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Instagram Quote Collection

 

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My Instagram essay emphasizes the “othering” of indigenous and PoC women and how it promotes the erasure and discreditation of valuable epistemologies, histories, and cultures. -Jalina Ellis 1.“Chapter 2 Slavery and the Politics of Erasure.” Scripts of Blackness: Race, Cultural Nationalism, and U.S. Colonialism in Puerto Rico, by Isar Godreau and Isar Godreau, University of Illinois Press, 2015, p. 69. 2.Lugones, Maria. The Coloniality of Gender. Worlds & Knowledges Otherwise , 2008.p.2. 3.Kimoto, Tamsin, et al. “Chapter 6 Becoming Restive Orientations in Asian American Feminist Theory and Praxis.” Asian American Feminisms and Women of Color Politics, University of Washington Press, p. 140. 4.Malavet, Pedro A. America’s Colony: The Political and Cultural Conflict between the United States and Puerto Rico. New York University Press, 2004. p.121 5.Weir, Allison, and Margaret A. McLaren. “Chapter 10 Decolonizing Feminist Freedom: Indigenous Relationalities.” Decolonizing Feminism Transnational Feminism and Globalization, Rowman & Littlefield International, p. 257. 6.Morales, Iris. Through the Eyes of Rebel Women The Young Lords 1969-1976. Red Sugar Cane Press, Inc. p. 186. 7.Llorens, Hilda. “Chapter 1 Imaging Puerto Rican Natives 1890-1920.” Imaging the Great PR Family , Lexington Books, 2014, p. 13. 8.Falcon, Sylvanna M. “The Voices of Afro Peruvian Women on Gendered Racism.” Mestiza Double Consciousness, 5th ed., vol. 22, Sage Publications, Inc. Gendered Borderlands, www.jstor.orf/stable/27821682. 9.Morales, Iris. Through the Eyes of Rebel Women The Young Lords 1969-1976. Red Sugar Cane Press, Inc.p.181 10.Morales, Aurora Levins. Remedios: Stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriqueñas. South End Press, 1998.p24.. #decolonize #fpod #liberationforPoC #intersectionality #racematters #feminism

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Through observation in the perspective of an afro-latina, queer woman in the United States, even before becoming educated in the “why’s” of things, I noticed how I and others like myself were often being silenced, belittled, overly critiqued, and hypersexualized. I noticed how though white women faced many of these injustices, women of color faced them more often and within an entirely different context. When looking for quotes, I wanted to emphasize what I learned about  the significance of race in colonial histories and legacies. I wanted to emphasize how the “othering” of indigenous and PoC women promotes the erasure and discreditation of valuable epistemologies, histories, and cultures. Many of the readings for Feminist Perspectives on Decolonization shed a light on how the overseas reaching claw of racism contributed to the justification of colonialism, abuse, and deliberate erasure, which meant a lot to my personal learning experience. To ignore the consequences of racism when taking on a decolonial lens is to ignore the indisputable truth. The intersections of race and gender are especially pervasive in histories of colonialism.

Because the effects of race and racism is something I constantly want to be aware of, I had already highlighted several quotes from our readings that caught my eye so it wasn’t too difficult to pull out my favorites. I started with the quote I thought was the most important; The “politics of erasure” is necessary to understand the historical trivialization of indigenous narratives, which includes the horrors of slavery. Though the idea “race” is a social construction, as who is perceived as white, black, etc. changes over the course of time, my next quote speaks about how the “coloniality of power” classifies people on the basis of the construction of race. The third quote depicts how the system feeds off the construction, describing how the term “illegal” has dominated discourses within the Latinx politic, but doesn’t circulate amongst undocumented Asian Americans in the same way. The fourth and fifth quotes relate to each other in how they describe the boundaries of who freedom is for: the “white, male, Eurocentric hegemon” and the sixth, seventh and eighth quotes depicts for whom freedom is not for. Afro-Latinas (the quote more specifically focuses on Peruvian women and society, but may extend to encompass many groups of women), are either caught as extremely invisible in one setting, or extremely visible in a belittled, primitive and sexualized way. My ninth quote serves as a call to action. It reminded me of a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “there comes a time when silence is betrayal”. If others choose to ignore the oppression of the black and indigenous woman, it is their duty to act against it. Through the final quote by Aurora Levins, I wanted to express that the mother of all comes from the heart of Africa. To disrespect your mother by abusing her daughters and your brothers and sisters,  is to abuse yourself, your legacy, and your ancestors.

