moderneras-blog - Tumblr blog

[moderneras-blog]

Don’t go around fire expecting not to break a sweat.

Selena Gomez’s Wolves track offers a love-driven saga involving her character braving through the darkest face of the earth to get somewhere she belongs. The heroic genre never ceases to hook people, mostly the youth, to picture themselves in those worn out shoes. We’re programmed to remember how authors draw happy conclusions for those characters, yet we often forget the sprint across the wolves that made those endings possible. Wolves, like authoritative figures and evil intentions, exist to challenge fictional creations as they do for nonfiction ones. We notice that there’s almost always an imbalance of power. While someone is enjoying an abundance of riches, others must suffer. In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the main character ascends from almost nothing to an iconic something.

A young woman called Katniss Everdeen enters a survival reality show to fight to the death after volunteering to take her younger sister’s spot. Her fate wiggles within the palm of the Capitol; the authoritative branch that oversees all village districts while reserving most riches for themselves. Amid the nonstop adrenaline to stay alive, Katniss makes allies, enemies and a star-crossed lover. It is a battle that comes in multiple folds between love and life, youth and authority and loyalty and conformity.

Her youth identity and life style are largely influenced by the Capitol depending on which District destiny places youth. District 12 is by far the poorest of them all, and most of Katniss’s daily routine is hunting for food to feed her sister and mother. If she acts up or refuses to obey the laws, she and her relations will be at risk of receiving punishment.

WARNING: ANGRY SAVAGERY UP AHEAD

Conform, or face the consequences ordered by the point of a lobster-greased finger. That doesn’t stop her from acting up during the skill assessment. Fools snack on fruit, cheese and wine while she’s trying her best to perform and take her exam. Doesn’t this sound like the reverse in real life? Don’t adults feel like they’re demonstrating academic tactics while the kids are in their own world of fine dining? LOL, the youth feel the same when confronting authoritative figures about problems too. They’ll be waitlisted for years and finally receive a blank slip of paper in the mailbox with red wine stains over it. Freaking. Waiting. All. The. Freaking. Time.

Right, and when Katniss acted up by throwing the spear at the chatter bubble, she just dethroned my old girl crush. Much yes.

Ok, but clearly, this isn’t what most people would see as a “typical” youth series. Instead of the kids toying around with Gameboys and Youtube, it is the adults that are tampering with technology! The whole series feels like it’s throwing mad shade at the big honchos that puff out their chests with arrogance!

…and as much as the Capitol wants their underlings to stay in their pedestals, the youth are simply rebellious. They aren’t the easy, manipulated puppets that rot because they’re deprived of survival kits. Also, they’re doing heavy duty “adult” work, such as hunting squirrels and finding alternatives to stay alive. Nope, no iPhones with the Google search engine. Just intelligence. It’s impressive. So many roles are swapped, and it just comes to show that without experiencing the other side, you may not fully understand the realities you were living.

Trapped in a biological body, position of a seemingly minimal societal influence and whatnot, me and other youth members are held hostage under Capitalism. I don’t mean to capitalize (the puns never stop) that damn term, but rather drawing parallels between it and the Capitol. The words are spelt similarly—is it just a coincidence? Anyways, the script that they’ve written for us and make the youth feel small and helpless against the daunting silhouettes that loom over from their authoritative mass. It also asks what we are truly fighting for. Katniss fought for the lives of her family, her honor, her District, and what else? Mankind? Are we living under the Capitol too, where our lives depend on the decisions of the authority? What is personal agency anymore? Where’s our sense of control that keeps us sane? What’s free will?

Haymitch, will you quit drinking poison already and actually give me some meds? My brain will explode first from too many questions if the Capitol doesn’t blow me up first. Or wolves. Some crazy batshit.

References

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008. Print.

[moderneras-blog]

DYI M.A.G.I.C.

I was always attracted to characters who found a way to improvise. It’s one of the most enticing qualities in a person, and in no way, shape or form is it “cheap”. Indeed, improvising is expensive without a dollar cost because it uses up our brain juices to generate something creative that takes longer to make. Allowing the individual to work in their special ways with a $0.00 receipt can never be a feeling to turn down. However, most of the time, research needs to be done to ensure our creative ideas are doable and safe. Thankfully, plenty of DIY videos flood Youtube to lend us a hand and the uploaders are often praised with at least thousands of subscribers to further project their credibility. Ah, now there’s an idea to challenge the consumerist system that tries to encourage us to splurge for instant gain.

Unfortunately, friendly DIY Youtube videos are one of the few socially acceptable methods to challenge the marketplace. Other methods, such as graffiti and skateboards, have negative connotations to them, as those words insinuate literacy, but the vehicle is questionable (Relles & Clemens, 2018).

I recall watching documentaries on abandoned or economically lacking towns. Residential rooms were emptied out and what remained were clusters of broken architecture, dust and disposable garbage. Particularly, I noticed graffiti sprayed on the windows of empty shops and wooden planks. Now knowing that people can use graffiti as a form of social justice expression made me somber because those evacuated areas barely had lives walk across it to witness the art. However, public places that are very crowded place graffiti artists at greater risk because more eyes are on them. When the opportunity to express arises, no one is there to see it. When the opportunity for people to that expression arises, there is no one that allows them to do so.

