Roxanne

by Roxanne - January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

Girl Forward

As women we have a right not to be inculturated in a view of women that limits life opportunities and options (e.g. only marriage and motherhood). We have a right to live lives not defined by men, corporations or those in power – arguably the same.

When women do better children and whole communities do better. That’s why the Chicago mentoring non-profit GirlForward is such a wonderful idea!

This non-profit can give us an idea of what we are meant to do in the world – especially those of us with education who don’t struggle everyday with poverty.

Here’s their mission and vision:

“Mission – GirlForward provides adolescent refugee girls with individual mentorship, educational programs and leadership opportunities, creating a community of support that serves as a resource and empowers girls to be strong, confident, and independent.

Vision – A strong, empowered, confident girl today will become an independent woman who can successfully support herself, her family, and her community.”

This is a another way to continue the formation of women who can work to change the laws and systems that discriminate against women.

Until women share equally in the leadership and opportunities of the world none of the human family can truly flourish.

Because national laws are always and everywhere created by men, Catharine MacKinnon writes in her book Are Women Human?

“State behavior that promotes and institutionalizes male dominance has been found to distinguish public from private, naturalize dominance as difference, hide coercion behind consent, and obscure sexual politics behind morality” (4). Stated another way “Men violently dominating other men for control of states is called war; men violently dominating women within states is relegated to peace” (5).

Reframe: the abuse of women, physically, emotionally, economically or socially is violence against women.

by Roxanne - January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

Art Reveals History’s Blind Spots

EarlRalphGentlemanwithAttendant1785-88thumbnail — Gentleman with Negro Attendant, ca. 1785-88. Ralph Earl (1751-1801). Oil on Canvas. New Britain Museum of American Art. Harriet Russell Stanley Fund, 1948.06.

Do you know that racism, classism and sexism is inherent in art and the way it is displayed? Take another look. How are women portrayed in historical art, family portraiture or other paintings? How are servants portrayed? What about children? What about indigenous peoples or other ethnicities?

History is told from a particular lens or perspective. This is true whether it is art, literature, music or dance. This particular perspective limits what we see, what we remember and how we understand our past.

Read in full this article at the New Britain Museum of American Art blog, July 5, 2011 by curatorialintern. Here’s an excerpt:

Titus Kaphar uses art to confront history. Sometimes, he also stages interventions. Such is the case in Jaavon and the Unknown Gentleman. The painting is Kaphar’s response to Gentleman with Negro Attendant, a portrait by Ralph Earl from ca. 1785-88. (The two paintings hang side by side in the Colonial Gallery.)

Earl’s portrait depicts a large, well-dressed white man waited on by a young black boy. This kind of portrait – where a servant is portrayed only as a sign of the wealth of his master – was common in Colonial America.

As Kaphar elaborates, “In the original painting, Gentleman with Negro Attendant the black child is stripped of all identity. He has no name, grotesquely articulated features and is bereft of human dignity.

In Jaavon and the Unknown Gentleman the black figure is replaced with a living and particular child – my young neighbor.” In repainting Earl’s original work, Kaphar returns specificity to the figure of the black boy. The “gentleman”, however, becomes “unknown”, as Kaphar cuts holes in the canvas where the head and hands of the “gentleman” were once rendered. By changing the original title, Kaphar further shifts the underlying power structure in Earl’s portrait.

This reminds me that I need to start seeing, not simply looking. This is true for art, but also for novels and films too. It’s important to ask how are women and others portrayed? Who are designated as leaders? Who are active agents in the plot? Who causes actions to happen? Who merely reacts or responds?

Too much of what we view, read, or hear is loaded with sexist, classist and racist assumptions. So much so that we don’t even notice it – as the painting example above demonstrates. Unless we educate ourselves otherwise – and even then it’s difficult – we are blind to it all.

You may also like Power of Reframing and Prisons For Profit.

by Roxanne - January 14, 2012January 13, 2012

A Fine Balance

Looking for a transformative novel in an exotic location? Consider reading A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. In this compelling and complex tale, characters Dina (Dinabai) Dalal, her college student renter Maneck Kohlah, and two tailors Ishvar Darji and Omprakash create a family of support for a year, to survive the brutality from the Emergency in an unnamed city by the sea in India.

This story directly confronts the lie of Indira Gandhi’s regime – revealing its extreme violence and oppression against those at the bottom of the entrenched caste system. The characters deal with the struggles inherent in daily living of those living in poverty world wide.

With its up close view of daily life, this book also challenges the lie that the poor are lazy, shiftless, or simply make bad choices. Class structures discriminate in obvious ways in this story. The reader is invited to see that similar discriminatory classicism flourishes the same way in U.S. laws and culture. Our increasing income disparity is a testament to this.

To survive at all while struggling with poverty requires flexibility, creativity and incredible hard work. Those of us in the middle class would not survive one day in their world.

A Fine Balance offers the truth that it is only in relationship with others – especially with those who are weak and marginalized – that we will become the best of who we are, find support and ultimately life.

by Roxanne - January 12, 2012December 31, 2011

Urban Dolorosa

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a Taizé service held monthly to remember the hundreds of children in Chicago killed through violence. To help heal the community from this on-going violence, a friend of mine is involved with the Hyde Park Union Church. Together they have created the Urban Dolorosa, an ecumenical movement in Chicago.

“Urban Dolorosa is a ministry of Hyde Park Union Church and a growing network of churches, faith congregations, community groups, artists, and concerned citizens. We are a multicultural, ecumenical, and interfaith witness – calling the city to notice this crisis of violence and to respond by supporting peace-making efforts in our neighborhoods. Here’s some of the story of how we began and what we hope to accomplish through our memorial events.

Urban Dolorosa is a diverse multicultural movement. We are committed to stand alongside the neighborhoods in our city that have been devastated by violence. Anyone is welcome to join with us in this movement, to remember the lost and living children of our city, to stand and pray alongside the communities devastated by this violence, and to support our campaign to awaken a more committed and compassionate response in our city.”

Just one more example that we as individuals, with just our very presence, can profoundly change our own communities and even our society. We are the 99%.

by Roxanne - January 10, 2012January 11, 2012

One Artichoke, One Lemon

Yes, one can do great things with one artichoke, one lemon and two people for dinner. This simple recipe for braised artichokes is from the Minimalist – you can see it on YouTube here.

This is what we did: Take one large artichoke and slice it in half.