousers, because your bigotry is showing.
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6/19/2020 0 Comments Stay LoudFor Juneteenth, I want to share something that really struck me this week, and that really drives home why we all need to stay as loud as we can be:
Earlier this week, I was speaking with someone in NorCal who is consistently VERY well-informed about what’s happening in the world. This person brought up Robert Fuller and Malcolm Harsch. I asked, yeah but what about Dominique Alexander in New York, the teenager in Harris County, TX, and the man in Shady Acres outside of Houston? This person was dumbstruck. Hadn’t heard about them. At all. Y’all. THIS STUFF IS NOT BEING REPORTED. We, in Los Angeles, are at the epicenter of these protests, the Coronavirus, the clashes with police, all of it. We’re immersed in it (except for those who are intentionally and willfully ignoring what’s happening. And yeah, we’ve noticed that silence). But much of the rest of the country is sleeping on what’s happening. We need to stay loud. If you’ve got family in Wisconsin, get loud. If you’ve got friends in Ohio, get loud. If you’ve got a sister-in-law in Texas, get loud! Your voice matters. Lemme say that again: YOUR. VOICE. MATTERS. You can be the difference between your mom’s bible study group in Scottsdale voting one way in November… or the other. And don’t get this twisted: this is a matter of life and death. Nazi propaganda imagery in campaign ads. 70,000 children separated from their parents and detained at the border (for perspective, that’s more than all of Daytona Beach’s population), and six dead of preventable causes. And the dude LITERALLY said injecting disinfectant and/or drinking bleach could save you from the Coronavirus. So, today’s Juneteenth. (And no, that belligerent, using-chemical-weapons-against-peaceful-protestors-for-a-photo-op-with-a-bible, racist, xenophobic, pandering, IMPEACHED, time-and-time again bankrupted, scam university-owning adulterer-who-paid-off-a-porn-star-for-her-silence in the White House DID NOT “[make] Juneteenth very famous.”) In honor of today, I’m begging you, if you’re reading this, please, PLEASE (if you aren’t already) do just a few things: 1. If you don’t know the history of why Juneteenth is important, all you’ve got to do is either look it up, or for a fun way of researching and getting a solid once-over, watch the Black-Ish episode about it (season 4, episode 1; on Hulu). 2. At minimum, sign some petitions and share them. I have a whole list on my website under the “Advocate” tab. If you can’t find it, let me know. 3. And this is the most important: SPEAK. OUT. Post on facebook, share on instagram, or better yet: use today to call (or, for real, if it’s just too daunting, at least email) that either overt or covert racist from every Thanksgiving you’ve had to endure. And, on the flip side, if you’ve been in the trenches for either the last few weeks or, you know, forever, when you need to take a break, take a freaking break. And if you need a mental permission slip, I posted a blog yesterday here and on my website that might help. Take the rest you need. And take as much of it as you need. This is a marathon. A lot of us, myself for sure included, tend to try to run it at a sprint pace. So, if that’s you, maybe today is an opportunity to figure out your ideal rhythm; speak out, read a book. Call a bunch of legislators, take a nap. Whatever works for you. But if you’re reading this and saying, “Well, no one wants to hear from me,” here it is in plain black and white: YES WE DO. Share Black and Brown people’s stories. Share petitions and sign them. Donate to BLM, the NAACP, and bail funds. Then tell your people where they can do the same. Because in all likelihood, they’re not sure where to start, either. And, in the meantime, if you get stressed out by it all, call up a white friend and tell them you need to vent and talk it out. And if they don’t want to hear it, then send them every petition and article you’ve just gone through and move on to try to vent to another white friend. (And if that racial specificity seems shocking or jarring to you, I encourage you to look up the concept of “Ring Theory” and “venting” or “dumping outward” / “comforting inward.”) I’ll close with this: I saw a picture being circulated this week that really hit me in the soft and tenders. It was of an older white man, in his wheelchair, face mask on, sign on his chest that said “Black Lives Matter,” and another sign on a piece of poster board attached to a plank sticking up over his head that said, “Sorry I’m Late. I Had A Lot To Learn.” It’s okay to be late. Just get here. 6/18/2020 1 Comment Yellow Wizard Needs Food BadlySo, I hit on something today that I think may resonate with folk, especially folk who've grown up, like I have, in this technological, non-stop age of ours (and especially for this current global / national climate we're in). It'll take a little explaining, but if you bear with me, I think this might be a thing that I'm not the only one who needs to hear.
