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March 9, 2019 at 3:55 pm #4706
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantThe image I decided to share for this week is a cartoon drawing by Marty Two Bulls who is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Marty Two Bulls depicted the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline as an evil, mythical black snake with four heads. The four heads represented all the forces the Native Americans had to fight against: capitalism, the distribution of crude oil, the police, and death. Standing in front of the snake was a Native American baby saying, “But all I want is clean water!”
I thought it was important to share this drawing because we discussed in class the differences between the relationship Westerners and Native Americans have with nature. The black snake shows everything wrong with Western ideology because the motives of profit and utility destroy the earth. On the other hand, Native Americans have a balanced give and take relationship with nature because they believe the earth provides everything essential to humanity.
I also thought it was interesting how Marty Two Bulls portrayed the whole Native American population as a baby. I believe that Marty Two Bulls did this to show the importance of tradition and that the #NoDAPL movement was led by the younger generations of Indians carrying out the wishes of their ancestors and elders.
Overall, the drawing shows the differences in power between Westerners and the Native Americans. Marty Two Bulls predicted the unlikelihood of the Native Americans preventing the construction of the pipeline because it seemed impossible a baby could beat a super strong mythical monster.
Source: https://abagond.wordpress.com/2016/12/05/nodapl/
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March 3, 2019 at 9:56 am #4537
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantFor this week’s theme of #SayHerName and #MeToo, I decided to share some tweets between rapper Cardi B and political reporter Stephanie Hamill. Hamill calls out Cardi B because she believes twerking and being half-naked sexually objectifies women and hurts the cause of the #MeToo movement. In response, Cardi B replies that women do not deserve to be sexually assaulted even if they want to dress and act in a sexual way.
I thought it was important to bring up this Twitter debate because we discussed in class and saw in the readings how the #MeToo movement is not inclusive of all women. Cardi B stands up for women who openly embrace their sexuality including video vixens, strippers, porn stars, and etc. because they are often excluded from the movement. She addresses that women do not deserve to be raped or molested just because they do not follow the norm of being the quiet and reserved woman.
This Twitter debate just comes to show that women need to stop hating on the beliefs and actions of other women just because of society’s double standards. If a man decided to show some skin or dance provocatively, they would not receive the same backlash from other men but in return be supported and even praised. (A good example would be the response to actors in the movie, Magic Mike.) Obviously, all women deserve to be recognized and supported within the #MeToo movement because no woman deserves to be sexually assaulted.
Source: Sam Moore, “Cardi B responds to claims that her ‘Twerk’ video undermines the #MeToo movement,” January 23, 2019. https://www.nme.com/news/music/cardi-b-responds-twerk-video-undermines-metoo-movement-stephanie-hamill-2437073
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February 24, 2019 at 2:54 am #4287
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantFor this week’s theme, I chose a comic strip on chainsawsuit by Kris Straub. In the comic, a man tells his friend that “all lives matter,” but proceeds to ignore his neighbor’s house in flames. The man hoses down his own home reasoning that fixing the dry rot and preventing his own home from catching fire were more important, which causes the neighbor to die in the fire.
In class, we brought up the topic of All Lives Matter and the comic clearly shows the harm done when people advocate for this movement. By ignoring the Black Lives Matter movement, we ignore that discrimination against blacks still takes place in society by trying to equalize every racial group’s hardships. The one thing that stood out in the comic was the difference between which house needed immediate attention and action and which one did not. We see that people should not lessen the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement because it inhibits any progress towards social or structural transformation in America. We must take on each racial group’s issues one at a time in order to reach true equality in the U.S., starting with the most oppressed group: black lives.
Source: Kris Straub, July 7, 2016, http://chainsawsuit.com/comic/2016/07/07/all-houses-matter-the-extended-cut/
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February 17, 2019 at 1:06 pm #4110
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantThis is a photo of Janice Mirikitani, a Japanese American poet and activist. Mirikitani participated in Third World Liberation Front strikes at SFSU and was an editor for Third World Communications. She is also an important figure in Asian American literature as her poetry touches on the Japanese American experience.
I thought it was important to talk about Janice Mirikitani because she was a more radical Asian American unlike Hayakawa who we discussed in class. In particular in her poem “Suicide Note,” Mirikitani highlighted the consequences of the model minority myth. She illustrated how a female Asian American college student was led to commit suicide because she could not live up to the expectations of her parents, friends, and society’s standards in being the “studious Asian” who gets perfect grades. In her suicide note, the college student apologized to her parents for being a disappointment.
In the poem, Mirikitani revealed how Asian Americans were expected to overcome impossible feats to be accepted into American society. She also stressed the harm Asian American parents can do to their children’s well-being when they enforce the model minority stereotype.
Source: Wikipedia, taken by Nancy Wong in 1977
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February 10, 2019 at 7:03 am #3849
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantFor this week, I chose a photo of the Notorious B.I.G.’s album “Ready to Die” that was released in 1994. The Notorious B.I.G. is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time, and his album made him a central figure in East Coast hip hop. He was known for his skills as a storyteller and innovative lyricist. In “Ready to Die,” the Notorious B.I.G. was very autobiographical, describing his criminal past, drug-dealing, and experiences with violence, poverty, wealth, and women.
