Do the big wrap-up thing. You don’t have a general reflection paper at the end (that’s just about the simulation project), so here is your opportunity. What have you learned? What have you learned about yourself? What are you taking from this class? How does this fit into your academic experience? How does it fit with your career plans?
This class taught me about a lot of social movements I haven't heard of before as well as new ways of looking at some of the most common social movements. I liked our discussion of the Civil Rights and Indian independence movements, really enjoyed my independent reading book, enjoyed reading Little Brother, and even enjoyed doing my EL (something I can't always say with these NCC 4 credit courses, haha). I found the simulation project particularly stimulating because it for once forced me to look at making a change within the system and structures as a legitimate way of making change. I guess I don't have to be an anarchist, ha. Besides, it was cool picking something I care about (the Mason LIFE Program) and actually following through with the some important work that needs to be done, instead of just making a plan. As far as this class fitting into my academic experience, I picture it as the icing on the cake. I have dabbled in activism and am extremely interested in social movements, so this class informs my passion and concentration as an appropriate conclusion to my undergraduate career.
12.01.2010
11.20.2010
Quilt Panel
Presume that you have died in the next AIDS-type epidemic event (don’t get hung up on details). What do you want your friends and family to put on your quilt panel? What would make the best argument that you should have lived?
Ugh this assignment is so awful and I definitely have to resent Derek a little bit for making me think about it. I guess the things about me I would want to see on my panel would be a lot of relational things- sister, daughter, girlfriend, lover, friend, even teacher... but I would definitely also would want stuff like learner, rugby player, activist, etc. etc. I would want to be remembered as I was and that should be argument enough that I lived. I don't know, I think that while the AIDS Quilt is an awesome display of direct action and a good way to demonstrate the number of people who died from AIDS (and even larger, the number of people affected which includes the loved ones of those who died), but really, the most important part of doing a quilt like that, at least to me, is what it does for the people left behind. Like we watched in class on Wednesday, working on a quilt square for her son allowed one mother to laugh again, to think about her son as he was, not just as a victim of a horrible disease, and she almost even kind of got over it. This kind of action specific to reacting to en masse death that is half grief, half solemnity is good for those doing it most importantly.
11.17.2010
ACTUP
Question #1: For your blog, in addition to reading the two of these, review at least two videos from theACT-UP Oral History Project. Then write about the question of direct action. Can it be justified? Under what circumstances? What tactics do you feel are legitimate? Are these rules different for different causes? ACT-UP was operating in an environment where the people they were advocating for were literally dying around them. Does that change your impression of the tactics?
I watched these two videos: Alexandra Juhasz (Interview #008 January 16, 2003 Power and Privilege) and Maria Maggenti (Interview #010 January 20, 2003 Lesbians for Bush) and thought about the question of direct action. Before and after watching these videos, I already believe in direct action and the power that it can hold. Juhasz talked about power and privilege and the mass outing of all the men in power who became infected, and how the movement to ACTUP initiated a change in thinking about AIDS and the gay community. She draws on the fact that AIDS is not only seen as a "gay disease" anymore and that gay men are in many places of power (still), only they are out now. I found Maggenti's discussion much more interesting, and was actually pleasantly surprised, not knowing what I would get with the "title" Lesbians for Bush. She described how she and a group of other activists infiltrated a republican conference, "disguised" as republicans and giving fake names and stories about how they were related to the party and the Nixon administration. She puzzled over how easy it was to fit in, even for the men in drag (haha!) and eventually came to the action part. With Lesbians for Bush signs and shirts, they started to yell "ACTUP!" at a preselected cue and did so for six minutes until escorted out of the building (while a "fat" woman played the piano and sang God Bless America over their voices....??!?). Maggenti's story was very interesting and while I am not sure about whether her action created any change, I think it was effective for awareness purposes.
