Why did he start dancing like a ‘gypsy’ Disney character right when I sat down? UGH.
This was one of the many uncomfortable questions I had to ask myself this past Sunday while attending the Lucidity Festival: Kindred Quest, at Live Oaks Campgrounds. As a local arts and music fest, I’ve heard about its transformative practices for the past three years while living in SB. Lucidity has been described as a healing space, a space flowing with divine love and compassion and a space where you may freely express yourself. All of this sounds enticing to any existentially-questioning student, right? Right. The freedom to simply be is why I bought a ticket. On the contrary, what I experienced was the inability to be freely me, because of the whiteness that is Lucidity (and many other festivals), and the modern racism that is whiteness.
The minute I stepped onto the campgrounds, all I saw was whiteness. When I say whiteness, I’m not talking about being surrounded by white people. Whiteness is a culture of cultural appropriation, white supremacy and modern racism. Cultural appropriation is the exploitation of different cultures by taking bits and pieces of their sacred practices and artifacts to accessorize privileged (mostly white) lives. This usually happens without knowledge of these artifacts or traditions and, therefore, the disrespectful usage of them. White supremacy is ethnocentrism, which is nationalism, which is the belief that white Americans are superior to all. Lastly, modern racism is more subtle than racism of the past and can usually be seen through microaggressions. Although microaggressions are mainly described as unconscious acts of racism, I don’t believe this to always be the case. Microaggressions are subtle (or sometimes more explicit) comments or acts of racism towards marginalized communities. What happened to me at the festival is a perfect example of a microaggression.
Why won’t he stop dancing like the fucking white idea of a Middle Easterner?
“So, what’s your ethnicity?” This is the first thing the white male sitting next to me asked after he stopped his rude dance. Abruptly, I respond back that I’m Persian. He then goes on to say, “Persian, like Aladdin?” I roll my eyes. Ugh, another day, another white male as*h**e. His white male friend sitting next to him chimes in. “OH, Persians throw the best weddings. Man, you guys know how to party. But you’re mean. You’re all so entitled!” They snicker. Without a pause for effect, the first white male starts chanting “Jasmine! Jasmine! Aladdin! Aladdin! Jasmine! Jaaassmineee!!” I ask where they’re from. He aggressively exclaims, “I’m from America, now where do YOU live?” Then they ask if we want to smoke with them, all the while sporting condescending smirks of victory. PAUSE. I can’t breathe.
What just happened? Were these men really slurring racist microaggressions at me at a hippie fest? At a place that’s supposed to be inclusive and loving? Where the bleep am I? These mountains don’t deserve to be filled with hostility. No one deserves this. This festival is supposed to be everything that Coachella is not, which means being culturally sensitive and inclusive, right? I felt so belittled, so small and so shocked that I hadn’t the courage to stand up to these men and state my piece. This is my piece to them now. If you’re reading this, y’all are what is still wrong with America. Your superior, racist, entitled attitude and aggressive verbal harassment perpetuates a cycle of hate. How can you be at a festival that promotes enlightenment and community and exclude members of your brother-sister family so obviously?
I felt so excluded. But this wasn’t the only reason I felt excluded here. I was wondering why there were barely any people of color in attendance. Why had I not seen a yoga workshop taught by a persxn of color? Why were the lectures on consciousness and positive architecture led by white males? Where were the womxn leaders? The womxn of color leaders? Where were the people of color leaders in general? I either missed all of them or there were barely any to begin with. Were communities of color reached out to as potential workshop leaders? Do the same people from the same cliques make up most of these kinds of festivals year after year?
How can there be a sense of community if we’re all just overpricing merchandise and ripping each other off?
I didn’t fit in. I was one of the few womxn of color at the festival. Aside from looks, the creativity I was portraying through my outfit was “mistaken” for a Disney princess-esque, exotified sexual fantasy, instead of a deep universe of internal colors. I didn’t find any of the activities amusing. I didn’t find many of the people inviting. Also, it felt like a big flea market to me, with focus more on the “ethnic” merchandise (sold by white people) than the land and each other. The food was organic and good for your body, but way overpriced, like the salad sampler I got for 12 bucks. The food was bad for your wallet and the financial hardships college students face. How can there be a sense of community if we’re all just overpricing merchandise and ripping each other off? Capitalism was made organic.
