#Indiginizing Principle

[kaylani-g]

𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐄, 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐑𝐘! It starts off just like any magic school book: You have a magical school sequestered in the middle of nowhere. And in the school, you have a few houses that one is assigned to through the power of MAGIC. Well, in Praevenicae, School of Wizardry, you’re enrolled in a magical university, and have 7 Houses based on a specific type of magic you study. Let’s learn a little bit about all of them! Each house has an assigned color, culture, animal, gemstone, and object that comes with each house. The culture reflects the means in which spells will be practiced (ie. specific kinds of clothing, the language of spells, specific principles surrounding said culture, etc.). The object will be the medium in which spells are cast, and every object has the assigned gemstone placed somewhere upon it. 𝐁 𝐄 𝐅 𝐎 𝐑 𝐄 𝐖 𝐄 𝐁 𝐄 𝐆 𝐈 𝐍, Are you curious to know what house you'd be in? Take this personality quiz! https://www.buzzfeed.com/jaalarobertson/what-house-would-you-be-if-you-attended-our-magica-1wczhysb97?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bfsharecopy 𝐌𝐄𝐆𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐀, 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 MEGWORA, House of Blood, is the first house of Praevenicae, School of Wizardry. Those enrolled in this house, also known as the Cruorem, study blood & physical being magic. The first thing students are taught is that one’s blood is the source of all magic, as it comes from the body and the genetics they are born with. Therefore, those who truly understand and master discipline of the body, will become that of the most powerful wizards. ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL COLOR: RED ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL CULTURE: CHINA ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL ANIMAL: DRAGON ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL GEMSTONE: GARNET ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL OBJECT: DAGGER. Each dagger comes with a garnet embroidered on cross-guard.

𝐓𝐎𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐀, 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 TOSORA, House of The Spirit, is the second house of Praevenicae, School of Wizardry. Those enrolled in this house, also known as the Spirituale, learn all aspects and attributes towards the manipulation and magic of one’s spiritual being and their soul. Unlike those who study Blood / Physical Being Magic, The Spirituale are reasoned by the idea that all magic stems from the creation of a human’s soul, where all emotions and subconscious perspective are based. Therefore, the true Magister Spirituale learns to use forces of their spirit and those around them to best control their magic. ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL COLOR: ORANGE ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL CULTURE: INDIGINEOUS AMERICA ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL ANIMAL: RAVEN ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL GEMSTONE: ORANGE SPHALERITE ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL OBJECT: PLAYING CARDS. Not to be confused with tarot cards, these cards are a specific spell that a student has mastered.

𝐏𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀, 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 PAUNERRA, House of Time, is the third house of Praevenicae, School of Wizardry. Those enrolled in this house, also known as the Tempus, study reality & time magic. Tempus students do not wonder where the source of magic comes from, rather the forces of the world they live in and how they would be able to manipulate said properties. The Magister Tempus should be able to master the aspects of time travel, have multichronal perception, and should be able to properly create their own reality / time dimension that can stand upon its own foundation. ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL COLOR: YELLOW ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL CULTURE: ABORIGINAL ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL ANIMAL: KOALA ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL GEMSTONE: CITRINE ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL OBJECT: MAKEUP. Students receive a vial of gold, sparkly-magic. Once they open it and pour some on their hand, they simply toss it upwards, wave the magic upon their face, and they have a makeup look for the day, which is usually a yellow color. If one doesn't like makeup, they can do a mask. So long as it is to do with their FACE, they're good.

𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐀, 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 SINIARA, House of The Elements, is the fourth house of Praevenicae, School of Wizardry. Those enrolled in this house, also known as the Dominus, study the four main branches of elemental magic (Earth, Water, Air, and Fire), as well as the sub-brackets (thunder, ice, electricity, metal, etc.) SINIARA's biggest concern with their teachings are preserving the balance of the Earth World & the PRAEVENICAE World alike. The true Magister Dominus will not only master everything to do with these elements, but also control their body to be completely unharmed by these elements in attacks. ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL COLOR: GREEN ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL CULTURE: POLYNESIA ∿ ˎˊ˗ FIJI (Fire) ∿ ˎˊ˗ HAWAII (Water) ∿ ˎˊ˗ SAMOA (Air) ∿ ˎˊ˗ MAORI (Earth) ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL ANIMAL: GECKO ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL GEMSTONES: ∿ ˎˊ˗ CARNELIAN (Fire) ∿ ˎˊ˗ AQUA AURA (Water) ∿ ˎˊ˗ CELESTITE (Air) ∿ ˎˊ˗ MALACHITE (Earth) ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL OBJECT: BEADED BRACELETS, each with their own twist. ∿ ˎˊ˗ CARNELIAN BRACELET - Comes with a match charm to light a fire. ∿ ˎˊ˗ AQUA AURA BRACLET - Comes with a vial of water. A full vial equates up to 10 spells (with more powerful spells needing more water). ∿ ˎˊ˗ CELESTITE BRACELET - Turns into an arm cuff when powers are in use. ∿ ˎˊ˗ MALACHITE BRACELET - Comes with a Polynesian miniature stature & sculpture that acts as the channel of the magic.

𝐊𝐎𝐔𝐗𝐎𝐑𝐀, 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝 KOUXORA, House of The Mind, is the fifth house of Praevenicae, School of Wizardry. Those enrolled in this house, also known as the Animus, study mental & psychological magic. Animus students aren’t specifically taught that the mind is the SOURCE of magic, rather that it’s the POWERHOUSE of all magic. A focused, resolved mind means one’s utilization of their magic is limitless, and they follow this code throughout their lives as a student and a wielder of magic. ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL COLOR: BLUE ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL CULTURE: ANCIENT GREECE / ROME ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL ANIMAL: OWL ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL GEMSTONE: SAPPHIRE ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL OBJECT: A HEADPIECE. Students wear any sort of headpiece with a sapphire-embroidered gemstone on their head. This includes (but are not limited to) diadems, a hairpin, hair-clip, a scrunchie, a headband, and even a hat. If one doesn't like any of those, they can wear an ear-cuff. So long as it's to do with their head, it's all good.

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐀, 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 NAMOURA, House of The Ancestors, is the sixth house of Praevenicae, School of Wizardry. Those enrolled in this house, also known as the Majorum, study ancestral magic. For the Majorum, students communicate with their ancestors for spiritual, psychological, and emotional guidance. In return, they offer themselves up as a conduit for their ancestor's magic to pass through them, and they have those powers for as long as they remain connected with those ancestors. The power of those who come before shape the Majorum's magical identity. ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL COLOR: PURPLE ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL CULTURE: INDIGINEOUS MEXICO ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL ANIMAL: BUTTERFLY ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL GEMSTONE: AMETHYST ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL OBJECT: AN AMETHYST PENDANT, which students use to channel their magic through.

