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mark corece on some other ish: other ish to do on thanksgiving
For some people Thanksgiving truly is a semblance of family, overindulgence of food and reconnecting with people whom you might not have seen in ages. While, on the other hand, Turkey Day is about awareness of the genocidal reality for Native people and reflecting upon colonialism as it fits into modernity and history.
It could be a hybrid. The fact is, the Pilgrim, Native American (Indian) dichotomy is one that can be told many ways and a lot can be inferred, knowing the legacy of Christopher Columbus and what he Sat out to do. Ironically enough, it can be surmised—from the ghosts of imperialisms past—similar encounters still occur in a nowadays, 2.0 kind of way. So, be thankful and be vigilant.
To keep you on the up and up, and in the know, AFROPUNK has compiled a list of totally radical things you can do to keep your wits up, entertain you, and distract you from the sure-to-be annoying moments of the bittersweet familial interactions.
10. Listen to Deep Cotton –We’re far enough from Heaven Now We Can Freak Out at least 10 times. As stated on their website, deepcotton.com, they are a hodgepodge of “punk and funk, soul and rock, hip hop and everything in between.”LISTEN
9. (Re) Watch, 2006, TV on the Radio live on David Letterman. It’s spiritual. It’s classic. It’s inspiring. It’ll, of course, lead you to many more gems by a great band of our time. WATCH
8. Stumbleupon. Streamline and organize your Internet activity. Build a profile that’ll lead you to so many other things you’re interested in. Think smart, highly personal search engine that does all of the searching for you. It’s google+, pinterest, and all of your favorite blogs rolled into one.
7. Read a m%a*$k@!g book. Whether it’s some canonized greats or promising newbies. Take this time to get witty and transport yourself into worlds unknown. Some highly recommended reads are: NW by Zadie Smith, Losing My Cool by Thomas Chatterton Williams or The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.
6. Djay. Ok, maybe you can’t learn how to spin the 1s and 2s and a couple of days, but you can learn a few elements of it on your iPad or smartphone device with the app djay or any like application. This one is free.
5. Write something. Whether you decide to work on that book outline, keep or journal or catch up on some pantoum poems. This break will be a good time. If you need inspiration check out harrietsrevenge.tumblr.com
4. Become informed about the Israeli, Palestinian ages-old territory war. It’s complicated and, yet so important to know. It impacts our foreign affairs our very own cities and, contrary to popular belief, empathy and compassion could be had for both peoples. One of my favorite old-school discussions of it comes from this YouTube video: Blizter/Finkelstein (oh and read up on Finkelstein).
3. Protest Wal-Mart on Black Friday, and beyond. A lot of low-wage, over worked and fed up employees are planning to walk out on Black Friday, the United States biggest, physical shopping day. Go down to your local Wal-mart and support. Don’t take valuables just in case you’re arrested for civil disobedience (which is ok), but make sure you are informed about what’s happening and your rights and the consequences of getting arrested politically. Even if you don’t protest Cyber Monday is so much better—if you’re into that sort of thing.
2. Watch Cloud Atlas. Take your family to shut them up for 3 hours. It’s a time investment and it’s a highly cerebral film. The film is a bit obscure and it has gotten unfair reviews—the same people who complain about millennia’s attention deficit can’t sit in long movies themselves (just saying)—it’s still worth it and quite an epic spectacle. Octavia Butler would be proud of Halle Berry.
1. AFROPUNK ISH. Spend some time on our fantastic website and sink everything in. We have tons o’ videos, articles that’ll make you think and laugh—not to mention we are the dopest thing around.
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