Maria Sandoval - Week 2 Radical Hope

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, silence was a way in which the African diaspora (amongst other victims of slavery, conquest etc) in the New World survived. Today, it’s because of all those centuries of silence, all those centuries of quiet, secret suffering, that communication has become the main bridge between societies. Today it is called on upon us to share our stories, because the fake facade of what we’ve been so erroneously tough is “strength” is finally falling to pieces. Even though slavery has been “eradicated” (in theory),

If in the past silence was a counter-strategy, today laws have changed, and our voice is our counter strategy. Globalization, the fast-paced technological development and accessibility to mass communication (hand in hand with years of fighting for social rights), has allowed almost every one to send their messages out there with out the abusive being able to erase it. Victims can share their different experiences around the globe, creating a non-stopping wave of bravery and awareness.

Expression is our new weapon for survival. 

Listening to this podcast I found interesting the constant reference to “them”, as referring to the people who benefited form these hegemonic structures. As if these people, because they don’t share the same historical background or were born into the dominant culture, contribute by default into the maintenance of this hierarchy. I feel that it is a common mistake in protest movements to generalize our enemies by the same type of discrimination that the oppressed have suffered.

However further in the podcast, when he talks about this “all-surface non-human” hegemonic masculinity, he says something that fits more my point of view. This is that “all sides of the hegemonic structure may be subject to suffer from it”. This highlights how being able to show ourselves as vulnerable beings is the first step to start social change. In every social/racial/gender class, as privileged as they may look, everyone has suffered in different degrees and circumstances. Replacing this denial with acknowledgement is what is going to take us closer no matter our backgrounds to one another.  Our best way to fight is “to expand our community further than our injury”. When we accept ourselves as vulnerable beings, we develop empathy and then are able to connect with a much wider sphere. As complex individuals, our diversity of experiences makes us grow.  Same thing happens in a community. The more diverse we become, the more and better tools we gain. When we identify ourselves in such a diverse community, we are able to build our future hope on the accomplishments of all of us. They, us and our unique pasts built the bases of radical hope. Inclusion makes us strong, and once we open up our hearts to the world, the lines that separate “them” from “us”, will seem each time thinner.

How might your artistic practice help give shape to your vision for a different future?

Art straightforward is the main exponent of our sensitive selves. As artists we are exposing ourselves in the purest state of vulnerability, and expresses it to the world. I don’t think that my art in itself (being costume design of painting) is going to help shape a future, but the way I share it and what I decide to do with it has a big partake in it.