While this site has not received the amount of attention that I would have expected, I thought it was an interesting initiative worth posting. I would think that (and maybe I shouldn't assume) some of you have been the victim of, or at least witness to, sexual harrassment as you went about your business on the city streets.

Check out hollabacknyc.blogspot.com. This blog allows anyone to post a picture/video of the harrasser they encountered and provide details of the unfortunate interaction.

There are sister sites to this one for different cities throughout the country. Now, all we need is enough people to take a stand against this harassment so that everyone can walk through the streets in peace (and feel safe while doing so).

Diversity Inc

This website is definitely serious, but I'm not sure what to think about it.

www.diversityinc.com

You have to sign up to look at many of the articles, but these ones are free and possibly the most interesting in my opinion - "Things Never to Say to _______"

http://www.diversityinc.com/public/department217.cfm

Tres bizarre...

Interesting Chronicle Article on Bakke and its legacy

hello all,
I wanted to pass on this article to everyone that The Chronicle published in the June 20th edition. It is an interesting look at the legacy of the Bakke decision and its effects on race in the admission process. I know this topic has come up in some of the article discussions that we have had in the department (at least it came up in Katarina's and mine). I have posted the link below.

'Bakke' Set a New Path to Diversity for Colleges
30 years after the ruling, academe still grapples with race in admissions

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i41/41a00103.htm

I still find the following statement interesting, and the article points this out, that "Justince Sandra Day O'Connors made the statte ment in the Supreme Court's Grutter decision that colleges will not need reace-conscious admissions policies in 25 years." It also goes on to reference some Obama comments too.

Heinz pulls "Gay Kiss" ad

Just lovely...gays can marry in more and more places now, but heaven forbid they kiss on television! The Heinz rep says it was intended to be humorous. I'm not sure what's so funny about it...or what's so offensive...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4205422.ece

Don Imus does it again

In an on air conversation about pro football player, Adam 'Pacman' Jones, Don Imus says that Jones' criminal record is explained by his being African American.

Last year, Imus was fired for making racist remarks about the Rutger's womens basketball team.

While the remarks by Imus are enough in themselves to begin conversation about racism in our country, I was most struck by the comments online from those who read and listened to the remarks. While a small few suggested having a reasonable discussion through the online forum and some others brought out reason and logic to explain Imus' comments - most of the online posters simply fed into the racism and questioned how anyone could possibly disagree or think Imus out of line- condemning Jones and all African Americans together.

Reading online comments such as these makes me question the progress of acceptance in our country.

Don Imus in the news

2008 Election, the Internet, & Pop Culture

In reading another blog, I came across this link to Perez Hilton, known for pop/celebrity gossip. http://perezhilton.com/2008-06-17-this-is-not-a-joke-39#respond

Reading through some of the comments, I think it's amazing how the internet and pop culture (or the internet as part of pop culture) is playing into the elections. I've come across video after video about Obama or McCain or their partners, all with long and never ending rants/comments/insights from people in and out of the US. As you can see, comments range from "It's just a joke" to "This is outrageous" to "This doesn't surprise me." When more and more of these conversations are appearing on blogs and in pop culture, I think it will definitely be interesting to see how these forums and places of "information" or "news" play into this election.

With YouTube formally be introduced during the debates and different informal campaigns/promotions occurring across blogs, facebook walls, and websites, this election is seeing a different means of creating conversation among voters, parties, candidates, and global observers.

Skin deep.

Last year I read Judith Stone’s book titled, When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race. This text is a true story about Sandra Laing, a light brown skinned woman who visibly appears to be “mixed-race” or “colored” according to South Africa’s former apartheid caste system was born in Piet Retief, a small conservative town in South Africa. According to visible racial legibility standards of the time, Sandra's parents, siblings and her grandparents were all considered “white”. Due to her dark skin complexion and her tightly curled hair, Sandra sparked a national controversy.

