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| Eyo Olokun masquerades at the Eyo Festival in Lagos, Nigeria |
For the last several years, and with no particular purpose other than a desire to meander through reflection, I have taken the period between Christmas and New Years Eve to produce a s summary of the slice of the year to which I paid attention through epigrams and aphorisms. It follows an end of year tradition I started in 2016 (for those see here), 2017 (for these see here), 2018 (for those see here), 2019 (for those see here); and 2020 (for those see here).
At the start of this year I noted, in passing on the Annual Oracle of the Ifa practitioners of Cuba, that this was to be the year of Olokun (The Orishas Speak: The 2021 Letter of the Yoruba Association of Cuba (Letra del Año para el 2021 de la Asociación Yoruba de Cuba) and My Preliminary Interpretation).
Olokun is effectively ungendered, or multi-gendered--Olokun is male or female or male-female, or not male or female or male-female. Olokun "is." He can be revered as the head of all of the manifestations of divinity connected with water and is thought to guard vast wealth at the bottom of the seas where Olokun takes residence. But that is the essence of Olokun--dark, submerged, the holder of treasure, androgynous or gender multiple. The Patakis speak to Olukun's sense of mutual respect but also of his temper in the face of affront.
"Awa ntoro ilosiwaju lowo Olokun" (We seek prosperity from Olokun); and this year it is not coming.
And, indeed, the year proved to be just that, a year of longing for things that could not be, of of rage for the things that had befallen. This was a year of submerged and violent temper, of the breaking of things, and people, and of the fluidity of people, places, things, and events. That rage proceeded from the top as well as form the bottom. It was a year of confinement--and of passion. It is the spirit of the oceans and the subconscious--and also the year that plague became institutionalized and its practices deeply embedded in the consciousness and practices of social ordering. That that produced rage--submerged for the most part, but rage all the same --chained and unchained, and of storms and tempests. But it was also a year of binding. Populations confined, economies bound, and for those willing to bear its chains, the great wealth of the oceans, expressed not just in the fabulously expensive boats of those who managed to profit through global confinement, but those as well who forge and maintain the chains that now bind those who produce their wealth (material wealth, as well as the wealth flowing to those weave the narratives that bind collectives). And around all of it--rage.
And it is in that spirit, the spirits of 2021, that the epigrams and aphorisms that follow are offered.
1. Individuals, like institutions, see themselves most clearly in the reflections of their critiques of others.
"A New York state judge on Friday ordered the New York Times to return internal documents to the conservative activist group Project Veritas, a restriction the newspaper said violates decades of First Amendment protections. . . . Project Veritas objected to a Nov. 11 Times article that drew from the legal memos and purported to reveal how the group worked with its lawyers to "gauge how far its deceptive reporting practices can go before running afoul of federal laws." . . . Libby Locke, a lawyer for Project Veritas, said in a statement that the New York Times’ behavior was "irregular," and that the ruling affirms that view. The New York Times has long forgotten the meaning of the journalism it claims to espouse, and has instead become a vehicle for the prosecution of a partisan political agenda," Locke said. Project Veritas has been engaged in defamation litigation against the New York Times since last year, when the newspaper published a piece calling the group's work "deceptive."Jan Wolfe, " Project Veritas has been engaged in defamation litigation against the New York Times since last year, when the newspaper published a piece calling the group's work "deceptive."( Judge orders New York Times to return Project Veritas internal memos"" New York Times (24 December 2021)).
2. Swimming on the surface of things can be dangerous; the surface is a border not an object, and like most borders can be breached with enough will and purpose.
"Authorities say a man on a boogie board has died after an apparent great white shark attack in Morro Bay on California's Central Coast on Friday. Harbor and Morro Bay police and fire crews were called to the beach around 10:30 am after the man's body was pulled from the water north of Atascadero Road. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name and age have not been released. Authorities say the bite marks are consistent with a great white shark. No one witnessed the attack, but the man's body was discovered on the beach sometime afterward. Investigators say the beaches and state parks areas remain open, but locals and visitors are to stay out of the water for the next 24 hours." (Boogie boarder killed in apparent great-white shark attack in Morro Bay, police say, ABC Eyewitness News Channel 7()24 December 2021 )
