Check out Vida Afro-Latina

I had the pleasure of meeting the creator of Vida Afro-Latina today and realized I never introduced the site to all of you.

Black Latinos are woefully underrepresented in the general market, Latino and African-American media. VidaAfroLatina.com has been created to fill that gap.

When you have a moment (or a few hours), go check it out. As Mrs. Robinson says, I learn more about myself when I’m exploring other cultures. Sounds like a site I’ll be frequenting!

Contact them to submit revelant articles, news tips, links or events.

10 Survival Tips for the Uninsured

Thought this was amazing: 10 Survival Tips for the Uninsured - Part I

Mobilizing Latin@ Voters

 

CNN’s Thelma Gutierrez reports on a massive mobilization effort as Latinos gear up to vote in record numbers this year.

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Thank you Efren for the link.

Blog Recommendation

Check out this blog, The Pull Of Gravity

Strong!
(working title)
is my documentary-in-progress about weightlifter Cheryl Haworth and the past four years of her life. The film looks at a lot of themes: life as an athlete, as a weightlifter, and as a big, strong woman.

Hefty People Can Have Healthy Hearts

Hefty People Can Have Healthy Hearts

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Many obese Americans may have much less heart disease risk than is widely believed and conversely, about one fourth of normal weight individuals could have a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors…

Fundraiser for challenges & deportations in Michigan

Please help support:

El Centro Obrero and Detroit Summer are hosting a fundraiser for legal funds and challenges to round-ups and deportations in Detroit, which have intensified this summer.

The fundraiser will be held at El Centro Obrero at UAW Local 22 on Michigan Avenue and Clark, in Detroit.

Thursday, August 14, 2008, at 7:00pm.

Community Theatre Teaches ICE Raid Survival Skills

Editor’s Note: A group of college students in San Jose, Calif., is using interactive theatre to teach immigrants what to do to avoid being arrested by immigration agents. Clarisse Céspedes reports for Spanish-language newspaper El Mensajero in San Francisco.

Continue Reading

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DONATE TO THE NATIONAL IMMIGRANT BOND FUND

“The National Immigrant Bond Fund seeks to reaffirm the values of dignity and due process by assisting immigrants swept up in immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions to post bond quickly in order to secure a fair hearing in America’s courts.”

More information

Bitch Magazine Hiring!

 

 Please note new deadline: Friday, August 15th.

———-
Here at Bitch, we’re in search of a perfect someone to join our tiny but dedicated staff as a program director (full-time) at our office in Portland, Oregon. Someone bright, with a deep talent and love for analyzing media/pop culture from a perspective rooted in social/economic justice, who’s passionate about both print publishing and newer (to us, at least) forms like online, audio, and video, someone excited about helping shape the future of the work we do at Bitch (and who recognizes Bitch’s potential), someone committed to DIY/grassroots operating, who understands Bitch’s role as both critiquing what’s crappy and praising what’s good, who’s as excited about Bitch as a multimedia organization as Bitch as a magazine…

All that and more. We’re asking for a lot, yes, but as the saying goes, You’ll never get what you don’t ask for.

As we mentioned, we are a tiny staff (hi, there are five of us!). We’re also at a critical moment. For the first time in our 12-year history, we’re not in financial crisis (if you’re familiar with the realities of independent publishing, you’ll know this is a huge accomplishment). We’re beginning the process of infusing our work with a set of core values and visions. And though we were originally created as just a magazine, our work is evolving into a movement. In many ways we have unlimited growth potential.

In other words, we have some exciting things happening, part of which is bringing a new organization into being. This is what “nonprofit gurus” call an organizational refounding – evolving, moving forward, asking questions, creating space for new visions and voices.

So what would your role at Bitch be?