If we compare graffiti with wall paintings, the only difference between them is that there’s stigma surrounding one and not the other. Generally, walls are acceptable mediums for art.

Sure, but then there’s those tinted spray bottles that grass service people use to spray on others’ physical properties. We’ll call them grass service people for now. That color is bound to damage the natural vegetation growing on the ground. The bottle has color, and its art on grass, it’s harming grass. Graffiti doesn’t ‘harm’ windows nor do they ‘harm’ architecture. Where’s the god damn freedom for the freakin’ grass?! YOU GRASSHOLES.

Consumerism almost seems like magic.

Most people use positive adjectives to describe magic because it’s associated with thrilling supernatural possibilities beyond our wildest imaginations. Oh, it’s also a big part of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. However, not every novel portrays magic as an exciting source of energy that could restore peace in an unpeaceful world. In the Children of Blood and Bones by Tomi Adeyemi, it was once praised as a tool in mercy of the citizens that lived with it, but it was later transformed into something people hate.

As long as magic plagues the once harmonious lives of the innocent, there’s no escaping taxations without representations. There’s no escaping the capitalist and consumerist ordeals. It’s a drag, really. We truly are the children of boiling blood and fractured bones. We boil from our urges to resist against the capitalist monarchies despite the injuries they’ve made on the skeletons that keep us standing up straight and living.

It’s just as Zelie said. Why can’t her people just disengage from the guards that walk onto their properties without knocking? Why can’t they have the freedom to choose to not pay with bronze coins but instead improvised trading goods? The monarchies will always find a way to remunerate the escapees.

I hope to make the best damn zine ever this Wednesday. There’s the opportunity, and many people will witness it.

References

Adeyemi, T. (2018). Children of Blood and Bones. Henry Holt Books, 525.

Relles, S., Clemens, R. (2018). ‘Do it yourself’ scholarship: from punk rock to qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 31(4) 312-327.

[moderneras-blog]

Pain is the price paid for you to belong

The common saying “you get what you pay for” insinuates a fair exchange between a consumer and a seller. So, a reasonable assumption would be that the consumer should be happy with the product because they got what they wanted without getting scammed or having the item received in a unsatisfactory condition. Little do they know that they still got scammed. It’s all lies, cheats and illusions in the marketing system in contextual ways. The whining child who is desperately nagging on their mother’s jacket pleading for a small tube of M & M’s in the Walmart checkout aisle is too naïve to the adults’ trickery to think beyond sugary sweetness. The whining child also gets a side-eye from me because money isn’t easy to earn. It just isn’t. Come on, kiddo.

           Why are adults scamming children? Back to the M & M example, candy is a cheap dessert filled with chocolate “goodness”, bringing the taster into a temporary state of ecstasy with every bite. It won’t last forever, but OH BOY is it worth it. Let’s pause on that for a second. Key words: worth it. On the flip side, if we look at those tempting 2 for 1 McDonalds deals, the flavor of the context is adjusted from sweet to savory/salty but obviously, those BigMacs mean BigTroubles. What a deal, what a steal right? A bunch of high school football players would find this advertisement appealing, as many don’t have a part-time job to earn cash in expense for making athletic commitments. They trudge into the high-calorie arena, feeling proud that they can spend so little yet receive so much. It feels so wrong to buy something delicious, metaphorical and literal but seem to benefit more out of it. Why? ‘Cause it’s just wrong. We are unknowingly being scammed and lied to our face. The more we make those seemingly cheap purchases, we are supporting those companies producing unhealthy options and casting away fresh ingredients that are cheaper. What goes around comes around. From fast food to our favorite pop artist’s merchandise that probably costs more than my college expenses combined, we are feeding the greed of the marketing industry that are slowly eating away our childhood.

           It’s just how Jennifer Ann Hill (2011) said. We are programed to immerse ourselves in the buyer-consume modality. The social exchange where we think is what we are encouraged to do and can only boost our outlook in society is actually harming our social life. Celebrities broadcast new styles where some become part of a hot fashion trend. Class divisions are clearly represented through clothing portrayals, as not everyone can afford those luxurious high-end brands. Those styles become the unsurprising mainstream, hindering individual uniqueness and may even establish in-group and out-group friendships at an early age. Thus, individual well-being is greatly damaged in the youth if they can’t “buy” their membership into the consumer culture. If we are stripped naked of clothing, we are branded poor. If we are lavished with everything we ever wanted, we become another brand. We’re being labeled with a price even though lives are supposed to be priceless.

           Ok so let’s say that they’re taking our money. We can’t even buy water at this point. We’re left with our social network, our cultural backgrounds, our biological makeup and our memories. The only mini-vacation trip that’s affordable is in our dreams. In our sleep. We’d rather live in the paradise our subconscious minds craft even if they aren’t real than in the world ravaged by hegemonic forces. How much more can they take from us if money isn’t enough? Why are we living if our impressionable selves as youth members are sold to society without our consent?

We live because we can’t die.

At least not yet. Not until the Recruiters find the golden marrow that can further spoil their privileged lives (The Marrow Thieves, 2018). Not until we are stripped of our purchases that we realize how much we’ve owned before compared to what we have left. Community and family are left. Then taken away. And taken away. Away they go. We can’t even afford a mirror to look at ourselves anymore nor would we want to at that point, because we can anticipate what image reflects before us.

