[a fifth direction]

If you are familiar with Indigenous teachings, you will know that the four directions feature prominently in many of them. 

For example, a Prayer in the Four Directions by Francis Whiskeyjack refers to east as the physical dimension, south the mental dimension, west the emotional, and north the spiritual. 

Other teachings refer to the relationship between the four directions, the four races, the four seasons, and so on. Often these are mapped onto a medicine wheel such as the one shown to the right.

The poet Eduardo C. Corral wrote a poem which had an interesting line in it. After speaking about someone burning sage and facing the four directions, he writes:

Some Mesoamerican elders

believed there’s a fifth direction.

Not the sky or the ground

but the person right next to you.

The fifth direction as the person right next to us... 

Who has been that fifth direction for you? Who has been there in difficult times and in good times? And for whom can you be that fifth direction, that person to turn to?

This idea also reminds me of the movie The Five Elements. Four of the elements are the traditional elements: fire, water, earth and air. The fifth element is -- well, I won't spoil the movie for you, but it is also an unexpected twist. Watch the movie if you enjoy futuristic films that have interesting characters, a good storyline, an amazing opera singer and more -- all without being dystopian. 

Back to Corral's poem: this concept of the fifth direction really moves the directions from the conceptual and abstract (seasons, four aspects of a person, colours, races) and sacred medicines and people and animals in general, to a very real person - the person next to me. That's where, to use one of my late father's phrases, "the rubber hits the road". 

Poem excerpt from "To Francisco X. Alarcón (1954–2016)" by Eduardo C. Corral. 

Read the whole poem https://poets.org/print/poem/8bae9876-e503-4f9c-8835-28bbe26e24ff

[when god made stones]

Here is the first stanza of a stunning poem by Kaitlin Hardy Shetler:

when god made stones

did he decide ahead of time

which ones were made for throwing

did he weigh each one for maximum impact

a stone for the whores

a stone for the gays

 

Read the rest of this poem on Kaitlin's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/tufftaffy/posts/10101705545695261

One of a set of poems by her and others with the tag #poemsfortheresistance

the invisibilizer

The Invisibilizer

While the Invisibilizer is a machine in the cartoon above, it is still is a reality for many marginalized people. The racist, cisheteropatriarchal systems that we live in tend to highlight their own while rendering invisible those who are minoritized. 

Verb

invisiblize (third-person singular simple present invisiblizes, present participle invisiblizing, simple past and past participle invisiblized)

(transitive, chiefly sociology) To make invisible; to marginalize so as to erase the presence or contributions of. Wiktionary.org

[brilliant critique of Vogue's whitewashed covers]

"Oslo-based student Salma Noor posted her own version of a Vogue cover on June 2, with the cover line “Being black is not a crime” in support of Black Lives Matter. Noor modeled for the alternative cover herself, with the help of photographer @calvin. Little did she know that the trend would go insanely viral days later—thanks in part to a June 6 internal memo from Vogue‘s editor-in-chief herself, Anna Wintour." (source)

Salma's action started a trend where people of colour did the same, tagging their images with #VogueChallenge. 

[social justice books]

Social Justice Books calls itself "the best selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, YA and educators," and looking at their site makes it obvious that their claim is true.

The site includes curated booklists, an excellent Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books, and more! The booklists (the above picture 14 of the over 60 booklists available) include almost every culture imaginable as well as broader topics like culture/language, hair, holidays, etc.

https://socialjusticebooks.org/

trinity not binity

what does it mean to celebrate all people?

Sometimes organizations make bold statements in their mission, vision and value statements (and the like). But what do such statements mean? How are they realized (real-alized; made real)? 

I offer this as one example of how one can respectfully ask about such statements, in a way that promotes accountability, provokes thinking, and encourages movement forward.

Last summer I wrote to our parish priest about a statement that was sent out in a key document. Here's my side of the email:

---

Hi P,

I have a question for the leadership regarding the following value from the mission action plan document that was sent out:

Welcoming and Open to All
We will live Christ’s words: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We will be a welcoming parish family. We love and celebrate all people regardless of age, culture, sexuality, or socio-economic status.

