I'm DONE!

Done with my last assignment for the summer semester. Now I can blog and do other things I like in my life without guilt!

Challenging our Notions of Social Change

A huge part of working for social change is the ability to grow through challenging our concepts of what social change really means. BrownFemiPower posts Naabeeho Nakaii: Why Can’t We Be Friends, a speech written by Reid Gómez, an urban raised Navajo writer and photographer with a Ph.D. in Comparative Ethnic Studies. Gómez challenges us to think about how our identities inform the way we think about social change.

Below is my comment reply to the post above, but you really should read the speech first:

“Many laugh at the insanity and impracticability of my dreams and I reply, who’s filter are we putting our dreams through? What origins and philosophies are we embracing and what are the consequences of those embraces?”

“The problem with accepting or embracing a position as immigrant is that it rests first, on the validity and longevity of the United States’ occupation and secondly, on the subjection of the People. Which begs the question, who are you giving the power of recognition to.”

“In order to survive we must know what beliefs and actions take us away from the inextricable relationship of the People and the Land.”

“If you relate based on looks you are driven by racializations. If you relate based on colonial languages (English, French, or Spanish) you may think you have alliances with those you do not, and vice versa. Those who speak or do not speak English, French, or Spanish are not necessarily friends, family or foe.”

Its so funny that you posted this. I’m glad you did. Lately since I’ve been in Rochester and outside of the Bay Area Radical Bubble, I’ve been reflecting on the need to challenge and reconceptualize how I think about social change. I’ve grown frustrated with “solutions” that sound more like reforms, or new ways to protect the power relationships that exist. I think it was Andrea Smith who stated that the core root of the Native struggle for freedom is the fact that, unlike (most) other “movements”, they question the legitimacy of the state. The more my thoughts around solutions to teaching in the U.S. stem from this idea of challenging the state (both as an institution and as the authoritative framework in identity development), the more people really “don’t get me”.

I believe we continue to walk blindly if we aren’t aware of how these watered down and destructive solutions are connected to our own personal identities and our limited ability to reflect and achieve a deeper level of decolonization. So lately, I’ve been sitting in this space asking myself, “ok what do I need to change about how I view myself and my thinking, in order to gain a clearer perspective, so that I may teach from that perspective- the one that is always working from the root of the problem: challenging colonization and Native land occupation.” At this point in my development process, I have to be honest, I cannot fathom what it will be like to teach in a truly radical way and to help incite a true struggle against the state. I’m at the point where it is easy to deconstruct and help others deconstruct, but what about the more challenging process of building up? A huge part of teaching is enabling students to feel like agents, so how do I empower students to move past deconstructing the issues and into acting upon those issues in ways that challenge the existence of the state? How is it possible for us to build if we have not connected to what freedom is? For many generations we have not known freedom, but Reid Gómez says “We have choices. Aligning ourselves with existing community members, neighboring community members, family histories, recipes and when and where whose archives fail we have the land itself.”

This quote was given in the context of struggle and to keep it in its context I ask myself what “existing community members, neighboring community members, family histories, recipes” within my own heritage actually threaten my own freedom and the freedom of others? And I ask this because I am aware that my own history, even as a woman of color with a history of U.S. antagonism against my people (as well as collaboration with the mis-leaders of my people), is tainted with false notions of identity and freedom. So I have to reflect and think about how I’m affected by this and how this reality may have limited my scope in imagining and constructing in my mind real oppositional approaches to colonization.

Free Lesson Plan: Teaching Social Justice, Exceeding Standards: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

So some teachers are possessive about their lesson plans and their syllabi. Why? Isn't the point of teaching to spread knowledge and awareness? Are these teachers really serving this purpose if they're thinking about their individual recognition before the development of students' minds? I don't buy the argument, "I worked hard to create this, why should someone have it without having put effort into it"?

Well social change and anti-racist teaching (and work in general) DOES involve busting your ass for the benefit of our communities and society as a whole. And much of the time that will mean sweating blood and tears for someone to have access to a new way of understanding this complex fucked up world.

