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NE! Silovanje Dokumentarni na 2011 American Academy of Religion godišnjem sastanku

9. studenog 2011

"'NE!' Breaking tišinu Oko crne žene i silovanje "

Filmova i Okrugli stol
Supokroviteljstvom Womanist Pristupi religije i društva Grupe, a crni teologije skupine na
American Academy of Religion je 2011 Godišnji sastanak
19. studeni 2011
Marriott Marquis (Session A19-407)
San Francisco, CA
20:00

Opis
Međugeneracijske ploča nakon prikazivanja NE! Silovanje Dokumentarni , međunarodno priznatog, nagrađivani dugometražne dokumentarac koji otkriva stvarnost silovanje, druge oblike seksualnog nasilja, i ​​ozdravljenja u African-American zajednice. NE! također istražuje kako je silovanje koristi kao oružje homofobije. Oglašen kao osobito privlačiv panelisti će raspravljati o tome kako vjeru, rasu, i politika može i negativno i pozitivno utjecati na stavove i rješenja na kraju silovanja i drugih oblika seksualnog nasilja. Oni će sudjelovati u razgovoru koji će istražiti neka od pitanja istaknuta u dokumentarcu, koji uključuju, Black feministički / womanist kršćanske i islamske perspektive koji se bave wrongfulness za silovanje žena, Black muškaraca kao pro-feminist/womanist saveznici u silovanje prevencije, Silovanje kao zajednica pitanje koje pojačava signalno-sigurnosnih uređaja ugnjetavanja, kao što su rasizam, seksizam, klasizmu i heteroseksizam, i aktivizam i duhovnosti kao ozdravljenja modaliteta. Rodno zasnovano nasilje međunarodni zločin koji ne poznaje granice. Ova ploča će se baviti tim globalnim nasilja kroz prvom licu svjedočanstva, stipendije, aktivizam, i kulturnim radom Afroamerikanaca. Kako Alice Walker , Pulitzerove nagrade osvojivši autor Ljubičasta kaže: "Ako Crna zajednice u Americi i svijetu će se spasiti, mora dovršiti posao 'NE!' počinje. "

Moderator:
Rev Carla Jean-McNeil Jackson, Esq. Je upravno pravo odvjetnik, koji je također pruža pro bono pravne usluge u stambenim zakonom. Ona je također odredio ministar i ostvaren pjevač, uključujući i obilazak Italije u glazbenom joj propovijed, "Upravljanje životnim izazovima", objavljen je u "Sestra Zakona 2". To propovijedanje Žene: Multikulturalni Collection , uredio pokojni Ella P. Mitchell i Valerie Bridgeman, s predgovorom Katie G. Cannon.

Panelisti:
Aishah Simmons Shahidah , je producent, pisac i direktor NE! Silovanje Dokumentarni. Od službeni release u 2006, ovaj nagrađivani, međunarodno priznati dokumentarac bio korišten kao obrazovni alat za organiziranje diljem Sjeverne Amerike, te u brojnim zemljama diljem svijeta. Gospođa Simmons je feministička lezbijka Crna incest i silovanje preživjelog čiji su spisi o filmskim aktivizma, rodno uvjetovanog nasilja, queer identitet iz AfroLez ® femcentric perspektive, a utjecaj raskrižja rase, spola i seksualne orijentacije na živote Crna žena sadržanu u nekoliko antologija i časopisa. Ona olakšava radionice, uči nastava i predavanja opsežno cijeloj Sjevernoj Americi i na međunarodnoj razini.

Rev Traci C. West, dr.sc. , je profesor etike i African American Studies na sveučilištu Drew bogoslovnog fakulteta u New Jerseyu. ! Sadržanu sugovornika u NO, ona je autor Remeti kršćanske etike: Kada rasizma i živote žena Matter (Westminister John Knox Press, 2007), Rane Duha: Crna žene, Nasilje, i otpora etiku (New York University Press, 1999), i urednik Naše Family Values: Religija i istospolnih brakova (Praeger, 2007). Ona trenutno radi na projektu razgovora aktivista u Gani, Brazilu i Južnoj Africi na njihovim strategijama za rješavanje rodnog nasilja nad ženama i djevojčicama.

Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, dr.sc., viši predavač je u African American i vjerskih studija na Sveučilištu u Floridi . Sadržanu sugovornik u NO, njezina istraživanja, nastave, a anthologized spisi fokusirati na žene i islama;! I uloge religije u African American borbe za pravdu. Ona je trenutno pod ugovorom s The New Press, za volumen u seriji pod naslovom nova religija, islam nije jednak fundamentalizma. Osim toga, za više od 45 godina, radila je na globalnoj razini u području građanskih prava, ženskih prava, ljudskih prava i mirovni rad. Ovaj rad obuhvaća njezin 23-godine zakupa na osoblje američke prijatelja službu (AFSC), kveker mir, pravdu, ljudska prava, te međunarodni razvoj organizacije.

Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., Ph.D., je jedan od danas najviše provokativan komentatora na raskrižju religije, politike, te gospodarske i socijalne politike u Americi. On je objavljen na MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, BBC, C-SPAN, PBS, a Bloomberg mreže. Bivši Wall Streetu ulaganja izvršne i bivši predsjednik sjemenište, on je trenutno profesor biblijskih tumačenja u New Yorku Teološkom i stipendist u Religija i African American studija na Sveučilištu Columbia. Njegova najnovija knjiga je Svemir zavoja Prema pravosuđa: Radikalne Razmišljanja o Bibliji, Crkvi i političko tijelo (Orbis, 2011).

Alice Walker: ljepota u Istini za Aishah Simmons Shahidah

26. listopada 2011

Alice Walker: ljepota u istini

Ovaj blog je prvotno postavljen na gđa Magazine blog
http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/10/25/alice-walker-beauty-in-truth/

Ja sam žena: Tamne,

popravljen, ozdravio

Slušanje vas. ...

-Alice Walker, iz njezine pjesme "Remember"?

Za više od četiri desetljeća, Alice Walker ima koristi pisane riječi učiniti vidljivim ono što je napravio nevidljivim kao posljedica eksploatacije i marginalizacije. Jednako tako važno, ona je humanitarne i socijalne promjene agenta koji je doslovno je stavio njezino tijelo na liniji za mir i pravdu. Alice Walker šetnje njezin razgovor. Njezin živi primjer potaknuo i izazvao brojne pojedince diljem svijeta da žive u potpunosti angažirana, suosjećajni života.

Ljudi imao problema s mojim nezainteresiranost za podnošenje. A oni imali problema sa svojim intelektom, a imali su problema s mojim izborom ljubavnika ... a imali su problema s mojim izborom svega ... tako, odaberite jednu, odaberite sve, samo je problem. ...

Romanopisac, esejist, pjesnik, pisac kratkih priča, antolog, učitelj, urednik, izdavač, womanist i aktivist, Walker je nadmoćan američki pisac-prva crna žena koja je osvojila Pulitzerovu nagradu , u 1983, za svoj ​​roman zemlju razbijanje boja Purple . Ona je također dobio National Book Award , i Color Purple naknadno je napravljen u obje uspješne filmske i glazbene Broadwayu .

Na vrlo osobnoj razini, da nije za nju groundbreaking umjetnosti i aktivizma, zajedno s drugim drugog vala crne žene pisci i kulturni radnici, moj dokumentarni film NE! Silovanje Dokumentarni , koja otkriva stvarnost silovanja, drugih oblika seksualnog nasilja i ozdravljenja u African American zajednice vjerojatno bi-ne postoji. I, zajedno s tolikim drugima, doslovno i metaforički stajati na Alice Walker ramena.

