Post B1TWHedDWlREoc063E by crankylinuxuser@infosec.exchange
(DIR) More posts by crankylinuxuser@infosec.exchange
(DIR) Post #B1TQifnyfm4mY5XAmm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T12:51:07Z
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Kwanzaa Facts1. Kwanzaa is a made up holiday.2. So is every other holiday.3. Anyone can celebrate Kwanzaa.4. It was created by Black, (mostly American and Christian*) people in the 1970s to celebrate Black history and the influence of African culture in the African diaspora and to assert the presence of Black people in US culture.5. Most Black Americans don't celebrate Kwanzaa. 6. It is not a holiday tied to any particular religion.
(DIR) Post #B1TR8fNorcySllh2oa by Remittancegirl@mstdn.social
2025-12-21T12:55:46Z
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@futurebird I really love Kwanzaa - it’s much more colourful than Christmas. Also, the red and green combo never appealed to me.
(DIR) Post #B1TRMtLrj5Tq97YwDo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T12:58:22Z
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7. Dr. Maulana Karenga wrote extensively about Kwanzaa but personally I feel saying he "invented Kwanzaa" misses some of the significance of the holiday. 8. It grows out of a long tradition of Black Americans seeking a connection to the homelands we cannot name. 9. It is a holiday about self improvement and personal growth and VERY anti-commercial.10. It's a time to ask if you are doing enough to support your community.I grew up celebrating Kwanzaa. So this is just my perspective.
(DIR) Post #B1TRWjUpDv6ATYRhsO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:00:07Z
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@Remittancegirl Well, you are still going to be stuck with red and green with Kwanzaa. Red Green and Black are the "colors."
(DIR) Post #B1TRXiKJ3dvh8azfRw by JoelBarr@mastodon.online
2025-12-21T13:00:09Z
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@futurebird good Kwanzaa to you!
(DIR) Post #B1TS3zcaI8Ve2jw1FQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:06:00Z
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11. The week from Christmas to New Years is a perfect "time of reflection" this is one of the most compelling aspects of the holiday. You are invited to spend a week reflecting on the year in seven ways:Umoja Community unity: eg agreeing on what the work is.Kujichagulia Self-determination to do the workUjima Doing your share of the work.Ujamaa Material local investment.Nia A shared vision of a better future.Kuumba Creativity, your differences and new ideas are valued.Imani Faith
(DIR) Post #B1TSfpJv2TWz6DFErQ by Nicovel0@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T13:12:48Z
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@futurebird I am pretty much completely ignorant of kwanzaa, apart from baffling (to me) references in some US shows. What language is the holiday name and reflection topics from?
(DIR) Post #B1TSieM6GKG1xebx3Y by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:13:31Z
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12. Kwanzaa is always mutating. 13. Holidays have always mutated and adapted. I think Kwanzaa is important. As a child I took all of that talk about self-determination and thinking carefully about how you can support the communities you are a part of very seriously and it has shaped the way that I face adversity and who I am.
(DIR) Post #B1TTrU6hpnaqjlBfpA by PeterLG@theblower.au
2025-12-21T13:26:11Z
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@futurebird @Remittancegirl
(DIR) Post #B1TUpueaGSV4Rbqchk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:37:13Z
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To understand Kwanzaa you need to think about what it would be like to be a Black parent raising kids in the US in the 60s and 70s. Your kids go nuts for Christmas and want gifts. Gimme gimme gimme! Then everyone gets drunk on New Years. How are these holidays as commercially pushed onto your family teaching any kind of good values?I think that is a big part of the appeal.(Of course there is another side to Christmas that isn't all Coca Cola Santa Claus and Black Friday fist fights.)
(DIR) Post #B1TUtfm5WfwnSM9PFY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:37:54Z
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@josh0 Yup. I'm feeling very excited about it this year.
