Wrap Up

 Do the big wrap-up thing.  You don’t have a general reflection paper at the end (that’s just about the simulation project), so here is your opportunity.  What have you learned?  What have you learned about yourself?  What are you taking from this class?  How does this fit into your academic experience?  How does it fit with your career plans?


I learned a great deal from this class- about myself and about how I can take what i've learned and apply into my work or career plans. 
The biggest highlights from this class for me were our guest speakers and reading Little Brother- that was the part I was dreading, and it turned out to be really interesting. I also really appreciate learning about the backdrop of several social movements in history, how they differ, what worked, what didn't, etc. That is definitely something that I will be able to take forward- as well as Alinsky's rules- which are standards that I think are extremely applicable. I learned a lot about myself- I learned that I'm more interested in educating myself about the issue at hand, rather than learning about how to most effectively protest or not get arrested- while those are definitely necessary to being involved in a movement, i'd rather focus my personal energy on educating myself and others, maybe not in the form of protest. Don't get me wrong, I like going to protests- specific to this class,  i loved going to the clinic in Fairfax that performs abortions that Saturday morning while the Catholic group was there- they actually thought and treated me like I was there to get an abortion- but more about that in my EL #2 paper. You can learn a lot at protests- I'm just not as interested in the specifics of how they work? I feel like i'm defending myself even though it's completely fine for me to feel this way. Maybe it's because I felt like during the simulation project, several people I know of in the class got pretty downtrodden because of specifics and critique- maybe making them (me, as well) lose some of my motivation for the project at all.  I felt that it was done a little harshly and and maybe because that felt more destructive than constructive- i don't like those details. Sure I learned from them and my group grew from it. I don't know. 
Anyways, this class has been extremely effective and did it's job- I learned a lot and i have a lot that i'll take away and I'm really appreciative of that.

AIDS quilt

Presume that you have died in the next AIDS-type epidemic event (don’t get hung up on details).  What do you want your friends and family to put on your quilt panel?  What would make the best argument that you should have lived?


Umm...
I don't know specifics of like what words or images I would want on there, but I would definitely want something that portrayed who I (was).  I guess it would depend on who made the quilt square, or who collaborated, but if i made my own which I guess how i'm supposed to think about it, since you think about yourself in relation to how you perceive others to see you?
Anyways, here goes:
Activist
Feminist
Lover
Learner
A person who fought against a lot early in my life
A future college professor
A critical thinker
A supporter of women becoming self-sustainable
A person with a laugh that got me kicked out of a mall food court and a bookstore in the same day.


I think that should do it- I can't think of any more and i was feeling like I was making my about me on my myspace page from 8th grade. :) This was an interesting exercise... thinking about it is making me anxious, so i'm going to sign off and move on to the next one.

ACT-UP

Question #1:  For your blog, in addition to reading the two of these, review at least two videos from theACT-UP Oral History Project.  Then write about the question of direct action.  Can it be justified?  Under what circumstances?  What tactics do you feel are legitimate?  Are these rules different for different causes?  ACT-UP was operating in an environment where the people they were advocating for were literally dying around them.  Does that change your impression of the tactics?


I watched several interviews until I felt that I saw two that I could correlate to each other and write about- those two are:



   Interview #006
   January 14, 2003
   Violence 


and



   Interview #008
   January 16, 2003
   Power and Privilege 


First, I watched Alexandra Juhasz's interview and she had several good points- some of which are: how the closet functioned during this time- allowing "those" men to be in the closet, and still have power (because of being in the closet) and then they got AIDS, were outed, and pushed away from their power. The way that power and privilege align themselves within the AIDS movement is very interesting and as Juhasz says, "You don't!" to the question of "how do you win if you don't have power?" She also brings up how this "counter culture" won. not in the sense that a lot of people lost their lives, but that it brought attention to the need for change within this cause. That is direct action- people started to move, to talk, to converse, to question and then to act upon their positions or beliefs.  Direct Action in this case, is being able to align oneself with privilege and power and thus having the necessary tools to be seen and be heard- and that is what ACT-UP did. ACT-UP changed the face of AIDS in the US. 


