- Oct 2024
-
moodle.concordia.ca moodle.concordia.ca
-
But now we do Now we do know We know Some of us knewWe know nowWe All Know We Knew.
I like the use of capitalization in this sentence. There is no need for periods when a capital says enough. So why not put periods in between? I think the point is to keep it as a long running sentence, as something white people, mainly the government, say to themselves over and over to ease themselves. Here are my final thoughts on the text (I'm including it in this annotation as there is no other place): I learned more about Truth and Reconciliation, about the TRC (which I didn't know existed before I read this), and learned more in depth about the actions the government took against the Indigenous peoples. It was also a good read because I was given more examples of how to evoke emotion through writing, how to make the audience picture something in their mind, and how to create and almost visceral like reaction. It was also a good reminder for me that creative writing can break formal, academic rules. No periods, weird capitalization, and so on and so forth.
-
We didn’t know this land wasn’t ours for the taking
If they didn't know, why are they fighting so hard to keep this country a colonial state?
-
Whiteness could relaxagain.
highlight
-
One year later, itwas almost back to business as usual.
Reminds me of 2020, when everyone was talking about Black Lives Matter and then suddenly it went radio silent. This is a privilege. You cannot do this if you are black, you cannot ignore the injustices you face 365 days a year.
-
Diversity works only for whiteness, forthose who are happy to benevolently oversee and controldiversity in all its frivolous forms, but who will immediatelyenforce the power of their laws the moment difference seeksactual power.
highlight
-
but criticality is actuallythe moment when we begin to be a little more honest withourselves and each other.
highlight
-
Complexities do not need another simplifiedbreakdown.
Very prevalent now when discussing Palestine and Israel.
-
Theysee “identity-based” anything and simply applaud and rejoice.
It's as if they don't actually care to critique the work because they assume being Indigenous, they are not allowed to. They are humans too, and critiquing their work would help them be seen as just as human.
-
When tears started falling down his face,the other artist from the exhibition was the only person to getup and put her arms around him. The gallery staff, as well asall the audience members, sat there looking increasingly un-comfortable as we gazed down at the space between our feet.
White guilt.
-
I would and could neverfully understand the specificity of pain caused by residentialschools and the damage done to those who were taken andthose who were left behind.
I think this is something worth repeating. Any of us who have not been to residential schools may try to understand as best we can, educate ourselves, and read survivor's stories, but we will never truly relate to or completely understand the trauma that came with being there.
-
The publicityshot looked like a movie poster for a new horror film, and thatwas likely the point.
highlight
-
a green-facedchild more ghoul than girl leered forward, elbows out, readyto pounce from behind her small wooden desk.
I can also picture this so clearly in my mind. Excellent writing.
-
cracker crumbs spitting out of their open mouths andsticky fingers reaching for another piece of fruit or cheese.
This passage is one of my favourites, I can almost feel the cracker crumbs and the sticky fingers.
-
didn’t know much about the historyof this country at all.
This feels particularly prevalent as I am writing this on Truth and Reconciliation day. Truth is the first step.
-
intergenerational trauma
highlight
-
I don’t remember what happened next.Hours ticked by. A stream of voices spoke.
I also appreciate this prose, in which short sentences are used to make us feel like there is a beat being taken between each sentence.
-
From the West End, I had taken two buses, the 19 and thenthe 16, east toward the Pacific National Exhibition grounds,where the summer fair happened every year.
I like this style of writing, in which you feel you are there with the writer, taking the same bus as them.
-
He is simplya savage who can read and write.
Even though this was written in 1883, this is still how a lot of people view the Indigenous population. Extremely sad.
-
the willful ignorance of colonial traumaagainst Indigenous Nations and peoples remains an ongoingviolence perpetuated by settler immigrants.
Based on this line, I assumed this was written much longer ago than it actually was.
-
I am wary of performing pain fora hungry yet apathetic market.
highlight
-
thecapitalization of trauma by and for whiteness that we as audi-ences are currently expected to applaud.
highlight
-
have always had to choosebetween naming myself within the silo of diversity or havingthe privilege of s(l)iding into whiteness as default.
An interesting perspective I hadn't thought of before, as I am white and never had to deal with "choosing a side".
-
has been more of a letting go and areturning to thought patterns and language formations that Ihave suppressed long ago.
highlight
-
There is a sentiment that thepast is the past and people just need to move on from it, butthis opinion is always heard from the most ensconced positionof comfort and power.
Also reminds me of how some people stick so stubbornly to "tradition! rah it's my tradition it doesn't matter!", yet we should be careful to not continue to use outdated traditions that harm others.
-
a pain that settlers have long been desensitized to and candigest with their morning tea.
highlight
-
restorative healing
highlight
-
Modelled after SouthAfrica’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
I didn't know this!
-
Truth and Reconciliation Commission wasn’t and isn’t for anynon-Indigenous person to banter about as their ill-informednebulous opinion.
highlight
-
nonentity devoid ofspecificity and nuance.
This feels relevant in today's day and age, specifically when talking about Palestine or Truth and Reconciliation. People will wear orange shirts without actually thinking about the real truth, or go to Pro-Palestinian protests without understanding the complexity of the situation.
-
especially if it meant theycould hold some unnamed power over one another.
This seems like a common theme - being "woke" but not explaining it to others as a way to feel better about yourself (you know it, they don't) when really we should be sharing in the name of progress.
-
a mix of snobberyclouded with crippling self-consciousness
highlight
-
until it professionally suited you to believe andbehave in the complete opposite manner.
This is reminding me of the school's reaction to the protest yesterday and the message the dean sent to the students. They are upset because property was destroyed, yet they are funding Israel, who has destroyed far more property, and killed hundreds of thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese citizens.
-