MIDTERM PHOTO ESSAY

It’s been proven obvious that the effects of European imperialism has yet to release its tyrannical grip from women across the world. From Trinidad to Bangladesh, the cis-white colonial mindset has plagued the lives of individuals where the concept of self, identity, and professionalism is tethered to the dominant culture’s standard of beauty and acceptability. Because hair is often significant within culture and it’s texture often defines how one is treated, I interviewed and recorded several students from various backgrounds on campus and asked about their relationship between their hair, identity, and if they think imperialism has affected beauty in a way that limits how they walk through the world.

Timika Edwards, born in Trinidad, immigrated to the United States in 2007. Trinidad became a colony of Spain in 1498 upon the arrival of Columbus, and several French settlers, as the French were closely allied to Spain at this time, immigrated to Trinidad, along with, over the course of many years, indentured servants from India, and enslaved people from Africa. Through military conquest, Trinidad became a colony of the British, and finally gained independence in 1962. Timika still remembers how she was treated there and was shocked to be met with the same treatment in “the land of the free”.  “The black Trinidadians are treated way worse than the Indians you know. I remember this girl always used to call me a monkey in school.Even though the Indians didn’t get to Trinidad out of their free will either, for some reason, it’s like black people are still the slaves. We are ugly in every way ugly can mean, you know?” I then asked her about how the perception of hair was affected by the colonial history of Trinidad and Tobago. “It’s funny, because white people are so obsessed with the long, silky hair of the Indians. But when it comes to us, it’s dirty and unprofessional. They are the smart one’s and we’re…not. We’re all Trinidadians… but we aren’t the same.”

 

The second picture is of Maya Merced. This lovely Nuyorican was born the Bronx and she spoke about how so many Puerto Ricans are too quick to get rid of their curls and instead opt for straight hair. “When I was younger, my mom always blew out my hair. My hair was fried, my natural curl was completely ruined, but it didn’t matter because it was always straight. I didn’t realize the damage it was doing to my psyche then, but I can feel it now. I try to love my curls, [but]  there are times where I wish it were straight again. I don’t feel as pretty”. Maya told me how she went to a school that was mostly people of color, so curly hair wasn’t a stranger, but she felt like her curls weren’t loose enough to be considered pretty, especially after it was damaged. When I asked her how she thought colonization played a role, she said, “Everyone wants to be like the white Puerto Ricans with blue and green eyes and blonde hair with loose curls because those traits are from the Spanish. They killed off practically all of the Tainos so those traits aren’t considered as good anymore.”

Brittanie Evo immigrated from Jamaica just 3 years ago in 2016. She told me that even though they didn’t have much money, Jamaicans are a very proud people and they really appreciated the hair that grew from their heads. Though Brittanie admitted that many women were more inclined to buy wigs than men were, both men and women often style their hair in locs. Locs is a style of hair often worn by Jamaicans and people of color but it wasn’t until she came to the United States that she found how discriminatory people were against the hairstyle. “Apparently, locs are unprofessional? How?! I know someone who had to cut off years worth of growth just to get a government job! I don’t understand it. And everyone calls it dread locs in this country. What is so dreadful about them huh?” I asked her why she thought this was. “Oh. It’s definitely the white man’s fault. They’ve been in charge for so long, they get to make the decisions on what’s professional and what’s not. Even though it’s totally ridiculous. We all need to love ourselves and our beautiful hair.”

Cindy Dias was born in Bangladesh and immigrated to the United States in 2014. Bangladesh was colonized by Britain in 1858 and gained independence in 1971. She talks about how funny it is that everyone loves her curly hair in the States, but in Bangladesh, it was a different story. “Nobody thinks of South Asians having curly hair. My sister has straight hair so everyone was always picking on me, calling me the runt. Everyone in Bollywood has straight hair and I didn’t look anything like them. Not with my hair and definitely not my body [type].”  I asked her how she thought imperialism played a role in how her curly hair was viewed in Bangladesh. “Bangladesh was colonized for like, what, 100 years or something? You know that has to have an effect on how we see ourselves. When someone has power and authority over you for that long, one may begin to wonder what’s wrong with you and what’s right with them. That includes what you look like.”

