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Ishmael Alikhan Q&A with Morning Star Gali (2021)

The below interview conducted with phenomenal Native activist Morning Star Gali (Pit River Nation) was featured in the Spring 2021 issue of News from Native California.

The first time I met Morning Star was in November 2008 at Mills College. I was still fresh to Oakland, to graduate school, and to the Native American Sisterhood Alliance, a student organization now known as the Indigenous Women’s Alliance. Morning Star agreed to provide opening prayer for the group’s inaugural event for Native American Heritage Month.

On the day of the event, Morning Star arrived and greeted everyone in the meadow behind Mills Hall. It was an overcast day with a hint of rain, which was probably why not many students had come. After a time, we all gathered closer for the prayer. All background noise fell away as Morning Star spoke. Her tone was earnest and resolute. I could tell each word was from her heart.

Before then, I had only heard her name mentioned excitedly within our group meetings and thought: Wow, this Morning Star must be a great person.  From every moment since, I can honestly say it’s been a pleasure and an honor to be in her company. The last time I saw her in person was a few years ago at the Sunrise Gathering at Alacatraz Island. I was fortunate enough to talk to her recently by phone and e-mail to see what she’s been up to.

Ishmael Alikhan:  For readers who may not be aware, could you tell me more about the annual Sunrise gathering, your role in it, and your work with the International Indian Treaty Council?

Morning Star Gali: I’ve been attending the sunrise gatherings my entire life, and continue to bring my four children every year just as I was brought by my parents. The gathering was started by Bill Wahpehpah (Kickapoo/Sac and Fox) who started the AIM for Freedom Survival School/Oakland AIM house in East Oakland. Bill was holding sunrise ceremonies daily at the Oakland AIM house, and would comment at the time that we were the only ones lighting a sacred fire daily on the western side of Mississippi. My mom was in the sunrise ceremony when her water broke so it is also the origin of how I was named. 

My parents were living at the Oakland AIM house when I was born. Over the four days while my mom was in labor was a continuous ceremony held outside. This was in the late 1970’s as Native women were being sterilized through Indian Health Services and Alameda County had the 2nd highest infant mortality rate in the nation. So, I was the first of many AIM House/Women of All Red Nations home births. The decision of my mom and aunties was that it was safer and necessary to utilize Indigenous birthing practices. Within minutes of being born at 4:00 AM, I was introduced to the sacred fire and brought into the sacred circle of our relatives. So, that is how I received my name, and a path was forged in the commitment to my Tribal communities and the ongoing sunrise gatherings is a part of that continued prayer. After attending the gatherings for many years, I was asked to help coordinate them back in 2008. Since then, I’ve helped as an organizer and in different capacities to support the continuation of the gatherings. I first started with IITC as a community liaison coordinator. When I moved out of the Bay Area in 2010, I still volunteered and offered my support, and that has now transitioned into a consultant position as a California Tribal/Community Liaison for IITC. 

IA: I remember reading an opinion piece in 2008 you wrote for the Campanil, the Mills College student newspaper, about Honoring Native American Heritage Month. In it, you discuss the meaning of being a minority as well historic and contemporary Indigenous struggles against “dominant Eurocentric hetero-patriarchal norms.” This brings to mind your work with the Decolonize Oakland movement. Could you tell me more about that?

MSG: The Decolonize Oakland movement is one that was very emotionally heavy, but it is beautiful to witness all that grew out of it. Here we are a decade later, after a heavy push for acknowledgement that Oakland is Ohlone land. There was such a battle for visibility, for truth-telling, and here we finally are. I feel fortunate to have built some long-lasting friendships from the experience, but it was a brutal one for sure. I appreciate the outcomes, that we collectively were able to address the hypocrisy of social movements such as “Occupy” and the importance of the context in language as a form of erasure. Especially in Oakland and the greater Bay Area where Ohlone peoples are not afforded federal recognition and all the complexities of California Indian history and how that is translated today. Here we are 10 years later, and although land acknowledgements are a step forward, it is one step within the much-needed visibility of California Tribal peoples and land stewardship. It’s been an ongoing battle against erasure, and for more than acknowledgement, for visibility and truth-telling. 

IA: Last week, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. What are your thoughts on that event in regard to how white folk in this country are viewed and treated when they protest versus how people of color are viewed and treated when protesting?

MSG: January 6th was so telling. Watching how law enforcement opened the gates to allow the insurgency to unfold was exactly how white supremacy is upheld in this country. There are so many fallacies that uphold the so-called democracy of this country. For me personally, it was a reminder of being jabbed in the stomach with batons when I was pregnant and protesting Bush Jr. and the Iraq war back in 2003, of being on backwater bridge during standing rock and being tear gassed as the sacred waters that we were there fighting to protect was being weaponized against us in freezing conditions. Of the excessive use of force every time that I’m out protesting with my fellow community members from the Oscar Grant to George Floyd uprisings, and so many more instances. The National Guard was called to militarize downtown Sacramento this past summer, and yet we witness how law enforcement was taking selfies with these folks that are clearly so dangerous and much more of a threat in their actions. 

