Connections and Contestations

To succeed, the Occupy Movement must be an anti-racist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist movement, not a “colorblind” movement. White folks involved in the movement must continue to examine how white privilege is operating within the movement to its detriment, and listen to the critiques coming from people of color who are involved in the movement as well as those who feel disenfranchised and alienated by the movement.

Yet, as a good friend reminded me, it is not enough to be anti- something.  One must be solidly for something in order to know what to work for. But in terms of racial justice and healing the divide between people who possess white privilege and those who do not, can we yet even envision what we’re working towards? We know what we don’t want to perpetuate (racism, colonialism, imperialism, sexism, hetersexism, etc.) but do we have words for what we DO want to create? Perhaps part of our work right now is to come up with new language to describe what that new something is that we’re working for in terms of being anti- racist, anti-colonialist, and anti-imperialist. The opposite of racism is not colorblindness, since colorblindness ignores and dismisses the historical reality of socially constructed race and racism and the consequences that these systems have created in our society today.

But what word would accurately describe the unity and solidarity desired while continuing to center a recognition that we have inherited a system of racism, as Patricia Hill Collins has discussed, on three levels–personal, symbolic, and insitutional, rather than brushing aside race as a “divisive” issue.

I don’t think we know that word yet.

White folks who are interested in social justice need to decenter themselves from the movements of today in order to hold space for the voices and leadership of people of color.  People of color have told me that one of the firsts steps they see for dismantling white privilege is for white folks to step back and listen to what people of color have to say.  Here are some places to start:

DisOccupy

Colorlines #Occupy

Race Matters: Liberal Racism and the Occupy Wall Street Movement

A 47-1 disparity exists between the wealth held by U.S. persons over the age of 65 and under the age of 35.  Rising costs of education and educational debt, the housing crisis, and high unemployment have contributed to the gap.  U.S. wealth gap between young and old is widest ever – USATODAY.com.

The wealth gap is also racialized and gendered.  A report released by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development found that the median wealth held by single white women was $41,000 but only $120 for single Hispanic women and $100 for single Black women.  When compared to the wealth held by the median white man, the wealth held by single women of color is just a fraction of a penny for every dollar of wealth held by white men.

British PM Threatens to Restrict Social Media in Riot’s Aftermath.

Another outcome of the ways in which activism has shifted and is now organized using web-based tools.

Toy Chest Online or Downloadable Tools for Building Projects – UCSB English Department Knowledge Base.

Above is a great resource for anyone looking for tools to use for online text analysis.

And, here is another great resource- a Digital Research Tools Wiki

Thanks to CUNY Digital Humanities Resource Guide for providing scholars with these tools!

Plan International  just published a new report, entitled, Weathering the Storm: Adolescent Girls and Climate Change, which highlights the need to address the rights of teen girls in climate adaptation efforts. In addition, the report emphasizes that the girls interviewed for the report (in Bangladesh and Ethiopia had their own ideas for solutions and were significantly contributing to resilience activities within their local communities. Girls are not voiceless victims, but are (and have the desire to become) well-informed agents for change.

The impacts of climate change, whether they are gradual changes in agriculture and living conditions or the more cataclysmic effects of a cyclone or flood, are different for different populations. Whilst inevitably children everywhere are badly affected we illustrate how girls, in particular, bear the greater burden. The report evidences how, as a result of climate change, adolescent girls face increases in household responsibilities and are more likely to be forced into work resulting in less time for them to attend school or study at home. It also emphasises the policy and funding gap to address these issues by policy makers.  The girls themselves were clear on where they felt that policy priorities should be targeted. They wanted greater access to quality education where they can learn skills to improve their adaptive capacity; greater protection from violence especially early forced marriage, sexual violence and forced labour and they wanted their concerns to be heard and acted upon by policy makers.

Please see link to the report here – http://www.plan-uk.org/resources/documents/35316/

 For further information see – www.plan-uk.org

Below is a list of links to syllabi available online from university courses on feminist science studies. This list is adapted from the list compiled by University of Maryland Baltimore County. Someday I’ll get around to adding the hyperlinks and titles. Until then, enjoy doing some copying and pasting!

http://it.stlawu.edu/~vleh/Gender%20and%20Science%202004%20syllabus.htm

http://www.cord.edu/faculty/manning/physics380/syllabus.html

http://web.williams.edu/HistSci/curriculum/216/intro.html

http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/user/s/t/sturkle/www/STS060.html

http://www2.thomas.edu/faculty/hansenj/defaultGTE02.htm

http://courses.ischool.utexas.edu/Doty_Phil/2006/spring/Hart_Doty-GRS390J/Syllabus.html

http://www.umich.edu/~womenstd/courses/253-003/index.html

http://www.umass.edu/wost/syllabi/spring02/spring02wost297b.htm

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/huckle/science.html

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/164.html

http://depts.uwc.edu/wmsts/Courses/Hassel260.htm

http://www.sfu.ca/~ebalka/486_981.htm

http://www1.umn.edu/scitech/5050/syllabus.html

http://home.cord.edu/faculty/manning/physics380/syllabus.html

http://www.is.wayne.edu/mrichmon/199women.htm