I’m wondering in particular what the last sentence means. Does it mean that we at our church generally celebrate all people without regard or attention to any of these things, even those things like race, culture or sexuality which are unique and something to be specifically celebrated? Kind of like being “colour-blind” where we celebrate all people regardless of their colour but in fact we ignore their colour and their ethnic / racial uniqueness and what they bring to the table and how the community is enriched by them?

Or will we actually celebrate people for who they specifically are, including race, culture and sexuality? Kinda like the way the LGBTQ2S+ community is acknowledged and celebrated particularly in June here in Edmonton, or the way we in our church region are beginning to recognize and celebrate indigenous peoples?

Related to this: two Sundays ago two women were sitting in the row in front of us. Based on their affection and physical contact, I would assume they are a couple and I wondered, how did they know this would be a safe place to be themselves? It's not a reasonable assumption to make about churches, and the public face of our church does not indicate that LGBTQ2S+ people would be welcome. Did they speak to one of the clergy in advance? Do they know someone who attends here? Were they just taking a chance on us and lucked out? I don't know.

Further related to this: P, you preached about a prophetic imagination. How might we imagine a church where all people are truly embraced and seen as an integral and needed part of the body? A church where none are shamed? A church which makes it obvious that people walking in will be loved and embraced? A church that shines its light on a hill instead of hiding it under a bushel?

Warm regards,

Rob

---

Note: I received a very positive response from our priest, who said that the leadership was discussing this and moving forward to look at specific ways of implementing.

[free unconscious bias microlearning lessons]

Addressing Unconscious
Bias with
Modern Learning

Grovo has made all 20 of its Unconscious Bias Microlearning lessons available for free.

These mini lessons are 3 minutes or less, and give a quick and easy to understand introduction to the topic:

https://www.grovo.com/addressing-unconscious-bias


And while you're at it, check out the new "Learning Snippets" from Aaron Barth. The first three are free to try -- these short 5 minute lessons get you thinking about bias in the workplace and how to respond to it.

https://www.learningsnippets.ca/try3free

another haiku for our time

solace

    clouds trump sun and moon

    warm rain like tears streaming down

    dog-god comforts me

                                              written by rob goetze for rachel,

                             for poem in your pocket day, april 30, 2020

[revision and resistance - kent monkman]

My birthday present just arrived in the mail, and I'm super excited about it:

In collaboration with Kent Monkman and his studio, the Art Canada Institute is publishing a book on the commission and creation of his diptych unveiled at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art this week. Revision & Resistance: mistikôsiwak at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which will be available for sale in March 2020, celebrates Monkman’s groundbreaking paintings with essays by today’s most prominent voices on Indigenous art and Canadian painting. (source: the Art Institute of Canada webpage)

Kent Monkman is a  Cree two-spirited artist living in the Toronto area whose work I've been following for a few years. He combines traditional European painting techniques with Indigenous imagery with critiques of colonization and Eurocentric views of history.

Here is one of the two pieces that he created for the Met:

Read more about the book:
https://aci-iac.ca/news/art-canada-institute-in-collaboration-with-kent-monkman

View my post about Monkman's exhibit, "The Rise and Fall of Civilization", at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary last year.

[rise and fall of civilization - exhibit]

In the late summer of 2019, I visited the Glenbow Museum with one specific goal in mind: to see the exhibit "The Rise and Fall of Civilization" by Kent Monkman, a Cree two-spirit artist based in Toronto.

From the museum's website:

Kent Monkman’s The Rise and Fall of Civilization references the near extinction of the American bison in the 1800s when unsustainable hunting practices, used primarily by white settlers, reduced the number of bison from over 30 million to just a few hundred by the 1880s. During this time, bison or buffalo were hunted for their durable hides and their bones were used for fertilizer and in the manufacture of bone china. The buffalo meat was left to rot, decimating a food source that had sustained Indigenous peoples for generations.