IA: On the topic of law enforcement and policing, part of your work deals with the disproportionate impact of the criminal and juvenile justice systems on California’s Indigenous Peoples. Could you tell the readers more about your work with Restoring Justice for Indigenous Peoples?

MSG: RJIP was created out of my personal and collective experiences in how Indigenous peoples are treated by a biased and unfair so-called justice system. As a California Tribal woman, I also have experienced the double marginalization within a justice system that criminalizes Native peoples, and simultaneously provides little to zero resources when we are victims of violence ourselves. 

Through community organizing, advocacy and a cultural lens, we are organizing our Tribal communities to address the disparities of over-incarceration, and the way that Women, girls and two-spirit relatives are largely ignored. As our next generations are the sovereign nation builders and Indigenous Justice warriors, we are providing them with the tools and resources to be successful leaders and warriors for all of our communities that are impacted. Even the term restorative justice has been co-opted and largely ignores the origins of Indigenous practices, as there is an impossibility of justice for Native women and girls within patriarchal court systems. As California Native peoples we are inextricably linked to mass criminalization and genocide with current patterns of police violence. Through RJIP we are committed to working for structural change and transformation, to challenge the narratives held in victim blaming and that further marginalize us as system-impacted.  We are building a powerful movement of system-involved Native peoples inside and outside institutions working to end the centuries-long imprisonment of our people, ancestors, relatives, and land. We are working to end the incarceration of living Native peoples in jails, prisons, and group homes across the state, to end the incarceration of our Salmon relatives impacted by dams on our rivers, and to end the incarceration of our ancestors’ skeletons locked away in basements of universities such as the UC System. We are doing this through developing powerful Indigenous leaders and communities and organizing with them to transform the systems, structures, and stories that keep us all imprisoned both physically and spiritually.

IA: I recently read the feature written by you and Vanessa and Maya Esquivido in the Fall 2020 issue of News from Native California about the Native Community’s solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. As a person of African, Native, and European ancestry, I can say it warmed my heart to know that people are thinking about the well-being of Afro-Indigenous people. Growing up, I often felt like a perpetual outsider—never Native enough, Black enough, and certainly not white enough to fit in.

I mention all of that to ask you what you think can be done to address anti-Blackness and the othering of mixed people in Native communities?

MSG: It was really an honor to work on that article with Vanessa and Maya. There is so much that is necessary in addressing anti-Blackness within our communities, and it is both a personal and collective responsibility. I organize under Black leadership with the Anti Police-Terror Project of Sacramento. As one of the core committee members, I co-lead the healing justice committee that provides support to families impacted by police terrorism. Families in Sacramento that have had their loved one killed by police violence. For me personally, it’s a personal responsibility to address the ongoing crisis of our Afro-Indigenous/Black relatives being murdered through state-sanctioned violence. There is so much to be said and so many necessary conversations to be had. As a child that benefited from The Black Panther Party’s free breakfast program, while growing up in Oakland to the organization that I do now under APTP, this is a shared and sacred relationship of how to be in solidarity between our communities in a way that is intentional. I see a lot of our California Indigenous relatives that feel slighted that stories are not as uplifted, or using hashtags about Native lives. It can be uncomfortable to dive into these conversations, but it is also necessary. Under the hashtag #NativeJusticeNow and #indigenousjustice, is an opportunity to educate that as vocal as we are about cultural appropriation, we are not exempt from it. As Indigenous peoples, we have a responsibility not to appropriate cultural practices that our not our own. 

In terms of the perpetual outsider myth, that narrative is a result of white supremacy. The lateral oppression that our peoples have used against one another as a way of othering through messaging that we don’t belong or that we aren’t ever “Native” enough both within our rural and urban Tribal communities. I have personally experienced it my entire life as well. I was born in an urban community to parents that were raised outside of their homelands due to displacement and economic survival experiences. I moved back to Pit River as a teenager after my father passed away. After attending Mills, I moved back to Pit River for seven years. I will always consider both the Bay Area Native community and my Tribal lands as home, and there are individuals that will always treat me and my children as outsiders. When I moved back home, I was teased and called a city girl, and when I would go back to the bay, they would tell me I have been on the rez for too long. I remember during a heated meeting with my Ajumawi band, I was told to go back to Half Moon Bay. I’ve never lived there, but that’s where my grandmother moved to with my Ilocano (Filipino) grandfather back in the 1930’s and my father and uncles were raised there.

Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie, Native American studies professor, photographed the recent removal of a John Sutter statue in Sacramento. Morning Star Gali, Pit River activist who helped organize removal efforts, posed before the prone statue

All of these experiences are a reminder of when I lived in Flagstaff, AZ for a short time in my early 20’s. I remember friends commenting on Tribal members that lived in the town, and how those that lived on the rez didn’t know anything and would go on being ignorant and those on the rez commenting, go back to town and be just as dumb as everyone detached from their culture. It was the same messaging from Tribal peoples that had very similar and diverse experiences. That always stuck with me. My oldest daughter just spent some time in Red Lake, MN where they didn’t see her as Native because they weren’t familiar with Tribes in California. If you’re not Native, then what are you, I asked her in response? And in a way there will always be people that will have their opinions and, in the end, it doesn’t necessarily affect us unless we allow it to. I’m just as much Illocano from Agoo La Union, Philippines as I am Pit River. I was raised as Pit River for the entirety of my life, and my children have been raised as Pit River. One of the most ignorant comments that has been said directly is people slandering me as “that Filipino; she’s just Filipino” used as a way to insult me and my family. This comment is not only ignorant, but also dismissive of our Indigenous Illocano Tribalism and culture. 

IA: I’ve read some of your writing about how this settler-colonial system contributes to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Could you tell the readers more about the issue and the work you do in that regard?

MSG: There was initial visibility to the ongoing crisis of MMIW which has now expanded to MMIR—Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives across all genders including our two-spirit and trans relatives. When Khadijah Britton went missing in 2019, I reached out to my sister-friend Jessica Alva asking for her help. Fourteen months later we are visiting Jessica in SF General ICU. She was killed by her partner, and because he called it in as a suicide he was never charged. And a year after that my friend/relative Yogi was killed by his partner back on our Tribal lands in Pit River and that was shortly after the disappearance of Nick Patterson. It’s an ongoing systemic issue that dates back to the invasion of our Tribal lands, and the violent ways in which our lands were acquired through theft, that women and children were trafficked, and the continuation of that violence today. The advocacy is supporting families that are navigating this nightmare they are experiencing, and utilizing healing methods that are going to vary for each family member and community that experiences this. There have been small wins, but it’s not enough by far. We were able to advocate for a City/County resolution addressing the MMIW crisis in Jessica’s case, but statement movement is needed far beyond review committees and task forces. 

IA: President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Representative Deb Haaland to lead the Department of Interior, making her the first Indigenous person to hold the position. This could potentially be a game -changer for tribal nations in the U.S. What are your thoughts on her nomination and what it could mean for California’s Indigenous peoples?

MSG: I had the honor of Meeting Rep. Haaland two years ago during the Indigenous Peoples March in DC. She’s such a strong leader at this time that needs the visibility of Indigenous Women in office. There is so much that is needed to move forward in regards to Sacred Places protections. Back in 2016 during Standing Rock, I was a part of an ad-hoc group that was proposing a Sacred Sites Executive Order, but it did not gain much traction. I’m hearing that there is once again an organized effort for an EO now that Haaland is in office. Especially in CA, there have been decades-long struggles for protection of our sacred Medicine Lake Highlands, Rattlesnake Island, Shellmounds, and so many more places. This is a significant moment to advocate for further protections, along with so many issues that are unique to California Tribes and lands such as our water rights, traditional gathering, access within marine protected areas, and the complexities of non-federally recognized, terminated, and [federally-recognized tribes].

IA: As you know, four dams on the Klamath River are scheduled to be removed. You are on the advisory board of Save California Salmon. Could you tell me more about the organization, what the dam removals mean to you, and what you would like to see happen beyond the dam removals?

MSG: I’ve been working with Save CA Salmon over the past few years as a Tribal water organizer and as an advisory board member. Back home in Pit River, we haven’t had salmon in our river for close to 100 years now. So many people are upset with PG&E with the recent fires, but California Tribes have been battling it out with PG&E for over 50 years. I’ve heard many stories from our Tribal members during the Pit River Land Claims and of how PG&E was calling for our Tribal members to be arrested on the basis that they were trespassing on their ancestral lands.  

IA: The COVID-19 pandemic is still surging, with California second to Arizona in case numbers this week, according to the CDC. How has the pandemic affected the way you work? Have you come to any new or different realizations due to the pandemic?

MSG: Being home again with four children ages 7-17 is the major change. In a way it’s been a much-needed break, just in terms of getting back into a routine where I am co-teaching in the AM and spend the afternoons working. My 7-year-old has the most amount of coursework, up to 70 pages a week with three hours of zoom classes on top of online classwork. So that takes up 4-5 hours every day and I just can’t manage those 12-hour, day-long zoom meetings. I have learned to say no a lot more, and everything seems to take longer, but I just have to be okay with that. 

The changes in not feeling overcommitted to be in so many places—it’s a lot to navigate, but the reward is the amount of time I’ve had at home. Over the past 10 months I’ve had the time to revisit relationships with family members, and have spent a lot of time with my children hiking, swimming, and reflecting. It has been difficult to witness the loss of so many elders. Just this week was the funeral services of our 90-year old Grandma Doris (Wailaki), and that’s five elders that have passed on just in the past few weeks. It’s heartbreaking, and at the same time, it’s a reminder to be present, and that for all of us that are surviving this pandemic, that we have a shared responsibility to continue their work for all of our Tribal communities. 

