Fall 2018 - Arts and Activism Class Blog

Questions: 1. As someone who is privileged, how do we support others who are less privileged than I am without completely overstepping. 2. What does "Misaligned to hegemonic emotional frameworks" mean? 3. If silence works so well, why don't we use it more often? I don't agree. Observations: 1. I love the quote: "An act of love is not only revolutionary, it's not only transcendent, but it is the deific. It is Godlike. It is a taste of the omnipotent." 2. Although I do put a lot of stock in the feeling of love, I found it interesting that he says "If someone tells me there's no love in the universe, I'm — well, what interest is there in the universe, then?" 3. I don't agree with the fact that being "fluent in silence" is a good thing. What might be your vision for radical hope? How might your artistic practice help give shape to your vision for a different future? -My vision for radical hope would be realized when every...

I’m curious about how a culture comes across or defines transcendence. How does one transcend? When did the question of the sacred and the material begin? How have different cultures talked this philosophical concept? I wonder what type of mentality it takes to invest in an idea that a body has chosen you. Has been given to you. Your religious or spiritual environment during your formative years lays a foundation that you can either ground you or dispel you. Oppression causes a lack of rights from the body. Oppression and racism restricts the freedom of the body and mind. Not addressing deeper histories only clouds our future. Silence is deadly and can be used as a tool and a weapon. Silence: The inherent poison and potion of the mind. A blade of defense, a blade of death. Being silent. Being loud. Being. Your silence screams and hisses. Clouds and fogs. Disrupts and dismisses. Defends and surmises. When there is peace, how will it breath. What is the sound of...

QUESTIONS How important is spirituality in radical change? Spirituality isn’t universal but good is universal… What historical Caribbean event is he referencing?   What does he mean by you can chose your body? I didn’t choose mine. OBSERVATIONS Take our time in society is not encouraged. You can’t have intimacy if you’re not vulnerable. …To be misaligned in theology with society is good. Reflection: The planet is sick Strong bodies unravel Speak and break silence Teach the men to love Intimate yet vulnerable No trust for power.

3 Observations: - Growing up without a sense of human activism and how this influences one's body to become their temple - being denied love or a chance to connect fueling the act of love to be revolutionary or God-like -"spoke silence better than English or Spanish" 3 Questions: - Can intense optimism be dangerous to the progression of future advocacy or fuel it with positivity? - How does one's constant addressing and dedication to solving issues change when you are not directly effected by that issue? - Why is it so difficult to publicly and honestly feel... and not only the feeling of outrage? My version of radical hope would be to challenge people to honestly step into the shoes of those they disagree with. It is very difficult to even consider an opposing view as having any hints of truth or advantage. Often times one's own pride and insecurity to admit ignorance or fault blocks the idea of progressing towards a similar goal of peace and equality. ...

Three Questions: 1. If silence has been the key to survival for victims of an abusive hegemonic structure in the past, can it be re-interpreted to be used as a strategy in our current social struggle? 2. What marks the division between blind optimism and radical hope? 3. In reference to when Diaz says: “It would take a lot to awaken those who have feasted well on our hegemonic structures”. How much our given place in society and racial history determine what role we fulfill in our quest for change? What factors determine who are “us” and who are “them”? Three Observations: 1. The belief that there is nothing to change is destroying us. 2. First and foremost, we need to feel. 3. All the fighting in the world will not help us if we do not also have hope. Reflection: As stated by Diaz, even if the poisonous hegemonic structures seem to repeat over time, it still calls for new introspection, strategizing and forms of solidarity.   In the past, s...

How does one best resist a hegemony? How does it change the way one behaves to look at history in a broader context when considering acute present occurrences? What is the importance of nuance in our interactions and in our awareness of being? My vision for radical hope is to inhabit a space of awareness, that is commitment to the reality of cause and effect in human interaction with the world in which we live, at work ceaselessly and at all costs towards a more peaceful and generative and sustainable collective life. Being an artist and imagining these possible ways in which humanity can interact with the world is my method of enacting radical hope, it allows me to live my values while constantly working to realize a radical transformation of our collective impact on the world and the ways in which we live together.

Radical Hope: Wonderings: 1.   As a white Latino, I wonder how much I can explore my own African heritage without stepping on the Afro-Caribbean culture. 2. How much of this information applies to Puerto Rico, since the country has different political ties with the United States? 3. They don’t want to HEAR you. They don’t want to SEE you. They don’t want to TALK to you. How would silence work when you are being avoided at all costs? Observations: 1.   "I spoke silence better than I spoke English or Spanish": “ On one level, silence was a priceless survival strategy for those of us coming out of a dictatorship, in a post-dictatorship society that had not yet undone the work of that dictatorship. In the long afterlife of dictatorship, silence was invaluable, holding your counsel, not allowing people to know what you were really thinking. That permitted, for many, many families and many, many, community, permitted survival.” 2. “ [W]e are not a culture...

