Gender and Social Change: WS 2013.03

Dear Sir/Madame,

I am writing this letter in urgency regarding the catastrophic earthquake of 7.9 magnitude that hit Nepal on Saturday, April 25th. At this moment, more than 1,400 people have been reported dead and the death toll continues to rise. [That toll is now considered to be at 3,726.] Their homes destroyed, our people are living in tents, with no food, communication and electricity. Hundreds of children and their families are missing. Our historic buildings are down to dust and the monuments listed in world heritage sites are no more.

Nepal, being a developing country does not have enough resources to fight back this sudden emergency situation. So, we need help to stand back up on our feet. I just want to spread this news to everyone and I am hoping that you will help me do this by forwarding this email to others professors and students. In Nepal $1~Nrs. 100, so even a $1 can make a big difference.Even a small donation of a price of a coffee can make a huge difference in the lives of people who need it. So, anyone who can donate, please do.

Here are some online links to donate:https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/nepal-earthquake-relief-fundhttp://www.gofundme.com/swkmjs

Please forward this email.Thank you!

This week marks our 2nd full week discussing activism, activists, and social change movements (although, we have truly been talking about this all semester). 

This week, in addition to Chapter 13 of your textbooks, we are looking at writings by Moya Bailey and Alexis Pauline Gumbs, another essay from Gloria E. Anzaldúa, and an essay about post-oppositional resistance from AnaLouise Keating. 

In the first chapter of Transformation Now!, the chapter titled “Post-Oppositional Resistance? Threshold Theories Defined and Enacted,” Keating writes,

Language, belief, perception, and action are intimately interwoven. The stories we tell ourselves, the stories we learn from our cultures (our families, schooling, religion, friends, the media, etc.) influence our beliefs about ourselves, other people, and the world. Our beliefs affect our perceptions, and these perceptions affect how we act; our actions shape the stories we tell, the stories others tell about us, the ways they perceive us, the ways we perceive ourselves. All too often, however, we (educators and students) assume that our perceptions and beliefs accurately reflect the entire truth about reality and ourselves; such assumptions narrow, limit, restrict our worldviews and inhibit our actions. (23)

This quote in many, many ways pulls our semester of considerations together. To consider it and possible connections to other readings from our semester is your final digital journal post prompt. 

Digital Journal Post #12 Prompt:

First, re-read Keating’s essay. Highlight the areas in this essay that remind you of other concepts we have discussed or read this semester. (Use your calendar of readings as a cheatsheet.) For example, much of what Keating writes has much in common with our discussions of/about a capacity to hold ambiguity, again just as one example.

Then, write at least 2 paragraphs connecting Keating’s thoughts in this essay to at least 2 other writings in our semester. (You must quote from Keating and the (at least) 2 other writers!)

How are the concepts/ideas/thoughts/considerations/theorizing inter-related? How do they differ? How do they conversate with each other? (Answer at least 2 of these questions within your (at least) 2 paragraphs. If your DJP is missing this requirement, you will not receive more than 4 points for it.)

Audre Lorde considers forms of oppression “forms of human blindness” (”Scratching the Surface”). This change in perspective was radical for me when first I read it. Of course forms of oppression are blindness. Blindness to one another. Blindness to the commonalities of that which defines our humanity and the differences that make us wonderfully complex. Difference is something to celebrate and well worth the time to understand with clarity. These are some of the many lessons I take from the scholars, activists, and writers we have shared together this semester. 

Lorde defines some forms of “human blindness” in the following manner:

Racism: The belief in the inherent superiority of one race over all others and thereby the right to dominance.

Sexism: The belief in the inherent superiority of one sex and thereby the right to dominance.

Heterosexism: The belief in the inherent superiority of one pattern of loving and thereby its right to dominance.

Homophobia: The fear of feelings of love for members of one’s own sex and therefore the hatred of those feelings in others.

Lorde begins her essay “Poetry is Not a Luxury” with the following thoughts (one of my favorites):

The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives. It is within this light that we form those ideas by which we pursue our magic and make it realized. (36)

Activism is not issue-specific. It’s a moral posture that, steady state,           propels you forward, from one hard hour to the next. Believing that you can do something           to make things better, you do something, rather than nothing. You assume responsibility for the           privilege of your abilities. You do whatever you can. You reach beyond yourself in your           imagination, and in your wish for understanding, and for change. You admit the limitations of individual           perspectives. You trust somebody else. you do not turn away.