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Quotes from Article: 

“By claiming that she composed a “love story” (30), Butler seeks to quell questions and criticism concerning the presence of reproductive “domination” (Butler, “Interview” by McCaffery 56) and “enslavement” (Helford 266) in “Bloodchild.” However, critics such as Jane Donawerth continue to describe “Bloodchild” as a tale of “exploitation” (40), while Amanda Thibodeau and Marty Fink offer more ambivalent responses to the tenor of human-alien relationships in Butler’s story and maintain that the author depicts a “parasitic” partnership (Thibodeau 270) resulting in the “violent physical invasion” and “alien appropriation of human bodies” “I consider how the history of slavery in America shapes the relationships among Tlic adoptive mothers, Terran surrogate mothers, and their Tlic offspring in “Bloodchild.”5 Butler’s explorations of body commodification, forced reproduction, and disrupted kinship evoke the oppression Africans experienced under slavery in the United States, yet her insistence that “Bloodchild” be understood as a story of symbiosis rather than slavery highlights the transformative potential of mothering in the text.”

Discussion Topics:

-Gender, sexuality 

-Pregnant man significance

-Slavery

-Race, different speicies

Quotes:

-“Human eyes probably wouldn’t have noticed the swelling in the darkness. The only light was from one of the moons, shining through a window across the room.”

-”You know these things, Gan. Because your people arrived, we are relearning what it means to be a healthy, thriving people. And your ancestors, fleeing from their home world, from their own kind who would have killed or enslaved them--they survived because of us. We saw them as people and gave them the Preserve when they still tried to kill us as worms.”

Questions:

-Start off with people’s different interpretations? Imagery of how saw?

-Does this remind you of slavery?

- Can someone comment on how daunting/confusing the beginning was and why butler may have done this?

-Do the arms remind you of anything?

-Starts questioning self after seeing? Why? Why not before if known? What does this signify 

Perception defines the way in which identity is understood and exhibited in our culture. With media’s role overtaking society as social networks expand, differing stereotypes and ideologies are exhibited on a public platform. News sources that are meant to be trusted and entertainment media that construct our interests prevail over the way in which people see both themselves and others. 

The PBS video “Why Greater Diversity is Good for Hollywood’s Bottom Line” interviews Dr. Hunt whose research discusses the importance of on-screen diversity in terms of the way viewers perceive their own opportunities as well as how they frame other races and argues that diversity’s positive impact on the bottom line will lead executives to make a change. When Viola Davis was the first African American woman to win the Emmy for Best Actress she said, “you cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” Dr. Hunt, chair of the Department of Sociology at UCLA and head of its center for African American studies, remarks that greater diversity in roles is not just important on an equality status but that that the on-screen notion that white males are in charge reinforces these ideals in the minds of the consumers and particularly effects minority youths, who may be discouraged from aspiring to certain careers and opportunities due to the lack of role models.

Dr. Hunt also argues, “people learn a lot about what they think they know about other people from what they see in the media. If they see certain types of images reproduced over and over again from other groups that limit them to narrow types of roles and portrayals, they start to take those prejudices into their interactions with those people in real society.”  This leads to issues such as racial profiling based on the fear of black youth, which links back to images in the media. When understanding media as a keyword, we see how it “creates a sense of identity” for its users and many focus on this before looking into its role as a “purveyor of harmful stereotypes and violent images.” This dichotomy translates into how executives only consider the white sense of identity. However, Dr. Hunt found that “TV shows that roughly reflect the diversity of American society—that is, between 30 and 40% diverse on the screen—on average had the highest ratings.”  Dr. Hunt included the white, male executive boards in his research so that they were forced to read his findings and argues that by connecting diversity to “dollars, to shareholder values, suddenly it becomes more of an imperative.” 

While I find it problematic that executives will not have the incentive for more diversity on screen unless it is linked to revenue, I think this is a really realistic plan. It exemplifies the way in which the majority white, male executives who are privileged—and in this case extremely wealthy and highly powerful—on all aspects of their identity have never had to contemplate issues of diversity, as it does not affect them firsthand. Linking their own life in terms of the bottom line to the issue of inequality allows for those of the agent group to see the way in which equality actually benefits both sides. Dr. Hunt successfully exemplifies the importance of diversity as the viewer’s perceptions leak into their own life effecting their personal choices and the way in which they view racial hierarchy.

