Political Science

[Spoiler alert--Mokckingjay part 2]

Tiny parachutes with little metal boxes sway into the arms of children. Pop pop pop! Red fire and grey dust billow like scary clouds. Explosions. Medics rush in, Pim’s blue eyes. Another explosion. Blood trickling from the bow and arrow wound in Coin’s lifeless body. Masses attacking Snow who is tied to a post. “Goodbye Gale.” The cat. The meadow. The children. The garden.

I.

We'll take a few minutes to check-in about the final event as well as to discuss what would best serve your final projects in the next few days. Remember that we do not have readings scheduled for next Monday (12/7).

II.

As I described in my message over the weekend, I'd like to break into groups to present the four articles supplementing our readings of Olson & Davis as well as the Dean Spade & Reina Gossett conversations. As I wrote on Friday:

Beacons of Fury

W.E.B. Du Bois recognizes in “The Souls of Black Folk” a complex and paradoxical process of defining the struggles and achievements of “Negroes.” Du Bois endeavors to articulate the racism inflicted upon and experienced by “Negroes” and the meanings and shapes it takes in “American” culture and society, while not categorizing and attributing specific attributes to particular races. It is essential for Du Bois to focus on racial divides in order to recognize that certain people experience violence and hatred more often than others because of how their skin color is perceived. Du Bois uses this argument to demonstrate that no matter how hard “Negroes” have worked and how determined they have been, “Negroes,” are not seen as equals in society.

http://www.makezine.enoughenough.org/Is%20Gay%20Marriage%20Racist.pdf

check it out! 

Experimental Essay #2

The Commodification of Justice Movements (“Working” Title)

idea(s):

• disseminating information about antiblackness in the ever-changing united states, and the transformative power of this information

the #blacklivesmatter movement, as shulman states in his keynote, “update[s] a radical democratic imagination that characterized the great theorists of black power, the american new left, and many second wave feminists.” the idea of “update” is something interesting here to me, given the inherent quality of the #blm as part internet activism – an internet in which “updates” have a certain meaning and connotation about new online information and its availability to the public.

Again, this essay is uploaded in the original color as well as copy and pasted here:

Joie Waxler

Experimental Essay

11/23/15

Basically just lots of jumbled thoughts about BMC, #BlackLivesMatter, the world, and other general musings through the lens of a synesthetic white lesbian

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wonder at the world,

in horrified awe

At its dazzling capacity

to absorb yet another blow.

I wonder at the world,

But mostly, I wonder at myself.

I.

[EDIT: We'll start with brief committee check-ins in preparation for the final event, with twofold goals: (1) to nail down a title; and (2) to select times for the events. Then we'll turn to the Coates quote.]

A quotation cum prompt for reflecting on Thursday and Friday at RCF as well as what we've been doing. This is from Ta-Nehisi Coates' recent book Between the World and Me. (He also wrote the piece on reparations that y'all read).

"The pursuit of knowing was freedom to me, the right to declare your own curiosities and follow them through all manner of books." (48)

And the question: How does this speak to your experiences at RCF and as learners both there and in this 360?

II.

Tensions, and Solidarity