(DIR) Post #B1TVUnaJS2KuOSLVUe by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:44:35Z
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In the 70s and 80s Black Americans had amassed enough economic power that advertisers stopped ignoring us. No mater what color your skin the money's still green. This mostly meant a proliferation of ads, especially billboards featuring a version of "Black Culture" filtered through an avaricious and distorted lens. In particular ads for cheap alcohol. Several Black pastors became famous and even got arrested for panting these billboards over.
(DIR) Post #B1TVZ8W1ZZk0T3PNei by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:45:24Z
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But it was that feeling of an outside force coming in and imposing an image of who you were that people rebelled against. Some people. Others embraced it. Culture is complex.
(DIR) Post #B1TVoDA2aEiVDdJWhU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:48:08Z
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I remember the first time I saw a little Black girl in a toy commercial. I ran to get my mother. "Look mom look!"It was a My Little Pony commercial and there was a very light-skinned little black girl with perfectly permed straight hair (why couldn't my hair do that) playing with the toys I loved. On TV!Consider the mixed feelings this would cause for any sensible parent. Yes. You want your child to feel like they are a part of the world. But what will the world take from them?
(DIR) Post #B1TVpDpfZYr5ahGeC8 by miturian@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T13:48:10Z
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@futurebird thank you for sharing, it sounds like a good thing :)
(DIR) Post #B1TVzkfIM9YeJcR5BQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:50:12Z
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@MonniauxD Yes. And that's a part of it too. Who gets to define us?
(DIR) Post #B1TWHedDWlREoc063E by crankylinuxuser@infosec.exchange
2025-12-21T13:53:21Z
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@futurebird #2 isn't entirely true.I'm a pagan, and follow the solstices and equinoxes. Those are celestial events that define the shortest day, longest day, and equal day/night across the whole earth.The solstices and equinoxes predate, well, biologic matter.
(DIR) Post #B1TWRt1wqbvsMuRncW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T13:55:18Z
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@crankylinuxuser Even the concepts of dawn and sunset are made up.
(DIR) Post #B1TWlYUSvO3ISMAHoG by raganwald@social.bau-ha.us
2025-12-21T13:58:46Z
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@futurebird
(DIR) Post #B1TWqovLFjFos7FLxg by Remittancegirl@mstdn.social
2025-12-21T13:59:46Z
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@futurebird Really, I thought it had more colours than that. I was once given a Kwanzaa candle ornament that was red and green and black, but also orange and yellow and purple too. Maybe it was just an outlier. 😂
(DIR) Post #B1TXLufNx44fewbplQ by pheelinwhitney@techhub.social
2025-12-21T14:05:22Z
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@futurebird Israel is probably involved
(DIR) Post #B1TXUxJpSZASUXq2YC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T14:07:03Z
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@pheelinwhitney I have no idea what you mean by this. But what I suspect you mean isn't good. However I won't make an assumption and will ask: What on earth are you talking about?
(DIR) Post #B1TXb2f8VNDannhsbQ by pheelinwhitney@techhub.social
2025-12-21T14:08:09Z
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@futurebird I mean they sow division in America who knows what they are capable of
(DIR) Post #B1TXyEbIHmZyUIy7G4 by Lazarou@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T14:12:18Z
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@futurebird I like the many different takes on the "Winter Festival around Solstice", it's flourishing of culture and family traditions. Very Human.
(DIR) Post #B1TY3bb8D3JPGESBjk by PizzaDemon@mastodon.online
2025-12-21T14:13:17Z
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@futurebird Ever since a wintertime Flying Karamazov show, I like to wish people a "Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Silly Solstice, and Bountiful Kwanzaa!"But it sounds like 'Bountiful' isn't quite the appropriate word. I mean, it's not a harvest festival.
(DIR) Post #B1TY9kFKy3GJoyBfA8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T14:14:26Z
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@pheelinwhitney False, racist and antisemitic. It's racist because it implies that Black Americans can't come up with any new ideas without being puppeted around. Antisemitic because it implies that there is a Jewish conspiracy to "sow division" It's just a needlessly ugly way to look at a holiday that is literally about unity. If you feel like Kwanzaa is divisive that's from YOU. Inspect why you think that. I've invited you to join the celebration. Just say "no thanks" if it bugs you.
