Today!

Join Linda T. Smith, Margaret Maaka, and Huia Tomlins-Jahnke to dialogue on Indigenous pedagogies and methodologies at 4:30 in Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University.

First Encounters of the Worst Kind: "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy"

Cacique Agüeybana of Borikén (Puerto Rico) greeting Juan Ponce de León of Spain. Wikipedia in its short description of this painting signals that it is a greeting ceremony. Is it? This is a classic depiction -- the archetype -- of "first encounter" which has almost identical counterparts throughout the colonized world.

What did these men say to each other? They did not speak the same language, they did not know each other's ways, and yet they are shown as equals here communicating. About what? In what language? What happened next?

This morning at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual conference, Professor Alison Jones of the University of Auckland spoke about her work with Professor Kuni Jenkins and raised these questions and others in relation to the painting of the "First Sermon." This is what Samuel Marsden's "first encounter" with the Maori is called and how it is depicted in a painting. Professor Jones showed this painting as she asked us to consider a different historical narrative of "first encounter."

These two paintings show that "first encounters" were depicted in similar ways even though they show "encounters" that occured in completely different parts of the world. What does it say about who wrote history that these visual accounts, which are literally from opposite ends of the world (Borikén and Aotearoa) are so alike? What if Agüeybana wrote the book? What if the history of the "First Sermon" were written by Maori? A new world history which revisions the "new world"? What then?

The Presidential “Race”

For those who truly believe that Americans have moved “beyond race” Senator Obama’s pastor’s comments will come as a shock. But for the rest of us who live and breathe and survive in a society that clearly still harbors hate and discrimination (see, for contemporary example, the discourse on “illegal” immigrants in this “immigrant nation” built on the displacement and conquest of Indigenous peoples – was that legal?) the controversy is a painful yet also a welcome opening into multiple realities of oppression and struggles for justice.

If history is any guide or if history is predictive of future actions, Senator Obama will suffer the fate of all those who take on White supremacy in this country in ways that unsettle the status quo. So, let’s take a minute to consider the tragedy of these politics.

The “race” here is not just for President, but for what it means to race against history as a person of color, to race against the historical misunderstandings of what Sunday means to Black people of Christian faith, the role of nation building within the Black Church, the building of community and an education that sustains a future generation.

The divide made apparent between what life is like as a Black person and what life is like as a White person in this country today brings out the ugly truth of structural inequalities along racial and ethnic lines. And listen to the class rhetoric put forward by the mainstream and conservative media based on their so-called polls; White working class men will not vote for someone whose pastor says out loud that this country is run by rich White people because that is unpatriotic. Really?

The media focus on what Senator Obama's pastor said provides the fodder for divide and conquer politics. The tragic spectacle of racism is all too familiar to people of color. The pastor's words just brought it out into the open for all to see it on a national level within a national race.

But what do most people agree on? That the American war in Iraq is wrong. What do Senators Obama and Clinton agree on? That this war must end. So, let's keep our eyes on the prize here. There is still racism and classism and sexism in America. Don't kill the messengers.

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
...
Click for the text as prepared for delivery of Senator Barack Obama’s speech on race in Philadelphia, as provided by his presidential campaign. New York Times, March 18, 2008.

March 31: Join the Dialogue

Join Linda T. Smith, Margaret Maaka, and Huia Tomlins-Jahnke to dialogue on Indigenous pedagogies and methodologies at 4:30 in Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University.

Concern Over Michigan Tenure Case

from Inside Higher Ed
By Scott Jaschik

Hugo Schwyzer, who teaches history and gender studies at Pasadena City College, recently blogged about the implications of the women’s studies role in the dispute.

“Anyone who reads the feminist blogosphere is aware that the most painful struggle of the past year, played out in so many places, is over the issue of the intersection of racism and sex. A number of prominent women of color have written, time and again, of feeling marginalized or ignored by white feminists,” wrote Schwyzer. “Whatever your feelings on the issue of race, gender, and intersectionality, it’s disastrous PR to have the Smith denial come at the hands of the Michigan Women’s Studies department. To a community of activist women of color, many of whom are already suspicious of the bona fides of white feminists, the Smith decision can only serve to increase a sense of cynicism about the prospects for real inclusion.”

