"Activism Has No Age Limit" #HandsUpWalkOut

As a young activist I met in Ferguson said, (paraphrase) "The schools should be closed and the kids should be out in the streets protesting. They aren't learning anything in school anyway and the real education is out here with us."

That seems to be an unintended consequence of state terror: people become politicized.  People all over the world are being moved to action because they see Ferguson where they live and they have reacted to the spark ignited in a small St. Louis suburb.  #FightBack #Solidarity

Report from KDSK.com and This Is The Movement newsletter:
"Activism Has No Age Limit On Tuesday morning, hundreds of students participated in an organized protest by walking out of their classes. The teens met and rallied in the school common area before walking out of the buildings and marching in protest."
http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/ferguson/2014/12/02/students-walkout-class-mike-brown/19782381/ 

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY - Students at all three high schools in the Ferguson-Florissant School District walked out of class Tuesday morning to protest the decision by the grand jury to not indict former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown.
Jana Short, a spokesperson for district, says at 8:15 a.m. approximately 300 to 400 students from McCluer and 150 to 200 students from McCluer North held peaceful demonstrations.

From @LSUReveilleNow

Short says students from McCluer North gathered on the high school's track and walked to the James J. Eagan Center across the street. She says police blocked traffic to make sure students crossed the road safely. A short time later they walked back to the school and most went back to class.
Approximately 200 McCluer students walked to McCluer North and gathered on the parking lot to continue demonstrating.  Short says the school district sent buses to McCluer North to bring McCluer students back to class. She says some students didn't want to get on the buses, so they walked back with teachers.

Around 10:45 a.m. approximately 150 to 200 students from McCluer South-Berkeley High School started demonstrating and walked out of the school at 11:15 a.m. Short says they walked north along South Florissant Road. They were picked up by school buses at the Walgreens and returned to school.


 

Macklemore's Apology to Kendrick Lamar Includes a Twinge of White Guilt

After winning the Best New Artist and Best Rap Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards, Macklemore felt that Kendrick Lamar was more deserving of the honor(s).  A feeling he took to social media to express:

This win came on the heels of a little controversy surrounding Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and their inclusion in the rap category.  The official rap committee of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences moved to have the duo excluded from the category citing their closer ties to pop rather than rap music.  The attempt was overruled by a general Grammy committee by an overwhelming majority vote.

I think it was big of  Macklemore to express what he feels to be the truth regarding who he felt deserved the industry accolades.  

However, I would say Macklemore's seeming guilt over personally having robbed Kendrick of the honor(s) is misplaced.  He, nor Kendrick, had a choice in the matter, and more importantly had no power to decide the outcome.  An individual artist isn't at fault; it's the structure of mainstream award bodies who recognize the more consumer-friendly persona (as defined by them) than shining the spotlight on the best talent in the selection period.
Siding with one artist or the other creates a false sense of blame as opposed to fans recognizing that the most impactful artist may never be the pop/ular choice (not a typo).

In the end, neither Kendrick Lamar nor Macklemore need the validation of a group whose interest seems not to be highlighting all artists and their unique contributions, regardless of their record deal status or social acceptability. Music fans make known the artists they feel and these true fans won't have their choices decided by prime-time glam expositions.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world..."While The World Watched Grammys; US Bombs Somalia"

The Right to Bear Arms and Be Violent - Where is the Line Drawn?

Most know by now that George Zimmerman has been arrested and released, again, this time for suspicion of domestic violence involving his legally owned firearm in Seminole County, Florida.  This time the alleged victim was his live-in girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, whom Zimmerman is accused of choking and holding a rifle to her head.

According to an article linked by Jet Magazine from the Associated Press, "Zimmerman has been charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. He also has been charged with battery and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors. An arraignment was set for Jan. 7."  He has been released on $9000 bond, has a electronic bracelet on his ankle, and has been ordered to stay away from his girlfriend, any firearms and ammo, and not to leave the state of Florida.

After he was acquitted of murder and manslaughter for the fatal shooting of 17 year old Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman and his ex-wife, Shellie Zimmerman, also got into a skirmish that turned physical.  This incident resulted in a 911 call where the former Mrs. Zimmerman claimed her husband was violent and had a gun.  Later, she would recant stating that he was unarmed.

As always, I have questions.  Primarily, at what point does a person who legally owns a gun have those rights suspended and even revoked when they repeatedly commit acts of violence with that gun?  This question is not about George Zimmerman specifically, but since he is in the public eye, he gives us the greatest example of the continual negative effects of wielding a legal firearm with impunity, applause, and support from a vocal segment of gun rights advocates and the judicial system.

I have my own take on gun control which is informed by my understanding of the ever-growing societal fetish of power, violence, and institutional racism & sexism.  Having said that, I am a person who is interested in one day responsibly owning a firearm and who has experience with shooting a gun.  Misconceptions and assumptions blocked.  