IA: Would you like to add anything else?

MSG: Thank you for taking the time to work on this piece! 

For more information on some of the organizations mentioned above, visit:

RJIP:                           https://Indigenousjustice.org

Save CA Salmon:      https://www.californiasalmon.org/

IITC:                           https://www.iitc.org/

Fighting Invisible Enemies Book Review by Super Star Agni

The following book review originally appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of News from Native California.

In Fighting Invisible Enemies: Health and Medical Transitions Among Southern California Indians, professor and historian Clifford E. Trafzer (Wyandot) examines the gradual inclusion of Western medical practices with traditional Native medicine to combat the spread of settler-borne diseases among Indigenous communities of the Mission Indian Agency of Southern California during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

While writings on Southern California Indian medicine exist, few contain the amount of integrated Native and Western historical medical research as Fighting. In addition to noting the contributions of Native elders, leaders, and healers, such as Lorey Cachora (Quechan) and Pedro Chino (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians), Trafzer also chronicles the work of field nurses who served in the region between 1928 and 1948. In addition to providing medical treatment, much of the nurses’ work involved educating families on how to control the spread of diseases. Even as tribal members accepted Western medicine over time, however, use of traditional medicine continued. 

Fighting illustrates that while sickness was a reality for Southern California Indians before European contact, the introduction of Western diseases to the region post-contact marked a devastating flash point. During this time period, many families within the Mission Indian Agency died of infectious disease, including tuberculosis, pneumonia, and gastrointestinal disorders. Moreover, settlers eventually destroyed all the Indian economies of Southern California and prevented Indigenous peoples from accessing hunting and gathering grounds. 

“Various aspects of settler colonialism during the nineteenth century had rendered the indigenous population of Southern California vulnerable to starvation, new microorganisms, and the destructive policies of federal, state, and local officials,” Trafzer writes. 

Nearly 30 years in the making, Fighting was ultimately made possible by a grant awarded to Trafzer in 2016 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).  

“My NEH research grant gave me the time to spend a year focused exclusively on turning my research into a book manuscript…,” Trafzer said in a January 2020 NEH interview. “I am a professor and researcher, and have administrative duties as the Costo Chair of American Indian Affairs at the University of California, Riverside, all of which take me away from my project. NEH gave me time to finish a project I had started in the 1990s.” 

Through use of historical maps and photographs, death certificates and death registers found in the National Archives,  reports of Indian Service district medical officers, physicians, and field nurses as well as oral histories conducted with several Southern California Indians communities, Fighting does well to humanize clinical statistics and contextualize changes resulting from the incorporation of Western medicine. It also serves as a reminder in contemporary times of the importance of being in balance not only with nature, but also with one another. 

Deets and Geets Newsletter Mid-April 2021

Welcome to the Deets and Geets Newsletter: He Said, She Said for Mid-April 2021. Check out our quicktakes below on the pop culture happenings that piqued our interests so far this month, broken down by streaming service.

DISNEY+

Soul:

He said: I was hesitant to watch this movie given American animation’s history of racist imagery and because I’m not a huge fan of 3D animation.  That said, I did enjoy Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and realize there aren’t many leading characters of African descent in American animation. Having now seen Soul, I can say I enjoyed the film overall, but would not have finished it if LRK hadn’t watched it with me. Jamie Foxx does a great job in bringing the protagonist, Joe Gardner, to life and the “appreciate life while you can” theme is executed in good measure. I’m not crazy about the exaggerated features of the characters, but the animation and aesthetics of the movie’s universe are very creative. Good for child and adult animation fans.

She Said: I enjoyed this Pixar animation about a jazz musician who finally lands his dream gig, only to have a brush with death and have his soul clamor to get back into his body.  It definitely carries the Pixar touch with creative ways of symbolizing various emotions and philosophical outlooks. Also cool that Pixar made a proper effort to do justice to its first film with an African American protagonist by closely involving consultants including Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, and Daveed Diggs.

HBO MAX

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

He said: The “Snyder Cut” you may have heard buzzing about the internet last month is the director’s cut of the 2017 Justice League theatrical release. Bigger and noticeably better than the original, we tackled the four-hour film in two nights. LRK usually falls asleep at least once during superhero movies, but this one held her attention, just not enough for her to comment for the newsletter (ha!). Good for Snyder fans (300, Watchmen, Wonder Woman) and those who like their heroes less whimsical. Those who didn’t like the 2017 iteration will most likely not be swayed, but those who did should find the Snyder cut better in storytelling, visuals, and combat.

She said nothing.

NETFLIX

Awaara:

He said: Good, classic ‘fifties Bollywood. Also known internationally as The Vagabond, Awara is a crime drama that features big production and spectacle in black and white. There is a heavy classism theme throughout the movie played to simplistic effect, I imagine, to show how hard it may be to escape the “fate” of your class. With a runtime of over three hours, viewers may need to decide their own interval point. Noir fans will definitely enjoy.