Next, I watched Patrick Moore's interview.  His piece was different from Juhasz's in the way that he spoke about change coming from violence.  One of the best points that he made was in saying that "it takes violence for America to take notice of something. anything."  This was seen with the fringe violent movement during the Civil Rights in the US, and also when things began to become violent with the AIDS movement during this time, people started to notice.  This is direct action, as well.  Obviously there is no one right or wrong way to go about direct action, but i think what matters is the intentions, the planning of such and the implementation- the outcome is a bonus.  Being heard, having a voice is a HUGELY different experience than many Americans know, so for that component to be there- no matter the legislative outcome, that can't be taken away. ACT-UP proved that there was support and a community while it seemed and very much felt like the rest of the world was turning a cold shoulder- further dehumanizing the LG communities (I exclude BTQ for good reason, as these are the identifiers that are pushed aside, because of their more "controversial beings")


Overall, direct action is a good tactic- the rules change for each movement, for each cause, as need be. all is relative and all is relative in "success" as well.  Listening to these two interviews amongst the others has not changed my opinion of the tactic of direct action at all.

Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger sets the standard for high political art because of a few reasons. Her work is aesthetically appealing- it's easy to look at in terms of her colors, medium, etc, but her work does a great job of allowing pieces of art to maintain a deeper, more controversial meaning- rising questions.  I learned in my Art as Social Action, that one of the most important aspects of an art piece is that it begins a conversation- a discourse between two or more persons or a conversation within oneself.  Art is about the message that the artist, as well as the viewers take away and take with them in their futures- Kruger's art absolutely conveys messages that are important, political and ones that speak loudly through her work, and would speak loudly if given the appropriate time of discourse in the political and public spheres.  Her art reminds me of a gallery i went to in Chelsea, NYC last October- the art was simple, but had a distinct message of intensity.

Adbusters!!

First of all, i was stoked to see Adbusters included as a blog option because this magazine is awesome.
I compared a physical copy that i had a home, from November/December 2007 to their website.  In terms of actual articles, i feel like the physical magazine does a better job of providing, more detailed, longer readings than the website.  However, this could be for several reasons- you are paying for this magazine and I think that people, generally have a longer attention span for printed readings as opposed to online ones.  Possibly for this reason, their website is where the majority of their spoof ads are located (ones that are super old too), as well as advertisements for events, campaigns, such as the "Buy Nothing Day."

I love Adbusters' spoof ads because they are obviously comedic, but serious in a way that makes you twinge for a second before thinking.. "well... that's true."
In the magazine that i have at home, there is a spoof ad, which consists of a photo of a female deer that has been run over by a vehicle, apparently, with it's bloody tongue out of it's mouth.  below this photo- there is a quote that states, "Every woman should have four pets in her life.  A mink in her closet, a Jaguar in her garage, a tiger in her bed and a jackass who pays for everything." - Paris Hilton.
Their juxtaposition of images and words provides a very blunt message by way of art as social action.

Little Brother

This book was surprisingly good.  I was nervous about because of a couple things- I have always been an incredibly inefficient reader and the kind to start a book and never finish it because i get frustrated, don't have the time, or it's incredibly boring.  Honestly, i started reading this book, and didn't put it down for a couple hours- it was really interesting and i was hooked on it pretty quickly.  The writing style was really effective for me, because it was suspenseful enough to keep my attention, and didn't stay on one thing for too long.  The narrative about Marcus' relationships was somewhat interesting, but i was more in to the plot with the DHS than his love life.  I definitely think that this book should stay on the curriculum for Social Movements and Community Activism because it does bring up the discussion of whether it is or not indeed a social movement and why, and also how social movements may change in the way that they look as we become more and more adapt to and dependent on technology.