Another question I have is why have usually vocal gun advocates, both individuals and organizations, continued to remain silent about the gun rights of power minorities?  Where is the public, moral, and financial support from these people and organizations for victims like Renisha McBride and Jonathan Ferrell, and for those who have been viciously criminally prosecuted for defending themselves with their legal firearm like Michael Giles and Marissa Alexander?  

It seems Zimmerman is continuing to be bankrolled for his God-given American right to [trigger warning, pun intended] commit violent acts with his legal firearms via donations from people who champion either his cause or what he represents. 

But what is it that he represents?  The reinforcement of an image of white patriarchal gun rights?  The protection of an American Constitutional right that by law was denied to women, Blacks, Native Americans, and non-citizen laborers?  I am interested in continuing these discussions with friends who are gun rights advocates and with those to are in favor of more strict gun control.  It seems that all our lives depend on finding applicable answers to these questions. 

‘Captain Phillips’ Floats Classic Racist Stereotypes of Africans

The film Captain Phillips portrays Somalis in the racist tradition of depicting African people as subhuman, wild, and without nuance.  This racist portrayal of African people has a long history in the American film and media industry.

My first memory of seeing African people portrayed on television was in Bugs Bunny cartoons.  Africans were shown as short, barefoot, wearing grass skirts, having hair like a picaninny, large pale colored lips, bugged out eyes, and mostly saying things like ‘ooga booga.’  Movies did not do a better job of portraying African people. I remember watching the 1933 version of King Kong and the 1950s version of Tarzan and seeing Africans depicted as cowardly, weak, fat, slow, and made to bear striking resemblances to monkeys.

Fast-forwarding in time, when I was in high school, I read “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, which depicted Africans as child-like savages incapable of existing without the direction of white explorers. There was a constant message being sent to me through cartoons, movies, and books that characterized people from the African continent as not quite human.

This disturbing tradition continues in the film Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks. This movie depicts the real-life 2009 hijacking of an American cargo ship by Somali pirates.  Every racialized stereotype about African people is present: Africans in the film are perpetually frightened, erratic, naive, and the old-school fall back, savage.  These characterizations are what stood out to me as I suffered through this throwback to racist stereotyping.

The Phillips character is presented early on, albeit briefly, as a loving husband, a concerned father, and a dedicated employee.  Even though Captain Phillips may not be the most sympathetic character, he is still shown as a person who has a life apart from his job. He is shown as having complexity outside his primary role in the movie.  In contrast, the Somalis are immediately and consistently shown as warlike and almost feral.  There is no abbreviated back-story for the Somalis.  Their piracy is highlighted the first time they are shown in the movie, as if their present actions encompassed all of who they were.  In short, the film dehumanizes Somalis by defining them solely by their piracy, while Captain Philips is humanized as a complex individual who needs to make hard choices to survive. 

I was so disturbed by this two plus hours of throwback racist imagery that I vented my feelings about it on social media after I left the theater.  Many people responded in agreement, saying they got the same impression just from the previews.  There were those who said they did not interpret the Somali characters that way at all.

These comments included:

They hijack ships and hold people hostage. How is that not feral?
They were pirates, should they have worn funny hats and costumes?
All I know is I didn't come out of the theater thinking all Africans must be that way

More than signaling disagreement, statements like these show that people have little sense of the historic and systematic portrayal of Africans and Black people in general as bestial buffoons. Ignorance of this history in American media does not mean it does not exist.  In fact, these stereotypical racialized images of African people are easier to pass off because people are not aware of the tradition of depicting Africans and American Blacks in this manner.  The amount of eye bucking, clumsiness, and irrational animalism all seemed unnecessary but very in line with the stereotypical dehumanization of Blacks in the history of American films.  

This observation is not an indictment of the actors. I like Tom Hanks as an actor just as much as the next person.  However, this film like many others reflects a  pattern of creating caricatures of racial groups.  Racism is not just about personal feelings, but more about institutional practices or customs so ingrained in our culture that it just seems normal to depict Africans as unlike “us” as possible; as less than human.  Over time, the stereotypical depiction of racialized groups is accepted, defended, and the existence of it denied.  

If you are someone who doesn’t see it, then you may be in the position of never feeling embarrassed or insulted while witnessing a dehumanizing depiction of a group of people you share an affinity with.  See the below link for a  brief but powerful scene in the film, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, when Bruce Lee (played by Jason Scott Lee) feels uncomfortable and deeply disturbed when, while on a date with his future wife (Linda), they go and watch a film that portrays a Chinese person as a servile bumbling caricature of a human.  Most people in the theater, including Linda, are all laughing at the caricature, because they don’t identify with the Chinese character.  Lee didn’t find it funny, and when Linda recognizes what she and others are laughing at, she stops laughing.

