Durjaya

Trust, love and believe in yourself.

Too subjective to be about individuals. Individual actions. That's where I look.

People like to finger others. People like to prosthelytize. People need to take a look in the mirror. People need to recognize.

I can’t practice Yoga or meditation or Zen Buddhism without thinking about cultural appropriation .. Western yoga is a textbook example. White Westerners lift yoga from another culture, brand it, and turn it into a multibillion dollar industry for their profit…but should an actual Hindu practitioner practice the ancient traditions of their faith, it is used to label them an “other” or refusing to assimilate. Diverse human genes spread across the world as our descendants travel, meet, love, mate and settle. Race and ethnic identities aren't immutable. Our skin, hair, our expressions, languages, our traditions, styles, customs, dress and spiritual practices blend. Intermarriage. Mixed ancestry. Doesn’t this mean that inevitably, the racialized societies created by imperialism will cease to exist? Perhaps on that day we can judge one another on the strength of our character alone.

I first heard of this band a few months ago.  I was out on a walk when I came across a poster advertising a punk show from an unheard of band.  INTEREST SPIKED!  Come to find out, fifty years after their forming they were playing their first Seattle gig.  Historical Icons, the band is very much alive and the above quotation about record companies finding their music and band name "too intimidating" is racism at work and nothing more.  You can watch a documentary about the band on NETFLIX.  It's an amazing story.  They've got a 10 song LP due next year.  If you're a music fan.  If you're a punk music fan.  ... Check them out.   

ism

"The soul that is within me no man can degrade."

~Clov