3. Rage is the common currency of the powerless; its expression suits the times.
As a journalist, you get used to certain stories – or certain types of stories – coming up again and again in the course of reporting on your specific “beat”. It’s no different on the travel patch. Pre-pandemic, there were a range of tropes that got stuck on a loop: strange emotional support animals on planes; airlines changing their luggage rules ad infinitum; popular destinations cracking down on overtourism. The pandemic flipped this kind of travel journalist’s bread-and-butter upside down – for great swathes of the last 20 months, most of us couldn’t go anywhere at all. . . But, as domestic and international travel tentatively began to open up, the grueling lockdown months gave way to a whole new phenomenon dominating the travel desk: mask rage. . . What was astonishing was the speed at which situations seemed to escalate, going from 0-100 in a matter of minutes. Alarming, too, was the sheer fury clearly exhibited by those involved – often in the US, it has to be said – at the idea that their personal liberties should be in any way encroached upon. . . More worryingly still, mask backlash on transport seemed to coincide with an uptick in episodes of passenger violence. Brawls – proper, full-on fights involving multiple travellers – became a much more regular occurrence. . . So I can only presume the unwarranted vitriol is purely on ideological grounds – that the irate travellers involved resent being told what to do by anybody for any reason. Which is, quite frankly, completely mad. (Harry Jones, "Brawls, boozing and bad behaviour: Did people forget how to behave on planes and public transport in 2021?" News Concerms (25 December 2021))
4. Society revolves around the human breast; it remains the most potent societal marker of possibility and of taboo.
A woman who took a Delta flight recently wasn’t kitten around when she whipped out her breasts and started feeding her hairless cat. The unidentified female flew from Syracuse, NY, to Atlanta, GA, where she was caught breastfeeding her feline on the plane. A flight attendant told her repeatedly to stop and put her cat back in its cage, however, the woman refused. A message was sent through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) to alert Delta crew in Atlanta that a passenger in seat 13A “is breastfeeding a cat and will not put cat back in its carrier when [flight attendant] requested.” . . . Flight attendant Ainsley Elizabeth, who was on board during the incident, took to TikTok on Nov. 13 to explain more of what went down, Newsweek reported. “This woman had one of those, like, hairless cats swaddled up in a blanket so it looked like a baby,” she said. “Her shirt was up and she was trying to get the cat to latch and she wouldn’t put the cat back in the carrier. And the cat was screaming for its life.” (Samantha Ibrahim, "Woman caught breastfeeding her hairless cat on a Delta flight," New York Post (2 December 2021)).
5. The state as auditor is the future of politics and the illusion of power; the future of power is the illusion of politics undertaken by those given dominion over the meaning and practice of that which is subject to audit. People, though, appear more satisfied with illusion, than with either politics or power--and thus the power of illusion.
The EU’s legislative proposal for a Sustainable Corporate Governance initiative, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence for EU businesses across their global value chains, and improved corporate accountability, was again expected this month – and was again delayed. With no clear indication when this much delayed document will be published, we the undersigned are uniting to ensure this essential legislation is not put on ice indefinitely. . . There is a chorus of support for this legislation – alongside 80% of citizens, workers, European governments, trade unions as well as responsible business and investors are all calling for effective legislation to introduce a level playing field for companies and rights protections for workers and communities across their full value chains. There is increasing consensus voluntary measures cannot bring about the necessary changes; Europe needs mandatory legislation now. . . We, the undersigned, call on President Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission to ensure this seriously concerning delay is used for positive impact: to ensure the proposal sets an ambitious standard of care and requires the widest possible range of businesses to reach it, while improving access to justice and remedy for those affected by corporate abuse. The key measure of success is tangible improvements for workers and communities. There is simply no time to lose. ("EU: Business & human rights experts & leaders issue joint statement to President von der Leyen & EU Commission on delay to Sustainable Corporate Governance initiative" Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (15 December 2021)).
6. Sometimes the garbage of the past can in the future bear fruit; historical landfills may yet save future civilization.
In ancient times, the region of Judea was known for its plump, delicious dates, which delighted the palates of classical writers like Pliny the Elder; in his sweeping natural history treatise, the Roman author marvels at the Judean date’s “unctuous juice” and “extremely sweet sort of wine-flavour like that of honey.” The palm trees that bore these tasty fruits eventually died out—but now, researchers in Israel have brought them back to life. As Alice Klein of New Scientist reports, a team led by Sarah Sallon of the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem has sprouted six new trees from the 2,000-year-old seeds of Judean date palms, discovered at various archaeological sites. The trees were once “grown in plantations around Jericho and the Dead Sea,” the researchers explain in Scientific Advances. By the 19th century, following years of warfare, “no traces of these historic plantations remained.”. . . “Our results reinforce the historical narrative that a highly sophisticated domestication culture existed in ancient Judea,” the researchers write. “Local farmers with an interest in maintaining genetic diversity in their date plantations ... used cross-breeding with foreign (genetically different) males to develop a rich collection of varieties.” This surprising experiment could prove useful to today’s date farmers, because introducing ancient genes to the modern genetic mix may help protect date palms against factors like climate change and pests. (Brigit Katz, "Scientists Grew Palm Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds," Science (7 February 2020); also "Extinct tree from the time of Jesus rises from the dead," BBC (21 June 2021)).