𝐙𝐔𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐀, 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬𝐞 ZUGIARA, House of The Eclipse, is the seventh and final house of Praevenicae, School of Wizardry. Those enrolled in this house, also known as the Praeniteo, study light and dark magic. The light magic being divinity, peace, order, harmony, etc., and the dark magic being chaos, destruction, sin, etc. For the Praeniteo, The complete mastery of these powers, designated by the Magister Praeniteo title, would assume that said individual has complete mastery over these abilities in regards to themselves as well as other individuals when it comes to the physical light and darkness seen and utilized in individuals’ lives. ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL COLOR: BLACK & WHITE ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL CULTURE: CELTIC ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL ANIMAL: HORSE ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL GEMSTONE: ∿ ˎˊ˗ WHITE DIAMOND (LIGHT) ∿ ˎˊ˗ LABRADORITE (DARK) ∿ ˎˊ˗ OPAL (BOTH) ☾︰ ˚₊ OFFICIAL OBJECT: TATTOOS that glow the color of the gemstone. For light magic users, they're white tattoos, for dark magic users, they're black. If one studies both, one gets both colors.

[zwoelffarben]

Not derailing this post which is having a very serious conversation about sex, sexnormativity, and such. There's a quote I want to talk about in that @curlicuecal in the conversation says and relate it to the culture surrounding the adoption of new media:

...if you spend some time talking to people with different experiences or learning about even one culture other than your own ... It just opens your eyes to perspectives and options you never even knew existed. And suddenly you have more colors to paint with.

I believe that the major success of homestuck and (unfortunately) harry potter as well as the major failure of Jame Cameron's Avatar, and minor failure of most YA dytopia novels wit harry potter houses correlate to this New Colors Principle: If you give people new colors to paint wit, they will paint with them.

let's skip over homestuck (we'll get back to it) and (unfortunately) talk about harry potter for a moment. The four houses are arguably the biggest part of potterhead culture, and that's more than just marketing. A lot of words have been written on how the houses function in canon, forming the basis for a bad positive feedback loop that ultimately radicalizes snape, voldemort, and other syltherins to bibotry; as well as other problems with their in canon implimentations. But, the thing that made harry potter so fucking popular, aside from the factors of success largely unrelated to the book itself, was that it gave people some fancy new astrology signs by way of the hogwarts houses. They were new colors to paint with, and its unfortunately what makes it so fucking difficult to kill too, because people don't want to lose access to those colors they found meaning in (I still internally identify wit a house, cringing as I do, because I painted myself with that color, and cutting that part of myself away, despite my acceptance of its necessity is a hard and painful process I'm probably never gonna completely manage.)

By contrast, the failure of James Cameron's Avatar to form a cultural splash is because He doesn't spend enough time really rexploring the blue people's culture in a way that's understandable to a human audience. A lot of the blue people's culture exists only as either a plot device or the mystical native trope, which kinda betrays his opinions on the real-life indiginous peoples his blue people are coded as. He had the opprotunity to create some truly fascinating colors, and had he done so by cooperating with the native people he believes are a "dead end society", and all he made was puce blue.

And now back to the other end of the spectrum, to quote myself, "Homestuck is a now concluded long running web comic series written by Andrew Hussie centering around the paradox inducing shenanagains of ten humans, twenty-four trolls, a number of cerebum, and several other species; as they all quest both for personal growth and to herald the birth of a new cosmic frog multiverse which the surviviors of the narative can settle into: It’s a glorious mess." That quote comes from an essay in which I use huusian troll romance to analysize the romantic-sexual attraction of a character from a completely unrelated media.

The popularity of homestuck stems, I argue here in part, from the absolutely unhinged pallette of new colors it created. You've got astrology^2 in the classpects; you've got the trolls with their lexusi, blood heirarchy, and romance quadrants; the leprechaun have their charms (which is itself taking the piss out of troll romance quadrants), the dichotomy of the prospit and derse dreaming, the cherbum, all the various ways to conceptualize the self brought about by shenanagains in paradox spacetime. Homestuck offers some 40+ new colors to fuck around painting wit, and cringe though the execution might have sometimes been, people did enfact fuck around and paint wit 'em.

People love having new colors to play with, and culture is driven by the desire to paint, but also to discover new colors to paint with. What an excellent metaphor, that I should note was made by a person who, at time of writing, has a homestuck icon.

[trinitarianmission]

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

Epistle of Diognetus

[veganvenom]

so first fuck landlords. but second, i dont want to buy a house bc i dont want to be so tied down yet, so what would be the alternative to landlords if i still want to rent?

Excellent question, and of course not just for those who don’t want to be tied down; buying a house is out of the reach of most people.

What you want is a housing co-operative!

These can have many different legal structures depending on where in the world you are, and even then they vary. But I’d very basically define a housing co-op as a group of tenants who have control over their own home, despite not being owners.

The co-op will usually take out a mortgage on a house, and its members will collectively decide how much rent they need to be paying, what needs fixing, and any other issues to do with the house. This will usually make the rent cheaper than similar private housing as profit isn’t a factor, and gives you control over your own home.

In the kinds I’m familiar with, membership of the co-op is restricted to people actually living there, and everyone has equal say. Some also communally bulk-buy groceries and agree on cooking and cleaning rotas to further save everyone there money and time.

There are also forms of housing co-ops which are state-funded. These are still usually cheaper than private renting, but the state will have some amount of control over the terms of your tenancy.

If you do an online search for housing co-ops near you, you’ll hopefully be surprised by how many there are and the variety of organisational structures and principles around which they’re organised.

Lots of smaller ones are often made by lefty types, and so are explicitly welcoming to people from backgrounds or with needs which make it harder or less safe for them to rent privately. Some I’ve visited are all vegan, some have all/mostly queer members, some are for people indiginous to that area, etc. But of course do some research, and preferably meet with your new housemates first to check you’ll get along!

Here are a couple of (non-exhaustive) directories to get you started in your search. Good luck!

https://www.uk.coop/directory (UK)

https://www.ic.org/directory/ (Worldwide)

[workersolidarity]

Absolutely no mention in any media outlets beside Democracy Now and RT about the coup against the democratically elected Bolivian Government of Evo Morales. The coup, orchestrated by the Bolivian Military leaders, specifically groups of White Supremacists within the Bolivian Military. Most of whom have been US Military trained to be the newest Latin American Death Squads.