Voting

My voting experience was overall uneventful.  It was much different than going to vote for the first time during the presidential elections, when i got up to be at the polls right when they opened, during the cold rain and waited in long lines and avoided buying baked goods from Woodson High School students.  This time, I left work and traveled in rush hour, trying to get to the poll before it closed, and luckily i made it- my  voting place is Woodson High School on Main St. in Fairfax.  I thought for some reason that the polls closed at 6, but it is 7 so i was actually fine on time.  There was plenty of parking, but no signs on where to enter the building- so I went in by the orchestra room and walked past the theatre kids all dressed up like some sort of plants?? i don't know. I got to the room, told them my name, realized i never changed my address on my registration card, from moving off campus- so i pretended that i still live there- don't think that's a big deal at all.  Then i chose between paper and electronic ballot- i chose electronic, because it's the sustainable thing to do right? When I was in line, one of the three polling stations broke and then there were two left and i was first in line.  I didn't care, but apparently, this was reason for some Fairfax people to freak out, because their time's so precious- so many people opted out of electronic ballot to get a paper one because they didn't want to wait.  I couldn't help but notice that the people who couldn't wait were white men, with plain english accents, and the two people at the electronic polling stations were women of hispanic decent- each with two or three children.  Is this coincidence? don't know, but i thought it would be noteworthy here. When i got to the polling station, i cast my vote for Connolly- duh. Fimian does not support abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, where as Connolly has voted for equal pay for women. That's enough for me! Then i voted on the three other things- amendments- they were somewhat hard to understand, but i did my best and am pretty sure that i voted for road improvements in fairfax, a tax exempt something for veterans or their surviving spouses (how about a partner, ahem?) and then some other tax thing, don't really remember what that was, honestly.
I'm definitely glad i voted since the Congressional one is STILL so close! ... crossing my fingers!

Framing #2

Find a few (3-4) examples of frames from groups that you feel do a particularly good job of framing, at least related to how they speak to you.  Discuss why they work.


The "Make it Better" movement which has evolved from the "It Gets Better" movement is one that I think illustrates really well done framing.  In fact, if "Make it better" didn't already exist, I probably would have used "It Gets Better" in my "Framing #1" post.  The message of "It gets better" is... static and for many people it could be perceived as completely not comforting, but rather passive and with a lack of seriousness.  The "Make it Better" movement promotes action and ownership for one's experience, and that is something that no one can take away and I whole-heartedly support action over waiting... for anything. 


Because I went to the DC Walk to End Modern Slavery this past weekend, my interest and past experience working/volunteering in the field of human and sex trafficking has been brought back to life.  I really appreciated the focus of domestic trafficking at this walk, because I have recently decided to no longer pursue an "international" career (even though I'm an International Studies concentration) and rather focus on domestic gender issues- women and girls' rehabilitation and education for self-sufficiency. Anyways, I also really like how the overall movement against human trafficking speaks to how trafficking does not only occur for sexual purposes- which is what is mostly heard of; but rather to a broader spectrum of slavery- especially labor.  My fiancee and I would like to collaborate at some point in the future with her work in the fair-trade, organic coffee industry and were just reading an article on one of her past employer's actions to push fair-trade because of the incredibly lower amounts of trafficked laborers in this situation. 


The pro-choice movement definitely makes sense for me, because agency, especially with one's body is vital to ending gender discrimination.  The argument that women need options that are safe and legal is so important- because even if these things are not in place- women will get abortions, however they will be exponentially more harmful with more consequences.  I saw this video of this man who was walking into a clinic to get an abortion because their unborn child was diagnosed with a condition that has a 0% survival chance, and when they got there, there were protesters screaming, etc. There was an update video of the man going to talk with the people who were protesting. Have a look for yourself: http://goodmenproject.com/2010/10/23/confronting-life/
PS: I especially like the line "Oh, You want to stand out in public, but don't want to make public statements?!"