I hope that when youth go into moments of self-reflection, they don’t immediately associate themselves with Christian Dior fragrances or Levi’s Jeans, but rather someone clothed in the FRABRICations of adults. It’s an ex-non-fictional novel tagged with fiction.

Fiction is our non-fiction. It’s our reality.

References

Hill, J. A. (2011). Endangered childhoods: how consumerism is impacting child and youth identity. Media, Culture & Society, 33(3), 347-367.

[moderneras-blog]

“I done been through a whole lot Trial tribulation, but I know God The Devil wanna put me in a bow tie… …And (I love myself) When you lookin’ at me, tell me what you see? (I love myself)

Kendrick Lamar, “I” (2015)

 In Chinese culture, it is believed that there is an opposite to everything. In many cases, it makes sense, doesn’t it? For instance, we can’t fully define happiness until we know what sadness is. I look at prints of the yin-yang symbol printed on fashion, and polar opposite hues were so distinctively different, yet the juxtaposition helped each other stand out individually. Co-existence with equal collaboration is the optimal outcome of social justice, yet I zoom out of the racial frame and it’s disproportionate again. The reality is that people of color in America are surrounded by white culture and expected to wear the same bow ties.

‘Cause apparently, bow ties are signifiers of higher intellect and a mark of safety (Neal, 2016). Some say that as long as you love yourself and retain resilience, the opinions of others don’t matter. But when the barrel of a gun is pointed at a black man it becomes evident that the biases of others do matter. When the trigger is pulled, the Black Livers Matter movement still receives shit, despite black people experiencing ongoing tribulation in one of the safer places in the world. Oh, we’re safe…but not really. This is false advertisement because this social problem is still dictated by historicized narratives when white slave owners stole the promising lives and labor of black slaves. It’s an ongoing oppression that is concealed with white generalizations such as “We have a black president. Therefore, racism doesn’t exist anymore,” but in a different form. Time has moved on but the attitudes and behaviors haven’t.

There’s always this population of “exceptions”. You know, the unique people that deviate from the stereotypes and receive some applause. OJ Simpson displayed actions of racial transcendence. “I’m not black, I’m OJ.” (Howard, 2016). Needless to say, this dude was a successful actor and athlete, but do we need to conform to white culture to truly “fit in”? Is “fitting in” the goal here? Is “fitting in” going to guarantee our future success and safety? I thought diversity was the encouragement here. Not to say that I’m displeased with the positive connections OJ has made throughout his career, but his example serves as a reminder that we cannot ignore race. Race is a predisposition granted to us without our consent and it shuffles the deck in certain ways that affect our everyday lives…for better or worse.

White does not equal goodness nor does black equal evil, but people do associate those colors with those meanings.

That’s my truthful advertisement.

References

Lamar, K. (2015). “I”. To Pimp A Butterfly. Top Dawg; Aftermath; Interscope.

Neal, M. A. (2016).

"The Devil Wanna Put Me in a Bow-Tie": Negotiating Black Masculinity in America

TEDxDurham.

Howard, G. (2016). Why ‘Transcending Race’ Is A Lie.

NY Times.

[moderneras-blog]

I’m reaching out my hand because you feel so far away...

I am lost.

Too young to be an ancient damnation yet too old to carelessly discard all responsibilities.

I am confused.

In the middle of obtaining high-end education yet unsure of whether I’m being useful to society and advocating social justice movements like my college strives to achieve.

Where am I?

The place where I truly belong is at the intersection of metaphorical crossings—such as moving from the role of student to the role of advocate or educator—often occurring when students present information to their classmates or community members (Butler, 87). It’s a language within another language—the ability to translate through critical studies. What’s most fascinating is that the conversations within the academic bubble has potential to pop and release its contents elsewhere. Hand us a needle to prick the bubble open—for the youth are living in the embodiment of their category and can spread the greatest philosophies that can medicate society through education.

But the consumer of social prescriptions must endure the bitterness from lip to gut, for discomfort is a strong, yet necessary symptom. In Dear Martin by Nic Stone, S-J had to vocalize her opinion to challenge the opposing viewpoints of Jared. She didn’t hesitate to filter dirty water, because if the water is dirty, then it’s just dirty. We cannot take our sinks or drinking fountains for granted. We cannot trust that the de-segregation of drinking fountains is a direct indicator of racial equality. No, we cannot be blinded by one example. Sorry Jared, you can’t expect that purchasing glasses spoiled by your capitalized privilege and wealth will grant lucidity to your clouded eyesight. Stop using Manny as an example to generalize your argument that economic disparities can be erased solely through hard work because the hate you give is crushing those who’s dice rolls didn’t land on a “six”. Fine, go ahead and laugh if it sounds that pathetic to you.

Their pain is the price paid for you to belong. It’s part of the Black Man’s inescapable curse. The people you oppress won’t retaliate through gun violence like the police anticipate them to do. They’ll kill you with kindness instead because they still stay good even when the world is crapping on them.

