My public comment on the Keystone Pipeline

We know climate change is happening and is caused by human activity, namely the burning of fossil fuels.  President Obama has promised us oil independence - let us take steps in that direction by NOT building this pipeline, and instead, investing in energy sources that will sustain us in the future, not cripple us and our children's children.

The United States should take a leadership role in the world by denying industry- and greed-based proposals such as this one and move forward with this country's history of innovation.  This pipeline will only deny the inevitable as there is still only a finite amount of oil shale, tar sands, and crude oil to be refined.

Building this pipeline will negatively impact me by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, by continuing to destroy and develop Native American lands, and by failing to respond to the sentiments of U.S. citizens, who are vocalizing their dissent of this plan.

Please do not approve this plan - it is environmentally destructive, socially unjust, and deeply un-American.

Talking Back by bell hooks

Picked up bell hooks' Talking Back - thinking feminism, thinking black, and it's awesome!

I want to share a few quotes with you that I've found inspiring, and, as an appetizer a Ryan Gosling meme:

• In the world of the southern black community I grew up in, "back talk" and "talking back" meant speaking as an equal to an authority figure. ... To speak then when one was not spoken to was a courageous act - an act of risk and daring.
• There are some folks for whom openness is not about the luxury of "will I choose to share this or tell that," but rather "will I survive - will I make it through - will I stay alive?"
• The history of colonialization, imperialism is a record of betrayal, of lies, and deceits.  The demand for that which is real is a demand for reparation, for transformation.  In resistance, the exploited, the oppressed work to expose the false reality - to reclaim and recover ourselves.  We make the revolutionary history, telling the past as we have learned it mouth-to-mouth, telling the present as we see, know and feel it in our hearts and in our words.
• Moving from silence into speech is for the oppressed, the colonized, the exploited, and those who stand and struggle side by side a gesture of defiance that heals, that makes new life and new growth possible.  It is that act of speech, of "talking back," that is no mere gesture of empty words, that is the expression of our movement from object to subject - the liberated voice.
• [Poetry] was meant to transform consciousness, to carry the mind and heart to a new dimension.
• The insistence on finding one voice, one definitive style of writing, and reading one's poetry, fit all too neatly with the static notion of itself and identity that was pervasive in university settings.  It seemed that many black students found our situations problematic precisely because our sense of self, and by definition our voice, was not unilateral, monologist, or static, but rather multi-dimensional.
• When we dare to speak in a liberatory voice, we threaten even those who may initially claim to want our words. In the act of overcoming our fear of speech, of being seen as threatening, in the process of learning to speak as subjects, we participate in the global struggle to end domination. When we end our silence, when we speak in a liberated voice, our words connect us with anyone, anywhere who lives in silence. Feminist focus on women finding a voice, on the silence of black women, of women of color, has led to increased interest in our words. This is an important historical moment. We are both speaking of our own volition, out of our commitment to justice, to revolutionary struggle to end domination, and simultaneously called to speak, "invited" to share our words. It is important that we speak. What we speak about is more important. It is our responsibility collectively and individually to distinguish between mere speaking that is about self-aggrandizement, exploitation of the exotic "other," and that coming to voice which is a gesture of resistance, an affirmation of struggle.
• While the struggle to eradicate sexism and sexist oppression is and should be the primary thrust of feminist movement, to prepare ourselves politically for this effort we must first learn how to be in solidarity, how to struggle with one another.

Why I love it, a start:

I love how she sees voice as the mechanism to move from subject to object.  From colonized, to powerful. I love to hear her thoughts on how finding voice can be transformative, and how she also is critical of mainstream (white) feminism in that it isn't just about speaking, it's also about the content of what is said.
I love it because she makes me ask the question, again: "what does solidarity mean?"  She makes me want to understand and feel what she means by "an affirmation of struggle" - as it relates to finding a voice.