Framing #1

Find an example of a movement that you agree with presenting their issue or argument and describe how you would reframe it to appeal to a wider audience.  Talk about why you made the change and how you hope it to be more effective.


The women's sexual liberation movement is one that I think could be reframed in order to gain a wider audience, and a more true response.  Right now, the women's sexual liberation movement is... exploitive, because of an overt confusion of what it means to be "sexually liberated."  Take for instance, the "Girls Gone Wild" enterprise, which goes to clubs, beach taverns and bars to videotape the partying, flirtation and sometimes flashing of women's breasts.  A great article was written in 2006 about the founder of Girls Gone Wild, which provides enlightening information to what really goes on in front of and behind the camera. 
Here is the link: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/06/magazine/tm-gonewild32
A more recent story about a girl who's shirt was forced down by another individual in the GGW crew is here:http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_30865bcc-95eb-11df-9734-00127992bc8b.html


Leaving the cult of domesticity and embracing the power of birth control, American women (mostly) have become jaded into believing that liberation from sexual constraints equals freely and unnecessarily hypersexualizing oneself (flashing or not).  This could not be farther from the truth. While I do strongly believe in one's agency, I do not agree that in order to be liberated, one must do these acts which fourty- fifty years ago would have been absolutely taboo.  Unfortunately, this is the perspective of several individuals in the first Girls Gone Wild article. 

EL#1

For my EL#1 project, I decided to do a blog about sex tourism and it's link with child sex trafficking. I did a blog because of it's ability to be mutated and added to, as well as being an open link that anyone can use as reference, as opposed to a flyer, or sign.  I researched my topic in the context of American men traveling to south east Asian countries such as Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia to explicitly search out sexual engagements with local women.  I wanted to connect this sector of the tourism industry to that of child sex trafficking to hopefully make the point clear that those individuals who decide to participate in this kind of behavior could in fact be having sexual engagements with a child as young as five years old.  In order to publicize my blog, I decided to use what was closest to me and the people like me, so I advertised this website on Reddit.com- a website that I commonly use, that is filled with posts that any registered member can make, which can then be commented on, "up" or "down voted" and can also be used as a catalyst for useful information and input.  I also put this blog onto my Facebook, and my fiancee did the same, and I emailed some of my contacts in hopes of feedback, whether good, bad or indifferent.  Rather than getting feedback about the ACTUAL subject, people commented and actually argued (on Reddit) about my title, or the grammar used, or huge portions of the sex tourist industry that I intentionally left out (such as female sex tourism to predominately black countries like Kenya and Jamaica)... While this was interesting and the argument was pretty entertaining, I saw how difficult it can be to capture an audience and KEEP their attention without them resulting to critiques not useful to the actual project.
Here are (small) photos of my blog pages- note that each of the pages included my sources, whether it is visible on the photograph or not:

In the end, I learned a lot about a topic that I knew I was interested in and passionate about and hopefully this blog will continue to be a space for reference information, if nothing else- to the organizations from which I got my information, who have ways to take action against child sex trafficking and sex tourism alike.

Police Repression

Find a news story or video about the repression of protest groups in the United States in the past ten years, since the Battle in Seattle (what Wikipedia calls the “World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity“ and 9/11.  Reading the protest zone article and the one about organizing after Seattle might help.  Post the video or link and talk about what you found.  Are the actions justified?  Do they effect your feelings about the society we live in (positively or negatively)?