I hope that that kindness will shake people’s perceptions of the declaration and the amendments. Realistically speaking, the world isn’t living up to the document’s full meaning. When it states the pronoun “ALL”, it means infants, adolescents, young adults, teachers, chefs, matadors (I know it’s random) and all the above and beyond. Doesn’t this scream for collaboration between age groups? Why must we limit our conversations within our individual sub-categories when we could be branching into spaces that have been left untouched? We think we’ve found Captain Molly’s treasure, but could there be underlying meanings that the map doesn’t show?

We have yet to find social justice due to a lack of harmony between all members. Diversity is not a commandment to stay in our own corners contemplating life while ignoring what goes on behind us. We must face our fears to turning around from the corner to face danger and discomfort, because the other side has the answer.

You were just like me with someone disappointed in you. So, aren’t we similar?

Defiant till the end, we hear the call. I swear your weeping willow marches on (The Black Parade- My Chemical Romance).

Butler asked for a Song. I delivered. Via Amazon Prime membership shipping.

You’re welcome, world.

References

Tamara Butler (2017) “We Need a Song”: Sustaining Critical Youth Organizing Literacies  Through World Humanities, Equity & Excellence in Education, 50 (1), 84-95.

MyChemicalRomance. The Black Parade. 2006.

Stone, N. (2017). Dear Martin. Crown Books for Young Readers, 1-210.

[moderneras-blog]

Even the shadows of an African-American citizen faces the barrel of white guns...

Misperceptions

Jake Reeves / The Huffington Post 

Website | Instagram | Twitter

Keep reading

[moderneras-blog]

The Hate U Give & The Love U Receive

“What are aspects in THUG that represent symbolic dualities?”

Starr. The light that dispersed the darkness of the unknown. The activist star that broke the rules on live television after practicing mock interviews with her supervisor.

Chris. Starr’s social dilemma as a white male representative of the most oppressive population towards her people yet also the romantic tie that twists in an emotional knot.

Uncle Carlos. A cop who worked alongside with One Fifteen, who murdered Starr’s friend, Khalil, but has a mutual social identity in the black community.

Garden Heights. The educational space for the privileged. A symbol of the wealthy. At the same time, it is a constant reminder of poverty for those who cannot afford it. Perhaps ‘Garden’ has some Biblical connotations to it, like the Garden of Eden.

Maya. The Chinese (HOLLAH) member of the minority alliance, who shared a mutual friendship with Hailey but also siding with Starr in fighting back against verbal and racial oppression. I didn’t realize that she was Chinese until the day the minority alliance was formed because ‘Maya’ is an uncommon English name for Chinese people. You have no idea how excited I was knowing that someone of my kind is placed in a story like this. I felt like my identity was lingering within the narrative. I felt like I could actually contribute something to a greater cause.

Joseph, the high school student. A member of youth culture who engaged with two Grinnell College students who are teeter-tottering between youth and young adulthood. Someone who pushed their social boundaries to share the insight that was thoughtfully prepared for. This individual skipped the fruit tray, the coffee and the breakfast pastries to dive right into a conversation with us. Kudos given. Kudos received.

My biggest hope is that our high school student in our conversation today was the recipient of some love regardless of their predetermined dispositions of race, class, gender and socio-economic status. We gathered to acknowledge the difficulties fictional characters had to experience and the ongoing oppression that real life characters have to face. However, the acknowledgement of problematic events is only a calling for guidance to brighter days for all of us youth folks.

It is discussions like these that should happen more often, but due to different time commitments and geographic locations, we won’t always be given such an opportunity. I’ve realized through this converse how much more often we college students are talking amongst each other compared to with young teenagers and older adults. We’ve stuck around people who are like us because it is our comfort zone and we can understand each other on some levels, but at one point we must realize that embracing people with differences is essential in obtaining greater knowledge of the world as a whole. The thought of going out of our comfort zone seems discomforting, as I was slightly nervous to talk with the high school student at first, but as illustrated beautifully in THUG, discomfort is necessary to truly learn something. So…

To Joseph from Grinnell High School,

It is typical for a thank you letter to include a ‘thank you’, and as you will hear it many more times throughout your life, I’ll say it now and I’ll say it again. Thank you. Why? Cause these conversations are more valuable than what seems to just be a classroom activity that only lasts for an hour, counting as part of your classroom participation grade and a school field trip. There exists underlying meaning behind your participation today, because this event is not actually a normal occurrence, yet something that should happen much more often. A time like this may take some luck, as we all had some luck to make it into the Grinnell College library. Luck that crafted us with a skin color, culture and biological makeups. But if it wasn’t for people putting in the effort, the work, luck wouldn’t happen. Luck means that there is a chance. You helped by giving us that chance. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished today and will again in the future.

P.S. We can’t wrap this up without throwing some shade at Hailey right? The shade will prevent her from getting a tan for YEARS. Hope she’s hungry for the knuckle sandwich she’s about to receive from me. LOL.

-Kat Su/4th year/Psychology major/Chinese-American minority member/Hailey h8er

References

Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. Harper Collins Publishers, 1. 1-444.

[moderneras-blog]

Don’t ever mistake my silence for ignorance, my calmness for acceptance and my kindness for weakness.

unkown (via purepoets)

There’s a certain song playing in my head that goes “Baby I was waiting (waiting), waiting for the world to change.” 

[moderneras-blog]

“Should we duct tape the wound?”

