also find me at: kameelahwrites
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No Snow Here linked me to an article by Audre Lorde entitled There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions and was struck my one quote

From my membership in all of these groups I have learned that oppression and the intolerance of difference come in all shapes and sexes and colors and sexualities; and that among those of us who share the goals of liberation and a workable future for our children, there can be no hierarchies of oppression. I have learned that sexism (a belief in the inherent superiority of one sex over all others and thereby its right to dominance) and heterosexism (a belief in the inherent superiority of one pattern of loving over all others and thereby its right to dominance) both arise from the same source as racism-a belief in the inherent superiority of one race over all others and thereby its right to dominance.

While I am hesitant to say that sexism and heterosexism arise from the SAME source as racism because I am inherently uncomfortable with the equation of historical not fixed technologies of oppression, I am getting the overall message here.

I started deconstructing my identities and positionalities in this world and asked if life harder for me as [an anti-capitalist tomboy/genderbending (”nothing about you says girl”- says my mama) Black Muslim hijabi from a poor family who is often confused for an illiterate and non-English speaking “foreigner” who looks 16 but is really 22] than anyone else? I mean I keep keep going…is life harder (and more authentic) for me because I refuse to wear pink, skirts or anything “feminine” while sporting hijab which in a lot of ways signals a certain level of femininity…or because I am a Black kid from the hood who had to struggle against not only white folks who expected me to fail but other black folks who accused me of racial apostasy because I wanted more…or because I am Muslim in post 9-11 (what is with this “post” business? it seems a bit prematurely celebratory…I do not think we are post 9-11 at all; the climate, the strategic excavation of emotions, and the politics are still there)…or because I am often perceived as “non-American”…

Why are we obsessed with winning the award of the most oppressed? Why are we so fixated on positioning our pain and suffering above that of others? Do such self-congratulatory acts validate an authentic existence? What award is there for the oppression olympics? Does your voice become more legitimate when you engage in what ultimately is a narcissistic act that does discursive and real violence to the lives of others? Do we all want to be card carrying members of the “Most Oppressed”?

With all these questions, I must admit that when middle and upper class White women try to equate their experiences as women with that of being Black I do get upset. I am upset not because I do not deny the struggles of being a woman in any context, I get upset because in the assertion of oppression and equation with my life, they deny, obscure and make unimportant the advantages they reap (and take) as moneyed, white folks.

No verdict, except that I would like to say that the olympics of oppression serves in the maintenance of oppression. We need to respect our nuanced and unique experiences, but while we are squabbling about which of us (the Black queer mother of 5 or the Mexican daughter of immigrants) is most oppressed we are waisting valuable energy, resources and time better spent on the forces and technologies that weigh down on the Black queer mother as well as the daughter of Mexican immigrants.

Race
Class
Gender
Oppression
Rhetoric
Solidarity
Competition

Laura of “Hypathia’s Daughter” and “mi otro blog” wins an award for her campaign for maids rights in Peru.

First, I have to explain how the maids are treated in Peru. Unfortunately, because of our colonial inheritance, there are people here who think that some human beings were born to serve and others to be served. It is a complicated matter of race, gender and class. The maids (who have all of these elements: Andean or African heritage, women and from lower classes) are treated pretty badly: they have to wear uniforms that stigmatize them and differentiate them from the rest of the population, they earn almost nothing, live in very bad conditions inside the houses, cannot eat at the table with the employers, in some houses they cannot eat the same food the family eats. In the exclusive beach towns that exist 2 hours from Lima in a district called Asia the maids, besides all of what I just told you, are not allowed to swim before 6pm and have to wear uncomfortable uniforms while taking care of the children who are playing at the beach.

Also, visit me at: kameelahwrites
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I came home from class and did my usual blog checking and I came across to an interesting post entitled “Beware: Lesbian Gangs Terrorize Men with Pink Pistols” over at Grits & Eggs. Grits & Eggs is described as

A forum for five exceptionally ordinary people: a Black woman who loves women and is addicted to words and music; a Chicana feminist who loves superhero’s and poetry; the transgender son of South Indian parents who lives in the spaces in between what you think and don’t know; a woman who left Communism in the Ukraine, found bigotry in the U.S., and is learning love in Chile; and a mixed Muslim Special Ed teacher who loves bellydancing and everything delicious in the world…

Anyhoo, Gee over at Grits & Eggs writes:

Bill O’Reilly and posse expose national underground networks of lesbians recruiting youth in order to indoctrinate them into homosexuality and commit violent crimes against men.

