Hello! Welcome to COTL, a discussion place for BIPOC. Posted the first 3 Wednesdays of the month
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- We ask that only those who identify as people of color participate in this discussion. White Avocados, while valued members of this community, should remain in ‘lurk’ mode.
- Shaming and hateful speech are unacceptable.
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- Nobody on this thread is more or less a person of color than anyone else. (We will not set clearly delineated boundaries on who qualifies as a ‘person of color.’ As a starting point, this thread uses the definition of ‘non-European heritage of sufficient prominence to affect one’s navigation of a society built on white normativity.’ However, we recognize that there are identities which skirt either side of the divide. If people feel that they meaningfully experience the identity of being a person of color, then they are welcome to participate.)
Given the nature of some of the topics discussed, I’m wondering if it’s worth broadening the participation of this thread this week? Both as an appreciation of Graham, but also to discuss other sensitive topics (such as my/our friend). I’m thinking perhaps we could do the women’s+ thread style response where (if people here are okay with it?) we can can allow non-BIPOC commentators to respond in a Graham Appreciation subthread? Where we use a + in our comments to indicate whether we’re okay with non-bipoc avocado commentors either upvoting (or ++ to comment in response)? Obviously I’d prefer to keep this place open & available to BIPOC commentors first & foremost, but given the topic (this week) out of respect for those who’ve left us… I dunno 🤷🏾♀️. Perhaps I should have gotten a mod involved or asked y’all prior. I’d appreciate any feedback.
As some of you may be aware by now the Canadian Native/First Nations actor Graham Greene died on Monday in Toronto, after a battle with a long illness. He was 73. R.I.P.
Thanks to @CombaticusRedux for highlighting the passing & calling out how important it is to reminisce & connect with community & not to do so alone:
I hate mourning in solitude due to my disconnect from home & it’s great to have this community to cry in front of & reminisce about why we care about those who meant something to us.
It’s remarkable how much this has been true for me too lately & to that sentiment, I think I need to disclose that I’ve been struggling with a recent loss of a surprisingly dear friend from the avocado, who I believe died last month. At least she told me she had end stage Pancreatic cancer & that she wouldn’t be around for giftmas1her last message was over a month ago now & it was to say she “wouldn’t be around next week 😔.”. I’m not sure how much I should say as she didn’t want to make a big deal of it (& I didn’t want to tell others as it wasn’t her wish), but It’s been fairly difficult to deal with & I’ll probably talk about it in more detail in the comments. It’s just hard to process & this being somewhere I like to think of as my community of sorts… I dunno 🤷🏾♀️.
All that being said, this is a thread for BIPOC people to talk about anything that ails them, so feel free to go off topic & talk about anything.2Originally I wanted to talk about (& may still post about it in the comments) the real push with anti-migrant & essentially racist ideology (the ol’ brown paperbag test is kicking in to full operation by the looks of it) occuring in the UK recently & of course the US (with ICE), but perhaps the general trend through out the West.
Prompt: how do you remember the late great Graham Greene.
From his roles in Dances With Wolves (which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), to his other notable films including Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile, Skins, Transamerica, Casino Jack, Winter’s Tale, The Shack and Wind River. To his recent TV roles in Echo, The Last of Us & Reservation Dogs (all of which I’d seen).