#zulah

A friendly visit with the fam <3 Starring Wyra, Ranirus and Upa. w/ Zulah and Enli <3 CUTIES

Ran’s kids appreciation post. LOL Top: Zulah and Enli Bottom left: Zulah (as an adult) Bottom right: Zulah holding Ran’s hand @opo-opos

How Many More Need to Die for Change?

One of the biggest issues on campus is the lack of visible meaningful action in response to the racist actions of students on campus. The same can be said for Noble’s views on how Google operates: through hollow apologies and misdirection. The administration both acknowledges what was done was bad while attempting to mitigate negative reactions from the campus by referring to the incident with misnomers like cultural appropriation. Their lack of visible action towards the students imparts a feeling of irresponsibility on behalf of the administration meant to ensure that the students feel comfortable on campus. Google operates in a similar way. When racist images show up in Google’s search algorithm, Google shrugs away all responsibility by claiming that such results are an “anomaly” and “beyond their control” (Noble, 80). Similarly, because the students are not the administration, it is not their fault that the students on campus act disrespectfully towards other minority students. This is both true and false to some extent. Noble points out that some of the reasons why black women are portrayed negatively are because some algorithms operate like the porn industry in that they “monitor top search results across a variety of demographics” for their requests (Noble, 87). Some of the reasons why Google is so racist is because people have stereotypical beliefs about minorities that become visible to their frequency as a search topic. Likewise, some members of this campus are just ignorant of purposefully malicious, and the campus had no part to play in the dissemination of such blatantly racist actions. Yet, like Google, the campus has the duty to control its inhabitants to create a space where people can live without feeling attacked. It is clear that Google does have some control over what it kinds of content shows up in their search engines. For instance, “facebook and Youtube go to great lengths to monitor their user content for illicit content that could potentially harm their audience” (Noble, 56). Racism can be both mentally and physically harmful regardless of the offender’s perceived intent or lack therefore of. Google can do something about its’ content. It just hasn’t. Likewise, the campus could do more about the situation than just sending emails, but they must first acknowledge that something more than empty platitudes in emails and apologies should be sent to the students. Tangible action available for the public to see and not deflection or resolutions behind closed doors is what is needed for both Google and this campus to acknowledge their own algorithms of oppression.

Trump’s ignorant comments towards the Mashpee Wampanoag exemplify Conklin’s assertion that Western notions of cultural authenticity have “distorted relationships with non-westerners through its long-standing tradition of exoticism and primitivism” (Conklin, 713). When Westerners see natives without the stereotypical “headdress” and “grass-skirt,” their authenticity as Natives become questioned by those who came to see “real natives” (Conklin, 711). Trump shares this point of view in that he claimes that some of the reservation that has been approved does not contain people who “look like Indians” to him (Bump, 2016). He even goes as far as to suggest that Native American reservations are discriminatory because he, as a rich white male, has to pay taxes while the “Indians do not have to pay tax” (Bump, 2016). He completely disregards the fact that the United States was Native territory before colonists and conquistadors came around and wrecked everything with disease and warfare. Arguments of authenticity still play a role today in that the “appropriation of complex Western technologies by indigenous people challenges views that equate authenticity with purity from foreign influences” (Conklin, 715). The supposed tainting of Native culture denies Westerners the opportunity to ogle at the Natives as if they were pieces to be admired. Westerners are especially captivated by what they perceive as foreign and old like museum artifacts-preserved from the ravages of time. If the Natives become modern, then there is no point in reserves because there is no culture to be preserved anymore. Thought like these will persist and will continue to persist as technology becomes more advanced and there is more to adopt.

I do not have any photos hanging inside my room. That is not to say that I don’t want any posters or photos to hang up on my walls. I would very much like to hang a couple of pictures or posters in my room if only to invoke a feeling of belonging when I’m there. Even though I would feel more comfortable having some posters in my room to indicate my presence there, I don’t have any practical reasons for purchasing any. High-quality posters that are worth spending money on are expensive. They serve no other purpose than to make my room more aesthetically pleasing and relaxing to live in. They aren’t necessary for my further education. Logically, I know that it is a waste of money that I could use to buy supplies, clothing, food, or other things that I actually need. Emotionally, I just want them. I want a poster and some polaroid photos on my wall. having a digital image of the poster somewhere on my phone isn’t enough. These emotions of desire are best fulfilled by the tangibility of the pictures as they make me feel as if the picture is mine and can only belong to me. I desire to look at the pictures in my immediate vicinity and think, “yeah, I live here” enthusiastically instead of passively. Yet, I still don’t have any pictures in my room. I mean, what’s the point when you have to take it all down again? I think pictures are powerful emotional representations of a person’s likes, interests, and all the things that make them happy made manifest. I wish I had some photos to put up, but my logical side hasn’t overridden my emotional one. So, my walls will remain blank for now.

The lyrics remind me of something she’d sing/teach her daughters, and the music box sound is very suiting. She received a pair of twin music boxes when she adopted Zulah and her late brother, Zavuh, and she plays them for the girls before they go to sleep every night.