A ako su ikad vrijeme za svijet imati vizualni zapis Alice Walker nadahnjuje put, sada je to.

Međunarodno priznatih, nagrađivani redatelj Pratibha Parmar je radosno i hrabro uzeti na povoljan odgovornost dokumentiranja života svog dugogodišnjeg prijatelja u dugometražni Alice Walker: Ljepota u istinu . dviju žena se prvi put susreli u 1991, kada je Parmar je dragi prijatelju , kasno pjesnik i aktivist lipnja Jordan , zajedno sa aktivist i znanstvenik Angela Davis , predstavio dvije žene. U to vrijeme Parmar je u proizvodnji na mjesto Rage , dokumentarni film za britanske televizije na African American žene i njihova uloga u SAD-u pokretu za građanska prava. Dvije godine kasnije, Parmar i Walker su radili zajedno, na dirljiv i snažan dokumentarac Ratnik Marks o sakaćenje ženskih genitalija (FGM). Ideja je došao iz Walker, koji je u to vrijeme bio u svojem roman posjeduje tajna radosti , koji je istraživao život genitalno osakaćenih žena afričkih. Nedugo zatim, glasovi govore protiv takvih zločina jedva su priznati u globalnoj areni, ali ratnik Marks odigrao važnu ulogu u poticanju međunarodne pomoći organizacijama da se ne tretiraju kao FGM kulture, ali kao mučenje. Osim filma, Walker i Parmar koautor knjige Oznake Warrior: sakaćenje ženskih genitalija i seksualno zasljepljujućih žena .

Ne vjerujem da je redatelj više odgovara ili počinio kako bi dokumentarac Alice Walker od Pratibha Parmar .

Od početka filma prije četiri godine, zajedno sa svojim partnerom i producent Shaheen Haq , Parmar je zarobljen širok spektar glasova dati uvid u Walker, uključujući i Gloria Steinem , Yoko Ono , Steven Spielberg , Angela Davis , kasno Howard Zinn , Danny Glover , Brenda Russell , nagradu Tony-pobjednik LaChanze , Beverly Guy-Sheftall , Jewelle Gomez , Evelyn C. Bijela , Allee Willis , Quincy Jones , Jack Kornfield i Arisaka Razak . No, kao i bilo tko upoznat s filmskog zna, istraživanje i proizvodnju film je jedna stvar, to provesti kroz skupo zemlja post-proizvodnje iu kazališta je još jedan.

Parmar i Haq su sada u kritičnim potrebna sredstva da bi ovaj važan dokumentarni film preko ciljne linije. Nadaju se objaviti film u 2012 obilježavanja 30. obljetnice objavljivanja Color Purple. Oni su već emitiraju nositi s PBS-a 'American Masters , no dio filmaši 'ugovor s PBS je da je, za filmski integritet miloga, nitko od opremljenog ispitanika, uključujući i Alice Walker, može pridonijeti bilo financiranja prema projektu.

To je gdje je ostatak od nas može korak i. Uz svoje kreditne kartice maxed, Parmar i Haq počele gužve financiranja kampanja na IndieGoGo za podizanje najmanje $ 50.000. Njihov krajnji cilj je trostruki da, budući da im je potrebno 150.000 dolara za dovršetak filma.

Bio sam ponižen, a čast da bude pitao za Pratibha Parmar da se pridruže timu za prikupljanje sredstava. Alice Walker je u tijeku doprinos u izradi ovog svijeta humanije mjesto je duboka. I dok ja uvijek kreditirati moj učitelj i mentor, pokojni Crna feminističke književnik i kulturni djelatnik Toni Cade Bambara, uz pomaže mi se pronaći kao crni feministička lezbijka kulturni djelatnik, Parmar filmovi, osobito Mjesto Rage-odigrao ključnu ulogu u pomicanju moj pogled i izazovan mi koristiti pokretne slike da sućutno humanog revolucije neodoljiva.

Do danas više od 20 posto 50.000 $ minimum je uskrsnuo. Sada filmaši imaju manje od dva mjeseca podići ostatak, tako da vrijeme je susstina. Donacije počinje na $ 10 i ići do $ 10.000. Obeæao su prihvaćene na međunarodnoj razini.

Kod većine nezavisnih filmova, posebice onih koje te o radikalnim žena koje ne odgovaraju patrijarhalne i racialized definicije žene (što god to značilo!), To traje globalno selo pretvoriti ove womanist / feminističke vizije u celuloid / digitalni stvarnosti. Ako postoji sumnja o važnosti Alice Walker: ljepota u Istini , pozivam te Vam savjetujemo da biste vidjeli dah trailer za film kako bi dobili okus onoga što će doći sa završene filma.

Kao što je Angela Davis, tako rječito govori u filmu,

Svi Alice spisi pozivaju nas da mislimo drugačije i kritički misliti o tim stvarima često smo najviše uzimamo zdravo za gotovo. Mislim da je ono što se može promijeniti svijet.

Evo gdje možete ponuditi kritički potrebna financijska podrška Alice Walker: Ljepota u istini.

Fotografija (s lijeva na desno) Pratibha Parmar, Alice Walker i Shaheen Haq, po Trish Govoni

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats i Rhymes screening i Okrugli stol

24. listopada 2011

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats i Rhymes:

Filmova i Okrugli stol

Četvrtak, 27 listopad, 2011

18:00 (film screening)

19:30 (Okrugli stol)

Lokacija: Miller kazalište, Sveučilište Columbia

116. i Broadwayu

New York, NY

Kao dio Sveučilišta Columbia seksualnog nasilja Odgovor Odnos Nasilje svijesti Mjesec programu , molimo vas da se pridružite moderatora

Akiba Solomon (Pisac i freelance novinar)

i panelisti

Byron Hurt (producent / redatelj Hip Hop: Beyond Beats i Rhymes),

Aishah Simmons Shahidah (producent / redatelj NE! Silovanje Dokumentarni), i

Ted Hrpa (suosnivač, poziv za muškarce)

za živu panel rasprava nakon pregleda ove nagrade-pobjednički, zakivanje film koji istražuje seksizma i drugim gorućim pitanjima u hip-hop kulture.

Za više informacija: obratite seksualnog nasilja odgovor slanjem e-pošte na lr2520@columbia.edu ili pozivom na 212.854.3500

DSK I PRAVDA: Politika sišli U SILOVANJE KULTURE

10. listopada 2011

DSK (Dominique Strauss Kahn) I PRAVDE: Politika sišli U SILOVANJE KULTURE

Za RSVP ovog događaja slobodno kontaktirajte Božansko-Azija Planes u
dplanes "na" connectnyc "točka" org ili (212) 683-0015 ext.215

Troy Davis, SlutWalks, zauzeti na Wall Streetu, Stephanie Gilmore Izazovi rasizma na sjecišta

9. listopad 2011

Sestra / Druže Stephanie Gilmore, koji je govorio na SlutWalk Philadelphia, je, po mom najboljem znanju, jedan od samo anti-rasističkim Bijele feministkinje koje javno je zagovarao / pretpostavka SlutWalk, a javno izazovan svoje sadašnje rasističke stvarnost.

Sa svojim FULL dozvolu, imam ponovno objavljen tekst njezina eseja, tako da ljudi koji nisu na Facebook će biti u mogućnosti to pročitati u cijelosti.

To je također dostupna na? AfroLez ® femcentric perspektiva blog .

Jesam li Troy Davis? Djevojčura,? Ili, što me muči izostanak refleksivnosti u pokretima koji Objavi solidarnosti

Stephanie Gilmore

1.