In the end, I am asking that people as consumers be mindful of these depictions in the media.  Do not be so quick to deny they are happening.  Demand better from those who produce our “entertainment.”  Most of all, speak up when you do notice that something is wrong, because I guarantee you are not the only one who feels this way.

More Than An Ally - Internalizing the Effects of Oppression

 

(originally posted on For Harriet)

I have become increasingly bothered by the implications of the term ‘ally’. Particularly, I am disturbed by how some, from academics to entertainers, use this label to force themselves on marginalized groups and use them for their own platform. I accept that most people who identify with being an ally do so from a place of genuine concern for the issue. They are proud to be activists along with people who are more directly affected by a specific social injustice. For the most part, I do not question the sincerity of those who identify as allies, this is an important point I want to make from the start. However, I take issue with the implied sense of unaffectedness of the term, and how the behavior of some who identify as allies has been downright traitorous to the causes which they claim to be aligned. The entitlement expressed by some self-appointed allies to be the voice of their chosen cause and the accolades they get often times far surpass the group or movement with which they associate.

Some may ask, ‘why stigmatize the term because of misguided people?’ I understand we live in a society that teaches difference and separation from birth, and many cannot grasp how they are closely affected by inequalities that seem so far from their lived experiences. I understand that people who are affected by inequalities may want to hold on to their out-group identity and use it as a way to distinguish themselves from people with privilege. My opinion on the situation stabs directly at these points of view and pulls us closer together as oppressed people than many would like to think they are.

I have come to realize my activist experience could be considered unique due to its multiracial, gender/sexual identity inclusive, and intergenerational make-up. My personal support network shares these characteristics as well. When I’ve gone to protests or community action meetings for issues like neighborhood violence, immigration, public school closings, or police abuses, there is not group of affected people and allies. There is a gathering of people who have all been affected by oppression and who draw direct links between the injustices they’ve suffered and what someone else is going through. Our understanding of the shared roots of oppression, via our experiences, draws us closer than just friends of a movement, and our personal connections makes us more than allies.

Unity, Not Sympathy

For me, the term ally conveys a disconnected concern about an issue. An ally can be sympathetic, genuine, supportive, concerned, and passionate yet they are not directly affected by the condition oppressing a community. As we've seen with some responses to Mikki Kendall's #solidarityisforwhitewomen phenomenon, because of hurt feelings and refusal to understand the sentiment, some allies have felt that their support was betrayed. Others have said outright that they'll no longer do women of color the favor of trying to help. They situate themselves at the center of the issue and show how quickly one can separate themselves from a condition or movement which they were never solidly connected. Seeing oneself as a featured guest of others’ oppression gives you an out, so to speak. It gives you a space to let “others” handle speaking out about an issue.

The feminists who fell silent about The Onion’s viciously misogynistic comment about 9 year-old Quvenzhané Wallis is endemic of this opting out of unity. This is partially the result of an ally not substantially relating to an oppressed group. Many, usually vocal, feminists opted out of criticizing the publication in a direct and meaningful way, one which called out the racially problematic nature of the tweet and its writer. Instead, comments were prefaced with statements like “I know what they were trying to do, but…” or referred to the comment simply as “going too far.”

When someone can be seen as similar to one’s best friends, boyfriends, sweet southern grandmother or other close relation, the allegiance of an ally may not be with the marginalized group. This unity of convenience is an example of privilege. The privilege of stepping away from oppression, stepping away from criticizing one’s peers, or of self-criticism isn’t limited to white feminists or middle class men. It’s a symptom of false consciousness which allows oppression to continue.

Privilege At The Ready

When allies were criticized we have seen how quickly some retreated and reasserted their entitlement. Their privilege, the comfort of not being a member of a specific marginalized community regardless of their membership in another marginalized group, prevented them from having a lasting connection with said group. An ally can enact their privilege at any moment, including the privilege of forcing groups to accept their solidarity. Talib Kweli responded to criticism by saying he was an ally whether women liked it or not. This comment and mindset serves to position him at the head of the table and attempts to put women in a less powerful position; one of non-consent and at the mercy of his allied actions and words.

Hugo Schwyzer, the darling of mainstream feminism, believed that admitting to his abusive and predatory behavior towards women made him a stronger ally because he now felt the sting of persecution. His version of “shattering gender myths” included attempting to lessen his abuse of power with his students, calling his behavior ungentlemanly but saying that “at least the sex was age appropriate.” This stance is disturbingly reminiscent of Kyle Payne, who in 2008 held on to his radical feminist identity even after his conviction of sexually assaulting an incoherent college student under his care when he was an RA. Payne said that his radfem activism would be working to rehabilitate sex offenders…while he was in jail for a sex offense.