I love how she presents of the stakes of speaking up/talking back.  It's not a luxury of what to share, and does/has carry/carried serious punishments.  And it doesn't seem like she does so from a perspective of being a victim, which I've seen presented harshly recently.  Rather, she speaks a lot to the courage required and the power gained by speaking against these punishments.

Update, 1 hour later: just saw this on Facebook and I think it highlights a lot of what bell hooks brings up, check it out:

Jose Antonio Vargas on Immigration

Instead of watching the presidential debates tonight, I'm reading this article, something that lets me think about immigration rather than be filled with anger toward the two men "debating" and avoiding answering questions.

Quotes from Jose Antonio Vargas' Time Magazine article called "Not Legal, Not Leaving:"

• I am now a walking conversation that most people are uncomfortable having. (Pg. 1)
• The probusiness GOP waves a KEEP OUT flag at the Mexican border and a HELP WANTED sign 100 yards in, since so many industries depend on cheap labor. (Pg. 2)
• Of all the questions I've been asked in the past year, "Why don't you become legal?" is probably the most exasperating. But it speaks to how unfamiliar most Americans are with how the immigration process works. (Pg. 3)
• For all the roadblocks, though, many of us get by thanks to our fellow Americans. We rely on a growing network of citizens — Good Samaritans, our pastors, our co-workers, our teachers who protect and look after us. As I've traveled the country, I've seen how members of this underground railroad are coming out about their support for us too. (Pg. 6)
• Though roughly 59% of the estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are from Mexico, the rest are not. About 1 million come from Asia and the Pacific Islands, about 800,000 from South America and about 300,000 from Europe. (Pg. 6)
• According to the Office of Immigration Statistics at DHS, 86% of undocumented immigrants have been living in the U.S. for seven years or longer. (Pg. 7)
• There are no overall numbers on this, but each day I encounter at least five more openly undocumented people. As a group and as individuals, we are putting faces and names and stories on an issue that is often treated as an abstraction. (Pg. 7)

• Technology, especially social media, has played a big role. Online, people are telling their stories and coming out, asking others to consider life from their perspective and testing everyone's empathy quotient. Some realize the risks of being so public; others, like me, think publicity offers protection. (Pg. 8)
• I am still here. Still in limbo. So are nearly 12 million others like me — enough to populate Ohio. We are working with you, going to school with you, paying taxes with you, worrying about our bills with you. What exactly do you want to do with us? More important, when will you realize that we are one of you? (Pg. 9)

"giving up" privilege

Is it possible to "give up" privilege?  Or, would it be more useful to think of ensuring privilege for everyone?  

In thinking about these questions, an analogy popped into my head: if we all try and "give up" our privilege it might be like trying to play soccer without ever travelling with the ball.  Whenever we were given the ball (privilege) we'd have to kick it away.

This way of thinking (of "giving up" privilege) also seems to suggest action based on avoidance, possibly guilt, feeling bad about oneself, and maybe even ignore-ance.

Additionally, thinking of privilege as something one can "give up" is problematic because it suggests it is a personal choice.  Often, privileges are given to us socially, and not something we could give up.  For example, a (white, upper class, straight) male privilege is being able to look at the U.S. House of Reps and see himself represented (see #7).  How could a man who isn't an elected official give this up?  He could, of course, vote a female in.  And perhaps less men could run for office, or better: encourage their female colleagues to run.  But I'm not sure where thinking of "giving up" privileges gets us in this situation.

Or, continuing, if a man sleeps with a bunch of women and isn't called a slut (#13), how could he give this up?

It seems to me that a more useful perspective that allows for and encourages more social justice is to think about ensuring the privileges we are aware of having for everyone.  We shouldn't have to feel bad about them - rather we should acknowledge them and work toward making it possible for everyone to have them.

For a great primer on privilege, check out White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, By Peggy McIntosh.  I've blogged about this before.

This is still something I'm still working on figuring out, so if you read this and are intrigued...or think I'm wrong...or can help with a next step, do let me know by leaving a comment!

