Immersive Experiences During COVID
Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings, hosts of The Nod podcast
Once you’ve been on an allyship journey, you’ll come to a point in your development where you’re ready to truly de-center yourself and your own experiences, and to immerse yourself in a culture that isn’t your own.
Resmaa Menakem encourages white people to go to Black grocery stores and churches. Queer dancers encourage straight people to come to house balls. Sometimes an immersive experience is a way to provoke your own physical response to being a minority; other times it’s an opportunity to be a “fly on the wall” in another’s culture.
If you are a person with mainstream identities, it is vital to see what other cultures are like when they aren’t performing for you. Here are some examples of media you can experience during lockdown. This practice is also beneficial outside of a lockdown situation, because they don’t require that a community of people be subjected to your “learning experience” and possibly feeling like an experiment or like they are “on display” while simply shopping, performing, or worshipping.
BIPOC Media:
The Nod Podcast: The Nod tells the stories of Black life that don't get told anywhere else, from an explanation of how purple drink became associated with Black culture to the story of how an interracial drag troupe traveled the nation in the 1940s. The Nod features conversations that only happen within community— discussions about common microaggressions, sexism in Afro-centric educational systems, rarely discussed Black historical figures, and so so so much more.
There Will Be No Miracles Here: Casey Gerald’s memoir turns the “rags to riches” trope on its head, deftly destroying the notion that success can be measured in terms of money made or power acquired. This book is rich, poetic, raw, and complex; I recommend it for anyone hoping to decenter themselves in the fight for Black liberation.
LGBTQ+ Media:
Disclosure: Trans Lives On Screen
The Death & Life Of Marsha P. Johnson
We've Been AroundThe Library: Season 1
Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine
Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall
General LGBTQ+ Resources:
Frameline (films and also Youth in Motion curricula/discussion sets)
GLAAD (LGBTQ Media)
Trevor Project ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
GLSENNCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights)
Global Communities:
The Gift is a fascinating adventure-mystery created in Turkey. It weaves Turkish mythology/creation stories into a modern tale about an artist who find herself tied up in a centuries-old fight against good and evil. When you watch the series, pay particular attention to the ways that gender, gender expression, power, emotion, history, and Islamic culture impacts the story. Notice how the culture is different from yours. Listen to how the characters greet each other, how their language sounds in the air, and map what you notice on a mental “cultural iceberg” as you go.