Schwyzer — who notes that he has never met Smith — also reviews Smith’s research and particularly the impact of Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide, which he calls “a master-work of both advocacy and feminist scholarship.”

Click for complete article

Sex Crime 1984

George Orwell in 1949 anticipated sex crimes would be used for social and political control. Annie Lennox put some music to Orwell’s novel in 1984. Here we are. 2008.

Déjà vu, mi gente: Andrea Smith denied tenure at Michigan by Women's Studies

Native Feminisms Without Apology!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25, 2008

Statement of University of Michigan Students and Faculty in Support of Andrea Smith’s Tenure Case

CONTACT: TenureForAndreaSmith@gmail.com

On February 22nd, 2008, University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) issued a negative tenure recommendation for Assistant Professor Andrea Lee Smith. Jointly appointed in the Program in American Culture and the Department of Women’s Studies, Dr. Smith’s body of scholarship exemplifies scholarly excellence with widely circulated articles in peer-reviewed journals and numerous books in both university and independent presses including
Native Americans and the Christian Right published this year by Duke University Press. Dr. Smith is one of the greatest indigenous feminist intellectuals of our time. A nominee for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Smith has an outstanding academic and community record of service that is internationally and nationally recognized. She is a dedicated professor and mentor and she is an integral member of the University of Michigan (UM) intellectual community. Her reputation and pedagogical practices draw undergraduate and graduate students from all over campus and the nation.

Dr. Smith received the news about her tenure case while participating in the United States' hearings before the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Ironically, during those very same hearings, the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decisions that restricted affirmative action policies at UM specifically were cited as violations of international law. At the same time, there is an undeniable link between the Department of Women’s Studies and LSA’s current tenure recommendations and the long history of institutional restrictions against faculty of color. In 2008, students of color are coming together to protest the way UM's administration has fostered an environment wherein faculty of color are few and far between, Ethnic Studies course offerings have little financial and institutional support, and student services for students of color are decreasing each year.

To Support Professor Andrea Smith: The Provost must hear our responses! Write letters in support of Andrea Smith’s tenure case. Address email letters to ALL of the following:

• Teresa Sullivan, Provost and Executive VP for Academic Affairs, LSA, tsull@umich.edu
• Lester Monts, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, LSA, lmonts@umich.edu
• Mary Sue Coleman, President, PresOff@umich.edu
• TenureForAndreaSmith@gmail.com
Voice your ideas on the web forum at http://www.woclockdown.org/

To Support Women of Color at Michigan and the Crisis of Women’s Studies and Ethnic Studies: Attend the student organized March 15th Conference at UM!!!! Campus Lockdown: Women of Color Negotiating the Academic Industrial Complex is free and open to the public. Speakers include renowned activists and scholars Piya Chatterjee, Angela Davis, Rosa Linda Fregoso, Ruthie Gilmore, Fred Moten, Clarissa Rojas, and Haunani-Kay Trask.

For more information and to register, visit: http://www.woclockdown.org/.

Palestinian drag queens at odds with nearly everyone

By Dion Nissenbaum
McClatchy Newspapers

photo: Anna Blackshaw / MCT

TEL AVIV, Israel — His friends call him "The Bride."

This night, he was standing behind a storefront art-gallery window in a bloodied wedding dress. His face was ghostly, and he was clutching a large rock in his right hand.

A small crowd had gathered on a south Tel Aviv street as The Bride opened his mouth and began to sing — in Arabic. To be more accurate, The Bride was lip-synching the words of a political anthem by one of Lebanon's best-known divas.

"Let the jails' door be destroyed," he sang as bewildered Israelis on dates wandered by. "Let this madness be defeated, and let anyone who betrays us become stones."

The show was a public coming out for "The Bride of Palestine," a 26-year-old performance artist who's one of a new generation of gay Arab-Israelis struggling to define themselves, their sexuality and their political identity.

Click for complete article

La Pasion de la Decision - Ep. 1

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