I thought the Notorious B.I.G.’s album clearly represented one of the ideas from the readings this week by Jeff Chang about the two types of hip hop: one oriented towards social justice, and the other focused on popular culture and commodity capitalism. “Ready to Die” embodied both types of hip hop as the Notorious B.I.G. reflected about his involvement in “the streets” and the lavishes he indulged in going from rags to riches.
The Notorious B.I.G. became an important figure in hip hop because he was a very relatable character to other blacks. In “Ready to Die,” we see the cruel reality of what it was like to grow up as an African American. Violence, drug-dealing, crime, and death were and still are unavoidable forces in black communities. In the album, the Notorious B.I.G. also introspected about depression and fears of dying early. We see through the Notorious B.I.G.’s music the physical and mental strains put on blacks in American society.
Source of photo: Amazon
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February 3, 2019 at 9:42 am #3657
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantThe image I chose for this week’s theme is the cover of James Baldwin’s and Yoran Cazac’s 1976 picture book Little Man. Little Man. The book was inspired by one of Baldwin’s nephews, Tejan Karefa-Smart nicknamed TJ. The story was about the everyday life of an African American child in Harlem facing grown-up situations like mass shootings, addiction, and police violence. Many people criticized Baldwin’s picture book because it was closer to adult literature and soon after publishers stopped printing the book.
I thought it was important to bring up Baldwin’s picture book because in Monday’s class we talked about Baldwin’s “My Dungeon Shook: A Letter to My Nephew” and how innocence and self-knowledge were important themes in Baldwin’s works. With the picture book, Baldwin was fulfilling the request of his nephew TJ who wanted his own picture book about himself and I think many other black children felt the same way before and during the Civil Rights Movement because many children’s books only portrayed white people. Baldwin’s picture book stressed the need for black literature for the African American youth as African American culture and experiences were blatantly denied. African American children were placed in a harsh environment, but black literature encouraged children to believe that they could determine their own worth and find a place for themselves within society.
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January 27, 2019 at 3:06 am #3428
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantFor this week’s theme, I chose a photo of Katherine Johnson taken in 1966 by NASA. During the Civil Rights Movement, Johnson changed the way women of color were viewed and treated within NASA. While working at NASA, she and other African American women were labelled as “human computers” because they would solve complicated math problems that even regular computers could not do. She used her mathematical expertise to help launch astronauts into orbit around the Earth and eventually put man on the moon. Johnson was valued by her male peers because astronauts like John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, would not agree to launch in a rocket until Johnson checked on the calculations for the trip. Not only was she intelligent, but Johnson was a strong-willed woman who stood up against prejudice. Within NASA, she ensured segregated facilities were abolished, and that women could be allowed in project meetings and could credit themselves on a paper. As you can see, Johnson perfectly fits our theme of the week. White men recognized women and people of color were just as smart and capable in working at NASA because of Johnson’s assertiveness to be respected as an equal. Most of all, she paved the path for women, especially those of color, to feel welcomed to pursue professions in STEM fields.
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January 20, 2019 at 2:17 pm #3227
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantThe image I chose for this week is from Childish Gambino’s music video “This Is America” which shows the artist dancing with school children while chaos and violence take place behind them. I thought that Childish Gambino perfectly represented this week’s theme because he is one of the few artists today that addresses serious issues in the United States. In “This Is America,” Childish Gambino depicts racial inequality, focusing on the hostility African Americans have faced in the past and present. I thought his strategy of distracting viewers from what was happening in the background similar to MLK Jr.’s way of trying to appease to everyone in his letters and speeches. During the Civil Rights Movement, MLK Jr. used nonviolence to reach the white people’s hearts and show that they held some responsibility in improving the social issues in the country. I think Childish Gambino pushed most of the gun violence against blacks to the background to not stir up any unnecessary backlash. Instead, he leaves viewers with a sense of guilt that racial injustice is still prevalent in America.
Mahita Gajanan, “An Expert’s Take on the Symbolism in Childish Gambino’s Viral ‘This Is America’ Video,” TIME, May 7, 2018.
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KAITLYNN GABRIEL.
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January 20, 2019 at 1:59 pm #3221
KAITLYNN GABRIEL
ParticipantThe image I chose for this week is from Childish Gambino’s music video “This Is America” which shows the artist dancing with school children while chaos and violence take place behind them. I thought that Childish Gambino perfectly represented this week’s theme because he is one of the few artists today that addresses serious issues in the United States. In “This Is America,” Childish Gambino depicts racial inequality, focusing on the hostility African Americans have faced in the past and present. I thought his strategy of distracting viewers from what was happening in the background similar to MLK Jr.’s way of trying to appease to everyone in his speeches and letters. During the Civil Rights Movement, MLK Jr. used nonviolence to reach white people’s hearts in showing that they held some responsibility in helping the black man’s cause and improving the social issues in the country. I think Childish Gambino placed most of the gun violence against blacks to the background to not stir up unnecessary backlash. Instead, he leaves viewers with a sense of guilt that racial injustice is still prevalent in America.
Mahita Gajanan, “An Expert’s Take on the Symbolism in Childish Gambino’s Viral ‘This Is America’ Video,” TIME, May 7 , 2018.
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KAITLYNN GABRIEL.
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