Sandra's parents, members of the racist National Party adamantly supported the apartheid system and the unearned privileges it afforded them at the expense of non-whites. Since both of Laings parents were officially classified as “white”, she enrolled in an all-white boarding school. At boarding school as Sandra aged and her skin became darker and her hair became curlier, she was ostracized by other students, their parents, and school administrators. As a result, Laing was forcibly expelled from her school by police. Outraged, her parents fought a public legal battle to publically classify her as white because of their white status. Her parents also took blood tests to confirm that indeed she was their biological child.
Throughout childhood Laing’s only friends were the children of her father’s black employees. Her friendships with them led her to meet the man she would later elope with and move to Swaziland in exile. As a result, her father threatened to end her and her partner’s life and disowned her. For the rest of the life she was estranged from her parents, however she met her mother who also sent her gifts and some financial support secretly. Last night I found a short documentary online about Laing. It is a sad yet powerful piece that is worth taking the time to view. I also discovered some articles about Mirimax possibly producing a film about her story titled Skin.

Laing's story points to the absurdity of grouping people based on their phenotypical traits. It leads me to think about the truths brought forth in one of my favorite songs "Africa's Inside Me" from the musical group Arrested Development:
"Why in the world can't everybody
Recognize that Africa's in everybody?
We all ask why can't we be sista's and brothers
But first we gotta accept who is our mother".

UC v. Bakke: 30 yr Anniversary

UC v. Bakke was a historic case that changed the course of how race would / would not factor into decisions of admission to colleges and universities.

The Bakke review was an interesting article.

This particular section caught my eye: "The legal threats to race-conscious policies were real enough by 1977 to prompt the Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education to urge colleges to consider minority students' experiences, rather than simply their race or heritage, in the admissions process, because not all "have special characteristics that we believe warrant consideration."

...and made me wonder what those "special characteristics" are and if we each look for those in our own ways or exclude those who don't fit our stereotypic view of what should or should not be.

New drugstores cropping up offering pampers and a prayer and no birth control

The Washington Post reports that a small amount of so-called "pro-life" drugstores are cropping up in some suburban and rural areas around the country. This interesting new trend brings up all sorts of issues about the implications of free speech. Even though the owners of these pharmacies are claiming to serve as simply an alternative space for likeminded people to work and purchase from, the development of these drugstores are potentially very harmful to women and girls who need access to contraceptives to protect their health and safety. It is my hope that this trend fails to catch on, and that conscious consumers boycott these stores in their communities. My bones chill just thinking about rape victims or simply frightened teens who might be turned away or humiliated by store employees who refuse to fill their prescriptions. I support each and every individual's right to their personal beliefs about family planning, however the construction and development of institutions like these is extreme and harmful. I shudder to think of how this could affect rural women who lack the resources to fill their prescriptions anywhere else. If these so-called "pro-life" pharmacies really cared about women, they would allow them to fill prescriptions that would provide them with the tools to prevent unintended pregnancy and abortion.

"Meet a Black Guy"

The "meet Meet a black guy" booth at Corvallis farmer's market sparked various reactions from community members.

It's an interesting social experiment but people's reactions don't really surprise me...



(article posted on the "Stuff White People Like" blog)
PHOTO: Andy Cripe/Gazette-Times
Jeremy and Tara Stand of the Bronx, with 1-year-old son Osiris, pose with Corvallis resident Jeff Oliver at the Meet a Black Guy booth near the Saturday Corvallis Farmers’ Market.

Hymenotomy: A New Rite of Passage

Naomi Wolf author of The Beauty Myth argues that social constructions of beauty are political in nature as a way of maintaining the primacy of patriarchy. Wolf claims that in the West, public interest in the maintanance of women's virginity and chastity has been replaced by a public obsession with a very specific and often unrealistic physical shape and form. Today, a different discourse about virginity is beginning to crop up in Europe and the US. This discussion is not the one promoted by the right wing, instead it is one about the intersections of faith, nation, culture, and identity. Click here to read more.

Yes We Can

So I know we are not all Obama supporters (or democrats), but politics and working towards a more socially just society go hand in hand (feel free to share your own views here). I was shown this youtube video yesterday and felt it was worth sharing since it talks of hope for justice and equality. It feels so inspiring and brings up an emotional response in a way that I'm not sure any of the other presidential candidates have pulled off in my short lifetime or could have pulled off (at least for me).

Perhaps you've already seen it. I might just be behind on my youtube watching....