Myths of Corporate Personhood

Here's the short version, for the longer (explained) version, click here.

Text of Belden Fields teach in "The Myth of Corporate Personhood"

THE DISEMPOWERING FOG CREATED BY 14 IDEOLOGICAL MYTHS

Prepared for Occupy the Quad at the University of Illinois, Urbana 1/19/12

by Belden Fields

1. The myth that the corporation is a person with the rights of individuals.

2. The myth that Supreme Court represents a higher interpretation of law that transcends partisan politics.

3. The myth that money is speech; therefore, money spent freely in elections is protected by the First Amendment right to speech.

4. The myth that the interests of large corporations is in the interest of workers because they create jobs and raise standards of living.

5. The myth that “right to work” laws really protect workers’ rights.

6. The myth that government is the only source of bureaucracy that disempowers people.

7. The myth that economics is above moral concerns and the market will always, by definition, result in the greatest good for society.

8. The myth that the United States is a democracy.

9. The myth that the only legitimate human economic human right is the right to private property.

10. The collateral myth that that social security, health care benefits, and pensions are unearned and unaffordable “entitlements."

11. The myth that privatization is always more “efficient” than public goods and services.

12. The myth that the “official” unemployment rate in the United States is accurate and comparable to the unemployment rates in other countries.

13. The myth that the U.S. offers the highest rates of upward mobility in the world.

14. The myth that there is no alternative to the capitalist system that manifests the above characteristics and treats the worker as a commodity.

privilege: a poem

privilege
a poem for men who don't understand what we mean when we say they have it

D.A. Clarke

reprinted from Banshee, Peregrine Press

Copyright (c) 1981

privilege is simple:
going for a pleasant stroll after dark,
not checking the back of your car as you get in, sleeping soundly,
speaking without interruption, and not remembering
dreams of rape, that follow you all day, that woke you crying, and
privilege
is not seeing your stripped, humiliated body
plastered in celebration across every magazine rack, privilege
is going to the movies and not seeing yourself
terrorized, defamed, battered, butchered
seeing something else

privilege is
riding your bicycle across town without being screamed at or
run off the road, not needing an abortion, taking off your shirt
on a hot day, in a crowd, not wishing you could type better
just in case, not shaving your legs, having a decent job and
expecting to keep it, not feeling the boss's hand up your crotch,
dozing off on late-night busses, privilege
is being the hero in the TV show not the dumb broad,
living where your genitals are totemized not denied,
knowing your doctor won't rape you

privilege is being
smiled at all day by nice helpful women, it is
the way you pass judgment on their appearance with magisterial authority,
the way you face a judge of your own sex in court and
are over-represented in Congress and are not strip searched for a traffic ticket
or used as a dart board by your friendly mechanic, privilege
is seeing your bearded face reflected through the history texts
not only of your high school days but all your life, not being
relegated to a paragraph
every other chapter, the way you occupy
entire volumes of poetry and more than your share of the couch unchallenged,
it is your mouthing smug, atrocious insults at women
who blink and change the subject -- politely -- privilege
is how seldom the rapist's name appears in the papers
and the way you smirk over your PLAYBOY

it's simple really, privilege
means someone else's pain, your wealth
is my terror, your uniform
is a woman raped to death here, or in Cambodia or wherever
wherever your obscene privilege
writes your name in my blood, it's that simple,
you've always had it, that's why it doesn't
seem to make you sick to your stomach,
you have it, we pay for it, now
do you understand

Letter to the Editor

Land Grant Institution should use Renewable Energy

I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology in 2008 and recently came back to the University for a Master’s program. When I was an undergrad, I worked with other students to urge the University to become more sustainable. We urged: build a wind turbine, create a strong Office of Sustainability, and include sustainability topics in classes. Unfortunately, since I’ve come back I’m not sure that the University has gained much ground on these fronts. U of I - as a land grant institution - should be striving to become a leader, to demonstrate to our state and local communities what sustainability means: using renewable energy, enacting policy changes, engaging students for educational advancement, among many other potential activities.