After listening to "Radical Hope Is Our Best Weapon" with Krista Tippett and Junot Díaz on Krista's podcast "On Being", I definitely feel that my mind has opened up more in terms of where society is today, how silence can say a lot, how there are choices that we can all make in terms of how we look upon the current political climate, that it's important to acknowledge where privilege lies, how vulnerability is humane, and how multiplicity is a strength.  Three questions I have are: 1. Being a white privileged girl in today's world, and continuing to be aware of my privilege, how can I get other people in my life who have similar privileges to become more aware of them?  2. Why do people want to make multiplicity a danger when it is a strength, other than the idea of power? 3. In response to when Junot Díaz says "...how people get riled up about things and then slip back into comfort of their historical privileges and their historical ap...

Questions: 1: What will it take for those considered historically privileged to have empathy and share understanding for those who are oppressed?   2: How can we introduce the idea of silence and radical hope to those who get riled up and seek physical action? 3: Why do people tend to step back to their historical privileged ideas? Economic, cultural, ect.? Observations: 1: The history and society of our country has brought us up to be reactive, to gather, to speak out and seek change. 2: Silence can unite people of different cultures and languages, but the power of silence can be different from person to person. 3: Even though the physical act of slavery has been abolished, the cultural aspect of slavery is still very much alive, the foundations on which slavery was built upon is still used to keep those who are oppressed silenced and controlled.             One of the things that needs to change about modern society, espe...

Junot Diaz says: " Our multiplicity is our damn strength. There is no getting around it. People want to make it the danger. People want to make it the problem. No, it's only going to be the problem if we don't make it our strength. And you don't want to be so fantastically reductive, but really, at an operational level, it's really what it comes down to — either we're going to embrace humanity and figure out how we can all live together and work together to overcome the damage that certain sectors of us have inflicted on the planet, or we're not." This is a sentiment that has rang true  since the beginning of humanity and yet after all this time it still has not been recognized as a universal truth. People, on a global level, are very caught up in dividing other people into different categories. In fact, division is pretty much engrained into the fabric of our society at this point. Perhaps the art that needs to be made is the art that helps people re...

Questions: 1."Society miseducates us." - How does this relate to the idea of history repeating itself ? 2.  Is "love" TRULY something strong enough to fuel change? 3. At one point do we break the cycle? What is the exact cycle we're trying to break? Observations: 1. The society we live in now is a cultivation of what's been happening up until now. We are just becoming more familiar. 2.  Vulnerability is they key to communication of the masses. 3. Focus on how we've altered the "calculus of hope."  As an actor, I feel like my profession invites me to sit at the table and explore and discuss in more intimate ways with multiple walks off life My vision of radical hope stems from a desire to hear every side of the conversation and expose the faults while highlighting the positives without passing immediate subjective judgement. I think radical hope can be fostered in our ability to fully observe  and discuss.

Radical Hope Is Our Best Weapon: Questions and Thoughts “It's perfectly fine if you don't believe in these ‘superstitions,’ because no matter what you believe, fukú believes in you." [ laugh ]- Mr. Diaz, 4:13 This phrase that Mr. Diaz uses to describe the “force that bound us all together [in the Dominican Republique]” is a prime example of a vision for radical hope for personal artistic aspirations. The vision and form of what I intend to create as an artist both inside and out of this institution is in a constant state of fluctuation, much like the political climate, much like my weight, my mental state, my capacity for love, my capacity for creation. These “superstitions” that begin as seeds in creation and in hope have been planted as soon as they are birthed. Just because they were planted in the desert does not mean that at one point there will be rain; or to say less frivolously, accepting the cycle of scepticism in ones craft and practice will not stop the s...

Three Questions Can philosophical exploration of mind/body and visceral connection to mind/body be synthesised or are they too separate worlds? How do we thrive in silence? Is it possible? What could ensure longevity of commitment to uprooting hegemonic structure from which we benefit? Three Observations Slavery has not dissipated and the oppressions of slavery have not ceased, they have simply translates to a time of false equity/equality.  Looking to history and understanding growth is important to move forward with stride and confidence. Radical empathy is integral to radical hope. It is our responsibility to be wholly sensitive to the world and people around us.  Reflection All of us have a different relationship to our bodies, some of us think of them philosophically and others think of them viscerally. I think for the most part as artists, at least personally, we have a visceral relationship to our bodies – but what is also interesting is that as a t...

Díaz states, “…the right to just connect to the body which you have chosen and that has chosen you, means that an act of love is not only revolutionary, it's not only transcendent, but it is the deific.”   How does love manifest itself in/as a deific revolution? both for the oppressed and the oppressor? Can trauma experienced now be treated in this life in order to not be passed down to the next generations? or is the source of possible epigenetic trauma unreachable? Is radical hope a cure or placebo for trauma? I’m interested in the idea of the “inhuman.” Multiplicity is strength. Is a true ‘home’ where radical hope is born? What pre-existing conditions have to be present to have a home? socially, physically, and mentally?