These women are students here, at SUNY New Paltz because I wanted to show how the effects of imperialism are so universal. I asked them each to send me a photo of themselves where they felt beautiful in their natural hair. I then set up an interview with each of them where I asked them three questions: “What is your relationship with your hair like?”, “What was your experience like with others, regarding your hair?” and “How do you think imperialism plays a role in how your hair is perceived by yourself and others?” I recorded their answers using the microphone on my phone and I’d like to thank you for reading the finished product.

 

Link to Instagram Post: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu5G4buAsbS/

Teves and Arvin Reflection

One of the things that stood out to me in this essay is the way Pacific Islanders were represented by early European travelers. When early European settlers came to Africa, they had two distinct narratives of Africans, the Jezebel and the Mammy; The Jezebel being hyper sexual and readily available and the Mammy, the de-sexualized worker. Pacific Islanders on the other hand, according to this article, seem to fit only one of these in a hyperactive way. All Pacific Islanders are the Jezebel and nothing else. “Pacific Islander women became conflated with mythologized women of antiquity as they had an untamable and alluring sexuality derived from their close proximity to the ocean… women were represented as ‘young, feminine, desirable, and vulnerable.'” This reputation of Pacific Islanders being only sexuality seductive and promiscuous erases their personhood and is extremely dangerous for women who do not wish to return sexual advances from those with a cis, white, European, colonizing mindset

Because of this historical narrative, the Pacific Islands and it’s indigenous people has become the subject of hyper sexual fantasies that are readily available for consumption and exploitation. Though this article stresses how Pacific Islanders and Asian Pacific Islanders are not the same, in which I would be a fool to disagree with, I cannot help but notice the similarities between the lenses through which people look at API and Pacific Islanders as being just the Jezebel. Vulnerable. Sexually available. Desirable. This has contributed to a rape culture that plagues indigenous peoples and Asian Pacific Islanders alike.

However, Pacific Islanders “are often linked with primitivist discourses and a perceived lack of civilization” which leaves them in an imaginary, static state which is dissimilar to the representation of API. This leaves the Pacific Islands and Pacific Islanders prone to “dispossession, exploitation, and settlement.” This critical difference marginalizes Pacific Islanders when grouped in with API and it must be recognized that the Pacific Islands is home to 2.3 million people with over 1,500 languages and is deserving of indigenous self-determination.

Thoughts on Colonial, Anti-Colonial, Decolonial and Post Colonial

Before reading Breny Mendoza’s essays, I definitely would have had a different way of defining these four terms… and that’s ok! I feel like now I am better equipped to define them and have more solid, fine -tuned answers.

My understanding of colonial has both a literal and metaphorical meaning. It’s literal meaning emphasizes countries under colonial rule through colonialism, through which a nation imposes their sovereignty unto another. Apart from colonialism, a colonial mindset may form under the context of colonialism, where one feels they can exert their power/dominance over another.

     Anticolonial thinking  originated in 1492  and its premise “primarily analyze[s] and challenge[s] imperialistic and colonizing impulses”. It rejects and actively works against colonial structures and thinking. Anticolonial thinking encompasses several theories, including both decolonial and postcolonial theories.

     Decolonial thinking largely focuses on Spanish and Portuguese colonization of the Americas. Decolonial theorists often use the term decolonization as a metaphor to dismantle colonial thinking. Decolonial theory insists that capitalism accompanies colonialism rather than believe that capitalism integrated to the Americas on its own, separate accord.  I was confused when reading the essay because at one point, it says how decolonial theory “mute[s] intersectionality” and instead replaces it with “heterarchies” that address multiple global hierarchies by considering “the entanglements of social processes at different structural levels” (I’m also not really sure how that is different from intersectionality; sounds like the definition of intersectionality to me) and then states how decolonial feminist Maria Lugones wrote about how she combines intersectionality and “Quijano’s coloniality of power to further develop her own conception of the coloniality of gender.”

On the other hand, post colonialism and intersectionality goes hand and hand. Post colonial thinkers sought to provide alternative narratives that go against stereotypical Western theories. For example, they have deconstructed binaries of first and third world women and analyze the Eurocentric bias in pop culture, film and media. Subalternists, a core group within post colonial theorists, argue that capitalism formed differently in Europe than in the colonial world in a way that is beneficial to the West.