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March 10, 2019 at 12:02 am #4729ROXANNE PRADOParticipant
For this week’s photoshare, I found this powerful image of an anti-pipeline protester holding up a gallon of water in front of a large group of heavily armed law enforcement. Peaceful protests of the indigenous community and allies were targets of destruction when law enforcement began using tear gas, rubber bullets, and other weaponry against #NODAPL protesters. This is one of many examples of the struggles marginalized communities face against oppressive institutions such as law enforcement. We have discussed during class that the indigenous community who have been fighting against the establishment of a pipeline on sacred grounds are still being seen as threats despite their peaceful and ceremonial methods of protesting. Though a particularly different fight, this is the same experience felt by other marginalized communities such as Black people. The Black Lives Matter movement have faced violent attacks by law enforcement even though there protests have been civil and peaceful unprovoked. The brutality marginalized communities continue to face just for fighting for their basic human rights exemplifies the continuing effects of colonialism and white supremacy.
Photo credit: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/standing-rock-protests-pipeline-police-tasers-teargas/
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March 2, 2019 at 1:05 pm #4476ROXANNE PRADOParticipant
For this week’s photoshare I wanted to highlight Emma Sulkowicz, a visual artist known for their anti-rape activism. In 2014 when Sulkowicz was an undergrad in Columbia University, they had been a victim of rape, and when the university failed to hold the rapist accountable Sulkowics decided to do this thesis project that was an endurance artform in which they carried a large mattress around campus for the rest of their academic year. This project is what gained them media attention. In an interview, Sulkowicz discusses how a lot of media platforms erased her gender-nonconforming identity and referred to them many times with “she/her” pronouns.
This reminded me about our conversations about the #MeToo movement and how certain identities have been erased from the cause. The #MeToo movement has become predominantly a platform for the white elite, despite it being founded by Tarana Burke, a Black woman. One of the biggest critiques about the #MeToo movement is how it has erased women of color, especially queer women of color, from letting their stories be centered, when they are one of the biggest targets of sexual assault. I think it’s important to highlight people like Emma Sulkowics because a lot of the stories told by queer woc are often hidden by hollywood stories. The most vulnerable victims of sexual assault are those without the platform and resources to get their voices heard.
Photo credit and source: https://hyperallergic.com/458257/conversation-with-emma-sulkowicz/
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February 23, 2019 at 11:36 pm #4275ROXANNE PRADOParticipant
This week we discussed the Black Lives Matter movement and we also discussed how and why Black women have been historically invisible in Civil Rights activism despite doing a lot of labour to let the movement thrive.
For this week’s photo share I’ve chosen a picture of some members of the Women’s Strike for Peace, which includes Coretta Scott King (on the right), MLK’s wife, who are demonstrating against nuclear warfare. It was discussed during class how Mrs. King did a lot to participate and contribute to the Civil Rights movement yet her efforts and labour were invisible because most of the attention was given to MLK. A lot of MLK’s success and power would not have been possible without the help of his wife. Coretta was a singer and used her earnings from her talent to help fund MLK’s movement, as well as advocate for human rights. It’s important to recognize the women who fought actively during the Civil Rights movement because a lot of what they did served as inspiration for the new generation of Black women activists today. A lot of which are involved in the Black Lives Matter Movement.
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February 9, 2019 at 3:22 pm #3807ROXANNE PRADOParticipant
For this week’s photo share, I have chosen the cover of hip-hop rapper Joey Bada$$’s album All-Amerikkkan Bada$$. This week we have discussed how the rise of hip-hop had become a vehicle for Black folks to express their experiences and their stories living in America. A lot of hip-hop music involves narratives of oppression, police brutality, poverty, white supremacy, and the struggle for equality.
Joey Bada$$ is an example of a hip-hop artist who uses his artistry to convey the messages of the Black experience in America. In his album All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ his tracks, such as GOOD MORNING AMERIKKKA and LAND OF THE FREE, tackle issues of police brutality, white supremacy, the prison system, and poverty. He critiques Donald Trump’s eligibility as the president of the United States in his song LAND OF THE FREE. During the release of the album, Joey Bada$$ said that he wanted to be a voice for his people who don’t get to have a voice. This reflects just how hip-hop has given people a platform to tell their stories that most people of their community might not get a chance to be heard.
Photo: All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ – Joey Bada$$$ – April 7, 2017
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February 2, 2019 at 6:21 pm #3621ROXANNE PRADOParticipant
One of things we discussed this week raised a question, “What does it mean to be a good ally?”, so for this week’s photo share I decided to choose this image of the Third World Resistance organization protesting outside of the Oakland Federal Building. The Third World Resistance organization is a group that consists of multiple community organizations of different groups that have Filipino, Hatian, Chicanx, and Arab backgrounds. In this image in particular, the organization is stood in front of the Oakland Federal Building, in which they had shut down, on January 15, 2015. They did this in order to honor MLK’s “legacy of struggle and internationalism” and protest against the U.S. government’s violent oppression against the Black community. The organization was formed in response to the unjust police killings of innocent Black men such as Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice. In their official statement, TWR says that, “we rally and march today to draw attention to the ongoing war on Black people and the repression of people’s struggles for self-determination in the U.S. and around the world.”. I think this statement is a good example of what it means to be a good ally, creating a space and using a developed platform to fight against the injustices faced by marginalized communities. To be a good ally means to truly understand and empathize with the struggle and take direct action to fight against oppressive powers.
Source: https://a4bl.wordpress.com/2015/01/15/federal-building-shut-down-with-3rd-world-resistance/#more-37
Date Posted: January 15, 2015
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January 27, 2019 at 10:42 pm #3550ROXANNE PRADOParticipant
For my photo share I wanted to talk about Maya Angelou, who like James Baldwin, expressed her experience with prejudice and racial injustice through writing and poetry. Maya Angelou often talked about her struggles growing up as a black woman in America, which at the time Black women faced the most dehumanizing treatment. Angelou developed close friendships with MLK and Malcolm X during her involvement in numerous civil rights organizations. I wanted to focus on Maya Angelou for this week because she, just like Baldwin, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., she used her intellect and knowledge with writing to speak up agains racial injustice. She is one of the many Black women who used their artistic platform to serve as a civil rights activist.
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/maya-angelou-writer-and-civil-rights-activist-45285
Date of Photo: 1993
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January 17, 2019 at 6:49 pm #3084ROXANNE PRADOParticipant
The image I chose for this week’s theme is a quote from Audre Lorde’s book “Your Silence Will Not Protect You. Audre Lorde was an American writer as well as civil rights activist and feminist. I chose this quote because I believe it is very reflective with the theme of silence as a detrimental privilege against oppressed communities, which is a point Martin Luther King Jr. stressed in his speeches. Lorde’s quote acknowledges how silence does no benefit to a collective society but by using your voice to communicate the experiences of injustice with others people can actually bring about unity. This is a sentiment that is shared by MLK in this week’s readings where he expresses how staying silent in the face of injustice negatively impacts the oppressed and only by speaking out against the injustices is how society can progress.
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