3 Questions/Wonderings   What causes people to “slip” back into their individual privileges?   I’d love to know more about Hegemonic Masculinity and the Multiple Masculinities.   Will this Podcast be able to affect those who walk into it disagreeing?   3 Observations   Silence as a tool for safety. To protect loved ones. To prevent yourself from sharing information that hurts you.   “Subtlety is vulnerability.”   There was a moment of pause and breath between each response. They never jumped on the other, and everyone was allowed to speak until they were done.   What might be your vision for radical hope? How might your artistic practice help give shape to your vision for a different future? In On Being , there was a lot of conversing about Americans not knowing each other well, not understanding each others experiences, being progressively distanced from each other in person-to-person connection and, I belie...

Observations “You can form no intimacy without vulnerability” We continue to remain our own islands and seem to refuse to accept any experience but our own. It’s like an entire population is being gaslit, ad the need the demand for change (for action) is so prevalent- yet they are being told “There is no injury. There is no loss. We don’t need to change anything.”   The idea that falling in love, or experiencing, allowing in self love for people of color, is a radical, “revolutionary” feat.  In General, as a person with white privilege, I have never really had to grapple with the idea of ownership of my own body. How devastating it must be to have no agency or autonomy and inherit those “historic” feelings. American culture’s concern with consumption and having more has sparked fear and suspicion of people we have chosen to “other.” With all focus being on the self, the “invulnerable”- no need for others. We amass, amass, amass (take, take, take) and still fear. ...

How can we encourage vulnerability? How can we prevent social justice from being a superfluous flaunting of intelligence? What will it take to unify our thoughts of the United States existing in an antagonistic contradiction, what's the tipping point? To some, silence is a privilege, and the wrong person being exposed to the idea that silence as a powerful tool can lead to the interpretation their privilege of silence being some kind of glorified act of social justice, whereas, in reality, that person becomes just another bystander.

Questions: 1. How do we work toward "waking up" those in comfortable positions? 2. Where do I start the conversation on how to dismantle the systems at hand? like the cannibalistic economic individualism? where do we start tearing that down? is it a continued conversation as society adapts? 3. How do we continue to introduce the acceptability of subtlety and nuance as to avoid shouting v. silence which has been present for so many decades. Observations: It's hard for me to narrow it down to just 3 observations because I have been watching a lot of different television shows and movies that contain versions of messages Diaz stated in this podcast. Accidental Courtesy parallels this idea of radical hope in a man's goal to change the minds of those who are ignorant and afraid, *SPOILER* American Horror Story: Cult has a theme of "setting off the bomb" that is the pent up rage of an oppressed group, Maniac explores the human psyche via sci fi which is exac...

Questions: 1) How can we prevent ourselves from getting riled up and then falling back into historical privileges? 2) What exactly does " Misaligned to hegemonic emotional frameworks" mean? 3) How can i do more to keep our planet from unraveling? Observations: 1) Silence can unite people of many languages and cultures 2) The other articles had a negative titles like " denial", "bullying", dystopia, "protest", "opposition", while J unot Diaz's title was positive " Radical Hope Is Our Best Weapon"   3) Having multiplicity is not a weakness -  Our multiplicity is our damn strength. There is no getting around it. People want to make it the danger. People want to make it the problem. No, it's only going to be the problem if we don't make it our strength.  "  "

Throughout the interview Mr. Diaz often talks about silence as potent tool and something he considers himself to be "fluent" in. As a tool for survival, silence has been used to avoid potential repercussions based on Race, Nationality, Gender, Sexual Orientation etc. As a straight white male, I had to really stop and think about my use of silence. Is my silence the same? In some situations, sure maybe I choose to be silent to protect my ego or withhold potentially damaging information, but I would say that I have silence as a privilege of power. I don't need to talk necessarily because I have much less to defend, lose or gain in sharing my opinion (historically). I can more easily use silence both offensively and defensively against the powers that be, where as (if I understand correctly), Mr. Diaz is expressing the idea that silence has become an ingrained tool for survival in the culture and systems of government that we have created in the United States. Quickly I had...

My vision for radical hope Talent donation can be the artistic practice for different future. I believe that sharing my talent could be helpful for someone who do not have same experience as me. Through this process, people can feel love, happiness and impression. Thus, it might can make people to feel different emotions to arouse their sense. I can provoke attention to society. Artists can be the breakthrough in society, and speak for people who are afraid of fighting against the world. My three questions are What should I do for conceptualizing to the world? What is the methodology of finding intersection between reality and utopia? What are the ways that people can react the society effectively? My three observations are People have the hegemony for themselves to survive the world. Your worldview can be created by your background, but that is not for the every occasion. Society and politic can be the pressure for people who live in.

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