Circulations of Difference

Zine project submissions Sections A17 & A18, Winter 2017, UCSD. TA: América Martínez

[consciousness-is-power]

Final Reflection Poem

By: Elyse Noda

Striving to be free

     but always feeling restricted

Striving to have access

     but always being limited

Striving to be accepted

     but always hearing judgments

Striving to be diverse

     but always seeing whiteness

Why must we live amongst such inconsistency?

What happened to life, love, happiness and liberty?

How do we fight power, exploitation, oppression and hatred?

So that we may implement resistance to become less divided?

We must embody the counternarrative

     because freedom is imperative      

We must love with all our being

     to ensure intersectional healing

We must use praxis and relational analysis

     to fight anti-blackness

We must use what we are, where we have been and what we have seen

to right all the wrongs and wipe the unclean

It is today that we can destroy all the assumptions

It is today that we can start asking questions

It is today that we can fight with resistance

It is today that we can act with love and acceptance

                                  It is today that we can start making a difference

[afrolatinxwomxn-blog]

My mini zine is about circulations of blackness. For me, every detail has a specific purpose, but it is up to the readers own interpretation to find the beauty in it.

-Destiny

[consciousness-is-power]

Osvaldo Alcazar  

America Martinez

March 17, 2017

Reflection

           Ethnics 2 open my mind to a new way to look and understand what is going around me. I even learn the history of my ancestors that I did not know about, things I did not know were real in which help me realize what we see is not always true and we need to stay woke. In this country, we are set to believe we are minorities, people who only follow the system that is set for one. I learned that to break that cycle one must be active, get involved with the community for a better change. With the knowledge, I learned about my people, my religion, our struggles other people’s struggles I decided to take all that back and give back to my high school and friends. I come from a low-income community in southeast San Diego a high school known as Gompers Preparatory Academy. This neighborhood has a low population of students attending universities with the fear of not being smart or not belonging a state of mind put into place by people, by society. My job will be to arrange a power point for the month of April where I will be presenting the pros of going to a university and how one can be successful, and add some history of how our community located by Market street and Logan Heights came to be how it is an important area of our past and present. I am aiming to change students minds for the better for them to understand that today’s students are tomorrows future. I will also be presenting my Zine how my father had and still has an impact in my life. I will also be showing my peers work via Tumblr. I will be demonstrating the work they did using the new ideas, factors, and history that have changed our way of thinking how one should be interpreting today’s and tomorrow’s events.

[consciousness-is-power]

Nikita Hegde

3/20/17

Ethnic 2

Notebook 5

Reflection

What really stood out to me in this course is the idea of resistance. I particularly liked the assignment we did in section where we had to physically represent an act of resistance. It was interesting to see it in symbolic form and made the idea of resistance that much more powerful. Seeing everyone come together in groups made me realize how powerful it is to stand together as a group rather than as an individual. This concept reminded me of the United Farm Workers Association: a group that finds strength through each other's differences. This concept is very powerful because throughout history people have been divided by their differences which makes them weaker but by sticking together, that in itself is a form of resistance. It’s sticking together against a system that takes advantage of pitting people against each other and making one superior to another.

I will apply this knowledge through by resisting in my own way. For example, rather than separate myself from people with differences from me I will stand together with them. I will realize that what affects one group will also affect me and so I will try to look at things through intersectionality and realize that differences can make us stronger together. Additionally, I will work to ongoingly dismantle the ongoing process of white supremacy, settler colonialism etc. by continuing to educate people on the concepts that I learned in this class and resist what I can in any way that I can.