So I'm sharing this lesson plan I created for one of my grad school courses that I actually want to utilize in a real classroom. When? It depends if I hook up with a radical enough teacher mentor this coming year who will let me carry it out, or if I have to wait until I have my own classroom. If you're a teacher and you use it, you HAVE TO (well you don't have to, but it would be nice) tell me what worked for you and what didn't. And if folks have some constructive feedback, that would be great too! Enjoy!

Oh, can I also say that I LOVE google documents?

I feel guilty but...

I've been eying the Nikon D80 for years and the price has gone down from $1,300 to $900.

I just applied for a credit card (with my bad credit) to see if I can afford to buy it and pay it off piece by piece. As much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE film, I feel that this year film will be too time consuming while in the midst of student teaching and full time coursework. I don't want to fall off the craft as I've been getting my creative juices flowin lately, and I've seen too many things wishin I had my camera on me but don't carry it around b/c I know I won't have the time/moolah to develop and print. Since my 3-week summer break is comming soon, and my landlord who's affiliated with a darkroom space offered me some of her time, I'll gladly be doing film, but hoping that I'll be able to "wile out" with the hope of a dream digi camera...

Almost Done!

Its Friday and I'm gitty. I'm excited about my upcomming three week vacation to get to know more of Rochester and see my mom flower as we spend more time together and out of our house. My goal is to finally get a driver's license, as I've been getting some practice here and there (with no permit) and I think I'm ready to take the test (again). We'll go to Niagra falls, Toronto, the great Lakes, and whatever kind of greenery the area has to offer... Just gotta get the last of the papers and meaningless busywork that's left....

I'm also happy that my "bloggiditiness" (yes I just made up a word) is sprouting back up!

One More Reflective Teacher in da Hood

So for this grad class I'm taking, "Teaching Curriculum and Change," we were asked to think creatively about presenting a few elements about our teaching. This had to include a section on who we are and how this affects our teaching, and a section that addresses one of the topics covered in class and our views on this topic in relation to our teaching- I chose popular culture and decided to create a comic book which I'm sharing with yall below. I might even post the sound bite for the class presentation if it sounds cohesive enough..

Mini doc on Hip Hop.. with words from Rochester Youth

Reflections #2

I came to the bay area alone. I leave the bay area alone. Packing alone, cleaning out my Oakland apartment alone, seeing myself off. I guess I didn’t come here so much to develop roots, although in some fundamental way this occurred. I came to really understand what roots are. It is a hard lesson to learn. I came to love so many people in the bay area and I learned more about myself by loving these people. I cannot move on without making note of this. Otherwise the pain, struggle, and tears would have been in vain. Although we won’t be living or working within the same physical community, there are very few loved ones who are deeply rooted in my heart for life.
I have learned the importance of loyalty. Being loyal and learning to identify and appreciate those who are loyal are essential to building fam. Loyalty is a major aspect of how a person’s character is determined. Loyalty is defined by the ability to be consistently reliable in their word and action. A loyal person is selfless, yet not foolish. A loyal person does not express companionship only when it is convenient, but understands the importance of sacrifice and giving in moments of need by another. A loyal person who is wise does choose carefully who is considered a loved one, but does not fool others into companionship under the pretense of friendship. A loyal person respects the time, energy, and effort it takes to build trust, and does not allow others to invest in something that does not or will not exist. I am still learning how to identify those who are loyal, and those who seek superficial companionship. Patience, time, and trials are determining factors. So are a person's actions. How do I seek deeply rooted friendships without involving myself in risk, without allowing myself to become vulnerable? I don’t know if there’s a way. And perhaps this is why I’ve found myself alone for most of my life, why I seem to overcome most obstacles that push me to the very edge of life itself- alone. Somehow this strength is a mystery. If it weren’t for purpose- a purpose for living- I wouldn’t have my life.
My faith lies not in religion, but in purpose. Purpose is a spiritual concept. I know that there are meaningful reasons for having come across the people in my life, the conflicts I have encountered, the blessings I have embraced, and the pain I have learned from. I find it truly a miracle to continue to be alive- to choose life. Without purpose there would be no living- only meaningless pain, destruction, disaster, and undermined luck. But with purpose, I am understanding the depth in every course life has taken me, and I choose to find the courage to learn from it- even when it could be easy to give into emotional sway and say “fuck the world” sometimes. So every conflict, no matter how ugly it is, is a jewel- an opportunity to grow and become stronger, to understand the meaning of overcoming.
Life is a war. The victory in each battle is to see where love is hidden and develop a knowledge of self. Understanding the act of loving others and myself in a colonized world is the most challenging aspect of this war. Because so many aspects of colonization are deeply engrained in each of us, the way we develop relationships with others, and how we choose to go about the course of our lives, loving is a decolonizing process in itself. Once I began to see that, I realized the different ways that love can manifest itself in a twisted world. Love with no trust. Love with anger. There are people today who I love, feel a sense of loyalty and respect towards, yet maintain a distance from. Some of them may not know that I love them and recognize their beauty. They may not know that despite their trespasses against my trust, there is still a love that exists despite what I may want to feel.
A deeply rooted relationship then consists of an appreciation and loyalty toward that love- but also toward trust. I may love those who have disrespected me, but developing roots cannot occur in a relationship where respect is lacking. My challenge then is to seek wholesome relationships that contain all the qualities necessary to become sustainable- loyalty, trust, respect, and love. I believe I have grown to understand the weight of such an investment, and so I must invest wisely. I have also understood that I have to expect from myself what I expect in others. I have to be conscious of my own actions as well.

