Looks like a pump, feels like a wingtip.
(first image: Judy Tanner; second image: Chief Randy Harris)
As Black As We Wish To Be by Lu Olkowski
from Third Coast International Audio Festival
There’s a tiny town in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio where, for a century, residents have shared the common bond of identifying as African-American despite the fact that most look white.
“Race” has been tossed on its head in East Jackson, leading to discrimination from the town next door, internal family struggles, and searches – both scientific and historical – for new identities.
As Black As We Wish To Be was produced for State of the Re:Union by Lu Olkowski, with associate producer Laura Spero and editors Taki Telonidas and Sean Cole. Al Letson is host and executive producer of State of the Re:Union.
Find out how Lu and SOTRU decided to include interviewees’ use of the n-word Behind the Scenes.
Haven’t had the chance to listen to this yet, but very interested. (No transcript available, from what I could see.)
This video is basically about how diverse mixed people are and also about what races/ethnicities my family and I have been mistaken for.
A dark-skinned multiracial person talking about the myth of a single “mixed” phenotype. All this sounds very familiar to me; the phenomenon of all-over-the-map phenotypes within a single family is common to a lot of Black and Brown families (mine included), to the point where it’s not considered all that remarkable in certain contexts… though it still manages to blow the minds of people who can’t conceive of how very normal this is. Very cool.
(It should go without saying, but skip reading the Youtube commentariat on this video passing judgment on what this guy really is according to their own preconceptions. Ew, ew, ew to that bullshit.)
“Open Admissions” (written by Shirley Lauro, published in 1979, premiered on Broadway in 1984)
This is a play about race and speech (speaking/writing) in higher education. I only had the One Act version play available. “Open Admissions” has three versions (Two Act, One Act, and Teleplay). I read the One Act version which was available in Political Playwriting (a book I am currently reading). I will discuss the One Act version.
It’s funny I came across this play, because there had been a lot of discussion on Tumblr about speech, racism, and level of education. The notion is that if you speak “white,” you are perceived as respectable, well-educated and more intelligent. If you speak “black,” you are perceived as stupid, ghetto, dangerous, and ignorant. There were discussions on Tumblr about upper-class white academics who speak in such academic mumbo-jumbo jargon, that their words are inaccessible to folks everywhere who are not well-versed or well-read. I have provided links below if you want to read.
Links:
“If you cannot communicate your ideas…”
“Open Admissions” One-Act version only has two characters: Professor Ginny (well-educated white woman and Shakespeare scholar who holds B.A, M.A and Ph.D) and Calvin Jefferson (a 18 years old black male who just entered college three months ago). The play is set in New York City, at an un-named New York City public college.
Calvin has just been granted open admission into college and he is determined to make a good life for himself. He wants to meet with Dr. Ginny (who teaches Speech and English) and asks her one question: why does she always give him a B, and nothing else? Not even a C or F or an A? He asks her how he can improve himself and learn more things. He is determined to improve his writing and speaking skills, and learn new skills. He wants to be graded harshly so that he can be motivated to do better.
Professor Ginny, at first, is dismissive toward him and insists that he did a “good job.” He does not believe her, and for good reason. He says that he’s messed up a lot in class, and doesn’t deserve a B. He also points out that the other black students in class all receive a B, while white students get graded differently. He also brings up another issue: when the students were assigned to perform Shakespeare scenes, Dr. Ginny made all the black students perform scenes out of Othello or other scenes with black characters, while white students had plenty of choices to choose from different Shakespeare plays. Calvin asks her why black students had no choice in what scene to perform. In other words: why are black students expected to perform black characters, while white students could play ANY character, regardless of race? In response to this, Dr. Ginny acts as if Calvin is being crazy.
Dr. Ginny reminds me of racist white liberals who claim they see no race, and that race shouldn’t matter. She doesn’t realize that her internalized racism pushes down black students and she ignores them, while she encourages and motivates white students to do better and improve their skills. She doesn’t care about black students and doesn’t try to push them harder. She just gives them a “B” and says “good job,” while she encourages white students to do better.