Supporting, organizing and orchestrating the coup behind the scenes, was of course the CIA, the US State Dept., and the US Government's "Non-Profit" Industrial Complex arm.

The US Media's silence on Bolivia has been deafening. When mentioned, the word "coup" is never used, just false conspiracy theory about so-called "Election irregularities". The US media claims Morales was instead "asked" to resign by the. Bolivian Military, yet no condemnation of the Military interfering with the Electoral results of a fairly won election. There's also been no mention whatsoever that Morales was forced into hiding until he could flee the country and claim asylum in Mexico.

The US Media has made no mention of the role played in the coup by the CIA and State Department.

Worst of all, other than some vague mentions about clashes, there have been no attempts by the Corporate US Media to mention the systematic slaughter of Indiginous people's who make up an estimated 90% of Bolivia's population, and not a word about the Lithium Reserves at the heart of the reasons Morales was removed under threat of his life from office.

The US is a danger to the Planet, to Ecosystems across the world, it is the enemy of Democracy, Peace, and Prosperity. And make no mistake, this comes down to US Imperialism and Bolivia's natural resources the Morales refused to allow to be extracted unless the profits were to be shared with the Bolivian people.

American Imperialism must be destroyed. The machinery of Imperialism must be smashed and Capitalism's rule must be ended for anything to change in the world.

The US must be burnt to the ground so the seeds of Proletarian Democracy can sprout and world based on the principles of Socialism established in its place.

In the meantime, let's turn the heat up on the US Imperialists interference with Left Wing Governments all through Latin America!

It's time to bring some serious sunlight on the media blockade against what's happening there! Hit the streets any chance you get and make it clear a Political price WILL be exacted for the interference in Latin American countries.

Solidarity with all my Indiginous Comrades on the ground facing extreme violence and imprisonment to fight Imperialism and the coup!

[etst430brynneadams]

Module 8

Chapter 20 focuses on Chicano photography as a means of activism and developing alternative narratives that portray Chicano/as beyond their racialized stereotypes (226). Montoya is a Chicana photographer that uses personal realities to “interrogate traditions of visual representation...that marginalize…Chicano[s/as]” (227). She accomplishes this by revising popular and religious icons with the “everyday Chicano/a body” through “collaboration, role-play, and parody,” (see La Guadalupana) (229). Montoya undermines patriarchal principles often seen in Western portraiture through her depiction of “strong women, often against type, in domestic and non-domestic settings,” (see La Familia) (231). She uses “honorific portraiture” and the “documentary mode” to honor her subjects without dismissing the “historically repressive trait of the portrait,” (235).

La Guadalupana by Delilah Montoya

La Familia from El Sagrado Corazon by Delilah Montoya

Chapter 21: The United States loves Mexican food while at the same time has an extreme hostility towards the presence of Mexican people (239). “Farm-to-Table” Mexican-inspired cuisine has the ability to decolonize food pathways and narratives (240). This farm-to-table method must include the communal access to resources, a focus on local produce, and ensuring the farmers who grow and harvest the food’s well being and livelihood are taken into consideration (242-243). Mainstream farm-to-table is often only concerned with the health and well being of the consumer and the quality of produce; the farmer is left out completely (243). The author argues for a decolonization of haute cuisine. Most anglo chefs who cook Mexican food tell “found Mexican story” as if Mexican cuisine was ever lost or needed to be saved (247-248). While these narrative are spread, the native knowers are left out and not given any credit for their culinary knowledge (249). The author believes this must be stopped and decolonial Mexican cuisine must challenge the “logic of domination in..food chains...and fight against the exploitation of land-based...communities of color,” (250). 

Chapter 22 explores Latinx and indiginous ways of healing and medicine. In recent years it has come to be more accepted in public domains as more and more people are looking outside the pharmaceuticals of Western medicine for methods of healing and well-being (256-257). An interview between the chapter author and the authors of Decolonize Your Diet: Plant- Based Mexican-American Recipes For Health and Healing reveals their journey from starting a garden to explore their ancestral food to today where they advocate for a restructuring of the global economy to remove profit from food (260). These non-Western based practices do require extensive research but not the kind typical of Western medicine. These practices have a high regard for “timelines” of an action rather than relying on a calendar with specific dates and times as well as a high focus on mental well being instead of just physical (260-261). Western medicine tends to “treat” rather than “prevent” often leading to late diagnoses while indiginous practices use a more holistic approach that goes beyond medicine and connects one with their body (264-265). 

I really enjoyed chapter 22 for a few reasons. The first is that I am very interested in alternative medicine/ways of improving my health and well being. I find the common eat healthy (what does that even mean?) and exercise (I hate the gym) to be very unhealthy. I do however enjoy plants, gardening, and cooking a lot, and I want to learn more about using food to take care of myself. In addition, I love seeing Restorative Justice in reading like this because I usually hear about it terms of an alternative for the criminal justice system and not a way of healing. I am studying RJ for my thesis next semester, and I am happy I got to read this chapter as part of my research is on the indiginous roots of RJ and community building circles. 

[suzanneshannon]

Designing Inclusive Content Models

In the 1920s, Robert Moses designed a system of parkways surrounding New York City. His designs, which included overpasses too low for public buses, have become an often-cited example of exclusionary design and are argued by biographer Robert A. Caro to represent a purposeful barrier between the city’s Black and Puerto Rican residents and nearby beaches. 

Regardless of the details of Moses’s parkway project, it’s a particularly memorable reminder of the political power of design and the ways that choices can exclude various groups based on abilities and resources. The growing interest in inclusive design highlights questions of who can participate, and in relation to the web, this has often meant a focus on accessibility and user experience, as well as on questions related to team diversity and governance. 

But principles of inclusive design should also play a role early in the design and development process, during content modeling. Modeling defines what content objects consist of and, by extension, who will be able to create them. So if web professionals are interested in inclusion, we need to go beyond asking who can access content and also think about how the design of content can install barriers that make it difficult for some people to participate in creation. 

Currently, content models are primarily seen as mirrors that reflect inherent structures in the world. But if the world is biased or exclusionary, this means our content models will be too. Instead, we need to approach content modeling as an opportunity to filter out harmful structures and create systems in which more people can participate in making the web. Content models designed for inclusivity welcome a variety of voices and can ultimately increase products’ diversity and reach.

Content models as mirrors

Content models are tools for describing the objects that will make up a project, their attributes, and the possible relations between them. A content model for an art museum, for example, would typically describe, among other things, artists (including attributes such as name, nationality, and perhaps styles or schools), and artists could then be associated with artworks, exhibitions, etc. (The content model would also likely include objects like blog posts, but in this article we’re interested in how we model and represent objects that are “out there” in the real world, rather than content objects like articles and quizzes that live natively on websites and in apps.)