She said: A Raj Kapoor classic!  I must have seen it as a very young child, and it’s funny to watch it now as an adult who can actually understand it, and realize how totally inappropriate it is for children, but how much of a given it was that a family would watch such a film together.  The movie navigates crime, punishment, and cycles of poverty; and challenges a biological determinist view of human nature; as a pregnant woman is tragically wronged and impoverished by her own husband under Ramayan-throwback circumstances, and her predicament is blamed on the proverbial Raavan of the film. The villain of course has his ulterior motive to take tween Raj under his wing – but not before tween Raj meets a little girl Rita, whose photo will be the only thing adorning the walls of his tiny hut of Raj’s house, and who will grow up to be played by the iconic Nargis. The songs are catchy and plentiful, all the feels are there, and though the movie feels too long by today’s standards and has quite a bit of problematic to unpack, the “classic” tag is also (largely for those very reasons!) very well-deserved.

Concrete Cowboy:

He said: I have to be in the mood to deal with the struggle. As a Afro-Native person living in a predominately white suburb, I have to deal with mico- and macro-aggressions every time I step out of the house. Given that, I don’t want to revisit those feelings when trying to relax. LRK recommended we watch Concrete Cowboys and I agreed just because I heard “cowboys,” not knowing the film was about the urban cowboys that have existed in Philadelphia for over a century. I have to admit I was inspired more than depressed, partly because I grew up in the MidWest around horses and the like. Also, since the story is based on real people and some of the actors are portraying versions of themselves, I felt even more inspired. While the story arc is somewhat predictable, knowing it’s based on obscure history makes it shine a bit brighter. Worth an afternoon watch with some beans, bacon, and cornbread—that’s a good country meal for those who didn’t catch the reference.

She said: Idris Elba plays father to Caleb McLaughlin of Stranger Things fame in this Netflix drama about a young man coming of age through bonding with his father and his community of urban Philadelphia cowboys—in many ways, horses are to him what karate was to Daniel-san, but he also comes to understand them as representative of a culture and community that has gone from being excluded from historical narratives to being threatened by gentrification.  The movie is based on a novel called “Ghetto Cowboy” which is in turn based on the actual Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club. Some actual members of this riding community act in the movie as versions of themselves, which makes it more interesting. 

The Serpent:

He said: I’ve come to enjoy the episodic format of streaming shows because it gives stories time to breathe—I say that with The Serpent in mind because, yes, it could have been a movie, but there would have been many dropped scenes that ultimately help solidify this mostly true story, which takes place in several countries, over several decades. I say mostly true because the dialogue is imagined. Ajay seems to be the only character who didn’t benefit from the expanded runtime—it’s a fictionalized story, yet they couldn’t throw homeboy a backstory? Anyway, the cinematography and stylistic choices kept me emerged in the mid-70s / early-80s atmosphere and the actors seemed totally at home in their roles. Plus, knowing all of this happened (in essence) makes it that much more compelling. While not the crème de la crème of crime drama / biopic, it’s worth the watch for fans of the genre, though it loses some steam near the end of the series.

She said: I never knew about Charles Sobhraj before watching this eight-episode fictionalized series about this sociopathic Indo-Vietnamese French serial killer who hated hippies. Tahar Rahim does a fine job of sinking into this chilling character, and I was kept engaged throughout the series, which was largely told through the eyes of the real-life Dutch diplomat who persevered to get Charles caught. Although I understand the various constraints in being able to develop characters, I think they ripped off Ajay a bit and he deserved a better fleshing out of his back-story. Overall a good series, if a little dizzying in its non-linear storytelling, that will have you Googling your way into more truths.

Sound of Metal:

He said: Roller coaster of emotions with this one. The plot is simple: Riz Ahmed plays Ruben, a heavy-metal drummer who starts to lose his hearing. The movie is very effective at bringing the audience into the before- and aftertimes of Ruben’s hearing loss and how it affects his life as a musician and his relationship with girlfriend Lou played by Olivia Cooke. The movie is a definite slow burn, so those expecting high drama or rock performances throughout will be disappointed. Juxtapositions of rough and gentle, loud and quiet, rigid and soft are explored. While I won’t spoil the film, I will say that Riz Ahmed is cast as yet another knucklehead—in all the films I’ve seen him, his characters put themselves in precarious positions and then proceed to double down on bonehead behavior. This includes his roles in Girls and Star Wars!

She said: Riz Ahmed really has a knack for bringing a sympathetic and endearing angle to dudes with self-destructive tendencies and fundamentally shitty outlooks on life.  The acting and writing were solid in this drama about a drummer going through hearing loss, and it was interesting to see the different mindsets and approaches that can be taken under such circumstances.