I am disappointed that our university has continually dragged its collective feet on building a wind turbine on campus. I started working on this project in 2005 and have spent countless hours with many other students. Students in the form of the Student Sustainability Committee as well as the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation have committed millions of dollars to the project and the University has shown little follow-through.

It is time now to move past coal-powered electricity plants and toward renewable energy. We know about climate change enough to commit to this. Given this knowledge and such inaction, what will we say to our children and grandchildren? Will we say we did all we could?

Ari Sahagun
Graduate student in Communication

TSA scanners and gender

"After all, masculinity implies sexual privacy -- the privilege of moving through life unmolested. Or unnoticed. The most powerful, and to men, mostly invisible, sexual privilege of masculinity is the ability to remain unaware of oneself as a body."

I suppose I never included that in my concept of male privilege, but it seems dead on.

Quote from an interesting (and concise) take on the TSA scanners:
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=screening_for_gender

Environmental Justice

Every time I hear about the environmental justice movement I hear it contrasted to the environmental movement: while I was at Greenpeace, in some classes in college, and most recently at the US Social Forum. The environmental movement is mostly situated within middle-class white hegemony and seeks to reduce the problem by individualizing it - giving each individual the power to act, you know, like the good ol’ American Dream. Change your bulbs, save the world. Get a job, end poverty. Use birth control, reduce world population. That kind of thing.

The environmental justice (EJ) movement, on the other hand is grounded in the context of historical social injustice. EJ issues are generally also spatially grounded, and a generically recognized EJ issue is some sort of hazardous waste in the backyards of poor people of color. EJ points out that many of the problems of the environmental crisis lie in the roots of colonialism. So EJ is grounded both historically and socially, as well as spatially. In this context, the way to stop dumping hazardous waste is to stop having poor people.

This week I heard a lecture that talked specifically to the historical/spatial aspect, that of burying the past, of burying social inequity. The work of EJ then is to study the material wastes -- or “imperial debris” -- of the past, making visible social inequalities. EJ, then is the antidote to our “green consumption,” “greenwashing” rampage.

This new wave of “green” consumption is a response to a basic understanding that this treadmill of production and consumption is flawed. However, rather than making any significant changes, we make the superficial addition of “green” consumption, “green” production and continue on our way. Don’t worry that the whole system is flawed; at least it’s green now. Now you can feel good about driving.

Seriously. The slogan for Toyota's new Prius is: "Welcome to the 3rd generation Prius, where man’s wants and nature’s needs agree." (Source) And, "Harmony between man, nature, and machine" (Source) (Also, can't help but notice the repeated use of the gendered word "man.")

As for greenwashing, it’s usually used in this way - just paint the whole thing green. Greenwashing, says Wikipedia, is a portmanteau of "green" and "whitewash." So - make no structural changes, only superficial ones to change how people interpret it. “Green” cars, “green” coal, etc. However, it can also be looked at as a “whitening” of the movement, with regard to class participation. If to be green means to have the newest, greenest product, only those who can afford to buy it can be really green.

EJ provides a grounded antidote to greenwashing by unearthing historical inequities. Grounded in such a context, it becomes clearer that greenwashing is really just the same old symptomatic solution to the continuing problems.

I wonder, though, if it is possible that the environmental movement can provide any new tools to the continuing civil rights movements. Can the environmental movement make us more aware of the ecology of social movements? Or the cyclical nature of change? Can grounding ourselves in the natural world help us gain perspective and inform our work?

Books recommended at this week’s lecture: On Bullshit and There’s No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster

Walruses??!

And I QUOTE:

"How can Exxon Mobil have walruses in the response plan for the Gulf of Mexico?"

Story & video @ Huff Post.

