There is something isolating about Columbus Day, particularly for Native American people. Today is a day where I feel personally conflicted: where to be myself makes me an outsider.
Filed under: Identity Politics, On a personal note... | Tagged: Columbus Day, Native American Day | 1 Comment »
It’s hard to believe that a year ago this month I was making my way to The Journalism School at Columbia. And now that the next class is already starting their journey, some of my journalism work is also coming full circle. I have just found out that “Winning for Native America” is going to be featured on Indian Country Today’s website. I’m excited and grateful for this opportunity; I hope that it will allow more people to check out the story, and hopefully be inspired by it.
Filed under: Identity Politics, Muses & Reflections, Reporting NYC | Tagged: Columbia Journalism School, golfer notah begay, joba chamberlain, naomi lang, new york yankees, olympic ice dancer | Leave a Comment »
Jacoby calls talking about race picking scabs. What he wants is to accept a band-aid on racism without healing the wound. Anti-racism work does mean exposing wounds, removing the band-aids and finding methods of better medicine. Only with this exposure can progress be made, if left ignored, the wound will only leave a deeper scar.
Filed under: Identity Politics, Muses & Reflections | Tagged: American dream, Crossroads Anti-Racism Organizing and Training, Eric Holder, Native Americans, racism, uranium poisoning | 9 Comments »
And so, this year I wondered, as I did last year, how many people in attendance really heard the message? How many took it home with them? How many thought about it as they sat around their Thanksgiving tables, and how many just went on with their lives telling the fallacious tale of peaceful Indians and pilgrims?
Filed under: Identity Politics | Tagged: Alcatraz, Alcatraz Island, American Indian Movement, indigenous people, Sunrise Ceremony, Thanksgiving, the real Thanksgiving story | 1 Comment »
From business hours to vacation time, the balance between free time and finance time is on a whole different scale in Italy. This difference was central in my realization that my very attitude towards work and August’s slow pace is fundamental to understanding my American identity.
Filed under: Identity Politics | Tagged: American identity, August in Italy, Chiara Sottile, Ferragosto, GDP, global domestic product, Italy's financial system, the United States, the Virgin Mary, work hours | 1 Comment »
Berlusconi’s government is calling the infrastructure revival fund the “Marshall Plan of the South,” even though Sicily is a region of Italy, just as is the region of Lazio, where Rome is located. The comparison to the Marshall Plan implies that Berlusconi considers giving funds to Sicily as equivalent to the United States giving funds to Western Europe–that is, foreign countries located oceans away. The three miles of sea that separate mainland Italy from Sicily seem a shorter distance than the miles of political and attitudinal estrangement shown to Sicily in this plan and on a regular basis.
Filed under: Identity Politics, Watchdogs & Transparency | Tagged: Chiara Sottile, Marshall Plan for the Italian South, ostracizing Sicily, quality of life, Sicily, Strait of Messina bridge | 5 Comments »
Having triviliazed Italian culture by choosing these particular conversational topics as most important to understanding the way of the Italian–and a special section on how to gesticulate like an Italian–it begs the question how carefully Guardian editors considered they risked making stereotypical caricatures of the Italian people.
Filed under: Identity Politics | Tagged: "Italian handbook", Chiara Sottile, cultural divide, English, Italian, Italian culture, Italian language | 2 Comments »
Even in our globalized world–in which professionals hold video conferences across hemispheres on a daily basis, and we buy products manufactured oceans away without batting an eye–it always strikes me how curious people who originate from different countries are about each other. An industrialized western country, Italy is not exactly worlds away from that to [...]
Filed under: Identity Politics | Tagged: American recession, Americans, Chiara Sottile, foreigners, identity, Italians | 4 Comments »