At the 2008 RNC- Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota there were four days of protest and also brutal police repression.  During these four days, tens of thousands of protesters were voicing their opinions about the "Republican agenda of ongoing war, tax cuts for the wealthy, corporate globalization, and the expansion of corporate power at the expense of the environment and workers’ rights." [quote from website below]  To handle these protests, which of course only got media attention because of the small percentage of people who acted in ways that were destructive to property, such as pushing over bus stops in an attempt to block the road of any delegates coming to the convention.  Because of this threats and the sheer number of people in attendance, the federal government armed the police forces with $50million to get tasers, rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray and these weapons did not go without use.  In fact, over the course of the week, there were over 800 arrests made, 30 of which were actually members of the media- journalists and these arrests were done by some of the 3,700 police officers dressed in riot gear.  In this article, from the Socialist Alternative group, who actually had a hand in some of the rallying that occurred during this week,(http://www.socialistalternative.org/news/article13.php?id=922), the convention is examined by a group who was active in the protests, who were a part of the arrests and who prepared groups of people to participate in some of the marches, for example- the "Youth against war and racism" group was led by the Socialist Alternative.  This youth group was marching for an immediate end to the war in Iraq.  


This website, with an article and video also give a perspective of what went on during the September 1-4 protests in St. Paul http://blip.tv/file/1224287


Here are some photos from these four days:

Communication example

An example of communication by a social movement that I picked is the Human Rights Campaign website (hrc.org).  This means of communication by internet is vital to getting any word out these days and provides a reference point for information about the given subject.  Human Rights Campaign does a lot of good things, however I had some critiques of them before reading today's assignments and now I have the terms necessary to defend my argument.  While the Human Rights Campaign website is very clearly a "white" form of communication- they are proud of their information and make it known that they are the one's publishing it- which is completely important to maintaining loyalty and gaining a wider audience; I do not think that they are always consistent with what they convey as an organization to promote equal rights to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.  Their transgender agenda is.. really small and in comparison to the need for more push of not just things like ENDA, but just acceptance of ways of thinking outside the gender binary and the concept that gender is indeed fluid and is not innate according to whether you have a vagina or a penis or some of both- HRC may be considered failing their trans community.  In my opinion, when an organization gets as large as HRC, they become, if they weren't before, elitist and so mainstream that much of the grassroots concerns of "equal rights" gets lost in the messages.  For example, the poster child of hate crimes against LGBTQ persons is Matthew Shepard- really? the white, middle America, gay teenager with a REALLY nice mom and books and even plays surrounding this event.  What about hate crimes against trans individuals? lesbians? people of color in general? This is frustrating because they are the number one most popular organization for the LGBTQ community and well earned- they do do some great things for raising awareness and keeping in touch with their "targeted communication of integration" by claiming to unite all- I just don't see it. Also, who else is invisible? bisexuals. Just like so many other social movements- their claims get more narrow and more narrow, so that therefore those individuals who continually get pushed out of their line of upward movement are left behind- again. that isn't equal rights- that's using "equal rights" and "LGBTQ" as buzz words and using the all american, white boy image as one to "bring home" the notion that- hey america, this could be your kid.

Loyalty Pie

Family- girlfriend, daughter, sister, aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, mother (of a kitten :) ) 35%

Activist- internships at Women for Women International and others, volunteer work, community engagement, listener 25%

Student- george mason, New century college, my study abroad experience to Philippines 25%

Political- left or... socialist 10%

State- American, voter 4%

Religion- spiritual, agnostic 1%

This was a more difficult exercise than I expected just because given percentages to how important something is to me made that concrete.  I found myself switching family and activist around several times, but have family first mostly because of my loyalty to my girlfriend.  She has a wonderful family, so i included extended family in that piece as well.  Activist, came next just because of what I do with my time and what I want to do with my life and that is incredibly important to me.  Student is one of my favorite identities, just because I do love school and I especially love New Century, I credit NCC for having made my college experience as fulfilling as it has been.  Political, State and Religion all sort of tie in together for me, but decided to keep them separate for numbers sake.  Political gets 10% because I would say that I am a political person- a lot of the issues that I am passionate about would be eradicated to a great degree if the politics around it were right.  Since I have some issues with the state and religion, such as not letting me get married when and where I want to, they are last.  :) That's actually interesting because i'm obviously staying somewhat loyal to the state, in hopes that it will change, soon-  since I haven't moved to another country that allows same sex marriages, but then again I don't have the ability to pick up and move like that for that reason...