Right now we’re calling it a program director position, but this could change depending on the outcomes of this search and our visioning process. In many ways our program director will be like the editorial/content director for the magazine (and may also be involved in our website, but we’re hoping to create an additional position soon for someone to oversee the site), but since we’re so much more than our editorial content, the program director will also be responsible for helping direct and maintain the vision of the organization, as well as things like fundraising, outreach, attending events, doing some public speaking, and just generally being a huge advocate for Bitch. In other words, we’re looking for someone who’s a highly skilled editor and is excited about helping us grow as an organization and reach our
potential.

Also, though we’ve grown tremendously since the magazine was originally founded (we currently print about 50,000 copies of each issue), we’re still very much a DIY operation and want to remain that way. Our grassroots publishing model is integral to our work, so we’re looking for someone who’s as committed to that as we are. We’re looking for someone who will actively seek out ways of publishing quality (critical, thoughtful, etc.) content while being mindful of our tight budget, and is excited about helping us evolve into a multimedia organization

Experience/skills that are essential to this position (*please note that this is not an entry level position*):
- At least three years features/developmental editing experience
- Strong familiarity with past and present trends in media and pop culture
- Excellent communication and organizational skills
- Excellent grasp of grammar and spelling
- Stellar proofreading and copyediting abilities; familiarity with Chicago style
- Proficiency with Excel, Word, and InDesign
- A strong capacity to multi-task, prioritize, and delegate
- Experience with web writing/editing
- Experience with video and podcasting technology a major plus

Some of the job duties associated with this position:
- Oversee the editorial and production process for the magazine
- Edit articles and help shape editorial tone and scope of magazine
- Manage writer’s agreements and payment for each issue
- Outreach, fundraising, and event planning
- Oversee editorial internship program

Personality traits/skill sets that are helpful in a small organization like ours:
- Clear and frequent communication
- Ability to collaborate and share decision-making in small groups
- Ability to think creatively even when resources are tight
- Strong initiative, drive, and self-direction, ability to work independently
- A sense of humor

As an effort to live out our commitment to systemic social change and grassroots organizing, we encourage politically radical folks from marginalized identities/backgrounds (people of color, people from poor and working class backgrounds, queer-identified folks, etc.) and others committed to anti-oppression, collective, grassroots organizing work to apply.

In the interest of transparency, you should know:
- Regrettably, the only way to our office is up a set of about 15 stairs. We are not wheelchair-accessible.
- The job is based in Portland, Oregon, and unfortunately we’re unable
to cover moving expenses (unless you would like to start a fundraising
campaign for the cause).

Please include a cover letter that addresses these questions
(apologies if these seem like hoops, but we hope you’ll understand that we have a lot riding on these decisions):
* What would you like us to know about you, and what you’d bring to Bitch?
* How long have you been reading Bitch, and what has your perception
of it been through that time? (Please be honest; we’re not sensitive
and constructive criticism is always welcome.)
* In what ways do you identify (or not) with the word feminist?
* What do you think of both the title Bitch and the subtitle Feminist
Response to Pop Culture? (If you could change one/both of them, what
would you change them to?)

Salary and Benefits:
* $33,680/year, salary, exempt, paid medical/dental/vision

Closing date for applications: August 15th
Anticipated start date: late-August

Please email detailed cover letter (*answering all the questions,
please!*), resume and three references to publishing@b-word.org.
Please write “program director position” in the subject line.
Or mail to: B-Word, Debbie Rasmussen, 4930 NE 29th Ave, Portland, OR 97211
No phone calls, faxes, or drop-ins. No, no!

BlogHer 08

I’m at the BlogHer conference this weekend. I moderated a panel on Race and Gender, check-out the live blog here.  The recorded version should be available on their site soon (that’s where it gets interesting).

I’m experiencing conference burn-out, so I’m taking an early flight home and will try to digest and write about the conference in the next few days.  I have mixed feelings about the overall message, the general intent of the conference and especially the sponsors. Although, I want to make sure I give myself a little time to process my own message before I put it out in the world.

Off to the processing lab, where WOC learn to reframe, readjust and regurgitate bland words for mass production!