As a deaf person of color, I’ve remember this happening too many times in public and private school, both deaf and hearing. In college, I was required to take certain class to fulfill my B.A degree for Theatre. I had to either take 18th century British or 18th century American literature class. I thought I’d take 18th century British literature, because I was born in the UK and I was familiar with British literature. Unfortunately, the class was difficult and inaccessible to me, and the professor always spoke in jargon crap. He made NO efforts to have interesting, lively discussions on 18th century British literature. I was failing and doing poorly. That professor even asked to meet me in private and he told me to consider dropping the class. He brought up my deafness as a possible obstacle to doing well in school. I got deeply offended and angry that he thought I was failing because I’m deaf! No, I was failing the class because he was doing a SHITTY JOB teaching 18th century British literature to us. I was a lover of British literature, yet I was failing.
In the play, Calvin becomes frustrated with the lack of progress in their conversation. Dr. Ginny continues being dismissive toward him and he becomes upset. He asks Dr. Ginny to TEACH him. How can he improve his grades and do better in class? Teach me, teach me. TEACH ME!!! he yells at her, that’s YOUR JOB! YOU ARE A TEACHER. TEACH ME!
Dr. Ginny then relents and she sits him down, and then criticizes his speech. Instead of teaching him, she CRITICIZES him and corrects his speech. Calvin has “street” speech. Dr. Ginny says that people are perceived by others based on how they speak. Calvin is shocked by her patronizing attitude toward him.
It is a teacher’s job to teach, motivate, educate, and give constructive criticism. It is not the teacher’s job to constantly criticize and tear down the student. Or in this case, to whitewash the (black) student and try to teach him how to speak “white.”
Dr. Ginny does not make any efforts to teach Calvin to write and read better. Instead, she just criticizes and corrects his speech. He’s sitting there, dumbfounded by her paternalistic, white-privileged attitude.
During the play, Dr. Ginny bemoans about how she’s being overworked and hasn’t been promoted to a better teaching position despite having teached at the college for over 12 years and holds a Ph.D in Shakespeare studies. At this, Calvin retorts “and I’m supposed to feel sorry for you?” He is an eighteen years old black male who is trying to turn his life around and yet he’s expected to feel sorry for a privileged white woman who holds a Ph.D in Shakespeare studies and teaches at a New York City college!
Open Admissions (One-Act version) is a great example of white privilege and internalized racism in white academia. It’s a good play, and I would like an opportunity to direct this play onstage if I could.
![derica:
Dean by Lola Flash from the [sur]passing series (2003)
“[sur]passing is […] a series of larger than life size color portraits that probe the impact skin pigmentation plays on black identity and consciousness. Primarily due to the melanin count of their skin, light and dark-skinned blacks opportunities can differ enormously ranging from overt favoritism to extreme alienation. Kobena Mercer coins this process as a “pigmentocracy” - based on skin-tone. This scandalous and often heart wrenching story line dates back to colonial America and it clearly perseveres today.
In [sur]passing the models are shot with a large format camera from towering urban vantage points, highlighting the re-generation of a new inner-city culture, they become divine, larger than the purposely out of focus buildings of the London, New York and South African skylines, in contrast to the sharp, crisp rendering of each subject. The subjects assertively return the gaze, without being confrontational and by hanging the four-foot by five-foot photographs above eye level, the viewer has no choice but to “look up” to these young people posed as if characters from a modern Shakespeare melodrama.So, as the title [sur]passing suggests, these portraits represent a “new generation” - one that is above and beyond “passing”. We represent a fresh pride and strength; where ambiguity and blurred borders create an individuality that elevates consciousness and advances a plethora of complex and positive imagery of [black] people in the Diaspora and all over the world.” - text from artist’s statement](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m147qnMjq41qb6jujo1_500.jpg)
Dean by Lola Flash from the [sur]passing series (2003)
“[sur]passing is […] a series of larger than life size color portraits that probe the impact skin pigmentation plays on black identity and consciousness. Primarily due to the melanin count of their skin, light and dark-skinned blacks opportunities can differ enormously ranging from overt favoritism to extreme alienation. Kobena Mercer coins this process as a “pigmentocracy” - based on skin-tone. This scandalous and often heart wrenching story line dates back to colonial America and it clearly perseveres today.
In [sur]passing the models are shot with a large format camera from towering urban vantage points, highlighting the re-generation of a new inner-city culture, they become divine, larger than the purposely out of focus buildings of the London, New York and South African skylines, in contrast to the sharp, crisp rendering of each subject. The subjects assertively return the gaze, without being confrontational and by hanging the four-foot by five-foot photographs above eye level, the viewer has no choice but to “look up” to these young people posed as if characters from a modern Shakespeare melodrama.
So, as the title [sur]passing suggests, these portraits represent a “new generation” - one that is above and beyond “passing”. We represent a fresh pride and strength; where ambiguity and blurred borders create an individuality that elevates consciousness and advances a plethora of complex and positive imagery of [black] people in the Diaspora and all over the world.” - text from artist’s statement
(Source: yagazieemezi)
Kids of Color, Learning, & Narrative Justice
I had an interesting experience with my nephew recently that left me wondering how much curriculum can impact learning. I gave this book to my sister for my nephew and he fell in love with it right away.
Tired of his endless requests to read the book to him, she hid it under the couch. I recently pulled it out from its hiding place and was surprised to see how much he still loved it. But why? It didn’t have a special texture/distinctive color scheme from any of the other books on his shelf, and it didn’t rhyme in a way that sparked his interest.
In fact, the only (and perhaps most meaningful) difference with this book is that it features people with brown and black skin and many hijabis. Even though he’s just shy of two-years-old, he’s aware of his surroundings and is drawn to it because it reflects his culture and identity. I’m amazed at how much this book has had a profound impact on him and makes him want to read. This makes me wonder if we’re losing a lot of our kids in the K-12 system because the existing curriculum is generally produced from a white American perspective with little or no recognition of the historical, economic, and cultural experiences/contributions/expressions of the diverse ethnic, racial, and religious communities around us.
Among the various challenges in our education system, it seems like we pay the least attention to inequalities and injustices when it comes to curricula. We don’t spend enough time considering:
- how people are portrayed and by whom,
- what information is shared and from what perspective,
- and who wins/loses in the process.
I’m amazed that our collective society fails to question why our young kids are exposed to racism through Harper Lee? For as brilliant as To Kill a Mocking Bird is, I think it’s a tragedy that the leading (and often ONLY) book most American youth read about racism is written by a person who has not experienced it personally.
From literature to history and everything in between – I remember constantly feeling academically disengaged, left out, and misrepresented throughout my K-12 school experience. But I don’t want to give the impression that this only matters to kids of color. The existing system breeds a population of young white people who are growing up in an increasingly interconnected world but have no conceptualization of their privilege, are exposed to an ethnocentric view of the world, aren’t aware of how they fit in the global context, and are ignorant of the existence of and immense wealth communities of color have to offer.What if we changed our history books to reflect the demographics in our schools, include narratives from indigenous communities, and represent various other perspectives? I think this could potentially play an important role in helping us close the academic achievement gap and create a more informed, culturally competent, and thoughtful members of society.
Women of Chinese descent in Trinidad occupy a space that is simultaneously visible and invisible. Despite national and regional acknowledgment of this minority group’s significant cultural and economic influence, female voices are notably absent within the academic literature and early migration history of this unique culture. The mixed-Chinese claim varying degrees of Chinese heritage and also co-exist with recent migrants in the fourth wave of Chinese migration to Trinidad. What does it mean to be simultaneously visible and invisible? What purposes are served by existing in the space in-between?
CHINEE GIRL focuses on fifteen female subjects occupying various social circles. Through their stories, a contemporary portrait of the Caribbean Chinese identity emerges, questioning how one defines ethnicity and identity in a Caribbean space.Check out this trailer for Chinee Girl, a 2011 documentary about Chinese-Trinidadian women by Natalie Wei. Canada-born and of Trinidadian descent, Natalie Wei is a freelance artist, photographer and emerging filmmaker. A graduate of Ryerson University in Canada, she is engaged in an MPhil degree in Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies. (source.)
CODE RED is a feminist collective of Caribbean women and men. Find us on facebook, follow us on twitter and subscribe to our wordpress blog.
Mitt Romney Made a Birther Joke
And Adam Serwer has some big thoughts about it.
I suspect many Republicans who continue to subscribe to the birther lunacy do so because it bothers liberals and because it’s an act of symbolic defiance of a president they dislike. The problem with birtherism, however, is that the underlying assumptions driving it have always been broader than the president. Birtherism is more than just a conspiracy theory about the president’s birth. Its underlying principle is a rejection of American racial pluralism. The refusal to believe—in the face of all evidence to the contrary—that Obama is an American reads to many as a rejection of the idea that black people really count as American, unless they talk like Herman Cain or Allen West…
The “Where Are You Really From” Power Dynamic [Racialicious]
by Guest Contributor Ramesh Fernandez
Two days ago I was walking on my way to work and, as always, I have my coffee on Flinders Lane in central Melbourne. While waiting for my coffee, a well-meaning Australian came up to me and asked me what my ethnicity was. I had no idea who he was nor did I know what he wanted. Who is he, and why is he so enthusiastic to ascertain my identity – where I come from?
Did I find him racist and condescending? Yes.
Was there a power dynamic inherent to this question? Yes there was.
On this occasion, I pondered the situation silently, which put the questioner in an awkward position. “Here we go again,” I told myself. Do I answer this, or tell him what I think, that he is just another racist trying to judge people by where they come from or what they look like? If I were to question or argue with him, would my actions be interpreted as reverse racism on my part? I chose to simply walk away rather than answer the question.
I found myself in a similar situation two months later. I was in an elevator with a friend and colleague, a fellow Melbournian who was born in West Papua. A lady entered, looked at us, and, with no hesitation, she straight away asked “Where do you blokes come from?” I replied with “I’m from North Melbourne and my friend’s from Thornbury.” She responded with “No, I mean where you are originally from?” I told her that I found it condescending to be asked where I came from, and she said she was just trying to be nice. Is she?
Then why is she labeling me?
“Where do you come from?” is a common question that some Anglo-Australians use to interrogate the identities of people of colour the moment that they meet them. I am a brown man and have experienced this sort of behavior all my life. This is what I have to put up with every single day and I find it very irritating. Do you realise that the question “where do you come from?” immediately sets in place a structure that excludes people, rejecting them with a form of passive racism?
It does.
The question itself automatically assumes that the person you are demanding this information from could not possibly be from “here.” They must be the “other,” from somewhere else.
I don’t blame the individual: I blame the society which, led by politicians, enables passive racism to be acceptable. In a friendly conversation, let alone a political one, a person of colour – whether they are born in Australia or not – is obliged to automatically go through this process of questioning. It is demeaning and makes you feel that you don’t belong here.
Australia has a way of segregating cultures, looking down on people, giving them labels, putting them in boxes. Day to day this manifests through questions and comments like “Where are you from?” Not all white Australians fit into this category, of course. Those who are politically conscious or aware will say it is not acceptable. If I were to say that in Australia there is passive racism and uninformed racism everywhere, there would be mass rebuttals; confusion and questions would fly everywhere. One of those questions would inevitably be “If you hate Australia this much, why you are here?” I could easily say the same thing: “Why are you wasting your time here, oppressing people?” But of course I don’t, because I’m neither ignorant nor do I go about not accepting people based on their colour.
In Australia there is a pattern of racism and it pervades all aspects of society: the non-profit sector, the private sector, governments, hospitals, schools and elsewhere. A perfect example is the treatment of Indigenous peoples as second-class citizens; not to mention the locking up of asylum seekers and refugees who arrive to Australia by boat while there are thousands of backpackers in this country without valid visas. Some call it cold punishment and it is a dishonourable treatment of people.
One should not forget this land was stolen, and not in the past only; a modern day indigenous land grab is happening around the country so don’t tell me to stop living in the past.
“Where do you come from?” is a question that you should ask yourself first before you ask others.
“Where do you come from?” is a question that you should ask yourself first before you ask others.
YES.
If white people are going to adopt children of color and raise them to survive in a white supremacist world, they need to be actively anti-racist. Love is not enough.
Adopt—or raise their own mixed race kids. Either way. They must model that fight, demonstrate that awareness, manifest such love in action so the child can mimic and internalize the pride.
Bolding mine. Blood relation or not, if you’re white and your kid isn’t, active anti-racism is part of the package deal of responsibility in raising your kid.
(Source: aragingquiet)
Florida Republican: We wanted to suppress black votes
Florida’s disgraced former GOP chairman says the party had meetings about “keeping blacks from voting”
SALON.com— In the debate over new laws meant to curb voter fraud in places like Florida, Democrats always charge that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote of liberal voting blocs like blacks and young people, while Republicans just laugh at such ludicrous and offensive accusations. That is, every Republican except for Florida’s former Republican Party chairman Jim Greer, who, scorned by his party and in deep legal trouble, blew the lid off what he claims was a systemic effort to suppress the black vote. In a 630-page deposition recorded over two days in late May, Greer, who is on trial for corruption charges, unloaded a litany of charges against the “whack-a-do, right-wing crazies” in his party, including the effort to suppress the black vote.
In the deposition, released to the press yesterday, Greer mentioned a December 2009 meeting with party officials. “I was upset because the political consultants and staff were talking about voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting,” he said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He also said party officials discussed how “minority outreach programs were not fit for the Republican Party,” according to the AP.
For example, tourist agencies targeting European male tourists who come to Brazil in search of “ethnic” prostitution and sexual commerce would promote Brazil as a tropical paradise using flyers and catalogs featuring brown-skinned, sometimes semi-nude baianas*. Exploitation of the black body is also apparent every year, slightly before and during the month of February, when black women that are usually largely invisible from Brazil’s major television channels throughout the year suddenly become abundant on television programs, appearing semi-nude, gyrating their hips, legs and derrieres at lightning speeds in Carnaval parades and beauty contests. In general, these women are labeled mulatas.” The Brazilian mulata: black woman or something entirely different? (via cosmicyoruba)
(Source: thefemaletyrant)
[tw racism] aaanyway it blows my mind that white people raised this whole generation of kids that don’t know what racism is.
Like, sooo many of these white kids young teens to midtwenties that were raised in this “colorblind” idea. Combined with the idea from not only parents, but TV shows, films, and bit and pieces of writing that reinforce the idea that we live in a a fantasy land where equality has been achieved, *isms don’t exist, and that everyone has the same universal experiences, opportunities and advantages as everyone else.
I mean, take my white ex, for example. He’s my ex for many very good reasons, but he was raised to understand that 1. racism is a thing that exists in the world 2. he had a race and that race was privileged in society over other people for no good reason and 3. many people do not have the advantages that he had had. That seems to me fairly obvious and simple.
I can think of one incident where he was in a car going over to a friends house, and the two friends were latino and black. They got pulled over for what was obviously a DWB, and the cop spent 30 minutes tossing the car for drugs. They even tried to tear up the seat upholstery for weak places where drugs might be sewn into the seats. All three friends stayed silent and sat where they were told to sit, because they all knew that anything you say just makes it worse. Then the cop finally let them go, but told them that they were “banned” from the city of Lynwood. Problem was, the latino friend lived in Lynwood. So my ex got behind the wheel of his friend’s car and drove them home the long way around, because he understood that he had white privilege and that it could be used to get his friend home slightly safer than might be the case otherwise. He used that privilege to benefit me more than once.
It’s not about guilt, and it’s not about being a white savior. It’s about surviving in a racist world, in a racist system, and not getting your friend and possibly yourself beaten to death in the street by the LAPD or the CHiPs. He understood shut the fuck up so you don’t get shot. It’s about understanding the oppression exists, in a fundamental way, so that when you open your stupid white mouth you have some sense of how that shit is going to come off to a person of color. It’s about knowing better than to ask a brown or black person “why didn’t you just call the cops?” It’s about knowing that you don’t paint your fucking face to a darker tone for any reason.
The Afro-Iranian Community: Beyond Haji Firuz Blackface, the Slave Trade, & Bandari Music [Ajam Media Collective]
Currently reading part 1 of the series this article belongs to (“A ‘Persian’ Iran?”) and really like both articles.