Honestly, everything overwhelmed me. It overwhelmed me so much that after four hours my friend and I took an Uber home, desperate to get back to a safe space.
The day had ended the opposite way in which it started. The day had started off with excitement. I did the fun dress-up thing, excluding festival cultural appropriation. I slathered myself in glitter, darkened my lashes and showed my midriff to the world, ready to channel my inner warrior goddess. But my main goal was to have conscious experiences with conscious individuals. I craved deeper unity with the Santa Barbara community beyond Isla Vista.
When I use the term “conscious people,” I mean people who are empathetic toward all humxns/humxn experiences, and people who live for equality, kindness and creating safe spaces. Unfortunately, I was let down tremendously and the glitter fantasies of my mind had vanished by the end of the day.
Lucidity was anything but safe for me. It was anything but a healthy environment. I was growing because of my own strength to remain confident in my brown skin, but there was not an enriching experience brought on by the festival itself. It was my first festival, and it may be my last. These festivals are the new white culture, and this whiteness doesn’t have room to respect people like me. I don’t have the time nor the energy to prioritize efforts to change this culture. It’s not my responsibility to turn a racist zone into a conscious zone, nor does it seem like this culture of stolen cultures wants any reform. But I will write about it and speak about it to anyone who is open to listening or wants to know my experience further, because I need to do my part to respect myself and others like me.
White America, I’m not your Disney princess. I’m my own princess of strength and respect. I will persist, and my voice will always be heard one way or another. Go take your inappropriate fantasies to a land far, far away.
“…we are coming together as One CommUnity with One Voice.”- Lucidity Website.
Leilani Leila Riahi is an Iranian-American womxn, and a third-year psychology major with a minor in philosophy.
I too have seen a lot of ignorance and Lucidity and other “conscious music festivals”. I to am highly disturbed by the irony of all the ignorance at these festivals… I must say though, I felt a lot more disturbed last year (my first year at lucidity) than this year. My first Lucidity festival a year ago was my first “transformational festival”. I held such high expectations for it (being, as you said, everything that Coachella is not). However, once I arrived there I not only saw much of the ignorance held in everyday society and main stream festivals but… Read more »
wooooooow lady. Take an extremely large chill pill and don’t let a couple ignorant people at your FIRST FESTIVAL ruin a whole enttire weekend and your outlook on festival. This is one of my favorite festivals and basically I have experienced everything you said you didn’t there. Love, compassion, amazing friendships with people of ALL COLORS. You just let a few bad apples spoil your entire fucking pie and honestly your entire article is pretty racist considering you just pigeon holed all of is whites at festivals to be ignorant biggots. Grow the fuck up sister, quit over anlayzing everything,… Read more »
It is ironically painful when racist people call other people racist. Author of this article.. if you want to be happy, get used to the fact that a lot of people in this world (including festival-goers) are ignorant. But whatever you do, please don’t generalize. This article is just one big generalization. Really painful to read, and I feel like I lost a few IQ points reading this. Ugh.
Firstly, I wish to thank you for so eloquently sharing your experience at Lucidity this year. It hurts my heart to hear how you were mistreated by those two men. However, I invite you to not write off all “transformational” festivals because of this one experience. Many women do come to these festivals to unleash their “inner goddess” and some find it a safe space to do so, and some do not. Personally, I have come out of some festivals feeling supported and held as a woman, and left others feeling disrespected and unsafe. I think it’s all part of… Read more »
Went to a party with expectations. Met a couple of obvious dirt balls. Saw people selling stuff at the standard, overpriced festival rates. Got mad. Had enough money for a 40 mile Uber. Attend a prestigious and expensive University. Have the right to lecture on privilege and cultural insensitivity bit only the patience to be there for 4 hours. Sure. This all adds up. If you want to change things, please come get inside of those things you wish to change. Your article takes an extremely shortsighted view on a very broad spectrum of personalities. Personally, I had to check… Read more »
I have had so many of these experiences… thank you for sharing your story.
Baby’s first sociology paper. Don’t worry Jasmine, you’ll get better if you practice.
