MeerderWörter’s Comments (group member since Aug 15, 2018)

MeerderWörter’s comments from the Our Marginalized Relations group.

That is awesome Emma!!!

One of my favourite songs by her is Up Where We Belong, because it feels so personal. And then all her love songs are really great!!!

Hello all!

I assume that most of you have read at least part of the book by now, so I wonder what you think of it:)

The first chapters go into Buffy's childhood and how she grew up in Maine. She shares some heavy stuff in there, but I think we also get to see already that she is special in a way.

How did you feel reading those chapters?
I personally must say that the foreword and the prologue really hit me, because it shows what a great person Buffy is.
But the first chapters also tell us of dark times, when Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their community and adopted out to white parents. Most prominent is probably the 60s scoop, which took place in the 60s, but even what is going on today, some people, like apihtawikosisan Chelsea Vowel, call it the millennial scoop. So we see, an issue that has been going on for decades, no centuries, is still ongoing.

What are your thoughts on the first chapters that are on Buffy's childhood?

Neha wrote: "Hi, i am Neha from India. I am a masters student and UPSC aspirant. i aim to join the Indian administrative service and work at grassroot level. i have joined this group to broaden my understanding..."

Welcome!

Thank you for saying this, Pam!

I think you can definitely see similarities - but then there are 400 years of time between them. In the time where Pocahontas lived, there wasn't even a single treaty made yet, and today there are hundreds of them - and all of them broken.

The similarities that come to my mind are that both of them are not treated the way they should be - as women and as Indigenous women at that. I wonder what the rest of the group says, do you see any similarities?

Pam wrote: "After reading 1/2 of it Robert, I really think this is a book you'll want to own. Just superb so far.

I don't know it's time has just healed a lot of things, but I love her upbeat and relaxed look..."

She really is a powerhouse, that is for sure! I am very glad to have a copy of it, I don't think I'll ever give it away!!!

Exactly, what is "normal" totally depends on the single person...

Hello my dears!!!

I am so sorry that I was so inactive around here in the last months really, I have to say. University was having me in its fangs.

So, this time I chose a book from somebody who is really a star, who has left her mark on songwriting and activism forever, yet not that many people know about her achievements. Like getting the directors to cast all Native roles with Native actors in a movie in like the 60s... getting an Academy Award, and being the only Indigenous person to ever have achieved that. Using the word "genocide" for the very first time in a song that was recorded and released in the US. She's been in Sesame Street and all over the place - US, Canada, Australia, Northern Europe...

Buffy Sainte-Marie truly is a girl of the 60s and 70s, where caffeine was the drug and critical thinking was not just tolerated but sort of expected.

But not only does the book shed light on her successes and in what she excelled in, but her difficult upbringing and all the struggles she faced...

"I think she's a superwoman," Elaine Bomberry says. "She's really led the way to give so many Indigenous musicians - male, female, young, and old - so much hope and so much aspirations to get into the music industry. She's our shining light; she's the one that everyone wants to be like. She's the one that opened all those doors and all those gates. She's beaten down all those bushes to make that trail for all of us behind so we can say, 'Wow, we can do this. We're on this road together.'"

"Kreisberg says it's not just about what Sainte-Marie inspires, but also what she models and what she has created for everyone. 'It's not just Native musicians or female Aboriginal singers, but every one of us artists, that are thriving. There are many who paved the way, but Buffy actually built the fucking road." And she's still building it."

There are many wonderful quotes in this book, and I really didn't have an easy choice which one to choose (I was close to taking the one about the Lakota woman in full regalia - you'll see why...) - I hope you all will enjoy reading the book as much as I did and do!

I look forward to hearing from you all!

That is definitely there, Emma. But then also it really depends on what is "normal". And that, I would say, is dependent on the group of people you are amongst.

Christine wrote: "Hi, I just joined the group looking for more people to share ideas and perspectives on what is normal. I am particularly interested in how government policies discriminate against the marginalized ..."

Hello and welcome!
The next book might be just the right one for you!

Hello!

So, it is time to announce the next book!

First, I have to say I need to apologize for not having kept up with the book club here, but university got in the way. I will try to invest more time again, especially come July.

I am also sorry to hear that the book was hard to get for some, I hope this one is more easily available:

Normal People by Sally Rooney

is a book taking place in contemporary Ireland, in Dublin. It is a fiction novel which takes a look at a range of difficult experiences: classism, emotional abuse, suicide and suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, domestic abuse, casual racism and drug use.

It seems to be quite the controversial book as in that some people are really upset with it and other people really enjoy it, but I take it to be the writing style and not the topics itself.

Right now I listen to the audiobook and I really like it so far!
I hope we can get some discussions started this time!

Yours,
Meerder xx'xx

Pam wrote: "No luck here. How about anyone else?"

I'm sorry you couldn't get the book - I hope the next book will be easier available.

Emma wrote: "I finally got around to reading this book! I wish I hadn't put if off for so long, because it was SO GOOD! Thanks for the reccomendation :)"

You're welcome! Wouldn't we all want to have more reading time?

Has anyone so far got the book? Maybe even started reading it? What are your first thoughts?

Emma wrote: "Can't wait until I can get my hands on a copy and start reading!"

You guys in the US will get it a lot quicker than me, because my copy took 4 weeks and came out of the US...

Hello!

It was difficult for me this time to choose a book. For one, because I wanted a book from a place that isn't North America or the Great Britain... and it gets much more difficult to find a book that is also translated into English from those places.
And secondly, because I also wanted a new theme. I don't how good I succeeded at that one, that is up to you to see and judge.

For the next two months, I chose My Father's Notebook by Kader Abdolah. I think that Iran gets quite misportrayed in Western media, also, but not solely due to the fact that whenever we hear something out of this country it is because of riots and protests. I haven't read a book from Kader Abdolah yet, but I look forward to finish this book with all of you together. From how far into it I have read so far, I believe this book can teach everyone of us, for whom Iran is a country they know hardly anything about, a great deal - especially history.

Kader Abdolah has fled Iran and now lives in the Netherlands, this is also where he has written this book, and where it was published first - in Dutch.

To enlightening reading!
Meerder

Quotes are great, and I think this book has many great quotes...

What are yours?

There is a German TV series called "Sehen statt hören" "Seeing instead of hearing" and it portrays Deaf culture in all its forms. It portrays sports people, parties, students in dormitories...

A portrayal of the diversity and also the many different situations Deaf people are in. I really like it a lot. I used to watch it a lot when I was younger.

How much do you know about Deaf/deaf culture?
Do you know the difference between Deaf and deaf?

Is there anything you can relate to in the book about Deafness?

Pam wrote: "Yeah. Its a really good idea to learn how to say your name, where is the bathroom, things critical to emergencies.

Where does it hurt?
Is there anyone with you?
Who are your parents/ family?

An..."

True. The only thing I know right now is the Sign for "I ask"