A separate world is multidimensional, arriving at a destination at a certain time and place, in a box. The package is delivered by a trustworthy member of the community within the box without asking any questions, because the content inside is irrefutable. A safety lock encloses the box, protecting the community with strongly held beliefs.

What’s this? Another delivery person of white maneuvers over to the package and scrapes a deep cut into the item. There is a crack in the fish bowl. The fish can see the Other world while the Other world can see the realities inside the fishbowl. We have established the twoness—a fractured consciousness that is overdetermined by a public language of inferiority and superiority (Quashie, 2012). Fish usually swim around in colonies, doing what they’re righteously privileged to do and with that deliberate cut, the currents become choppy and there is no longer social harmony among the community members. The counsel begins to murmur amongst each other, already planning public discourse, but the Other world steps forward, casting a shadow over the box. Inner life is calibrated and sensitive to the exterior world and it’s already oppressive demeanor (Quashie, 2012).

“Should we duct tape the wound or leave it exposed to risky infection?”

To translate to fish language, it becomes:

“Should we stay quiet, cover up our story, our expressions and our consciousness to the Other world or shall we take the offense but face potential risk factors of losing some of our members for a cause?”

However, silence works in deeper ways. Silence is louder than loudness itself. People who are afraid of the darkness are actually just fearing the unknown. Silence amplifies the unknown because no matter what kind of questions the Others ask, no response will be given. No answers. It’s a protest from the fish colony, communicating nonverbally to the Other side: “Figure it out yourself.” Fish bubble to talk with other fish and the Others just talk to Other Others. Silence can be universally interpreted. Why do you ask questions about Us, receive an answer from Us, and then You twist Our words? So why do you make Us bother answering You at all?

Heed this lecture, “Wise” culture. You can choose to disagree with Us fish but don’t expect Us to stay quiet when You decide to call oppressive backup.

“Faith without works is dead.” (GQ Editors, 2017).

Faith works in unexpected ways, beyond the superficial.

You may see the duct tape performing its optimal function of covering Us up and ensuing your ignorance, but eventually it will peel off as water from the fish bowl is not compatible with its material. ONE DAY…one day… one….day….the water of Our fish bowl that rain straight down

On your body, on your shoulders

From a glacier to a still-life puddle

Was a different You.

References

GQ Editors. (2017). Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced. GQ. Retrieved from: https://www.gq.com/story/colin-kaepernick-will-not-be-silenced

Quashie, K. (2012). The Sovereignty of Quiet: Beyond Resistance in Black Culture. Rutgers University Press. Retrieved from:             https://pioneerweb.grinnell.edu/bbcswebdav/library/eReserves/79990/Quashie_Publicnes  s%20Silence_OCR.pdf

[moderneras-blog]

THUG life

“We’re currently in the local time 1:11pm broadcasting 20 meters away from the heart of Freedom Square where the youth and older authorities have gathered for the annual World Cup competition. Say, Fredrick. Can you give us the deets on the advantages for each team?”

*Connection becomes unstable when the youth group starts chanting loudly*

“My apologies, folks. It feel like the youth group are shaking the Earth with their young passion. Anyways, please continue on, Fredrick.”

“Yes, Maverick. I would say that the decisions made by the authorities have angered many teenagers, particularly high school students. They have told us that they’ve been silenced countless of times because they’re ‘too immature and uneducated to make a logical decision for themselves’. However, I’m hearing some chants supporting the Black Lives Matter campaign and the #CopsOuttaSchools, connecting it to current political documents and historical references. Seems like they’re up to date with the news. For advantages, since these adolescents grew up with the digital age, they can use social media to their advantage to spread the word like rapid fire. Also, they are the ones experiencing this form of oppression. Another recent case brought up was about education funding deficiencies. The money is consumed to hire more police officers on site and tighten security, but many students have expressed discomfort with having rigid surveillance policies (Sands, 2012). Sounds like it defeats the purpose of school and education to me. Their biggest disadvantage is in the non-adolescent group that refuses to listen to their protests.

*Maverick nudges Fredrick’s arm attempting to remind him to maintain an unbiased posture*

“Okay and what about the authorities?”

*Fredrick lowers his mic and the connection breaks off again from the youth’s chants*

The plot transitions to the first-person POV of a millennial yelling in the rally.

When I was old enough to understand what ‘school’ and ‘education’ meant, my parents outlined my destiny as a working middle-class citizen.

What’s school? A place to learn in a safe environment. A place to make friends. A place to receive selflessness from teachers.

What’s education? A transfer of knowledge. The scaffolding totality of learning. Something worthy of priority.

We are not safe, especially my black peers. Our education is not being prioritized. We could probably learn more from dropping out of school and setting up our own freedom school instead. We are being prepared for prison from slipping up on front of the people who are supposedly protecting us, not for success (Frank, 2017).

Our demographic division alarms us to consider the 50% white population. One of them replied to a #BlackLivesMatter tweet saying “who cares if a black man dies?” (Finley, 2016).  Yet, some people in America still deny that racism exists. I’ll tell you who cares. That black man had a family to go back to, a dinner to eat with friends, a dream to follow and another day to live. So, if a school shooting occurred, like in Parkland, would the authorities care (Bacon and Etters, 2018)? Cause apparently, they hate us adolescents. Just like some white people hate black people. The social oppression is folded by different degrees. We’re all THUGs.