  Like Viola Davis, Serena Williams faced many obstacles based on the stereotypes of African American women in her fame as not only a tennis player, but as an athletic media icon. In the New York Times article “The Meaning of Serena Williams” Claudia Rankine notes that Williams has earned 21 Grand Slam single titles and only lost 4 times in the 25 times she played in the finals. She has been called “a phenomenon that once every hundred years comes around” by the former top female tennis player. And yet, Williams has been critiqued about her body and given too many bad calls. While Williams is much more successful than Maria Sharapova on the court, the blonde, white player is seen as more marketable, as she is a visual representation of white ideals.  

In regards to the keyword, Empire, we understand the United States as an as the language of control was changed to that of a “manifest destiny” where colonizers were just “chosen people in promise land.” This rhetoric is similar to Frederick Douglas’s references to “American Exceptionalism” in The Myth of Yellow Peril in which he holds African and Asian Americans to white colonial ideals, seeking integration in exchange for the group’s cultural identity. The idea of the U.S. as an Empire, in which the settlers changed the language of their colonization to manifest destiny as the “chosen people in promise land,” is similar to Frederick Douglas’s American Exceptionalism rhetoric in “The Myth of Yellow Peril”. Douglas exemplifies the way in which African and Asian Americans are held to white colonial ideals and seek integration in exchange for the group’s cultural identity. Thus our empire, ruled by white, colonial ideals shapes the way in which extremely successful black athletes and celebrities must go above and beyond. 

As Rankine writes, “Only after they give 150 percent will white Americans recognize black excellence for what it is.” Or in other words, working harder to get past the “veil” and win in a white world. But Serena Williams “won’t go gently into the white light of victory” she speaks back against racism, deciding not to follow the script of silence and within that, rejecting the ideals of American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny. Williams openly yells at the crowds and curses out the lineswoman, exposing her true emotions of joy, humor and rage, without fear of how she will be regarded. Serana Williams exemplifies the way in which media’s allotted roles for racial diversity dictate perceptions and thus figureheads who challenge these steryotypes must work all the harder to attain the reception of their white peers. As Dr. Hunt argues, while media stifles William’s visibility, she reaches fewer viewers as a role model or a positive personification of her race.     

Media’s multitude of roles—on screen and in the news—collide in the depiction of the Stonewall Inn riots. The Stonewall Inn riots have become known as the beginning of the gay pride movement and recently were depicted in the film, Stonewall. Stonewall triggered conversation on how rioters were portrayed—or not shown at all—and linking back to the event’s history of divergent reportage. In 1969 the Stonewall riots were mainly treated as a local news item, and a day later, on June 29, the New York Times wrote an article titled ‘4 Policemen Hurt in “Village” Raid: Melee Near Sheridan Square Follows Action at Bar.’ The article continues on to say, “Hundreds of young men went on a rampage in Greenwich Village shortly after 3 A.M. yesterday after a force of plainclothes men raided a bar that the police said was well known for its homosexual clientele. Thirteen persons were arrested and four policemen injured.” The article mentions the name of the bar and says that the police had a search warrant to investigate reports that liquor was being sold illegally, remarking all the ways in which the “the young men” were violent towards the cops. 

TIMEs looks at how the riots were covered over the years and notes that the words Stonewall Inn began to appear more frequently in the press as the movement became more mainstream as well and it was not until the 1980s that the phrase was more commonly used. In the New York Times article the protesters were all noted to be “young men” while much of the anger over the recent movie formulates around the fact that the transgender minority protesters were some of the main contenders yet were not depicted. As discussed in Cohen’s article on queer theory, this language depicts the way in which historically, the sexuality or race of the protesters was not seen as important to note or there wasn’t common understanding of queer terminology. Reflecting on the movie, it shows how a historical depiction is thwarted by discomfort that still holds true today in mainstream media. Cohen’s argument proves necessary, as it was a protest going against the power, and the people who, in their identities are going against heteronormativity, that had the strength to spark a movement. 

