I stood with the book in my hand
back to the wall
face to the sky
legs crossed
expression
pensive, as though lost in thought
Posing for some unnamed audience
I guarded myself against
sitting cross-legged
comfortably
carelessly
on the dirty floor where the mating insects
crawled together without a thought
of my leering eyes
and intrusive mind.
I pretended to notice the words
on the fluttering pages,
but could not
tear myself
from my own self-consciousness.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Friday, March 7, 2014
Free-Write: Internalized Colonial Ideals
For a french literature class I took this quarter at my university, I had to watch this movie entitled "Faat Kiné" which follows the life of an unwed mother of two, and her successful life as a business woman in Sénégal. I preferred the other movie "Madame Brouette" that we watched, but that really isn't the point.
In one scene of the movie, the women wore these traditional Senegalese dresses, beautiful, vibrant dresses and they danced at a party Kiné was holding to celebrate her children's academic achievements.
And I found myself smiling, thinking.. how quaint, timeless, and archaic their manner of dress was.
And that shit stopped me in my tracks.
Now I have had a lot of classes on post-colonialism, both in my french literature, french grammar, and many of my political science classes, so I know what internalization of the colonial ideology looks like. I know what it looks like when someone has accepted that binary that the Papal Bulls began which related barbarism, backwardness, misogyny and hyper-sexuality (among other things) to people of color, to their countries, and to their culture. The binary that equates the West with moral, biological, cultural and intellectual superiority.
And I saw myself looking at the garb of these women and seeing something reminiscent of another 'simpler' time, but I realized that this inherently meant that I saw their culture as not fitting the 'modern', more 'advanced' world - you know, the way a business suit might. The way that I dress might - or my Western friends.
This disgusted me, and I was surprised and annoyed with myself to have found the very same mindset which subjugated not only the peoples of the "Orient" (a term often used by colonial powers in order to define Eastern civilizations on their own terms) deeply ingrained inside my own head. But what about their dress, about their culture, is 'quaint' exactly. Moreover, how could I judge my own manner of dress and my culture to be superior or more advanced?
The only, true differences I see between the West and East are these:
West - East
Colonizers - Colonized
(Often) Richer - (Often) Poorer
...Sure there are numerous other differences. Of course there are. And within the "west" and the "east" there are also differences, an infinite number of cultures, ideologies, social structures, educational systems, cuisines, gender roles, etc. exist all over the world, mixed up in ways that this binary - whose sole purpose was to recreate the identities of the colonized - could never possibly seek to understand with its extremely limited binary.
I am not quite sure what I'm saying anymore.
But I know this, that I am a product of this binary ideology, which asserts that those colonized were colonized in order to save them - you know, the whole "kill the 'savage', save the child" mentality? And it makes me wonder how much fuller I could be as a human being if I could only get rid of this silly infatuation we have with being more advanced, with surpassing our fellow human beings, with being "better" -- and with our futile and dangerous attempts to prove that the "other" identity that we create to scare ourselves and to ideologically imprison others who are different than us in a cycle of dehumanization and violence.
How much more peaceful and beautiful and whole I would feel if I could see past the curtain of bigotry, the distance put in between myself and the culture of my own ancestors. How much more beautiful the world would be?
**********
P.S. I have a theory. I have a theory that all of this colonization and the resulting Western superiority complex actually stemmed from the childish, but nonetheless demoralizing realization experienced by Western civilizations before the start of Western Imperialism..
They 'discovered' the beautiful and strong Eastern civilizations, the lush and bountiful lands of Africa and the proud civilizations that lived there... and realized they were inferior themselves. In attempting to begin trading, they realized that they had nothing to offer these advanced civilizations which they wanted. Collective trauma - left unresolved, misunderstood by the traumatized party - only breeds more trauma in the end...
Maybe that's the reason why the non-Advanced Placement 'world history' curriculum at my high school only began with the French Revolution, well after the advent of Western Colonialism?
