Sherman Alexie at University of Redlands, February 5, 2013
This topic is not the original intent I had for this blog post. I’ve been sitting on this draft for about a week now. I had wanted to talk about the movie Super 8, which I rewatched with my family after I returned from ALAMW13. I was inspired by the catchy line delivered by the 2011 movie’s protagonist Joe Lamb. I thought it held a significant idea encapsulated in a compact info-package worthy of a blog post. But I had trouble putting my thoughts together in a coherent enough manner.
Then, last night, I heard Sherman Alexie speak at University of Redlands. My first time to hear him in person. Things fell into place in my head. He delivered the same message as Joe Lamb: “Bad things happen. But you can still live.” Not the same words. But similar idea and spirit. The injustice and suffering we experience need not be for nothing. The anger we harbor can fuel our artistic, creative, and aesthetic endeavors. And by living I mean feeding and growing one’s soul through art and creative work: writing, painting, drawing, dancing, or performing.
Alexie spoke of the grinding poverty he knew as a child growing up on an Indian reservation in the Spokane, Washington area. When you are dirt poor, he said, your basic hungers for food, shelter, safety, and physical comforts become one with your spiritual and emotional hungers. Basically, that’s nice, dear. But it doesn’t fill my belly. What do you do when that’s your reality?
For Sherman, the answer was he had to get out of the rez. The consequences of his decision to leave were not (are not) easy to bear. There was the challenging question: “You think you’re better than us?” Wait, don’t answer that. Whether you think so or not, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a trick question. You’re damned either way. Then there’s the biting, corrosive self-loathing. So, in sum, you get beat up or ostracized by others because they think you’re full of yourself, then you beat yourself up because you think you’re a colossal idiot for wanting more out of life. And yeah, you are full of yourself because you’re full of shizz. Oh, joy. What writer, what artist or creative person, does not know this old familiar tune?
So we crack jokes and tell stories. We laugh. We do this so we can go on and keep on living. So, live.
Wonderful! Rez life is difficult, like so many other places I’ve lived. May all be well, happy and free.
Thanks, smilecalm!
Pax,
~Melissa
Sometimes we have to take away to be able to give something better back.Whether it’s for someone or for ourselves.Makes sense?I’ve never lived on the rez but from all the articles and friends that I have who do always talk about the violence and hardship people have.Most people(now this is my opinion)have the trouble with racism when it comes to getting off the rez and trying to better theirselves.And I have always heard most who can’t take living off the rez always end up going back for one reason or another.I think it depends on the frame of mind the person is in and how strong the DESIRE is within theirselves.It’s like evrything else it’s something that has to be worked at.
On the whole, I agree with you, niteflyrwoman. Disclosure: I’m a 1st gen immigrant to the US. I’ve come up against various messages from “go back to where you came from” to “you call yourself a Pinay?”
I also think the issue of “making it outside” is far more complicated than we give it credit. I think the important take away here is that there are multiple fronts that need addressing. There’s the personal responsibility part (how motivated is the individual). There’s also the societal front (do we really want to condone this type of bullying? really?). Then there’s the myriad interactions between the two. Doing good work that truly makes a difference needs, I think, awareness of these myriad interactions. It’s not enough to think that it’s all on the individual person or it’s all on society. (Then there’s the part of working with the people who you want to help…they have a say in it too!)
But we must start somewhere–usually that’s awareness. (Key operative word: start) That’s usually where people are at….that’s a lot of places to work at.
I’m sure there’s plenty more I am missing. But I think it best to get off my soapbox now.
Pax,
~Melissa