These three narratives of identity touch on the complexities of perception and media’s role in our lives. Looking back on the Google auto-fill discussion, we see the way in which people rely on technology and social media to teach them about different identities. Whether intentionally searching for answers on Google or just digesting shows, movies and articles, people are learning about other races as well as their own race’s role in society. With more actresses like Viola Davis and athletes like Serena Williams defying the odds, faulty media perceptions like that of Stonewall will be of less and less significance. As Dr. Hunt makes clear, not only are these changes necessary for equality, but they benefit money-making industries as people actually enjoy viewing diversity at play. 

Society and media go hand in hand and while issues persist in one forum, they will continue to flourish in the other. They play as building blocks off of each other, where perceptions come to light in society and are reflected in media, which tends to pick on stereotypes or depict extreme circumstances that are then played out and feared in society. This continues along in a circle that only changes when, as Dr. Hunt exposes, the institutional and structural levels of oppression, held by the executive board of white males, makes changes. The result of this cycle can be captured in Claire Kim’s “Racial Triangulation of Asians” graph that exposes the way in which society has come to understand different racial groups. Asian Americans are seen as “inferior” to Whites but “superior” to blacks and sit much closer on the spectrum to that of a “foreigner” than Whites and Blacks who are considered “insiders.” This simplification of a complicated process of immigration, slavery, oppression, education, economy and countless other factors depicts what has become the structural classification of race in America. Every identity group could be graphed on a similar chart, showing the way in which society and media collide to divide people. 

In connecting and interpreting such different stories I see how this course allowed me to see the connections between identity groups. I loved the way in which, beginning with the very first class, we were very upfront about the topic of race and didn’t tip toe around things that are often seen as too “politically incorrect” to discuss. In particular I remember a discussion of the N-word and everyone being so open to voice their opinions on the matter. Our class was made up of a diverse group of people which really allowed for everyone to contribute their own experiences and the discuss things that they connected to. I learned that issues of race are articulated in so many formats as a means of expressing the complexities of these topics. 

I have been keeping track of of the Missouri Univeristy case and today, I saw on Facebook that as status was trending saying: “To the students of color at Mizzou and Yale, we, students of color at Cornell University, stand with you in solidarity. To those who would threaten their sense of safety, we are watching. ‪#‎ConcernedStudent1950‬‪#‎InSolidarityWithMizzou‬” i knew what was going on and had heard people saying that this was trending. That being the case I read the status, though I probably skimmed it, reading the words that stood out and mattered. Then I copied and reposted it. 

And then my friend told me that an old friend (who is white) messaged her saying this messed with her and asking if I identified as a person of color. She went on to say that “language is so important, especially when people are being killed, being threatened and being silenced because they ARE people of color. And part of showing support is ensuring that those voices are centered, and not coopting a movement. It’s also such a privilege to be able to just copy and paste something about something you’re not impacted by without fully reading it.”

This really upset me. I don’t know how I ended up missing the people of color part, maybe I just didn’t even think about that as I was thinking about the movement and a little thing I could do, or maybe I was only seeing posts from people of color at that moment and didn’t think to change it. Whatever it was, I had no bad intentions. While I did edit my post to say “allies,” I did so because i didn’t want to offend students of color who may assume I think I am a student of color. This girl, who like me is white, just made me feel awful about a mistake, focusing on something small rather than putting energy into what matters. This is where I get frustrated being the agent, I want to support but is everything I do under scrutiny because I am not the one leading the movement. I am completely fine being a follower and an ally when it is not my issue to speak of, but  I really do care and this is something that effects me in some ways as I am a student on campus and I prize diversity and work hard in my own ways to deal with issues of inequality. I don’t know if copying and pasting defines my privilege. 

I spoke to my best friend since the age of 4 who is black and goes to Cornell if this had offended her. She said “I know your intentions were noble, I would just say to understand the movement and the statement before you stand behind it, I feel like that’s how columbusing happens. There’s a difference between being an ally and inserting yourself into a movement.” I immediately listened to what she said as I knew she had a right to say this and a greater understanding of how others feel. But doesn’t this just point to the fact that the other girl was just inserting herself where she didn’t belong, taking it so personally?