(>^_^)>#
 |
| filmfestamiens.org |
In one scene of the movie, the women wore these traditional Senegalese dresses, beautiful, vibrant dresses and they danced at a party Kiné was holding to celebrate her children's academic achievements.
And I found myself smiling, thinking.. how quaint, timeless, and archaic their manner of dress was.
And that shit stopped me in my tracks.
Now I have had a lot of classes on post-colonialism, both in my french literature, french grammar, and many of my political science classes, so I know what internalization of the colonial ideology looks like. I know what it looks like when someone has accepted that binary that the Papal Bulls began which related barbarism, backwardness, misogyny and hyper-sexuality (among other things) to people of color, to their countries, and to their culture. The binary that equates the West with moral, biological, cultural and intellectual superiority.
And I saw myself looking at the garb of these women and seeing something reminiscent of another 'simpler' time, but I realized that this inherently meant that I saw their culture as not fitting the 'modern', more 'advanced' world - you know, the way a business suit might. The way that I dress might - or my Western friends.
This disgusted me, and I was surprised and annoyed with myself to have found the very same mindset which subjugated not only the peoples of the "Orient" (a term often used by colonial powers in order to define Eastern civilizations on their own terms) deeply ingrained inside my own head. But what about their dress, about their culture, is 'quaint' exactly. Moreover, how could I judge my own manner of dress and my culture to be superior or more advanced?
The only, true differences I see between the West and East are these:
West - East
Colonizers - Colonized
(Often) Richer - (Often) Poorer
...Sure there are numerous other differences. Of course there are. And within the "west" and the "east" there are also differences, an infinite number of cultures, ideologies, social structures, educational systems, cuisines, gender roles, etc. exist all over the world, mixed up in ways that this binary - whose sole purpose was to recreate the identities of the colonized - could never possibly seek to understand with its extremely limited binary.
I am not quite sure what I'm saying anymore.
But I know this, that I am a product of this binary ideology, which asserts that those colonized were colonized in order to save them - you know, the whole "kill the 'savage', save the child" mentality? And it makes me wonder how much fuller I could be as a human being if I could only get rid of this silly infatuation we have with being more advanced, with surpassing our fellow human beings, with being "better" -- and with our futile and dangerous attempts to prove that the "other" identity that we create to scare ourselves and to ideologically imprison others who are different than us in a cycle of dehumanization and violence.
How much more peaceful and beautiful and whole I would feel if I could see past the curtain of bigotry, the distance put in between myself and the culture of my own ancestors. How much more beautiful the world would be?
**********
P.S. I have a theory. I have a theory that all of this colonization and the resulting Western superiority complex actually stemmed from the childish, but nonetheless demoralizing realization experienced by Western civilizations before the start of Western Imperialism..
They 'discovered' the beautiful and strong Eastern civilizations, the lush and bountiful lands of Africa and the proud civilizations that lived there... and realized they were inferior themselves. In attempting to begin trading, they realized that they had nothing to offer these advanced civilizations which they wanted. Collective trauma - left unresolved, misunderstood by the traumatized party - only breeds more trauma in the end...
Maybe that's the reason why the non-Advanced Placement 'world history' curriculum at my high school only began with the French Revolution, well after the advent of Western Colonialism?
(>^_^)>#
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Writer's Block
The page
whose presence I requested
now mocks me with its
emptiness, a sight
I first sought with vigor,
now simply a reminder
of my fleeting dreams.
whose presence I requested
now mocks me with its
emptiness, a sight
I first sought with vigor,
now simply a reminder
of my fleeting dreams.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Where will Ukrainian unrest lead?
For the last few months protests in Ukraine - which became increasingly more violent in the run up to an emergency election called which resulted in Ukrainian President Yanukovych's removal and the formation of an interim government, I believe until regular elections commence.
Almost immediately after this election concluded, worries about an invasion by Russia - supposedly legitimized by the assertion that doing so would be only in the interest of protecting Russian citizens living in Ukraine - began to surface, especially after a group of apparently military, but unidentified armed men took control of the Simferopol Airport in Crimea, an autonomous republic of Ukraine to its south.