21. rujna 2011, sam se pridružio stotine mojih prijatelja i milijuni ljudi diljem svijeta gledati, kroz suze i bijedni užas, kao i Troy Anthony Davis je bio pogubljen od strane države Gruzije. U dvadeset godina između Davis suđenju za ubojstvo policajca Marka McPhail i njegova izvršenja, Davis zadržao svoju nevinost, a svjedoci javno raskrstio svjedočanstvo koje je poslalo Davis na smrt. Unatoč sukobu svjedočenja i neodgovarajuće dokaze, država ostavi dugotrajne i dugotrajne sumnje i umjesto toga, stavite Troy Anthony Davis do smrti.

Na Facebook, Twitter, i drugih medija, vidio sam virtualni i stvarni prijatelji izjavljujem da: "Ja sam Troja Davis." Oni su promijenili svoj profil slika na fotografije ili sliku Davis, ili crna kutija, sve u pokušaju da artikulira osjećaj solidarnosti, stav protiv nepravde iz zatvora industrijski kompleks i države temeljito ukorijenjena u ubojstvu čovjeka koji ne može imati počinio kazneno djelo ubojstva. Slažem se svesrdno da je država je bio u krivu u izvršavanju gospodin Davis i ja tuguju za njegovu smrt, kao i da od službenika McPhail. No, u tjednima nakon Davis je izvršenje, bio sam zadivljen, ako ljudi stvarno shvatiti kako i zašto Davis došao da bude ubijen u rukama države. Ljudi tvrde da: "Ja sam Troja Davis", ali što to znači?

Na mnogo načina, ja nisam Troy Davis. Ja sam srednje klase, 40-nešto-godišnja bjelkinja. Prema 2008 Pew Center na članice izvješću, jedan u 36 latino odraslih je u zatvoru u Sjedinjenim Državama. Jedan od 15 Crna odraslih je previše, statistika koja obuhvaća jednu od 100 crne žene i jedan u devet crnih muškaraca u dobi 20-34. Iako je jedan od mojih roditelja je proveo vrijeme u zatvoru, i kroz zatvaranje pridružio redovima oteklina od 2,3 milijuna ljudi u zatvoru i još mnogo toga u sustavu probacije, na pola puta kuće, a uvjetni otpust, ja i moj bijeli vršnjaka ne lice sustavna rasno nepravde u strukture zatvora. I to ne počinju ili završavaju s zatvorskog sustava. Crno djeca su suspendirani i izbačen iz škole u 3 puta po stopi od bijele djece. Rasne diskriminacije u financiranju obrazovanja utječe na djecu uspjeha u školi, kao i novac siromašnih školske općine također su velikom većinom crna i latino susjedstvu. Škole su i dalje plinovoda u zatvor za mnoge Black i latino djece i generacija obitelji, zatvor je stvarnost. Jedno od 15 djece Crna trenutno ima roditelja u zatvoru. Ljudi kažu da je sustav je slomljen, ali ja (zajedno s drugima u pokretu ukidanja zatvora) priznati da sustav radi točno kao što je bio postavljen za napraviti. Mogu li zaista reći: "Ja sam Troja Davis" bez davanja ozbiljno razmotriti stvarnosti rasizma u zatvoru industrijski kompleks? Da li to samo postati nešto više od usvajanja slogana i slike, bez prave svijesti rasističke stvarnosti zatvora industrijski kompleks?

2.

On August 6, 2011, I joined Slut Walk Philadelphia . It was a beautiful day and hundreds of people moved through Center City to end up at City Hall, where even more gathered to speak out against sexual violence. I had been following Slut Walks with great delight because I see the people power in the sheer numbers of women and men who are fighting back against sexual violence. So when I was asked to participate, and to stand with queer people of Color in a more racially inclusive Slut Walk than I had seen to date, I said “yes” because the fight to end sexual violence is my fight. And fighting against a culture that perpetuates and promotes rape; cheers on rapists; and diminishes, humiliates, and silences victims through law, education, and entertainment will demands knowledge that the system, again, is not broken. It is doing the very work it was constructed to do – sexual violence is a tool of ensuring white status quo. And if we are to end sexual violence, we must acknowledge how it operates.

I have struggled to accept a movement that does not acknowledge the very problematic word “slut” and how historically many women have not been able to shake the label of “slut.” I participated in the struggle – the movement as well as my own internal struggle – because I wanted to engage in, create, and sustain dialogue. Indeed, many criticize the apparent move to claim “slut” – how can you pick up something you've never been able to put down? Black women have been most vocal about the longer legacy of sexual violence done onto their bodies – often against the backdrop of slavery and colonialism — simply for being Black. But I continued to push into these bigger conversations and analyses. I listened and engaged when Crunk Feminist Collective challenged Slut Walks, when BlackWomen's Blueprint issued their “ Open Letter from Black Women to Slut Walk Organizers,” and when individual women of Color (and only women of Color) spoke publicly about racist actions within individual marches as well as racism within the larger movement. White women I know made private comments about different expressions of racism, but never spoke up to challenge individual actions or larger frameworks of analysis, leaving me to wonder “why?”

And then I saw the sign from Slut Walk NYC bearing the words “ Women are the N*gger of the World .” I don't care that the quotation is from John Lennon and Yoko Ono. I don't care that the woman was asked to take down the sign – although I certainly do care that a woman of Color had to ask her to do so while white women moved around her, seemingly oblivious. I am angry when I continue to see so many white women defending it expressly or remaining complicit in silence, suggesting that “we” (what “we”?) need to focus on sexual violence first, as if it is unrelated to racism. And I wonder, can I really claim to be a part of the nascent Slut Walk movement without giving serious consideration to the realities of racism within very publicly identified facets of it? Can I be a part of it when so many women – my very allies and sisters in antiracist struggle – are set apart from it, or worse, set in perpetual opposition to it?

3.

Moje pitanje je, kako možemo biti u solidarnosti, kada nismo spremni biti refleksivnom i da se ček, ček jedni druge, i biti provjereni? Bernice Johnson Reagon priznao da je koalicija je teško raditi, napravio čak i teže od strane ljudi koji dolaze u koalicije u potrazi za pronaći kuće. Moj osjećaj, ili možda jedan osjećaj imam, je da se mnogi ljudi došli "Ja sam Troja Davis" zamah ili djevojčura Šetnja marševa u potrazi za dom, mjesto gdje se mogu opustiti i osjećati ugodno u svojoj teško (jako teško !) rad i utješi drugih koji ih maziti po glavi i reći im "dobar posao." To se ne odbaciti pravi zabrinutost za stanje našeg svijeta. Možda smo svi usamljeno, kao što su realnosti socijalne pravde rada uzeti na različite oblike i ukusan od WTO-a i 9 / 11. Dakle, mnogi ljudi su dolje za neposrednu pitanje - neobranjivo izvršenje Troy Davis, neobranjivo održavanja seksualnog nasilja - i što je bitno. Ali ja brinuti da mnogi bijelci nisu plaćati pozornost na veće strukture u mjestu. Oni se ne refleksivna o stvarnosti rasizma koji undergird zatvora zatvora, smrtne kazne, i seksualnog nasilja.

