American politics has spiraled into a cauldron of populist spittle. Our fanatical infatuation with reality television has yielded a president steeped in a social media-facts be damned-two camera-cinema verite 3.0 spectacle of real life; and one that's a historical antithesis to any other POTUS. Just as Barack Obama said that he's not possible in any other country, so is it true of Donald Trump.
I mean, make not mistake about it; it's still a major stink in the air that's been wafting since the presidential election in November. The collective system is still in shock, and the bigots have suddenly come out of the woodwork, like a bunch of bandwagon Dallas Cowboys fans, feeling emboldened that a kindred spirit will soon call 1600 Pennsylvania avenue home.
But if Donald Trump's ascension to the White House kills your holiday spirit, then imagine what happens when he's not president-elect Trump, but actually the sitting president. So don't let nothing dead your vibe, and take some suggestions from this list to party this weekend with your "day ones" and maybe that new thing that's turning into a legit, boo thing. FYI, if you're going to holiday dump, do it now and do it in person. If you break up after December 10th, or do it via snapchat or tex message, then you're a complete savage.
So blow it off at these events this weekend:
Stuyvesant Indie Bazaar
376 Tompkins Ave, December 11th & 18th, 12pm-7pm (BedStuy)
Shop LOCAL, Shop HANDMADE. Shop this winter holiday at the 2016 StuyIndiBazaar with small community businesses & quality artisans in the recently opened Life Wellness Center. The Bazaar is currently a collaboration between Harriet's By Hekima, Black Girls Sew, INI Vibez, Coconut Baby, Khadija Hands Project and YOU. It's a workshop series that offers a full slate of programming each Sunday, with December 11th featuring Love Thyself, a cannabis workshop given by Saki from Tainted Love.
This Sunday December 11th is Self Care Sunday with #LoveThySelf Workshop Series
LoveThySelf has been a seasonal wellness festival and workshop series created this year by Khadija of the Khadija Hands Project and Saki of Tainted Love, LLC to bring information and tools of self-care and wellness to Brooklyn. LoveThySelf partnered with SIB to complete the year with its winter edition at the Stuyvesant Indi Bazaar. Workshops will include
1PM - 2PM Intro to Tropical Flower Essences with Arvolyn Hill of Gold Feather Hoops
$15 Entry can be purchased at https://www.goldfeathershop.com/product/intro-to-tropical-flower-essences
2PM - 3PM The Healing Paradox Workshop with Bless Roxwell of LifeBEam Energetics
https://thehealingparadox.brownpapertickets.com/
3PM - 4PM Cannabis in the New Era of Medical and Recreational Legal Acceptance: What does this mean for you, your teens and young adults? Saki from Tainted Love will break myths, share cold hard truths and foster a safe space for parents and their youth to have honest informative conversations about Cannabis in the 21st Century.
This is a FREE workshop for you and your teen or young adult or even if you're not a parent, there is great information here! (Donations are welcome!)
https://taintedparentyouthlove.eventbrite.com
It's a lot going on, from amazing vendors and workshops, to wellness sessions and practitioners. To get the full scope of the bazaar, you should visit the Facebook page by clicking here.
Throwback Friday, House Of Yes, 2 Wyckoff Avenue, 10pm, Free-$25 (Bushwick)
Nostalgia is big in Brooklyn and if you're feeling nostalgic for nostalgia...like you haven't been getting your proper amount of nostalgia in lately, and hence are in danger of losing your irony card and mural walled street cred, then this banger of an event is for you. It's House Of Yes, so expect a top shelf party, with throngs of people basking in the moment. This is from the Facebook Event page:
The best of the 80's, 90's or 2000s all in one night, all in one place, all mixed up- each room themed to throwback perfection- old school hits, bongs in the basement, regrettable fashion choices and fads that have come and gone and come back even harder.
Featuring:
90s aerobics workout (early!)
Best Friend's Basement- video games, pizza!
Nickelodeon
Throwback snacks
Hit up the FB event page for DJ Lineup and more info
FREE before 11pm with RSVP while supplies last
Presale guarantees entry ALL NIGHT !
Neighborhood Anti-Racist Defense-Training Session, Saturday Dec 10th, 5pm-9pm, The Base, 1302 Myrtle Avenue, Free (Bushwick)
The danger is real and so should be your efforts to protect yourself against the fascist, bigoted threats in these streets. Given by the Kuwasi Balloon Liberation School, a project dedicated to teaching forgotten history and politics to oppressed people in NYC, this training session could save your life. This is from the Facebook Event Page:
The Kuwasi Balagoon Liberation School presents: an intensive course to prepare groups and to be able to combat violent racists and ICE deportations in the coming months.
Red flags have been raised over Trump's announcement that he plans to immediately deport or detain millions of people. Even before a team of white nationalists descends on the white house, we have seen a massive increase in hate-based attacks and threatening graffiti across New York City. It is imperative that we take concrete steps to prepare people to defend their friends and neighbors.
We invite groups of friends and neighbors to attend this intensive course to receive the basics of anti-fascist tactics, tech security, and resisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). We will cover how to make a neighborhood unwelcoming to bigots, keep your organizing work secret, know-your-rights for dealing with ICE officials and how to create a sanctuary space.
After this training, you and your group will be ready to start the process of defending physical space in a strategic way. We will be holding an assembly of all the associated groups in January to plan future trainings, workshop any problems groups may have encountered, and strategize ways to build our network stronger.
Two trainings (both covering the same material) are scheduled for:
December 10th, 5-9pm
December 17th, 5-9pm
Ongoing Fight Trainings are held every Thursday and Sunday at 7pm, every other Monday at 7pm for women, trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming people and we encourage people to attend them to build up physical confidence.
Visit the event page for any questions or to check out the discussion.
The Future Perfect, 5 Myles Gallery, 558 St. James Place, Saturday, 7pm, Free (Crown Heights)
The future can be a scary place. In fact, we are in yesterday's future and look how sinister and threatening it feels! A theatrical performance about the future would be so clutch right now, and because it's Brooklyn, it's one happening this weekend. From the Facebook Event Page:
The Future Perfect is a mendbending, heartrending exploration of what happens when life doesn't go as planned. Two researchers from the year 2152 utilize newly developed time travel technology to study the humans of 45,000 BC. But when equipment failure strands them in the Paleolithic, cut off from everyone and everything they once knew, scientific rules of conduct break down and the messiness of life explodes around them.
This "Alpha Version" of the play will be the result of an intensive two-week workshop incorporating research on the Paleolithic and speculation about the future into improvs, compositions, and discussions.
Created by Adam Scott Mazer, Dan Rogers, Bridget Alex, and the performers:
Jenna Horton
Benoît Johnson
Victoria Nassif
David Rudi Utter
Will there be a party afterwards? Why yes there will be! You can stick around, have drinks and chat with the creators and performers and totally nerd out about all things Future; not including the rapper that's always drinking lean.
