live blog 2- Khani Priest

I think this point in the unconference was important for me watch and mostly listen to. The time mark was about 1:44:00 and the woman was speaking about integrating and experience another culture's beliefs, systems, and "way of life" in a sense. I think it is important to respect different cultures no matter who they belong to and no matter what they believe. It's about mutual respect. I also think it is important to learn about other cultures because it can only deepen your understanding about it and maybe even about your own culture. There is also the fact that it would widen your perspective in a lot of aspects of life including personal knowledge and social interactions. It was hearing this concept being explained in a different and even more understanding way.
Also, sorry about the low quality image, the sunlight was too bright.

live blog post 1- Khani Priest

Being unable to attend the unconference live has done me a great injustice. I missed out on a lot, but being able to watch it nonetheless was a blessing. One part that stood out to me was when Ofelia mentioned ancestors and the importance of them in aspects of the present life. I was always taught that my ancestors are always around and are always there for guidance and just watching over us. A lot of people nowadays don't understand this because they were not taught about their past family members or the importance of them. I absolutely loved that Ofelia explained upon this topic more.

Altar - Kimia Preston

I chose to create an altar to honor and represent the women who lost their lives from femicide in Juarez with the themes of memory, justice, and dignity. Because for the topic that I have chosen, it is centered around the lives of the missing women, the most important aspect is to illustrate the faces of those that have been harmed. I included images of both the lost women and their families because these crimes have a ripple-effect of trauma and to celebrate their memory and impact. In this altar, I intend to use many candles of all shapes and sizes to demonstrate the uniqueness of women to convey that the existences of these women will burn in our memories forever and will guide society towards a state of justice. Because each candle is a different size, shape, or color, it shows that women cannot be understood in one context, but rather they take on many different forms and roles in society. To represent earth, I want to honor their earthly presence and impact that these women have had on their communities through a series of linked chains/bracelets. These pieces of jewelry are traditionally worn by women, but by linking them together it shows that women will stand together in the face of injustice and it redefines female strength. I included a bottle of perfume to remind viewers that these women were dignified and should be treated with respect. The element of water in the altar is traditionally used to quench the souls of the departed on their long journey. Because these women were abused or murdered inhumanely, the water will be placed in an extravagant glass chalice to illustrate the worth of these women despite the tragedies that they have endured. I included bright orange flowers to contrast to the rest of the altar to demonstrate the bright lives these women have lived and will never be lost or forgotten.

thursday draft question

Why did the United States allow dreamers to have “their illegality fade into the background” as youth. What is the benefit of this? How does it connect to Martha Gonzalezes comments on the importance of community?

The article missed connections talks about the power of corporations to buy their way up search results, how does this current dynamic interact with feedback loops? 

If we changed the dynamic and took the power back from corporations to make search results more equitable how would the interaction with feedback loops change? 

Running with the idea of Kin referenced in “MONSTROUS CHILDREN OF PREGNANT ANDROIDS: Latinx Futures after Orlando” and how it can be used to fight back against deportation and thus colonial structures. Why is community, convivencia, kinship, family, seemingly in opposition to the power structures that exist today as forces of decolonization?

Brainstorm Week 10 - Chloe Rabinowitz

The film about the Ovarian Psycos struck me as a total embodiment of the material we’ve gone through during the entire quarter. These women come together deliberately, convivencia, and create a space for them to be empowered, a resilience practice. The act of being with each other and riding together is so powerful in uniting the community and creating a forum to spur open dialogue between Chicanas which was never available before. I think this is truly beautiful because it emphasizes the resourcefulness of women and how through convivencia, they can create a decolonial power structure that is oppositional to the traditional structure society provides them with. Not only does this allow individuals of these communities to come together, but it also acts as a remedio, a form of healing, for them against the pain and hardships they endured and continue to endure.

Chicas Rockeras does something similar. Chicas Rockeras was formed because of the lack of opportunity and resources available to young girls in Southeast LA. This collective creates a safe space for young women to define their own roles in society and just be themselves. In doing this, it brings together women from all over and creates a sense of community. Thus, these feministas in the borderlands organize community in the present by providing outlets for convivencia that engage the younger generations in modes of empowerment and resilience to the patriarchal power structure present in today’s society. By planting these seeds in the younger generations, they envision and help to create a future where women have the power to be themselves, without being told they’re too loud, too assertive, etc. In the article “Chicas Rockeras: Empowering girls in Southeast Los Angeles”, Marin, the founder of Chicas Rockeras describes what it’s like for a young girl to attend these camps, “imagine being ten, coming into camp, and being told ‘yes you can’ over and over again, being celebrated for your mistakes, given a high-five, or even being encouraged to yell into a mic.” Allowing young women to be themselves without the values that society imposes on them early-on creates a sense of empowerment and resilience in them that propels them forward in life and deconstructs the impact of traditional societal modes of oppression.

These young feministas who have experienced these communal spaces of empowerment create a sustainable path to emancipation by connecting with others of all ethnicities, races, backgrounds, etc. Essentially, because these young women have had opportunities to connect with each other and discover themselves, they take these core values with them into their future endeavors. This creates a sustainable model of emancipation because it encourages young feministas to create community that transcends societal boundaries, promoting the emancipation of all people, not just individual groups.

6/1 Monday Draft Questions

1. In Programas Sin Verguenza, La Torre says, “Emergent digital platforms Can Be Imagined as new methods of collecting and preserving Community radio’s recording, namely through tools that assist in the digitization and preservation of aural artifacts, images, program guides, institutional documents, and other station ephemera. " (177) How have the technological advancements of the 21st century allowed for the support and empowerment of marginalized communities?

2. In Programas Sin Verguenza, La Torre says, “When KDNA invited a clinical counselor to discuss incest within the Chicano Community, the topic created an unprecedented response from the audience, primarily comprised of women, who began to share their experiences not only with incest but also other forms of abuse and harassment” (182) How does representation of a community in a public forum foster and maintain a dialogue within that community? Is this a resilience practice for marginalized communities?

3. In the article "Undocumented workers fend for themselves with little Covid-19 help", the author states that, “While state and federal programs are helping millions of unemployed Americans pay their bills during the covid-19 pandemic, undocumented immigrants like Inocencio do not benefit from that assistance, even if they've been paying taxes in this country for many years” Is the idea of ‘social death’ sustained in the underrepresentation/lack of representation undocumented immigrants have in economic assistance programs?

4. In the article "Why Covid-19 is hitting Washington Latinos especially hard", the author states that, “Communities of color, meanwhile, now account for a larger share of positive tests. Black people make up 7% of all cases, despite representing just 4% of the population. Among Hispanic or Latino people, confirmed cases jumped by nearly ten percentage points since mid-april, to 31%, compared with their 13% share of the overall population” How have the disparities in the living situations, citizen status, healthcare, and economic assistance between marginalized communities and white people caused this pandemic to be disastrous for the marginalized communities?

Brainstorm 10

The Ovarian Psycho is “tapping into a long legacy of women of color. Organizing that links intimate forms of violence that does not just happen in their homes, but in the streets,” (Ovarian Psychos, 31:07). They work in response to post-colonial Latino households that suppress and abuse women and girls. The group wears bandanas around their faces proudly displaying an image of the uterus, “they are also Co-opting gang culture there. Co-opting cultural signs and signals and reworking them to be a form of empowerment” and “often the victims of violence over they, you know, claim it as their own and put it up front,” (Ovarian Psychos, 31:20). This is a form of resilience practice by reclaiming and proudly displaying what society hates about them, early criticisms called them a gang due to their race, so they reclaimed these  symbols.

The older women in the community question this gathering, saying that they should be more feminine, men criticize it saying that it’s sexist and not a legitimate feminist movement. But how can they say that when there is rampant violence against Chicana women? Are they meant to stay docile and agreeable in the face of this? It truly exemplifies how ignoring this violence is what is truly “psycho” and that these women are healing their community through Convivencia and celebration of true, traditional culture. Ovarian Psychos provide a space for Chicana women to connect and feel safe, in a world where they are harmed, secluded, and forgotten. It is a true form of resilience through celebration, community, and love.

In the Chicas Rockeras camp they started the conversation, “Are we embarrassed of where we live?  If so, why?” “Having that conversation, by the end, they were crying, and they were just like, ‘I love where I’m from,’” (Wolfe, Chicas Rockeras). It exemplifies the inaccessibility of music in Southeast LA that contributes to the divide created by colonialist thinking. But this group provides a space for your girls to feel empowered and to know that they have a place and future beyond the roles imposed by society. This is a form of Chicanafuturism through art, girls get to be loud and proud, carving out a place for them in the future.