Nisam Troy Davis, ja nikada neće biti. Sustav izgrađen na temeljima rasizma osigurava da neću suprotstaviti stvarnosti zatvora zatočeništva na isti način kao i crna i latino ljudi. Ja sam jak zagovornik protiv seksualnog nasilja, ali ne mogu boriti i za pokret koji se ne zanima realnost rasizma i načine na koje rasizam undergirds seksualnog nasilja, i umjesto da slijepo zapošljava rasističke jeziku. (" Zauzeti Wall Street "akcija poziva za mene opet realnosti rasizma i nužnost unutar postojeće strukture kapitalizma - i inzistiranje među bijelcima da su ljudi boje upuštati luksuz vremena i novca da sjedi s njima je neodrživ i rasističke. I mnogi drugi su istakli da jezik "zanimanja" je po sebi problematično, jer tijela i zemlje kroz povijest bila okupirana, često kroz seksualno nasilje i kriminalizacija. pokret treba biti decolonized.) kao što sam podržavaju otvoreno zatvora ukidanje pokreta, kraj seksualnog nasilja, i vađenje s korijenom socioekonomskih sustava koji ignorira 99%, ja ne mogu učiniti bez duboke svijesti o rasizmu koja djeluje unutar i između tih pokreta. To je moj rad kao bijeli aktivist govoriti i biti svjestan tih ostavština i povijesti rasizma. Žene i muškarci boje ne moraju biti sami u prvim linijama utvrđivanja rasističke akcije i reakcije unutar pokreta. Inzistirajući na tome da ljudi Boja imati pravo glasa samo kad je u pitanju utvrđivanje rasizma održava, nego ublažava rasizma. Kao što sam pogled na postupke nekih ljudi unutar tih pokreta, ja sam podsjetio opet da rasizam je trebalo lijevo je još više štete i štetne od gola rasizma prava.

Ako smo raditi zajedno u solidarnosti, moramo učiniti refleksno, svjesni naših akcija i mogućih ishoda prije nego što djeluju. Ovo nije poziv da se usredotoči na kritiku i samo-refleksije do točke da smo neaktivne. To je neproduktivna, kako bi bili sigurni. Ali, to je poziv da bude pažljiv i oprezan o rasističke akcije i reakcije, kako bi se pomiriti s činjenicom da moramo obaviti posao razumijevanja rasističke podlogu zatvora zatvora, smrtna kazna, i seksualno nasilje, ako smo na značajnom napredak. Poništavanje rasizma mora biti u središtu našeg kolektivnog rada preko pokreta. Jeka dr. Reagon izjavu, moramo biti iskreni i pitati ako doista želimo ljude boja ili ako mi samo tražimo sebe s malo boje na njega. Toliko pokreta rada, kao što stoji, čini se da je u potrazi za malo boje, kada su nam potrebni da se istraživanje stvarnosti rasizma kao dio problema, a ne aditiv za "pravi" problem. U nedostatku refleksivnost o strukturne sile koje su nas drži odvojeno, nikada nećemo biti u mogućnosti da se uključe u stvarnom radu koalicije koja će biti potreban ako želimo ozbiljno naše ciljeve završio seksualnog nasilja i smrtne kazne. Ovi pokreti kao što su oni će sada mogu nastaviti, ali oni ne će učiniti u moje ime i svakako ne bez mog pristanka.

Pa ne, ja nisam Troy Davis. I am not a slut. I am not an occupier of Wall Street or any street. The fights are my fights, but the current methods and analyses are not mine. I cannot sit by and listen to people debate the efficacy of the death penalty without understanding that it is the larger complex of incarceration and the “elementary-to-penitentiary” path that tracks and traps Black and Latino youth by design . I am done with the handwringing and “white lady tears” of so many white women who keep defending racist approaches and actions and, at times, respond with violence when confronted and challenged. Such behavior only reinforces the fact that these movement spaces as they are currently defined are not safe. My friend, colleague, and sister-in-spirit Aishah Shahidah Simmons said it best when she commented, “It's sobering to observe how White solidarity is taking precedence over principled responses…. ” Sobering, indeed. I will most assuredly fight to end the prison industrial complex, sexual violence, and unbridled capitalism, but I will do so from a space that centers the racist roots of incarceration, criminal “justice,” capitalism, and sexual violence. Thankfully, those spaces already exist – even if they remain peripheral in the mainstream media (and in much of what is left of the lefty media). But it is time to pivot the center. Without reflexive analysis of racism and coalition work grounded in antiracist movement, we miss the real root of the problem as well as real opportunities to create change.

___________________________
Stephanie Gilmore is a feminist activist and assistant professor of the women's and gender studies department at Dickinson College. For the 2011-12 academic year, she is a postdoctoral fellow in women's studies at Duke University. She is completing “ Groundswell: Grassroots Feminist Activism in Postwar America ” (Routledge, 2012) and has started a new research project on how students negotiate sexual violence on residential college campuses in the United States.

Another Black Feminist Critique of the film “The Help”

7. listopad 2011

I'm 'Help(ed)' Out And Yet, I Still Have Some Things To Say!

By Aishah Shahidah Simmons

This essay originally appeared at AfroLez ® femcentric Perspectives blog on August 19, 2011.

There have been numerous primarily Black feminist critiques of both the book and the film ' The Help '. Most of the critiques deeply resonate with my feelings about both entities. Since it's official release on August 10, 2011, I've dedicated probably too much time to reading and reposting many of the critiques by both Black and White women. While I've shared some of my concerns with some, I haven't compiled all of them into one note up until now…

I didn't like the book ' The Help ' at all, but I believe it is ten times better than the film. If there were a plethora of films about the complexities of Black life, I wouldn't care at all about the film ' The Help '. However, since there aren't that many films out there, combined with the fact that this film will be seen globally and probably go down in cinematic history as a classic, I'm personally very, very clear about my sheer disgust about it.

Vidio sam film na doušnik promotivnim gledanja i bio sam užasnut. Sad, mislio sam Viola Davis 'glume bio je fenomenalan i Octavia Spencer je bio super. Obojica su učinili nevjerojatan posao s ulogama koje su dobili. Unatoč tome, bio sam i sam duboko uznemireni film suptilan i ne-tako suptilan rasizma. Da, znam filma odvija se u 1962 Mississippiju, a moglo bi se reći da je film bio prikazom vremena. Dok su neki da je to istina, što je također istina da je, po mom mišljenju, je film rasistički, seksistički i povijesne.

I'm the great granddaughter, great-niece, and granddaughter of Black women who worked as domestics for racist and sexist White people both in the Jim Crow South and the (allegedly liberated) North. I am the daughter of a southern Black woman who spent 18-months (1964-1966) in Laurel, Mississippi working for SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) . Hardly any of the stories that I heard, first hand throughout my life (and I'm in my 40s) from any of the aforementioned women or their friends, matched the portrayal of the Black women and their communities in the book or the film ' The Help .'

There are many wonderful books by Black women authors who through fiction and fact poignantly address the realities of Black women domestic workers during the same time period that ' The Help ' takes place. Some of those books received critical acclaim. And yet, those books aren't turned into films. Several of those books have been listed in previous critiques of ' The Help ' including Jennifer Williams essay and the Association of Black Women Historian's Open Statement to the Fans of ' The Help .'

Osim te knjige, ja razmisliti o vrlo nedavno izdao ruke na plug Sloboda: osobne račune žena u SNCC , (uredio Vjera S. Holsaert, Marta Prescod Norman Noonan, Judy Richardson, Betty Garman Robinson, Jean Smith Young, i Dorothy M. Zellner), koji je zapravo naglašava one neopjevan, od kojih mnogi nisu bili formalno obrazovanih žena koja je promijenila lice Amera-i-KKK-u Jim Crow Jug. Ja ne govorim o multirasne SNCC samih radnika (po sebi), ali one crne žene (i muškarci) koji je otvorio svoje domove i živote SNCC volonteri ... Mnogi koji su već radili radikalne i subverzivni rad usred radnog za "Miss Ann" ... Toliko od svjedočenja zarobljenih u ovoj antologiji su dostojni filma ili čak vlastite nezavisne knjigu. U mom umu oka, ruke na plug Sloboda: osobne račune žene u SNCC govori priče običnih žena (i muškaraca) radi izvanredno djelo.