Honestly, when the youth have verbalized every bullet point of frustrations they’ve experienced living under the authorities, who had the final say in nearly everything, it’s going to end with the most epic mic drop of all time.

I would end it semi-casually with a “THUG life lol”

But in real life, I am not actually lol’ing.

                                                  References        

Bacon, J., Etters, K. (2018). ‘Never again!’ Florida shooting survivors confront lawmakers; protests gain steam nationwide. USAtoday. Retrieved from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/02/21/shame-you-florida-shooting-survivors-confront-lawmakers-capitol-tallahassee/358264002/

Finley, T. (2016). High School Students Protest Racist Language by Staging a Walkout. Huffpost. Retrieved from: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_56b0e62ae4b0655877f73fd8/amp

Frank, B. J. (2017). Students launch #CopsOuttaCampus campaign at Phoenix Union High School District schools. Azcentral. Retrieved from: https://amp.azcentral.com/amp/311279001?__twitter_impression=true

Sands, D. (2012). Detroit Walkout: High School Students Suspended for Leaving School Start Freedom School. Huffingtonpost. Retrieved from:             https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/detroit-walkout-high- school_n_1459253.html

[moderneras-blog]

POTTENTIAL

At Privet Drive, the Dudleys are preparing a dinner with some very special guests.

“Petunia?” Uncle Vernon gently asked with the most sugar-coated tone he could manage under his big-ass bird nest moustache.

“I will prepare the salad and pudding!” Aunt Petunia responded enthusiastically.

“Dudley?” he continued, practically polishing his son’s chocolate-smeared image with his gaze.

“Ai wheel poh-light-u-ly take their cotes n’ offer to set afside their shoos,” Dudley talked between chews of chocolate cake.

“Splendid…AND YOU…?!” Vernon whipped his head around, shooting formidable lasers at Harry. Dudley and Petunia seemed to mimic his expression from behind.

“I will be in my room, stay quiet and pretend that I’m not there,” Harry replied tonelessly.

“Precisely.”

Harry mentally rolled his eyes imagining how dreadful the next 3 hours would be squeezing into his teeny-tiny cupboard, which, to the Dudleys, is considered a “generous gift” from them.

Obviously, this isn’t a direct quote from J.K. Rowling’s hit series (I worded it differently but it describes a similar sequence of events to the original script), Harry Potter, but I hope this scene conveys the message I’m trying to get across. Harry’s imprisonment in a tiny cupboard is an extreme case for most adolescents, but when compared to Vernon and Petunia, his geographic freedom is clearly limited (with the exception of maggot Dudley). Thing is, Harry didn’t commit some crime to have social privileges blocked from his reach. He’s existing and complying with the adult’s orders. Aside from those adults being total jerks, adolescents in society today are existing and complying to their older superiors yet encounter numerous social barriers. Children are spatially oppressed (Valentine, 2003). The salad and pudding dishes are just several feet away from getting devoured but the kids can’t reach it.

Let’s continue with this Harry Potter reference, shall we? What if Uncle Vernon and Petunia considered alternative explanations for how Harry can contribute to the dinner? Maybe he could help set up the table or clean the dishes after the meal? Yes, it’ll require him to come out of his cupboard and invade the kitchen’s geographic space. No, it will not instantly change his biological age to graduate Hogwarts, consume alcohol or use magic in the Muggle world (Harry: “BUT-!”), but it will surely provide a learning experience.

If it’s Vernon and Petunia’s goal to keep Harry from being abnormal (a wizard), I call bullshit because that’s not the proper potion recipe that’ll receive a passing grade from Professor Snape. We only know “normalcy” when it is disrupted by deviance (Valentine, 2013).

I heavily disagree with the binary assumption between childhood and adulthood because it polarizes social qualifications and characteristics that actually have mixes within. For the youth who feel like they’re stuck in a cupboard staring into the darkness for 3 long hours, I highly suggest that you get the hell out because you deserve to. You’re allowed to conquer new spaces and decorate your social resume.

References

Valentine, G. (2003). Boundary Crossings: Transitions from Childhood to Adulthood. Children’s Geographies, 1(1), 37-52.

Valentine, G. (2013). Children should be seen and not heard: The production and transgression of adults’ public space. Urban Geography, 17(3), 205-220.

[moderneras-blog]

Multi-racial collaborative efforts at its finest lol

16 year olds being 16 year olds. 

[moderneras-blog]

Lights, Camera....Stop

Often times, when I’m watching the Olympics or TV shows with teenagers acting and physically looking splendid, next thing you know, Google Images becomes a new tab with ‘Simone Biles’ typed into the search engine. I then allow gravity to rest my elbows on the table and clench my fists, letting my chin rest on its nest, thinking that my incompetent self could never compare to such divine art. Images with her smiling on the podium and tasting a gold medal between her teeth fill the screen and I wonder how someone so young has been able to achieve more in one instance than most people would ever achieve in their entire lives.

The Queen reappears in a Teen Vogue magazine issue that came out in August 2016. Familiar and unfamiliar faces show up between pages either providing the script of their interviews or modeling for fashion and makeup products. Compared to how society views the typical adolescents, these young women would be considered the Harvard University hopefuls, setting an example for the rest of the field. This is one of those magazines that make my Chinese parents shove the issue in my face asking why I haven’t reached their level of expertise. DISHONOR, DISHONOR TO YOUR FAMILY.