I watched these two videos: Alexandra Juhasz (Interview #008 January 16, 2003 Power and Privilege) and Maria Maggenti (Interview #010 January 20, 2003 Lesbians for Bush) and thought about the question of direct action. Before and after watching these videos, I already believe in direct action and the power that it can hold. Juhasz talked about power and privilege and the mass outing of all the men in power who became infected, and how the movement to ACTUP initiated a change in thinking about AIDS and the gay community. She draws on the fact that AIDS is not only seen as a "gay disease" anymore and that gay men are in many places of power (still), only they are out now. I found Maggenti's discussion much more interesting, and was actually pleasantly surprised, not knowing what I would get with the "title" Lesbians for Bush. She described how she and a group of other activists infiltrated a republican conference, "disguised" as republicans and giving fake names and stories about how they were related to the party and the Nixon administration. She puzzled over how easy it was to fit in, even for the men in drag (haha!) and eventually came to the action part. With Lesbians for Bush signs and shirts, they started to yell "ACTUP!" at a preselected cue and did so for six minutes until escorted out of the building (while a "fat" woman played the piano and sang God Bless America over their voices....??!?). Maggenti's story was very interesting and while I am not sure about whether her action created any change, I think it was effective for awareness purposes.
The Plague Year
You are also reading David Black’s “The Plague Year.” This article ran in Rolling Stone in March of 1985 and . This article talks about activists, but also the entire context of the crisis at that time. It is another of our contemporary reporting pieces, so you’ll get to experience 1985 like those of us who actually did. The article isn’t exactly traditional objective magazine journalism, as you will learn, and is of its time. For question #2, give a personal reflection on the article and talk about your impressions of the AIDS crisis and the social movement reactions to it.
I thought the article was really interesting, although I didn't appreciate the author so much. I thought Black was a little self-important and that while he kind of tried to expose himself as such, he was not as endearing as he thought he was. His working through the reasoning for why he used to word "faggot" to express anger towards a man (who he assumed to be gay) he found obnoxious and the way he broke down what happened (in retrospect of course) are sound, but I still didn't like him. I did think though, that the timeline he gave about the way the medical community approached the beginning of the AIDS crisis was really interesting. I guess it is largely due to the contemporary nature of this piece, but I have never read about the reaction of the doctors who figured out the pattern of an immune system deficiency, or how they figured it out, or the response of other medical bodies. Poppers were postulated first as the cause of the immune system deficiency, but that was soon disproved. Black also characterizes the gay community at the time as being resistant to realizing the pattern as a disease, for fear the disease be associated with gayness, which had been working as a social movement through tactics of normalization and assimilation to lessen the difference between themselves and straight (white) Americans. I thought Black's discussion with a dying man about whether he should be writing his article or not appropriately demonstrated the complexity about the issue of AIDS and the relative helplessness surrounding the person who has been diagnosed with it.
I thought the article was really interesting, although I didn't appreciate the author so much. I thought Black was a little self-important and that while he kind of tried to expose himself as such, he was not as endearing as he thought he was. His working through the reasoning for why he used to word "faggot" to express anger towards a man (who he assumed to be gay) he found obnoxious and the way he broke down what happened (in retrospect of course) are sound, but I still didn't like him. I did think though, that the timeline he gave about the way the medical community approached the beginning of the AIDS crisis was really interesting. I guess it is largely due to the contemporary nature of this piece, but I have never read about the reaction of the doctors who figured out the pattern of an immune system deficiency, or how they figured it out, or the response of other medical bodies. Poppers were postulated first as the cause of the immune system deficiency, but that was soon disproved. Black also characterizes the gay community at the time as being resistant to realizing the pattern as a disease, for fear the disease be associated with gayness, which had been working as a social movement through tactics of normalization and assimilation to lessen the difference between themselves and straight (white) Americans. I thought Black's discussion with a dying man about whether he should be writing his article or not appropriately demonstrated the complexity about the issue of AIDS and the relative helplessness surrounding the person who has been diagnosed with it.
11.10.2010
Barbara Kruger
View Barbara Kruger’s art. Few artists have crossed the political-high art divide like Barbara Kruger. Her work sets the gold standard for this type of activity. I want you to tell me why.
When I first saw Barbara Kruger on the blog prompt list, I didn't think that I had heard of her before. But as I began looking through her art, I realized that we had briefly talked about her in my Art, Beauty & Culture class (an NCC course with Suzanne Scott) last fall. Kruger is important to me because she not only bridges that political-high art divide, but that she also successfully identifies sexist and other oppressive behavior and totally calls them out in her work. As a feminist and person committed to social justice, I appreciate her efforts to identify and disrupt the hegemonic structures and beliefs in our culture. She does this by taking commonplace ads, signs, slogans, etc. and adding the unseen/unnoticed/implicit messaging that nobody seems to take into account and I think is very successful in informing people of the issues.