Moj duboku bol o svim urnebes i fanfare o 'Pomoć' ima veze s činjenicom da smo vrlo rijetko ikada vidjeti film u kojem obična bijela muška i ženska supremacist terora da Crna ljudi živjeli pod (prvi tijekom ropstva, koje je trajalo stoljećima, a zatim kroz razdoblje Jim Crow) je prikazan. Od DW Griffiths " Rođenje nacije ", til danas, Hollywood je predan dezinfekciju i izradu svjetlo bolno bolno, jadan, i nehumano vrijeme za milijune Afroamerikanaca. Ovaj sustav je u mogućnosti to učiniti kroz castigating, maligning, stereotipa, marginaliziranja i dehumanizacije ljudi afričkog podrijetla. Tu je nešto jako tajanstven i uznemirujuće o tome, reći najmanju ruku.

Dok su neki kritiku Viola Davis , Octavia Spencer i ostali crni glumica sadržanu u 'pomoć' Razumijem da su uhvaćeni između rock i hard mjesto. Teško je ovdje za crne žene (i muškarci), glumci u Hollywoodu (ili Hollyweird, kao Toni Cade Bambara koristi se za to nazvati) sustav. Kada se odbije ulogu na temelju načela i dostojanstvo, još jednom će rado prihvatiti tu ulogu. Ja sam tužan da uloge u 'pomoć' su mogućnosti za fenomenalan glumice poput Viola Davis i Octavia Spencer. Na mnoge načine, čini se kao da je to začarani rasističke i seksističke ciklus nikada neće dobiti slomljena.

Moja pitanja su kako da se zaustavi ovo moćan sustav - Hollywood, koji utječe na svijetu, iz tijeku filmski rasistički, seksistički, heterosexist / homofobne / transphobic i classist napade ne samo na zajednice afričkog podrijetla, ali i na Latina / o, arapski, starosjedilački, azijski, Pacific, otočanin, Roma (Cigana), i jugozapada azijskim zajednicama ...? Kada dovoljno ne postane dovoljno?

Ja sam zabrinut porukama koje se prenose putem "Pomoć". Ako nisu formalno obrazovani, morate bjelkinja dokumentirati i ispričati svoju priču kako bi za to da se čuje ... Zatim bijela žena ostavlja grad kako bi se velika u New Yorku, a vi ste sigurno (?) U 1960 Bijela Supremacist terorističkim Mississippi nakon dobivanja otpustio za razbijanje tišine svoje ...? Ili, vaše pohaban vaš Crna muž, a bjelkinja vas učio kako kuhati, ostaje cijelu noć za pripremu najukusnije jelo ste ikad imali. Ti su bili toliko dirnut da se obrok, koji ostavite uvredljiv muža.

Prije svega, jesmo li doista u redu s ove vrste prikazi Bijele žene kao jedini spasitelji do Crnog životima žena, koji su predstavljeni kao povijesnu činjenicu? Equally as important, is this an accurate HERstory ? And if it is, which I doubt, how often did this happen? Was there real Sisterhood based on equality between Black women domestic workers and their White women employers? How does this story foster sisterhood based on equality between Black and White women contemporarily?

To quote Black feminist political scientist Melissa Harris-Perry “ 'The Help' reduces systematic, violent racism, sexism & labor exploitation to a cat fight that can be won with cunning spunk. ”

Opet, ako je bilo mnoštvo filmova o složenosti Crna života, a zatim 'Pomoć' će biti još jedan film ... Ali, to nije još jedan film. Za mnoge, bolno slično kako povijesne film ' Mississippi Burning 'postao filmski prikaz nestanak građanskih prava radnika ~ Schwerner, Goodman i Chaney:' Pomoć 'će biti filmski prikaz života crne žene domaće radnike i njihove bijele žene poslodavci u Mississippiju u the1960s.

Za dodavanje napad na ozljede, HSN (Shopping Network) je pokrenula svoju kolekciju na, inspiriran "Pomoć". To je tako nečuven i nehumano. Po mom mišljenju, to je još jedan primjer kako bolna dio African-American joj / povijest (i što treba biti neugodno dio američke joj / povijest) je dezinficirati i commodofied. Da citiram moja sestra, Patricia Lesesne: "Što su {} HSN prodaje? Grafičke oznake, silovanje setove, nooses, suza umrljan bluze, muške košulje haljini s krvlju spattered na njima? Točno što komada iz tog vremena u povijesti SAD-a će se prodavati na HSN? Jesu li oni će se boce bit strah, teror i poniženja u 6oz boce i prodavati ih kao dar miris trio set. Što se dovraga događa? "Da, Patricia, što je, dovraga, događa u 2011?

One way we can resist this insanity is by supporting ( non-Hollywood supported/funded ) Independent Cinema. There are many, many filmmakers who are creating powerful narrative and documentary films, which depict the complexities of lives of people who, based on their race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, class and/or religion, are too often marginalized or worse, dehumanized by the Hollywood system.

If you see ' The Help ', be an engaged spectator. It's important that there is critical engagement and interrogation, even if, sigh and gasp , you LOVE the film. I think it's important that all movie goers take time to really reflect upon the inherent messages not only in ' The Help ' but all movies because there are always overt and covert messages that each one of us absorbs.

*******************

Beah Richards' (unfortunately) timeless (one-woman) play “ A Black Woman Speaks of White Womanhood ” is in my opinion, the best response to Kathryn Stockett's “ The Help ”. Written in 1951, it is still most appropriate.

http://afrolez.tumblr.com/post/7967989547/a-black-woman-speaks-of-white-womanhood-by-beah

List of Critiques of “The Help” by Black Women , which are listed in alphabetical order. (I know there are more than those that are listed. This list represents the ones that I read).

1. Association of Black Women Historians' Open Statement to Fans of 'The Help'
   
2. 'The Help': A Feel Good Movie For White People by Valerie Boyd
   http://www.artscriticatl.com/2011/08/film-review-the-help-a-feel-good-movie-for-white-people/
3. “The Help” and White Female Identity by Stephanie Crumpton
   http://www.urbancusp.com/newspost/the-help-and-white-female-identity/
4. Kathryn Stockett Is Not My Sister and I'm Not Her Help by Miriam Harris
   http://www.thefeministwire.com/2011/08/12/kathryn-stockett-is-not-my-sister-and-i-am-not-her-help/
5. Melissa Harris Perry Breaks Down The Help: 'Ahistorical And Deeply Troubling' (by Frances Martel)
   
6. Chocolate Breast Milk: A Review of 'The' Help by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
   http://phillisremastered.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/chocolate-breast-milk-a-review-of-the-help/
7. No thanks Kathryn Stockett, I don't want to be “The Help” by Joyce Ladner
   http://theladnerreportblog.blogspot.com/
8. I'm Good Why The Help Isn't Needed by Tonya Pendleton
   http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles%2Fentertainment%2Fmovies%2F30500%2F1#.Tio6nUx61YI
   
9. Why I Will Not See 'The Help': A Rant by Rosetta Ross
   http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4991/
10. Second (and Third, and Fourth…) Helpings: A Big Black Woman's Thoughts on “The Help” by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
    
    
11. Why I'm Not Looking Forward to 'The Help' by Jennifer Williams
    http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/08/10/why-im-not-looking-forward-to-the-help/
12. Love 'The Help,' But Please Stop Asking Me To Do The Same by Rebecca Wanzo
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-wanzo/the-help-movie_b_925550.html

List of Critiques of 'The Help' by White Women , which are listed in alphabetical order. (I sincerely hope there are more than those listed here. This list represents the ones that I read)

1. Reading The Help by Susannah Bartlow
   http://susannahbartlow.blogspot.com/2011/08/reading-help-reposted-from-facebook.html
2. For Colored Only? Understanding 'The Help' Through The Lens of White Womanhood by Claire Potter
   
3. 'The Help': Softening Segregation for a Feel-Good Flick by Alyssa Rosenberg
   
4. On 'The Help' And Moral Reckonings by Alyssa Rosenberg
   http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2011/08/10/292646/on-the-help-and-moral-reckonings/

“Woman is the 'N' of the World?” (at SlutWalk?)

