12/02/2025
The Choreography of Care
• • • •
Anthropologists from around the world are making their way back home from the American Anthropological Association’s annual conference, where this year’s meetings centered around Ghosts and hauntings.
The Afterwords: Rest & Rituals Worldwide, curated and guided by Amiyah King, is a rare immersive space that invites us to confront the realities of death. It is King’s deepest desire to normalize conversations around death-care by doing exactly that: putting the “afterwards” INTO words. From our legacy to the logistics, viewers learn that planning is a privilege and preparation begins with conversation.
Miss King conducted the exhibit from a position of lived experience. After navigating her father’s passing alone, she felt called to educate and support others professionally. I was honored to interview her and document her contribution. The reel accompanying this post captures what I believe to be the most poetic elements of curation—our hands. The choreography of care orchestrated by Amiyah was closure in motion and created intergenerational healing for a community that continues to be forgotten and erased.
That day, a brass band marched down Bourbon St. honoring victims from the Jan. 1st attack. The “dance for peace” juxtaposed to the quiet choreography of shrouding and the symbolic lowering of the body underscore a powerful truth illuminated by this year’s keynote speaker—in these troubled times our species needs more empathy, and contemporary anthropologists are leading the way.
Jason De León’s keynote address encapsulated ethnographic trends among scholars and students operating within a field undergoing major changes. Showcasing King’s exhibit as we reshape our roles and decolonize anthropology in the presence of digital platforms that are becoming increasingly integrated into the scholarly collective, not only can we track the transformation of our field in real time, we can disrupt the narratives dominating the places and spaces we occupy by curating new narratives. Not just in life and death historically, but personally as well.
The Choreography of Care
• • • •
Anthropologists from around the world are making their way back home from the American Anthropological Association’s annual conference, where this year’s meetings centered around Ghosts and hauntings.
The Afterwords: Rest & Rituals Worldwide, curated and guided by Amiyah King, is a rare immersive space that invites us to confront the realities of death. It is King’s deepest desire to normalize conversations around death-care by doing exactly that: putting the “afterwards” INTO words. From legacy to logistics, viewers learn that planning is a privilege and preparation begins with conversation.
Miss King conducted the exhibit from a position of lived experience. After navigating her father’s passing alone, she felt called to educate and support others professionally. I was honored to interview her and document her contribution. The reel accompanying this post captures what I believe to be the most poetic elements of curation—our hands. The choreography of care orchestrated by Amiyah embodied closure in motion and enabled intergenerational healing for a community that continues to be forgotten and erased.
That day, a brass band marched down Bourbon St. honoring victims from the Jan. 1st attack. The “dance for peace” juxtaposed to the quiet choreography of shrouding and the symbolic lowering of the body underscore a powerful truth illuminated by this year’s keynote speaker—in these troubled times our species needs more empathy, and contemporary anthropologists are leading the way.
Jason De León’s keynote address encapsulated ethnographic trends among scholars and students operating within a field undergoing major changes. Showcasing King’s exhibit as we reshape our roles and decolonize anthropology in the presence of digital platforms that are becoming increasingly integrated into the scholarly collective, not only can we track the transformation of our field in real time, we can disrupt the narratives dominating the places and spaces we occupy by curating new narratives. Not just in life and death historically, but personally as well.
#decolonizeanthropology
11/04/2025
En el quinto Día de los Mu***os desde la pandemia, encontramos a Blanca, residente de Corona, California, visitando la tumba de su esposo Chava, quien falleció a causa del COVID-19 en Noviembre del 2020.
Él estaba inmunocomprometido por el cáncer, y su entierro se retrasó en medio de la crisis sanitaria. Desde entonces, Blanca viene con flores del jardín que él sembraba, comida, y su mejor vestido tradicional.
Con raíces en Michoacán, México, Blanca y sus hijos decidieron enterrarlo en Estados Unidos para poder visitarlo frecuentemente. Honra su memoria y mantiene viva una costumbre que aprendió desde niña: hablar y celebrar con los mu***os no solo en ocasiones especiales, sino durante todo el año.
En su testimonio, comparte entre lágrimas cómo la fe, la música y el recuerdo se entrelazan en su forma de sanar.
🎥 Entrevista realizada por en el cementerio Sunnyslope de Corona, California, Día de los Mu***os 2025.
***os
En el quinto Día de los Mu***os desde la pandemia, encontramos a Blanca, residente de Corona, California, visitando la tumba de su esposo Chava, quien falleció a causa del COVID-19 en Noviembre del 2020.
Él estaba inmunocomprometido por el cáncer, y su entierro se retrasó en medio de la crisis sanitaria. Desde entonces, Blanca viene con comida, flores del jardín que él sembraba, y su mejor vestido tradicional.
Con raíces en Michoacán, México, Blanca y sus hijos decidieron enterrarlo en Estados Unidos para poder visitarlo frecuentemente. Honra su memoria y mantiene viva una costumbre que aprendió desde niña: hablar y celebrar con los mu***os no solo en ocasiones especiales, sino durante todo el año.
En su testimonio, comparte entre lágrimas cómo la fe, la música y el recuerdo se entrelazan en su forma de sanar.
🎥 Entrevista realizada por @CultureShockAnthropology en el cementerio Sunnyslope de Corona, California, Día de los Mu***os 2025.
#DíaDeLosMu***os #RiversideCounty #HistoriasDeMéxico #testimoniosreales #Corona #California #AmorEterno #DayoftheDead #Michoacan #Mexico
