Lately, I’ve seen many social media posts by women making a permutation of the same general status:

“Today, a man called me beautiful instead of yelling something crass from across the street. I’m grateful he was polite and not rude. This is the proper way to approach/compliment a woman.”

Initially, I too felt happy that some men had begun to learn how to behave better, but the more I considered the meaning of catcalling, I realized nothing has changed.

Just because he uses the words “beautiful” or “gorgeous” doesn’t mean he isn’t catcalling. The words he uses don’t change the fact that he feels he has the authority, the power, the responsibility to comment on your appearance.

I wonder if this is a misconception stemming from the presentation of catcalling, and its problems. Yes, it’s gross when a creep yells “nice ass” as he drives by. Of course, it’s disgusting when a man yells at you to smile and makes kissy noises at you from across the street. It’s ATROCIOUS when those men drunkenly whistle at you and your friends as you’re walking home for the night. But the words themselves do not dictate whether or not he’s catcalling you; the fact that he said anything at all does.

Perhaps people are right; maybe catcalling less awful when a man says “pardon me,” or “you’re stunning” or other less crass things. However, the root issue remains: the unsolicited feedback regarding your physical appearance. Women are always-already sexual objects in the male gaze, and this objectification manifests in many ways, including these vocalizations. As women, we are (unfairly) placed into two categories: fuckable and unfuckable. Men, crassly or gracefully, verbalize these thoughts as we walk by them, clenching our keys in the classic Wolverine fashion.

Honestly, it feels like as women, we are giving men a way out! Sure, you can say things at me on the street as long as you speak at a certain volume and choose certain words. Don’t let men off that easily! Don’t let them encroach on your body with a higher level of vocabulary and charming demeanor! THEY’RE STILL CATCALLING. I’ve always got a loud “fuck off” in my back pocket for these occasions, but this isn’t always the safest option.

Even the men who say “gorgeous” and “stunning” can become violent in the case of rejection or evasion. I’ve heard many stories from my women friends about creepy men accosting them to compliment them “politely,” and then following them for blocks down the street, sometimes even to their homes.

The danger remains for victims of street harassment even if the man speaks softly, dresses nicely, uses less crass language and isn’t drunk. The dangers of this misogynistic, authoritarian ideology threaten women in public places; men surveil, police and prey upon women’s bodies.

Think critically about why that handsome man in a tuxedo felt the “need” to approach you and “compliment” your body. While protesting these instances is not always possible or safe, we can decolonize ourselves and each other by examining these interactions and recognizing exploitation and manipulation of women.

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” comes from writings of the author, feminist and social activist bell hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This bimonthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves. 

The post Decolonize Your Mind: Polite Catcalling Is Still Catcalling! appeared first on KRUI Radio.

I came upon this artist while casually scrolling through my Tumblr feed one day. My dashboard is mostly filled with images like this: 

Or this:

Or this.
Generally, I see flowery art and people of color laughing about their frustrating experiences with white people. However, recently, I saw art that differed from the usual impressionism and abstraction that fills my Tumblr feed. I saw art with which I identified, and art that resonated with issues I face as a South Asian woman in America.

Ayqa Khan, a young, Pakistani-American woman living in New York, creates digital art with subjects who look like her, have similar interests, and defy conventional standards of beauty.

She includes women who have natural body hair, which subverts the regular expectations for women in many parts of the world, who shave their legs, armpits, pubic hair, arms and facial hair. She incorporates aspects of South Asian culture like the mango juice in the picture to the left, and patterns from the region on the skateboard. The image of Betty Boop with darker skin, more body hair and South Asian-style earrings shows a class of cultures that immigrants experience in this country.

My favorite aspects of this piece include the photo of Angela Davis on the wall and the Audre Lorde book sitting on the table. Black authors like these became extremely influential in my decolonization process, and I really appreciate seeing images of other South Asian women reading and valuing these activists.

Ayqa Khan also recognizes the general silence surrounding sexuality and sexual expression in the South Asian community. Most of my friends and I grew up treating sex as a taboo subject never to be discussed, even during our parents’ absence.

However, this piece to the right includes a dildo covered in coconut oil which normalizes masturbation and sexual activity for brown people, especially brown women. The handcuffs hanging on the coat rack also imply some kinky sexual habits, too. This piece includes some powerful juxtapositions of perceived traditional artifacts (e.g. coconut oil, cultural clothing) with sexualized objects, which challenges the hegemony of obligatory chastity.

While the first piece facilitated identification based on feminist politic, this second artwork displays openness in regards to sexuality and her ability to move through these cultural spaces fluidly. Both pieces include women with natural body hair.

Ayqa Khan’s electronic art accomplishes many goals: combining cultural spaces, subverting power, showcasing South Asian female sexuality, all while normalizing body hair. Her background as a Pakistani-American woman provides her with a broad range of experiences which contribute to her powerful, moving art. To learn more about her life, check out these interviews and follow her on Tumblr here.

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” is used in the writings of the author, feminist and social activist Bell Hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This monthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves.

The post Decolonize Your Mind: The Art of Ayqa Khan appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This month, like every other month, has brought a whole new set of experiences regarding microaggressions, racism, discrimination and tokenism in my life. However, I feel like people have been exceptionally passive lately. The more I converse with the people around me about the necessity of a revolution in the way we think and act, the more I realize that people speak such empty words about activism.

I’m being very vague. Let me provide you with some sobering, concrete examples.