To get the full picture, we've got to go back a bit. Here we go. So, recharging my batteries was not something I was ever taught how to do. In fact, quite conversely, I was raised with the understanding that only the absolute minimum amount of rest or breaktime were permissible, and anything more than that was luxurious, selfish, and unacceptable. It didn't matter that I got straight A's, graduated high school with so many accolades and honors they had to invent a new award for me (that's not a joke; that's real), and finished my BA (major and minor) two quarters early and at the top of my department. Breaks weren't allowed. There's all of the "your parents do to you what was done to them" psychoanalysis blah blah blah that I could try to sort through, but what it really came down to was that my brother, who is severely disabled and requires 24/7 care, needed support. My dad had to work, my mom was with my brother all day every day, so when I got home from school, it needed to be all-hands-on-deck as quickly as possible. There wasn't time for me to take a couple of hours to play video games or watch tv or read a book; I needed to get my homework done so I could change a diaper or feed my brother while my mom finished working on dinner so we could eat. So instead, I'd get up at 5am so I could squeeze in an hour of playing a video game before all hell broke loose for another day of school, homework, and care providing. That morning time was sacred. The sun wasn't up yet. The house was quiet. I had the TV I'd bought with my own money in my room so I could hide and play and escape to somewhere more manageable and understandable than the world. Then, soon enough, it would be time for breakfast, then off to school and it all started back over again. But for that little stretch of time in the morning, I could do what I wanted to do. Now, that's a lot of backstory to get to my point, but ask anyone who's spent more than a few hours with me, I'm not a brief person and I like context. So, here's what I'm getting at: This week (month? [year? {what day is it right now?}]) has been... rough. We can all agree that between the Covid-19 lockdown, losing our jobs, not seeing our friends, not being able to safely go out, and now this latest onslaught of cops killing Black people (and now Black people being found hanged in trees, for Christ's sake), things are... yeah, they're rough. And it's taking a massive emotional toll on a lot of us. And add to that, many of us, myself being a prime example, were never taught how to clock out, take a break, and recover. Some of that, I think, is a product of the time we grew up in as compared to the time our parents and grandparents did. By the time I was in – what? the fourth grade? earlier? – we had computer lab and internet time at school. Mario taught me typing. I built a website dedicated to Darth Maul in a summer class between fifth and sixth grade (fun side note: the guy who would become – and still is – my best friend was also in that class. He made a Pokémon site. It was pretty bomb). I got my first cell phone in high school (lord, I miss that Nokia 3390). All of that to say: we were screwed from the start. This so-called "grind culture" of ours started before we even had a chance to figure out who we were, let alone how we would handle such a non-stop, in-your-face, all-consuming, immersive world. We can't escape the notifications and the alarms and the demands on our attention. Even if you leave your phone at home for a day (I still can't get myself to do it; maybe for a couple of hours at a time, but leave the house and drive around in LA without a way to call for help if I need it? Are you kidding?) the stress of detaching is massive. What if you miss that phone call? What if your big break comes in while you're off hiking and it blows right on past you? What if Kyle says something funny and you don't get to immediately reply with a funny gif? (Also, just, while we're here: it's a hard-G sound. "Graphic Interchange Format," not, "Jraphic Interchange Format. Please and thank you.) Point is: we don't know how to unplug because we're the pioneers into this Wild West of the technological world. Asking our parents to teach us how to manage stress in the world as it exists today is as absurd as expecting them to teach us how to update our iOS or rename our WiFi network. (Take a sec and enjoy that image in your head. You're welcome.) So, it's up to us to figure out how to manage our stress in this absolutely out-of-control world that we're currently trapped in. And it's that very thing that's got me thinking about those quiet mornings playing Pokémon Stadium