WHM: Maysoon Zayid

Maysoon Zayid is a Palestinian American activist with palsy whose comedy and acting work has been about “bringing a human face to Arab Muslim women.” She was the first comedian to perform stand-up live in Palestine. After 9/11 she felt it was important to counter the images of Islam, Arabs, and Arab Americans in NYC and the nation as a whole, so she started the Annual New York Arab American Comedy Festival with a fellow comedian. The show highlights the diversity of the Arab community and features as many female comedians as possible. All though it has been criticized for having sexist comedians in its line up, its impact has been appreciated by both Arab and Arab American women who see Zayid as an important voice in changing the image of Muslim & Arab women and in highlighting the normalcy of their lives. Zayid is also a child advocate.

In 2001 she founded Palestinian based Maysoon’s Kids which works to support disabled and refugee youth living in camps with medical care, clothing, and social programs. In order to support local products, all of the resources provided are made in the country. She works there 3 months of the year running art programs out of 11 different camps. She is also currently promoting youth education by providing tutors for high school completion and creating a donor base to send youth to college.

If you would like to support her efforts, you can donate: here.

Zayid has said that all of her work has been about “supporting positive images of Muslim women” and ensuring equality for the marginalized.

Here is a sneak peek at her upcoming release Little AMerican Whore, which explores Palestinian women’s roles in Palestine and the U.S. from a comedic perspective:

Urgent!!! More Missing Kids

I got this from Elle (I’ve transfered her post here), who got it from Sylvia. Without the feminist of color blogosphere I may never have heard about these children and their lives are in serious danger. Please spread the word as far as you can. (Academic readers, you too, you know we have the widest flung readership through our contacts, lets use that instead of talking about the latest book gossip ok?!) I’ve added the kidnapper Eddie Harrington’s photo to the post below. If you see him follow the instructions below to help save these children.

Eddie Harrington (KIDNAPPER)

UPDATE: Eddie Harrington sent a letter to his father telling him that he intends to kill the children.

The Harrington Children – Kidnapped on March 5, 2008

23-month-old twins Agena and Aliyah Battle, and 3-year-old Sedrick Harrington have been reported missing from Columbus, Georgia since March 5, 2008 . Their suspected kidnapper is their father, 28-year-old Eddie Harrington:

According to the mother, Eddie Harrington, her fiancée and the father of her children, may have taken the children because he thought that it would make her happy. At the time he left, Eddie was probably depressed and was not taking his medication. There is a picture of Eddie on the NCMEC with braids but it’s not the most accurate. Eddie is bald and wears glasses. Eddie is also described as a 28 year old black male, standing at 5 feet 9 inches and weighting 195 pounds.
Sedrick Harrington, one of the missing children, is three years old and has a birthmark on his right arm. Her mother told me that he has a speech problem but is a very bright and imaginative little boy. She said that when he was bored, he would grab a book, look at the pictures and make his own story out of it. Agena and Aliyah Battle, the 1 year old twins who always fight with each other but cannot go to bed without each other, do not have any known birthmarks but they do respond to their names.

When Eddie left, he was driving a dark green 2002 Chevrolet Impala with a cracked windshield and an Indiana license plate with the number 93-L4740.

Authorities are still trying to track down their whereabouts. The group of four hasn’t been discovered for five days. The mother has issued another plea today for people to keep looking out for Harrington and the three children.

“Agena and Aliyah has on a pink shirt with white sleeves and pink plaid pants. One of the girls has on all white K-Swiss sneakers and the other has on pink, white, purple, Nike sneakers.
“Eddie has on a black T-shirt with black pants and brown and white sneakers; he also is wearing his glasses.
“I’m not sure what Sedrick has on, but I do know he has on his Spider-Man play sneakers. Sedrick also has a greenish color to his right arm from birth.
“Please air this stating that they are still missing. I have not eaten or slept well since they’ve been gone. I need them home. I am crying for your help. I have tried to do my daily routine but I cannot function well with out them.”

The police are requesting help and tips.

Authorities issued an AMBER Alert. They believe [Eddie Harrington] could be headed right for Kentuckiana.

“We’ve done a follow up investigation and determined he has contacts in Tennessee, Florida and of course, he is from Indianapolis, Indiana,” says Lt. Mark Starling with the Columbus, Georgia Police Department.

