by Vivek Shraya
i also felt it necessary to consider what it means to be given a platform to discuss racism while being a settler in canada, where indigenous people have faced and continue to face racial violence, and the dismissal of this violence.
as a small gesture of gratitude for living on indigenous land, the traditional territory of the mississaugas of new credit first nation, i am donating half of my author royalties for this book to the native youth sexual health network (nyshn), “an organization by and for indigenous youth that works across issues of sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice throughout the united states and canada.”
sources
my writing practice for this book consisted of consuming a lot of poetry. below is a list of books by black and indigenous authors, and authors of colour that were particularly inspiring:
the black unicorn: poems, audre lorde
citizen: an american lyric, claudia rankine
for your own good, leah horlick
kiyâm, naomi mcilwraith
seva, sharanpal ruprai
salt, nayyirah waheed
epigraph
ahmed, sara. “a phenomenology of whiteness.” feminist theory 8 no. 2 (2007): 149–68.
white dreams
koul, scaachi. “can tv make us not hate ourselves?” buzzfeed october 14, 2015.
indian
partly inspired by teddy syrette quoted in francis, margot. “from decolonizing the emotions to de-colonizing the nation … affective challenges in theatre re-membering indigenous claims to land in canada.” this is indian land, karl hele, ed., (winnipeg, mb: aboriginal issues press, 2016).
amiskwacîwâskahikan
spelling of amiskwacîwâskahikan (cree word for edmonton) from creedictionary.com.
yellowface
found poem based on michael derrick hudson (as yi-fen chou), “biography,” in the best american poetry 2015, lehmen, david, and sherman alexie, eds. (new york, ny: scribner, 2015).
what pride looked like june 24, 2015
based on events at lgbt pride reception at the white house on june 24, 2015.
#oscars2016
found poem based on comments in interviews made by charlotte rampling (the guardian), michael caine (bbc), julie delpy (the wrap), clint eastwood (tmz.com), and kristin stewart (variety)
poem alludes to #oscarssowhite, created by april reign (reignofapril.com).
54,216 signed petition to ban kanye west from playing pan am games closing ceremony
found poem based on comments on change.org petition “don’t have kanye west headline the closing ceremony for the toronto pan american games” july 2015.
miley, what’s good?
found poem based on coscarelli, joe. “miley cyrus on nicki minaj and hosting a ‘raw’ mtv video music awards.” the new york times august 27, 2015.
how to talk to a white person
gay, roxanne. “the charge to be fair: a conversation with ta-nehisi coates” barnes & noble review august 10, 2015.
a dog named lavender
diangelo, robin. “white fragility: why it’s so hard to talk to white people about racism.” the good men project april 9, 2015.
brown dreams
vaid-menon, alok. “confessional” returnthegayze.com july 15, 2015.
often brown feels like but
definition of “but” from google.
how to not disappoint you completely
title references radiohead song title “how to disappear completely.”
under the pink
titled after tori amos album under the pink.
thank you
brian lam & arsenal pulp press
(for believing in my work over and over again)
amber dawn
(for planting the idea of poetry)
shemeena shraya adam holman trisha yeo leah horlick maureen hynes farzana doctor katherine friesen karen campos castillo daniel zomparelli amy crowley margot francis shani mootoo george elliott clarke d’bi.young anitafrika rollie pemberton sara quin rae spoon dannielle owens-reid zoe todd rinaldo walcott kim katrin milan fonna seidu m mclean shane rhodes dani couture christopher nicholson amar wahab alejandro santiago oliver mcpartlin cynara geissler susan safyan robert ballantyne mom dad shamik
this project has been generously supported by the ontario arts council (through writers’ reserve grants from bookthug, dundurn press, mawenzi house, tightrope books, wolsak & wynn) and the toronto arts council.
grateful to the fearless indigenous and black women and women of colour forever on the frontlines of change.
white dreams single
with the purchase of even this page is white
you have access to download the accompanying single
white dreams
available at: vivekshraya.com/white-dreams-single
lyrics and vocals: vivek shraya
produced and mixed by james bunton
mastered by heather kirby
photo by alejandro santiago
artwork by karen campos castillo
other titles by vivek shraya:
God Loves Hair
She of the Mountains
What I Love about Being Queer
The Boy & the Bindi