Hipster Appropriations

July 19, 2011

I usually do not engage in political banter on Tumblr. I’m here to enjoy myself. However, this whole mess of bullshit really incenses me. It’s not the photoshoot that makes me angry, but rather all the commentary. Everyone sitting behind their computers, feeling really mighty and politically correct about calling out a group of kids for taking pictures. That’s real swell, but as an American Indian woman, I would much rather you honor my Lakotah family by getting off your ass and doing something. I do not speak for all people of color, and I do not assert that those photos were not offensive. I only mean to say that if you really care, if you’re really interested in indigenous people, you’d take the time to reach out instead of making personal attacks on Tumblr. Cause guess what kids? My American Indian relatives could give two fucks about Tumblr, Pork, or caricatures of American Indian People. They’re fucking dying out there-

Lakotah men have a life expectancy of less than 44 years, lowest of any country in the World (excluding AIDS) including Haiti.

The Lakotah infant mortality rate is 300% more than the U.S. Average.

The rate of diabetes is 800% higher than the U.S national average.

Median income is approximately $2,600 to $3,500 per year.

97% of our Lakotah people live below the poverty line.

Here’s how you can help-

Lakotah Youth-

http://www.dosomething.org/project/lakota-outreach-project

Lakotah Elders-

http://www.lakota-aid.co.uk/elders.php

Lakotah Relief Aid-

http://www.republicoflakotah.com/humanitarian-relief/

Put your money where your mouth is, and please- focus on on the bigger picture.

Well this shit just got really real for me, as someone brought my home into this conversation.

…as an American Indian woman, I would much rather you honor my Lakotah family by getting off your ass and doing something.

Really? So having a conversation online doesn’t mean anything? That shit REALLY FUCKING HURTS. Conversation is what leads to action, and spreading awareness around appropriate appreciation of my culture is the start of something. So telling me to get up and do something? Did you grow up on Pine Ridge? Can you back up those facts and figures with personal experiences? Friends who were gang raped by drunken boys? Friends who were stuck with children they didn’t plan for and couldn’t seek out an abortion? Fathers, frustrated from lack of work, turning to drinking and drugs? No hope, no direction, no promise?

What many people of privilege completely FAIL TO FUCKING UNDERSTAND is that, yes, while there are larger, systemic problems hurting my home every single day - images of people with whiskey bottles wearing headdresses made of cheap chicken feathers and streaks of “warpaint” across their faces are just another slap in the face. That white people don’t care about me. That society would rather make a shitty fashion statement than care about how it makes me feel on top of everything else that has happened. It’s puzzling to me that people claim to have met a Native who didn’t care about you wearing your precious, fakeass headdress. Maybe they’re too tired of having to explain why it hurts, so they just don’t get into it with you. So that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing here - and hoping to return to the reservation when I can to put the education I was so privileged to receive for free to good use.

So don’t you dare fucking tell me what I’m doing is useless.

-Marquita

(via damnitamber-deactivated20120116)

7:50pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZF4C2y7IEDNs
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