Hi everyone! It’s hard to believe that we only have two
weeks of readings and videos left. It’s really exciting now that we’re learning
about how to take action against social injustices.
Barbara J. Love’s ideas in “Developing a Liberatory
Consciousness” paralleled some of our readings in the past, particularly
because she claimed that the first step to gaining a liberatory consciousness
(“living with awareness and intentionality,” rather than “on the basis of
socialization”) is, in fact, awareness—confronting your own thoughts and ideas
head on. This reminded me of Verna Myers’ ideas about getting out of denial and
moving toward our personal discomforts in order to overcome our own biases. I
like that this is a relatively simple (although not always easy) step. It’s
something everyone should be encouraged to do in order to begin a dialogue of
liberation.
Additionally, I enjoyed Gloira E. Anzaldua’s definition of
“allies”—someone we can expose our wounds to. I researched Anzaluda a little
more, and even though she has passed away, she is remembered through an award
that honors her dedication to women of color and LGBTQ women every year. It’s
cool that she continues to be an ally, even after her death.
I think “This White Feminist Loved Her Dreadlocks—Here’s Why
She Cut Them Off” is one of my favorite essays we’ve read so far, particularly
because of the idea that the messages we communicate through our actions (what
we say, how we choose to dress, etc.) are out of our control—we can’t dictate
how we are going to make people feel. Even though we may think that we aren’t
making anybody feel offended or discriminated against, like Annah
Anti-Palindrome thought, we ultimately do not get to decide how someone is
going to read something. I think this was especially important for me, as a
member of a dominant group in society, to understand. This was a topic that was
talked about a lot in the “Beyonce Feminism, Rihanna Womanism” class—it’s
unfair for a dominant group to get to dress up and play the “exotic other” without
knowing what the subordinate group goes through every day. I thought it was
particularly awesome that her friends stood up to her, and that she was able to
listen to them and take in their ideas.
“The Hidden Influence of Social Networks” made me think of a
book I just finished: Hillbilly Elegy by
J.D. Vance (I highly recommend it!). In Hillbilly
Elegy, Vance, who grew up in poverty but ended up graduating from Yale Law
School, describes the way in which his grandmother was able to instill a sense
of value in him at a young age, despite the ever-present poverty he was
surrounded by, and he credits her with making an enormous difference in his
life and allowing him to break out of the cycle of poverty. Christakis was
right: the world does need more connections, especially beginning with kids at
a young age, so that they can break out of the cycles they may be trapped in
(whether that’s poverty or prejudiced thinking).
I think that this week, we should all embrace the leadership
qualities that we have and, as Garvis said, “get over our fear of being
powerful.”
References
Dudley, D. (2010, September). Everyday leadership [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership/transcript?language=en#t-10805.
Garvis, N. (2010, October). Change our culture, change our world [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/nate_garvis_change_our_culture_change_our_world.
Christakis, N. (2010, February). The hidden influence of social networks [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_christakis_the_hidden_influence_of_social_networks.
Anti-Palindrome, A. (2015, August). This white feminist loved her dreadlocks - here's why she cut them off. Everyday feminism.
Adams, M., Blumfeld, W., Castañeda, C., Hackman, H., Peters, M., Zúñiga, X. (2013). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York, NY: Rutledge.
Hi Sarah! I agree that learning how to take action against social injustices in our world is an exciting and incredibly useful topic to learn about. I appreciate that this class has allowed us to build a strong foundational knowledge about social justice issues and we are now learning about how to share with others about these issues that plague our society. I like that in the end of your blog post you discussed the TED Talk, “The Hidden Influence of Social Networks.” This TED Talk was particularly impactful for me because it showed how our social network influences us much more than we are aware of. This lead me to reflect on the biases that I have learned through my networks and how I can help others in my direct social and familial network to challenge biases that they have learned through socialization. Breaking down biases and stereotypes in society can seem like an incredibly daunting task. One way to make this more manageable is by helping to change the biased viewpoint of at least one or two people in my direct network. This is a very direct action step that can be taken on a daily basis. Although it may seem small, the one or two people that I may impact can go and share what they learned with others, which broadens the effect of advocacy. All of the readings and videos from this week show that small step can lead to big changes.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I really enjoyed reading your blog post this week! I also found the essay “This White Feminist Loved Her Dreadlocks—Here’s Why She Cut Them Off” by Annah Anti-Palindrome to be one of my favorites. I really appreciated the perspective the essay offered. It was also cool to hear your perspective of how you felt about the essay. When you said that it was important for you as a dominant member of society to understand why something like a white woman wearing dreads could be seen as offensive, it got me thinking about how, even though I am half white half black, I need to also enlighten myself about. While in some ways I am not seen as a dominant member of society because of my race, to someone who lives in poverty and has not had the opportunity to go to college like I have, I could be seen as a dominant member of society so it is important for me to understand where I am coming from. I really like the point you made about how “it’s unfair for a dominant group to get to dress up and play the “exotic other” without knowing what the subordinate group goes through every day.” I found myself, especially in high school, with an identity crisis between my white and black side. It was even more confusing because my black side was not African American, but Kenyan, so I didn’t have a lot of similarities as my African American friends. I can see know why it would be offensive to do certain things associated with the culture when I don’t have to deal with it every day.
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