The quotes I chose were in an effort to illustrate my journey in this class and all which I’ve learned.

I have never take a feminist class before, let alone take two in the same semester, but under the guidance of Dr. Pabón, I decided to give it a shot.

I’ve learned so much this semester and all of it important in the knowledge base needed to take actions to change the world. At first,  I really had difficulties understanding the readings, probably because it was my first time being exposed to feminism. However, reading  Marío Lugones’  “Towards A Decolonial Feminism” I read the first of my quotes and it really kickstarted my understanding.

“Decolonizing gender is necessarily a praxical task. It is to enact a critique of racialized, colonial, and capitalist heterosexualist gender oppression as a lived transformation of the social.“

That quote broke down, into a bite-size pieces,  what it meant to be fighting for decolonization and what we must do to fight it.

María Lugones made a point when talking about oppression and that we would not feel it if we were not resisting it so hard. That was really another important perspective because It made me realize that if you were unaware of the oppression others face how could we ever help them resist? I thought that was very important because its a call for those who are not constantly affected by these discriminations to keep an eye out for them and try to make a change.

Then I began to read Allison Weir and learn about the knowledge that had been lost over the years due to this colonialism.  A terrible action, all because the colonizers devalue everything that is not there’s. Then I imagine what the world would be like if we did know what they knew and how it could better us all as a society. Planting a seed of change in my mind.

Flash forward and we begin talking about Puerto Rico and how the U.S. continues to ruin the archipelago. What have they done under the mask of “goodwill and good intentions”.  I enjoyed reading the writings of  Morales,  Power, Suarez Findley, and …too because it really tied it all together form me, from the beginnings of class to now I began to really see the colonialism and follow its prosses throughout Puerto Rico. Seeing the devastation it left behind and the accountability it does not take is really heartbreaking. Yet, reading about these activists that took stands to fight for Puerto Rico showed me that change is possible. It’s just a matter of picking up your guns and walking into congress (whether that be metaphorical or not).

Learning all of which I’ve learned in class makes me want to learn more, and fight harder for the equality we need. To fight for the understanding which we all look for in our lives, and return the value stolen from those who have been oppressed.  We can all do this, but the beauty of fighting in the resistance is the many ways in which we can resist. That’s why the last quote, although out of context, really gets to me, because we can take what we have and imagine and wonder a world in which we better it.

Tieing this back into the beginning when I had first started with such a lack of understanding, I know realize that feminism and the decolonization practices are much more than learning. They are doing, whether it be little things or big things, but doing the most to try and combat the white hetero cis capitalistic caste system implemented by the colonizers. Although it will be a long road to pave it’ll get paved with the millions of actions taken by each one of us each day.

The topic of Taíno language was a decision Matt and I came about after really cutting down on all of our other Ideas.

My interest in the topic was really rooted in y interest in linguistics and how the language of a population has such a big impact on their culture and way of thinking.

Also with my interest in social science, I did tend to gravitate towards the policy aspects of the Taino language in regards to colonization and sovereignty of Puerto Rico.

So for that, I decided to focus on the Movimiento Indígena Jíbaro Boricua (MIJB), the Taíno Nation (TN). Along with the Liga Guakía Taína-Ké (LGTK), which is more focused on the language aspect.

The MIJB community has a website in it which they detail what they are fighting for, which is a representation of the Taíno people and it’s language. It is also tied to TN and most of the information from both of these I got from the website (click the flag!).

Their website is very interesting because it has so many online documents about them linked to it. I didn’t get a chance to read all of them because they have so many different topics, from the census data of the number of Taínos which are still around, descriptions of the flag, prayers for the Taíno ancestors, and Taíno art from different time periods.

The main focus was on the LGTK, which has language rejuvenation programs which teaches students about the language culture and identity. There is a blog post on their website which details what their program does and how it works.

Here is a chart that they shared on their website. Although it is in Spanish here’s a translation of some of it:

The program is meant to offer:

• Workshops and quality classes in public schools and other educational institutions with a focus on the support, and participation of the institution’s directors, teachers, parents, and students all in an effort to give a cultural identity through a  multidisciplinary program.
• Fortify the abilities and understandings of parents and students in an effort to strengthen the community to allow for the betterment of the social and cultural knowledge which they share.

They do all of its community building via lessons about their history and knowledge of the Taíno culture.

I found that the use of language was a form of resistance to colonization because it rewrote the narrative of colonization by talking about the history that the colonizations erased. This fights that but also rights the Taíno culture back into the history of Puerto Rico and makes their presence known once more. Since they are spoken to as an “extinct” culture, speaking and teaching the language along with the culture counteract the colonialism. The language can be used to restore the identities of the Taínos and give them the power which they need to assert their importance on the archipelago. Language, in a sense, is a form of magic giving back power to the cultures that use it as a form of resistance against the colonial imposition.

One thing that I did think about a lot during my research was which colonizers are those who practice the Taíno language resisting? would it be the U.S. imperialism/ Colonization, or would it have been the previous Spanish colonization? And if it is the U.S’s imperialism which is being resisted what other forms of decolonization along with resistance tot he imperial language can help completely push back that colonization? What forms of resistance will be the most effective in transitioning the wealth of power back to Puertoricans and Taíno descendants?