(DIR) Post #B1TYPsReFlIBsjdcBc by Kierkegaanks@beige.party
2025-12-21T14:17:18Z
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@futurebird i like #6
(DIR) Post #B1TYTs7hOKgy2gDBWS by arisummerland@beige.party
2025-12-21T14:18:00Z
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@futurebird Thank you for this lovely look into this holiday! I was encouraged by inter-faith discussions (by various rabbis and others) earlier in the pandemic to join in lighting these candles and to study the meanings of the themes/words for the days, so I did light the candles for the first time in solidarity then. I think it was the year when all the holidays lined up one after each other --we had Hanukkah until the 23rd/24th, then Christmas, and then Kwanzaa. Lots of candlelighting! I was considering it again this year, too, and putting the candles in the same front window that I light my Hanukkiah, but I didn't want to appropriate. You've now inspired me to go ahead and do it though, and to study the words and meanings again, with this welcoming message. Thank you!
(DIR) Post #B1TYVFb3bRgJ8LbKaG by pheelinwhitney@techhub.social
2025-12-21T14:18:18Z
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@futurebird lowkey valid, just like thinking outloud, but I get what you mean
(DIR) Post #B1TYp67AZCDFW85LP6 by scott@sfba.social
2025-12-21T14:21:51Z
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@futurebird This is beautiful and so important. Thank you for sharing. ❤️
(DIR) Post #B1TYrKJKkxwM7oq0WW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T14:22:18Z
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@gaditb Kwanzaa has always been embedded in Christmas and New Years for me. So, you might go to a Christmas service, have Christmas dinner, see the nativity play (or better yet check out Black Nativity*) then spend that next week cleaning the house, doing repairs, helping neighbors and just getting ready for the new year. After a week of hard work and community service a New Year's party feel earned. The year is over and boy was it a lot of work! On to the next one!
(DIR) Post #B1TYz2sdRmCINj1wuW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T14:23:41Z
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@gaditb When I've been alone without anyone to celebrate with I'd do writing. One year I edited a Wikipedia article for each day to celebrate and that felt perfect. But that is just me.
(DIR) Post #B1TZDmf61qRyQPj2hc by MintSpies@beige.party
2025-12-21T14:26:19Z
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@futurebird This is fascinating - thank you for sharing.
(DIR) Post #B1TZEZT4ZKwnnJTdGS by gsuberland@chaos.social
2025-12-21T14:11:43Z
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@pheelinwhitney @futurebird what has this got to do with Kwanzaa?
(DIR) Post #B1TZEaoNZbaJxgSA76 by pheelinwhitney@techhub.social
2025-12-21T14:13:09Z
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@gsuberland @futurebird its almost like zionists want people to stop celebrating Christmas, i mean they hate it, they're the ones who made the old song White Christmas that started the trend of removing Jesus from Christmas
(DIR) Post #B1TZEbXOsDb6DJW7Hs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T14:26:23Z
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@pheelinwhitney @gsuberland Kwanzaa literally starts right after Christmas. For Christians who celebrate they holidays kind of amplify each other. It's never been a "replacement" for Christmas. The idea is kind of horrifying honestly.
(DIR) Post #B1TZwdoTm5NS0qVIvY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T14:34:25Z
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@gaditb As I understand it Hanukkah is a happy holiday that isn't as big of a deal as Passover for the Jewish people I know. But in the US it gets amplified for the reasons you describe. Kwanzaa is a bit different in that it grow out of that gap between Christmas and New Years ... which have always been popular holidays where seeing family was mandatory in Black communities. There are a LOT of Black New Year traditions. They are also both kind of holidays of excess, Kwanzaa is a contrast.
(DIR) Post #B1TZykPsCAX54T00GG by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T14:34:52Z
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@gaditb I'm speaking very generally, I hope that's obvious.
(DIR) Post #B1TaSSlAPG38zv81BY by mayintoronto@beige.party
2025-12-21T14:40:03Z
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@futurebird Work hard with and for our community. Like ants.
