Feminista / Teacher / Student

Pablito’s “Ice Cream Bears” — Love!...

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:27:40 -0400

Pablito’s “Ice Cream Bears” — Love! I’m dying over all the sexy cuteness of these bears.

“Taro” 12x16 Digital Illustration

IU Strikers forging alliances and rockin the IMU. I’m so...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:40:00 -0400

IU Strikers forging alliances and rockin the IMU. I’m so inspired by these folks—and the amazing intergenerational work that they have going on here. The photo is blurry but yes there were middle school children in this march! — (at Indiana Memorial Union)

From a gender studies scholar to Student Affairs Professionals: on the IU Strike

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:00:22 -0400

The note that follows is a response to a very thoughtful post by an IU student affairs graduate student regarding her quest to understand folks engaged in IU on Strike (which can be found here). This post got me thinking about the role of professionals in higher ed in joining with strikers in various ways, especially since I have beloved and valued friends and colleagues among the ranks of college student services staff, which then prompted me to respond to her post. And I thought I’d share that response, below, to maybe connect with more student affairs folks:

I appreciate your comments and your attention to democratic political action—It is so important to consider that this action itself is an education, the type of education that can only make our democracy, and our “imagined community” at IU, stronger. As a fellow graduate student in a very different field than yours, one that was born from the very type of activism you are seeing here with IU on Strike, I absolutely see the fundamental efficacy of this work, this particular type of collective political action. In fact, my field of study would not exist without the fact that students demanded it. And, since you mentioned the BGSU Women’s Center as a place where you did activism—I wonder, what do students do about a university like ours, IU, which has *no* Women’s Center? …To me, the issues that folks are striking for is inherent in that very problematic itself. Working within the system can be very effective—and that is a great thing to do, but we also must have the infrastructure available to us to do that work. So when the strikers demand that the university commit to issues of diversity, must they also brainstorm the *means*? That, I would assert, is where student affairs professionals can join in conversations with students/strikers to figure out how to make demands “happen” and manifest, however that may look. For me, that would look like: funding a Women’s & Gender Resource Center, creating a Black Cultural Center, and empowering our current cultural centers to actually do great programming. Also, starting a tenure-faculty diversity initiative to hire diverse faculty in mentorship “clusters,” and also showing commitment to diversity by putting real resources into marginalized programs on campus, such as Latino studies. There are so many ways that Admin/Student Affairs could “see the ideas” behind the tactics and demands and make those ideas into reality.

P.S. These thoughts are MY OWN & are not endorsed by strikers, etc.

In solidarity with IU on Strike!!!

IU on Strike!: They Want Us To Think The Money Isn't There...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:34:38 -0400

IU on Strike!: They Want Us To Think The Money Isn't There...:

Excellent post. And yes, not only do administrators line their own pockets but they do it over the bodies of students. Student athletes, for instance, make no money$ and must labor for the university to literally “work off” their education, generating lots of money (and prestige) for the university, and yet Coaches and AD’s make hundreds of thousands, and even millions, of dollars.

iuonstrike:

But it is. It’s just in their pockets.

These are the top earners for this past year of 342 people listed as having salaries $200,000 and over:

Crean, Thomas A (all compensation) Head Coach Basketball $2,448,584

Wilson, Kevin R (all compensation) Head Coach Football $1,221,647

Mcrobbie,…

In solidarity with #IUonStrike ! We all must keep working...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:08:49 -0400

In solidarity with #IUonStrike ! We all must keep working for a more ethical university in whatever ways we can. YES to democratic participatory action! #IU #IUbloomington #democracy #action #strike #keepfighting #stayangry #freeuniversitydays #public-education #solidarity (at Indiana University Bloomington)

I just have to say—this image, this act of solidarity is...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:43:33 -0400

I just have to say—this image, this act of solidarity is so brilliant that it gives me chills. This is an amazing way in which the energy, the ripple effect of a movement can affect places and spaces beyond that one location where one does the work. SOLIDARITY WITH IU ON STRIKE!

iuonstrike:

Today students at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee dropped three banners in solidarity with the IU Strike. They also handed out flyers about the IU strike and a local labor struggle at Palermo’s frozen pizza company. This is what solidarity looks like!

Department of Gender Studies at Indiana University Bloomington...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 21:00:52 -0400

Department of Gender Studies at Indiana University Bloomington Fall 2013 course offering:

G 104 Topics ~

“Women and Gender Worldwide: Power, Colonialism and Globalization” PDF

torn1990: Let’s spread the message on tumblr! i’ve been...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:44:16 -0400

torn1990:

Let’s spread the message on tumblr!

i’ve been standing out on a busy street with this sign.

It’s been a fun activist/body positive politic experiment.

I think i’m going to step it up though in my next message.

iuonstrike: PDF

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:43:33 -0400

iuonstrike:

PDF

IU on Strike!: Strike Response to Provost Robel

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 22:26:59 -0400

IU on Strike!: Strike Response to Provost Robel:

A strike will be taking place on Indiana University campus on April 11-12th. This is a wonderful example of democracy in action and a well-organized mass student movement to claim education for the people.

iuonstrike:

The IU administration is scrambling to respond to the strike organizing spreading across campus. The day after the Board of Trustees cancelled the second half of its meetings, apparently in response to the strike (see the Herald-Times, 4/3/13), the administration sent out a new fear-mongering…

the-modern-grrrl: Good for you. Want a cookie omg

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 02:00:09 -0400

the-modern-grrrl:

Good for you. Want a cookie

omg

lanomrah: #Microaggressions: This is the hairstyle that I wore...

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 10:00:37 -0400

lanomrah:

#Microaggressions: This is the hairstyle that I wore today. I just held the elevator for a little old white lady to get on. She says, “Thank you,” and then proceeds to stare at my hair, perplexed. She makes a facial expression as though she suddenly caught whiff of shit, and with a swooping motion of her hand to imitate the cascade of my locs says,

“Your hair….”
Me (smiling politely): Yes, my hair.
She: It’s a style? (still with the smell shit face)
Me: Yes
She: I don’t know about that… it doesn’t…. I can’t get used to it.
Me (still smiling politely): Well… Lucky for you, you don’t have to.

I am not here for passive aggressive prejudice being passed off as old lady opinions. She tried it. #DENIED

This is a brilliant post that speaks to so many issues, particularly for women of color and racist Western “beauty” aesthetics. This woman is gorgeous, not that she needs any of us to tell her so—and not that women exist to be gorgeous. I mean, it’s not as if our entire purpose on this earth as women is to be “attractive,” or to pleasure the eye of everyone we see! Yeah, I know—that’s a real revelation. But it’s true. I’ll say it in other words. Women, we exist for a purpose other than to be ornamental objects of “beauty.” We actually have things to offer the world like our intellects, insights, activisms, energies, loves, and so much more.

I DO WANT TO NOTE: It’s unfortunate that so many folks who re-blogged this post immediately resorted to ageism. I am extremely disheartened how quickly we respond to injustice with more discursive violence/oppressive language, rather than (as this brilliant poster did in her story) with other non-violent responses.

Photo

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:39:56 -0400

"Meet Frida Kahlo": Video

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:42:00 -0400

"Meet Frida Kahlo": Video :

“Meet Frida Kahlo”: Video from the High Museum of Art Atlanta ‘Frida y Diego’ exhibit // Oh how I love Frida and I am so excited for the opportunity to finally see her work in person on exhibit. (At High Museum until May 12, 2013)

ericstampsnewmedia: WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:48:45 -0500

ericstampsnewmedia:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
Urge congress to work for minimum wage until the unemployment rate below 4%.
* Sign & Share *
http://wh.gov/fORm

____________________________________

http://raiseitto9.com

Great work from folks in Gender & Women’s studies at...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:30:27 -0500

Great work from folks in Gender & Women’s studies at Univ of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign!!!

gwsuillinois:

(SOLHOT performing at GWS Year-End Party, 2010)

Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths is a space to celebrate Black girlhood in all of its complexity with Black girls and those who love and support us. In SOLHOT we dance, sing, discuss important issues, create art, and organize together to improve the communities of which we are a part. We do what needs to be done. The process of doing SOLHOT involves being together and deciding what our work will be based on the gifts, talents, and ideas of those who show up. More than anything we value Black girls’ lives and create spaces to affirm Black girl genius.

Dr. Ruth Nicole Brown founded SOLHOT when she first suggested the idea to a radical group of courageous and beautiful women and girls in Spring 2006. Now referred to as the SOLHOT “visionary,” she is also a dynamic writer, researcher, performer, mentor and master teacher. Currently, an assistant professor in the Gender and Women’s Studies and Educational Policy, Organization and Leadership Departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Brown research interests include Black girlhood, visionary organizing, youth cultures, performance, qualitative methodology, and social justice.

Her first book, Black Girlhood Celebration Toward A Hip Hop Feminist Pedagogy (Peter Lang, 2009), details the political and personal motivations for organizing SOLHOT. Dr. Brown has also recently co-edited with Dr. Chamara Jewel Kwakye Wish to Live: The Hip Hop Feminism Pedagogy Reader (Peter Lang, 2012), a multi-genre and interdisciplinary collection that articulates how hip-hop feminist scholarship can inform educational practices and spark, transform, encourage, and sustain local and global youth community activism efforts.

FEMINIST TEXTS BY WOMEN OF COLOR AUTHORS

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:00:35 -0500

FEMINIST TEXTS BY WOMEN OF COLOR AUTHORS:

Wonderful, comprehensive list of women of color authored feminist texts, books, anthologies…

Kit Yan spoken word at Boxcar Books, Feb 28th @8pm

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:15:35 -0500

Kit Yan spoken word at Boxcar Books, Feb 28th @8pm:

Kit Yan, queer and transgender Asian American, will be performing slam poetry at Boxcar Books in Bloomington, Indiana on Thursday, Feb 28th at 8pm.

hijo-de-chango: Celia Cruz The brilliant Celia Cruz, genius...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:00:15 -0500

hijo-de-chango:

Celia Cruz

The brilliant Celia Cruz, genius artist and ambassador of Cuban cultural expression.

Time to Free Rosa Parks from the Bus, by Danielle McGuire

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:05:07 -0500

Time to Free Rosa Parks from the Bus, by Danielle McGuire:

Rosa Parks’ legacy is more than the Bus. This is not to say that what Rosa Parks did that fateful day on a bus is not important because it ABSOLUTELY is. The question is why all of her activism before and after that day—specifically around violence against women of color—has gone so largely unrecognized. Furthermore, (even though woc are seen to defy “acceptable” gender roles so often) the very ways Parks is described, as a “quiet, demure woman” who sat, fits nicely with society’s stereotypes of proper femininity. This story of Rosa Parks, told here, does not.

I am tired of seeing how women of color must choose between all aspects of our identities—race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality—to be heard. To be understood. Tired that our politics, social justice commitments, and lives will be constrained by what the hegemonic order will understand.

Understanding Rosa Parks through the intersectional lens that would reveal how she experienced systems of oppression of gender, race, class, is “too complex” for the masculinist paradigms through which our bodies are read and interpolated.

Time for a PARADIGM SHIFT.