Study: Balance in Same-Gender Couples an Advantage

Study: Balance in Same-Gender Couples an Advantage (Conflicts Thought Biologically-Based May Be Learned)

WASHINGTON (June 12, 2008) — New Studies comparing straight and gay couples, as well as straight married couples are finding differences that shed light on the effects of gender roles and give hope for better adjusted relationships.

Those Damn Women of Color Again!

 

TWO ARTICLES: ONE MESSAGE

AND 

Latin American Press (Elsa Chanduvi, June 5, 2008): “Living Well,” a development alternative

Proposal is considered legacy of indigenous peoples to humanity

More than 1,000 representatives from indigenous communities across the Americas gathered in Lima, Peru, have agreed on a new social system, known as “Living Well,” focused on reciprocity between people and the Earth.

A break from market dogmas

“We believe there is a big difference between [living well and] those who believe that living well is to live better than someone else. [The latter] reflects a competition instead of respect and equality. So, ‘living well’ is the exercise of rights, respect, equality and means of life for everyone, said Blanca Chancoso, a renowned leader of Ecuador’s Kichwa women, who formerly served as one of the directors of the country’s largest indigenous organization, CONAIE. She is currently part of the Dolores Ulcuango Indigenous School in Ecuador.

Reading Blanca Chancoso’s description summed up perfectly what women of color and other marginalized groups have been battling against in the feminist movement for centuries: those who believe there is a difference between “living well” and those who believe “living well is to live better than someone else.”

So when Linda Hirshman (feminist author), sitting comfortably in the journalist poshland of the Washington Post, writes an article chastising women of color for dividing the feminist movement, I, like Chancoso, also ask for “a break from market dogma.” In this case, the dogma that feminism is best led and guided by white professional women, and that the ultimate goal of feminism should be to elect a woman president.

Hirshman has the audacity to blame the division and misplaced focus (in that feminism didn’t succeed in getting Hillary the Democratic nomination) of the feminist movement  on “intersectionality.” For those not familiar with the term, “intersectionality” refers to the recognition that various forms of oppression rely on and reinforce one another - not exactly a surprise, but apparently something feminists like Hirshman would prefer everyone ignore.

You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect example of white, upper-class, elite feminism than this article. As the villians responsible for feminism’s current crises, Hirshman points her finger at Brownfemipower and Sudy. Not only does she take their quotes out of context, misrepresent Brownfemipower’s criticism of Amanda Marcotte, and doesn’t even bother to contact them directly, but who does she contact and quote? Jessica Valenti (Feministing) and Jill Filipovic (Feministe) as authorities on how feminism has progressed and translates for all 20-somethings, including women of color.  You demons stay over there and shut up while I talk to white women about you. 

It’s ironic that Hirshman defines herself as a “Chris Matthews-inspired Clintonite,” since she understands as much about women of color as Matthews does about anyone who isn’t white, male, and securely within the Washington power elite. By the way, since when is the election of a woman to the presidency the solution to destroying partriarchy? Or anything else to do with justice? I guess it was inspiring when Madeline Albright was Secretary of State. It was also disgusting when she suggested that 500,000 Iraqi children dead as a direct result of U.S./U.K.-enforced sanctions was “worth the price.”

The article is an insult. And while we’ve opened up the floor for pointing fingers, I ask you [Hirshman] to reread your own article and consider how well it bodes for feminism, how your observations have helped unify the movement, and how big a role YOU play in dividing the movement.

But than again, why look at yourself when you can blame those angry dark people? You speak of a more innocent time, when you first received Friedan’s book and knew she was speaking about you and to you. While you fought and protested and worked to strengthen a movement based on equality and reproductive rights, you never imagined that those “crazies” below you would actually want the same, even though they were fighting alongside you. Did you miss that in all your years of being a feminist? Or could you only see women of color as potential hired help in your kitchen (like a good liberal, you’d pay them a higher wage and pat them on the heads for a job well done)?  

Beyond your one-sided world view, there are individuals and groups fighting the original fight, with the understanding that women’s rights means something different for a white professional woman earning over 150k per year, a white single mother hovering at the poverty level, a black woman living in the inner city, and a Latina living in a prison for immigrants. You don’t risk anything focusing on the “last glass ceiling” and putting an elite, corporate white woman in office; try battling steel bars, immigration raids, and concrete jungles.