(DIR) Post #B1Tb4uPI3z57kRED4K by Feralhousewife@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T14:47:05Z
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@futurebird Thanks for the info! How would we go about learning how to celebrate it respectfully? My little LOVES all holidays
(DIR) Post #B1TbE3ti99Jhmyp0hk by nightdream@sfba.social
2025-12-21T14:48:48Z
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@futurebird 💔
(DIR) Post #B1TbFAHTtmjdsOSxCC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-21T14:48:56Z
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@gaditb "What are you doing for Kwanzaa?"Is something I might ask my family and friends who I know that celebrate. The answer is either some kind of community service, making donations OR it could be something like starting to exercise more, or studying a new language. That thing where you start the habit for your new year's resolution on the week before so you can keep going all year. What I remember most is cleaning the whole house and donating and repairing things.
(DIR) Post #B1TbhlbeiXMHkOXbIO by nightdream@sfba.social
2025-12-21T14:54:10Z
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@futurebird Years ago I had the opportunity to attend a community Kwanzaa celebration. It was powerful and moving. I think it would be a wonderful tradition to grow up with. Harambee!
(DIR) Post #B1TeGICgECbGbFRwTQ by skylark13@mastodon.gamedev.place
2025-12-21T15:22:47Z
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@futurebird Thank you for this thread. I am always interested to learn the origin and cultural significance of pretty much anything - holidays, events, idioms, words...I first learned of Kwanzaa when I watched "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" with my kids. I was raised on Sesame Street (it's part of the reason I speak English well even though I'm French Canadian / Québécois) but hadn't seen this particular special before. But it fits that Sesame Street would include it with other holidays.
(DIR) Post #B1TeyNnMncqYgSdKam by jztusk@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T15:30:46Z
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@futurebird Habari Gani! (Yeah, it's actually a question, but it's the closest I could find to wishing you well 🥴)A nice thing about this year is that we Jews are just winding down our candle lighting as y'all are starting yours up.
(DIR) Post #B1Tfy8h331uvng7qqG by conchoid@mastodon.gamedev.place
2025-12-21T15:41:56Z
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@futurebird @crankylinuxuser my whole life feels like a dream
(DIR) Post #B1TgdoHXKMsUeq3xpI by trainguyrom@techhub.social
2025-12-21T15:49:29Z
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@futurebird @crankylinuxuser I never realized how simultaneously meaningless and meaningful sunset was until I started doing evening bike rides for a year. Sunrise and sunset are a process that lasts about an hour at each end of the day, and every minute of that time has its own unique qualities as the world transitions between night and day. Its really magical to experience regularly and our modern built lives don't expose us to enough of nature's magic like that
(DIR) Post #B1TgihO4OB8oiqRxZo by laescude@mastodon.cr
2025-12-21T15:49:58Z
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@futurebird My niece’s name is Nia! It’s a beautiful meaning for a beautiful Black girl.
(DIR) Post #B1ThTuGUKNFUGwPjd2 by daliarezk@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T15:58:52Z
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@futurebird What is Kunza Festival?
(DIR) Post #B1ThsBXtjIQ4ol8ODA by daliarezk@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T16:03:16Z
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@futurebird I want to know more about these holidays, and I have a question: Was Christ really born in winter? Because in our belief, he was born in the hot summer.
(DIR) Post #B1TiQ56y9tqohwhZ4K by blue@bigshoulders.city
2025-12-21T16:09:18Z
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@futurebird thank you for sharing this. I've been having some complicated thoughts and feelings about community recently, maybe I should take this opportunity to learn more about Kwanzaa.
(DIR) Post #B1TkyLs2YRccRKBhgW by edgeworth@sfba.social
2025-12-21T16:38:00Z
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@futurebird @shauna Reminds me of the fascinating short film that Ebony's publishing company financed in the 1950s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYnvWQXxShY
(DIR) Post #B1TlGmXg83U8NAS58S by Guillotine_Jones@beige.party
2025-12-21T16:41:20Z
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@futurebird ...Things I did NOT know about Kwanzaa.