The Stranger:

He said: Interesting episodic British crime drama. A few good twists, though, the protagonists aren’t exactly likable in the sense that they all have skeletons in their closets and proceed to lie about them until they can’t anymore. I recommend watching at least two episodes to get the essence of the show. The mystery of it all is intriguing and good timepass, but nothing game-changing.

She said: “Ghost” from Marvel Ant-Man fame plays the mysterious “Stranger” who delivers disheartening and sometimes threatening messages to people in this eight-part British drama on Netflix. The show kept me interested in trying to guess what secrets people in this town are keeping and how they are all connected to each other and to this Stranger.

YouTube and Netflix (respectively)

Vir Das Comedy (Ten-on-Ten and Inside Out: A lockdown crowd-work special)

He said: Bottom line is Vir Das is funny. I had seen his stand-up before and thought he was okay, but I had some good chucks with LRK watching these two features. I enjoyed the lockdown special the most out of the two because Das has good comedic timing, allowing him to riff with participants. Ten-on-Ten is only on episode four at the time of this writing, so I’ll reserve judgement until watching the entire series.

She said: I’m kind of wary of cool Indian dude comics, especially after that hideous AIB Roast from a few years ago—but I did enjoy Vir Das’s performances in Delhi Belly and especially in Go Goa Gone, though (lololz)—so I was down to check out Vir’s stand-up upon Super Star Agni’s suggestion. Outside In is Vir Das’s pandemic special on Netflix, where he exchanges banter with his audience over a video call.  I was really impressed with Vir’s ease of making funny conversation on the spot and engaging all his audience. Ten on Ten is apparently still ongoing, comprised of ten separate sets about ten different issues.  I haven’t found any to be profoundly hilarious or anything, but each set is brief and certainly entertaining enough to watch with some chai and brownie.

Deets and Geets Newsletter March 2021

Welcome to the Deets and Geets Newsletter: He Said, She Said for March 2021. Check out our quicktakes below on the pop culture happenings that piqued our interests so far this month, all broken down by streaming service.

APPLE TV+

The Servant

He said: Intriguing first and second seasons with some creepy scenes peppered throughout. Series seems to be winding down—this is not necessarily a bad thing. The show is called The Servant, so figuring out who Leanne is and who exactly she serves is part of the show’s mystique. Once that mystery is solved, however, the show should probably wrap up. That said, I’m looking forward to seeing the coming (cult?) war foreshadowed in the last scene.

She said: I found Season 2 quite underwhelming for a Shyamalan production.  I was expecting some game-changing twist or shocking revelation, but I didn’t see anything that was divergent or unexpected from the groundwork laid in Season 1.  It is described as “psychological horror,” but it turned out to be more of a psychological bore.  I will skip Season 3 if it happens.

DISNEY+

Falcon and the Winter Soldier

He said: We weren’t expecting Disney+’s latest Marvel outing to be more than wall-to-wall action, but the first episode has a good action/drama ratio and sets up a deeper dive into the  titular characters’ lives.  We’re looking forward to next week’s episode and the imminent introduction of Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter aka Agent Peggy Carter’s niece. If you don’t know who any of these people are, get caught up.

She said: Action is not really my genre, and elaborate fighting scenes with different types of flying vehicles, gunfire, fancy stunts, and machines I don’t know names of really bore me. So when Super Star Agni first told me about this show and I knew that both of these characters are closely linked with Captain America, I surmised that I would probably catch some z’s during the first episode and then opt out of the rest.  But aside from that one fancy violent scene, I really enjoyed it!  It’s interesting to see the characters having to lead ordinary lives in the present, with Sam applying for a bank loan with his sister, and Bucky asking someone out on a date.  Obviously, there will be more action-y stuff brought up from their pasts and moving forward as a new Captain America is on the horizon, but there is enough human connection in there to keep me interested.

WandaVision

He said: Marvel expands its fandom tent with this entry. Unique way to draw upon the Wanda / Vision connection from Age of Ultron and Infinity War, and to reveal Wanda’s backstory. Recommended for sitcom fans as well as fans of superhero fare. Wondering if this will lead into a villainous side of Wanda *dun dun dunnnn*

She said: “What is grief if not love persevering?” Oof! WandaVision has Marvel-ously accomplished so many things at once: Meme gold, an interesting plot, an homage to American television over the decades, and an expansion of the characters and plotlines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

HBO MAX

Allen V. Farrow

He said: Good look into the accusation of sexual abuse against Woody Allen involving his then 7-year-old daughter. Definitely biased against Allen, but the case made against him is compelling. I was never a Woody Allen fan and haven’t seen any of his films all the way through, so being made aware of his pattern of filmmaking—older male mentor figure paired with an eager, impressionable young female—was revealing and a bit off-putting even outside of the Farrow v. Allen case. That said, I think a two-part series would have done as well to make the case.