Allyship is a complicated concept. Often in can be hard to admit that you need to be a follower as you will never truly understand the experiences or be impacted. Part of being an ally is using your privilege to stand up in a place that those who are oppressed cannot. But you do not need to do this in a way that undermines your own privilege and is insulting, on the contrary, through IDP I have learned that this is never the first way to approach getting a message across. 

http://peoplesguidetonyc.blogspot.com/2009/12/black-panther-party-harlem-headquarters.html

This was the Black Panther Party headquarters in Harlem created in 1968, two years after the creation of the movement. This is a block away from my house and I never knew of its existence, today it is a deli. There is no indication of the work that was done here, the people who passed through those doors. The article mentions how subjection “is the construction by the powerful of spaces in which human beings are enabled to participate in the social life of public institutions, in the economy, and in the body politic of the nation.” This speaks to the way Harlem today is a place where a  majority of African Americans live in New York City and yet it is being overrun by the white and wealthy. It makes me wonder if groups like Black Lives Matter should claim space and in that, overtly claim power over neighborhoods with so much history. The article explains that the known address of the Harlem brach is defunct possibly due to the fact that 21 members of this chapter were involved in an alleged bomb threat. They were called the Panther 21 and later the Panther 13. The organization ended ties with those 13 and Harlem asserted itself as a separate Black Panther Party.

This is an image of the Cold Crush Brothers from the Kroch collection. In the box were many images of the group at Harlem World, backstage, at photoshoots and more. I was first attracted to these images because I use a film camera and love to take pictures of musicians and people in action. There was such a great feeling in these images and so much energy. The Cold Crush Brothers were one of the first hip hop crews, at a time where the music was experienced live or on recorded cassette. The crew originally consisted of DJ Charlie Chase, DJ Tony Tone, Easy A.D., Whipper Whip, Mr. Tee, and Dot-A-Rock. Two of the members left the group to join the Fantastic Five. 

The Cold Crush Brothers are where the story starts, not with Sugarhill Gang which was commercially successful. Grand Master Caz was not only a DJ but an MC, and supposedly wrote some of the lyrics that were being sung by Big Bank Hank at pizzeria when he was asked to join the Sugarhill Gang. Grandmaster Caz never got compensation for the lyrics that were included in Rappers Delight. 

http://time.com/4042859/stonewall-inn-history-time/

http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/06/29/issue.html

As debate about the Stonewall Inn movie and its purposeful misperceptions of leadings activists is being held in the present day, a time when discussion of LGBTQ topics are more readily discussed in media, I wondered how these riots were spoken of in the past. 

In 1969 the Stonewall riots were mainly treated as a local news item, maybe because its great impact on the gay rights movement was not yet known, or maybe because such topics were not spoken of. A day later, on June 29, the New York Times wrote an article titled ‘4 Policemen Hurt in “Village” Raid: Melee Near Sheridan Square Follows Action at Bar.’ The article continues on to say, “Hundreds of young men went on a rampage in Greenwich Village shortly after 3 A.M. yesterday after a force of plainclothes men raided a bar that the police said was well known for its homosexual clientele. Thirteen persons were arrested and four policemen injured.” The article mentions the name of the bar and says that the police had a search warrant to investigate reports that liquor was being sold illegally, remarking all the ways in which the “the young men” were violent towards the cops. It also notes that a sign on the door said “This is a private club. Members only.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmZ8fomh0pI

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bronwyn-lea/a-letter-from-a-white-soua-letter-from-a-white-south-african-to-white-america_b_7618544.html

This letter from the Huffington Post blog highlights the relationship between the effects of Apartheid in South Africa and Segregation in American, both legal forms of oppression. The writer says that the current events of racial violence in America are eerily familiar. She clearly states that America did away with legalized racism decades before South Africa but its still enforced institutionally. Her most important point is when she says: 

“I recognize the fear, the blaming, the use of "they" and "them" in people's language. I remember hearing the voices of brave voices in the black community appealing to people to listen, to learn, to please, please acknowledge that there are hurts I don't see or understand. I remember the talk of white privilege, and feeling unjustly accused by the term. I remember grappling with what it meant to be regarded as an oppressor, even though I was too young to have done any wrong myself.”

