Culture Dose | What to Read, Watch and Listen to Now
Earth Month 2022 is upon us: and we’re going a little wide with our lens before talking about where we are at this point in the Anthropocene, where we are in our world, in our imagination, in our futuring. For more info about the celebration, history, ways to act during the month, go to the official site.
Read: The Amazon is A Woman
I read and reread and when it first came out sent to most people in our personal email. It’s a deep dive into the ongoing fight to save the Rain Forest by the brave women who live within. Their story is a reminder of what it takes and what’s at stake. Their courage sustains us all as a call to action. And here at No Kill, it’s no wonder that it’s women leading the fight to reclaim the natural ecology that allows the planet to not only survive but thrive against the horrific odds by the exploiters such as Bolsanaro who would damage everything precious and life affirming for that little bit more of power and privilege.
Watch: Princess Mononoke
During a time of war – we are speaking of the unrelenting war of destruction in the Amazon – go back and take a look at perhaps one of the best animated films by Japan’s master animator Hayao Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke.
Set at the dawn of the Iron Age, it is not about good and evil; rather it looks at some who live in harmony with nature and those who would tame and defeat it. A story of humans, animals, nature gods sorting out a new emerging order.
Well, here we are again, and trying to get it right: how to live in harmony. the story is complex, the animation beyond beautiful and well worth a revisit (or a first time look). Often it takes animation to set our minds free to imagine better possibilities. (available for $ on multiple platforms + HBO Max)
You can’t watch the movie without jumping over to the Ghibli Wiki Forest Spirits’ (Shishigami) website. The Kodama’s, the forest spirits, are signs the forests are healthy. Maybe just maybe the Kodama’s will return.
Listen: The Or Foundation No More Fast Fashion Lab on the Pre-Loved Podcast (Season 6 Episode 11)
And then take a listen to a specifically fashion related podcast: how the community in Kantamanto market have created a circular “no more fast fashion” lab. The connection to the Amazon fight all comes down to a Ghannan term, Kayayei, that means “she who carries the burden.” Or as Sammy Oteng who runs the new lab says, “to do this work with compassion you have to forgive the old you for the things you didn’t know or understand, and focus your energy on challenging the you that knows better now.” The interconnectedness of our actions are writ large and hopefully this podcast will inspire us all to live and forgive, to work this Earth Month and beyond for new systems thinking. Let us all “carry the burden” and carry it with joy living up to the challenges.
–KL Dunn
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