Harrington has Indiana license plates, number 93-L4740 on his 2002 dark green Chevy Impala. It also has a cracked windshield.

“If the vehicle passes, you grab the cell phone. Call 911. Let us know. Alert us to it. That way we can respond with units on the interstate or on county roads. Wherever the vehicle was seen and try and get it stopped,” says ISP Trooper Phil D’Angelo of the Sellersburg post.

If you see a dark green 2002 Chevrolet Impala with a cracked windshield and an Indiana license plate with the number 93-L4740, please call the Columbus, GA Police Department at 706-653-3400. Any tips on this case are appreciated.

P.S. See the video dedicated to the missing children.

WHM: COMISIÓN Femenil Mexicana Nacional

Today’s Women’s History Month Spotlight is Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional

The Women’s Comision (CFMN) was founded in October 1970 after it was determined that the National Chicano Issues Conference that same year was focused on men leaving women’s issues out of the cause. The goals of the CFMN were to encourage female leadership of the Chican@  Movement, to increase knowledge about women’s issues, and provide programs, services, and networking that increased women’s overall success.

While still at the National Conference, with Founding President Francisca Flores at the helm, they passed the following 9 point resolution:

• The effort and work of Chicana/Mexican women in the Chicano movement is generally obscured because women are not accepted as community leaders, either by the Chicano movement or by the Anglo establishment.
• The existing myopic attitude does not prove that women are not capable or willing to participate. It does not prove that women are not active, indispensable (representing over 50% of the population), experienced and knowledgeable in organizing tactics and strategy of a people’s movement.
• THEREFORE, in order to terminate exclusion of female leadership in the Chicano/Mexican movement and in the community, be it RESOLVED that a Chicana/Mexican Women’s Commission be established at this conference which will represent women, in all areas where Mexicans prevail, and;
• That this commission be known as the Comisión Femenil Mexicana, and;
• That the Comisión direct its efforts to organizing women to assume leadership positions within the Chicano movement and in community life, and;
• That the Comisión disseminate news and information regarding the work and achievement of Mexican/Chicana women, and;
• That the Comisión concern itself in promoting programs which specifically lend themselves to help, assist and promote solutions to female type problems and problems confronting the Mexican family, and;
• That the Comisión spell out issues to support, and explore ways to establish relationships with other women’s organizations and movements.

In 1972 they established the Chicana Service Action Center which provided training, education, and employment opportunities by and for women. It continues to be active in several California counties to this day.

In 1973 they founded bilingual school programs, day care, and child development programs to support working class mothers who worked or were attending school.  They also held their first conference to set an agenda for the organization with full membership input.

In 1975 they worked to obtain culturally competent reproductive rights for Chicanas. They managed to get a moratorium on sterilizations without established informed consent, bilingual consent forms, and an established waiting period to ensure the material had been appropriately explained and understood. Given the number of Latinas forceable sterilized without their consent this success was critical to women’s rights.

In the late 1970s they joined other feminist efforts trying to educate mainstream feminists about Chicana women’s issues and to create a decolonized feminist coalition.  To that end, they attended the National Women’s Conference in Houston, the National Equal Rights Amendment March, The UN International Decade of Women’s Year Conference in Mexico Cit, and the follow up UN Mid-Decade Conference on Women in Copenhagen.

By 1980 they were influential enough that they were invited to the White House to discuss Chicana issues with then-President Jimmy Carter.

Throughout the 80s and 90s they focused on women’s health, labor, and activism. They had 24 chapters and the largest membership and success rate of any Chicana organization founded in the same period. In 1982 they established Casa Victoria, a residential treatment center for adolescent girls. They also continued to be active with the UN global feminism initiatives, attending the UN End of the Decade conference in Nairobi that same year.

Though their membership began to wane in the 1990s, CFMN continues to have an active California Chapter which celebrated its 30th year anniversary a few years ago.  The organization and its various leaders have also been cited as inspirations to other important Chicana and Latina groups around the nation.

 

 

Racism? What Racism?

News reporter, Charmayne Brown was brutally attacked by three white people and called racial slurs while attempting to do a routine news report. The video is already up on youtube.