[consciousness-is-power]

Reflection

Katherine Ucelo América Martínez Friday @ 12:00 pm It has been a long journey throughout the course. The main reason why I took this class was because I had taken the first course of the Ethnic Studies series before, which I enjoyed and learned a lot from. Therefore, I decided to continue with the series. ETHN 2 might have been a lot of work but it was all worth it. This course has helped me to start thinking outside the box, sometimes we live in our own bubble and we don’t realize the injustice and hardships other communities are going through, and that’s exactly what this course has taught me, to put myself in the position of individuals whose intersectionality makes them either invisible or their bodies are disposable to society. Some of these biases are results of imperialism and capitalism, since the dominant race takes advantage of minority groups, through racial formation, settler colonialism and intersectionality. Although, minorities have been exploited in multiple ways, and often they have tried to be eliminated, minority groups have resisted, as they keep fighting against these injustices. They have showed survivance, because regardless all the hardships they have gone through, they are still here, and fighting for a new a future, as they keep creating groups of movements to stand up for their rights, beliefs and their communities. And on of the factors I’ve learned from the Zapatistas is that ones’ struggles are everybody’s struggles, because what affects these minority groups at the end will affect everyone. Therefore, we should be supportive, by start looking out for these injustices, in which often even ourselves are target of, so we could also be part of this movement that’s making the world a more fair and better place.

Here is a testimony of survivance by a native American named Nanapush as he tells the short story: Talk is an old man’s last vice. I opened my mouth and wore out the boy’s ears, but that is not all my fault. I shouldn’t have been caused to live so long, shown so much of death, had to squeeze so many stories in the corners of my crain. They’re all attached, and once I start there is no end to telling because they’re hooked from one side to the other, mouth to tail.

[consciousness-is-power]

Ethnic Studies Reflection

       Throughout the course, I looked into the life of Cajun people in Louisiana and the ban on their language in the 1920s. When I was doing research on this topic, I sometimes asked myself, “What does it feel to lose the language you speak?” When I talk to each other every day, I feel that speaking is just so natural that I don’t need to consider if there is a day when I can no longer speak my language. But when I read about the ban on Cajun French in the 1920s, I can imagine how heartbreaking it is to lose the most common yet most valuable possession of a person, and a culture. We’ve seen in the class what happened in Indian Boarding Schools, how language was used to assimilate others, and, truthfully, language was a very useful tool in the assimilation. It can cut off your relationship to your culture, since you are no longer able to understand the old stories, read the books, and may never speak the language again. When you grow up, when asked about your cultural background, you realize that you are bond to the culture, but cannot tell how, because you know too little about it, even the language. It takes time to pick it up, because you have to find someone, most likely in the older generation, who can still master the language and teach you some words. You are basically learning a new language, the language your parents and grandparents once spoke, but you know nothing. Now we finally see some positive changes taking place in Cajun communities, and the future awaits.

       The quarter-long ethnic study course took me beyond the United States, to Mexico, India, Philippines, Europe, where we saw transnational thinking throughout the world. Resistance, Settler Colonialism, Third World Feminism, … made up the world I was previously not familiar with. I would like to share what I’ve learned to my friends in China, where I think people need to pay more attention to ethnic studies, to let more think about the ongoing inequalities and exploitation of people in the world. It remains to be seen whether the world is going to become a global community, where there is no clear existence of border, or become a more divided community, where border separates different countries, or an alliance-based community, where some borders “don’t exist” while others “separate,” but the ultimate goal of ethnic studies is to connect transnational struggles and make a better world.

Yupei Zhou   

[consciousness-is-power]

NOTEBOOK 5  

         Professor Wayne’s Ethnic Studies course has drastically affected my perspective on the world and the identity I call my own, as an individual and as a race. The course unlocked the realities of American history and the actuality of understanding standpoints from the oppressed minority groups and the counter narrative. The course and the Zine revolved around central themes such as Immigration and Citizenship, and ideologies such as criminalization of African Americans. I created this origami ship to symbolize both. The Ship was the vessel that ignited the anti-black American sentiment by transporting Africans to America during the Slave Trade, and the Hold was a place that held slaves, a site of ungendered and “Anagrammatical blackness.” Also, this connects to my Zine, how Vietnamese immigrants used wooden boats to escape the communist regime and journey to freedom in trying conditions. Although extremely contrasting, both have different meanings.