Civil Rights

These two New Yorker articles were quite enlightening, as I have never studied too many specifics about the differences in location in the south and what that meant during this time.  It was made clear that location was absolutely a factor in the treatment and political opportunity structure as well as the repertoire that was safely available to African Americans during this time.  North Carolina, was not as intense as was Selma, Alabama in the way that they were able to work the Civil Rights movement in different, more "ground up" ways in North Carolina that were not safe in Alabama.  In Selma, the movement's actions were based more governmentally and more focused, on law based benefits, such as protection, instead of branching out in the ways that the activists were able to do in Durham.  The fact that some things in the ways of some protection had been done in Durham, so therefore the POS opened up greatly here, compared to Selma- this allowed for African Americans in Durham to push forward with the Civil Rights movement in order for the "deeper south" to hopefully catch on soon enough and follow suit.  Unfortunately, not all of these things have come true, as it is known that racism still exists in the United States.  Just the other day on CNN, I read a report of how Wake County Public Schools- which is Raleigh, North Carolina area is going to be taking away their diversity policy, which many are stating will reinstate segregation... a cut in budget spending is not worth that.

Alinsky's Rule

From the Alinsky article, I would use the rule number seven to help solve a problem in my own community because I this is extremely relevant to the gay marriage, or prop 8 campaign.  Rule number seven states, "Success or Failure is a mighty determinant of ethics."  Conservatives would consider themselves having "won" because they made the LGBTQI population lose- is that ethical? if you're narrow minded, and your winning depends on how concerned you are that a same sex marriage would in some way make your marriage illegitimate.  I recently heard someone say on a television show, "Who cares if gays and lesbians want to be as unhappy as us? No worry to me."  This is a comedic way to look at the questions that rise when gay marriage is brought up in the context that marriage for heterosexual couples would be less than, or heaven forbid equal to that of gay marriage.  What is legitimate about marriage when there are so many cases every day of adultery, divorce and unhappiness that wouldn't allow a population of in love people experience this, in consequence to immoral activities and lack of communication?

If those who saw "winning" qualified as denying other individuals their equal rights were able to shift their lens, they would quickly see that gay marriages in no way affect a heterosexual marriage- therefore it is a win-win for all- we all get state and federal protection and the ability to be at our partner's hospital bedside if they pass.  Is anyone's marriage "legitimacy" enough to deny someone of this and so many other marriage rights and benefits?

parallel

Okay, so the parallel that I can think of to compare to the women's suffrage movement that is definitely not obvious or that I know a lot about would be the movement for home births/ natural births and the rising use of doulas for the birth process.  A doula is a licensed and trained professional "birth expert" I would say, whose role is to be there for not only the expectant mother, but the whole family unit or lack there of throughout the entire pregnancy up until the child is one year old.  This doula gives educational materials, emotional and physical support to the mother and whose main charge is giving the power of choice back to the mother- reminding her that women’s bodies are made for giving birth and that all of the things set up and “highly recommended” in hospitals are not always necessary.  This movement is what I believe may be in a resistance to the medicalization of society- of deviance- which creates everyone, with natural human variations, as “sick” and therefore medicines are created, pushed and profited from, by the healthcare profession and not always the “customer.”

Iron Jawed Angels

Iron Jawed Angels is for sure a very jarring, while theatrical representation of the women's suffrage movement.  Hilary Swank is one of my favorite actresses because I think she's incredibly talented.  Alice Paul's character is one of vivacious determination and this was perceived well in this film.  Alice Paul, and her partner in the movement, Lucy Burns, were able to negotiate themselves according to power, going from militant activists to much more respectable- this was a huge component to making their Political Opportunity Structure in the movement increase.  This was also done by becoming much more conservative and while when black men got the vote before white women, this felt like a kick in the shin to many of the movement's leaders- most continued, with the exception of one in particular that I can recall :)
To be seen as a woman before anything else, such as before your skin color (according to position of Alice Paul, etc) and because of this fact- you are once again denied...something is hard to swallow.

