Day: December 9, 2019

Hi again everyone,

This is the trailer of the movie I mentioned during our class last Wednesday, related to Saidiya Hartman’s article “Venus in two acts”.

More than the obvious link with the title, I thought particularly relevant to make the connection between them because of some critics made to Abdellatif Kechiche, saying that he didn’t succeed to represent Venus’ individuality and singular voice, an issue that Hartman particularly emphasizes in her article. How telling these stories without simply reproduce the violence these persons had to endure? Is it really possible to rehabilitate their existence, their lives, using narrative ?

This comic by Pearl Low explores the troubles of having multiracial hair. This comic/zine explores self love and written by an Afro-Asian women. Hair is such a politicized topic and, can leave a lot of women and girls feelings left out or bad about their natural hair. This comic also explores the internalized racism that many POC experience.

“To change things the masses must rise up. They must seize their ideal and take back their land. For it is the masses who will shake off the yoke of oppression, not individual men like you and me.”- 34

 

The author uses short sentences and thoughts to show the seriousness and “frankness” of what she is saying. There is strong language being used, there is no if or buts. The language is in no way passive. Wordiness is not a tool used often in this novel. Most of the language is straight to the point. “The masses must rise up,” it is a call for revolution, and unity.

There is a repetition of the words must and masses, which is intentional. Must comes as a demand, a calling and the desperate need for something. An emphasis is on the masses because so much is about the individual. In order to be successful in rising up, the masses need to be involved. Masses is used three times along with they to signify that this is not about one.

When looking up, “yoke of oppression,” there were many references to the bible. As a reader the colonization and western influence of christianity can be seen in a statement regrading the oppression, of POC. The bible includes many verses involving oppression, however, oppression has taken a new meaning in this context  and it is not always in relation to religion or the bible. There is irony in the language used, intentionally or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy4ut4S4Ap0

I chose this song because of the message and the genre of reggae that is present in the song. I thought about Pao and his “forbidden love,” for Gloria.

“Pyramids” in some ways reminds me of Pao’s relationship with Gloria. The song is about a Black woman working as a sex worker and how her pimp falls in love with her. Although Pao has a different work-related connection to Gloria, the situation is in some ways similar. The song also deals with how Black women’s social status in Western society has been unjustly degraded due to colonization, imperialism, white supremacy, and other Western, European, or white forces.

Earlier this semester, we discussed blood quantum and the one drop rule in comparison/contrast to each other. I wanted to make a post about it right after the discussion but forgot to, so here are some additional thoughts on the topic.

Blood quantum was imposed by the federal government to measure “how Native” Native people are with the ultimate goal of getting us to have blood quantums so low that we don’t exist anymore, and therefore the federal government no longer has a responsibility towards Native nations or treaties to uphold with Native nations (not that any of them have been fully upheld by the U.S. anyways). First off, blood quantum is an imaginary concept: how can you be 1/16 Native? Either you’re Native or you’re not. In addition, even if you do want to buy into the concept that you can be a fraction, the way blood quantums were recorded weren’t even entirely accurate. For example, on the Dawes Rolls, some people were recorded as being “more Native” than they actually were due to how they present and whether they practiced certain aspects of Native or Western culture, or “less Native” than they actually were because perhaps they used Western farming practices.

Today, blood quantum is used by many Native nations despite this not being their traditional way of determining citizenship. This can result in lateral violence where people oppress or marginalize people within their own nation based on blood quantum. It’s disturbing to see how blood quantum and being of more than one race can affect how people treat you in Indian Country. For example, there can be anti-Blackness against Black Natives, and I’ve witnessed a person on Twitter get demeaned for being Korean in addition to being Lumbee and Cherokee. Being a white Native, on the other hand, carries with it white privilege.

Also, a quick note: Why are we being pedigreed like we’re bred dogs or horses? And why does the federal government have access to a list of all Native people enrolled in federally recognized nations alongside our blood quantums? (I’d like to give a quick shoutout to my mom for not getting us CDIBs–Certificate Degrees of Indian Blood–from the federal government, although we are enrolled with our nation on their rolls. How strange is it that card-carrying Natives literally have an ID that states their blood quantum?)

Lastly, I’d like to point out that the Red Lake Nation is moving towards changing their blood quantum standards to where anyone born before 1958 will be considered as having “4/4 blood degree.” This should indicate to you that blood quantum is imaginary and not a real determinant of being Native. Instituting this change in blood quantum will mean that Red Lake will have more enrolled members. Here’s a statement from Tribal Secretary of the Red Lake Nation, Sam Strong (Cornell urban and regional studies alum), on this matter:

“‘Our decision at the Council Meeting to start moving away from blood quantum is the first step in creating a solution that will allow our people to carry on our ways forever,’ Secretary Strong said. ‘Although it is a great first step, it is important to recognize that it is a first step and we need to continue to visit this enrollment issue until we can come to a consensus to end our current practice of mathematical genocide and move forward with a solution that will allow us to protect our nation forever.'”

Here’s a link to the article where this quote is from: https://www.redlakenationnews.com/story/2019/10/11/news/red-lake-tribal-council-passes-new-resolution-to-change-blood-degree-of-members/83999.html

If you want to read more on this topic, I’d suggest looking at the work of Dr. Kim TallBear (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), who also has spoken and written on how DNA testing to “prove” Native heritage is entirely flawed.