Yeah but that is more a sign of out society and culture than it is of Lucididy. Lucidity didnt select out who they wanted to attend the festival, and I saw a diversity of people and IDEAS teaching workshops and attending this festival. I do resonate a little about what you are talking about, and I think that the problem lies in the fact that Lucidity was actually seeking to heal these wounds by bringing both of these cultures together, however it was more of a failure of “white culture” to respect other cultures, rather than Lucidity only inviting racist… Read more »
Realeyes: Would love to chat with you further about how we walk that delicate balance between storytelling, footage capture, sacred space and consent. We’re deep in the conversation across the board, had a workshop specifically for media that was well attended on these topics and I’ve written about it at length in our blog:
http://blog.lucidityfestival.com/way-beyond-the-lens-7-trends-to-help-festival-media-last-for-7-generations/
Feel free to shoot me an email at media@lucidityfestival.com to share your experience and we can talk about the nuances you saw that could be improved in the future!
Blah blah fukn blah…Utter nonsense . Totally fallacious premise. She had judgements before she ever got there. I’m not buying her guilt trip projections. Why the phuck doesn’t SHE get up and volunteer for a slot to speak and teach yoga? I guaruntee she wouldn’t be “excluded” She’s excluding her own damn self . She is projecting just as many “micro-aggressions” as she is accusing ‘the ENTIRE Festival scene’?! uv lolz… Just because more POC don’t show up doesn’t even come close to the conclusion that the entire festi is subliminally racist. She arrived with a whole load of contrived… Read more »
There is no need to feel offended over people from one culture participating in activities from a culture which is not their own. Even if it’s being misinterpreted and if in doing so they are making complete idiots of themselves due to their ignorant (not a**h*le-ish) behavior. I hope you’ve never been to any Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick’s Day parties because then you’d be a hypocrite. I could go and rant all about the “whiteness” and “microaggressions” that are present at every Gauchos home soccer game (I’m referring to the tortillas that are thrown onto the field) and… Read more »
How do I unread this?
http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-persians-iranians-white
She spends so much money for an education that teaches her to misspell words to the point of being unemployable. Hilarious.
No wonder they cut billions from UC’s budget. The soft sciences are brainwashing people to the point of mental derangement.
:/
I thought the Uber point at the end was going to be a joke, but then it wasn’t. Does the author of this piece really not see the contradiction between all the points she made and the fact that she – unreflectively, it seems – uses a service that pays horrible wages, knowingly imperils the safety of its workers, and is actively and eagerly contributing to the systematic destruction of public transit in cities across the country (something that bears most acutely on poor people of color)? Also, the first step in being taken seriously by anyone outside of an… Read more »
Not to mention that dial-a-ride transit is the most energy-inefficient mode of transportation on Earth.
What a racist, ecologically harmful womAn.
I commend you on sharing your experiences at Lucidity 2015, sharing and being a part of the community is one thing that the festival is all about…BUT…I’d have to say this narrative is the absolute exception. I have gone to every Lucidity thus far and never ONCE experienced anything remotely similar. Quite the opposite, all interactions I’ve had are pure, transformational, and uplifting. All of my camp neighbors have been courteous, loving, and VERY community oriented. Is it luck? Is it by chance? I think not. This is what the Lucidity crew strive to establish. If you are looking for… Read more »
Honestly, it sounds like you had a bad time and are trying to act like every human at a transformational festival is a racist white-privileged idiot. This must be your first festival, because like all places, we will find the people who are “Good” at doing the thing they’re doing, and “Bad” at it. Festivals are a place to go and be free to be yourself, even if your a dumbass. It’s a place to burn of old patterns and habbits, and get feedback from those around you and learn how to be a better person. Those guys probably were… Read more »
I know festival culture is not perfect, and I agree that there is room to evolve. I personally would like to see a lot less raging and consuming and more focus on sustainability and consciousness. I am sorry this was your experience and I commend you for speaking your truth and advocating for something better. However I do have one question: When can we break down these cultural barriers and be able to authentically express ourselves as part of the diverse human culture without being seen as cultural appropriation? I am Persian and Filipino but I by no means limit… Read more »
Hey honey, Sorry you had such a bad time and that those guys were jerks to you and that it left a “bad taste in your mouth”! Please know that not all festivals are like this and with all due respect I find it unfair to base the whole festival off of some rude guys’ comments, although that is unfortunate and I would be mad too. Also, perhaps in the short time you were there (4 hours) you were unable to see that there were a diverse variety of people there from many cultures. This was my first year at… Read more »
WOW what an ignorant and poorly written article. Her basic racists assumptions are gross and disgusting and put on display the author’s obvious lack of thoughtful discussion. Its a shame the nexus prints such mindless dribble. They should retract the article and offer and apology.