The common wisdom when designing content models is to go out and research the project’s subject domain by talking with subject matter experts and project stakeholders. As Mike Atherton and Carrie Hane describe the process in Designing Connected Content, talking with the people who know the most about a subject domain (like art in the museum example above) helps to reveal an “inherent” structure, and discovering or revealing that structure ensures that your content is complete and comprehensible.

Additional research might go on to investigate how a project’s end users understand a domain, but Atherton and Hane describe this stage as mostly about terminology and level of detail. End users might use a different word than experts do or care less about the nuanced distinctions between Fauvism and neo-Expressionism, but ultimately, everybody is talking about the same thing. A good content model is just a mirror that reflects the structure you find.  

Cracks in the mirrors

The mirror approach works well in many cases, but there are times when the structures that subject matter experts perceive as inherent are actually the products of biased systems that quietly exclude. Like machine learning algorithms trained on past school admissions or hiring decisions, existing structures tend to work for some people and harm others. Rather than recreating these structures, content modelers should consider ways to improve them. 

A basic example is LinkedIn’s choice to require users to specify a company when creating a new work experience. Modeling experience in this way is obvious to HR managers, recruiters, and most people who participate in conventional career paths, but it assumes that valuable experience is only obtained through companies, and could potentially discourage people from entering other types of experiences that would allow them to represent alternative career paths and shape their own stories.

Figure 1. LinkedIn’s current model for experience includes Company as a required attribute.

These kinds of mismatches between required content attributes and people’s experiences either create explicit barriers (“I can’t participate because I don’t know how to fill in this field”) or increase the labor required to participate (“It’s not obvious what I should put here, so I’ll have to spend time thinking of a workaround”). 

Setting as optional fields that might not apply to everyone is one inclusive solution, as is increasing the available options for responses requiring a selection. However, while gender-inclusive choices provide an inclusive way to handle form inputs, it’s also worth considering when business objectives would be met just as well by providing open text inputs that allow users to describe themselves in their own terms. 

Instead of LinkedIn’s highly prescribed content, for example, Twitter bios’ lack of structure lets people describe themselves in more inclusive ways. Some people use the space to list formal credentials, while others provide alternate forms of identification (e.g., mother, cyclist, or coffee enthusiast) or jokes. Because the content is unstructured, there are fewer expectations about its use, taking pressure off those who don’t have formal credentials and giving more flexibility to those who do. 

Browsing the Twitter bios of designers, for example, reveals a range of identification strategies, from listing credentials and affiliations to providing broad descriptions. 

Figure 2. Veerle Pieters’s Twitter bio uses credentials, affiliations, and personal interests. 

Figure 3. Jason Santa Maria’s Twitter bio uses a broad description. 

Figure 4. Erik Spiekermann’s Twitter bio uses a single word.

In addition to considering where structured content might exclude, content modelers should also consider how length guidelines can implicitly create barriers for content creators. In the following section, we look at a project in which we chose to reduce the length of contributor bios as a way to ensure that our content model didn’t leave anyone out. 

Live in America

Live in America is a performing arts festival scheduled to take place in October 2021 in Bentonville, Arkansas. The goal of the project is to survey the diversity of live performance from across the United States, its territories, and Mexico, and bring together groups of artists that represent distinct local traditions. Groups of performers will come from Alabama, Las Vegas, Detroit, and the border city of El Paso–Juárez. Indigineous performers from Albuquerque are scheduled to put on a queer powwow. Performers from Puerto Rico will organize a cabaret. 

An important part of the festival’s mission is that many of the performers involved aren’t integrated into the world of large art institutions, with their substantial fiscal resources and social connections. Indeed, the project’s purpose is to locate and showcase examples of live performance that fly under curators’ radars and that, as a result of their lack of exposure, reveal what makes different communities truly unique. 

As we began to think about content modeling for the festival’s website, these goals had two immediate consequences:

First, the idea of exploring the subject domain of live performance doesn’t exactly work for this project because the experts we might have approached would have told us about a version of the performing arts world that festival organizers were specifically trying to avoid. Experts’ mental models of performers, for example, might include attributes like residencies, fellowships and grants, curricula vitae and awards, artist statements and long, detailed bios. All of these attributes might be perceived as inherent or natural within one, homogenous community—but outside that community they’re not only a sign of misalignment, they represent barriers to participation.

Second, the purposeful diversity of festival participants meant that locating a shared mental model wasn’t the goal. Festival organizers want to preserve the diversity of the communities involved, not bring them all together or show how they’re the same. It’s important that people in Las Vegas think about performance differently than people in Alabama and that they structure their projects and working relationships in distinct ways. 

Content modeling for Live in America involved defining what a community is, what a project is, and how these are related. But one of the most interesting challenges we faced was how to model a person—what attributes would stand in for the people that would make the event possible. 

It was important that we model participants in a way that preserved and highlighted diversity and also in a way that included everyone—that let everyone take part in their own way and that didn’t overburden some people or ask them to experience undue anxiety or perform extra work to make themselves fit within a model of performance that didn’t match their own. 

Designing an inclusive content model for Live in America meant thinking hard about what a bio would look like. Some participants come from the institutionalized art world, where bios are long and detailed and often engage in intricate and esoteric forms of credentialing. Other participants create art but don’t have the same resources. Others are just people who were chosen to speak for and about their communities: writers, chefs, teachers, and musicians. 

The point of the project is to highlight both performance that has not been recognized and the people who have not been recognized for making it. Asking for a written form that has historically been built around institutional recognition would only highlight the hierarchies that festival organizers want to leave behind.

The first time we brought up the idea of limiting bios to five words, our immediate response was, “Can we get away with that?” Would some artists balk at not being allowed the space to list their awards? It’s a ridiculously simple idea, but it also gets at the heart of content modeling: what are the things and how do we describe them? What are the formats and limitations that we put on the content that would be submitted to us? What are we asking of the people who will write the content? How can we configure the rules so that everyone can participate?

Five-word bios place everyone on the same ground. They ask everyone to create something new but also manageable. They’re comparable. They set well-known artists next to small-town poets, and let them play together. They let in diverse languages, but keep out the historical structures that set people apart. They’re also fun:

Byron F. Aspaas of Albuquerque is “Diné. Táchii'nii nishłį́ Tódichii'nii bashishchiin.”

Danny R.W. Baskin of Northwest Arkansas is “Baroque AF but eating well.”

Brandi Dobney of New Orleans is “Small boobs, big dreams.”

Imani Mixon of Detroit is “best dresser, dream catcher, storyteller.”