Link to the Presentation: Look at me!!

The colonial mindset has caused not only destruction to the indigenous lives that once lived on the land but also the connection between the land and the people on it. We begin the photo essay with the dark cloud of colonialism, rushing past the once indigenous lands of the Lenape tribe. Along with them, they take as they wish and do as they please never giving back to the land or listening to it. They, the colonizers, bring with them the idea of superiority, caused them to overlook the importance of working with the planet and giving back what we take from it. I took the first picture while the sun was setting by the Sugorner Truth Library at SUNY New Paltz.

As the colonizers moved on and wiped out the indigenous people, they also caused an extinction of indigenous culture and ideas amongst themselves. We see the aftermath of this in our own disconnect from nature, living in homes, apartments and other living quarters that have rearranged the very land they sit on to make way for the white colonial mindset and living style. The land is leveled and the house’s foundation poured onto the land indefinitely, as the concrete of the foundation distorts the land’s view indefinitely. The timber used in the framing of the house is brought out from other parts of the country or world, and often times not replaced or replenished. The rest of the materials for the house are sourced similarly, through the world market, from different places across the globe with no care for the land or people it is taken from.

The picture is one of my own watercolors that I did in high school when I studied art. I was reminded of it when I thought about disconnecting from nature. The flower seems to be in constant motion and in a constant struggle for a center it can no longer find. The center has been lost due to an overemphasis of the self and not the “we” that has been brought about by colonialism and perpetuated with their ideas of market-driven economies, individual success, and desire to create a product, no matter the physical, emotional or environmental cost.  

We are in the wilderness that we have slowly torn down, but are met with a path. A choice, to stay on the path imposed on us or choose to change our mindset to that of the wiser elders that lived before us. To continue to destroy the land in which we inhabit, and therefore destroying ourselves or to learn to care about the land which we occupy. Although it is easier to stay on the path that colonialism has imposed we should challenge that thought and push to see the world in a different light.

The bee is one of the hardest workings insects on our planet. Delivering pollen to other flowers and also making honey for themselves.  Yet, they are also the most overlooked; with pesticides causing them the most harm and lack of adequate flowers causing them exhaustion from their journies. Yet these bees are interconnected in each of own lives in ways that we could not imagine. What would happen if we chose to see the interconnectedness of the lives they lived with us? Would we reject the settler idea of taking what is not ours? Would we be more adamant about giving back to the planet in which we live? Or giving back to ourselves when we expend ourselves too much. Or giving back to our communities that have raised us up and taught us what we know.  

This image is one I made in high school as well when I was working on my portfolio. The idea is to illustrate the fluidity of nature and science, which is much like the fluidity between nature and our own selves because we are a part of nature.

The last image, although it is during a sunset, reminded me more of a sunrise and the possibilities that we, as a society, have when embracing a different mindset. If we chose to learn from those who lived on the lands before us and choose to give back to our planet, our communities, and ourselves. We should not, however, claim these indigenous ideas as our own, as this would continue the white capitalistic colonizer mindset. We can, however, acknowledge and credit the indigenous people who appreciated the land before us. By learning to live with more care for the earth we inhabit and the people we inhabit it with we can put an end to the consumerist colonial ideal. This process will take time, but giving back to the planet and taking less from it could be a start. Having a garden and learning the value of growing food, but also leaning that if you care about the world it gives back to you (in the form of food). Learning which plants to mix with each other to not deplete the soil of nutrients but also giving the earth back what it made (in the form of compost) so that it can give back to us. This is just one way of reconnecting with the land that we once used to live with and not on. If we as a society choose to give back we will not only enjoy the benefits but also become more appreciative and understanding of where and who we live with.

Decolonizing API

With the advent of European colonialism brought to the Pacific Islanders, we see a perversion of traditional ideals to an over-sexualization of a “savage” peoples. The islands freedom for its individuals, especially women, was incorrectly seen as a weakness and a lack of control. As a result,  the Pacific Islanders have been wrongly viewed as over sexual or at least made to seem that way to justify the rape of their culture by the colonizers. Furthermore, not only has white heteronormative capitalist colonialism perverted Pacific Islander ideas but it has caused a conglomeration of cultures where Asians and Pacific Islander have been conglomerated together. This causes a slow but steady genocide of the culture and peoples of the Pacific Islands.  The way Pacific Islanders try to overcome the ignorance and “planned disappearance” of their peoples is acknowledging the illegalities of settler colonialists via criticism of appropriation of their culture. The appropriation of a culture and the silent erasing of the narratives of native people is a disgusting way of claiming someone’s lifestyle as your own. Another thing that I found horrible was the way that the “spirit of aloha”, a symbol of kindness was used to exploit the Hawaiian culture for their own benefit. Through the juxtaposition of good traits into weaknesses, colonialism has been able to flourish. Between misunderstanding freedom as a lack of control and then self-imposing their own control, and using kindness as a weakness, colonizers have taken good and wreaked havoc on indigenous narratives. Yet, what would happen if we took kindness at face value and didn’t take advantage of it? How would this affect the thoughts of coloniality? Would it cause a slow deconstruction of the colonial settler ideas and push us to a more indigenous like mindset of freedom? Or would it make way for repercussions for those indigenous lives loss?

Hi, Its Juan

Its Juan!