“Whiteness is a culture of cultural appropriation, white supremacy and modern racism.” STUPID AND IGNORANT
Horrible and shows the low standards of the Nexus
You know who else from Santa Barbara thought women who disagreed with him were stupid and ignorant? This Guy
Don’t be like this guy. I’d rather be represented by or resemble a disappointed feminist POC than an angry, entitled murderer.
a comment of the lowest type. wow Its not women its this young girl who obviously has a lot of learning and growing to do. Her comments are stupid and display ignorance of the hypocrisy her own argument displays.
In a comment section filled with the some extremely ugly racist and sexist rants you single out NICK’s civil reminder of where this sort of thing can lead as “a comment of the lowest type”? Wow. Just wow.
Sorry about your experience. I’ve never been to Lucidity, but many of my best friends were there, many of them people of color and grace. I wish you’d ran into them as I can guarantee none of them would have treated you as thoughtlessly as those you ran into. Many of the comments on this article are almost as lame as those she experienced at the event. Guys, you’re proving her point! While I agree with the sentiment that one shouldn’t dismiss an entire event or culture for the words and poorly chosen dance moves of a few obnoxious d-bags,… Read more »
This is the link I was trying to share
I think many of the commentators on your blog should read this before they post more defensive harassment to people sharing their experiences…
I am a white, cis female that has been attending music and awareness festivals for some ten years now. I feel very fortunate to have attended these gatherings all over Canada. Your article made me think of the culture of these events differently, which I thank you for. I aim to be more critical of the environment of these types of places and to watch for these micro aggressions you discussed, from myself and other attendees. You are right when you say these festivals are white, at least the majority of ones I’ve attended certainly are. I’m sorry those two… Read more »
I’m sorry about those douchebag kids. But no need to reflect your emotions about their douchiness, onto an entire race. I mean seriously, “Whiteness is a culture of cultural appropriation, white supremacy and modern racism.”… So is blackness the same as black supremecy?? No because that’s the most racist and condescending fucking term ever and so is whiteness (in context of racism). The white race has done much injustice in this world but you cannot generalize a whole culture and people around that, that is just racism as well. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Let’s not… Read more »
“The white race has done much injustice in this world”
stop dude. just stop. it will never be enough. the technology, infrastructure, medicine, science and inherent rights we all enjoy were created by “whites”. millions of us fought and died for other’s rights and freedom. everything oppressive was met three-fold with kindness. even to our own detriment. apology time is over.
Right? Like every other race hasn’t waged war, enslaved, and committed atrocities? Anyone ever hear of Genghis Khan? This is some serious nonsense.