The silencing of transwomen’s voices in feminism is a hateful, daily occurrence. On social media and in public writing, self-proclaimed radical feminists have asserted that transwomen are not real women and should not be included in feminism at any level. This is the tip of the iceberg regarding the sexism inherent in beliefs that hinge on gender superiority and exclusion, no matter which gender is touted as superior or who is being excluded.

The idea and exhibition of privilege is very real, but the dividing power of it can be overcome by a realistic look at how most of us do not hold substantial power in society. We may have enough resources for smartphones, name brands, and microbrew beers, but we sell our labor as well. Some of us have a harder time selling our labor due to institutional prejudices, but all of us are, in essence, at the mercy of those who own the big stuff. Acknowledging this fact of oppression goes a long way in pulling people closer to being affected, as opposed to just seeing oneself as a passionate sympathizer.

Being More

The quote that started this piece embodies everything I feel is problematic about just being an ally. We don’t all have to feel the exact same oppression, but there must be an acknowledgement of universal oppression that we all feel that makes us fight together. None of us are above the specters of racism, sexism, classism, and any other –ism that exists. We can’t fight sexism without realizing that racism and heterosexism is alive and well in the feminist movement. We can’t fight racism and at the same time employ racial supremacy and exclusion as a defensive tactic.

Only movements that have been multiracial, and gender and age inclusive have achieved the most success, and those successes are slowly being rolled back due to lack of solidarity. I don’t need well meaning, sympathetic, sounding boards to readily proclaim their privilege in self-flagellation. I need sisters and brothers-in-arms who understand that one kind of suffering is dependent on other kinds of suffering, and our fight-back must be based on that unity.

Misappropriating Our Asses: Miley and the White Girl Takeover of Twerking

See my guest blog post at DanielleParadis.com and "The Distraction of Twerking: Why Activism Is Not Complaining About Miley" at For Harriet. :-)

Words, Sticks, and Stones: Misogyny in Hip Hop on Social Media

Dream Hampton committed the cardinal sin of hip hop last night on her Twitter thread, she dared to express her opinion.  Hampton said that J Dilla was the greatest producer of all time.  When another producer & hip hop icon, Pete Rock of Pete Rock and CL Smooth, took exception to her expressing this opinion, taking it as an insult to his own producing cred, he called her a groupie and a rider, short for dick rider.  Men who either supported Pete Rock's sensitivity about his legacy in the game or who just disagreed with Dream's opinion also attacked her validity to have an opinion on the issue.

When Busta Rhymes, of Flip Mode Squad and Leaders of the New School, Q-Tip, of A Tribe Called Quest, and Questlove, of The Roots, either re-weeted or agreed with Dream's opinion, all the male hip hop heads who were up in their feelings, or up in Pete Rock's feelings, gave them the pass of silence.  None of the negative, aggressive, or bullying comments that were lobbed at Dream were directed towards Busta, Tip, or ?uestlove.

Furthermore, when Dream committed the second deadly sin of hip hop, calling out the misogyny laced in the comments she received, the volume on the bullying speech was turned up.  People demanded that Dream stop playing the sexism/male hegemony card and defend her position.  However, the gender-based comments were launched well before a debate could take place. No one even asked Dream why that was her opinion before Pete Rock said she should know better, he's not going to let her diss him, and FOH, short for fuck outta here, as in get the fuck outta here.

What does a Twitter squabble mean in the gist of hip hop?  For starters, it would seem that the total dismissal of a woman's voice via gendered aggressive language is still second nature to some in hip hop culture.  Again, before one person asked her why, there were several attempts to silence Dream and piss on her opinion.  It's the former that's the higher offense, as the latter sometimes happens when all involved are passionate about the subject.  The mean spirited knee-jerk response of Pete Rock and shameful taunting comments of his cronies that followed seems a testament to the fact that there's still a long road ahead for equal respect of women in the genre.  Not just for rappers but also for people expressing an opinion, which is just sad.

The saving grace in this exchange was Hampton's refusal to be intimidated or silenced.  She owned her voice and agency and never gave them up.  She didn't apologize for anyone's hurt feelings or bruised ego and refused to correct an offense she didn't make.  Another bright light was the show of disgust by men at the comments of an immature few.  While some men tried to see both sides, others outright threw the shame back into the face of Pete Rock and his co-signers. 

Be more clever.  Sexism is too easy of a path to take but it may be the only path available when you have no intelligent basis for debate.  Women have had and continue to have a voice in hop hip.  Get over it.  Women are the subjects of lyrical inspiration and they have produced some of its most memorable content.  Women, including Dream Hampton, have given some of the most articulate critiques about the genre and have been its biggest guardians.