(source) 

Read more at the Glenbow Site: https://www.glenbow.org/exhibitions/kent-monkman-the-rise-and-fall-of-civilization/

The exhibit is long-term at the Glenbow, so be sure to check it out once the pandemic is over.


For a video about one of Monkman's other works, The Deluge, visit:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OqbhG4BX6oU

All photos by rob goetze. (c) 2019.

holy egg!

And now for my contribution to Easter:

[inclusion lens - event management tool]

York University has a great "inclusion lens" event management tool which is very helpful for ensuring that events are as inclusive and accessible to all as possible. And even better, this tool is available to the public!

Each of the four main categories - Planning, Advertising, Implementing and Evaluating - offers a list of questions. Click on any question and it expands to show specific considerations. Click on any consideration and a tip pops up with an explanation or more information.

Here's an example from the Planning section, showing the considerations for the question: "Is your event location accessible?"

Go have a look and try it out for your next event:
https://inclusionlens.yorku.ca/

[god as a black woman]

"Harmonia Rosales is a 33-year-old artist based Chicago who’s doing something really powerful. She’s recreating some classical paintings, but portraying God as a black woman instead."

Here's one example of her work:

Read more:

This Artist Reimagines Classic Paintings With God As A Black Woman And They're Beautiful

Harmonia Rosales' website:  https://www.harmoniarosales.com

Harmonia Rosales' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeiee/

a haiku for our time

[good minds books]

Looking for good books? Here's a lot of them - all First Nations, Metis and Inuit - on one website.

www.goodminds.com

[christ our black mother speaks]

An 84-page, full color collection of art, essays, questions and practices to deepen our connection to the Dark Divine Feminine.

Our conditioning has taught us to automatically perceive femininity as untrustworthy and blackness as dirty. So, black femininity is perceived as wholly unholy.

There’s something very evil about the way black women in particular are perceived as distant from the Divine. It brings to mind the Jezebel stereotype, the idea that black women are lascivious by nature, which has long plagued black women... [and] continues to thrive today...

In this volume of essays, I turn toward images of Christ on the cross. As I continue my exploration of the wholly holy female face of God, I ask a deeper question.

What does God’s femaleness and blackness practically mean for my particular black female experience?

And what does God’s femaleness and blackness practically mean for all of us? 

(from the website)

Find out more and order a digital copy for yourself:
http://www.christenacleveland.com/shop/christourblackmotherspeaks

the tale of the pyreneesian piranha

My great-great-grandfather lived in a small town in Europe and, it turned out based on his journals, liked to record happenings around town along with folk tales that the townspeople told. Here is his entry from January 4, 1876:

------

The Curse of the Pyreneesian Piranha

Once upon a time, there was a young man who lived by the sea. He was afraid of the sea, very very afraid of the sea and all that lived with it. 

"Give me an egg or a steak or a quail or a beet salad, but keep that sea-stuff away from me and my plate!" he said regularly.

And when he grew up, the very first thing he did with money saved from his first job delivering emails, was to move to the mountains. The Pyrenees, to be precise. To Bordes-du-Lys, France, to be more precise, a little hamlet high up in the Pyrenees and about equidistant from the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea and thus, about as far away from the sea as possible without moving to Siberia.

After a few months, he learned the habits and routines of life in Bordes-du-Lys, and took them on for himself.

So he started every day by going to the bakery down the street, to get a fresh brewed coffee and croissant.

Except for one day. A box of chocolate came in the post, anonymously, just as he was about to leave, and he decided, as a special treat, to eat the chocolate for his breakfast 

Ta-a-asty, that chocolate. Good dark Swiss chocolate, with little bits of hazelnut embedded in it. Yummmeeeee.

Once the chocolate was all gone into his belly, he put the box on the kindling pile. That's when he heard a loud rumbling outside. 

"What is going on???" he asked himself!

He ran outside, looking around. The sky was clear though grey instead of the usual blue. Then, turning around and looking up at the mountain, he saw it. The biggest piranha he had never seen. Bigger than anything of any sort of fish or toothy thing he had ever seen in a book. Bigger than tall skyscrapers and the mountains themselves.