Finally, the article is poor journalism. I can guarantee that if BrownfemiPower or Sudy wrote an article critical of an entire movement and never bothered to contact anyone in that movement, it would be regarded as shoddy journalism lacking the sophisticated research skills necessary to be taken seriously. I wonder how often we’d see them in print again? What about an article bemoaning the divisions in the feminist movement and putting the blame squarely on white women? Think anyone would take it seriously?

In a way, I feel sorry for Hirshman and her lack of vision. She speaks of her work in the feminist movement yet degrades others for taking up the same fight - our crime is that we are vocal about people who don’t happen to look like Hirshman. How quickly we forget what the feminist movement (supposedly) stands for.

Hirshman notes that the “reform” movements within feminism - focused on issues like race and class - “would have been enough to weaken the movement. But it still could have been like many other reform movements, which manage to remain effective by using such traditional political tools as alliances and compromises. There’s an old-fashioned term for it — ‘log-rolling.’ Put crudely: First I vote for your issue, then you vote for mine.”

The problem with the notion of “first I vote for your issue, then you vote for mine,” Linda Hirshman, is that you never came around to vote for our issues.  We have always been expected to vote on your terms; your interests always come first, and we’re always left waiting.

I’m over waiting in line for the greater good of those who clearly already have. Tired of waiting, patient and subservient, for our turn, for our crumbs to trickle down. I’m out of that line, and getting in the one clearly marked “revolution.”  My hefty Latina bones can’t survive on white bread, so forget the ceiling - I’m kicking down the meat-locker and sharing the wealth with my community. Old, white, or male - you’re welcome to join, but know this: living well means rights, respect, equality, and access to the means of life for everyone, now. Freedom is not given, so I’m taking.

Here’s Brownfemipower’s response to this article.

Here’s Jill Filipovic’s (Feministe) response.

Stories in the news this morning: June 9, 2008

It’s 10am and I’m already seething with reports from mainstream media.

NY Times: States Take New Tack on Illegal Immigration

MILTON, Fla. — Three months after the local police inspected more than a dozen businesses searching for illegal immigrants using stolen Social Security numbers, this community in the Florida Panhandle has become more law-abiding, emptier and whiter.

[One business owner says,] “I don’t blame them [police],” Mr. Barragan added. “It’s just that it hurts.”

Yes, how painful it must be to have your business lose the much-needed dollars of those little brown people in your small community. It doesn’t hurt because the lives of good, hard-working people have been disrupted by deportation or jail; no, let’s not consider that. Let’s only focus on the hole this raid left in your business. Since a large portion of the latino community frequented his restaurant, he doesn’t have any answers for how to stay open. No protests, no help in rewriting policy, not even a call to the local police, just a plea of “it hurts.”

________________________________________________________________________________

NY Times: Where Whites Draw the Line

How black is too black?

Millions of African-Americans celebrated Barack Obama’s historic victory, seeing in it a reflection — sudden and shocking — of their own expanded horizons. But whether Mr. Obama captures the White House in November will depend on how he is seen by white Americans. Indeed, some people argue that one of the reasons Mr. Obama was able to defeat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was that a large number of white voters saw him as “postracial.”

I wonder if I wrote an article “How White is too White?” how quickly the NY Times would pick it up. If they did, if anyone did, how quickly would I be accused of reverse racism? I’d be attacked for trying to divide the country, rather than using my words productively to unify. I’d probably be put on a terrorist watch list. But “too black”? That’s perfectly reasonable for the paper of record.

________________________________________________________________________________

NY Times: Inside Gate, India’s Good Life; Outside, the Slums

Hamilton Court — complete with a private school within its gates, groomed lawns and security guards — is just one of the exclusive gated communities that have blossomed across India in recent years. At least for the newly moneyed upper middle class, they offer at high prices what the government cannot, at least not to the liking of their residents.