The most tragic and wholly unacceptable part of this incident is that Dream was heckled outside her home by guys who may have been adding their personal 2 cents about the Twitter argument.  An immature social media response could have been a most unfortunate physical encounter for these guys who felt entitled to try to interrupt someone's life. [**Dream has since confirmed this was not the case. Not all hope is not lost!]  And this is the problem with the way hip hop is presented to the masses.  No respectful disagreements, only disrespectful dismissals via sexist taunts.  To the people who claim to love and live for hip hop but act this way, grow up.  You're old enough to know better and hip hop deserves better.

Black Youth Learning About Assata & Constructing Hope

Through the experience of attending teach-ins about the political persecution and exile of Assata Shakur, I gained further insight about children's ability to understand and communicate the realities of their social world.

As we've seen in the news, read on the internet, and hopefully talked about in our social circles, Assata Shakur was recently added to the curious Most Wanted Terrorist list and had an increased bounty of $2 million placed on her head by the FBI under President Obama's administration. I attended a teach-in for children from the Gary Freedom School presented by members of the Central District Organizing Project (CDOP), a grass-roots community group in Gary, IN. Events like these where hosted all over the country and in other countries to commemorate the spirit of fight-back, community, and knowledge in the face of injustice.

Questions discussed at the teach-in included:
- what is the advantage of labeling a Black woman in her 60s a most wanted terrorist?
- what can we do with $2 million dollars in our communities?
- after learning about Assata's activities to promote humane treatment for Blacks and the response from the government, does that affect you speaking out when you see something wrong? If so, how?
- had you ever hear of Assata Shakur? If no, why do you think this isn't taught? What are your feelings after leaning about her?
- how can we bring public attention to important issues?
- how do you inspire people to organize around these issues in their communities?

"Eyes of the Rainbow: Assata Shakur Documentary" 

by filmmaker Gloria Rolando

It was amazing to see how aware even the smaller children were of their surroundings.  Kids as young a 5 years old voiced their fear of police violence and of violence from other children. Older kids shared stories of family members being victimized by local police in ways like race-based profiling, having property destroyed, and intimidation.  They talked about how it felt when they were denied service at TGI Friday's after prom with chaperones, an issue currently being organized for by the most recent families to be discriminated against.

When addressing how Assata was shown in pictures like mugshots, in handcuffs, and escorted by the police, the kids knew right away the biased image they were being fed.  The organizers purposefully covered the walls with pictures of Assata smiling, laughing, relaxing, hugging her daughter, among people, and the children were very vocal about noticing the difference. Some might have thought a few children present were too young for the graphic descriptions of shootings, murder, and beatings that Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army members faced.  However, they were not too young to be affected by the continuing fear imposed by police occupations of their neighborhoods or the violence that comes with living in poverty.

In a book called Bad Boys: Public Schools and the Making of Black Masculinity by Ann Arnett Ferguson, elementary and middle school aged boys show an amazing ability to navigate their race, gender, and social class spaces.  They show an understanding of expectations and responsibilities and act accordingly.  They act out when they perceive that adults have violated their own rules, rules they are expected to follow.  They also know the consequences of life and death in their environment and express a desire to thrive and prosper.  These boys can do all of this because they are not sheltered from real life, from suffering, from abuses by authority figures, and they see how their parents are affected as well.

The children at the teach-in about Assata Shakur were in much the same situation. Whether they were older or younger they know the rules are somewhat different for them.  Through learning about police & government abuse of this one woman and her compatriots, and her ability to escape her binds to go on to teach and inspire people all over the world, they learn that their situations are not hopeless.  The gathering ended with a plan for action to build awareness and pride among their friends and to take part in active resistance against expectations for them to fail.  Through building knowledge they were able to construct hope, which was the real goal in learning about Assata.

Not Your Parents' Racism: Neo-Racism and the Generation Gap

I am increasingly and humorously aware of the widening generation gap between myself and the students in my sociology classes.  Seemingly small differences in pop cultural references can make the meaning a clever example on my part irrelevant, or result in a total breakdown in communication due to my lack of knowledge about youth culture jargon.  

More substantial are the different perceptions of racism held by my students.  Younger people have more of a shared culture now than in previous years.  Styles of dress, music, slang terminology, and access to technology are more likely to be similar than different for this demographic of students living in a close geographic area.  Because of these similar lifestyles, some perceive that racism, and discrimination in general, no longer exit.  Additionally, due to the utter lack of historical knowledge taught in schools or in the home, younger people are barely aware of the present societal and institutional affects of legalized racism in the U.S.  Recently, while talking about overt vs. covert racism, a student asked about the significance of a noose because he, and many in the class, had never heard of lynching.  A separate class of 27 students did not know the definition of abolitionism.  More students in yet another class had never heard of the massacres that took place at the Pine Ridge Reservation and were surprised to learn of the economic, psychological, and social peril that native people are still subjected to.  This lack of a reference for racism, institutional racism specifically, is the most dangerous threat to anti-racism.  Not knowing or being able to recognize racism in all its forms and vehemently denying its affect on relationship-building among people is the victory of all proponents of modern racism.