Reflections #1

An incomplete entry I wrote on my first flight to Rochester to go apartment hunting…

While on the plane flying towards my first trip to Rochester NY, where I will be attending grad school for the next year I took the time to reflect on a lot of things. One of the greatest things about 5 hour flights is having that time where we are forced to slow down. But this flight in particular is important. I’m been in the Bay Area since Sept 10, 2001, and it finally hit me that I’m about to physically leave behind the people, places, and cultural elements that have profoundly shaped my sense of humanity, identity, and knowledge of self, for life. I could write a book about these 6 precious years of my life; but I find particularly significant the last two years. Reflection is important for a number of things. It helps me develop and improve as a person in this world, as a spirit going through a journey of self-actualization and holistic growth, and it validates and gives concrete meaning to the lessons I’ve learned (and have yet to learn) so that when similar situations present themselves I’ll be able to identify a frame of reference much more easily.

Humility: Always stay self-critical. Of course many people could read this and agree that it is a great thing to be. But I’ve encountered situations where I’ve lacked humility and stagnated my own growth. I’ve finally come face to face with the significance of this principle and how this self-checking mechanism also develops the character and maturity of individuals. Humility also helps me become better at being myself; better at anything I practice, better at developing relationships with others, better at assessing any situation. Humility allows me to be honest with myself and develop knowledge of self. Humility is a spiritual principle as well. It allows me to ask whether I’m being true to the spiritual journey I have accepted to take and whether I’m moving in the right direction.

Character over reputation.: This is a principle adopted by one of my mentors. Although I believe it’s geared towards self-reflection, to me it’s is particularly significant in developing relationships with others both in personal intimate situations, but also in assessing people who stand out as leaders within the movement for social change and justice for oppressed folks. As a developing educator that views my line of work as developing a world of critical thinkers, I tend to look out to others who are more experienced, actualized, and successful leaders in education. It isn’t enough to judge a person by the accomplishments they’ve been recognized for. I’m the type of person who a lot of the time learns the hard way: by fuckin up, big time. I’ve been seriously wronged by attempting to develop intimate relationships with others, trusting that their character (what they do when nobody is looking) will coincide with the work that they have been recognized for. I’ve also blindly trusted my judgments upon people based on their relationships with others I trust. It takes a lot of time and close evaluation of others before feeling like I can begin to develop a relationship with them. It’s a dangerous thing to place somebody in a bubble of romanticized greatness as many do with revolutionary leaders like Che Guevara, Malcolm X, and Toussaint L’overature. All of these people have been brave enough to take risks to defend humanity, but they’ve also had their share of human faults. I think this is a lot easier said than done, and so my goal is to be conscious about the reasons I choose to trust others.