(DIR) Post #B1TodbsaEs5VpEo5iK by andrewault@twit.social
2025-12-21T17:19:04Z
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@futurebird I wish you a Happy Kwanzza!
(DIR) Post #B1TtBUXGRuYuiAFLOq by crankylinuxuser@infosec.exchange
2025-12-21T18:09:58Z
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@futurebird Scientifically speaking, thats false.And all life, from plants to animals do respond to night, dawn, day, dusk.To think humans are exempt is ignoring our place as fellow animals on this planet.
(DIR) Post #B1TzzPYpoo2RUFAT7w by markmetz@sfba.social
2025-12-21T19:26:16Z
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@futurebird Thank you for the informative thread, I really appreciate it!
(DIR) Post #B1UMOsqsFaVYYv9mwi by IveyJanette@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T23:37:20Z
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@futurebird I was in some of those commercials 60 years ago in LA as the token "ethnic kid". Even though none of the stores carried "Colored" dolls. We didn't even get an official Black Barbie until 1980. Before that,it was always her friends as the Black dolls.
(DIR) Post #B1UMW0e3foswlAYnKq by IveyJanette@mastodon.social
2025-12-21T23:38:41Z
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@futurebird I no longer celebrate Christmas because of the racism and commercialism. I celebrate Kwanzaa,even though most Black Americans refuse to do so.
(DIR) Post #B1UPxtPMTRaEHkfo12 by fuzzychef@m6n.io
2025-12-22T00:17:14Z
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@futurebird Thank you for that! I love to have the perspective of someone who celebrates it; I don't really know anyone else.What did your family eat to celebrate?
(DIR) Post #B1USsokoeKgqGXypGa by kimlockhartga@beige.party
2025-12-22T00:49:56Z
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@futurebird Those blaxploitation movies came around that time, too, if memory serves? Always felt disrespectfully caricaturish.
(DIR) Post #B1UUUreaPwQADVlwFU by fulanigirl@mstdn.social
2025-12-22T01:08:02Z
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@futurebird My children were raised on Kwanzaa values rather than Christmas. I was working two jobs at the time to feed and clothe them. I wasn't going to allow them to believe some white man with a beard cared enough to leave them presents. Nope...not a thing. We have some great memories of making Kwanzaa decorations and preparing for the 6th night when gifts were exchanged.
(DIR) Post #B1V17gCG92A0Vk4hYu by carl@chaos.social
2025-12-22T07:13:39Z
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@futurebird FUCK! Can the non-Blacks for ONCE just shut up and listen!This is not yours.R-E-S-P-E-C-T
(DIR) Post #B1VWMeP0CCuzrtebNA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-12-22T13:03:38Z
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@csolisr Did you see this part off my original post?
(DIR) Post #B1VmcP32eHT89EuoBE by vivasupeR@mastodon.social
2025-12-22T16:05:47Z
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@futurebird I would establish the holiday of the One.meaning that there are no colors or other somatic distinctionsactually there are two colorsbeautiful and uglyeveryone is of the beautiful colorexcept racistswho are of the ugly colortherefore we will celebrate the Twobut on which date?
(DIR) Post #B1Wx8VVRMnJK8y6bku by emag@strangeplace.me
2025-12-23T05:38:25Z
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@futurebird growing up as an innocent privileged white boy, I didn't really understand any of this. Now as a cranky privileged white middle-aged man, I'm asking why the fuck did it take so long to recognize this. Thank you for providing some perspective I previously lacked.
(DIR) Post #B1YJD7XcHs8lPogk3U by philip@mastodon.mallegolhansen.com
2025-12-23T21:20:24Z
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@futurebird Thank you for sharing.I see some similarities with my own experience of American Christmas, being raised in a Scandinavian culture where Jul (Yule) is a very different tradition.The consumerism, the self-centrism, all feels very gross and not at all what I connect the holiday with.