AmeriCorps going green

I sent an email to my supervisors:

I'm writing in response to a call for "going green tips" for our individual lives. Though I think these changes are necessary, and I appreciate the opportunity to share, I feel that they should also be paired with the larger changes we must all work toward.
--

Our shorter showers, hybrid cars, and organic ranch dressing are far from useful if we don’t also work to change the larger systems of which they are a part. These important yet smaller changes are not nearly on the same magnitude of the problem they attempt to solve: shorter showers will not address the worlds’ water shortages, nor will driving a hybrid change a culture of car ownership, end greenhouse gas emissions, or prevent wars fought for oil security.

Now, if AmeriCorps committed to becoming a “greener” organization, we could enact real green business practices (read: sustainability!) to those (hundreds of?) thousands of non-profits we partner with. This would be change to get behind.

“Going green” doesn’t mean spending more money or expending a lot of effort; rather it is grounded in awareness of our use of resources and an acknowledgement of our relationship with the earth.

I see and appreciate the Forest Stewardship Council certification on the envelopes for the receipt of my direct deposits, but part of the reason I chose direct deposit was to reduce the amount of paper I get. We work for finding solutions to poverty but buy our AmeriCorps clothes from countries employing sweat-shop labor practices (read: exported American jobs).

If we as individuals commit to changing our lifestyles, part of that change should also be working toward “greening” the systems to which we belong, in which we work, and on which we depend.

Sexual Assault Prevention Tips Guaranteed to Work!

Stolen verbatim from GIRL W/ PEN.Love it.

1 Don’t put drugs in people’s drinks in order to control their behavior.
2 When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!
3 If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!
4 NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.
5 If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON’T ASSAULT THEM!
6 Remember, people go to laundry to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.
7 USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.
8 Always be honest with people! Don’t pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of someone you want to assault. Consider telling them you plan to assault them. If you don’t communicate your intentions, the other person may take that as a sign that you do not plan to rape them.
9 Don’t forget: you can’t have sex with someone unless they are awake!
10 Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone “on accident” you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.

And, ALWAYS REMEMBER: if you didn’t ask permission and then respect the answer the first time, you are committing a crime- no matter how “into it” others appear to be.

Oh, and HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY.

photo series: costa rican graffiti, part 6

De pie C.R. NO AL TLC

On your feet, CR, no to the TLC

On a statue near La Sabana park in San Jose

Slow.

photo series: costa rican graffiti, part 5

i really like the colors in this picture:
"el gobierno hace a los ricos mas ricos y a los pobres mas pobres."
english: the government makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.
(also all of the 'a's are anarchy symbols)

here's another one. i like the placement, someone rising up and shouting.
in the buffalo winter, i miss all the tropical plants, too.

mentira lo que dice | what's said is a lie
mentira lo que da | what's given is a lie
mentira lo que hace | what's done is a lie
mentira lo que va | what happens is a lie
. . .
todo es mentira en este mundo | everything is this world is a lie

just now i'm listing to manu chao's mentira (song). here are the lyrics. this doesn't include the news-like clips at the end that speak of the US emitting a quarter of the world's greenhouse gasses and not taking any action (like kyoto) to stop it. i don't understand the world we live in, nor the country i was born into.

Two month report: Americorps

I chose to do Americorps so I could stay in my own country. Perhaps it was also slightly motivated by some underlying "white guilt," my struggles with the current re-definition of colonialism, or neo-colonialism. I want to make sure I'm not part of it, or at least to understand it more and then become a part of it intentionally.

However, I'm not sure I'm able to do that. I have felt like an "outsider" here, still, even in my own country. Also, ironically, one of my strong points for getting this job was my ability to speak Spanish, which I mostly gained from travelling to other countries, and, arguably, spreading ideas of American colonialism.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised though; I am working for the US Government. I am an agent of propaganda as much as I wear that identity, which, incidentally, is strongly encouraged. So far, I've received 5 items of clothing from VISTA with the Americorps logo. "You're our best advertisements," they told us during training. I don't doubt that. Here is where the articles of clothing are produced:

So much for not taking part in neocolonialism!

(Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Honduras, and Haiti)

I guess I could contextualize this journal entry a little better. I'm currently reading an article by Kim England called "Getting Personal: Reflexivity, Positionality, and Feminist Research." It's part of my work toward researching the feasibility of low-income car-sharing. There's a specific section of my research called 'research approach' so we can be more reflexive, and more intentional about our methods. England brings up several good, albiet challenging, points. In a nutshell: how can the researcher NOT bring a power struggle into the relationship of researcher-researched? She suggests "supplication", in which “the researcher explicitly acknowledges her/his reliance on the research subject to provide insight into the subtle nuances of meaning that structure and shape everyday lives.” (3) I'm really glad to be reading this kind of critical article.

Also, sort of on a side note (at this point, because I'm not sure how to integrate it), England quotes Stanley and Wise (1993): "treating people like objects – sex objects or research objects – is morally unjustifiable." I've honestly never thought of this, and it's quite an interesting wrench to throw in the gears of normal qualitative research methonds.

How does this boil down into the work I am and will be doing in Buffalo's lower-income neighborhoods? How will I continue to negotiate the boundaries between my status as a US citizen and an outsider to this city?

Stay tuned to learn the answers to these questions and many more!

photo series: costa rican graffiti, part 4

i know all 0 of you dedicated readers have been anxiously awaiting my next post, so here it is:

che has become a ubiquitous symbol on this continent. no wonder someone decided to graffiti on a soccer stadium. region brunca is the san isidro de general valley i think, the southern quarter of costa rica.

photo series: costa rican graffiti, part 3

n o   a l   T L C
perez zeledon/san isidro de general
estadio futbol stadium

photo series: costa rican graffiti, part 2

a lot of them refer to the TLC, which translates to tratado de libre comercio, or CAFTA in english. within the past few years, there had been a very close (nearly 50% split) vote on whether costa rica should pass the TLC. a common reason people we talked to said they voted for it was that they were scared of possible loss of trade resulting from not signing.

photo series: costa rican graffiti, part 1

i took a bunch of pictures of graffiti when i was in costa rica this past summer, and i'll be posting them to my blog in the coming few days.

not god or love

Latin America + Shock Doctrine

Naomi Klein has been at UIUC for the past few days. Today I had the privilege to attend a panel discussion with her and two academics (Prof. Fernando Coronil, Univ. of Michigan; Prof. Andrew Orta, UIUC) on "The rise of current social movements and protests in Latin America."

It was interesting, to say the least, and refreshingly reminded me that I am situated very close to a college campus. I'd been away from the academic air for a while.

Klein built upon arguments presented at her main lecture last night (I was unable to attend) and in her book, Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Her project is to promote a counter-narrative to the unquestioned neoliberal responses to disasters. Lately, see: 9/11, Katrina, and the bailout "plan." The government has responded to these catastrophes by capitalizing on public shock and fear to push an agenda (war in Iraq/Patriot Act, racism/commercialization of NOLA/overlooking of basic infrastructure problems, free reins with $700B). Additionally, we haven't done a good job at remembering history as it happened either. Thus, we're shocked at the shock...and during this our freedoms are stolen right out from under us, without question.

Klein says we Americans are "addicted to shock."

In the context of Latin America, she said that it is the most advanced site of resistance against this "shock doctrine" and neoliberalism. She cited a few reasons (and noted that it's an incomplete list):

1. It got neoliberalism first.
2. It was an extremely obvious un-democratic (violent and/or racist) overthrow of the status quo.
3. The left there wasn't discredited. Compared to the Soviet bloc, the left (socialist) side didn't fall; in Latin America, it was put down. People can't point to the left and say they screwed it up before.

She said we have a lot to learn from Latin American organizing during our own "reconstruction period."

I think she's got some good points, and I'll put her book on my "to read" list. ...Also, she was recently on Colbert Report if you'd like to see her in action.

This is also an interesting story.