Thank goodness such class inequality would never happen in the civilized United States.

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Daily Kos: Iowa — Another Katrina?

Darrell in Iowa writes:

I am in Mason City.  Our levees broke Sunday morning.  Flood stage is 7 foot and waters are now at 19 feet.  Hundreds of homes and businesses are underwater.  The City’s water plant was flooded and the entire city of 30,000 is without potable water.  A couple of hours ago the main electric substation flooded and failed and much of the city is without power.  People remain in flooded homes.  Early tonight I saw people wandering the streets not knowing where to go.  There are entrie areas of the city with NO emergency personnel on hand.

NOBODY from the outside has come to help.  Our local first responders are exhausted and overwhelmed.  Small rural towns downstream tonight are being devasted.  Levees everywhere are failing.  Calls for help in these small towns have been unmet.  Portions of our local guard are in Iraq.

The homeland has been left unprotected and people are suffering horribly.

As if we needed another reminder of how our government fails its basic obligations. Like New Orleans, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Army Core of Engineers lied about the effectiveness of these levees, too. When we put people in charge of government who are convinced government can’t work, they will do everything to make sure it won’t work. Mason City, Iowa is drowning in Republican rule.

I realize this is an angry post (oh no - anger!) but every once in a while, a Latina needs to show her teeth! Besides, if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention

Women of Color Publishing

 

From Maegan la Mala at VivirLatino.com

I never buy the American Book Review, but I’m going to make an exception for their lastest issue and you should too! The current issue features Women of Color Publishing and contains the words of some blogger/writer hermanas!

Continue reading

Conferences and Events: Outside of Michigan (with one exception)

 

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008 - BOSTON

PARA NOSOTRAS: The first LATINA PRIDE PARTY from Queer Women of Color and Friends

You are invited to join Queer Women of Color and Friends (QWOC) to show love and support for our Latina sisters during Latino Pride week!

@Club Choices, 379 Somerville Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143

FREE Social 7:30 - 9 p.m., FIESTA 9 p.m. - 1 a.m.

Dance lessons available from MIT’s Casino Rueda Dance Troupe!

La Rueda de Casion originally began in Cuba in the 1950’s, and consisted of couples dancing salsa in a circle, following the moves called by the caller, who set the pace of the dance. The calls ranged from thos known by everyone from Cuba to San Francisco to more unique moves that people invented on their own.

Featuring Informal Latin Dance Lessons From Volunteers, Appetizers, Mingling, Flirting and so on…

Featuring DJ Shorty spinning Hiphop, Reggaeton, Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Top 40

Click here to get your tickets! $5 Online ($10 at the door)

Official Site

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JUNE 6-8, 2008 - MINNEAPOLIS

National Conference for Media Reform

Join fellow activists, media makers, educators, jounalists, policymakers and concerned citizens in calling real and lasting changes to our nation’s media system.

2008 provides us with a great opportunity to put the issue of media reform in the national spotlight. Join us in Minneapolis and help us build this critical movement.

Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 South Second Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403

Event website

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JUNE 20 -22, 2008 - DETROIT

ALLIED MEDIA CONFERENCE

The Allied Media Conference cultivates media strategies for a more just and creative world. It is the primary point of intersection in the U.S. for alternative media makers and committed social justice activists. In June, we will come together on the campus of Wayne State University to share tools and tactics for transforming our communities through media-based organizing. Learn more about AMC

Get these women of color to the AMC! Visit their websites and donate to their travel funds!

SPEAK Women of Color Media Collective and members of the Radical Women of Color blog ring have kicked off a fundraising campaign to cover their travel expenses to Detroit. You can donate by clicking the links, following the instructions and clicking the PayPal donate button.

Every donation makes a difference, and your support is greatly appreciated.