7. People can be trained like rats in a maze; for people the maze are social norms, and conformity produces cheese, the reward which we train ourseves to seek at virtually any cost. The real contest is for a spot as a rat who builds mazes and provides cheese--but that is itself a higher order maze.
Some of the same brain systems known to play a role in learning from trial and error also are engaged when people conform to social norms, scientists report in a new study. The findings are important, the researchers said, because changing one's behavior to align with one's peers can contribute to community-building or -- depending on the goals and values of the group -- societal breakdown. ("Brain mechanisms involved in learning also drive social conformity" Science Daily (21 December 2021)).
8. Art is object and meaning; its meaning is the object or in it; it is the objectification of its creator who is the art (the artist as art); it is an object of commerce; it is the currency of social value; it is the space within which such values are contested. But is the art the object or its meaning?
Thirty-seven years of history bear witness to and validate the importance of holding the 14th Havana Biennial - despite pandemics, blockades and boycott attempts – given the commitment to continue serving as a point of convergence for horizontal dialogue and open interaction among creators, curators, cultural leaders and intermediaries in the circulation of art from different latitudes. . . . Today attempts are being made to promote a boycott of our country’s most important contemporary art event; tomorrow any other festival could be the target, since what some are trying to destroy is the possibility for life to resume its course in our nation, the eminent artist stated. Attempts to prevent the 14th Havana Biennial from taking place are based on “an anti-cultural, exclusionary position, since asking artists to refrain from presenting their proposals, asking professional intellectuals not to express their opinions, is tantamount to censorship, to attacking anyone who wishes, of their own free will, to attend this event. To assume this position of coercion and restrictions not only for Cubans, but for personalities of other nationalities as well, would be to choose de facto complicity with the imperial powers attempting to silence the raised voices of the South," he insisted. . . . Efforts to deprive the public and artists of the festival have their toxic roots in 1984, when for the first time attacks were mounted against the Biennial. But not even in the most difficult times has its organization been renounced, because if anything distinguishes Cuba, it is our culture and persistent creativity. This is why the organizing team developed a special structure and conception of this14th edition, given the reality within and beyond the island. (Laura Mercedes Giráldez, "The right of art to exist," Granma (11 November 2021); also "Art-tivist Movement in Cuba: One Year and No Dialogue" (28 November 2021) ("It has been one year since nearly 300 artists and activists gathered and demonstrated for freedom of expression at the gates of the Ministry of Culture in Havana. Inspired by the peaceful and unprecedented protests of the San Isidro Movement, the artists called for artistic and personal freedoms in Cuba, and for the Cuban government to take part in a dialogue that would allow the Cuban people to have a voice in determining their own future. ")).
Pix Credit HERE
9. The easiest way to manage a herd, especially a herd of high status beings, is to appear to serendipitously select one for sacrifice; the rest of the herd is then easy to control--and eat when ne is hungry.
After Charles Lieber of Harvard University became the first academic convicted at trial under the Justice Department’s China Initiative, the former prosecutor who brought the case said the government should stop targeting researchers and focus on cases involving espionage and the theft of trade secrets. Andrew Lelling, the former US attorney for Massachusetts, said that the prosecution of about two dozen academics across the country as part of a crackdown launched by the Trump administration in 2018 was justified, but that the government needed to reassess its strategy moving forward after achieving “general deterrence among academic researchers.” “I think the government should contain its efforts with regard to trade secret theft and economic espionage, but step back from targeting researchers, step back from what we call research integrity cases,” Lelling said Wednesday, referring to omissions such as failures to fully disclose foreign affiliations on forms. (Shelley Murphy, "Harvard professor’s conviction brings scrutiny of China Initiative," Boston Globe (23 December 2021)).
10. Professional revolutionaries must be well fed and pampered; one cannot devote oneself to justice for others without first becoming one from whom justice may be begged.
For her first appearance at the Met gala, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to make a political statement. It was only right. And since she was at fashion’s glitziest night, surrounded by some of the most powerful and famous people in the world, what better medium to get her message out about taxing the rich than, well, to have it written in red on her dress? The Democratic socialist congresswoman wore a white gown by Brother Vellies, splashed with the political slogan across the back (the bottom curve of the C in “rich” nicely mirrored the tulle hem). “We can never get too comfortable in our seats at the table once they’ve been given,” Aurora James, founder and creative director of Brother Vellies and the founder of the 15 Percent Pledge says. “We must always continue to push ourselves, push our colleagues, push the culture, and push the country forward. Fashion is changing; America is changing. And as far as this theme goes, I think Alexandria and I are a great embodiment of the language fashion needs to consider adding to the general lexicon as we work towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and empowered future.” (Sarah Spellings, "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Sent a Message With Her First Met Gala Appearance," Vogue (16 September 2021)).
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