  We know that legalized racism no longer exists.  Racism in its most familiar forms, slavery, Jim Crow segregation, vocal objections to the presence of racial minorities in public spaces, etc. are less and less present in our lives.  However, neo-racism, racism disguised as everyday practices that go unacknowledged by the majority, is what plagues society currently.  A broader vision of racism as a practice that overwhelmingly (as opposed to only) negatively affects people identified as a particular racial group must be employed in order see the effects that this powerful ideology has on our lives.  Seeing the after effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York, the lack of response from otherwise vocal members of the predominately white faction of the mainstream feminist movement when a 9 year old Black girl was called a cunt in a public forum, and the continued apathy of all members of society at the increasing murder rate of Black youth versus the rare occurrence of mass shootings in predominately White communities requires that we look more critically at these events and identify the systemic problems in each.  Another aspect of neo-racism is that the proponents could very well be racial minorities.  This fact can prevent an accurate analysis of racism from being made.  A person who does make that analysis can be accused of being racist themselves or of playing the race card, an accusation that serves to delegitimize that presence and effect of racism. 

The knowledge and accurate analysis of history is imperative to understanding racism.  Without this understanding how can we recognize it in all of its changing and evolving forms?  This is especially necessary for those not old enough to remember the extent of physical segregation and its contribution to racist ideologies.  Often for people, young people especially, if they cannot see something it does not exist.    For others who are not as young, our memories tend to be short and yesterday’s news is soon forgotten. Racism is very much still here, but its form has changed. The purpose of recognizing and bringing attention to racism, racist practices, and racist ideologies is to combat and defeat it.  Without awareness and a correct analysis, this feat is nearly impossible.

Points of Unity in These Turbulent Times: Hopelessnes, Alienation and Fear during Times of Tragedy

It is very easy to see no commonality between the rash of tragedies we are suddenly surrounded by. Numerous incidents ranging from unfortunate to fatal, all happening in roughly the same time and same geographical space, to people whose social experiences seem to be worlds apart. Some people respond by citing the random unpredictability of things. Others respond by quoting religious texts which tell us we are in the last days of this world. Still others react by drawing further into themselves and seeing every stranger as a potential threat. In our country this threat perception has and continues to take on racial and religious tone which further breeds separation and distrust.

How then do we avoid these unproductive coping tools, is the question I’ve been asking myself. Further, how do I present a reasonable and realistic manner of thinking to my students in our classroom conversations? Seeing our current condition through a materialist or scientific lens was my first answer. Also, to use sociological reasoning to draw different people, places, and incidents closer together to expose the appearance of the problem and get at a common essence. One of my main teaching objectives is to keep the interrelatedness of all things at the forefront of our conversations. But again, how exactly are we tying these events together? What could be common in the experiences of:

- a poor black youth in Chicago who makes the decision to run towards a crowd of other young people firing a gun
- a girl who decides that death by suicide is an acceptable alternative to vicious bullying due to pictures and videos of her unconscious being sexually assaulted by various boys
- a white man who enters a middle school and opens fire on children and their teachers
- an unknown person or persons who plants several bombs at a populated sporting and social event for the purpose of violently disrupting lives
- a man who sees a young black male walking down the street at night on a cell phone as enough of a threat that he hunts him down, kills him, and claims self-defense
- a segment of the country that believes this was a rational course of action
- several Indian men who use the rhetoric of morality as justification to beat and rape women, some to death, and a legal system that echoes that way of thinking
- a person from any demographic that uses drugs or alcohol to escape their reality



Recognizing that all these acts are nuanced and complex in ways very specific to their context, I’ve been thinking about the first few steps in the thought process that eventually materializes into action. What makes someone susceptible to ideas that result in taking lives, even one’s own? One probable rationalization is an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. More than just having nothing to look forward to, this hopelessness produces a feeling that nothing, neither actions nor consequences, matters. Implicit in this feeling is alienation. Due to the impersonal make-up of social structures and economies, people feel separated from each other, separated from the things they do, separated from ambitions, and separated from their own lives. Whether we take a traditionally Durkeimian view of anomie (societal normlessness leading to a lack of social integration) or a Marxist view of alienation (people being estranged from each other, what is important to them, their work, etc.) on the matter, I believe that common threads can be found. What are the depths of these roots?

Can there be a common root in different societies or countries? What similarities in thinking can we draw between the “cherry petals” of Japanese student soldiers and other suicide bombers in the Middle East, US, and other places of different ages and genders?

