On the Specter of Whiteness

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Somebody, Anybody, Everybody Scream

Marx had it right with his image of ideology as a camera obscura, a mirror that presents things upside down. 

The Specter of Whiteness 

Now that I'm not reading magazines, newspapers, listening to opinionating, watching it, and so on, hardly at all, I feel fresh and open and so was genuinely hurt and disturbed and angered by a piece Jamelle Bouie just brought to my attention in the Atlantic today--definitely never reading them again. 

It was about the response to the State of the Union address. The person who made the response (Slotkin) had decided to draw a line between "normal" (and therefore implicitly "abnormal") opposition thought and practice. To disavow the spectacular politics in the name of kitchen sink issues. 

It hit me so hard that THIS is the spectacular politics. THIS is the mirror world where "normal" "kitchen sink" "regular" issues and people equates to pure, deaf, blind, stupid whiteness. That appealing to this mythical whiteness in the name of not sounding "weird" (yes she used the word) or extreme was the spectacle. This image of a non-image, of a transparent being somehow hallucinated, conjured into existence by the knowing, cynical prose and the "no-nonsense" rhetoric. 

I got angry with Steve Schmidt, Republican operative turned Trump hater. He's great when he's hating on Trump. He's terrible when he's supporting this spectacular myth of the white specter of normal. Just terrible. He berated Al Green for standing up at the State of the Union, definitely the best thing about it. 

My attitude is like Tim Snyder's: at this point, whatever floats your boat, whatever makes you feel connected and warm and engaged and hopeful and awake and active and activist is good. All of it. Wear a pink blazer. Shout. Talk calmly. Anything. Somebody, anybody, everybody scream. 

This is FAR different from saying that the "center is evil" along with the boring old Trotskyists. You're going to read it and think that, aren't you, another way of deflecting from what's going on, another kind of mirror world. Ideology is a mirror world. 

Slotkin did nothing but create a terribly diluted specter of a white working class man, and talk to that specter. THIS is what is wrong. 

Timothy Snyder Real State of the Union (watch)

I'm in an Essay about Butoh

 Paul Miller (DJ Spooky) very kindly shared this essay with me, which uses some of my ideas. It's about Butoh, very close to my heart. My idea for the Hyperobjects cover was a  Butoh dancer--a reaction shot, if you will. I've written about Butoh in a number of places. 

Sankai Juku

The Phantom of the Present (me and Rupert Sheldrake, video)

 ...at the IAI festival, How the Light Gets In, last September. 

Watch This. NOW (and beat the State of the Nation address by the "president")

 State of the People, a 24-hour marathon: 

a 24-hour livestream featuring leading Black activists, journalists, and elected officials, will take place from March 3rd at 11:59 PM ET to March 4th at 11:59 PM ET. Organized in response to the State of the Union, the event aims to offer a perspective on the country’s current challenges and the impact of recent policies on communities of color.

The livestream will feature a wide range of speakers, including Joy Reid, Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. James E. Clyburn, Ibram X. Kendi, Ben Crump, Don Lemon, Angela Rye, and Tamika D. Mallory, among others. Discussions will cover issues such as economic equity, civil rights, and the social and political landscape.

Organizers say the event was created to provide a more direct conversation about the country’s condition, focusing on policies affecting marginalized communities. The State of the People is being held in partnership with Native Land Podcast and will include input from legal scholars, journalists, and advocates who will discuss both challenges and potential solutions. (source)

Patreon Podcast on English as "Official Language"

 Didn't take long did it? 

English Is Not a Language

 I was waiting for the current "administration" to make English the "official language" of the USA. 

This was the idiot idea of an idiot white taxi driver in New York City circa 1994. I have been dreading since he told me the day when someone institutes the policies he barked at me in that car from the Village to Penn Station. That day has come. 

In the UK, English is not the official language. There IS NO official language. 

Furthermore...

English is not a language AT ALL. 

It can't be official anything. 

Don't argue with me about this. I'm the author of fifty one books in translation into twenty languages. Real ones. 

I'll make a podcast. 

Resurgence

 I must say, I'm hugely enjoying the resurgence of interest in this blog. 

When I started, I began to get about 2000 hits a day during the heady OOO blogging years. 

Things have waxed and waned since, with a massive spike when it was announced that I had written a book with Bjork. 

Things got a bit slim in the later 2010s. I was rushing around and curating things and writing an opera and it was really hard to keep up with regular life, let alone blogging. It's my fault. 

Then Hell started to happen and I must say, the blog has NEVER been as healthy as this. It's a plump luscious thing. Love it. Massive amounts of interest in Hell. I posted some stats recently so I won't bother with that just now. But truly, 7000 hits a day is a LOT. That's more than three times the heady times.