When I first saw Barbara Kruger on the blog prompt list, I didn't think that I had heard of her before. But as I began looking through her art, I realized that we had briefly talked about her in my Art, Beauty & Culture class (an NCC course with Suzanne Scott) last fall. Kruger is important to me because she not only bridges that political-high art divide, but that she also successfully identifies sexist and other oppressive behavior and totally calls them out in her work. As a feminist and person committed to social justice, I appreciate her efforts to identify and disrupt the hegemonic structures and beliefs in our culture. She does this by taking commonplace ads, signs, slogans, etc. and adding the unseen/unnoticed/implicit messaging that nobody seems to take into account and I think is very successful in informing people of the issues.
Buzzfeed v. Design of Dissent
Check out the Design of Dissent Exhibition and Buzzfeed’s 50 Best Protest Signs of 2009. The Exhibition is a great selection of images covering a range of different political issues and perspectives. Click the slide show under the “add to favorites” tab to see the images. Think about the presentation of the work in a building as opposed to on the street. What would be different about the experience? Regarding Buzzfeed, I’m not sure “best” is the right word here, but this is what you are up against. These are people like you who have something to say. Are they successful?
I think that looking through both of these protest signs and posters in their different settings was really an interesting experience. I found that the general feel for each of these websites was quite different. The Buzzfeed's 50 "best" signs featured signs that mainly utilized humor (and some used irony) to argue the point the protester was trying to make. On the other hand, the signs on the Design of Dissent Exhibition website definitely took an approach that was more solemn, serious, and I would say intellectual. I say intellectual because if someone comes inside a building to see such protest and political images, they usually have 1. heard about the exhibition 2. probably have knowledge about some of the issues. The protest signs from the Buzzfeed's website assumed less of the viewers in general and the humor contributed to that light feel that seemed to serve the singular purpose of either promoting awareness or simply exercising one's right to protest (haha or maybe just making others angry, I cannot really know). As far as the signs inside and outside being effective, I guess that would depend on what the creators of the signs intended and I think, the intentions of the creator/artist were definitely impacted by the location at which their sign would be displayed.
I think that looking through both of these protest signs and posters in their different settings was really an interesting experience. I found that the general feel for each of these websites was quite different. The Buzzfeed's 50 "best" signs featured signs that mainly utilized humor (and some used irony) to argue the point the protester was trying to make. On the other hand, the signs on the Design of Dissent Exhibition website definitely took an approach that was more solemn, serious, and I would say intellectual. I say intellectual because if someone comes inside a building to see such protest and political images, they usually have 1. heard about the exhibition 2. probably have knowledge about some of the issues. The protest signs from the Buzzfeed's website assumed less of the viewers in general and the humor contributed to that light feel that seemed to serve the singular purpose of either promoting awareness or simply exercising one's right to protest (haha or maybe just making others angry, I cannot really know). As far as the signs inside and outside being effective, I guess that would depend on what the creators of the signs intended and I think, the intentions of the creator/artist were definitely impacted by the location at which their sign would be displayed.
11.03.2010
Little Brother
Give your personal reflection to Little Brother. Talk about it as a book, instead of as a tool for class. [Do this by the 3rd]
I really enjoyed reading Doctorow's Little Brother, both as an example of the stuff we had been discussing in class, but also because it was just so interesting. The story was absolutely addictive for me, I couldn't do other homework assignments because I wanted to read the book. I admired the DIY startup of Marcus's campaign against the government and was excited about all the new information I was learning about technology. I guess everything I post is not encrypted (including this), and this book made me think about checking out some of its technology. In addition to the story, I admire this piece of work because Doctorow not only wrote a book about privacy, technology, and social movement attempts in a repressive system, but because he believes in the creative commons and doesn't just talk about it, but posts his book online for free. I admire his commitment to the creative commons and his ideals- plus I appreciate it as a broke college student (who not only did not buy it, but read it on the computer too so as not to waste paper!). I'm excited to share this book with my little sisters who are now only a little younger than Marcus in the story and who could use this view of teen as empowered. One of my sisters is extremely disenfranchised at all times (it doesn't help that she just had ACL surgery) and dabbles in technology stuff, so I think this would be a good read for her. All in all, I definitely recommend the book to others (starting with my disenfranchised little sister).
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