She said: This four-part documentary about Dylan Farrow’s allegation that her step-father Woody Allen molested her when she was seven years old—and Woody’s aggressive campaign to undermine that allegation by insisting that this whole thing was a story hatched by Dylan’s mother Mia because Mia was jealous that Woody was sleeping with Mia’s other adopted daughter Soon-Yi—is obviously made with belief in Dylan Farrow, and compassion for Mia Farrow. Yes, the facts are presented selectively, but regardless of how many additional facts were left out though, one thing is clear: Woody Allen is disgusting!  OK, I thought so before watching this documentary too, based on creepy comments he has made in interviews, the pervy gaze that comes through on and from behind the screen in his films, and the fact that he slept with the barely-legal stepdaughter of his long-time girlfriend. Still!

The documentary introduces us to the actual text of reports and interviews with family, friends, and people who worked at different levels of the investigation.  Contrary to the public spin which made her out to be some impressionable child with a fantastical story, the texts and interviewed officials confirm that Dylan has been incredibly consistent with the core facts, and indeed showed signs of having been sexually abused. Also, it’s evident that Woody Allen has the type of access and connections in American society and particularly in elite East Coast circles which would basically guarantee his impunity in the (undeniable) event that he did commit a crime.  

I happen to have a pretty low opinion of Woody, just in case that wasn’t obvious.  But, I get that some people love his cinema and his brand, and have a hard time reconciling their fandom with believing that he could be a predator.  They would rather believe that Mia is the crazy b that coached Dylan into inventing this whole thing.  But many truths can coexist, and we need not buy into this weird absolutist phenomenon of having to embrace or reject public figures and everything associated with them, wholesale.  Mia could have been a weirdly controlling and abusive parent, as Moses Farrow, another stepson of hers and Woody’s, has alleged.  Mia could have been jealous of Woody and Soon-Yi.  Woody could be a witty writer and director.  Woody’s cinema could be culturally iconic.  Woody could have truly cared about his adopted children—including Dylan.  Brains are complicated and sometimes deranged and so is patriarchy, and none of these aforementioned possibilities undermine Dylan’s truth.

NETFLIX

Bombay Begums

He said nothing.

She said: Firstly, it is wonderful to see Queen Pooja Bhatt back on screen! She embodies all of the strength, elegance, and confluence of buoyancy and gravitas that one would expect from the woman who lit up the screen decades ago in films ranging from Sadak to Prem Deewane.  

As of this writing, I have just started Episode 5 of Bombay Begums, so I basically still have two more episodes to go.  I won’t give my overall thoughts yet, but my one tip is to watch at least two episodes, if you are on the fence after finishing the first.  I didn’t think the set-up in that first episode did the future ones justice; it leaned in too hard on the girl-boss vibe, and I found the canned liberal feminist precocious tween voice-overs a bit off-putting.  As you keep watching though, the show pulls you in with the complex drama in the lives of these five women, sensitively portrayed by Pooja Bhatt, Shahana Goswami, Amrutha Subhash, Plabita Borthakur, and Aadhya Anand.  They are all constantly having to negotiate with their own bodies, their loved ones, and external pressures—and, they all wield their own hurtful and opportunistic behavior at times.  There are moments of tenderness and levity too; it’s not all misery! 

Series creator Alankrita Shrivastava had also worked on Made In Heaven—if you liked MIH, there is something for you here as well.  Instead of Delhi’s elite though, you get five women from different walks of life converging in Bombay: the aforementioned defiant tween; her resolute CEO step-mom; a small-town twenty-something exploring her newfound freedom only to be shut down by Bombay-style slut-shaming (and worse); a bar dancer-turned-sex worker trying with dreams of starting a factory; and a rising executive conflicted over how much of “it all” she wants to take on.  Pour yourself a steaming cup of chai in a white porcelain mug and give it a watch!

The Umbrella Academy

He said: What I initially thought would be a derivative superhero show turned out to be a fun ride for two seasons so far, even though the time travel / apocalypse tropes are used for both season. I’ve never read the comic book  the show is based on, so I can’t say if they nailed the source material, but the episodic nature of the storytelling works well. It’s more of a show about family and relationships than wearing masks and fighting crime, which I think many shows are doing these days to shake up the superhero genre. Not as violent as Amazon Prime’s The Boys, it dispenses the same gritty humor at times. Looking forward to season three, but I hope time travel and apocalypses aren’t the overarching themes.

She said: Superheroes, time travel, well-choreographed sibling brawls, and a smashing soundtrack – what a fun ride!  Waiting eagerly for Season 3, and especially curious about Vanya Hargreeves on account of Elliot Page’s personal developments; and Ben on account of what we saw at the end of Season 2!

COPS Show Canceled—Opinion by Super Star Agni

As an 80s kid, Inner Circle’s “Bad Boys” got me pumped for the high-speed chases, kicked-in doors, and perp tackles that was “Cops.” I was ambivalent about actual police, but the energy of the show was undeniable.

I stopped watching after a few seasons. Could have been the sad cycle of perp choices, the culture of punishment, the schadenfreude—not sure.

Now “Cops” is canceled after 32 seasons. Outrage over police brutality sparked by the recent killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor pressured the Paramount Network to axe the show. A&E’s “Live PD,” the spiritual successor to Cops, has also been canceled amid nationwide protests against police brutality and the filmed death of Javier Ambler, who died in police custody after being handcuffed and repeatedly tased even though he did not assault or threaten deputies, according to a death-in-custody report filed with the Texas attorney general’s office.

Offscreen cops might be canceled as well. Some people want to disband police forces all together. Others want to reallocate funds to services and programs that will help marginalized communities, or route some 911 calls to social workers and paramedics instead of involving police, or have officers issue citations for minor infractions instead of defaulting to arrests. The first solution seems precarious, though, not impossible. The others could be effective with the right funding and training. Another proposed solution is to nationalize policing standards, but with over 18,000 police departments in the United States, a one-size-fits-all approach may not be ideal.

Whatever the solution, a social paradigm shift must also occur. The way people of color have been historically treated in this country is evidence enough. Born out of vigilante slave patrols in the South, which gave way to the Jim Crow laws of late 19th and early 20th centuries, policing was only about protecting and serving the social construct of whiteness. That type of culture rarely dismantles itself.

While I’ve never been brutalized by the police, I have been seen as the proverbial “bad boy” for simply existing. For example, I walked into an Oakland convenience store several years back to ask for directions and, upon seeing me at the counter, a police officer asked the store clerk “Was it a brown-skinned man with curly red hair, wearing a black t-shirt?” The clerk looked at me and then scowled in confusion at the cop, “No, it wasn’t him.”  It took a moment to realize what had happened, but my life could have taken a drastic downturn in that moment for no good reason, especially if whatever crime occurred was violent.

Cancelling shows such as “Cops” and “Live PD” may seem like insignificant network maneuvers that won’t reverse generations of problematic imagery and storytelling, but the only way to avoid death by 1000 cuts is to stop the cutting. These shows promote reality, but are basically televised police dramas with editors, producers, and protagonists with veto power.

With the advent of smart phones and social media, however, the public has been given a more brutal version of “Cops.” Hopefully, this version doesn’t take 32 years to get canceled.

Review: Shifting Grounds

The following review was featured in the Fall 2019 issue of News from Native California:

The 19th Century is thought of as the golden age of American landscape painting. Moving beyond mere artful documentation of place and setting, landscape art became an idea, a propaganda of sorts that spurred settlers West. But, as with many aspects of American history, the settler-colonial perspective rarely paints a full picture. In Shifting Grounds: Landscape in Contemporary Native American Art,  art historian Kate Morris illuminates how Indigenous artists are expanding and re-conceptualizing the subdiscipline to evoke a more “embedded subjectivity” as an alternative to  the popularized distant, single-point perspective.

Morris, a professor of art history and the associate dean of arts and sciences at Santa Clara University, explores the view of contemporary Indigenous art as “a vehicle for the expression of place-based knowledge.” This translates into both written and visual discourses of the various physical and creative approaches used by featured Indigenous artists to subvert mainstream expectations of what landscape imagery should be.

Visually, the book has a sleek, yet vibrant layout, which is apt in that books about art should be designed with an artful awareness. The first three chapters discuss painting as a medium and feature the paintings of Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) and Jay Lavadour (Walla Walla). The remaining two chapters cover the expanding world of landscape representation through installations (site-specific works usually designed to alter the perception of a space), video, and performance art. Featured works in these mediums include the installations of Alan Michaelson (Mohawk), James Luna (Luiseño), and Kent Monkman (Fish River Band Cree) as well as the mixed media sculpture and performance art of Rebecca Belmore (Anishinaabe).

All of the works displayed explore themes of representation, generational trauma, and resilience, but none feel static in any sense of the word. Even in the more abstract pieces, there is perpetual movement, as if all involved—artist, landscape, and viewer—are in a constant, connected state of transition.  A great example can be found in the Luna’s Creation and Destruction of an Indian Reservation: An American Dilemma (1990) in which Luna dramatizes over the course of four acts the various stages of reservation system development. Not only does the piece serve to highlight the historical division and fencing off of reservation land to the detriment of Indigenous peoples, but it also conveys “anti-invitational aspects.” Morris writes in Chapter Four, Centering, “The presence of the fencing in Luna’s installation contradicts the official language of the highway sign behind it that reads ‘Entering  La Jolla Reservation.’”

Morris’ language is accessible, yet academic, which, depending upon reader proclivities, may enhance or be a barrier to engagement. Given the in-depth analysis of complex and layered works, however, the style choice seems justified. For example, Morris’ discussion of Lavador’s 2013 piece Tiicham, a 102 x 152 inch rectangle comprised of 15 panels, not only provides general art criticism, but also draws from several expert sources to consider Native and non-native views before providing her own analysis.

Covering works created within the last thirty years by Indigenous artists of North America, Shifting Grounds provides a more inclusive perspective into what landscape art was, is, and does.