Wednesday Blog Recommendation(s)

So I know summer has been so overwhelmingly busy that you have no time to sit in your office reading blogs online under the breeze of a cool fan, however, no worry, I have come up with some recommendations for you :)

"Racialiciousis a blog about the intersection of race and pop culture." It’s pretty cool.... Aesthetically pleasing site and a good read. It was the inspiration for the name of our building blog (lafalicious.blogspot.com :P) Also check out New Demographic co-founded by the same person (apparently NYU has worked with the group before) and the podcast Addicted to Race (it costs $29.99/ mo. to subscribe). I'm not sure if it's good but it sounds interesting.

Bloggin' In is a cool site that JennWells shared with me last week... written/ postings by Melissa Harris-Lacewell (Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University), it is an insightful look at politics and more.

Gender Power and Everyday Life This blog is a course blog for GWSS 1001 - Gender Power and Everyday Life: An Introduction to Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota, Spring 2007. The course is over but content is still up.

ps. i wanted to add an image to this post so typed in the word "diversity" into google images and this was the first thing that came up. Oh AllState...

American Culture 101: Sublimate, Co-opt, and Adopt Part 100,000,000

American culture fascinates me. When my friend sent me this hilarious blog entry sparked by CNN coverage of Michelle and Senator Obama's "fist jab" starting a trend among politicians I couldn't stop laughing. Is anything sacred?

I was amused when James Brown's "Living in America" was the theme for the RNC last cycle and I rolled my eyes when Cheney tried to rap. This is even more (painfully) hilarious.

Focus on Feminism and the Presidential Contest

In today's Washington Post Linda Hirshman argues that feminism has lost its focus... My question and the question many other young, working class, and/or women of color feminists are asking today is WHOSE feminism has lost its focus? Right now there is a lot of bitterness from some of the mainstream hegemonic feminists who fear that Hillary's loss is an attack against progress for women. I feel alienated from this mindset and those who promote it, as a feminist who happens to believe in the intersectionality of race, class, and gender. I believe our movement has progressed because younger feminists have struggled and pushed for recognition from those who are reluctant to let go of power and privilege in order to make the movement more inclusive.

I was pleased when I learned about Feministe's rebuttal, challenging Hirshman and those who share her viewpoints to embrace the positive evolution of a more inclusive and JUST feminist movement. I see this moment as a fruitful one where new discourses are being introduced. I am pleased that more diverse people are becoming included in the struggle for equality. I sincerely hope that Hillary is chosen as the Vice President, however if she is not, I am still comfortable with Obama leading the nation because in my opinion he represents the interests of a broader group of people.

Face2Face

FACE2FACE Project (Click on the upper left corner to refresh from the book advertisement to a short video that shows photos)

An RA showed me this site last year - it recaps an art project done by the French (I think?) reflecting the Israeli / Palestinian conflict and how the people aren't all that different from each other yet are divided by a wall. ...thoughts?



(from website)
"When we met in 2005, we decided to go together in the Middle-East to figure out why Palestinians and Israelis couldn't find a way to get along together.

We then traveled across the Israeli and Palestinian cities without speaking much. Just looking to this world with amazement.

This holy place for Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
This tiny area where you can see mountains, sea, deserts and lakes, love and hate, hope and despair embedded together.

After a week, we had a conclusion with the same words: these people look the same; they speak almost the same language, like twin brothers raised in different families.

A religious covered woman has her twin sister on the other side. A farmer, a taxi driver, a teacher, has his twin brother in front of him. And he his endlessly fighting with him.

It's obvious, but they don't see that.

We must put them face to face. They will realize.

We want that, at last, everyone laughs and thinks when he sees the portrait of the other and his own portrait.

The Face2Face project is to make portraits of Palestinians and Israelis doing the same job and to post them face to face, in huge formats, in unavoidable places, on the Israeli and the Palestinian sides.

In a very sensitive context, we need to be clear.
We are in favor of a solution for which two countries, Israel and Palestine would live peacefully within safe and internationally recognized borders.

All the bilateral peace projects (Clinton/Taba, Ayalon/Nussibeh, Geneva Accords) are converging in the same direction. We can be optimistic.

We hope that this project will contribute to a better understanding between Israelis and Palestinians.

Today, "Face to face" is necessary.
Within a few years, we will come back for "Hand in hand"."