At the beginning of the semester, we read Audre Lorde’s “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” in which she writes:

“We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings. But, once recognized, those which do not enhance our future lose their power and can be altered. The fear of our desires keeps them suspect and indiscriminately powerful, for to suppress any truth is to give it strength beyond endurance. The fear that we cannot grow beyond whatever distortions we may find within ourselves keeps us docile and loyal and obedient, externally defined, and leads us to accept many facets of our oppression as women.” (pages 57-58)

In class, Prof Goffe asked us what our “yes” is. I’m curious to know what yours are, so please comment if you have an answer or are approaching an answer!

At the beginning of the semester, I wanted to answer that over the summer, I interned with a Native nation in Minnesota working on affordable housing and homelessness work with the Native community in Minneapolis, and every day, even if the work was a bit boring that day, my heart was filled with joy, which was something I hadn’t felt before at any of my other internships or on campus. Doing needed work with an urban Native community–even though it’s not my community–made me so happy because of the love I felt for the community, my coworkers and superiors, and the things we aimed to accomplish. I think my answer has changed a bit over the course of the semester, in part because I thought I would be working on these issues in Minneapolis after I graduate but due to various circumstances, it would make more sense for me to work on my current employer’s reservation. When I found this out, I had to figure out what I wanted, what my idea of “success” is, and what my long-term goals are, and I realized that this job opportunity on the rez actually aligns with what I kept saying my long-term goal was: figuring out how to use Indigenous place-based ecological knowledge to address climate change in ways that don’t just serve settlers. When thinking about the idea of “success,” I realized that somehow my idea of success had been skewed in ways where living in a rural area somehow seemed undesirable and that somehow, you need to live and thrive in a city to be successful. Where did this idea even come from?

The other reason my “yes” has changed a bit was because of an encounter I had last month. When I missed class on 11/11, I went to the commemoration of the 225th anniversary of the Canandaigua Treaty, which is a treaty in which Town Destroyer (George Washington) took away land from the Haudenosaunee (including my nation) by placing us on reservations. At that event, I ran into an elder from my nation who I hadn’t seen in a while, and we started talking about how I could use my professional degree in urban planning to possibly work with the community to figure out how to address the issue of lack of employment opportunities on the rez and the brain drain that’s happening because of this. Before class last Wednesday, we finally managed to connect on the phone, and I was so happy to be able to potentially work with my community on these issues, even if it is pro bono.

I’m realizing that my “yes” is working with Native communities, surrounded by the community, doing work that everyone can have a say towards and that will hopefully benefit everyone and strengthen the community. Being in certain spaces where you’re on a trajectory to attain what I see as a Western definition of success doesn’t give me happiness and a sense of fulfillment, which is probably why I’m so ready to leave this campus after 5.5 years here. I realized this last bit at the UNFCCC COP24 (the UN climate change conference), which I attended last December. I realized that I wouldn’t enjoy working for a mainstream climate/environmental organization because their values and worldviews don’t align with mine. I suppose to conclude this post, I want to say that I hope you don’t feel pressured to rise towards others’ or mainstream society’s idea of what success is: chase your “yes” and feel fulfilled.

Thanks for a great semester, everyone, and best wishes for the future!

https://www.instagram.com/royyaldog/?utm_source=ig_embed

Chris Chanyang Shim is a Korean artist who paints really beautiful murals. Based in Los Angeles, he gained renown for his beautiful murals of Black women (with hairstyles ranging from afros to braids) wearing the Hanbok, classical Korean attire.

 

The writing translates to, “The flower has bloomed.” (above) and, “You’ll be a blessing.” (below)

Yes — ‘The Boondocks’ Should Be Considered the First Black Anime

The Boondocks is one of my favorite shows, both because I’ve always loved anime and also because it’s about Black people. The show talks about a lot of issues and experiences in the Black community. One of the great debates around it has always been whether or not people consider it an anime. I think this article does a good job at supporting why it should be one. So many Black people love anime and I think this is a good representation of that sub-culture. I once read that Black kids loving anime is due to many colored theaters during the era of segregation only being able to afford/show movies from Eastern Asia. Because of this, Black kids grew up watching Asian films and once segregation ended, this love continued. That’s why so many Black kids grew up watching anime and continue to love it. I’m not sure how much of this is truth as I read it a few years ago and can’t find the original article, but it’s interesting to think about histories silent impacts on the present. It’s like a thread that follows through time and evolves. I don’t know, I think it’s something that’s really interesting to think about. Kind of like how the stereotype that Black people can’t swim can be traced back to slave masters not allowing enslaved Africans and those of African descent to learn how to swim because they didn’t want them to escape. After slavery was abolished, Black parents couldn’t teach their kids to swim because they couldn’t and the vast majority couldn’t afford swimming lessons. Many Black kids still don’t know how to swim for these same reasons. The Boondocks is set to return in 2020.

https://www.foodandwine.com/news/jj-johnson-spreads-afro-asian-cuisine-new-chefs-club-residency

This article talks about the impacts of Asian peoples in Africa and the Caribbean on the culinary culture. It specifically focuses on one chef in particular, JJ Johnson, who attempts to explore what he calls “the melting pots of the world.”

Here is one of his recipes:

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/piri-piri-fried-chicken-sandwiches