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JULY 18- 20, 2008 - SAN FRANCISCO

BLOGHER CONFERENCE

Adele will be participating in a panel discussion on “Race and Gender: What are the lessons of 2008. No this actually isn’t a re-hash of the Obama vs. Hillary debate. But certainly Election 2008 has made us look at our own (and society’s, and the medias, etc.) attitudes about race and gender. BlogHers proved that you can indeed discuss these incredibly sensitive topics without it descending into anarchy or hate speech, bit it’s tough. Pleas join Maria Nile, Jill Miller Zimon, Adele Nieves and others as we discuss what we’ve learned about ourselves…and about others so far in 2008.

BlogHer’s annual conference is like no other — it is the thrilling diversity of the blogosphere come to life!

Featuring techincal labs, educational workshops, intense discussion sessions, relevant sponsors, speakers from every corner of the blogosphere, established and new, and plent of opportunities to network and socialize.

Appropriate for anyone and everyone who is interested in any kind of blogging, from the personal to the professional to the political.

Full overview, Agenda

 

Bitch Magazine & Detroit Feminists

Feminism In/Action: What is your feminism for and why does it matter?

This past Sunday Bitch Magazine and Detroit Feminists hosted a participatory discussion about—and whether—feminism can become a transformative movement for social change..more details.

We had a great turn-out and are thrilled Debbie Rasmussen contacted us to help organize this powerful and important conversation. Thank you to Bitch Magazine, Trumbull Plex, those who supported the event and especially the people who came out to get involved!

Bitch publisher Debbie Rasmussen posted an update, please feel free to give us (and Bitch Magazine) any feedback, comments or critique on the format or future discussions.

Stay tuned for our full recap and details for a Listening Party.

BlackAmazon & Brownfemipower

From BlackAmazon

Congratulations.

I quit.

I’m done. My blog will go live again when I’m compiling stuff for  my time to apply to gradschool but  I am done for now.

I want to say that this is permaent or that this is just a small break but no , this is teh beginning of a death knell.

 Continue reading at Problem Chylde

 

I have to admit I’m not very active in the blogsphere, for a number of reasons. It takes me forever to write something, I get lost in what’s going on at home and work, and my debating skills are a work in progress. Plus I still feel like I don’t know enough, like I’m always trying to catch up. But there are women (people) who, unlike me, have spent long hours engaging with the community, speaking to issues most of us ignore and opening themselves up to critique and personal attacks for what they believe in. BlackAmazon and Brownfemipower have always been two of those people. While we’re on the subject of defending people’s character and careers, it deserves mentioning that besides being amazing bloggers, they are genuinely good people. This is important and it often gets lost in the debate raging around issues.

Whether you’ve disagreed with them in that past, taken issue with some of their ideas and opinions, or just outright refused to dialogue with them, doesn’t erase the fact that they always remained willing to give.

We’ve arrived at a point where two important, prominent leaders - not only of the women of color community, but the feminist community in general - feel they are better off shutting down. I’m not sure who wins from this, but certainly not us - not any of us (although I don’t begrudge them their right to do what they think is best).

So please don’t come to this blog looking for my resume, or to ask me what I’ve written and where you can find my contributions. I am merely one of many addessing these issues. Instead, ask me to help you find the women who taught and never asked for anything in return; the women who wrote/worked for me even when I couldn’t see it, and gave when it was easier to take.

BlackAmazon and BrownfemiPower, thank you - and thanks are not anywhere near enough!

Read:

Mamita Mala

Angry Black Woman

Thanks Elaine, for helping me retrieve this post.

Pay equity

 

On average, women working full-time, year-round earn only 77% of men’s earnings as a whole. And for women of color the problem is even bigger. African American women earn only 68% and Latinas just 57% of the average earnings of all males.

Worse, a poll from the AAUW Educational Foundation reports that 29% of people questioned think that young women aren’t promoted because employers assume that they will leave their jobs if they have children.

Find out what you can do to support pay equity at www.aauw.org/payequity

 

WAM! Recap - finally!

 

By now you’ve probably read enough WAM! recaps in the past week, and might not be interested in another. But I want to write about it, so …

I heard about WAM! through the blogosphere. I was drawn to the conference, as I said in my interview with Jill Zimon, because of the diversity of presentations and workshops, and because a number of women I met last year at the Allied Media Conference were presenting.

