Sunday, May 23, 2010
Civil Rights Era Post : SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinated Committee)
I have chosen the photo of Bob Moses, Diane Nash and the Reverend James Lawson who were leaders on the SNCC. It really speaks to me because when I see their faces I see the strength of their souls and the courage of their hearts when I listen to their testimonies. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee emerged from the student sit-ins that erupted on February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Although just four students launched these sit-ins, within two months thousands of students across the south were engaged in similar protests against racial segregation. In 1961, a handful of these activists committed to full time work in the southern civil rights struggle; some of them postponing their college plans. SNCC became an organization of grassroots organizers.Historians characterize SNCC as the movement’s “cutting edge”. Its “field secretaries” worked in the most dangerous parts of the south seeking to both cultivate and reinforce local leadership. Its uncompromising style of non-violent direct action confronted racial injustice throughout the South and contributed to the elimination of racial segregation.
With “One Man, One Vote” voter registration campaigns SNCC paved the way for a new generation of black elected officials across the south. It is this work that laid the foundation for the election of America’s first African-American President, Barack Obama.
I agree with Barack Obama when he says:"African American history is fundamentally different from the story that many minority groups go through in other countries.” Because black people have been undermined so low that they were considered things with no value or soul because of their skin color. They been through the struggle of first being recognized as Americans, too; then the inequality and abuse towards their community, and discrimination through the years to come because their nonviolent fighting is still going on. Obama states:"The black freedom struggle defines the American experience. It is a struggle that has applied prolonged moral and political pressure to the promises of the Constitution and America’s self-conception." This is true in the sense that African Americans have reached justice in America through the recognition of their civil rights before society.
Post #8: Peer Response/ Theory (Blogs: Aris and Ysomoano))
"Why Johnny can't Dissent" by Thomas frank
In this reading the author raises to question many familiar terms like capitalism, corporate, consumerism, advertising, management,and culture associated with business and marketing from before the 1950's into the present day. The notions about each and everyone of these terms mentioned above have changed so much, maybe because from the birth of the Information Age that has changed the way people live today. Businessman are more concerned about what's happening in the world rather than just what's happening in America. They are embracing diversity, empowerment and " Thinking outside the box.", but engaging themselves into the world of the oppressors. This is because many of these businessmen follow the wrong structures of the corporate world. An example of this picture is global warming which is equal to destruction of nature by the human hand.The rain forests of the tropical jungles are disappearing little by little as well as the many glaciers in the world and the ozone layer is getting thinner. Al, this because of air pollution, sea pollution, and the undiscriminated cut down of many trees that re the lungs of the earth. These multinational companies which are usually affiliated with bigger corporations put their profits before the life of a human being.
Thomas Frank proposes a" counter cultural idea" against the way in which American life works around consumerism and the many factors involved with the corporate world. As he says:"The structure and thinking of American business have changed enormously in the years since our popular conceptions of its problems and abuse were formulated." He knows that there is something wrong with the way business and marketing more specifically are handled. The supply and the demand have become the main concerns in our different world.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Post #7: Research & Sources
Text: "Puerto Rican Obituary" by Pedro Pietri.
Act: The Young Lords Party 13 point Program and Platform.
I am interested in these topics because it portrays not only the injustice and sufferings of not only Puerto Rican people but the whole immigrant community that comes to the U.S.A. looking for the American dream; and what they find is racism, inequality and oppression. Trough the view of the Young Lords Party Program and the works of artists like Pedro Pietri, people can see the real truth about the importance of the immigrant community in the United States and how they are underestimated in many ways. Pedro Pietri also wrote"Invisible Poetry" (1979), "Traffic" (1980), "Plays" (1982), "Traffic Violations" (1983), and "The Masses are Asses" (1988).
Bibliography:
1.- The Columbia History of Latinos in the United States Since 1960. Ed. David G. Gutierrez. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. p362-367.
http://go.galegroup.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=cuny_laguardia&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=1&contentSet=GALE|CX2536800100&&docId=GALE|CX2536800100&docType=GALE&role=
2.-Journal of Women's History, Spring2001, Vol. 13 Issue 1, p157
http://web.ebscohost.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=104&sid=68027870-47d4-4f4e-9e39-baa52119a6cd@sessionmgr113
3.-"Speaker inspires Syracuse students to take community action." Daily Orange [Syracuse, NY] 28 Sept. 2007. New York State Newspapers. Web. 15 May 2010.
http://find.galegroup.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/gtx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale(en,,):FQE%3D(KE,None,11)young+lords$&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T004&prodId=SPN.SP01&searchId=R2¤tPosition=1&userGroupName=cuny_laguardia&docId=CJ169239373&docType=IAC
4.-Jennifer 8. Lee, "The Young Lords' Legacy of Puerto Rican Activism", New York Times, City Room blog, Aug. 24 2009.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/the-young-lords-legacy-of-puerto-rican-activism/?pagemode=print
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Bonus Post: 5 Pointz
Even though I could not go with the group the day of the field trip I did appreciate good art at 5 Pointz when I went there over the weekend with some friends. I think 5 Pointz is a place where distinctive art can be found. Every single piece shows a personalized or plural touch with a deep message.I did not see that many political art at 5 Pointz, actually I just saw a few pieces with some faces like el Che Guevara and it looks like in this piece that I saw the artist linked this small face with the distorted word of liberty.And I say distorted because when you read, it looks like a hand is covering it.It was really interesting, because now that I think about it; I have seen drawings and graffiti like this at the entrance some subway stations, at some neighborhood walls and at the back of schools in Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights and Junction Boulvevard. Some graffiti looked really extreme because the images were crude and sometimes obscene but there lies a hidden message someone told me once. I think the hidden message in this particular graffiti that I observed, was the oppression that people suffer when they can not express themselves freely. Going to 5Pointz was a particular experience that showed to me that art can be also found around the corner and not only in a gallery.
The name 5Pointz signifies the five boroughs coming together as one but, because of its reputation as an epicenter of the graffiti scene, the industrial complex has actually united aerosol artists from across the world.
Post #6: Topic for Essay #3
I am interested in !Palante, Siempre Palante! The Young Lords film which documents the period from 1969 through the organization's demise in 1976. This will be my political text because we could not see it in its totality in class, and the political act or movement is the Young Lord Party 13 Point Program and Platform.
Context:In the late '60s, conditions for Puerto Ricans in the US reached the boiling point. Faced with racial discrimination, deficient community services, and poor education and job opportunities. Puerto Rican communities began to address these injustices by using direct action. This film focuses on the community of East Harlem, capturing the compassion and militancy of the Young Lords as they implemented their own health, educational, and public assistance programs and fought back against social injustice. An excellent portrayal of inner city organizing in the late 60s.
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