I’m surprised that with a psych minor, the author would seem to be unaware of the cognitive bias of general attribution error. Basically, it is where one applies characteristics of one or more members of a group, as characteristic of the group as a whole. Getting a complete picture of a group of 4,000 people is impossible in three days time, much less four hours. How many workshop leaders could she have seen in four hours time? I’m disappointed that the Daily Nexus opinion editor would ignore this obvious shortcoming in this op-ed. I too have questioned what appears to… Read more »
http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/22/nyt-on-the-zenith-of-trigger-warning-par
I’ve been going to lucidity for the past 3 years, and I’m deeply sorry you didn’t get the expertise you deserved, but it seems you only gave it 4 hours and not much of an open mind? Unfortunately, I have to agree with a few points you have made as even I’ve notice as the popularity of the festival grows the quality of the intentions of the attendants has gone down hill. Those two you met, for lack of a better word, we’re complete douches. That is not an accurate representation of who attends these festivals. I’ve met nothing but… Read more »
Well, you’re entitled to your opinion… So there’s that. Here’s my opinion. This article is so misinformed it makes me laugh. I’m a Persian female and felt so included, so incited, and so apart of Lucidity. Why are you searching for people of color??? Is that necessary for you to feel included? Oh and by the way, different ethnicities were represented everywhere. Did you go to the opening or closing ceremonies held by Native American, African or Mayan eleders? I did and we all participated, held hand, and did a vortex dance. Did you attend even one of the hundreds… Read more »
I’m sorry, WHAT? Why was this article even published? Where is your editor? This is so awful. You’re so privileged and entitled that you think a festival thrown in a primarily white area should what – suddenly turn non-white? And that white people celebrating other people’s cultures is a bad thing? You know what, whatever. You obviously came there with a bad attitude and some sort of cultural marxist agenda. Lucidity has one overarching rule: you get out what you put in. What did YOU contribute to the festival? Did you just want to show up and be a “goddess”… Read more »
>whiteness is not a crime
Well, not yet
For being so ready to takedown a scene you are new to, you haven’t done a lot to substantiate your claims of rampant appropriation (“I see whiteness everywhere…” Yes, honey, you’re in Santa Barbara.) You had a bad experience with some douchebags, and that sucks. A lot. When you open your doors to everyone, sometimes unsavory people walk through them, and because we welcome all strangers there’s not a lot we can do about that (until they show their true colors.) Unfortunately, you used that single encounter as a platform to launch a critique of a culture you have not… Read more »
one of the best replies i ever read.
awesome comment. thank you a lot for it.
and now we should collectively stop giving this brat a platform to spew her vitriolic sexist and racist worldviews
“…When I use the term “conscious people,” I mean people who are empathetic …” Empathy seems a multi-directional street, when open, the relatable experience flows between, from one to another >>> one directional, empathy flows between each other, omnidirectional from and to become less meaningful. exercise empathy. consider, starting from the seat of your own foot paths, bear empathy out on the whole of the situation from your heart, with you stance, from where you are. In 4 hours, you had your experience, in that expanse of time was reflected to you many considerations for growth. start with your innermost… Read more »
“Your superior, racist, entitled attitude and aggressive verbal harassment perpetuates a cycle of hate.” You should really look in a mirror and take your own advice. Because one white person made a stupid harmless comment to you, all white people are assholes? The fact that your generalizing a group of people is racist in itself. Second, if a European person went to Persia and got mad because there wasn’t more Europeans and expected everyone their to accommodate him, is that not definition of entitlement? Its unfair to expect the majority of people adapt to you instead of adapting to the… Read more »
CliffsNotes for the above comment: White guy attempts to invalidate womxn of color’s feelings, tells her she should seek professional help for voicing her opinion, and talks about going to Persia. Wow.
CliffsNotes for the above comment: Whxte bxtch repeats things shx learned in femst 20. Err 2x.
That is hateful and unnecessary. Earth can be a living paradise or a living hell. take your pick.
It was totally necessary.
You know, after thinking about this for several hours, I want to address you personally in the spirit of love which lucidity brings: come back next year for the full three days and I will buy you dinner every night. We don’t need to hang out any more than you want, outside of getting you fed. As much as your article makes me angry, deep down really I just wish you had a great time and I think that’s what everyone else here wishes. How abouts the Lucidity treat this misinformed author to an absolutely amazing experience next year? Who’s… Read more »
Lucidity family*
missed a word there ^.^
disgusting racist, sexist scum. please stay away from the public with your toxic personality and stop complaining about cultural apropriation while using technology that was entirely developed by white men.stupd btchi
This is exactly the reaction I had when I read this. This lady is more racist than any white people I know. And she won’t write “men” in “women”
What a nutcase! I am a woman and I have never once cared that the word “man” is in “woman”
This lady is just some overly sensitive feminist that expects the world to tend to her.
