[Prasadini Gross]

For this week’s photoshare I decided to post the logo of a camp I went to when I was about 16. This camp is called Native Like Water which is a camp for indigenous youth. I decided to post this because the logo has very much to do with our conversation in class about how we’ve been trained to think about certain elements such as land and water as resources. In the culture of capitalism, we’ve been trained to think of them as something that is to be taken, utilized, and then disregarded when they no longer serve their purpose. Indigenous communities are tied to these elements in a way that directly links their identities and the identity of the tribe to the elements that are around them. For example, I discovered that my tribe, Tlingit, from Southern Alaska would introduce themselves in relation to natural landmarks such as lakes, rivers and mountain ranges. The land is their identity.

Something else that I wanted to point out about this logo and connecting it directly to Standing Rock is that it says “Native Like Water.” Implying that water is indigenous just like those who are protecting the water. And although water can be capitalized, industrialized and tampered with it maintains its indigeneity.

Source: http://www.opop.org.au/projects/inter-tribal-youth-program/

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[Prasadini Gross]

Something that resonated with me the most about our class conversation this past week was that of who is left out or rarely heard from in regards to the #MeToo and #SayHerName, thus the motivation and the need for these movements and conversations. Terry Crews, a well known and respected actor most commonly known for his role on the show Brooklyn 99, spoke out against his own sexual assault experience while at a party. His voice is so powerful in a movement such as the #MeToo for several of reasons. His voice is extremely valuable because he brings more awareness to this movement in his platform of being so well respected and prolific in his industry. As a man, he speaks about sexual assault against men which is often not as recognized as sexual assault against women, although both merit the proper attention. Crews mentions how although he wanted to lash out, he knew that the story would be flipped and if he got physical he would be put in jail. Even though it is not said explicitly, his being a strong, macho black man he would certainly be made out to be the villain despite being the victim. His voice was is powerful because it highlights a point if intersectionality that needs to be more addressed.

Mumford, Gwilym. “Actor Terry Crews: I Was Sexually Assaulted By A Hollywood Executive,” The Guardian.  October 11, 2017. Accessed March 3, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/11/actor-terry-crews-sexually-assaulted-by-hollywood-executive

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[Prasadini Gross]

Something that really stuck with me from our class conversation regarding Black Lives Matter was the idea about whose lives are grievable and whose are “disposable.” Like the readings discuss, Black Lives Matter is about more than putting an end to police brutality against black youth. I’d say that part of it is also about gun control. I feel in this conversation about stricter gun control laws what is often brought up is mass shootings, however, I find what is often omitted is the element of police brutality on black and brown communities. I picked this image because I feel like it high lights just whose lives seem to be more valued. The sign says “protect kids, not guns.” However, Tamir Rice was only 12 at the time of his murder, Jazmine Barnes was 7 at the time of hers. Where were signs of this nature when these children, and countless other black and brown children, were murdered?

NRA Posters. Redbubble. https://www.redbubble.com/shop/nra+posters. Accessed February 24, 2019.

[Prasadini Gross]

In an Ethnic Studies class I took last quarter, we watched a mini-documentary called On Strike! about the threat of cutting the Ethnic Studies department at Berkeley in 1999. Not only was there a blatant depletion of the program a real threat but also the school administration, especially the chancellor at the time, did not take the protesting students seriously. The student protestors tried all the non-violent methods they could come up with. They ultimately resorted to a hunger strike, supported by community members and faculty of color, in which the school administration was forced to pay attention to them because it would not benefit the administration and name of the school to have students dying. I chose this image because it shows the brutal and violent courses of action that the administration were willing to take to a) dismantle the Ethnic Studies program and b) maintain the status quo of white centralized education by dismantling this program. What’s particularly shocking to me is that even though this photo was taken a couple decades ago, this image could be very well dated during the 1960’s.

Weinstein, Austin. “With Carol Christ in Charge, Campus Police Used Chokeholds to Dismantle 1999 Protest,” The Daily Californian. Published May 30, 2017. Accessed February 14, 2014. http://www.dailycal.org/2017/05/30/carol-christ-charge-campus-police-used-chokeholds-dismantle-1999-protest/

[Prasadini Gross]

For this week’s prompt, I have chosen an image of Chris Iijima. During the late 60’s and early 70’s was a time for unity, connection and pride for many ethnic groups despite the racial divide of the country at that time. The Asian American community was among those groups. Chris Iijima was a Japanese American activist who advocated for the Asian American movement during that time. In the documentary about Chris’ life, A Song for Ourselves, he mentions that although he was an active member of many activist groups, he never felt like he truly belonged because there wasn’t a strong voice for the Asian American community. That’s why he and his friend started a band about Asian Americans for Asian Americans. They sang about the pride and beauty of being Asian American, and what it was like to see people who looked like them being harmed and killed in the War in Vietnam by a country who claimed to be protecting them but still did not include Asian Americans in the narrative. His music and words were his activism that was beyond the Civil Rights Movement.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjq3J6g6qDgAhXGyVQKHQKhD1gQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchrisiijima.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F01%2Fblog-post_113808661180815178.html&psig=AOvVaw20hSzu7-e89vEFvGo99Zc4&ust=1549326675150044

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[Prasadini Gross]

In Malcolm’s message to the Grassroots, something that really stood out to me was the line that says something like “by any means necessary.” He was alluding to the physical, emotional and psychological violence that black folk have/had to endure and that there is no space to sit back and take it. There has to be a revolution, a push back of any means necessary in the name of self-defense. And so I have chosen an image of the Black Panther Party because the idea of any means necessary was very prevalent in what the Black Panther Party Stood for. The Black Panther Party was founded post Malcolm X’s assassination. They were not an inherently violent group but carried guns and weapons in acknowledgment of the 2nd Amendment as well as that was what was necessary in terms for defending themselves against the brutality that black people faced. I feel that they embodied the type of revolution that Malcolm described.

Bliven, David, and Alan Maass. “The Revolutionary Legacy of the Black Panthers.” <i>SocialistWorker.Org</i>,  3 Nov. 2016, socialistworker.org/2016/11/03/revolutionary-legacy-of-the-black-panthers.

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[Prasadini Gross]

I’ve chosen this image of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr with this quote because in addition to talking about Dr. MLK and reading Letter from Birmingham Jail, I feel this quote really exemplifies the element and essence of time we discussed in class. This quote highlights the fact that if one were to sit idly by and wait around for their freedom to knock on their door they’d be waiting around forever. Nothing would progress in this fashion of waiting because as long as nothing is being done from those of who are denied any such freedom, the oppressor will continue to ignore and neglect such issues. This past weekend I went to the San Diego Women’s March and there was a heavy emphasis to vote and keep voting because that’s one way the people’s voices will be heard in order to demand those freedoms we are being withheld from by the current people in power.

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