This holds so true to me as my mom lived through apartheid and like writer, she was a “liberal” white person who was still a beneficiary of privilege, as much as she pushed away from it. She says that “we are all blind to our own privileges until we hear the stories of those who have lived without.” I feel like this is only a surface level of how the problem is solved and only the first step in recognizing and combating your privilege. But I do see how when people’s stories weren’t told and when it was easier to shy away from it, understanding one’s own privilege feels impossible. I often wonder how my mom became the woman she is, how she was able to be liberal in a conservative family, how she was able to care and see the wrong. 

And on a simple basis I do think it was her ability for empathy. My mom constantly gets into talks with strangers about their struggles and feels the pain as they tell their stories. This must have been her only tool, a lucky one to have during apartheid, to seeing that her privilege was unfair. 

Reading “Our Nig” I was struck by the relationships constructed between Frado as a servant and the family. I was struck by it because I recognize it, because I have heard of it and have lived it. My mother grew up with African servants. These were the people she was most able to empathize with as she grew up, the people whose lives wove into hers. And on my own visits to my grandparents as I grew up, I was taken care of African maids. While it was post-apartheid, even as an 8-year-old I was able to recognize the difference in skin color, the difference in culture, the difference in opportunity. I have been on the side of the white family. I read this book and have to disassociate because I know that I have never meant wrong, have never intentionally looked down upon these men and women who live in my friend’s and family’s homes. But as I read the interactions between the “nice” family members in “Our Nig” like James or Jim, I can’t help but wonder if I have ever been nice but simultaneously not acknowledged my privilege.  

And the biggest problem is, the second I was aware of race, which was so young as I came from a diverse city, that was the second I began to hurt. Because even as I tried to be nice and empathetic and equal. Even as I made sure to not leave my laundry out or offer help, I still felt different. I still saw that nothing I could do or say could directly change the circumstances of these people in these moments. And this hurt. It hurts to think about still. 

Last week Talib Kweli played in the Ithaca Commons. He was one of my favorite rappers when I was young. I remember being simultaneously confused and shocked by his often political lyrics. So, in Ithaca, when he integrated an amazing performance with an amazing speech about the Black Lives Matter movement I wasn’t shocked, just so impressed by the poetics of his very straightforward words. 

He began by speaking of his young career with Gang Starr where their lyrics often said things like: 

They might say we're a menace to society But at the same time I say "Why is it me?" Am I the target, for destruction? What about the system, and total corruption?

On the stage he said that his race has always been a part of his life and that the movement is personal to him but that the movement is also calling for everyones support and that in many ways it is saying Black Lives Matter “Too.” He called to the people in the crowds for support saying that it was about humanity and morality and that everyone was affected.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/magazine/the-meaning-of-serena-williams.html

Serena Williams has earned 21 Grand Slam single titles and only lost 4 times in the 25 times she played in the finals. She has been called “a phenomenon that once every hundred years comes around” by the former top female tennis player. And yet, Williams has been critiqued about her body and given too many bad calls. While Williams is much more successful than Maria Sharapova on the court, the blonde, white player is seen as more marketable, as she is a visual representation of white ideals. 

In regards to the keyword, Empire, in which we understand that in many ways the United States is an empire while historically the language was changed to “manifest destiny” where colonizers were just “chosen people in promise land.” This rhetoric is similar to Frederick Douglas’s references to “American Exceptionalism” in The Myth of Yellow Peril in which he holds African and Asian Americans to white colonial ideals, seeking integration in exchange for the group’s cultural identity. This idea of the U.S. as an Empire being ruled with white, colonial ideals shapes the way in which extremely successful black athletes and celebrities must go above and beyond. As Rankine writes, “Only after they give 150 percent will white Americans recognize black excellence for what it is.” Or in other words, working harder to get past the “veil” and win in a white world. But Serena Williams "won’t go gently into the white light of victory” she speaks back against racism, deciding not to follow the script of silence and within that, rejecting the ideals of American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny. She openly yells at the crowds and curses out the lineswoman, exposing her true emotions of joy, humor and rage, without fear of how she will be regarded.