One piece of this film that I think is incredibly important to add, was the composite of the senator's wife, because there were and still are so many women in positions of high status and very much attached to tradition and "morals" that their marriages may be modeled after these very same dominating characteristics- robbing women of their voice and their movement to action. Men need to get over the fact that they CAN be feminists... and just make the MOVEEE--- geezzz.

The strengths of this movement in accordance to the film, were the women's unswerving determination - through being jailed and the hunger strike and the abuse going on there, and their willingness to push forward, despite arrests, their parade being dissolved.. violently and quite a large lack of support from the government. Also, when the movement shifted because of the war, instead of allowing it to take a back burner with the president, they created a way to incorporate the importance of this amendment to the nation and the future of the country... good strategy.

American Indian Movement- NCLC 304

The American Indian Movement jolted ahead in its actions after approaching the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington DC in 1972-3.  This decided ended up resulting in a competition at Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  This movement was started by Dennis Banks in the late 1960s (1968) and the group was meant to bring awareness to the very issues concerning the Native American population in the United States of America.  It is known that American Indians do not have it "so well," and when I was younger, my family and I would go to a Cherokee reservation in NC to see one of my dad's friends who participates in all of their activities put on once a year as a celebration.  This is as far as my knowledge of the subject really was until I began to research a little more for this assignment in particular.  

AIM has participated and facilitated several protests asking for cultural renewal, an organized job office and heightened police activity in the area.  

This movement is definitely one that many people are not actively aware of, and I see this on campus and in social situations all the time.  The different Native American Indian's diverse backgrounds are what make their political opportunity structure very dynamic.  There are national awareness groups and initiatives, there are some college programs and there are media outlets; all of which are very effective in my opinion, and their lack of extensive internet focused work give them an authenticity that not all other groups at the Kiosks in the JC can offer.

9.15.10 Question #2 NCLC 304

In your opinion, what is the political opportunity structure for current contemporary movements in the US? In what ways do they have more opportunity?  In what ways do they have less?  What movements do you think have the best chance of being successful on the basis of your analysis?  Which have the worst?


I would say that the political opportunity structure for current movements in the US would be extremely varied, however I think that the majority focus on multifaceted approaches, including technology, physical activities, such as a marathon, rallies, as well as one to one contact.  This has changed quite a bit from back in the Civil Rights for African Americans era, when not all forms of communication and expression were open and free for use by groups as dedicated as the individuals in this movement, for instance.  It's hard for me to even compare the two now, just because of the fact that we know that there is no way to really predict the outcome of a movement, or know after the fact whether or not it was indeed your involvement or the activists as a whole.  In some ways, I can definitely see how back before internet was invented, etc that the protests and movements would have been much more solidified and have more concentrated voices, whereas today, just by signing onto Facebook, you are able to join an infinite number of "causes" or links to organizations or even the public figures heading some of these movements.  I personally wonder if this is making things so easy, that the dedication is waning and while there may be more numbers of the involved- there is something to be said about quality vs. quantity here as well.  


The movements that I think have the best chance of "succeeding" would be the ones that did not start with information technology per se, but rather with an individual making a personal commitment and from their actions- people are educated and become interested in following and having a hand in this. This way, maybe there is more ownership of one's causes and benefits and from this be able to sustain a long term dedication to the said cause.  The movements that I do not think have a good chance of following through with their intentions would be the ones started on a whim, by individuals going into this type of justice work with only their own interests in mind, instead of the humble reasons non profit organizations and governmental initiatives were founded.  