As I’m fond of saying, these issues leave me with more questions than answers, but it is important to have these conversations. It is important to think about what can be done in our own lives to stay productive about finding these answers. I, too, an keeping feelings of crippling sadness and inactive resignation away. Writing and talking about these things are my outlets. Hopefully reading and responding to these thoughts can be part of yours.

Prioritize your Propaganda: Vote, Die, or Other

So I called in to my favorite radio station, Vocalo.org 89.5 fm, this morning and tossed in my two cents about the sway of IN politics and voting in general. I posed the question that's been on my mind for a little while: uneducated/unknowledgeable voting vs purposeful not voting vs apathetic not voting. Michael Puente, Vocalo.org NWI man-on-the-street, said he doesn't buy the purposeful voting angle. That in the current climate of voter suppression and people in this country who want the right to vote, how could people with this right now use it? I spent the rest of my commute thinking about that. Am I being a careless citizen (in the same vein as a "careless white girl")? Am I taking for granted my privilege in this case? The answer is complicated, right? But here's what I've come up with.

I view the right to vote as a right to choose. People fought and died to be able to choose whether they could vote or not. True, some people don’t even have access to that right to choose. I’d rather spend my time fighting for their right to choose than placating to the idea that pressing a button is alpha and omega of my civic duty. Not voting isn't illegal in this country, yet, because that would be too dictatorial. But we do have that type of dictatorial sentiment in our society about voting. Vote or die. No vote, no voice. If you don't vote, you can't complain. Bulldoodie, I say!

I sell my labor every day, and every other week money is taken out of my wages, without my permission, to fund wars and bail out bosses, but not to fund things I personally believe in like safer sex curriculum in schools and Planned Parenthood. Fluff that, I have a voice because I participate in the commerce in this country.

Patriotic rhetoric denied.

My question is why is voting touted to be the pinnacle of political participation in this country when the most import things that affect our lives are never on the ballot? However, social initiatives that perpetuate discrimination are slipped in there, and used as justification to why people should vote. I don't think the residents of Gary, IN and Chicago, IL voted to have public schools closed, privatized, and hundreds of teachers and aids to be fired, contributing to an overall unsafe non-educational environment for their children. We don't get to vote if we go to war. We didn't vote for the corporate bail outs. People didn't cast one ballot to end apartheid in this country. But voting is everywhere, on Survivor, American Idol and its like-minded spin-offs, music video countdowns, radio countdowns, facebook polls, the symbolic, and often baseless, act is in every fascet of our leisure. Why?

If no substantial change in this country came about or was initiated by voting, if we can see, side by side, that the candidates for national office have very little difference between them, if as a person from a small NWI town can say that said down has gotten worse for the majority of the poor people that live in it, yet they vote everything there's an election, then why is such importance placed on this act? What else does voting do? Who does it advantage? We know the appearance, but what is the essence of voting? What would other towns like mine, or our country for that matter, look like if we felt the same way about direct political action, in any form? What if the patriotic rhetoric was, if you don't strike, you have no say. No boycott, no voice. Occupy our local school board or die. What would that type of city, town, state, or country look like? Here's a hint...it would look like this country, right around the time of the revolutionary war, but, you know, minus slavery, add a few years of feminist politics, and toss a veil over white classist racism by WASPs.

Now, what I’m about to say next will sound like a total contradiction to all that I’ve previously stated, but trust me it’s not.  I am not advocating for people to not vote. That’s your choice so you make it. I am advocating for people to know what that vote means. Not the rhetoric, but really, what are you doing. More importantly, what are you being exempted from just by doing it. If voting is your only political participation, then I truly believe that you’re contributing to the ongoing problem in our society. If you can’t give a few minutes of your time for some sort of direct action, whether its making dinner for some out of work teachers, writing letters to the school board to really voice your opinion, honk your horn in solidarity of the striking big box workers, etc. then you’re making it very easy for the charade to go on. My wish is for everyone to do something that yields actual results, even if the result is just creating a tie between you and another human being through a show of support. Again, I challenge anyone to tell me what substantial change has happen solely as the result or initiated by voting. I’m all about being proven wrong, because at least I would have learned something. Being right on this doesn’t give me any particular joy unless it moves people to do...emphasis on do...something.

CTU STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE!

One of the many movies that I never can actually sit through because I only like a few scenes is "I'm Not Rappaport," starring Ossie Davies and Walter Matthau. The movie begins with the 1907 NYC Garment District Union Strike Vote Meeting where a police-battered Diana Agostini of the Ladies Garment Workers Union calls for the strike.

That scene comes to mind repeatedly as I have conversations about the now historic 2012 Chicago Teachers Union Strike. The mayors office, fueled by a very compliant media, is doing a bang up job of villainizing the teachers, saying they are using the children of Chicago as pawns and holding them hostage for their own gain. Unfortunately, parents in both IL and neighboring IN are eating this up, blaming and verbally attacking teachers for being "selfish." Today broadcast news is reporting, in an advertising matter, that parents who are generally fed up are enrolling their children in charter schools.