Erika P. Rodríguez of Puerto Rico is “Anti-Colonialist Photographer. Caribeña. ♡ Ice Cream.”

David Dorado Romo of El Paso–Juárez is “Fonterizo historian wordsmith saxophonist glossolalian.”

Mikayla Whitmore of Las Vegas is “hold the mayo, thank you.”

Mary Zeno of Alabama is “a down home folk poet.”

Modeling for inclusion

We tend to think of inclusive design in terms of removing barriers to access, but content modeling also has an important role to play in ensuring that the web is a place where there are fewer barriers to creating content, especially for people with diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. This might involve rethinking the use of structured content or asking how length guidelines might create burdens for some people. But regardless of the tactics, designing inclusive content models begins by acknowledging the political work that these models perform and asking whom they include or exclude from participation. 

All modeling is, after all, the creation of a world. Modelers establish what things exist and how they relate to each other. They make some things impossible and others so difficult that they might as well be. They let some people in and keep others out. Like overpasses that prevent public buses from reaching the beach, exclusionary models can quietly shape the landscape of the web, exacerbating the existing lack of diversity and making it harder for those who are already underrepresented to gain entry.

As discussions of inclusive design continue to gain momentum, content modeling should play a role precisely because of the world-building that is core to the process. If we’re building worlds, we should build worlds that let in as many people as possible. To do this, our discussions of content modeling need to include an expanded range of metaphors that go beyond just mirroring what we find in the world. We should also, when needed, filter out structures that are harmful or exclusionary. We should create spaces that ask the same of everyone and that use the generativity of everyone’s responses to create web products that emerge out of more diverse voices.

Designing Inclusive Content Models published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/

[acethicgroup7blogpart2]

Royal Dutch Shell CSR Initiatives

Corporate social responsibility encourages businesses to be part of the solution to responsible business challenges like scarcity of resources and environmental concerns. Doing corporate responsibility includes educating the citizens and proposing self-sustaining solutions to address the problems faced by the communities.

Royal Dutch Shell establishes a Commitment and Policy on Health, Security, Safety, the Environment and Social Performance that is designed to involve communities to work close to our operations. The Group is committed to pursue its goals with no harm to people, protect the environment, usage of material and energy in the most efficient way and promote a culture in which all Shell employees share this commitment (Shell, 2020c). In this way, the firm could earn the comfort of the customers, shareholders and society as well as to contribute to sustainable development. Every Shell Company has a systematic approach to HSSE & SP management designed to ensure compliance with the law and engages effectively with the impacted communities. 

External CSR Initiatives

Royal Dutch Shell’s established business principles and code of conduct primarily primarily guides the operations and activities of Shell companies, including their support to quite a number of external and international initiatives.

1. Shell supports the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). 

Retrieved from https://www.environmentalleader.com/2019/03/report-companies-committed-to-un-global-compact-perform-better-across-supply-chains/

This voluntary initiative strives to implement universal sustainability principles, in which companies are called to align their business strategies that cover human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption (Shell, 2020a). UNGC encourages its members to take strategic actions to reach broader societal goals, similar to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which stresses the need for innovation and collaboration among its members. Participants show initiative in executing responsible business practices and solutions addressing poverty and supporting health and education.

2. Shell supports the World Bank’s “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative. 

Retrieved from https://breakingenergy.com/tag/zero-routine-flaring-by-2030/

This “Zero Routine Flaring by 2030” initiative, introduced by the World Bank, brings together governments, oil companies, and development institutions who recognize the flaring situation is unsustainable from a resource management and environmental perspective. A typical flare used in the oil and gas industry is composed of a stack collecting unwanted gases waiting to be flared. Routine flaring has profound negative consequences such as creation of greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants in the biosphere. Shell, being a member of the said initiative, continues to pursue its 2015 commitment to put an end on associated gas flaring by 2030 (Shell, 2020b). This strategy is in line with  Shell’s HSSE & SP, where it implements flaring policies to minimise flaring through updating energy management plans and regulating their facilities to comply with it (Shell, 2020c)

3. Shell supports the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. 

Retrieved from https://www.ecomagazine.com/news/industry/global-companies-form-alliance-to-end-plastic-waste

Plastic usage has undeniably helped improve the living standards, however Royal Dutch Shell has also recognized the problems brought by unmanaged plastic waste. All economic agents -- industries, government and consumers, are accountable for this global issue but must also work together to solve this. Shell is a leading member of the alliance and has already started its projects focusing on 4 areas namely: infrastructure, innovation, education and clean-up. According to Shell, their ambition is to use one million tonnes of plastic a year in their global chemical plants by 2025. Moreover, they seek certain technologies which can transform used plastic into liquids possible as an energy source, chemicals or convert into new products. Shell’s retail business is helping its service stations and customers reduce, reuse and repurpose waste across its operations and supply chain (Shell, 2020e).

Shell's Partnership In Protecting Ecosystems

Shell's environmental partners include International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and The Nature Conservancy. Furthermore, Shell in close collaboration with an environmental charity called Earthwatch, trains managers from affected areas, helping them to acquire crucial business and leadership skills. In addition, Shell employees gain a broader understanding of environmental issues by making a hands-on contribution to scientific research (Shell, 2020d). 

Retrieved from https://www.shell.com/sustainability/our-approach/environmental-and- community-partners/earth-skills-network-partnering-earthwatch.html

A. Business leader Andrew Stevenson and his team worked with the staff from Mole National Park in Ghana in order to develop an action plan to address lack of funding, local poachers clashes and decreasing number of visitors. The said park is home for 600 to 899 African elephants, antelope, hyenas and many other species. The plan was a success and it generated an 200% increase in revenue and 50% increased number of visitors. Moreover, it worked with a governmental agency to improve the roads in and around the area (Shell, 2020d).

Retrieved from https://www.shell.com/sustainability/our-approach/environmental-and- community-partners/earth-skills-network-partnering-earthwatch.html

B. In Nigeria's Wetlands, the area was once widely affected that could possibly affect the native's livelihood. In response, Shell's Pearl Eneh and her team mentored two managers from the area and helped construct an action plan in order to promote and improve the safety of the wetlands. Eneh has once said that once we know who our stakeholders are, we can properly engage with them (Shell, 2020d).

Shell Works With Communities

Retieved from https://www.shell.com/sustainability/communities/working-with-communities.html

Shell contributes to the community by hiring experts to study community specialist areas. With this, in-house specialists from Shell manage the communities and its indigeneous people, taking into consideration the impact of their initiatives on cultural heritage (Shell, 2020f). This is deemed to be the first step towards reaching out to the community, assessing the area considered and deciding on actions that minimise the impact of projects on culture. 