Loyalty: This is a principle I’ve been learning about all my life and each stage of my life presents itself with a more developed appreciation for this virtue. It’s always been one of the first tools I use to assess others with. At this stage in my life where I am seeking further grounding, I’ve become conscious of the importance of loyalty in developing relationships that last. Loyalty is a major quality in assessing the character of others as well as my own. It is also something I should be careful about. I can honestly say I’m usually (though not always) a person who’s loyal to a lot of people who haven’t been necessarily loyal to me. This can be a strength. It can also be a trap. There’s a serious need for me to assess who I choose to trust by evaluating their level of loyalty. Sometimes I’ve also found that people reveal themselves unexpectedly in good and bad ways by their actions around being loyal. Some have kept their loyalty after serious fallouts when I expected them not to, while others I’ve been hurt by due to their inconsistency around this principle. Assessing loyalty is a sifting mechanism- one of the ways we can make choices about who to keep near and who to keep at a distance.

…

What's Rochester Like??

A city I'm still tryna figure out..

Anybody who's Latino is Puerto Rican

Black folks don't head straight to the back of the bus like they do in NYC and in the Bay Area

The bus lines run about two hours apart

The ghetto is seriously dilapidated

The white suburbian areas have sprinkles of dilapidated vacancies (and dilapidated occupied houses) - I walked in the middle of a process of gentrification (in a dying city as I was told??)

White folks think the suburbs is still the city

Black folks say white folks live in the suburbs

White folks are dead scared to drive in the hood even during the day (nothin new here)

Puerto Rican folks still hang their flags outside their houses, just like they do in NYC and the Bay Area when you find them

The suburbs are flooded with USA flags, I get mean mugged on those streets (nothin new here either)

The cops disturb the peace in white neighborhoods when they're disturbing the Black folks who live in them

Most white folks have issues saying the word ghetto.. as if it were the "N" word

Renting homeowners talk about gentrification as if it was the greatest thing, and refer to the new "Boulders Coffee" on the block as a sure mark of it.. what's with coffee and gentrification??

The Media, White Terrorism, and Education

Immigration is a Womanist Issue

Via BrownFemiPower.

Women of Color Surviving Sexual Violence

Check out In Solidarity posted by BFP, who's focusing on sexual assault survivors.. There are a couple of interesting ideas for validating the experiences of sexual assault. I particularly like this idea of a 24 hour blog vigil.

Also I am putting together a compilation of pieces by WOC artists/writers who have survived sexual violence and outright systematic oppression as women of color:

Attention women of color writers and artists:
This is a call for submissions for an anthology of very original and compelling short stories (fiction and non-fiction), testimonies, poetry, plays, photographs, and artwork! The theme of this anthology, titled Quiet Wars, will be about women of color's experiences in being faced with and surviving systemic oppression through interpersonal experiences. How has sexism, racism, classism, homophobia, ableism, ageism, nativism, etc., experienced through interpersonal relations violated women of color? Do you have a story on experiences dealing with rape, domestic violence, hate violence, or being humiliated/marginalized physically/intellectually/culturally in social settings (job, school, family, etc.) as a woman of color? How have you/do you (or generally women of color) survived these experiences? How are women of color pressured to not speak about these experiences? What does healing around these issues look like? Is healing something hard to conceptualize?

Submissions need not be actual testimonials although these are definitely more than welcome. As long as they creatively and compellingly engage and explore the theme they are welcome. The idea for this anthology came about through the (very personal) realization of empowerment and initial healing through naming and talking about our experiences. The goal of this project is to create an awareness of the issues specific to women of color against power imbalances (within our own communities of color as well as within the larger dominant society). This awareness also allows for the validation of other women's experiences who have gone through similar encounters with power. It will be a conversation with the many "faceless" women who come into contact with power and have difficulty naming their experiences.

Deadline for submissions will be June 17th note the date change. Email me at: "RosaDominicana at gmail dot com" with submissions or questions.
Please forward this selectively to other women of color writers/artists!