 

When I arrived, I felt somewhat alienated and alone, which I chalked up to my not knowing many of the attendees. Yet the first invitation I received was a text message from Nadia of No Snow Here, hoping I’d arrived and inviting me to join them (WOC) at the conference. Although I don’t know them as well as they know each other, nor for as long, they welcomed me instantly and warmly. 

 

I assumed, or hoped, that the rest of the attendees at the conference would welcome everyone in the same spirit. That same day, however, I was proven wrong. At a conference as large as this, I didn’t expect everyone would take the time to introduce themselves and make themselves available to everyone else - the conference was only so long, after all - but I sensed a clear distinction between women of color and white feminists in their interaction with others. As the conference moved from the networking event to the reception and keynote speaker Helen Thomas, the divide grew more stark, with WOC sitting together in a sea of white feminists. That was unfortunately a mark of how the rest of the weekend evolved.

 

I attended several workshops, including “Here We Go Again: Bad Stories About Women that Never Die,” “Raising Women’s Voices/Building Women’s Power: Collaborative Approaches to Strategic Communications for Social Justice,” and the film “Silent Choices” on reproductive rights. While these were informative, two presentations stuck with me more than others: “Immigration in the U.S.: The Women’s Rights Crisis Feminists Aren’t Talking About” and “We B(e)lo(n)g: Womyn of Color and Online Feminism.” The panel on immigration was exceptional because finally someone was talking about the New Bedford Raids in MA, where police apprehended 361 people, mostly immigrant women who suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their captors. The presentation highlighted the cruelty of immigration enforcement directed towards human beings regarded as defenseless and invisible; it focused on an inhumanity that is rarely discussed, and the need for action. At one point during the film clip about the raid I became so distraught at watching these women suffer - women who could be my mother, my grandmother, or my sister - I had to leave the room so I could break down in private. I knew my tears were a poor excuse for action, but I was simply overcome with emotion.

 

The panel “”We B(e)lo(n)g: Womyn of Color and Online Feminism” was by far the high point of the conference. It began with introductions, a short film clip by Sudy on WOC in the blogosphere, and then each panelist read a “wish” poem she’d written. Rather than sit at the tables in the front, they instead came to the side of the room with the attendees, and asked each of us to give our wish. They did not talk at us, but with us; it created a safe, loving space for everyone. My wish was that there would be a space like this wherever I went.  

 

The panel on immigration was a mixed group, although I wondered if the title had contained the phrase “women of color” and all the panelists were WOC would the participation have been as diverse - especially since “We B(e)lo(n)g” was almost completely WOC. A lot of white feminists seemed to regard presentations or workshops about women of color as exclusive to women of color, and wanted to “respect” that space. They might have considered taking part, but apparently didn’t want to intrude. This assumption has now become the escape route for white feminists to not participate, to not open themselves up to be in a new and potentially uncomfortable space. Not one person did what any normal human being would do, ask “May I participate, or is this only for women of color?” Therein lies the real problem. My roommate (Metha) at the conference, and Black Amazon’s Wifey, both white women, joined us everywhere we went, including the Queer Women of Color and Friends reception/party. They didn’t assume they couldn’t take part; they just came along. If you don’t make it a big deal, then it isn’t!

 

Metha says she trying to envision ways in which WAM!, or other conferences, could better create spaces for dialogue with people from different backgrounds. Along with a panel on women of color, for example, have a panel of women from a wide range of backgrounds to discuss and debate the same issue, but from a variety of perspectives.

 

The rest of the conference felt like us trying to hold onto the love we created in the “We B(e)lo(n)g” workshop, instead of being able to share it with everyone outside. The divide was still there. I got the distinct impression that we had been given permission to participate in a small way, but not as equals, not as leaders of the same movement.