Banksy

I think maybe I first saw an article on the artist known as "Banksy" in an issue of Adbusters some years ago. The art is pretty awesome...esp. the guerrilla art around the streets of cities. Much of it is thought provoking social commentary. Check out his site...Banksy

SF Art Museum: The Diversity Project

Stumbled upon this today when doing a google search for something...



The Diversity Project is an online exhibition of 48 artists whose works investigate and expound on the ways in which diversity influences artistic practice. The project was created by Equal Access, a collective of SFAI students and faculty interested in creative pursuits of social justice. View video works by Donna Wan, Melissa Adams, Michiko Takahashi, Nyok Mei Wong, Peter Max Lawrence, Shayna Blum.

EXPATRIATE

I can’t wait to check out Lenelle Moise’s upcoming show Expatriate at the Culture Project. Lenelle Moise is an amazing spoken word poet and performance artist whose work constantly renders me speechless. I first saw her perform over 2 years ago at a feminist retreat sponsored by Hampshire College’s Civil Liberties Policy Project (CLPP). Her upcoming show has been described by The Culture Project as "an engaging exploration of black womanhood, friendship, sexuality, and freedom, celebrating characters in the spirit of Nina Simone, Josephine Baker, and the Hottentot Venus. With only a JamMan loop machine at their feet, real-life rising stars Lenelle Moïse and Karla Mosley make intricate, haunting and stirring music as they weave the story of singing group Black Venus's rise to fame". I am very interested in reflecting on this experience in relation to Passing Strange, and the upcoming For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide. As an "Expatriate" myself in so many spaces, I am so happy about these discourses emerging in places that were previously unaware of their importance, power, and meaning.

Check out Lenelle in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_je00C5sfeU

Multiracial/Multiethnic America | Race/Gender in Disney

Multiracial/Multiethnic America

In my coursework, I have been exploring how multiracial/multiethnic students find space (both physically and psychologically) on college campuses. This is mainly of interest to me because of my own personal identity: Filipina and African American. With that said, I thought I'd share an event and a website, in hopes that these often unheard stories can be revealed and incorporated into how we serve all of our students. I'll be going to LovingDay with Swirl Inc. If you want to volunteer with me, let me know!


Loving Day

What is Loving Day?

Loving Day is an educational community project. The name comes from Loving v. Virginia (1967), the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage in the United States. Loving Day celebrations commemorate the anniversary of the Loving decision every year on or around June 12th.

DATE: Sunday, June 8th
TIME: 3:00-7:00pm
LOCATION: Solar 1 (East River Waterfront at East 23rd St, NYC). Rain or shine - we have a big tent!
YOUR HOST: Loving Day and World Up.
RSVP: lovingdayparty@gmail.com
DETAILS: Join us for the largest Loving Day celebration in the nation! We will have free BBQ (all afternoon), free beer (first hour) courtesy of Asahi, free ice cream (first hour) from Ben and Jerry's, free organic soft drinks (first hour) from Steaz, and a big raffle with prizes from Puma and Zipcar! We'll have a special performance by DJ Spooky! Special thanks to our sponsors: Asahi, Solar One, Ben and Jerry's, Zipcar, Steaz, DJ Spooky, WorldUp, and Puma. Community sponsors: The Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA) and Swirl NYC. We have a huge tent covering the entire space, so we will be celebrating, rain or shine! It's the 5th anniversary of the Loving Day project! We had 1000 guests last year - we hope that even more of you will join us this year! Join our email list to make sure you get invited!
MORE INFO: info@lovingday.org

MSNBC: Multiracial in America

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24765917

_____________________________________

Disney and Race/Gender

In reading other blogs regarding race, I found some videos on YouTube regarding how Disney portrays different cultures and gender in its movies/cartoons/parks/etc. As someone who grew up watching theses movies and someone who even just recently spent a ridiculous amount to visit Disneyland when I was back in CA, it's shocking to see how these images are embedded into children's tv shows. The video below highlights this message that women should use their body to get what they want. Additionally, the representation of people of color in Disney is appalling when drawn out, as seen in the video below.

Some might say "You're thinking about this too much. It's just a cartoon!" But it's time that we start thinking critically about these images, and more importantly how they appear in our halls.

Well, check out the videos, and see for yourself. (Also, check out the comments on these videos... some of the responses are quite disturbing.)

Gender:

Race/Culture: