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Building a Just SocietyThursday, November 01, 2007 Let’s Start A Plumpy’nut Revolution by Nanette
Today, even. It’s time, don’t you think? There are a great many things I cannot do. Positive thinking doesn’t affect them one whit. (Sad to say, unless you have far more power and influence than you’ve let on, you can’t do them either - if I have underestimated you, call me.) It’s time to change things up a bit and work on what I can do. This is not to say I believe that I (or we) should give up on working for and fighting for the things we believe in… ending the occupation, preventing the next war, ending racism, curing world hunger… Well, about that last. I (and you) really can have an effect on some things. Little things. Er… babies, to be exact. To start.
So what is a Plumpy’nut Revolution? A dream, a plan, a metaphor and, well… feeding babies. Did you see this?
My little graphic says “Join Today”, but you can’t click it, because there is nothing yet to join. The revolution is still in the planning stages and understanding where it is going and what it will take to get there will mean talking a bit more. You see, while it is The Plumpy’nut Revolution and it does have to do with Plumpy’nut, that’s not all. It’s just the beginning.
Posted by Nanette on 11/01 at 10:10 PM
Plumpy'nut Revolution • Society • ShameOnUs • Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish • Spotlight • (8) Comments • Permalink • Tell-a-Friend
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Thursday, August 30, 2007 Myths, Monsters and Contradictions by Nanette
An assortment of things I’ve read over the past few months have come together - somewhat - in my mind to form related, if still rather disconnected and contradictory, thoughts. I hope that by the time I’ve finished laying out the parts I’ll have figured out how to fit all the pieces together. Or you will have, at any rate. This is likely to be a bit long. Brace yourselves.  Via Alas, a Blog comes this fascinating children's book review at American Indians in Children's Literature. We are allowed a peek at what is normally a closely held and secret sacred Cherokee story - which, even now I am sure we are only getting a small flavor of. From what I can tell, this review of Gail Haley's Two Bad Boys is written by Gayle Ross. Here are a few highlights:
I'm sure Ms. Haley is a wonderful storyteller. She appears to have won a few awards and lots of acclaim ... I have nothing bad or good to say about her, having never heard of her before this, so any stray thoughts I have as a result of reading this review are not really about her or her work - or Ms. Ross, for that matter. For some reason, though, this telling brings to mind a favorite saying of mine: a line from ebogjonson in reference to something completely unrelated to this - or is it? - about "dangerously wild and crafty memes that have been laughing at intent and virtue for over 140 years [...] that tend to slip out of a user's grasp almost immediately, so deliberately handling them constitutes a form of willful recklessness." -------- I hadn't heard of La Vendida before reading about her at brownfemipower's a few months ago. As she says, the story around La Vendida is a bit complicated, and "to discuss La Vendida, you have to start with La Malinche". So she does:
Lots, lots more there, where she delves deeply into the significance of La Malinche and La Vendida to present day Mexico and those of Mexican descent, nationalism, feminism, machismo and much more. A wonderful article, well worth reading - but it's actually a conversation in the comments of this post that calls out to me to be included in whatever picture I am attempting to paint here. My question to brownfemipower (bfp): Continue Reading Myths, Monsters and Contradictions
Posted by Nanette on 08/30 at 01:17 PM
Civil Rights • Coalitions • Feminism • HumanRights • Racism • Society • Women • (0) Comments • Permalink • Tell-a-Friend
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Back When Baby Didn’t Have Back by Nanette
My daughter noticed something odd the other day. Odd to her, anyway, and, now that I think about it, odd to me too. In different ways, though. See, she came to visit the other day and as I had to finish something up in the other room she dropped down on the couch to visit with her grandmother, who was watching Soul Train, one from the 70s, on the TV. As I left the room, she was barely containing her laughter at all the “weird” clothing (as if kids today have room to talk) and dances. When I came back in, though, she had such a strange look on her face… a combination of puzzlement, disgust and ... I don’t know. Disbelief, or something. I looked to see what they were doing - the people had formed two lines and couples danced down the middle. I don’ t know that they do that these days on dance shows, still… though it WAS the 70s, it didn’t seem too outlandish. Not enough to cause that look on her face. So, I asked her what the matter was. “What’s wrong with them?” she asks. So, I look again. Okay, so maybe the dances are a little silly looking, but surely she’s seen sillier ones? “No”, she says… ”look at them! Why are they all so skinny?” And, sure enough, I look again and there are dozens of Black people, men and women, and all thin as rails. I sat down too, and we kept looking, pointing out when it appeared that a woman had hips, only to see it was because she was wearing baggy parachute type pants or something; some of them had visible breasts, but not many. Not a one had a “booty”. Even the men were super thin - little muscle tone, and certainly no bulk to them at all. And now that she’d pointed it out, I remembered when that was the look to aspire to. I don’t have pictures, but here is a short video of a 1974 Soul Train dance line. All of a sudden she exclaims, “Ugh! They all look like they have AIDS or are on crack.” I then turn to look at her, wondering why in the world she choose those particular comparisons… and then it hit me. She was born in 1979. Crack invaded many Black neighborhoods in the early 80s and AIDS not long after, plus one barely mentions Africa without also mentioning, or at least thinking about, the AIDS epidemic in many countries there. In the world that young Black people my daughters age and younger have grown up in, a good many really skinny Black people they come into contact with, see in the movies or on the news, are simply not healthy for one reason or another. Some are, of course, there are plenty of healthy, thin Black people, but my daughter and just about all of her female friends that I know of are… curvaceous. Hips, breasts, rounded bellies - and they love themselves and their looks, which I think is a great thing. I was reminded of this by this post of Sewere’s, at Rachel’s Tavern ,where he has a conversation going about theBlack Male Gaze causing self-esteem issues, referencing a Post Secret confession. I know there was a study done not too long ago that said something like that, contrary to most White women, Black women are actually healthier when they have a little meat on their bones. Still, I have to wonder if part of the reason for the shift in desirable body type, at least among some younger US Black folk, is a reaction to the “skinny = sick” thing. You think? (little update: actually, watching the video up above all the way through, at least in this set of dancers there are a few who are curvier. Still, considering that TV adds 1o lbs (or so) to your frame… ) cross-posted at feministe
Posted by Nanette on 08/22 at 04:45 PM
Feminism • LifeAtLarge • Society • Women • (0) Comments • Permalink • Tell-a-Friend
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Sunday, April 08, 2007 by Nanette
The first in a series of posts about this book and the overall topics of human rights and related issues. For a time I was afraid that I had lost it forever. I moved soon after I got it to review a year or so ago, and even after unpacking didn't find it again until recently. I'll have to think about why that happened. Still, I have the book now, even if a little late. Almost everything about it says "This is a Serious Book". One glance at the cover - stark white hardcover, with bold, all caps black writing - and you know that someone feels they have something important to say, that they want to be noticed. Well, and then there is the thickness of the book - it's fairly heavy, in weight... over 700 pages, some of them fold outs. Many of them photos, though, which could detract from the impression of seriousness, but no. Not these photos. I say "almost" everything about it because, besides the pictures, when you look at the closed book from the side there is a rainbow effect, each section of the book having its own color - mostly pastels. Oh, and a bright red ribbon for keeping your place in the book as you read, should you decide to start from the beginning, go on to the end and then stop, as the saying goes. I've not yet been able to do that, but maybe soon.
That's only half the story, though, isn't it? Or maybe a quarter of it. For every action there is a reaction, and all that. Plenty of room in this book for the rest of the story, or at least a fair portion of it, and the authors/editors (Walter Kälin, Lars Müller and Judith Whyttenbach) do their best to provide that. I steeled myself to just open the book at random and write about the first picture I saw... which just happened to be a HUGE platter (not plate, platter) containing a slab of ham in the middle that covers fully half of the platter, a pile of hashbrowns so big part of it is hanging off the edge, with three fried eggs barely contained at the other edge of the platter. This is a single serving, in a Los Angeles diner. Just as a guess, I think this chapter might have something to do with food security. There are a few more related pictures of people who definitely have that - in abundance. Including one of a woman preparing to dig into a massive ice cream float. The woman is, of course, fat, but the people in the other photos full of Westerners gorging on food are not. With my next random page try, a couple of hundred pages away, I landed on a swirl of colors - a Tibetan monk captured in the process of sweeping away a mandala in a ceremony. Quite a juxtaposition, that. There is probably much to say about temporal things - which both food and mandalas are - ceremonies and contrasts, but not just yet. I find it far to easy to just traipse off after stray philosophical thoughts and ignore more substantive things so, even though this is not actually the review yet, I'll save those thoughts for another time. There is far too much in this book to cover even in one long post, so I will be taking it a piece at a time and will try to give as much of the full flavor of the book, including its various contrasts between... well, what seem like extremes when put in context, but which (as a Westerner) would in other circumstances feel like "normal, everyday life". Much to think about. I will also scan in some pictures. Here is how the chapters are broken up in the book: Foreword and intro - What are human rights? 1. Human existence - The Right to Life I'll take them in some sort of order, but probably not as listed.
Posted by Nanette on 04/08 at 07:00 PM
Civil Rights • Coalitions • Community • Society • ShameOnUs • Humanity • HumanRights • Politics • (0) Comments • Permalink • Tell-a-Friend
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Wednesday, December 06, 2006 Yes, Virginia, the “R-Word” is as offensive as the “N-Word” and the “C-Word” by Nanette
Now, we all know that society is loath to give up its epithets and racial slurs… but it can be done. We’ve almost extracted n****r, ch*nk, sp*c, k*ke and w*p from “polite” conversation… we can do it with r*dsk*n too, if we put our minds to it. I've taken that title straight from Wampum, where MB Williams reminds us,
There is a lot more there, in between the ellipses, so read it all. Not too long ago, in the course of two different conversations about language... probably a couple of months or so apart, two separate (white) people told me: "You know, at one time the "N" word wasn't considered offensive." The first time I heard that, I said, "Of course it was", and the reply... "No, sorry, it wasn't". Before I could continue, someone else jumped in with another word to discuss and we moved on, and I pretty much forgot about the incident. The next conversation was conducted on a major "liberal" blog - the topic being profanities, obscenities... and a racial slur. Well, that's not what the title of the piece was, but it may as well have been. I pointed out to the author that one of these was not like the other... that while some were good old "Anglo-Saxon curse words", and others derogatory terms for the body parts of women, or certain taboo activities between close family members, only one was a specific racial epithet against a specific group of people. And, to the best of my memory, that's when he stated... "You know, at one time the "N" word wasn't considered offensive." This time I was able to stop a minute and consider... what is he talking about? And when I realized, it was just too depressing. I didn't even continue the conversation. See, what he meant was, at one time the use of the "N" word wasn't offensive to the majority population. And that's true... it was not at all an offensive word to most of them. It was used in casual conversation, in "polite society", whether one was speaking of (or to) a black person on the street, or one you were getting ready to string up. That the person the word was being used against may have had some objection to the epithet (not to mention the often attendant actions) was not even a consideration. They were non-persons in those times, incapable of being offended or, if they were, certainly in no position to complain about it. And what these two well-intentioned, leftish people done was once again, in 2006, removed the personhood, the humanity from those same people who had lived and died as non-persons and/or subhuman, only having been granted retroactive humanity in the history books and society, as different countries come to terms with their pasts. Still, it is apparently only after the real people - "polite society" - deem a word offensive that it actually becomes so. So... what then does that say about the continued, and very public, use of the "R" word? To me, it says that in the minds of the majority culture – which in this instance would include everyone who is not Native American - Native Americans have not yet achieved full "personhood". The fact that they might object to what is, to many of them, a horrendous racial epithet not only being used in "polite conversation", but screeched from the top of people's lungs as they cheer for the football team that wears that name is simply beyond the ability of some to grasp. The hoary old "being too sensitive" is tossed about, along with "Hey, I'm not PC" and "It's always been this way" - even if it has not and as if that means anything anyway. Then, there is the "But, this (verbal and visual epithet) is used respectfully and/or proudly" defense. Or, maybe it's the "We're using it in an ironic way, to highlight the racism of others" defense, that some who insist on using racist imagery claim. I think not:
I'd be happy if someone could explain to me where the respect, pride or even irony can be found in something like this. Really, ... because the rhetorical contortions needed to show why something like this is not only considered perfectly acceptable, but not even worth a murmur of protest from those who saw it, would no doubt be a remarkable sight. Now, we all know that polite society is loath to give up its epithets and racial slurs... but it can be done. We have, so far, almost extracted n****r, ch*nk, sp*c, k*ke, w*p, and probably others that I don't know or don't remember, from "polite" conversation, as each group was recognized for at least semi-personhood. We can do it with r*dsk*n too, if we really are determined to do so. It's easy to do, you know, on a personal and political basis... all it takes is acknowledging that Native Americans are full, living, complete, complex, breathing, thinking persons in their own right, with individual cultures, opinions, religions and identities - and not just pictures in a history book. That each one has the right to not only not have racial epithets hurled at them across the airwaves, in newspaper print, from street corners and on blogs, but to also determine what is their preferred method of address. And it just may differ from person to person, as there is no monolithic "Indian" or anything, but that's okay. I'm pretty sure most of us can hold more than one thought or word in our minds at one time. Possibly the most effective method is also just saying, "no more". Once people can wrap their minds around these apparently astonishing concepts, the rest is cake. [Edited for clarity. Hopefully.]
Posted by Nanette on 12/06 at 03:19 PM
Civil Rights • Coalitions • Racism • Society • ShameOnUs • Humanity • (21) Comments • Permalink • Tell-a-Friend
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Sunday, November 19, 2006 by Nanette
In the previous sentence I was going to indicate that I meant that the US does these things, but I consciously stopped myself… while I do live in the US and thus am greatly concerned about what the US government does, I think it’s very easy to become too US specific and let other things slip by. As we are an international site, and as the sites we are building will be as well, I’ll just leave that as is… because countries in Europe, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Africa, the Middle East and so on also know quite a bit about torture (using or condoning it), about repression of civil liberties and human rights, and support for wars and occupations. No one gets a pass. I’ve had the “after-election” blahs a bit - although that is not why the site has not been updated. We (meaning arin) are doing quite a bit of behind the scenes reorganizing, restructuring and streamlining of things. When we first got this software, we hadn’t a clue how to work it but even so we pretty much went from html pages to this from one issue to the next, and in meantime did an entire huge other site as well, which I will talk about here. We wound up pulling that down, for the most part, and will rebuild it step by step. Anyway, that left quite a few loose ends and stray articles and other things so, before we expand, we thought this would be a good time to get all that in order. New stuff will be up soon. Beyond that, however, there is much to be done. And, as the title implies, it’s a time (for me) to focus. I’m very good at imagining, great at planning, but horrible at implementation. Thankfully, arin is really great taking an idea I have and figuring out how to make it work on the pages, even if I just send her a graphic mockup and say “I want this to do this or that”. Still, even with that, it seems my brain lacks some crucial element - I can see the beginning of a project and the end result of it, but not how to get from “here” to “there” - or it does until I just give up avoiding it and hoping someone else will figure it out and just focus. Then, of course, it comes to me in a flash! You take this block, and set it upon that block, and then another on top of that until… well, you get the picture. Boring, but necessary. So, some things I will be focusing on (yet again!): The Progressive Focus Center - which is the site we pretty much pulled down completely, except for a small blog in an empty space. I thought starting with a blank page would makeit easier (it hasn’t, but still). There is lots to do there, and I actually think it will be easier to do it now that Democrats are in charge… even though it doesn’t actually have much of anything to do with politics or elections. I was wondering why I felt that way, today, and the best I can come up with is… with the Republicans in Congress (and the White House, and the Courts) there was such a feeling of urgency, and also of despair at being able to affect change - we couldn’t stop a war, have to live with the fact that we are now a nation that openly condones and practices torture, and that compromises lives and civil liberties in the name of security. In the previous sentence I was going to indicate that I meant that the US does these things, but I consciously stopped myself from doing that… while I do live in the US and thus am greatly concerned about what the US government does, I think it’s very easy to become too US specific and let other things slip by. As we are an international site, and as the sites we are building will be as well, I’ll just leave that as is… because countries in Europe, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Africa, the Middle East and so on also know quite a bit about torture (using or condoning it), about repression of civil liberties and human rights, and support for wars and occupations. No one gets a pass. That actually will be one of the goals of The Progressive Focus Center - to be a space where there are no borders, and where we share knowledge, opinions, skills and more. And focus… for building a more just society. Anyway, back to why I think it’ll be easier with the Democrats at least in charge of one House in Congress (I don’t trust Lieberman not to jump, but we’ll see). I sort of explained it on Kai’s site, Zuky, in the comments of one of his posts. I was sick and feeling really rotten at the time though, and probably wasn’t the cheeriest person, but it still explains my feeling a bit.
I am actually quite grateful for that umbrella. We can look around now and at least start to repair the boat. I am not much into politics and political horseraces or anything, myself, but it’s my belief that in order to get true progressive/liberal/leftish people into office - people who will actually work for their constituents instead of for corporations and who will stand up to horrific politicians and policies… we have to do a lot of work on the ground, preparing the way. The more ideas people come up with for doing that, the better. Anyway, on to my focus list. Making HB more interactive and activist. I’ve had plans for that for a long time but, well… plans. Implementation. East and West. Still, I blunder on… it’ll get done, maybe little by little. Speaking of Zuky, that’s a great blog and lately I’ve been finding really wonderful, smart, knowledgeable, funny and other blogs around and so I’m going to start doing blog review type things. I don’t have a blogroll and so that will function as one. We have that area almost completely set up now, so it’ll be going live when we do the updating. Oh, and we’ll be moving servers too (hopefully to one that doesn’t take ages to load the site). If this one works well, I’ll let everyone know as I know it’s difficult to find good (and not too expensives) servers to host php/drupal etc type software well. One thing the tiny umbrella seems to have fixed is I can write again now. I don’t mean writing great and wonderful essays (which is sort of like that “Will I be able to play the piano, Doc?” joke) but just putting words to paper at all. Such a struggle, it was. Heh, now it seems like I’ll never shut up. Which is a good thing, for now, as I have more focus lists, for another time.
Posted by Nanette on 11/19 at 06:26 PM
General • Civil Rights • Coalitions • Community • HumanRights • Index Card • Society • Humanity • Permalink • Tell-a-Friend |
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Now then, never having planned a revolution before, I’m a little unsure how to go about it. But, that’s okay! I will no doubt learn as I go along and as other, more experienced, revolutionaries join the cause. First, I imagine, is defining just what the revolution is about and what the cause is, no? Then comes the strategizing and implementation. And, having already done all my mid-life crisis moaning, indecisiveness, longing for something different and meaningful and all that in full view, might as well figure out the strategery there too.
