Blog #8 Women in regonition of National Mine Awareness Day

Today, the UN is celebrating National Mine Awareness Day, and with that distinction, has decided to dedicate this year’s event to women. The United Nations states on its background page that it “advocates for the universalization of existing legal frameworks and encourages Member States to expand those regimes and develop new international instruments to protect civilians from the scourges of landmines and explosive remnants of war. It undertakes this work in collaboration with interested states, civil society, mine action and international organizations”. On its dedication to women, (particularly women of color it would seem) they had this to say “This year the 12 UN entities working on mine action are promoting the work of women in mine action. The efforts of women make mine action work more efficient and effective. Women must be empowered in all societies to be a part of important activities, including at all stages of mine action: from surveying mined areas, to deciding where to begin clearance, to conducting mine risk education and post-clearance development initiatives.  “

I think that it is important to realize that the intersection of this announcement and the idea of women of color standing idly by as their country is blown up “being blown to pieces” by new media focus are no accident. Through media like Twitter and Instagram I am now aware that women in other countries (especially women of color in supposedly suppressive religious countries) are serving their country in male dominated fields, and being proud of the fact. In the videos women of color and men of color are getting satisfactory representation in recognition of their support, and it is truly inspiring to see the mini documentary (at the bottom of the page) highlighting people of color as both intelligent and brave enough  to stand up for a cause close to their hearts.

http://www.un.org/en/events/mineawarenessday/videos.shtml

Celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination!

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This important holiday is celebrated worldwide, and has been in effect since 1966, although it’s little said about it especially in mainstream media outlets .It is a celebration in memoriam of the same day as the tragedy the took place in 1960, where police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws". “Proclaiming the day in 1966, the General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination” says the article. The website also states “In 1979, the General Assembly adopted a Programme of activities to be undertaken during the second half of the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination. On that occasion, the General Assembly decided that a week of solidarity with the peoples struggling against racism and racial discrimination, beginning on 21 March, would be organized annually in all States.”

 

Racism is still prevalent in a lot of countries which is why exposure to this event is so important. The face of racism has changed over the years, evolving into more passive-aggressive daily interactions and micro aggressive backhanded compliments especially in the US. But in more radical parts of the world ethnic cleansings and genocides still take place, resulting in higher racial tensions and upsets. In conclusion, this article addresses many of the issues facing people of color today, while also unintentionally making little to no mention of women who also suffer under systematically oppressive governments.

https://www.un.org/en/events/racialdiscriminationday/background.shtml

South Korea has a new First Lady...In Chief!

For the first time in South Korea’s history a women president was elected. As reported by CNN correspondents Sheen McKenzie and Paula Hancocks, South Korea elected sixty-two year old Park Geun-hye to head of state. This is not new territory to the new president; she is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, president of South Korea from 1961 to his death in 1979 -- when his own intelligence chief shot him over dinner. The murder of her father came only five years after his wife, and Park Geun-hye's mother, was also killed by an assassin who had been targeting her husband.  

The importance of her position is not lost on me. South Korea has one of the largest wage gaps between the sexes in the world, and its treatment and promotion opportunities for female’s leaves a lot to be desired. In her interview with CNN’s Leading Women she is quoted as remarking on changing gender roles within our new globalism,  

"I believe the very fact that I was elected as the first female president of the Republic of Korea is testament to the dynamism of Korean society. I feel an even greater sense of responsibility as president. I also feel that we can look forward to greater opportunities that enable women to fully tap into their potential and live out their dreams, given the dynamism of our society and the way the entire world is headed."

"This is a time when we see fathers, especially young fathers, who would be more than willing to play their part in raising children and who are so willing to help their wives. We see many young fathers who would find great reward, pleasure, and joy in raising their children."

The reason I decided to cover this story is that in our changing world, women (especially women of color) seem to be steeping into bigger more powerful roles in countries that still seem to have trepidation about women’s changing roles. It’s effects on race relations remain to be seen, however the fact that many “supposedly progressive” countries like our own have failed to elect a woman to a presidential or prime minister role is both telling and discouraging.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/04/world/asia/south-koreas-first-female-president/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

NOT Whatever Floats your Goat in South Dakota:Using Asian Women as a Scapegoat for Anti-Choice Legislation

In South Dakota this week, local legislature decided to ban sex selective abortions (supposedly) being performed in the state. The definition of a sex selective abortion is quoted as “Yes, as of right now, if a woman were to walk into an abortion clinic and say, ‘I would like to have an abortion for no other reason than my unborn baby is a girl’…she absolutely would get an abortion.” and, according to Representative Jenna Hagar many abortions (as many as four percent) were performed on women of color who value men children more than women children (supposedly). However, there were valid concerns on the part of other representatives, and after closer inspection much of the data gathered seemed both racist and assumptive. Many argued that the legislation was searching for a problem that didn't exist and main detractor Representative Troy Heinert was quoted as saying (in response to Rep. Jenna Haeger’s statement that “What I know is that abortions up to 14 weeks right now are currently legal, so yes, I do believe that occurs.”): “I guess that proves to me that is based on assumption…The prime sponsor just said that she believes it happens, but can’t prove that it happens. I guess my point is I think everybody in this room knows where everybody stands when it comes to this issue. I don’t think anyone is ‘pro abortion.’ I think there are some people who feel it’s a woman’s right to choose, and there’s other people who feel that they can decide. My point is it takes courage to stand up and say, ‘This law is unneeded.’ If this was happening in South Dakota, then bring it. Show me some instances where this happened…but it takes courage to say, ‘This is an unneeded law, it’s unneeded regulation.’”

As a women of color living in the world, I think it is important to highlight legislation like this that presumes to know the minds of women, and also perpetuates racist ideas of women of color as “bad mothers”, an idea that has been fodder for global condemnation for years. It really seems to be one more step to eliminating pro-choice right in the state, regardless of race, but by attaching unsuspecting Asian women as the cause, it potentially silences their struggle and gives warring factions in women’s rights another reason to decry intersectionality. 

http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/gender-based-abortion-ban-gets-green-light

YAMS place in the Art World

This week, Felicia R.Lee, journalist for the New York Times, did a piece on a talented group of young people in Dumbo ,Brooklyn. "HowDoYouSayYaminAfrican?"Or Yams for short is an up and coming art collective comprised almost exclusively of queer and black artists. This band of  38 musicians, poets, actors, writers and visual artists are from around the world (from places such as Seattle, Paris, Edmonton, Alberta, and Los Angeles ), and have taken on the task of doing their very first piece of art for public consumption. The group will showcase on a “distinguished international stage — nothing less than the 2014 Whitney Museum Biennial— with a digital film in operatic form”. The project is named “Good Stock on the Dimension Floor, “and it looks to study how race affects black identity(especially in “post racial” America), The tangible description by Lee of the work is “Many sets are sculptural installations; the original score is spoken, chanted, sung and screamed.” This highly anticipated work will start its debut on March 7.

The reason that this story is so incredible is that it focuses on many artists who identify as women of color, in addition to some women being queer. The project itself screams of a study of race relations in America, a hot-button subject, especially when we consider the atrocities that have been perpetuated against women of color (especially black women) of late. Also in this story the journalists takes the seeming lack of diversity in certain art scenes, revealing something that many people were already aware of (due to the dearth of art featuring and by women of color).Globally there is still a certain amount of reluctance on the part of the art world to appreciate and showcase women’s of color’s more drastic art pieces, and by doing so continue to silent rich, diverse voices, and stories that could change the world.

Media Mayhem rehashes "Who's REALLY Afghan(i)?" Arguement

Today, the New York Times posted a story about ethnic unrest continuing in Afghanistan. General Abdul Wahid Taqat, a former intelligence official, said on the network Zhwandoon TV, “Pashtuns are the rulers and owners of Afghanistan; they are the real inhabitants of Afghanistan,” This caused a much deserved public censure and outrage among Afghan(i)s, and led to the eventual arrest of Taqat and a chastisement by the Afghan(i) president to the media outlets who were “whipping up hatred”. Journalists Azam Ahmed and Habib Zahori continue by explaining the different ethnic groups that reside in Afghanistan; the major group mentioned throughout the article are the Pashtuns, who control a vast majority of the country and represent a great deal of the population, and the Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek, the much smaller ethnic groups who live in uneasy harmony with the Pashtuns. Following the horrifyingly tragic Afghan(i) Civil War in 1989 ("a conflict that broke largely along ethnic lines, among the Pashtuns and the Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek populations"), the ethnic groups have lived in an uneasy ethnic ceasefire,where the ethnic groups coexist in a country where ethnic tension seethes in everyday media consumption and where political issues (such as what identification cards should read) fall in factions where they are not bound by ethnicity, or the black-and-white of patriotism, but the murky messy gray of unrelieved bigotry and decades old fear of political upheaval.

The reason that this story is globally relevant to race relations is because the unrest and coupes happening in Afghanistan continue to affect the world. Racism and discrimination against those of Middle Eastern descent is global, affecting parts of their lives that have nothing to do with air terminals; these issues have a wider scope of racism than the average American imagines, and the problems in their homeland continue to plague Afghan(i) immigrants who are (supposedly ,uneasily, “relatively”) safe on US (and foreign) soil.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/world/asia/afghan-ethnic-tensions-rise-in-media-and-politics.html?hpw&rref=world

The "Mock" Interview,or Piers should find a pier...and jump off it.

This week, Piers Morgan made a humongous blunder by misgendering and publicly ostracizing Trans woman and advocate Janet Mock, when he invited her onto his show to talk about her new book, Redefining Realness. Morgan, a man generally known for his compassionate and understanding nature and laid back interview style (even having been seen as an advocate and ally in some of the Gay community) seemed to set the whole country’s struggle for equality back ten years by rudely repeatedly alluding to Ms.Mock’s childhood and adolescent struggles, while simultaneously being overly interested in the way she revealed her gender identity to her boyfriend. Unfortunately I was unable to catch the interview(s), but the reason I chose this topic is because a great deal of women of color identify somewhere along the LGBTQIA++ spectrum, and to ignore the rights and struggles of women of color is a crime (and having their very being personhood, agency and soul called into question by what essentially boils down to a stranger is even worse.). Also, this story seemed globally relevant because in addition to this carnival show of blunders of an interview, the events happening at SOCHI, have spotlighted talks on gender, race, and sexuality, all of which I believe fall under my umbrella topic of “Race Relations and Women of Color”. I strive to be an informed member of society, while simultaneously uplifting and encouraging my sisters who struggle under both the yolk of the heteronormative patriarchy while being chained to establishment of institutionalized racism.

http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-ra-transgender-20140206,0,1612052.story#axzz2shR0rGuQ