In the 90s, my father lived in Russia for work. Russia has a..
🕑 Added 2021-04-07 13:48:18 +0000 UTC
In the 90s, my father lived in Russia for work. Russia has always been in my peripheral. I think about their history a lot. I think about the stories I'd hear my dad and his coworkers tell when they'd come over from drinks. I think about the photos my dad brought home. From Trotsky, to Putin, and Pussy Riot. I can't keep Russia out of my mind. There's been a pressure building there for a long long time. Here in America too. I worry about fascism a lot. There's a particular story my dad told me: he saw an elderly man string fish that he caught in his window to dry, dad snapped a pic. It's not uncommon for apartments to house multigenerational families, and the elderly who could not work, did homely things, or would go fishing. Anyways, my dad snapped this picture, and the man started grabbing all his fish and closed his shutters, retreating to his apartment in fear. My dad explained to me how it wasn't always legal to fish, and how a good amount of produce is imported, and so it was expensive. What kind of state must you live in to feel that way about your photo being taken? I think about the KGB, and how Putin was an agent before he was president. To be spied on, to be criminalized for trying to survive. I hear the echo of that narrative in recent American politics, in things like the earn it act. America is not so different, and I think about what that *means*. Spies don't walk around with cameras as much these days, everything about a person is offered up online. Behavioral data. And yet, so many of us don't care. Putin makes people dissappear. He throws people in jฤil for being queer, anti fascist, Muslim, being a nosey reporter. When Pussy Riot comes on my radio, I can't help but think about that cultural narrative, and it's similarities with America over the past 5 yฤars. I believe Apolitical identities are illusory, because I don't see how anything can exist outside of politics. Every aspect of my body, my identity, is political. How could I do anything that isn't an extention of my political beliefs (and perhaps, political fears)? Music is political, art is political, even food.
I know for damn sure that what I do for a living is political. And even you consuming my content is political. If you haven't yet, please consider signing some petitions or writing your representatives. Tell them you support the decriminalization of sex work and to repeal fosta/sesta and the earn it act (and literally anything else you care about) . A few more years of legislation like that, or another trump presidency, and we might be indistinguishable from Russia. My bio link has some resources you can check out ๐