Once the area has been assessed by the in-house experts of the company, the philanthropic initiative of Royal Dutch Shell continues in engaging with the local communities. Engaging includes understanding the story of the people – their priorities, grievances, and concerns. In exchange, the company receives feedback and responses to establish a relationship with these communities. Moreover, the indigineous people may possibly be affected by the projects of the company, and it is imperative for the company to protect the rights of these people. By mutually agreeing, and conducting negotiations in good faith, the needs of the indigenous people are addressed and considered (Shell, 2020f). There are instances, however, that the projects of the company affect the people in such a way that they are forced to resettle in another place or residence. Shell considers this problem and understands that it is a possibility for some areas to be negatively affected. With this, the company manages the resettlement of the indegenous people along with preserving their culture by “resettlement actions plans'' and “livelihood restoration plans.” As a result, Royal Dutch Shell works towards restoring the area, as seen in projects in China, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines. 

References

Shell. (2020a). External voluntary codes. Retrieved from: https://www.shell.com/sustainability/transparency/external-voluntary-codes.html

Shell. (2020b). Flaring. Retrieved from: https://reports.shell.com/sustainability-report/2018/responsible-business/environment/flaring.html

Shell. (2020c). HSSE and social performance - commitment and policies. Retrieved from: https://www.shell.com/sustainability/our-approach/commitments- policies-and-standards/hsse-and-social-performance.html

Shell. (2020d). Partnering to protect the world’s ecosystems. Retrieved from: https://www.shell.com/sustainability/our-approach/environmental- and-community-partners/earth-skills-network-partnering-earthwatch.html

Shell. (2020e). Plastic waste. Retrieved from: https://www.shell.com/sustainability/environment/plastic-waste.html

Shell. (2020f). Working with communities. Retrieved from: https://www.shell.com/sustainability/communities/working-with-communities.html

[gradschoollex-blog]

This is a picture of my family and I from when I graduated the University of Arizona with my bachelor's degrees! I chose this picture because we are a close familial unit and regardless of anything else at the end of the day they are my people.

MODULE 3 POST: Categorical Growth

PART 1:

1a. This week what stuck out to me more than anything else was the TEDtalk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009) on the consequences of a single story of representation. I think that everyone falls victim to it every now and again, even she had described feeling that way when she went to Mexico after she had experienced being on the receiving end from her college roommate. For me, it builds on last week and the discussion about facing white privilege. Primarily, it is a Western privilege because while there are single story narratives produced of other parts of the world, there are always plenty of stories presented about Western culture.

1b. At the end of the day my family are my people as those who were described on Invisibila: The Power of Categories (Spiegel & Miller, 2015). The picture I posted is my actual blood family, but to me my family goes much deeper. I have been really fortunate to have friends that have become family and are just as intertwined with my life as my actual family members are. As disucssed on Invisibilia (Spiegel & Miller, 2015) also, it is important to branch out beyond your people. He said that he wouldn't want his children or his grandchildren to live in a community as they were because then you're more shut off to the rest of the world. I would categorize myself as a good pal, a good big sister. At the end of the day I get categorized diffrently based on who I am with. If I am with any of my non-white friends, I get treated differently than if I am with my white friends or family. I get a little more general respect from other who are not white when I am with my non-white friends, and vice versa. I have been in situations where I've been with my friend who is Mexican, and we were in a place where Spanish was the primary language and I don't get acknowledged even though I also speak Spanish, they just assume he will be speaking for me. I think I generally get categorized as a white girl because outwardly that is all anyone can know about me. It fits, but there is also more to me than my skin color which is the same principle I try to apply to everyone I meet.

1c. I love the usage of traditional chin tattoos for the Indigineous women of Alaska (Tahbone, 2017). I have had teammates who were Native American but still don't know a lot about the culture. I think the fact that these tattoos can only be for women and be done by women is empowering and provides them a way to take back their strength. For me, white privilege has inslated or acted as a buffer for me. I do not know much about nor do I have a lot of connections to my acenstral history regarding my family's origins so I cannot speak to that. My family declared bankruptcy while I was in middle school, my father went to federal prison and had died there, but at the end of the day our whiteness hides that. No one would assume many of the things my family has gone through and that has very much been a buffer for us where people who are not white do not have that same luxury.

1d. I am a womanist. The authors describe a womanist to be someone who is not only worried and pursuing freedom for women, but also fight injustices against racism, classism, sexuality, and gender (Bryant-Davis & Comas-Diaz, 2006). I would consider myself to be someone who fights for justice in any area and therefore could identify as a womanist under the authors' definition (Bryant-Davis & Comas-Diaz, 2006).

[experiencingmyjoy]

Walking Within Wisdom #38 Elisabet Sahtouris

September 26, 2019

Today I needed some real BADA$$ wisdom. Listening to our youth especially Greta Thunburg,  I looked for someone that could frame the world in another, perhaps more disruptive way that may be a frame for the work of our youth… I went down an awesome rabbit hole listening to Elisabet Sahtouris, and spent most of my walk listening to this YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAYslJEUyQM&t=2366s 

Elisabet Sahtouris www.sahtouris.com is an evolution biologist, futurist, author and consultant.  In her unique approach, called "Living Systems Design," she applies the principles of biology and evolution to organizational development so that organizations may become more functional, healthy living systems, with increased resilience, stability, and cooperation.  She wrote "Earth Dance: Living Systems in Evolution."

Sahtouris describes, “we are facing three simultaneous crises in the world today: crises in energy, economy, and climate. These add up to the greatest challenge in all human history.” Sahtouris is optimistic about the future and pointing to biology she says, “Life gets creative in a time of crisis.” She explains how the survival of bacteria, which have been on the planet for over four billion years, has given us a model of how we may evolve into a mature species. In the best case scenarios in evolution there is a move towards cooperation and co-creation. She points out, “It is literally cheaper to feed your enemies than to kill them. And, in the best case scenario in evolution, those cooperative ventures become the next larger unity.” 

It is these words that sent me down the proverbial rabbit hole. 

In the above YouTube video she illustrates how ecology and economy are actually the same. Nature’s economy is all about recycling and because we have never learned economics from nature we are in the position we are today.