7. listopad 2011

Woman is the “N” of the World?

by Aishah Shahidah Simmons

This essay originally appeared at AfroLez®femcentric Perspectives blog , and Ms. Magazine blog.

In 1969, Yoko Ono coined the phrase, and I quote, “Woman is the N****R of the World.” Shortly thereafter, she and her husband, the late John Lennon , wrote and he recorded a song with that same title.

According to Wikipedia (which is ALWAYS questionable), at that time (don't know where they would stand today) Dick Gregory and Ron Dellums defended the song.

Several Black feminists, including Pearl Cleage , challenged Yoko Ono's racist (to Black women) statement. “ If Woman is the “N” of the World, what does that make Black Women, the “N, N” of the World ?”

Fast forward 42-years later from when it was originally coined, and a White woman decides to create and carry a placard of the quote to SlutWalk NYC .

I've been informed that one of the (Black) women SlutWalk NYC organizers asked the woman to take her placard down. She did. However, not before there were many photographs taken.

My question is, Why did it take a Black woman organizer to ask her to take it down? What about all of the White women captured in this photograph? They didn't find this sign offensive? Paraphrasing Sojourner Truth , “Ain't IA Woman (too!)?”

ERADICATING RACISM SHOULD NOT BE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF PEOPLE OF COLOR.

How can so many White feminists be absolutely clear about the responsibility of ALL MEN TO END heterosexual violence perpetrated against women, and yet turn a blind eye to THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO END racism?

Is Sisterhood Global? This picture says NO! very loudly and very clearly.

The fact that this quote originates from a woman of color, Yoko Ono, really underscores the work that we women of color must do to educate each other about our respective herstories. This photograph also underscores the imperative need for hardcore inter-racial dialogues among all of us in these complicated movements to address gender-based violence in all of our non-monolithic communities.

Co-signing with my Sister Andrea Plaid that at the fundamental level this photograph speaks to the very sobering reality that there is a level of acceptable racism going on within (some?) SlutWalkS (not a monolith).

There is something deeply uncanny that, in 2011, this White woman would think it was OK to create and carry a sigh with the “N” word at a SlutWalk. What on earth was she thinking? Who in the United States of Ameri-KKK-a doesn't know that the “N” word is NOT okay to use, most especially if you're not Black.

POSTSCRIPT: I have supported and still support the premise of SlutWalks. In August I participated as a speaker at SlutWalk Philly .

I discuss the reasons why I, as a Black feminist lesbian incest and rape survivor, have supported the premise of SlutWalks in fairly great detail in my September 30 interview with Where Is Your Line?

At the same time, I think it's very important that everyone read and discuss the very important and poignant concerns raised in Black Women's Blueprint 's “ Open Letter from Black Women to the SlutWalk.”

Clearly there is an urgent and non-negotiable need for dialogues to happen in the immediate future.

Here is a short list of selected essays by some Black (American) Feminists who have weighed in on the horrific impact of both the sign and the defense of the sign.

Crunk Feminist Collective “ I Saw the Sign but Did We Really Need a Sign? ”
http://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/2011…

Akiba Solomon's “ More Thoughts on SlutWalk: No Attention is Better Than Bad Attention ” – COLORLINES
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/10/more_thoug…

LaToya Peterson’s “ Which Women Are What Now? Slutwalk NYC and Failures in Solidarity ” | RACIALICIOUS
http://www.racialicious.com/2011/10/05/which-wome…
i
“ Slutwalk, Slurs, and Why Feminism Still Has Race Issues ” | RACIALICIOUS
http://www.racialicious.com/2011/10/06/slutwalk-s…

UPDATE: Kimberlynn Acevedo, one of SlutWalk NYC's organizers has posted a statement in response to the sign, and has announced plans to continue the dialogue.

Here is an excerpt:

One of our march's participants last Saturday held up and promulgated a racist, offensive sign. She was asked to take it down by one of our organizers as soon as it came to our attention. This sign symbolizes many of the critiques about SlutWalk not being a safe space for people of color, in particular Black women. We are taking it seriously and we absolutely condemn it and are horrified by it. This sign opposes the mission of SlutWalk NYC and its message is in direct conflict with the beliefs of its organizers. ...

We are meeting with many of the groups which have critiqued SlutWalk NYC directly. We are meeting with Black Women's Blueprint. We are attending an open meeting with Sister Song. We are holding a completely open meeting on October 13 at Walker Stage from 6-8 pm in order to discuss how to build a fighting movement. Further, we encourage everyone to take a look at the transcripts and videos of the speeches we have posted on our website and Facebook. We know we need to grow. We have been working on growth from the beginning. There were powerful, diverse and engaging speeches at the rally, many of which directly hit upon critiques of SlutWalk. THESE are the seeds of growth in our organization. We want to start a movement that passionately wants include the voices of all people, of all survivors, of all individuals who see merit in what it is that we are choosing to combat.

We hope you will join us.

Where Is Your Line? Interviews Aishah Shahidah Simmons

7. listopad 2011

AISHAH SHAHIDAH SIMMONS FEATURED IN WHERE IS YOUR LINE'S? ' 'BADASS ACTIVIST FRIDAY PRESENTS”

On Friday, September 30th, Aishah Shahidah Simmons was thrilled to be the interview partner for Where Is Your Line's “Badass Activist Friday Series. ”

In this very extensive interview, Aishah talked about Toni Cade Bambara, Vipassana Meditation, People of Color practicing the teachings of Buddha, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth (the film), Liberation from Within (the film), NO! The Rape Documentary, Rape, Incest, Consent, Celibacy, Palestine, Troy Anthony Davis, SlutWalk, and Wangari Maathai.

photographed by Calvin Finley

It's Friday, and we all know what that means! Interviews with your favorite badass feminists and activists. Whether social media queens and kings, creative artists, sex educators, or just kick-ass personalities, these people harness righteous anger, instigate movements and inspire cultural change. We're here to honor them and their work, but more importantly, to highlight how we can all get up, plug in, and? Just Start Doing .

My interview partner this week is? Aishah Shahidah Simmons , documentary filmmaker, writer, lecturer and activist. She's the producer, writer and director of? NO! The Rape Documentary , and she screens her work all around the world. You can follow her and her work at? @AfroLez and? @InnerLiberation.

Here's what we talked about:

You're a filmmaker, writer, lecturer and activist. That's a lot of hats to wear. Why don't you start by telling us what your day-to-day works looks like right now.