And that was when he knew. By skipping his usual morning jaunt and giving in to the temptation of the chocolate instead, he had broken the rhythm of the universe. And now the universe was coming for him. 

The piranha opened its mouth wider, 

        bigger than the sky, 

                        lunged forward,

                    and SNAP!

The End.

-------

Note to regular readers of this blog: I apologize that this post does not fit into the usual theme and genre of this blog. However, I have nowhere else to post my great-great-grandfather's stories.

whenever you do this...

[peanut goes for the gold]

The children's book "Peanut goes for the Gold", published January 2020, is about a non-binary guinea pig.

Peanut Goes for the Gold is a charming, funny, and heartfelt picture book that follows the adventures of Peanut, a gender nonbinary guinea pig who does everything with their own personal flare....
This upbeat and hilarious picture book, inspired by Jonathan's own childhood guinea pig, encourages children to not just be themselves—but to boldly and unapologetically love being themselves.

From Harper Collins

Should be an interesting read if it meets the publisher's description. 

** Since posting this originally, I took the book out from the public library. Not that interesting and definitely not a "I've got to have my own copy" kind of book.

I do wonder, though, if anyone has done any studies as to the impact of books featuring animals versus those featuring human characters. Is there a difference in how children relate to and take in the message?

---

I asked Kristi who works in education and literacy, about this. While we are not aware of particular research about this, here are parts of our conversation.

Certainly there is a positive impact when people see themselves or their own situation reflected in characters in a book, movie, TV show, etc.

A wide variety of characters and situations can be helpful to normalize a range of differences.

Seeing something first in a non-human character (like a guinea pig) who plays a human-like role might make it easier for someone who finds ideas like nonbinary new or unnerving might make it easier for them to later relate to a person who is nonbinary.

The use of non-human characters might also expand our understanding of binary. What I mean is, while some animals are clearly understood to have male and female (think cow and bull, or male and female birds with very different plumage), some others are not as obvious (think squirrels) and some ... well, I have no idea if worms even have gender. Or what about those guinea pigs? I imagine they are male or female, just like the gerbils I had as a child, but I don't think about male or female when I see one.

The connection for the reader could be the character species, the artwork, the humour, or any number of aspects of the book or show.

Kristi also said,
"I do feel it is so important for kids and adults to get a wide range of literature and if being exposed to characters in all situations helps you recalibrate and check who you are all the better. I also think it’s really important to have a huge variety because it can help 'normalize' ideas and situations too."

Would love to hear your thoughts... 

gendered events and two spirit people

In the spring of 2019, I attended a Two Spirit Ceremony and Workshop. Now, those of you who have attended Indigenous events like pipe ceremonies will know that it is not uncommon for the women to be asked to wear long skirts or dresses at such events, while there is usually no particular requirement for the men. And non-binary people and Two Spirit people are not often mentioned.

In this particular case, Warren Winnipeg was the cultural lead. In advance of the event, he sent out this note:

All ceremony participants are to wear a wrap‐around, blanket or full length skirt to the
ankles. This can be a throw‐blanket that one can tie around their waist.

Pretty simple, huh? The men mostly had a blanket tied around their waist, which went down to their feet. Most women had skirts but those who don't like skirts used blankets or wraps. Non-binary and Two Spirit people could also pick whatever they prefer. Including everyone doesn't always have to take a lot of work...

---

Jennifer Brockman, a Woodland Cree Metis with Scottish, British, and Italian ancestry, has written about their experience as a Two-Spirit participating in ceremonies. The article concludes with some tips on how to create ceremonial space for Two-Spirit people.
          Coming into the Circle – Welcoming Two-Spirit People in Ceremony

[quiltbag & glass bookshop]

In Edmonton and looking for something different? Here are two ideas ...

glass bookshop

Visit the Glass Bookshop at City Centre Mall West, focusing on "Canadian writing with special attention paid to LGBTQ2SIA and IBPOC {Indigenous, Black and people of colour} writers, as well as the independent publishers who help to produce their work."

Fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks (somewhere in between fiction and non-fiction!), cards, pronoun pins, and more. Knowledgeable friendly staff who are well-connected to the literary and arts community here in Edmonton.

P.S. if you are reading this in the spring of 2020, the store is probably at its new location - check the website for the address.

https://www.glassbookshop.com/



quiltbag

"The QUILTBAG is an LGBTQ+ retail shop carrying queer & trans wares... The shop carries an always changing assortment of custom and curated used & new clothing; accessories like pins, pronoun buttons, patches, stickers; art by local artists; small gifts; and trans gear including chest binders and compression underwear."

Located at 7603 104 Street NW (Calgary Trail).

https://thequiltbag.com/

[towards an inclusive church]

Progress report: 

1. The church bulletins have had the Treaty statement (bottom of page) and a rainbow on the cross (upper left).

2. The church has started a "Towards an Inclusive Church" Committee, which I've been asked to be part of.

3. This week, the following appeared in the bulletin, and the committee was asked to come to the front where the priest prayed for us. 

Prayer & Blessing for the ‘Towards an Inclusive Church Committee

In response to the last General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, our congregation expressed a strong desire to be a more openly and explicitly welcoming congregation. To that end, Vestry has appointed a group of individuals in our parish to lead our congregation through the process of becoming and being a community that openly welcomes and embraces people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. One might say: surely, we are already such a community! And they would be right! We are a community that welcomes all people, but we feel it is important to go through an intentional 'Welcoming Process' in the life of the faith of our congregation.

So there is indeed progress being made at Christ Church, which  after a long time waiting is exciting...

[Honor Song - Jeremy Dutcher]

I've been listening to the music of Jeremy Dutcher lately -- and have heard from several friends who have seen Jeremy in concert in the past few months...


           direct link if video does not appear above

About Jeremy Dutcher

Performer, composer, activist, musicologist — these roles are all infused into his art and way of life. His music, too, transcends boundaries: unapologetically playful in its incorporation of classical influences, full of reverence for the traditional songs of his home,and teeming with the urgency of modern-day struggles of resistance.

A member of Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Jeremy first did music studies in Halifax before taking a chance to work in the archives at the Canadian Museum of History, painstakingly transcribing Wolastoq songs from 1907 wax cylinders. “Many of the songs I’d never heard before, because our musical tradition on the East Coast was suppressed by the Canadian Government’s Indian Act.” Jeremy heard ancestral voices singing forgotten songs and stories that had been taken from the Wolastoqiyik generations ago.

As he listened to each recording, he felt his own musical impulses stirring from deep within. Long days at the archives turned into long nights at the piano, feeling out melodies and phrases, deep in dialogue with the voices of his ancestors. These “collaborative”compositions, collected together on his debut LP Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, are like nothing you’ve ever heard. Delicate, sublime vocal melodies ring out atop piano lines that cascade through a vibrant range of emotions. The anguish and joy of the past erupt fervently into the present through Jeremy’s bold approach to composition and raw, affective performances enhanced by his outstanding tenor techniques.

“I’m doing this work because there’s only about a hundred Wolastoqey speakers left,” he says. “It’s crucial for us to make sure that we’re using our language and passing it on to the next generation. If you lose the language, you’re not just losing words; you’re losing an entire way of seeing and experiencing the world from a distinctly indigenous perspective.”
       (from https://jeremydutcher.com/biography/)

Further reading:
http://muskratmagazine.com/jeremy-dutcher-on-climate-change-two-spirits-and-the-ethos-behind-wolastoq-music-and-the-indigenous-cultural-renaissance/

https://www.cbc.ca/arts/the-extraordinary-rise-of-jeremy-dutcher-2018-gave-canada-the-two-spirit-polaris-prince-we-need-1.4931935

https://calgaryphil.com/interview-with-jeremy-dutcher/

[all people and all genders...]

This is at the top of our church bulletin. I like that it says "all peoples and genders"... nicely includes non-binary people as well as Two Spirit people, which is very appropriate in a Treaty statement. Also a small but fitting indicator of being an affirming parish.

an affirming and embracing parish

Our parish announced this summer that they are an inclusive parish and that they will perform same-sex marriages. Subsequently, I was asked to be on a committee to help make this a reality.