I listened with awe as she described ecology and economy using the human body as a metaphor

Nature has billions of years of experience, so suppose you look at your bodies economics.  Imagine the northern industrial organs are above the diaphragm and they have the ownership of the rest of the body so that the raw material blood cells that form in the bone marrow can be mined and shipped to these northern industrial organs. Then the heart and lung system gets into play and they clean up the blood and oxygen is added and the heart distribution center announces what the body price for blood is. You ship the blood, only to the organs that can afford the blood price… So you can see very quickly that this sort of ownership and pricing system would not work well in a healthy working system. In fact that those bones that were mined (like countries where we do our mining) may not be able to afford the final product. So there is a lot to learn from nature about economics. Your body is gifting currency into the economy all the time, is to monitor the economy to with no repayment demanded and certainly no interest charged. The credit line goes up if there needs more currency in the system and goes down if there is too much… There is no reason why we can’t copy this human system.

She went on to describe evolution in both the East and the West… Darwinian evolution, survival of the fittest, is taught in the west. Darwin’s evolution is an endless struggle and competition for resources. In the east, Russia in particular teaches a different type a different system. A system of cooperation. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a 1902 essay collection by Russian naturalist and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. Nature doesn’t do either or’s… Nature is a conservative ecosystem of cooperation nature is not only going to do competition or cooperation it’s a balance.

Sahtouris gave an example about this kind of cooperation when she discussed going to a basketball game in China. The person sitting next to her cheered for both teams getting baskets where we in the west believe in competition cheer for only one team, those in China cheer for excellence not competition.

The way to talk about the transition from competition to cooperation she describes the metaphor of the butterfly. The caterpillar consumes 100’s of times it weight in one day until it is so bloated that it hangs itself up and goes to sleep. Dormant cells that have been hiding in the folds of the cells… the cells melt down into a nutritive soup. 

The competitive phase happens under the first genome and the cooperative phase under the second. She loves this as a metaphor because it means the future world is going to look very different. We are in huge crisis and we get to reinvent everything now. We get to build that butterfly world, that lives lightly on the earth instead of the heavy overconsumption mode. We can live a lifestyle everywhere that is appropriate to this planet that will keep the ecosystems healthy.

When we humans are faced with crises like fire, flood or earthquake we don’t just go to competition and survival of the fittest our first inclination is to actually roll up our sleeves and cooperate with one another, competition isn’t the first or only way.

The last thing I will write about here (believe me there is HOURS and PAGES MORE!) is Sahtouris describing how indiginous communities choose leaders. 

Our country's “forefathers” specifically Ben Franklin befriended what the white men named the Iroquois tribe where we got the United States Constitution… The tribe had great laws of peace where they had kept peace for a thousand years. And the best form of gender balance, and perhaps the best way of choosing leadership that Sahtouris has ever seen… Because when the US adopted the constitution they didn’t adopt the Iroquois ways, they put in voting which NO indiginous culture EVER uses voting to elect leaders, or none she has ever heard of.

The way they did choose leaders was through the grandmothers.  They choose the Chiefs because they watched the boys grow up and they knew who was best serve society, they had the backing of community… If they didn’t do well, they would get one warning and the council of grandmothers could remove them from office. The grandmothers didn’t need to be in public and be the politicians, they had the choosing rights. This is an AMAZING way to do this because of their lack of vested interest by the grandmothers they wanted a society to work well. 

Economies used to be run to feed everybody and give children a safe place to sleep. Somehow men have taken economics into a global casino gambling game that just should NEVER EVER HAVE HAPPENED!

So grateful to have walked in this wisdom today with this amazing woman…

Until soon when we walk again…

[cartoonessays]

The Smurfette

Who is Smurfette?  As most people know, Smurfette is the lone female Smurf in Smurfville originally created by the evil Gargamel in order to sow discord and jealousy among the other Smurfs.

In 1991, writer and cultural critic Katha Pollitt coined the term “Smurfette principle” to describe the trend of narratives in media overwhelmingly male focused but with one female character.  As she describes it,

“Contemporary shows are either essentially all-male, like “Garfield,” or are organized on what I call the Smurfette principle: a group of male buddies will be accented by a lone female, stereotypically defined… The message is clear. Boys are the norm, girls the variation; boys are central, girls peripheral; boys are individuals, girls types. Boys define the group, its story and its code of values. Girls exist only in relation to boys.”

The Smurfette principle is based on the main theory of Simone de Beauvoir’s analysis of women’s subservient role in society in her seminal work The Second Sex, but applied to our media.  The two videos below provide an even more comprehensive analysis of how this has played out.

In the two and a half decades since Pollitt coined this term, I’m pretty sure most people with a least a minor understanding of media theory are aware of this trope and why it’s an issue.  But I bring up the Smurfette principle in order to bring up a similar issue that I think a large chunk of our current-day #staywoke political landscape still has a blind spot to.

In the Feminist Frequency video, Anita Sarkeesian briefly mentioned the practice of inserting a token minority character in an overwhelmingly white cast.  This trope plays out much like the Smurfette principle; this character often serves as the stand-in for cultural diversity and provides and extremely reductive view of not just a minority being represented, but all minorities in general.

How would most people react if I or a group of people vocally demanded that Disney puts out a film with a black protagonist?  Most would get angry and before shooting the messenger would point to Tiana in The Princess and the Frog, right?  What would be the reaction if I or this same group demanded Disney creates a film with an Asian, Native American, or Polynesian protagonist?  Same thing, except insert Mulan, Pocahontas, or Moana instead, correct?

Now, how would most people react if Disney decided that they would never put a film starring a white protagonist again?  They would find that outrageous, right?

And that’s my point.  A good chunk of the population of get quite angry if Disney stated they would never have a white protagonist in any of their movies again.  Even if Disney went through with this, they would still have Snow White and the seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Cinderella and her step-family, Alice, Peter Pan and the Darlings, Princess Aurora and her fairy godmothers, Roger and Anita Radcliffe, Arthur, Penny from The Rescuers, Taran, Ariel, Cody from The Rescuers Down Under, Belle, Quasimodo, Hercules, Tarzan, Milo, Jim Hawkins, Lewis and the Robinsons, Rapunzel, Flynn and Mother Gothel, and Anna and Elsa to fall back on (this doesn’t even include their live-action movies or the Pixar films).  So why is it that people of color are expected to just shut up and smile over just one Tiana, Mulan, Pocahontas, or Moana?  It’s been almost ten years since The Princess and the Frog and there hasn’t even been a black character in any of their movies except for that one supporting character in Big Hero 6, let alone a black protagonist.  The only Asian protagonist in a Disney film in the almost twenty years since Mulan has been Hiro from Big Hero 6.  Native Americans have all but disappeared from Disney in the 20+ years since Pocahontas.  Moana is the most recent Disney film, but I’m betting that film will be Disney’s singular way of telling the Polynesian indiginous population…well, y’know…

