.Being.Us

Today, November 27, is 2020's Native American Heritage Day, a holiday worth celebrating and broadcasting.  What is Native American Heritage Day? When President Barack Obama signed this holiday into being in 2009, he said, "“I encourage every American to join me in observing Native American Heritage Day ... It is also important for all of us to understand the rich culture, tradition, and history of Native Americans and their status today, and to appreciate the contributions that First Americans have made and will continue to make to our Nation.”[Source: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/597.html ] How can we honor or celebrate this day? Buy Native, Read Native, Listen Native, View Native! There are many Native bloggers, authors, artists, and entrepreneurs who you can check out and feature in your work on this day and throughout the year.  Here is a link ( http://www.nativeninetypercent.com/native-authored-blogs.html ) to some Native-authored blogs and podcasts....

Since I moved to the city and lost my in-person ties to the culture that was a part of my childhood, I've been grappling with my identity and place in the world and my community as a person who is both Native (Cherokee and Apache) and White. Native American Heritage Day seemed like an appropriate time to open up about that struggle. Here's a poem I've been sitting on that I'm still not 100% sure I want to be sharing, honestly, but here goes.   I am Native, I am White As much as I am Native I am also White And I cannot deny That White blood Flows in my veins As much as Cherokee As much as Apache. As much as I was raised with Blackfeet traditions, I was raised with White Man’s ones. Only how can I reconcile That one part of me Has done so much harm To the other: Broken treaties Broken Bodies Broken Lives Children Ripped from parents Sent to boarding schools Where cultures and languages I love were stamped out. Trail of Tears.   ...

TW: Fat (reclaimed), eating disorder recovery mention, obesity mention, body image issues mention  I've been posting a lot of poetry lately because that's the content my brain has been able to produce, but I'm going to try to get some regular content to you soon. In the meantime, there is far to little fat positivity on this blog, as I grapple with my own eating disorder recovery, obesity, and body image issues. In that vein, I bring you my new fat positivity poem, "I Jiggle When I Dance". I Jiggle When I Dance When I dance My stomach wiggles side to side Even after I stop moving   The movement of my breasts Is really obvious And I’m learning Not to try to hide it   My feet on the floor Would make creaks and thumps Except   If I move my lower half My joints scream in pain And I have to stop dancing   So I dance with the top of me Jiggles and all And I’m learning to be free   To love myself more freely To live ...

 A poem about gender identity. TW: Nudity, body parts, hints at violence against trans people Is It Safe to Be Seen? I dreamed last night that I was naked -Well nearly naked Wearing nothing on top And nothing but underwear- or maybe even a pull-up On bottom, Surrounded by cis men and women In a steam room or sauna that was also a living room Where conversation was happening, And my body was markedly different from theirs. There were other fat people there, And other hairy people, And other people with breasts, But none that ticked all 3 categories. None that were such an amalgamation of genders. The things that give me gender euphoria in private Made me feel--- slightly uncomfortable. Just a little put on display. And people looked. People noticed the differences. But then, I noticed their bodies, too So this wasn’t entirely unusual, And it stopped at noticing. If it doesn’t progress to celebrating a hard-won battle, Then may it alway...