Yes, it is a lot of hats to wear, which is why I also use cultural worker. That term was taught to me in 1990 by? Toni Cade Bambara , who was a Black feminist cultural worker extraordinaire, my teacher, and my Big Sista-friend. Every day is literally a new and different day. However, there are some things that rarely change. I'ma practitioner of? vipassana meditation . Part of my practice is to meditatively sit twice a day, every day for an hour at each sitting. I used to be and, at times, I still am very resistant to sitting because I viewed it as a time obstacle to my doing my cultural work. Life experiences, however, consistently show me that sitting is a non-negotiable resource that enables me to do my cultural work. After sitting, I do some form of exercise (walking or swimming are my preferences) and then I'm usually able to begin the external work. I check my email, facebook, and twitter accounts. I also check various blogs and other sites. If I allow it, the aforementioned can very literally consume my entire day and night because it's non-stop action on the cyber highway…

CLICK HERE TO READ IN ITS ENTIRETY

http://whereisyourline.org/2011/09/badass-activist-friday-presents-aishah-shahidah-simmons/

Gloria Steinem and NO! Silovanje Dokumentarni

7. listopad 2011

Gloria Steinem and NO! Silovanje Dokumentarni

by Aishah Shahidah Simmons

Originally appeared at The Feminist Wire on September 23, 2011

http://thefeministwire.com/2011/09/gloria-steinem-and-no-the-rape-documentary/

Gloria Steinem is a Second Wave White Feminist pioneer who, for over 40 years and counting, has been at the forefront and often a spokesperson for women's rights in the United States and globally. Since the late 1960s, Steinem has either founded or co-founded several women-led organizations, which have impacted the lives of millions of women across this country and internationally. These organizations include: the Women's Action Alliance , the National Women's Political Caucus , the Coalition of Labor Union Women , the Ms. Foundation for Women , Choice USA , and most recently the Women's Media Center . A co-founding editor of Ms. magazine in 1972, she still serves as a consulting editor in 2011.

Throughout the majority of her activist life, Steinem has had strong alliances and been engaged in political and professional partnerships with a wide range of known and unknown Black women activists and writers. In the August 15, 2011 SFGate article Gloria Steinem had strong influence on [B]lack women , Black feminist author Evelyn C. White wrote:

As national treasurer of the 1970s-era Free Angela Davis campaign, Steinem was a critical link in the legal defense of the Oakland scholar then jailed for her radical politics. She crafted the television speech that black Rep. Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005) delivered in her historic 1972 bid for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. And it was at Steinem?s direction that Ms., in the early 1970s, began to publish Alice Walker and later appointed her one of the first black editors at the magazine. This, long before the author won international acclaim for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple

Steinem's activism and journalism have played a pivotal role in co-creating a feminist lens on a wide range of issues including but not limited to reproductive rights, political activism, union organizing, politics of representation in media/journalism, opposition to wars in Vietnam and the Gulf (past and contemporarily), lesbian and gay rights, female genital mutilation, pornography, and same-sex marriage. Her essays, articles, and bestselling books are viewed as classic feminist writings from which many view as road maps on their own activist journeys.

I am a 42-year old Black feminist lesbian who identifies as a member of the generation of Third Wave Feminists. I was raised in two households (my mother's and my father's) where women's liberation was never viewed as being in contradiction to Black liberation. My mother, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons , was the first self-identified feminist I ever knew. I would definitely say that based on how they lived their lives, my grandmothers and great-aunts were feminists, though they never used that term to describe themselves. As a result of my rearing from both my mother and my father, Michael Simmons , I always thought both women?s liberation and Black liberation were necessary. Since adolescence, I've understood that I could not have one without the other. I have been consciously pro-choice/pro women's reproductive freedom since I was ten years old. I have called myself a feminist since I was a teenager.

Additionally, in both of my homes, a subscription to Ms. magazine was as important as a subscription to Essence magazine (this was in the 1970s and 1980s when Essence was a much more radical magazine than it is today). Gloria Steinem's writings occupied space on the bookshelves in both of my divorced parents' homes. When I came of age as a young woman, I purchased Gloria's books for my own emerging library(along with the books of numerous Black feminist writers including? but not limited to Toni Cade Bambara , Audre Lorde , Alice Walker , ntozake shange , Barbara Smith , bell hooks , Pat Parker , Beverly Guy-Sheftall , Toni Morrison , Sonia Sanchez , June Jordan , and Pearl Cleage ). I also subscribed to Ms. and Essence magazines. Up until 2004, I don't believe I had any direct contact with Gloria Steinem, but I certainly was inspired by her activism and followed it closely.

I virtually met Gloria Steinem in the fall of 2004 through Kevin Powell , a dear friend, comrade, and one of the earlier supporters of the making of my documentary NO! . At that time, I was in my tenth year of financially struggling to make this feature-length documentary, which would unveil the realities of rape, other forms of sexual violence, and healing in African American communities. I literally thought I was at the end of my rope; and couldn't take another step further. I wrote and sent out an email to group of people including, definitely, Kevin. The email was a serious cry for help. In response to my plea, Kevin forwarded my email to a select group in his network of friends and colleagues with the hope that someone would be able to financially assist me and help push me either closer to or over the finish line. Gloria Steinem was one of those people to whom Kevin forwarded my email.

Upon receiving the email from Kevin, Gloria immediately reached out and applauded me on my efforts and commitment to forge ahead in spite of the resistance. She reminded me that feminist truth telling is very rarely easy and hardly ever rewarded. Gloria also shared information about the Gloria Fund at the Ms. Foundation for Women, a possible funding source. Now, I need to underscore that while I knew who Gloria Steinem was, I did not know Gloria and she did not know me. Gloria wrote me without having viewed a trailer or the rough cut of NO! . To the best of my knowledge, other than reading Kevin's email introducing me followed by my email, she had no additional information about NO! (ie, no proposal, brochure, flyer, etc.). And yet, she responded to her friend and comrade, Kevin Powell's, call to support a Black woman making a film about addressing and ending sexual violence in African-American communities. She wrote me to offer moral support and to strategize about how I may be able to secure funding.

There are many instances on my 11-year journey to make NO! where I was completely humbled. Many of those instances include receiving support, both behind and in front of the NO! camera lens and from trailblazing women whose activism, scholarship, and cultural work literally broke the ground upon which I stood. Gloria Steinem reaching out to me was one of those profoundly memorable moments.

I received a post-production grant from the Gloria Steinem Fund of the Ms. Foundation for Women, which literally kept me from failing financially. Equally as important, Gloria's email in response to my email via Kevin (which I have in my NO! archives), arrived in my inbox at that right moment. I will always be grateful to Kevin for his unwavering support of NO ! , expressed in a myriad of ways, including his introducing me to Gloria Steinem. I also remain grateful to Gloria Steinem for reaching out to a stranger trying to and ultimately completing her Black feminist documentary.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to view Gloria: In Her Own Words , during its broadcast run on HBO. Unfortunately, I don't have HBO. I look forward, however, to viewing it either online with a friend/colleague who has a subscription to HBO, or when it's available on DVD. I have, however, made note of my Sister Shelby Knox's appreciation of the HBO documentary while also wishing for a deeper treatment of Gloria Steinem's philosophy and activism. Additionally and again admitting that I have not seen the program, based on what I read about the documentary, by Dana Goldstein , I'm concerned that there may not be many voices (not solely archival footage of) of women of Color who worked with Gloria over the past 40-years.

Clearly, there have been and are struggles around race and (mis)representation in the mainstream feminist movement. As a result of these struggles, tremendous inroads were made in this movement over the past 40-years. I believe that is a testament to the multi-racial metaphorical and literal kitchen table gatherings where some of the most difficult and at times painful dialogues took place. Gloria initiated some of those dialogues. She existed as an integral part of many of those dialogues. Furthermore, she has been challenged and, as a result, has changed because of those dialogues. This is a part of Gloria's legacy that younger feminists of all races need to know, as many of these struggles remain as real today as yesterday. One need not look any further than the overwhelming Black feminist critical responses to the recent release of the film The Help in comparison to the minimal White feminist critical responses to the film.

As a documentary filmmaker, I know the power the moving image to document her/histories. While I'm elated there is a documentary film that chronicles significant parts of Gloria's journey called life, I most definitely agree with my Sister Shelby, who is almost twenty years younger than I, when she wrote “those of us who consider ourselves active duty members of today's feminist movement, would be better served with more information about Gloria the radical, forward-thinking activist that she continues to be than about 'St. Gloria.”"