Riddle me this, if I as a professional and expert in my field am telling you that my current work environment is hostile and it is near impossible to do my job well, where in the professional world does a boss just shrug off my view? In the world where failure means profit for that boss, that's where. That is what has been happening in the mostly poor black, Latino, and white working class areas of Chicago and the country. Good teachers are being fired or driven out while students and parents are left in the broken system to flounder, wondering who is to blame. I could go on and on about this, but I came across a document that I think sums the issue up. Please take a moment to read it and post your thoughts.

I don't know about you but I absolutely love the summer Olympics. Since I've been old enough to understand what they are I've always been excited to see them. From beginning to end I watch everyday without fail, recording (now dvr-ing) my favorite events. So, here are my impressions so far.

Opening Ceremony in London, Eng:

Yeahhhhh, not the best. Beijing was a hard act to follow, no doubt. With all the culture and ethnic groups represented showing their individual and collective heritage. And then here comes London doing an homage to Mary Poppins. That was a movie, not a real person nor a historical event. On the bright side I really liked the depiction of the Industrial Revolution. My favorite by far was Mr. Bean doing the scene from the movie From Here to Eternity lol AND how wonderfully ethnic was the little montage about the two kids meeting at a rave type party, getting together, and then having a house party at the girl's house? Great job with those parts. Overall though, I yawned more than I ohhed and ahhed.

Olympic Events that boggle my mind:
Handball - at first i thought it was like the game they play in prison...it's not. they might as well call this basketsoccerball. watching this after 10 minutes almost killed my spirit.

Badminton - uh, these folks are hard core. I had to turn when I saw the women players wiping sweat off their heads and then flicking a handful of body fluid over toward the sideline. almost spit up my cereal.

Indoor field hockey - ...

Kayaking - i just don't enjoy it. which is odd because i really like watching the rowing competition.

Sailing and Yachting - see Kayaking rationale

Shooting - why is this an Olympic event? really, somebody tell me.

Water Polo - handball in the water. why? I mean, I appreciate the men in those speedos and all, just like the next gal but I still don't get it.

Synchronized Anything - I recognize the skill it takes to do almost anything in exact tandem. I just would rather not watch it.

Olympic Events I've seen for the first time and liked:
Archery - loved it! I was HORRIBLE at this in high school gym class but I really liked watching it.

Rowing - this isn't really the first time I've watched it, but it's the first time I've paid attention. I love rowing. makes me wanna find a row machine immediately. where can I go rowing in Northwest Indiana (NWI)? Don't say the little Calumet!

Olympic Events that are my absolute faves:
Futbol/Soccer
Women's and Men's Gymnastics (in that order)
Men's and Women's Basketball (")
Women's Volleyball (not men's at all)
Women's Doubles Tennis (YOU know why!)

Best Olympic Name Ever:
Nadia Comăneci - can't help but say that with an Eastern European accent

Track & Field is on now and the obsession continues!

...They Pulled Me Back In!

So, just when I got comfortable with my gub'ment issued debit card they come up with more tomfoolery.

"Your benefits are delayed due to..." I don't know, pick a reason.  Does it really matter at this point?  Rent due, car note due, cable due...please no, not my True Blood!!!! :-) At least I can still laugh about it.

I called DWD and talked to a very nice young man who didn't know what in the heck he was talking about.  Unfortunately hr didn't want to admit that he didn't know so he proceeded to repeat himself 3 or 4 times instead of answering my direct questions.  Questions like will my payments be delayed, if so why, can you tell me the status of the issue, and what dept is responsible.  Every answer to this question was "I can't give you a timeline for when this will be resolved." Sir, I didn't ask you that question.

If anyone is wondering what my plan is, here you...in this order:

1. Lay face down in my basement for a while.

2. Go to my crawl space and work on my handmade trinkets that I'll sell on the Cline Ave.  Drop by, mention my blog and I'll give u a whopping 3% off a trinket of your choice.

2a. In the crawl space I will be confronted by the hundreds of spiders in my house and will have to atone for their brethren I've murdered.  I fear they will not be lenient with me.

2b. On a related note, the spiders are my only possible allies, as I'm sure the centipedes will kill me on sight because if shed too much of their blood to be forgiven.  The ants are strategically flanking my house and as we all know they cannot be reasoned with. 

3. Eventually I'll come up with an alternative plan because I'm sure the spider alliance will be shirt lived...its only a matter of time before I get my smash on. 

If anyone sees any flaws in my master plan, please feel free to let me know.  Maybe I'll get my benefits restored before my idea comes into fruition.  Lord willin' and the creek don't flood!