Oh my! Let’s crack down on this immediately because men cannot live under a constant fear of violence—a fear and level of harassment that queer individuals and women face on a daily basis.

I can’t wait for O’Reilly to uncover the worldwide underground work of feminist gangs working to eradicate masculinist ideologies and practices from the face of the planet. Too bad the feminist angle wouldn’t be as sensational without pink pistols

By the way, I like how O’Reilly immediately connects gang activity with a low-socioeconomic background. Nice use of stereotypes. It’s getting harder and harder for me to understand how this can be passed off as legit news.

Just in case you got lost in the clip because you were too busy trying to figure out if it was a hoax or not, here is a quick run down:
[Read more…]

One last comment on the USSF - Fabulosa Mujer, who I had the pleasure of meeting and spending some little time with watching musical fountains in Atlanta and just hanging out, posts her thoughts on the forum. One particular unpleasant experience she had with some “another world is possible, another America is necessary attendees” was over her taking Baby Fab to a workshop

One moment I have to highlight, even though I’m conflicted about giving these couple of incidences more of my time and energy than deseved, it is about the structure of anti-family friendly activist spaces and the ageism AND sexism behind shit talking to parents, usually mothers about caretaking small children in public. As mentioned already by BFP I fought with my unshaken presence a few hostile but loud Another World is Possible, Another US is Necessary attendees about the audacity of taking a small child into a workshop. I got the look, the “ssshhh” and the calm your child and take her out of this room, she’s too young to be here remarks

As Fab goes on to say, most people were helpful and welcoming but still the experience leaves you with a bad taste especially when some so called progressive social form another world people are so hostile to children, women and families. Fab’s story reminded me of a post I wrote a couple of years back which received some reactionary anti-baby, woman hating responses…….Mama’s Tendo’s Story
was a very short piece about the right to breast feed in public.

Here is the first comment -

Well, I know that every mum has a right to feed her kid but I don’t understand why women have to breast feed their kids in public. I’m also female and I can tell you that it is a very disgusting thing to watch women breast-feeding their kids in public. I think it is something that women should do in the privacy of their homes

It gets worse as the next comment in response to my statement that breast feeding is natural, begins by associating breast feeding with shitting and pissing and then having sex……..

“Why should mothers have to go scurrying to their home or to the toilet of all places to do something that is so natural.” Isn’t passing water and defecating also “natural?” And yet they are not done in public. What about sexual intercourse? For most people that is done in private as well. Yes, babies need to be fed, but doesn’t that mean the mother needs to adjust her life to the baby’s schedule, not to her own personal convenience?

Jannie of Startle the Echoes has the last word - unfortunately she’s not blogging anymore - she ask’s the question

Are women really filled with so much self-hate that the mere thought of seeing a breast is found to be disgusting? I hope not.

But its not just about self-hate but the right we as women have over our own bodies and the right of our children to be nurtured and cared for by us - if that is what we choose, while we try to negotiate our lives and our work. If you can afford a baby sitter or trust one, great but there are many of us out there who cannot and or choose not too and are not going to lock ourselves in doors because the sight of our children or breasts offend some people.

Tags: Babies; Breast Feeding; USSF;

Sister Song presented two excellent workshops on reproductive justice and neo-liberalism. We had presentations on neo-liberalism, reproductive oppression, health rights justice and eugenics. The eugenics or “Emerging Genetic Reproductive Technology” was really scary stuff. Incidentally eugenics started in the US not in Nazi Germany as I had thought but the “movement” came to a close with the rise of Hitler in Germany. The Sister Song collective are engaged in some excellent action orientated work in communities of colour across the US. Anyone interested in reading more on Reproductive Justice and there other work can do so at the Sister Song site “Understanding Reproductive Justice”.

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Personally , the Africa Tent has been a bit of a disappointment as the workshops tended to be on an introductory level so for me and those familiar with the issues, there hasn’t been much to learn or gain. Still there have been some good informal post workshop conversations. Yesterday I stayed for the Liberia workshop which was based around how to start a campaign to highlight Firestone’s abuses over the past 100 years in their rubber plantations. For more on the campaign to date see the “Stop Firestone”

Tags: US Social Forum