WUNC Display

These are some of the photos that I took while at the Capital Pride Rally/March in Summer of last year, 2009.  I think that these are examples of WUNC displays because of precisely what WUNC stands for- Worthiness: as I can only speak for myself, as a lesbian and a part of the LGBTQI community, the feelings of lack of self worth can be ever-present, depending on your support system and in these signs, symbols of worth are shown in each: love, "we are," "all," and "gay rights are civil rights."  Seeing these signs made an impact on my life, as it was the first time that I had seen a display of approval or acceptance from a parents of a gay child.  Unity is seen throughout as well- more obviously with the rainbows, triangles and screams for drag queens, just kidding- kind of; but also in the march itself, the fact that this huge crowd of people got together, clear of other duties or schedules to be another person in this walking, shouting, cheering, smiling force for equality amongst LGBTQI persons.  Numbers- again, in the march itself, in the donations people and companies and *cough* politicians gave for this cause and lastly, Commitment- on that extremely hot day, in DC where there is little to no shade and also commitment of allies- a part of this community that I feel is left out way too much, but is a huge- majority- driving force.  Just as men are extremely necessary in the movements towards equality for women, straight allies are vital in the push for LGBTQI rights.

These kinds of displays are going to absolutely help this community reach their goals, through action, visibility, relentless commitment and the number of people affected by the decisions of officials and overall populous feeling toward LGBTQI persons.

Introduction

Hey, my name is Logan Greenwood and I am a senior with a concentration in International Studies with a focus on Gender and Educational Justice and a minor in Women and Gender Studies.  My participation in social movements or community activism surrounds issues surrounding gender(s) (could you have guessed?) and the LGBTQIA community as a whole.  I have participated in a few "gay rights" marches in DC, HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, I worked with the Fund for Public Interest Research one summer going door to door, speaking with people about the importance of environmental responsibility- things like overfishing, energy and the same old climate change speech everyone has already heard.  that wasn't necessarily my cup of tea, i guess. My most invested interest or passion is with women's education, as a global issue, and I say issue because way too many women and girls are denied education, by their government, communities and families alike.  I don't always mean formal, classroom education, but also education about healthcare, their political rights, literacy training, family planning, and their birthrights to happiness, dignity and a life of self sustainability.  This is the one issue that I would absolutely die for, if my death meant that every woman and girl in this world got an EQUAL opportunity for the SAME education and chances to participate in the livelihood of their choosing- I would be gone ten minutes ago.  really.  I am very interested in how gender plays out in post traumatic or post conflict situations, particularly with forced migration, civilian armed forces and urban poverty.
This summer, I spent six weeks in the Philippines and all of the work we did surrounded issues of human rights, particularly trafficking of women and girls, urban poverty, environmental injustice, and corruption of government, particularly Oplan Bantay Laya, which is the counterinsurgency initiative from former President Gloria Arroyo, which led to countless extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, hostage and kidnapping situations and paranoia to an entire community of human rights workers.  We worked with the organization KARAPATAN, which is the most well known human rights org in the Philippines, these are the people who go missing and are killed for doing the work they do. I could go on about the specifics, but they are a social movement that I was able to see a piece of while I was there.
Grassroots peacebuilding, activism and mobilization are many times the only ways to spark a flame when it comes to a cause like any of the ones i've mentioned.  I am setting my life up to hopefully work with an organization that promotes, humbly assists and facilitates opportunities for women to be a part of the global movement for gender equality- whether this is with education, an income generating skill(s), or community building and solidarity- but only if this is all done so in a NON giver-receiver model.  I am determined to not be a part of a movement that covers basic needs for the time being, while also perpetuates dependency, victimization and generational shame on communities.

I am very excited for this course as I hope it's going to give me some background on the concept of community activism and social movements, but also the logistics and most importantly the self-proclaimed failures of those before me.  I think that a life of justice work is a life of failures- and that's really not fatalistic as it sounds, but rather the ability to make a mistake, see it, reflect on what that means for you and your future work, make changes and move on. this is impossible to avoid and I think that this weeds out a lot of people that are in justice work for the wrong reasons anyways :) the end.