The following mind map contains some of the ideas I've been thinking about in preparation for our first meeting:

Click image above for a bigger version.

Click here for a PDF version of this mind map
Note: the PDF version may be more recent.

conference emcee

Hey guys! As good as some of the other resources I highlight have been, I know you've all been waiting for another original cartoon from me -- and here it is!

I work in an office environment where the majority of staff are female, and "guys" is the most common form of address in a meeting of any size. What's worse is "your guys's" as in, "I read your guys's report...".

I remember when the transition from "man" to "human" and from "mankind" to "humankind" was taking place. It was hard for some people to grasp how using the same word for both "all members of a group" and "one specific type of member of a group" should not be done, how it made that one specific type of member the standard for the whole group.

Imagine if there were four kinds of dogs: German Shepherds, Dachshunds, Shih Tzu Bichons, and Dogs. How would that work?

Alternative words to use in welcoming remarks, greetings and more:
Colleagues
Folks
Kin
Friends
Everyone
Participants
Team
Occupational titles as applicable (I.e., Teachers, for a teachers' conference, Social Workers for a social work conference, etc.)
Fellow workers (note that "fellow" here is an adjective, not the noun for a guy. ...)
Members of our community
Neighbours
People
(Or, simply skip "Guys" and better alternatives, and just say "Welcome to our conference!")

Here's some interesting ones shared in a graphic:

[indefinite arts centre]

The Indefinite Arts Centre, based in Calgary, is Canada's oldest and largest disability arts organization. Here's what they say on their site:

We are proud to be Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts organization, founded in 1975 and now serving close to 300 artists per week in our 11,000+ square foot studio and gallery space in southeast Calgary.

Yes, our niche is to serve artists with disabilities, but our vision is to provide them with a platform to stand strong on their merits and their efforts – as artists. Throughout our website, we hope to give you a glimpse into how we provide artistic training, creation and exhibition opportunities for our artists – and at the same time, advocate for more meaningful, inclusive arts policies that shine the light on the creativity of artists living with disabilities.

Read more about them at https://indefinitearts.com/

[standing up for people being called what they want to be called...]

Here's an interesting clip from a TV show, which nicely shows the challenges of challenging other people when they use derogatory and disrespectful terms for others. Ironic though not surprising that the person doing the challenging is a QPOC (queer person of colour).

Watch how this discussion evolves, and some of the classic responses that those challenged pull out.

🚧 SPOILERS AHEAD 🚧 This was a very important scene in the latest installment of @TalesofTheCity. Watch the whole thing on @netflix. https://t.co/LkbYB9T0gh

— GLAAD (@glaad) June 21, 2019

If the tweet and embedded video do not show up above, click here.

Read CBC's article "We need to talk about the dinner party scene in the Tales of the City reboot"

[stranger god: meeting jesus in disguise, by Richard Beck (book)]

"When Richard Beck first led a Bible study at a maximum security prison, he went to meet God. His own faith was flagging, but Beck still believed the promise of Matthew 25, that when we visit the prisoner, we visit Jesus. And sure enough, God met him in prison.

With his signature combination of biblical reflection, theological reasoning, and psychological insight, Beck shows how God always meets us in the marginalized, the oppressed, and the refugee. And stories from Beck's own life illustrate this truth - God comes to him in the poor, the crippled, the smelly.

Psychological experiments show how we are predisposed to like those who are similar to us and avoid those who are unlike us. The call of the gospel, however, is to override those impulses with compassion, to "widen the circle of our affection." In the end, Beck turns to the Little Way of St. Thérèse of Lisieux for guidance in doing even the smallest acts with kindness, and he lays out a path that any of us can follow." (from Amazon)

Read what Richard says about this new book on his blog Experimental Theology.

Read quotes from other things that Richard has written, sometimes with commentary and sometimes with great cartoons (by yours truly), right here on my blog.


Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-God-Meeting-Jesus-Disguise/dp/1506433758