 

I’m not the first person to say this, and since the conference there has been an outpouring of reaction as a result. Some have dismissed our reactions as negative or angry; suggesting if we aren’t part of the solution (as they define it) then we’re part of the problem. Sounds like Bush: “Yer either with us or agin’ us!”

But isn’t that what the feminist movement was supposed to be about? Standing up for your rights, for equality, using that anger as a force for change? If we are now only defining that as reactions of women of color, as abnormal or damaging, then the feminist movement has ceased to exist, or can no longer define itself in the terms it once could. If women of color (POC) are the only people willing to express our anger and act on it, then it’s with us that you will find real change!

 

For a much more profound and detailed critique on the feminist divide, read Jessica Hoffman’s OpEd: On Prisons, Borders, Safety, and Privilege: An Open Letter to White Feminists (AlterNet, April 4, 200  

*Correction: Jill from Feministe did make a point of asking if the We B(e)lo(n)g session was for WOC only.

Time to blog? Not yet

 I left one conference (WAM!), sped home for a quick hubby sighting, and got on a plane the next day headed for Texas to attend and present at the Sex Trafficking Conference.

I’m disappointed I haven’t been able to write about the amazing (and not so amazing) experience I had in Boston, and how two sessions (We B(e)lo(n)g: Womyn of Color and Online Feminism and Immigration in the U.S.: The Women’s Rights Crisis Feminists Aren’t Talking About) were life-changing.

When I return this weekend, I’ll write a full recap on both conferences. Right now I’m just so happy to be in Texas (Texas? Yes, Texas - The Valley!), and wish I’d visited much sooner. Everyone from the conference organizer to the gas station clerk has welcomed me as if this was home. I’m able to speak Spanish everywhere I go, which is a tremedous luxury, and most of all I wish I brought my passport - the Mexican border is 10 minutes from my hotel. Scream!

In the meantime, visit No Snow Here, La Chola, A Womyn’s Ecdysis, Black Amazon and Viva La Feminista for the WAM! scoop.

And watch Sudy’s flick:

If you’re interested, I was asked to take part in a live panel discussion on Blog Talk Radio. I have to admit I was a little nervous, I’m still not used to being asked to participate in discussions or having people ask for my opinion. So excuse the stuttering, but enjoy the amazing women who engaged in the conversation.

Sidenote: I mentioned on the program that I thought Catherine MacKinnon was the white feminist who stood in solidarity with Andrea Smith; that was incorrect, it was Sherrie Tucker.

The live discussion concludes the Women’s History Month blog carnival, hosted by What Tami Said and Women’s Space. Heart and Tami were joined by Karla Mantilla, Adele Nieves and Shecodes for a great discussion of feminism and its intersection with race and other issues.

Lastly, check out why Brownfemipower made me cry.

Adele Nieves on Blog Talk Radio this weekend

Join us for Come Together: The official live discussion of the Women’s History Month blog carnival

 

Join Heart of Women’s Space and What Tami Said as we conclude our Women’s History Month blog carnival with an hour-long live discussion on Blog Talk Radio, 6 p.m. EDT, Saturday, March 29. We will review our favorite submissions to the blog carnival; discuss issues raised by the carnival, including race and feminism and their roles in the 2008 presidential election; discuss the state of feminism today; and talk about the most effective ways for women to work together towards equality.

We will be joined by panelists including:

Adele Nieves, a writer, journalist, and speaker, focusing on politics, women’s issues and race.

Shecodes, an entrepreneur and activist dedicated to the uplift of black women. Shecodes runs the blog Black Women Vote, described in its inaugural post as “a war cry to all Black women who are fed up, pissed off, and mad as heck about the present conditions of Black womanhood in America, and are ready to do something about it. Make no mistake… we’re about to change some stuff up in this piece! We have the social, economic, political tools to compel America to become more hospitable for ourselves, and for our daughters.”

We also want to hear from YOU. Tune in and call in! Listen live by clicking this link and let your voice be heard by calling (347) 205-9125 during the show.

Watch Women’s Space and What Tami Said for programming updates, including panelist additions.

 Read more at Blog Talk Radio.