Hello. How are you doing? Thinking about land back. I’ve heard the phrase a lot lately. Feeling the ideas deep inside me.
Power is an important concept I think about all the time. I see how power is central to this issue of land, Indigenous people, caring for Parent Earth, money, capitalism, and mainstream consumption values vs values that nurture life.
My friend sent me the link to a song called Land Back that I want to share with you. The song and video feel important to me. They are my favorite kind of beautiful.
Please enjoy and share.
I like the wordplay at the beginning. “What the farmer see, that’s the pharmacy” is so nice. I keep thinking about it, imagining myself as a farmer, looking at the food and land as medicine. Farmer’s eye view.
The land in the video looks like my homeland, with the oak trees and dry grass in the summer. My homeland is always there, even if I’m far away. The strawberries, eucalyptus trees, oak trees, broccoli fields, cattle, earth smells, cultures, and people are there. The beans, nopales, and blue sky are always there.
That truth can help me feel strong, even when I’m far away. Strawberry power is eternal.
mixed
Something I like remembering is how there are many ways to be mixed. I am not sure of the ethnic racial background of the person who sings / raps in the first half of the song. He seems Indigenous, or maybe a mix.
This song I find very powerful Creator Made an Animal–I think the first rapper might be mixed Black and Indigenous.
I think of myself as mixed, as my dad was white, and my mom was Mexican-American. Ming’s kids are mixed also. I love that the ways of being mixed are endless. In the Thanksgiving ritual I helped create for our house, I mentioned blessings to the people are are mixed and less mixed.
Most everyone is mixed, somehow. Kind of like bisexuality–most people are capable of sexual response to more than one gender. How honest do you want to be? How we define ourselves is often convenience, tradition, and fear of vulnerability.
thank you
Thank you to my friend who sent me the link to the Land Back song. You have sent me so much good over the years. It’s important to share what’s so nourishing. Songs, art, power, and land.
This is an art I made yesterday on the back of a cracker box. It’s about my mom, making a better world of love, and fat dancing. If we had less violence in the world, the love could shine through better, including love of the land and the love of our ancestors.
Sometimes I feel like the violence overwhelms and covers up the love. Violence is a huge distraction of pain. But the love is abundant and all around us.