STFU lady and don’t live in Santa Barbara if you hate us so much!
lol drowning in your white tears
It must feel bad to to finally realize that everything that you overpaid to learn about in university is an absolute farce. Multiculturalism only dilutes and bastardizes the cultures it claims to advocate. The fact that you think there is something wrong with the, for the time being, white majority trying to sample and understand different cultures only proves that you are the racist. As a proud POC that hates cultural appropriation you should abstain from such things as modern electronics, mechanized transportation, medicine, democratic government, even anything with a wheel. It should be easy to survive without the advances… Read more »
You do realize that a lot of our modern ideas/inventions are inspired by ideas from the middle east and Asian countries. Our did you think an American invented the wheel? It’s pretty basic elementary education and common knowledge.
yoooo…why is everyone jumping on this lady from a place of ego?! She is stating how she feels and what she observed. It’s her first festival and did not feel welcome. Maybe a lot of you need to put yourself in a person of color’s shoes for once…
or maybe she needs to grow a pair and stop expecting the world to cater to her stupid first year womens studies sjw opinions
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sorry so many failed to actually connect any dots to what you said and instead got offended. Obviously, they are further examples of the type of ignorance which is prevalent at the “transformative” festivals. I’ve attended several over the years and have found them far less radical than they seem to think they are. I can understand your hesitance to try them again and especially your reluctance to attempt to right the very skewed version of “consciousness” at these events. It’s an uphill battle. I would like to add that there are… Read more »
You know, you could always just go back to whichever second- or third-world nation you’ve originated from. Then you wouldn’t be burdened with having so many eeeeevil white people around you.
I’m sure your kin folk would be glad to have you back. You could work on changing your own culture, which I’m sure is way more eeeevil and backwards than ours. (Assuming that’s even possible.)
Your motherland is calling! Are you brave enough to answer?
@ Lol: What country are your ancestors from?
Lucidity is NOT racist. I camped next to people of all races. And this article is complete Bullshit. Hollywood is racist, they don’t even let persians into the clubs because of the way they act. & I know this for a fact because I used to promote clubs in Hollywood. Maybe there is a lack of persians at conscious festivals because the ones here in America are mostly not spiritual/concious people?? I think spiritual people can recognize other spiritual people, it doesn’t matter what their skin color is but the energy they put out. And this chick sounds just like… Read more »
This was my third year attending Lucidity. I have been a core builder with them since the first year. I also identify as a latino, although i possess the skin color of a white-dude. regarding Leilani’s criticism. i’d like to acknowledge that there is an awful lot of cultural appropriating happening across the board in all sectors of festival culture, not exclusively at lucidity, even more pervasively throughout the midwest and east coasts. in my honest opinion, lucidity may be one of the more sensitive festivals out there (as a person who typically does 5-10/year, i’ve seen enough disgusting displays… Read more »
You rock, Leilani. Keep doing you and fuck the haters! The people who fight back the most are the ones who are least likely to actually want to engage you (ie the filth that is most of the comments of this article) but your article reached a lot of people who agreed with it and appreciate you for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
Wow. The author is being just as racist by composing such a hateful article. One shouldn’t take the remarks from two ignorant individuals and then assume everyone at the festival is the same way. I am a woman of color and I can empathize with the author’s perspective- I’m genuinely upset those guys stereotyped her and made inappropriate/racist comments that ultimately made her feel uncomfortable in her own skin. But rather than sit and passively write an article bashing a festival, the author needs to call them out! Someone needs to tell them: “well that’s fucking ignorant” & call them… Read more »
I’ve got a feeling that the author probably stopped reading the comments at this point, if she ever did at all. So there’s really no point in the rest of you expressing your hatred for her anymore. Let it end.
I think the author hit the nail on the head. After reading this article, I went to the Lucidity web site to get a idea of what this festival was about. I got the impression that it was yet another festival that was fashioned after the bigoted western romantic notions of other cultures; following the path of macro plunder of the resources and then the micro plunder the cultures of ‘people of a lesser god’. Organizer of such events understand full well that they catering to a bunch of people who grew up in the culture of ‘instant gratification’. If… Read more »
I don’t think Lucidity is trying to imply that visiting their festival will offer anyone “enlightenment.” It’s meant to be a creative space. Festivals are what you make of them, I think your expectations may be a little too high in this instance.
You wrote in your article that you didn’t find any of the activities amusing. I understand where your frustrations are coming from, but you really didn’t find ANY of the activities amusing? If the countless musicians and art galleries and aerial silk dancers and fire eaters and interactive installations and glowing lights didn’t appeal to you, then honey, you shouldn’t be going to festivals!
P.S. You expected people to react to your costume as a “deep universe of internal colors” rather than an outfit? Those are some high expectations!