           Ultimately, as Professor Wayne promised in Week 1, this course will require full attention, participation, and understanding of the material. I understand now that he says this not only because he wants attentive students, but also, he wants students to learn a valuable lesson after completing the course. I will apply my newfound knowledge to my own physical body, participating in events and finding my voice in the UCSD community – as well as the future – by taking action and participating in the dismantling of the injustices of white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, and many others. I think in this case, this boat represents not in the case of a means of transportation for slaves, but in this case of Vietnamese immigration, discovering yourself and taking yourself out of your comfort zone to experience your own liberation.

- Quang Do

Friday 12:00 - 12:50pm

[consciousness-is-power]

Final Reflection

[consciousness-is-power]

Ethn 2 Final Reflection

Kevin Goenadibrata

I realized that when I first came into the class, I had no clue what to expect from the class, what I am about to encounter and what thing that is going to change me. I might not be that super-extrovert guy that speaks out a lot in class. It’s somehow a very intimidating class for me because I feel like the things I say can hurt people. But, one thing is for sure, I really enjoyed the conversation in discussion and all the amazing things Professor Wayne say in class.

For me, I believe education can influence anything. When we can target human mind, we can target the whole action. Actions came from behavior and it is highly affected by human mind. I learn a lot in class. I used to see people affected by from where they are, I used to think that white always has privilege over other race. But by only listening and engaging in courses like ETHN 2, everything in my mind changed and really hits me in the head. I really like that one of the students in my discussion said that “this class is either we learn about other people’s history, or a pain because of our history … I am not the same as the one sitting next to me.” This words really hits me and inspire me and if you wrote this, thank you!

Since education is a very good transforming action to people, I really hope that we, educated people in UCSD, can inspire people and educate them to achieve world peace and equality. Ethnicities courses are not provided in Indonesia, which is the country I am from. I believe if we can deliver education to back where we rooted, we can be an agent of peace. As a computer science major student, I am thinking that I can create an education platform in a form of either website or app to give access to many people so we can share more and more. Currently, I am learning to expert website building. If you have any ideas or inputs, hook me up and I hope we can share education to the world. Last thing that I learn is that only people who are educated can educate people and we, educated people, can now deliver these messages to the world and destroy white supremacy, capitalist exploitation, heteropatriarchy.

 -----------------------

 “Love”

 They call me Love.

 I might have eyes

But I'm colorblind

I'm not a disguise

Sincerity and grace combined

 I might have a hand

But not to point black or white

Creating a space of common land

To bond and unite

 I might have a pair of ears

But I don’t tune to borders of nationality

I listen to people with tears

And the cries needing solidarity

 I might have two feet

But I don’t run and fulfill my greed

Cause’ I can always feel complete

When I stand for the people who’s in need

 I might have my voice

Not to force and argue

But, the name “Love” is my choice

Now I ask, who are you?

[thetreasuredbelongingofaref-blog]

Reflective Assignment pp. 1-14

I wanted to make my children’s book more interactive and universal, so I am leaving some pages without a drawing in order for the reader to draw his/her interpretation of mistreatment of detainees, Prison Industrial Complex, representational racism, and so forth. I also left the drawings uncolored because I thought children would have fun coloring it themsevles.

[foryourinsight]

Notebook 5

Throughout the research that I conducted on my country of my ancestors I noticed that there are more things that I have overlooked. Especially with the sides of the war and what their views were. I didn’t know how much about the Vietnam War except for what they talked about in school which was there was a draft for men to go to fight in the war. After the U.S. helping the South Vietnam people they pulled out because of protests and later the Fall of Saigon happened. That there is more to the history that we were taught and that in our life span we can’t learn about all of them. The only thing that we can be certain about is the major events that happened and what has resulted from it. The tiny details were not important, just the main story line of what historians had written. This relates to our lecture about the master narrative. The countries that are in power today create master narratives for the world to believe in and teach in schools. What I learned in this Ethnic studies class is that there are multiple counter-narratives in this world. That there are many different stories to an event depending on the person. If the event hit home, then the story would be extremely biased. If the event was towards a certain country that has a relationship with another then the country would side with whoever they have a relationship with. This ensures that with master narratives created the countries are also intersecting with each other to make this happen. Even with the counter-narratives, there are different stories with them analyzed by experts. Without people in this field, I would never really know about the differences and instances in history where there are counter narratives.