Here are my major takeaways:

Work hard, become famous and look attractive while doing so.

Be mature, professional and approach life with confidence.

While I truly admire how far in life these girls have gone, I do want to connect this to a few topics. For one, they are probably on the paparazzi radar that flashes alerts when it’s time to turn on the camera and capture every small detail in their lives to share to a social media outlet. The risk of climbing higher is that one falter could be fatal. That’s the thing about surveillance…it just clicks the ON button and does what it’s functioned to do. Whether the youth is a troublemaker that needs additional supervision or not, youth that are considered mature and well-composed, cannot escape from being recorded. The prime examples cannot escape from supervision. Elementary students on a field trip cannot escape from their adult chaperones.

           Oh and don’t forget the fact that this magazine was compiled by an editor working for a company to get paid for spreading the message that good teens exist among the swarming maggots that aren’t “clean.” Yes, some of the language is shouting: “Buy this mascara! Get these pair of jeans!” but through deeper inspection, an alternative meaning is “this is how teens should act.” However, because the world population does not consist of homogeneous pools, variations are prevalent across teens. Can all teens afford to buy makeup and dress according to fashion trends? Are their parents all able to pay the tuition to send their child to compete in gymnastics?

Gabby Douglas’ mother, an adult, had to send her child to a family, a community and a coach she didn’t know about. In the end, her risk taking action paid off.

Now it’s time for the youth to make a leap of fate and be allowed to take some risks.

References

No author. (2016, August). Body Beautiful: Starring U.S. Olympian Gabby Douglas. Teen Vogue.

[moderneras-blog]

Throwback X Throwfront

I recently revitalized my passion for Yu-Gi-Oh, the famous manga series that told the story of a young boy, Yugi Muto, who solves the ancient Millennium Puzzle and reawakens the Pharaoh of Egypt who reigned in his control over powerful monsters. In present time, these monsters are trapped within playable cards used in Duel Monster tournaments. However, the Pharaoh, who then lived within Yugi for his vessel, started regaining his memories of his kingdom and kingship, and began his conquest to gather the three almighty Egyptian God Cards that were once his most loyal subjects.

In Japanese manga series, characters are assumed to be Japanese because their creators depict them through their own cultural lenses. Although Yu-Gi-Oh derived aspects from Egypt, this did not waver the assumption for the characters’ race. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see how a fictional artifact from the past, such as the Millennium Puzzle, reappeared again in the future, where the spirit of the Pharaoh lived on and still thrived in modern society. Though, with great power comes great responsibility, and mismanagement can come at a heavy price.

Modern society has brought us the most kick-ass technological products that seemed near impossible to obtain in the past. While it comes with its own perks, it is an open platform of potential abuse for one’s own gains. When it comes to the Black Panther series, living in an African nation like Wakanda would spoil its citizens and increase the degree of risk (THESE DAMN MILLENIALS AND THEIR TECH LOL). Similar to the plot in Yu-Gi-Oh, history returns in Black Panther for better or worse. Marvel’s highly anticipated series could be one of the biggest debut of afrofuturism by creating a Black world where people of African descent are not oppressed by a different race, but by the people living within the same place.

Peace is always of limited supply in any World.

This points out the intersectionality of oppression on a smaller scale, yet the conflict across battlegrounds feels blown out of proportion. Black Panther experiences multiple tugs from nearly losing his sister Shuri to dealing with the chaos in his own kingdom and confronting traitors. Despite his problems, the people give him glares and feel abandoned of his leadership.

The story lies still inside the pages of a comic book but the number of times characters and concepts have broken the fourth wall are too real. I can related, as I also engage in lots of comic works. In many cases, internal conflicts within myself are portrayed through the characters I crafted.

It’s just a wonder how pencil, paper and a computer have translated Yu-Gi-Oh into trading cards.

It’s just a wonder how pencil, paper and a computer have translated Black Panther into a comic series and a soon-to-be-released Marvel movie.

Technology really is a major translator and artistic medium for communication from the past to the present and the future.

References

Coates, T., Stelfreeze, B. Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book One. Marvel Comics. 1- 144.

[moderneras-blog]

Heroes don’t always wear capes

Andrea Randall  

But are they always white?

A young black child eagerly dashes into the graphic novel section in Barnes & Noble for the first time after his friends at school showed him their collection of cool action figures. He quickly scans the shelves, noticing the familiar Superman, Batman and Kid Flash series stamped as best sellers on the front covers. His mom finally catches up and asks him if he found anything interesting. The curious child looks at her and asks why there aren’t any heroes of color and why many etc. villains that rob banks and stealing purses are his people in the comics. Mom proceeds to fish out a black pen from her purse and hands it to her son, telling him to change that.

I made up that story. That’s right, I had my own black pen and made the dialogue bubbles through my East Asian perspective, through my East Asian planet, through my East Asian youth. It’s not entirely accurate because it’s from my subjective stance and the real author should be a member of the other world. If this wasn’t fictional, I’d anticipate the youthful child to create inspiring through his own ethnical lenses, through his Black perspective, through his Black world and through his Black youth. Although comics often depict characters having supernatural abilities that are forever stuck within the pages of the copy, their metaphoric symbols scream the works of afrofuturism.

