From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2012 #1595 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe:mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Website:http://jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Wednesday, October 24 2012 Volume 2012 : Number 1595 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: The Only Black Man at the Party/Art Nouveau [Shari Eaton Subject: Re: The Only Black Man at the Party/Art Nouveau Curious how you're uncomfortable with Joni's relation to racism. > Knowing only what I've heard Joni utter about it, it has seemed to me to re-inforce the most banal racial tropes. Not sure what you're referring to... On Oct 24, 2012, at 1:35 PM, "David J. Phillips" wrote: > As both a joni fan and an academic occasionally reading and drawing from cultural and critical studies, i thought this was a *great* article. I have been uncomfortable with Joni's relation to race (and racism) for a long time, and I'm grateful for such a smart, graceful and fearless entree into the discussion. > > And I find Anita's comments spot on. > > More inline below.... > > On 24/10/12 13:4049, Anita G wrote: >> >> My main issue with the piece is that there seems an assumption that >> Joni gained an elite position through creating 'Art'. Statements like >> ... "I tell a story in which manipulations of perceived >> race and genre were crucial in securing an exception" imply that Joni >> has been 'successful' in tackling sexism through adopting the persona >> of Art, which made her an exception. I think that's another big leap. >> ...I wouldn't describe Joni as having been an exception to the >> music business' sexism at any stage of her career, she never beat the >> white rockers and she would be the first to say that the game hasn't >> changed. > > I can't presume to speak for the author, but I read the article to suggest that Art provided, or expressed, or carved out an iconic position for Joni herself to successfully occupy. I don't think that anyone can ague that the record biz (or Joni herself) said "Oh! Joni! I get it! She's a self-authorized sexual predator." But it gave her (and her art) a place to be and to work from, engaging the industry on its own (sexist, racist) terms, while removing herself from the position of white girl folk singer. > >> I was uncomfortable with the fairly contemptuous dismissal of the >> teachings of the Medicine Wheel. ... >> >> "In this racialized distribution of virtues, it would appear that >> only chiefs and artists, such as Mitchell, are able to obtain >> qualities from outside their own races store. Everyday people remain >> stuck with the gifts and limitations of their racial cohort." >> >> As someone who has benefitted from the Teachings and is neither a >> chief nor an artist I can say that this part strikes me as a >> particularly cheap shot not worthy of the essay and >> not very respectful to the Teachings. Everyone can benefit from >> learning from each other and being mindful of the planet. > > Thanks for this comment, Anita. I have always been troubled by the racialized aspects of the Wheel. Knowing only what I've heard Joni utter about it, it has seemed to me to re-inforce the most banal racial tropes. But then I love the I Ching, which is, on one level, about as sexist and classist as you can imagine. I don't have much trouble now translating that into something useful, so I'm glad to have another perspective on the Wheel. > > I also have been troubled by Joni's tacit (and sometimes explicit) insistence that she is at the center, or at all parts, of the Wheel, black and white and red and yellow. Her rejection of the tourist position implies that she is at home everywhere, which strikes me as, at its worst, privileged and colonialist. > > Thank you all; thanks Joni; thanks Miles Parks Grier! > > and Miles, if you're following this, know I tried to drop you email saying how much i enjoyed the piece, but i couldn't find an address for you at Duke or Queens or NYU. > > djp ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2012 #1595 ****************************** ------- To post messages to the list, sendtojoni@smoe.org. Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe -------