This week we talked about how the movement at Standing Rock contrasts other movements around the nation. We also talked about the ways some movements, including Standing Rock, have been coopted by non-indigenous allies for purposes that are less helpful to the movement than harmful. It is important for these allies to remember that these movements…[Read more]

I wanted to share a piece by Noname because I think she’s an absolutely brilliant rapper and is underappreciated. Noname released a track last year called “Blaxploitation” which examines the way black folks are exploited not only for profit but also to present an idealistic, false image of a post-racial America that ignores the ways in which black…[Read more]

This week we talked about white spaces. I know that there was a heavy emphasis on the policing of black and brown folks in these “white” spaces by white folks, but I wanted to stress that this policing isn’t always upheld by white folks only. Non-black and brown people of color are also guilty of upholding these structures that exclude and…[Read more]

I don’t think very many of us can deny that #MeToo has done a lot to spread more awareness on the alarmingly common experience of sexual assault. I think, however, that it’s been extremely limiting and exclusionary, perhaps even revisionist in the ways that the movement has been portrayed, in whose voices have been privileged in the movement, and…[Read more]

In thinking about the exclusion of indigenous folks, especially from areas that are advertised as if they are open spaces accessible to everyone, I wanted to examine how native folks are not only excluded, but stolen and endangered on land that is rightfully theirs and that is purported to be safe and secure for all. The statistics of missing or…[Read more]

This was a photo that was circulating around during one of the Black Lives Matter protests that I believe really encapsulates the experience of black folks in relation to law enforcement and the criminal justice system at large. The perceived criminality of black folks no matter what form their protest or even existence takes more often than not…[Read more]

We’ve been talking about incarceration, specifically the mass incarceration of black men, as a form of racial segregation and oppression, and how incarceration can significantly diminish the future prospects of formerly incarcerated folks. I think we tend to focus more on the physical realities of incarceration and its effects than the trauma and…[Read more]

This week I wanted to share some photos from a grassroots, student movement for liberation in the “Third World” in alliance with black liberation movements in the U.S. during the time of the struggle for the establishment of Ethnic Studies. Around this time, Asian American students at UCLA began to mobilize in solidarity with their black and brown…[Read more]

A couple years ago, a video of a high school junior opening his acceptance email from an Ivy League university in front of his classmates went viral. A couple weeks later, another viral video was released of his brother also getting accepted into an Ivy League. Both brothers appeared on Ellen, and the school that they attended, T.M. Landry prep,…[Read more]

I chose to share a photo of Vic Mensa for this week’s weekly share. Vic Mensa is a particularly interesting figure, both the perfect embodiment of a figure in the hip hop world and its greatest challenger. Vic Mensa is from Chicago, which in many ways has influenced his work both in terms of his music and activism. The environment that Vic Mensa…[Read more]

This week, we focused on segregation and the construction of the word “ghetto” with all its problematic connotations. Segregation is not only limited to housing; it affects schools, property value, community services, healthcare, and other necessary resources. Those living in more affluent, predominantly white areas are lucky enough to benefit…[Read more]

This week we focused on grassroots movements, particularly on how a person’s inherently politicized identity necessitates some kind of mobilization or activism against oppression. I wanted to share a photo of Nina Simone because I believe she fits this image perfectly. Nina Simone is primarily known as a soul/blues musician who rooted her activism…[Read more]

This week we focused on leader’s of activist movements. Rather than focus on solitary figures, I wanted to reconsider how we think of activists. I think we tend to forget the necessity of an organized, unified community and place more emphasis and importance on one or two notable figures (not that they’re any less important). Without movements…[Read more]

This week we focused on western interpretations of space as opportunities to establish “morally pure” and empty lands, which naturally designates inhabitants of that space as being “immoral” or somehow undeserving of that space. Europeans and western powers were presumed to be more knowledgeable and therefore deserving of “empty” spaces such as…[Read more]

This week I wanted to share a photo of an artistic interpretation of the very violent ramifications of identifying as queer, nonbinary, or trans. Beyond the slurs and the refusal to marry or cater for same-sex marriages, beyond the harassment and name-calling, beyond the legal nightmares of changing gender on a driver’s license, queer, non-binary,…[Read more]

This week I wanted to share a photo that dispels a common-held belief that undocumented folks are a threat to the United States by “stealing” resources and refusing to contribute. Contrary to this growing opinion that undocumented folks leech off of the welfare system and steal the hard-earned tax-dollars of the U.S. public, undocumented folks are…[Read more]

A good portion of our discussions this week revolved around this unjustified fear of undocumented migrants stealing resources and jobs away from native-born citizens. A few people have noted that more often than not, undocumented migrants are forced to take on manual labor jobs because they don’t have the documentation that would be needed for…[Read more]

I happened to find this picture of a man equating Islam to Nazism. The attempt to draw a comparison here is an incredibly far stretch, and depicts the intense fear of Islam that has become characteristic of a post 9/11 world. This fear could not have been cultivated on its own. The U.S. has certainly spent significant time and investment in…[Read more]