Brown took up her position in the street outside the Howell family home to report the arrest of one of the Howell’s for the murder of his grandfather on the nightly live feed.  Other, all white crews, from other stations, were also doing the same.

Suddenly, the family came out of the house and began punching and then kicking Brown while yelling racial slurs. They also pulled her hair, grabbing tight hold of it whenever her black camermen tried to extradite her from the situation. The other station’s all white crew filmed the incident without intervening. Someone finally called the police. Someone else then put the footage up on youtube.

Tousha Smith, Billie Joe Taylor, and Trina Vinson have all been arrested on assault charges. South Carolina does not allow for hate crimes charges. Even if they did, the Police Chief’s comment is telling on how well such charges would fair: “These people were very upset,” White said. “I guess they just took it out the wrong way.”

My heart goes out to Charmayne and all of us trying to do our jobs in these hate filled times.

– – –

citation info: Associated Press 3/12/2008

WHM: Luna Fest

Do you eat those Luna bars? Ok, yes, I like that lemony one. Anyway . . . the same company also sponsors Lunafest, a traveling film series by women directors. The films center stories about women’s lives around the world and the festival itself is imagined as a celebration of women. This years films include stories about: sexuality, ecology, motherhood, athleticism, and class. 100% of the proceeds go to charity: 15% is designated for breast cancer research, a cause also supported by Luna Bars, and the other 85% goes to local charities designated by the fest host. It is too late to sign up to be a fest host for 2008 but fests are still being held all across the country well into May.

Double Booked

How exactly can I go to Lockdown and NACCS at the same time? I have been asking myself this question so long that I neglected to register for either. A friend says he will register me for NACCS when he gets there; I’ve already arranged places to rest my weary head, but that does not change the fact that the overlap, or more precisely lag in between, is untenable. . . .

this myopic whine has been brought to you by a privileged academic.

Warning – A Note on “research”

So it is that point in the semester where mid-terms should be almost over or term finals are underway. Academic readers of this blog will be accustomed to the fact that some students plagarize (take others words or overall concepts without citing willfully or through misunderstanding of documentation requirements) and some are unclear what constitutes a viable research source. Professors in particular will want to read the last paragraph in this post. I bring this up, because the following search words brought people to my blog in the past two days:

• buy paper on _________
• what does __________ mean; analysis of ____________
• research on ____________
• essay about __________

It is important to cite sources and make sure your sources are legitimate. In general you can find how to cite a website in your assigned style guide. You must cite online content of any kind used in your paper. You should also know that online content is the easiest to track when you quote material, so not citing in this format is particularly easy to prove.

You should also know that in most cases you are expected to use academic sources for a research paper. That means places like: amazon.com, wikipedia, and blogs are generally not places you should be consulting nor citing unless your paper is on the internet or a specific genre or retail space that your are citing. You will want to stick to jstor, project muse, sage pub, worldcat, etc. as your primary online article sources. You can also access many archives now online. The information about primary resource data retrieval through the internet will most likely be on your library website or you can contact a librarian at your school for help; keep in mind at this point in the semester they are likely overtaxed.

Judging sources is a little too complex for a blog post. However, here are some helpful links:

• using web sources
• Critical Thinking and the Web
• Making Sense of Evidence

I hope that these sources help you get through your mid-term or term end papers. Remember, papers are not just busy work we give you to make your head split open at the end of the term; you are supposed to be using the skills you learned in class and combining them with your own research interests and perspective. Most of us are more interested in what you think and how you think it than we are in the sound of our own thoughts parroted back.

Professors: Anybody assigning work on Julia Alverez, In the Time of the Butterflies, Sicko or the medical industry, &/or chicana feminism might want to be particularly vigilant of the papers you receive this term/semester. All of these topics were listed in the search under “buy paper on” or “essays about.”

Best Quote This Week

And it’s a wake up call no less . . .

I thought that we all understood that politicians were a necessary evil.

They aren’t people that you want in your house. 

– Gay Prof 

Ok Nueva Mexicanas – This Ones For You

 

Beneath the Shadow of the Rainbow: Queer Women of Color Write/Right Their Lives

Sunday, March 16, 2008

1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

at the National Hispanic Cultural Center

Queer women of color are often asked to choose a “side,” an identity: color (race/ethnicity) or sexuality. In this workshop, Cathy Arellano will lead participants through various writing exercises that embrace many aspects of ourselves. Some topics we will write about are birth family, community (what Cherríe Moraga refers to as “familia from scratch”), childhood/adolescence, coming out, living proud, creativity, and spirituality.