This is a sad take on what is meant to be a beautiful experience. While I do honor your experience and your expression of your experience, I would urge you to try and understand how you are simply expressing your experience, not the ultimate reality of the situation. Lucidity or me is a chance to come together with brothers and sisters who are like minded, hence the name of this years festival “Kindred Quest”, and plant good seeds for the future… Yet here in your article it seems that you found a couple of bad seeds and generalized the whole… Read more »
I would also urge you to see how your take on the experience is a perpetuation of past hurt/negativity.
We strive to manifest heaven on Earth.
You have to step out of your wall of spite, and let go of all this judgement, to see the beauty that we aim for… and to forgive when our brothers and sisters fall short.
Peace and Love sister
Another point I’d like to address is your concern over the lack of POC and non-white leaders/elders. Did you attend the opening or closing ceremony? If you had then you would have noted the ethnically diverse elders we have leading us with wisdom. My two favorite elders are POC, one is Native American, and the other is African. Very beautiful and wise leaders that I strive to be like. Also, how can you be so sure that you were surrounded by white people when many there are mixed race, yet look white, but primarily identify with their caucasian background? I’d… Read more »
AN EDIT TO MY LAST COMMENT
*Also, how can you be so sure that you were surrounded by white people when many there are many mixed race individuals who look white, yet identify primarily with their colored background?
I’d say that this ia a huge ASSumption on your part.
So let me get this straight… you went to one singular festival for a handful of hours and then overgeneralized an entire population of festival-goes based on one negative interaction with some ignorant males? That’s sounds fair.
Take your complaints to the BBB
Hi. I want to express solidarity with the author. I am an Indian-American man and I cannot any longer attend any yoga classes in Santa Barbara for this reason, too. At a yoga class at Divinitree not too long back, the teacher said “devote yourself to shiva, like the dalits, the most despised people in india, whose devotion alleviates their suffering.” Of course this is tantamount to saying slavery was ok because black folks are now making jazz and hip-hop. Dalits make up 800 million people in India and their suffering is socioeconomic, not something that is owed to the… Read more »
So someone who maybe doesn’t understand the racial components and complexities of the Indian/Hindu caste system, uses an example of devotion to alleviate suffering. To you this means that this person (who is voluntarily teaching a Hindu practice) is racist? And wants to genocide people of color? And that sounds reasonable to you in your own head?
Your a straight up racist – what ignorant garbage this article is. Colleges are producing the worst human beings in the country. I wouldn’t want you at any party – you’d just find a way to bitch and moan about something. Shame on this website for publishing racist trash.
You are mentally ill. Please don’t let anyone know what you think of anything ever again. No one cares.
I just want to commend Leilani Leila Rahani & the courage to share this wonderful and powerful analysis about the (re)production of racism, misogyny, class and xenophobia (inter-sectionality). Why some commenters have determined right to tell the author who about identity, how to feel, or that cannot have a valid epistemological approach is violent. It also comes from a place of social structures with privilege: it’s racist, misogynistic, and substantiates the point of culture appropriation, microaggressions, and maintaining white supremacy. (This poster is white). Since some of you are unwilling to engage with the complexities and nuances of the analysis… Read more »
Can I get credit for SOC 1 for reading this whole comment?
same.
you do realize it’s ok to swear right? Because your censoring is very distracting.
“Why the bleep am I here?”
We’re all adults here. Just say “fuck”.
I understanding this article’s critique and agree with a lot of its points about cultural appropriation. However, I think it should have been written by someone a little more… intelligent. Because it reads like it was written by some feminist-wanna-be recycling jargon they heard from a blog post. Try to be a little more original, and tone down the lingua franca you regurgitated from your sociology professor.
i think this article was already written before you went to the festival. i think this is currently your stance in this society and as such you will continually make this point everywhere you go. i think you went to this festival TO write this article. i read someone’s comment that really liked your article and they mentioned University and Sociology. that’s the first thing i thought when i read the article – a student learning these new theories, intrigued and compelled and must immediately get out and use them – and overuse them. i’m a musician and when i… Read more »
Hello! This is my first time responding to any of the comments/ writing a comment. I am the author. I am not a sociology student nor have I ever taken a Sociology class. I went with my best friend looking to have a beautiful experience. Thank you so much for your love and support. Hope to see you around sometime.