A Collective

African American Museum in D.C.

I decided to include this image because it reminded me of immigration detentions where asylum seekers are being detained which then reminded me of  PIC and how  prisons are geographical solutions to socio economic problems (Angela,  pg 9-20). Immigration detentions are also geographical solutions to socio economic problems.

This conversation is taking place on Instagram in a group message I am in with my sister and her husband. When he had sent the first message, I immediately was taken back. Due to the fact that he is my sister’s husband and the father of my niece, I attempted to not cause an “issue” and replied with something not as confrontational. His last response was: “Nah.i don’t like confusing little kids”; referring to schools giving children the option to choose the gender they identified with. This confrontation was intentional since he is aware of my stance on issues like these. Thus, this conversation made me uncomfortable and although we were not talking about trans people, this conversation reminded me of Hayward’s “Dont Exist”. His response, in my opinion, is violent. It is violent because he is encouraging the idea of having anyone that isn't binary as “non-existing”. He is erasing their chances of beingness. This hurt me most because he is the father of my niece; whom he has already taken away that opportunity from. Having that kind of immediate response goes to show how inconsiderate and selfish one can be. Neglecting someone the opportunity to have that agency is immediately inflicting possible violence on that person if they ever do choose to reside outside of the binary. They are choosing to have these people not exist when it is not their choice or business. Having such values inflict so much violence and it confuses me how unaware people are of it.  

Similar to R. Kelly, what do we do with people like Chris Brown? Of course he was wrong for hitting Rihanna, but would putting Chris in prison be the answer? Rihanna has kept silent in regards to the topic and thus we do not know what she may even want.

Roxane Gay shares her childhood idol as a young black girl. Reminds me of Beyoncé and how she is an iconic image for young girls of color. Through Gay we are able to see an example of how important these icons are to young girls.

Linda Stein’s tapestry in her Sexism series

“Gender Equality Revolution” by Michael Kaufman

Regarding the forgiveness of Chrisbrown for hitting Rihanna.

I was at a stage ready to see the rapper YG perform. First of all, he used to be apart of the Bloods and is very open about his gang affiliation. He centers his image around his affiliation with the gang and is known to have his crowd wear all red. Although I do enjoy his music, once he started performing, I was horrified when i realized I no longer was in a WGSS classroom and started to hear everyone sing the “N” word. As if they were tied to the history; as if they were black themselves, and as if they were apart of the Bloods as well. Overall, it was absolutely bazar seeing the people around me. One guy next to me was Asian and had a grill . The images these people are recycling are images that are expected of black people and are images other people decide to put on and take off when they please. Overall, we’re well aware there’s Black violence but choose to ignore it in order to enjoy certain things about “blackness”. 

Allowing such classes to not be a requirement will further hide cultural, racial, gendered, and systemic issues from college students.

Savannah Elahian, Washington DC, 2019

The episode also visually captures how Black geographies can be limited. Her constant replays and changes in not only words but in pathways to her son’s university physically shows how she has to negotiate what spaces she can safely encompass (Mckittrick, pg. 144). Mckittrick also argues that Black geographies include safe spaces where other black communities reside. Which coincidentally, Nina’s safe spaces were at her home with her brother and at the all Black University; all black geographies.

In the 3rd Episode of the new Twilight Zone “Rewind”, directed and written by Jordan Peel, I argue that the show captures Hortense Spillers’ ideas around beingness in “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe: An American Grammar Book”. The episode revolves around a Black mother, Nina, who repeatedly revisits her past, attempting to change it in order for her son to have a good future. While changing her destiny with each rewind in time, she finds that every outcome leads to police brutality towards her son. Although the episode had a happy ending, I argue that her experience shows how the constant fear and need to accommodate to police or authority is dehumanizing as a Black individual. As Spillers explains, blackness has never been included in the category of human (1987, 66). I argue that Nina and her story was a physical representation of how one is minimized and not able to reach full beingness. Nina’s experience is a reality for Black people throughout history; where the constant fear and negotiation of decisions is a major part of their daily lives; further denying them the category of being or human.

I then see that such practice was used again by Tracee Ellis Ross in the 2019 Met Gala. Ross states on Instagram, “ RECLAIMING THE NARRATIVE ~ black camp”, not only talking about herself with the frame, but also addressing the irony of how an extravagant event chose the theme of “Camp”; a theme stolen from Black Drag Queens. Overall, Tracee Ellis Ross’s post on Instagram has us revisit how Black individuals must take control of what images define them.

I grew fond of the conversation because of how difficult it is to pinpoint where Transracial goes wrong compared to that of Transgender. I hope that in the future i have better words to describe why Transracial cannot be compared to Transgender. But for now, as discussed in class, we have to understand that the racial stereotypes society has created and set upon Black individuals are the stereotypes one may use to “transform”. Yet those stereotypes do not come along with the socio-economical challenges and spaces that black individuals encompass. One can not come from a place of power (Dolezal) and adopt socio-economical struggles that are often inherited because of how society has failed black communities. I also argue that trans-gendered people still experience a heavy amount of violence and that is a kind of violence a transracial such as Dolezal would be able to remove herself from because she is still white.