I think this is because resistance is fairly a new approach to looking at history; therefore, I think to educate the people around me with what forms resistance are and what they can do. One thing I am really set on doing is making a change in how people are treated. There are many people who are still getting treated like they don’t belong and that they are inferior to another race. There are also people who do not have enough for health care, citizenship, and to live. Most importantly I want to inform my parents that there is more to politics than just listening and going with whatever is happening because it is the law. Since my parents came here as refugees they are very keen on what they should do to keep their position where they are. It’s like they are scared that one day everything can be taken away from them. I don’t blame them because this did happen to them many years ago when the Vietnam War started. Their home becomes something they did not recognize. This is why I want to inform them that they can resist the politics that they don’t agree with in their own way. In the lecture, there was also a talk about how Asians don’t really have radical politics and are the model minority. I totally understand that because of what my parents do. They watch the presidential elections but when I ask them if they voted they always shrugged it off and said no. I first want to change my community by informing them of their voting rights and their rights to protest. Lastly, I always had a dream of helping the people who did not have health care. I wanted to travel around the world and in the states to help people. Recently, the dream has become even stronger as I have family members who don’t have health insurance that covers everything. With their piles of bills from the hospital when they have to go to the emergency room, it only makes me want to fulfill this dream as soon as I can.

This leads me to a song that I would like to share to anyone that is feeling like they are being held tight in their life and not being able to go anywhere. This song is meaningful to me because when this song came out I was in sixth grade not really knowing what to do, how to fit in with the people at school, and felt like there was nothing I could do to fix my loneliness when I watched this song being performed by Kris Allen on American Idol. The song was called No boundaries. After listening to this song I believed that nothing would be in my way if I tried and keep trying to break free of the restrictions I made in my mind.

I think this relates to my reflection of being restricted to what the government wants and forces people to be. Instead of looking at the restrictions like the mountains in the song or the hurricanes that make you run away I think it’s best to move forward and resist what you can until your dream is achieved. To the people who are fighting their restrictions, I know that you will be able to do so because there are no boundaries to where you can go.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au78ra4HsUo

Here are the lyrics to the song:

Seconds, hours, so many days You know what you want but how long can you wait? Every moment lasts forever When you feel you lost your way

And what if my chances were already gone? Started believing that I could be wrong But you give me one good reason To fight and never walk away

So here I am still holding on

With every step you climb another mountain Every breath it’s harder to believe You make it through the pain, weather the hurricanes To get to that one thing

Just when you think the road is going nowhere Just when you almost gave up on your dreams They take you by the hand and show you that you can There are no boundaries! There are no boundaries!

I fought to the limit to stand on the edge What if today is as good it gets? Don’t know where the future’s headed But nothing’s gonna bring me down

I’ve jumped every bridge and I’ve run every line I’ve risked being saved but I always knew why I always knew why!

So here I am still holding on

With every step you climb another mountain Every breath it’s harder to believe You make it through the pain, weather the hurricanes To get to that one thing

Just when you think the road is going nowhere Just when you almost gave up on your dreams They take you by the hand and show you that you can

You can go higher, you can go deeper There are no boundaries above and beneath you Break every rule ‘cause there’s nothing between you and your dreams

With every step you climb another mountain Every breath it’s harder to believe

Yeah! There are no boundaries There are no boundaries!

[consciousness-is-power]

-Cindy Lu

[consciousness-is-power]

Poem reflection -Jacqueline Estrada

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Notebook 5

For this notebook, I will tell a short story on how structural violence is evident but changeable within my major of mechanical engineering. Specifically, I want to relate this to my engineering student organization and the structural violence women encounter in a field largely dominated by men.

           I joined my organization over a year ago at a time when the male to female ratio was about 10:1 in a group size of about 40, meaning there were approximately 4 or 5 women in this engineering project. Within that, the higher executive positions were completely filled by men. This is not to say that there was an inherent dislike towards women; it was more structural in that women were generally not motivated to become a part of engineering, yet alone join an engineering organization. For a few quarters, this went on as productivity within the teams remained relatively stagnant.