Participants will write their own poetry (rap, song, etc.), fiction, and/or creative nonfiction. Bring a notebook and a pen or pencil and photos, personal mementos, etc. for inspiration.

$15 – preregistration is required, call (505) 246-2261 x167

Instructor’s Biography:

Cathy Arellano is a native of San Pancho’s Mission neighborhood who likes to write poems, essays, and stories about growing up brown, coming out queer, and living as true as she can which is kind of crooked. She earned her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa and her Master’s in Education and secondary teaching credential from U.C. Berkeley. Currently, she is teaching whatever they let her at Central New Mexico Community College and the University of New Mexico.

WHM: Amalia Ortiz

I think it is important while highlighting women in feminism(s) that we move between past and present, amongst those we have lost, the elders that remain, and those who represent the hope and promise of a new future. As I think about Latina feminism(s) on this day, I could not help but think about the promise of feminist activist, poet, performers like Amalia Ortiz.

Amalia’s work addresses issues of women’s rights, class, race, etc. with insight, humor, and a keen eye for characterization. She has written and starred in several multi-media plays including: Otra Esa on the Public Transit, Women of Ill Repute: Refute!, and co-authored Fear of a Brown Planet. Each of these plays represented a different way of addressing Chicana (& Tejana) existence – Otra Esa was a one woman play where Amalia embodied multiple characters whose lives intertwine on a bus ride. It highlighted issues of race, class, and gender, and the dailiness of oppression, passion, and living. Women of Ill Repute was an all-female cast questioning the images and treatment of women and celebrating their lives in San Antonio. Fear of a Brown Planet in which 3 Chican@ archetypes wake up to find themselves interned for unknown reasons and work through fear and displacement in order to find enlightenment. The play once again delves into the meaning of culture, gender and raced oppression, and the place of Latinas in the N. American imaginary as well as their own.

She has also starred in plays by accomplished Chicana feminists like Maria Ibarra and activist theater plays throughout the American Southwest and West Coast. Her humorous turn in the independent film Speeder Kills always reminds me of the celebrations of colonialism turned “Hispanic pride festivals” in my area of the world. It has become an important teachable film for discussing how colonialism gets rewritten through elitism, the female body, and the erasure of accountability.

Amalia is also an accomplished poet. She has toured the country with Def Poetry Jam and the Slam American National Bus Tour. She was the first Latina to make it to the slam finals and took second place in the national poetry slam. She co-formed the all female, multi-cultural, poetry group Diva Diction with fellow poets Bassey and Ishle Park. Their hope was to bring a new feminist vision and voice to college campuses and poetry venues alike. She has been featured on multiple poetry CDs including her own. She also performed her poems at NAACP Image Awards and for the First Lady. Her moving poem on the Women of Juarez also reminds us of the connections between women who by nature of gender, as well as race, class, status, etc. live in the borderlands where physical and sexual violence are always options to control or erase us.

Her work is not only part of a growing movement to address Xicanisma in both new and tried ways but also represents her commitment to social justice. Amalia’s performances have often been tied to women’s funding raising against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Rape Awareness, and Women’s Health. She has consistently done workshops and performances for Women’s and Cultural Centers around the country. And she centers women’s experiences and empowerment in her written/spoken work as well as the mentorship of others. She currently works as part of an artist mentorship collective that not only produces plays and poetry in collaboration with Chican@ youth but encourages them to find their own voices. The very human way in which she interacts with her audience and invites them to be participants is part of her appeal and her contribution to feminist and cultural consciousness raising in a world where it is still sorely needed.

Her poem about the women of Juarez is one that I often start my classes on femicide with. I turn the recording on and do not have to ask my students to draw still, they do it on their own. After we listen, I pass out the words and ask them to read it in small groups, thinking back to the recent somatic experience of hearing it. While they talk, I write the definition of femicide on the board. It is one of the most powerful exercises we do in class. And I love turning to my students and telling them, Amelia Ortiz is a young feminist like them. You should see their minds explode with the recognition of the potential of their own voices.