[sudo-discuss] Fwd: Dia de los Muertos fundraiser: is happening?

[Hep Svadja]

This is one of the problems with white or non-latino/hispanic culture
people interpreting Dia de los Muertos. It has nothing to do with death.
DDLM is a celebration of those who passed, and it is considered a time when
the veil between the land of the dead and the land of life has thinned to
the point that all of the deceased are able to return to the land of the
living and visit with their loved ones who are still alive. So I am not
sure what your "death is obsolete" catchphrase means or what "What would Nov.
1 look like if Dia de los Muertos was obsolete?" means in relation to the
holiday unless by which you mean that because of the spirit of DDLM, death
is obsolete because we all still get to visit with the dead every year.
DDLM has nothing to do with the remembrance of death, it actually has very
little to do with death at all, it is pretty much solely about the dead,
remembering them, and visiting with them during the time that the two
worlds are close together.

This also has to do with why I have a problem with people not of the
culture interpreting the event. People on this thread claim to have built
ofrendas, and studied mexican and latin american culture, yet this
incredibly simple understanding of this event, which is even understood by
small mexican and latino children, appears to escape them. Studying the
culture, does not make you of the culture. Joining in a celebration with
the culture, does not make you of the culture. White people do not and
should not get to dictate how other cultures are portrayed, or what the
intentions or spirits of those cultures are, whether in general or specific
to celebrations. DDLM in the Bay Area is already fraught with tensions
regarding cultural appropriation (which anyone who has been to the SF
Mission Celebration of DDLM and heard the speeches beforehand knows),
adding to this by an insistence that white people get to dictate and run
celebrations of this holiday only adds to that cultural appropriation. I
deeply understand those who want the whole world to be one culture, but
until all cultures are on even parity with no oppression, any taking of
minority cultures by dominant cultures is just another form of oppression.
It is for mexican, latino, and/or hispanic people to choose whether or not
to share their culture, not for white people or other dominant majorities
to decide for them.

Sorry I haven't been able to write this sooner, I have been incredibly busy
with the Marigold Project getting ready for this year. BTW there is an
excellent opportunity for those who would like to participate and also help
local cultures celebrate, for people to show up in the Mission at Garfield
Park on the morning of Nov 3 to help dismantle ofrendas and clean garbage
from the parade.

-Hep



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415 867 9472 || http://hepic.net
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