           This began to change somewhat in the middle of the school year as a new public relations manager, who was a woman, joined the team and made reforms in promoting the club to female organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers. This significantly increased the number of female applicants to the team. As an interviewer, I noticed that the women who applied to the team steadily became larger in quantity but were also as proficient as or more than men who were looking for the same positions.

           As the club grew larger, we introduced many reforms to the management and organizational structure of the teams, primarily to improve individual innovation. Part of these changes was to give individual members control over a small part of their project so that they would could get creative with their solutions and also be accountable for their work. This change saw the rise of many young women to the top as their designs were impressive and innovative.

           The club has now expanded to an approximately 4:1 male to female ratio in a group of about 90 people. Through our PR manager and social media team, we frequently promote the work of women in the organization through our social media outlets, especially during International Women’s Day, Women in Engineering Day, etc. This next coming quarter, the incoming president will also be a woman who has shown a great deal of dedication over the years.

           I believe that the elimination of gender differences should be done in this way, allowing young women to expand themselves within the organization. This is in contrast to both extremes, one being the exclusion of women, and the other, forcefully increasing the number of women through biased, gender based interviews just to make the male to female ration look appealing to the public. I believe that a continued approach in this manner will make this organization more accessible to all people in that letting people show off their skills is a metric far greater than that of any evaluation or interview.

[consciousness-is-power]

Notebook 5 Reflection

                                Resistance; The Beautiful Mess

                                             Think about the was Boy who wishes he was a Girl, and the Girl who wished she were a Boy.                                              Think about                  the Black who wish they were painted colorless and, the Natives who wished they could manifest language that would not be broken.                                              Think about                     the Child who wished for toys not to be toyed with.                                              Think about                    the Girl who wishes she were not yet a woman and,                        the Boy who wishes he were not yet a man.                                              Think about the Needy who wish for solidarity but receive the notion of a lost bargain.                                                   Now,                                             Think about                          the way You could become their genie.                                           About Thinking                                                 Stop.                                                   …                                                  Act.

-Deyanira Guerrero

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Last Notebook: Reflections

I’m grateful to take this class as one of my humanities requirements because the course requires critical thinking and opens my views regarding the communities around me. The course in my opinion made be recognize the presence and existence of indigenous people in America, and provided me thoughts that the natives are not just a folklore. The zine project envisioned my thoughts to bring attention regarding their existence, which most newer generations wouldn’t have realized their presence in our society. Aside from the existence of the indigenous tribes, I also realize the power and importance of race in modern American communities. What Professor Yang tell us is true, quoting “race is a matter of life and death.” They are a factor of killings today, mostly by police officer. The case of Oscar Grant opened my eyes because shooting an innocent and surrendering African American man portrays a hate crime and superiority of Caucasians over Afro-Americans. Such act can be connected back to centuries ago where slavery still exists, and the reign of white supremacy. The white officer whom shot Oscar can be connected back to white supremacy era, showing that he can do anything against any African American citizen. I would practice the information taught by this class to people I know to realize the importance of an ethnic class. The course provides a foundation for people to recognize and appreciate races and culture in their communities, thus very valuable to combat racial inequality and discrimination. On the case of material support to dismantle the current problems, I’d like to compile photographs of the community’s daily life and interact with them daily. I’ve seen books with only pictures but focusing on the society. The photographer blends in with the society, which is why most of the picture are naturally composed. The project would open people’s view by presenting these pictures, immersing the reader into the community to see life in that community.

  Short 4-line Poem (about native survivance):

Time flies as people come and go

Without a presence of flow

But we existed from long long ago

Now to be forgotten and banished by thou

[consciousness-is-power]

Our last day together! breaking piñatas that say, "Destroy Imperial White Supremacist Capitalist Heteropatriarchy" in the middle of campus, next to the chancellors' office

[consciousness-is-power]

photo credit: fellow T.A. Omar Padilla