and Ocarina of Time. There are a couple of games that are strange coping devices for me. Yoshi Story comes out periodically; it was the game I got for the birthday which I spent in the children's ICU at my brother's bedside. The nurses brought a TV and an N-64 from the playroom so I could play my new game, even though I couldn't be at home because my brother was too sick for any of us to leave. The other one is Gauntlet. Man, I don't even care what iteration of it we're talking about, Gauntlet is my jam. It was the old arcade version that I'd play in the lobby of the Shriner's Children's Hospital in San Francisco while my parents would take my brother for his annual appointment. Those visits were long. Like, hours and hours long. So, I'd have a pile of quarters and I'd just button mash my way through maze after maze of endless enemies and portals. Well, I haven't been doing so hot, so this week, I busted out my N-64 and plugged in Gauntlet: Legends. I already had a few characters who'd beaten the whole game multiple times over, but I also had one that was only maybe two or three levels in. I pulled him up and I've been going ham for the last two or three days. And it was this morning, in the quiet of the early morning once again, that I hit on something that I think is important. So, after a few particularly hard levels and boss battles, my Yellow Wizard (always Yellow Wizard) "needed food badly." His health was low, so I figured I'd go back to the very first level of the game and just play it over and over (since I've basically memorized it), stock up on health and items, sell the items to buy more health, then repeat until he was back at full HP. So, I spent maybe an hour and a half this morning going through that one level over and over and over until my health was at max, I had a full ring of keys, I couldn't carry another potion if I tried, and my gold coffers were nicely filled. That's when it hit me: Shit, man, Andrew needs food badly. My HP meter is dangerously low. And sometimes, the way to replenish it, is to do one thing – something you know really, really well; something that always gives you a little bit of your health back; something simple and effortless but that puts a little more fuel back in your tank each time you do it – over, and over, and over, and over until your health bar is back at max. It doesn't matter what it is. For Mandal the Yellow Wizard (yes, named for "Mandalf;" go watch the YouTube video; it's hilarious; Gauntlet just has a six-character limit on names. My other main character is "Gandal"), it was going through that one level ad nauseum until he couldn't eat another bite or store another potion. For Andrew the Stressed-Out Person, maybe it's bouncing between playing Gauntlet and reading fantasy or sci-fi books for a while. But one thing is for sure and this is important: I had to make Mandal go through that level as many times as it took to get his level-45 ass back up to 4860/4860 health. Which means: I need to make myself go through my equivalent activity as many times as it takes to get my tank back to full. So, if you're like me, and you're feeling pretty damn depleted, maybe today, take a second and think: What thing do you really want to do? No matter how ridiculous it may seem. What sounds really, really good? Reading a book? Drawing? Taking eighteen baths? Working out? Playing an old favorite video game that you've played a thousand times already? Meditating? Napping? Curling up in a ball on the floor and listening to Beyoncé until you can't resist dancing anymore? And how long do you need to do that thing before you feel like you're at your max health? An hour? Three hours? Two days? A week? Look, I know that California, as well as all the other states, is opening back up as though the Coronavirus is over. But let's be really real here: it's not over. It's about to get worse. LA, for sure, has not peaked, and now that restaurants and bars and hair salons are opening all over the place, people are going to spread this thing. We're not done. Which means, though: we have the time. So, maybe this is the moment we all need to find our "level 1." Maybe this is the time we look inward and say, "Okay. Yellow Wizard needs food badly. Where do I get it?" And then we take however long it takes to fill back up. There are a million "you can't pour from an empty cup" sayings, but as long as I can remember, mine's been: "Yellow Wizard needs food badly." I think today, however, is the first time I'm gonna go on a food hunt until that HP meter fills back up to max. So, hey, wanna play co-op with me? |
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