A creation of a Black world is necessary. A Black world consists of:

·         No Western influences

·         Enhanced by culture

·         Characters built through experience

·         Thoughts and philosophies

·         Accurate representations of the people, for the people, by the people

·         True perspectives from the source

The Black youth are VIP members in the Black planet that thrived in the past will thrive now and will thrive in the future. The youth are going through the process of enculturation by their own culture. When they visit art museums, they will be reminded of that process that has merged with their self-knowledge. The moment their gaze lands on a piece of afrofuturism’s epic imageries, they see a reflection of themselves (Ferla, 2016).

In a digital age, this imaginative sci-fi movement has a great opportunity to reach far and wide with technology (Fulwood, 2017). This means that it’s increasingly important to get the youth involved because they are most dexterous with computers and devices. Perhaps the true stories that are constantly silenced will have the voice that will reach the ignorant. The Other worlds need to be informed that diversity is real and necessary for appreciation.

I’ve come to realize that trapping oneself in your own world puts up automatic barriers from having a 360 degree vision. Sadly, most people will live their lives taking things for granted, one after another, and refuse to leave their world. It’s become evident that being selfless in a seemingly selfish world takes a multidimensional perspective to break out of normative thinking, yet, it is an amusing concept for global acceptance and revealing the harmfulness of hegemonic forces.

Btw, I just thought of a name for the child in the story. His name is Artist.

References

Ferla, L. R. (2016). Afrofuturism: The Next Generation. The New York Times Fashion & Style. 1-7. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/fashion/afrofuturism-the-    next-generation.html

Fulwood, S. (2017). Afrofuturism: The imaginative sci-fi movement black people need now. ThinkProcess. 1-17. Retrieved from: https://thinkprogress.org/afrofuturism-imagining-a-   black-planet-d515413927d2/

[moderneras-blog]

So fucking pumped for this. A creation of a Black world. 

[moderneras-blog]

News outlets, you’ve got some nerve.

You have created a stereotype of black people that have drastically increased their likelihood of becoming victims of police violence, being monitored under your surveillance cameras for just doing harmless daily routines and blamed for crimes that they didn’t commit.

I’M ABOUT TO HEAD TO YOUR HEADQUARTERS AND UNPLUG BOTH YOUR SYSTEM WIRES AND YOUR STUPIDITY.

Surveillance tools exist because there is a distrust of society from a distance, so these items are installed to prevent unfavorable events from occurring or lasting. However, if surveillance is constantly racialized across many situations, then the onlooker may be derailed from catching the actual culprit. So what’s justice anymore? There is a lack of attention on contextual evidence and too much emphasis on reconfirming homogeneous stereotypes.

But it’s not just racialized monitoring that poses a big social problem. The problem is also internalize within technology and people’s heavy, unwavering reliance on technology.

 Here’s an example.

Face recognition and fingerprint technology are two common methods used by police forces to catch violent criminals and fugitives, though, they can serve as dangerous tools. Face recognition is less accurate than fingerprinting, and under the case of justice, inaccuracy can destroy the life of an innocent. Furthermore, a gullible public that looks up to police and take their words for granted will easily turn on the “criminal” labeled by a technological error from companies that advertised a 95% accuracy rate (Garvie et al., 2016). With this in mind, the nature of public spaces as a carefree, bustling swamp of commuting and outdoor engagement becomes an uncomfortable area of social vulnerabilities.

On that note, this reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend in the streets of Boston about public photographs. We passed by this couple taking a selfie together (YET AGAIN, THE ME ME ME GENERATION…just kidding). My friend said that stepping outside your house and exposing yourself to a public area is similar to giving consent to be a potential addition to someone else’s photograph. At that moment, I experienced a mental twitch thinking about how I’ve made efforts to limit my appearances on social media due to social anxiety yet I’m still not safe from the public eye through technological lenses as are other people. Now, I wasn’t going to claw my friend alive because he made me aware of this novel anxiety-provoking environment that actually isn’t novel at all, but it’s interesting that photographic evidence cannot describe the entire context of a social situation. If we align this statement with police surveillance, it shows how important it is to have loose reliance on technology’s functionalities. You get the picture. Pun intended.

It’s just like Marx said. We are bound in electrical leashes (Browne, 2015). As for the youth population, the amount of negative opinions surrounding their “immature” dispositions make these “electrical leashes” a mandatory policy (Kelly, 2003). However, after observing “acting up” incidences, older adults should know better than to increase the restrictiveness on youngsters. The bigger the boundaries, the more willingness youth members have to push against authorities. This is another type of oppression that includes some intersectionality interactions going on when considering race AND age differences. It’s the superiors > youth, male > female and white people > black people. So that makes young, black women the most threatened population.

Just some thoughts to ponder on when you turn on Fox News and listen to their new crime forecast.

References

Browne, S. (2015). Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness. Duke University Press Books, 12-29.  

Garvie, C., Bedoya, A., Frankle, J. (2016). The Perpetual Line-Up: Unregulated Police Face Recognition in America. Retrieved from: https://www.perpetuallineup.org/

Kelly, P. (2003). Growing Up as Risky Business? Risks, Surveillance and the Institutionalized Mistrust of Youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 165-178 (6).