That patronizing attitude is very much indicative of not just Disney’s application of minority characters, but also the attitude of a lot of liberal-minded websites, bloggers, and activists, many of which fight for greater representation of people of color.  When there is a minor step taken in more diverse representation, like a Polynesian Disney princess, a little black girl starring in one of DreamWorks’ films Home (there is George Beard in the upcoming Captain Underpants film, but that only brings the grand total up to two out of 35 films from that studio), or a multicultural retcon of a previously white Marvel superhero, it’s accompanied with a congratulatory, “mission accomplished” attitude that basks heavily (and unhealthily in my opinion) in the praise it gets.  Most recently, Disney has made a big deal about declaring the Gaston crony Le Fou gay in their live-action Beauty and the Beast remake.  My critiques here are in no way saying that it would be better for Disney or anybody else to not even try to diversify their media.  What I am saying is that one gay Le Fou is only a start.  One Polynesian princess is only a start.  One Pakistani Ms. Marvel is only a start.  Stopping with those token gestures is just the Smurfette principle with a different hat on.  It’s particularly offensive when token gestures like these are used as a masturbatory status symbol of one’s own #wokeness, as fuel to engage in menial online “more #woker than thou” pissing contests with other white liberals, or to reduce a rich culture to consumable commodity for your own profit.

In short, it’s this:

Our society conditions all of us to see whiteness or maleness or heterosexuality as the standard and anything outside of that as deviant.  It gets ingrained in our minds and gives us assumptions that we don’t question unless we force ourselves to.  I admit that when Nostalgia Chick talked about how the Smurfette principle applied to the Nicktoons, my knee-jerk thought was “But, but Rugrats has more than two major female characters and so does Doug!”  Those two shows don’t exist divorced from a Nicktoon landscape that viewed gender-neutral marketed shows with almost entirely dudes except maybe one or two female characters, one of which serves as some love interest or something.  The attitude behind the scenes of Rocko’s Modern Life when asked to add a character that was “a professional woman, someone with a good hook” was to snidely give their new female character a literal hook.  Considering that the only female protagonists in the long list of Nicktoons are Eliza Thornberry, Ginger Foutley, “Jenny” XJ-9, Bessie Higgenbottom, and Korra, there hasn’t been a lot of change in 25 years.  Heck, the only protagonists of color in any of the Nicktoons are Aang, Korra, Sanjay, Tak, Manny Rivera, and Jimmy Neutron’s Sheen in his short-lived spinoff.

Nobody from no gender, ethnic group, sexual affiliation, economic status, or anything can be reduced to a Smurfette.  And if anyone expects you to be satisfied with your Smurfette, you’re never out of line to demand this:

[xgenesisrei]

A Sunday for the First Filipino Pastor

Nicolas V. Zamora Sunday: A Theological Reflection on His Praxis of Liberation

Today, the IEMELIF Church commemorates the death of its founder – Bishop Nicolas Villegas Zamora (September 10, 1875 – September 14, 1914).

Zamora's religious orientation was shaped in a colonial context. It was constructed in the midst of religious and political domination of Spain and America in the Philippines. His religious praxis, however, was very much in tune with socio-political and colonial concerns of his day. One major example may suffice: upon critical reflection on the nature of “The Manifest Destiny,” he and his fellow workers finally decided to secede from American rule. This was the “last straw which broke the camel’s back.” His mission, undoubtedly, was to liberate religion and to fortify nationalism. Two faces of Christianity dominated Filipinos during his time. On the one hand, there was the exploitative face of Hispanic religion, and the seeming benevolent face of American religion on the other. However, both faces turned malevolent when these religions undermined Filipino nationalism. Zamora observed that "by word and action they [Methodist missionaries] have for years belittled Filipino capabilities even to the extent of repeatedly asserting to our faces that the Filipinos are not fit to conduct their own churches." The oppressive politics of substitution from Spain to United States disoriented Zamora's religion, and resulted in a more excellent one, i.e. his religious nationalism.

Zamora’s religious reorientation manifested his religious nationalism, which was characterized by the three self-patriotic principles (TSP) of “self-governance, self-propagation, and self-support.” This is evident when Zamora used Galatians 5:1, and dramatically declared: "It is ordained of God that in the Philippines, the Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las islas Filipinas be established, which shall be run by Filipinos and where the Gospel shall be preached in the languages of the Philippines." His grito de combate, "Kung paanong biniyayaan ng Diyos ang mga taga ibang lupa na magtatag at mamahala sa sariling iglesya, ang mga Pilipino ay gayun din," inspired Filipinos on religious nationalism. His experiences under Spaniards and the American missionaries led him towards the path of indigeneity, and established the IEMELIF Church. For more than a century, the three self-principles of indigineity has governed IEMELIF, the first surviving indigenous Protestant church in the Philippines.

Zamora laid the groundwork of religious nationalism as a liberating praxis. He was honored as “The Foremost Leader of Religious Liberation in the Philippines.” Long before the Peruvian theologian, Gustavo Gutierrez, constructed a theology of liberation for Latin American churches, Zamora had already sparked liberation from western ecclesiological captivity. He critically engaged religious domination and political colonialism. But, this reality did not end in the 20th century. Today’s context is dominated by a more insidious form of colonization, i.e. neo-liberal globalization, which is argued as the highest stage of capitalist imperialism. Under this global empire building, nationalism is all the more made obsolete, as it promotes protectionism and interferes with the globalist project. Religion is still used to legitimize colonization. Churches and missions are somewhat commodified by globalization. The deeply debated extra ecclesiam nulla salus of Cyprian is now replaced by the soteriological market principle of globalization; thus, “outside globalization, there is no salvation.” Apparently, monotheism is now money-theism.

Thus, Zamora’s praxis of religious nationalism is a strong theological construct which can empower the church and community in resisting the new names for “The Manifest Destiny,” such as the oppressive and violent context of the country's present administration. Zamora’s praxis is liberation praxis; as such, this is a “concrete experience of the faith.” As one theologian (G. Gutierrez) proposed, “Liberation theology emerges from action, and leads to action.” Moreover, “True spirituality is inextricably bound to praxis: spirituality that is primarily interiorist or isolationist is incomplete. True spirituality can develop only when a person is engaged in the struggle for justice and liberation – the struggle to transform unjust social, political, and economic structures.” Spirituality is "a way of living before the Lord and before humankind. Spirituality centers on conversion to the neighbor. To be converted is to commit oneself to the process of liberation of the poor and oppressed."

-Prof. Berne Mabalay, Th.M.

[myidealamerica]

in my ideal America...

There would be sovereignty for all indiginous people, religious leaders would fight injustice + the principles of a constitutional republic would be upheld.