Now those worries may be actualized by a decision to approve Vladimir Putin's request for troop deployment in the Ukraine, though with the not very reassuring caveat given by Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin that the approved request may "not be used quickly".
Due to the actions of those armed men who took control of Simferopol Airport, international attention has rushed into Crimea and shed light on the possibility of it become a new, potentially violent flashpoint in fights between Pro-Russia and Pro-E.U. protesters. I had a conversation a few days ago about the unrest in Ukraine, and the subject of a possible civil war rising along the lines of these protesters, of the Pro-EU Western Ukraine and the Eastern Ukraine (whose demographics are comprised of high numbers of ethnic Russians and Russian citizens).
Unfortunately, due to the constant brewing of unrest within the country, and overt, unapologetic pressure from Russia, the idea that this situation could come into civil war - especially with the now looming threat of Russian invasion - is more and more likely.
It is quite interesting to note as well the parallels between Cold War tactics and the growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia. Both countries had been tiptoeing around the issue of Syria to avoid a Cold War-style proxy war spilling into the issue of Iran, yet now the focal point of these U.S.-Russo tensions have shifted into Ukraine. Indeed, this may turn into something much bigger than Ukrainian unrest itself if the two powers aren't careful.
Though perhaps Russia is instead well aware of that, and is attempting to reassert its 'soft' power on the world stage amidst unimpressive U.S. economic growth and a recent announcement by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that the Pentagon plans to downsize the military.
I believe it is important to watch the unfolding of the domestic conflict in Ukraine, simply because of how far reaching the conclusion of this conflict will be for all parties involved, internally and internationally. The political dynamics of the global balance of power seem to be in transition away from the Western-centric balance of the late 20th Century, and the worrisome events in Ukraine - and how they are resolved - may offer us a glimpse into the future of that transition.
(>^_^)>#...
 |
| Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/ |
Almost immediately after this election concluded, worries about an invasion by Russia - supposedly legitimized by the assertion that doing so would be only in the interest of protecting Russian citizens living in Ukraine - began to surface, especially after a group of apparently military, but unidentified armed men took control of the Simferopol Airport in Crimea, an autonomous republic of Ukraine to its south.
Now those worries may be actualized by a decision to approve Vladimir Putin's request for troop deployment in the Ukraine, though with the not very reassuring caveat given by Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin that the approved request may "not be used quickly".
Due to the actions of those armed men who took control of Simferopol Airport, international attention has rushed into Crimea and shed light on the possibility of it become a new, potentially violent flashpoint in fights between Pro-Russia and Pro-E.U. protesters. I had a conversation a few days ago about the unrest in Ukraine, and the subject of a possible civil war rising along the lines of these protesters, of the Pro-EU Western Ukraine and the Eastern Ukraine (whose demographics are comprised of high numbers of ethnic Russians and Russian citizens).
Unfortunately, due to the constant brewing of unrest within the country, and overt, unapologetic pressure from Russia, the idea that this situation could come into civil war - especially with the now looming threat of Russian invasion - is more and more likely.
It is quite interesting to note as well the parallels between Cold War tactics and the growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia. Both countries had been tiptoeing around the issue of Syria to avoid a Cold War-style proxy war spilling into the issue of Iran, yet now the focal point of these U.S.-Russo tensions have shifted into Ukraine. Indeed, this may turn into something much bigger than Ukrainian unrest itself if the two powers aren't careful.
Though perhaps Russia is instead well aware of that, and is attempting to reassert its 'soft' power on the world stage amidst unimpressive U.S. economic growth and a recent announcement by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that the Pentagon plans to downsize the military.
I believe it is important to watch the unfolding of the domestic conflict in Ukraine, simply because of how far reaching the conclusion of this conflict will be for all parties involved, internally and internationally. The political dynamics of the global balance of power seem to be in transition away from the Western-centric balance of the late 20th Century, and the worrisome events in Ukraine - and how they are resolved - may offer us a glimpse into the future of that transition.
(>^_^)>#...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)