If you missed Gloria: In Her Own Words , and have a subscription to HBO, it is available for viewing online through HBO Go until December 31, 2011. If you're able, view it and join the Women's Media Center's 'In Your Own Words,' campaign .

No One Is Free While Others Are Oppressed ~ SlutWalk Philadelphia Speech

12. kolovoz 2011

“What's the Right Message?” asks Aishah Shahidah Simmons in her SlutWalk Philadelphia Speech”

“Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference – those of us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are Black, who are older – know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to stand alone, unpopular and sometimes reviled, and how to make common cause with those others identified as outside the structures in order to define and seek a world in which we can all flourish. It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths.”

— Audre Lorde , Sister Outsider —

Crno-bijelo. Lesbian. Feminist. Mother. Warrior. Poet. Audre Lorde's written words taught me that my silence will not protect me, and that silence is not golden. I am a Black feminist lesbian who is a survivor of incest and rape. When I was ten, my paternal (step)grandfather molested me over a period of two years; and when I was 12 the eldest son of a family friend fondled me. My rape happened when I was a soon to be 20 year old sophomore in college. I was on a study abroad program and broke all of the university-enforced rules to go out, very late at night, with the man who would become my rapist. In spite of my having second thoughts about going out with this new acquaintance, I was both afraid to articulate them and to turn around because my friends were covering for me. In the hotel room, for which I paid, I told my rapist “I don't want to do this. Please stop.” I didn't “violently” fight back. I didn't scream or yell to the top of my lungs” because I was afraid. I didn't want to make a “scene.” I blamed myself for saying, “Yes”…for breaking the rules…for paying for the hotel room.

The morning following my rape, I went back to where the school housed us and lied to my friends. I didn't tell them that I was forced to have sex against my will. In an effort to both deny what happened on the night of my rape and to be in control of my body, I had consensual sex with another man that evening. When it was time to return home to the United States, I was pregnant and didn't know which of the two men was the biological father. I was fortunate to have a safe and legal abortion at the Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center for Women in Philadelphia, PA.

And, before I continue, I want to be explicitly and unequivocally clear that I am NOT a lesbian because I was molested and raped. I am a lesbian because I'm attracted to and love women. So, please do not walk away making the homophobic and heterosexist comment “Oh, that's why Aishah is a lesbian. It's because she was molested and raped.”

WRONG.

If molestation and rape made women and girls lesbians, then most of the girls and women in the world would be lesbians. Just check the global statistics on molestation and rape.

I share what some of you might view as personal, private—and perhaps—seemingly unnecessary because the personal is directly related not only to the political but also the professional in my life.

Now, I admit when Executive Organizer Hannah Altman invited me to be a speaker at SlutWalk Philadelphia , I was very, very apprehensive. However, after quite a bit of thought and deliberation; and in spite of my many conflicting feelings as a Black feminist lesbian whose contemporary reality and ancestral lineage has been rooted in the legalized name calling/marginalizing/denigration of mind/body/spirit for centuries without too much recourse, I accepted the invitation to be a speaker.

I am here today because I want to see an end to the victim-blaming in my lifetime, and I'm 42-years old. No, victim-blaming is not going to stop because we are all here participating in SlutWalk Philadelphia. If only it were that easy. However, I believe it is important that the faces, voices, and perspectives of women of color (inclusive of all sexualities) and trans people of color are seen and heard. Documented herstory and contemporary reality has shown us that more often than not, it is our bodies that catch the most hell not only by the State but also by people in and out of our communities (however we define them). It is our bodies that have a demonstrated track record of being on the frontlines of the movements to end all forms of oppression.

I believe words are very, very powerful. At the same time, I really struggle with many who are hostile to the “SlutWalks” because they say it gives the wrong message. What is the right message? I think about Take Back the Night, which was founded in the early '70s, when I was a toddler. As strange as it may seem today, especially now that Take Back the Night has become an “acceptable” movement throughout this country and globally, I know there was resistance. I'm sure some, if not many people took the position, 'What do you mean take back the night? You shouldn't be out at night!'

Personally, I do not embrace the word Slut at all… And, at the same time, I will not say or subscribe to the patriarchal and misogynistic thinking that “we can't do this or that type of behavior; or wear this or that type of clothing and not expect to get harassed, fondled, and/or raped.

There are some places in the world that would say that presently, I'm not properly covered in what I view as very modest attire (by most US standards). There are many in the United States; and throughout the world who believe I should be raped, assaulted, and/or harassed for the mere fact that I'm an unapologetically OUT Feminist Lesbian.

Where do we draw the lines of who can and can't be rape, assaulted, harassed, and/or called vicious and vitriolic names? Why are we okay with RAPE being the penalty for ANY type of behavior (including heterosexual women having multiple sexual partners) or for wearing ANY type of attire of clothing (including thongs and bustier? ). This line of thinking is inhumane, egregious, wretched, and should be unacceptable.

Sexual violence is one of the only crimes where the victim behavior's determines if a crime happened or not. I could be in a drug-infested neighborhood with a lot of money on my person and even bragging about my money and showing it off. If someone steals my money, they are a thief, plain and simple. Yes, one could say “Aishah, what were you doing with all that money in that neighborhood. Are you crazy?” And yet, at the same time, it would be clear that I was robbed. If I left my macbook pro in Starbucks and someone stole it, we may think I was dumb for leaving it there, but that doesn't take away the fact that someone stole my macbook pro.

How can we have more empathy for the loss of money or even the loss of a computer than the (hopefully, temporary) loss of one's body for a few seconds, moments, hours, or even days? Why do we tend to be clear about the impact of the loss of material possessions in ways that we don't want to be clear about the impact of the loss of the right to ones own body. For too many, rape has become a word, almost devoid of the horrifying experience from which too many of us never ever fully recover.

There is something very disturbing and painful that there is this widespread (as in global) notion that material possessions are worth more than a woman's body… There is something wrong that too many of us believe that a woman doesn't have the right to show or flaunt her body, if she desires… That a woman doesn't have a right to agree to one form of sexual activity and not agree to another form of sexual activity. That she doesn't have the right to say “yes,” and then have the courage or even the audacity to change her mind and say “no.” Whose body is it anyway? Contrary to global belief, it's not the perpetrators body. And yet, too many of us defend the perpetrators RIGHT to violate the body of another.

When will we stop treating boys and men as if they are wild beastly animals or innocent toddlers (not sure which one) who can't control their words and/or actions? When will we put the blame on the perpetrators? When will we stop saying “Well, women have to take some responsibility?” Take responsibility for what, men and boys being unable to control themselves resulting in them violating a woman or girl's body because of what she said, wore, and/or did?

Really.?!

Again, I ask where do we draw the lines of who can and can't be assaulted, harassed, and/or raped? As long as there is any group of people including but not limited to adolescent and teenage “fast” girls, women, trans people, queer people, and sex workers who are marginalized, then all of us are vulnerable both because it's all subjective; and the lines of the margins shift all of the time. Who's acceptable today may not be acceptable tomorrow.

We must stop subscribing to this notion that rape is the justifiable penalty for ANY type of behavior or attire of clothing that we may not like or even disapprove of.

We must centralize the margins of the margins of the margins of society so that ALL of us are free from assault, harassment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence. No One Is Free While Others Are Oppressed. NO ONE IS FREE WHILE OTHERS ARE OPPRESSED.

Aishah Shahidah Simmons is the producer/writer/director of NO! The Rape Documentary ., the internationally acclaimed, award-winning feature length film, which examines the international atrocity of rape and other forms of sexual violence through the first person testimonies, scholarship, activism, and cultural work of African-Americans. You can follow her on twitter , connect with her on Facebook , and/or read her AfroLez®femcentric blog .

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