Recently, I started reading a book for a class that CLAIMS to be “postcolonial,” despite assigning 5/6 novels by white women. So I’m reading this book, and the writer starts making really problematic comparisons between animals and people. She literally calls prairie dogs “the untouchables,” and she compares their existence to “fists raised to the sky,” unmistakable black power movement imagery. Before I got to page 100, I had marked ten instances that made included racist/problematic rhetoric.

I went to my professor’s office hours, and I explained to her why I didn’t want to finish the book. She acted very concerned but ended up saying really condescending things like “maybe you’ll get to the point where you can read this book in the future,” as if I wasn’t mature enough to read racist literature.

The most frustrating part of our meeting happened when I expressed frustration about problematic comments made in class that went unchecked, and she told me that she heard them too.

The gif accurately mirrors my reaction to her statement.

This is almost worse, now. You hear the comments. You understand the issues with them. Then, in a classic ignorant-white-person fashion, you decide on silence, passivity, and inaction. GREAT.

She even went as far as saying she didn’t want to be “confrontational” when responding to these ignorant comments.

I understand choosing the methods of communication carefully in order to maximize effectiveness. However, she has sacrificed a safe classroom and prioritized her own methods. Fine. If that’s the decision she has made, I suppose I’ll have to deal with it. But I won’t stay quiet in her class.

A few days later, I was sitting in my class about Renaissance literature, and my teacher insisted on analyzing the minute differences in each printing of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” I asked my professor if these differences had any meaning, since printing in the 1600s was a process prone to error. He admitted I was right. Victory.

Wrong. A girl sitting behind me said something about how it’s fair to critique the literary canon, but “don’t you read Shakespeare and think that he perfectly sums up the human experience?”

Shakespeare is a white man, and can only discuss his own experiences. He will never know what it’s like to be any other person in the whole world. When I explained this, some white guy shot back “it’s not about ra-”

“It’s not about race, it’s about being human.” I explained to him that the intention of eurocentric, patriarchal discourse is to make people think that the white man’s experience can extend to all; in reality, this ignores the nuance of nonwhite people and other diverse groups. I realized at one point in the “discussion,” I was sitting in the middle of the classroom with people from all corners of the room throwing shit towards me, discounting my words, invalidating my message.

I looked to my professor for affirmation, and he decided to change the fucking subject.

He didn’t even address anything I said, and just moved the fuck on.

His reaction was honestly worse than arguing against anything I had to say, because he gave me the impression that he could not care less. My words meant nothing, and he clearly did not want to waste time responding to me.

So I no longer participate in class.

Since April is Sexual Assault Activism Month, let’s talk about this school’s “activism.”

I’m tired of the “It’s On Us” campaign against sexual assault on college campuses. The empty slogan places the responsibility of prevention on bystander intervention, when most sexual assaults on our campus (and in general) happened in a residence hall or private housing situation, and by an acquaintance. Realistically, bystander intervention is not the most effective way to prevent these assaults.

It’s not on “us,” it’s on rapists and predators to NOT assault people. The university’s approach reflects an avoidance and misunderstanding of the nature of the problem, and they seem to just want students to take care of it themselves.

I’m done with people who knowingly hang out with rapists.

I’m so sick of the people around me choosing inaction.

I’m so frustrated with people who approach me after class to tell me they agreed with me, but didn’t actually speak up in class to support my ideas.

I’m tired of people who claim to understand racism and other forms of discrimination, and don’t speak out when they hear or see acts of prejudice.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, DAMMIT. BE PROACTIVE. MAKE THE CHOICE TO RESIST. 

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” is included in the writings of the author, feminist and social activist bell hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This bimonthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves. 

The post Decolonize Your Mind: Passivity is NOT an Option appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Dear Donald Trump (or Drumpf, or whatever your name is),

As the campaign goes on, and more of my Facebook friends publicize their support for you, I find myself wanting to thank you.

As more and more people reveal their prejudices that you have publicly condoned, and my white friends express shock at the bigotry they hear, I am so, so grateful for your campaign.

As you isolate yourself from various demographics (Mexicans, Muslims, women, disabled people, POWs, Asians, black people, and many more), you affirm the words of oppressed people everywhere.

Finally, no one can deny that racism, ethnocentrism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination fester in this country, and affect millions of people every day. When you go on TV and propose a ban on Muslim people from entering this country, no one with a satellite or wi-fi connection can deny that people have prejudices against the religion of Islam and its participants. This extends to all other groups your words attack.

People keep repeating this phrase about how you say what others feel too afraid to say, and further, what other politicians won’t say. And they’re right. White people have thought the things that you’re saying out loud for years! You didn’t invent racism, Donald! You aren’t the sole cause of oppression in this country! You’ve just facilitated its growth and encouraged others to engage in hateful speech! Now that you’ve got a huge platform and lots of support, white people can be openly fucked up. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU for concretizing the issues I discuss in my column and show. THANK YOU for making people everywhere realize how bigotry thrives and is encouraged in AmeriKKKa. THANK YOU for affirming my experiences and making me feel like I’m not crazy when I discuss discrimination. Thanks to you, I know I’m right!

Furthermore, there are certain assumptions I can make about someone who supports your campaign. Either they agree with your bigoted remarks, or they’re willing to ignore them which means they don’t understand the gravity behind your statements. Either way, you’ve made it simple to decide whether or not I will get along with a stranger. Like hair gel.

Politicians used to hide behind words like “heritage” and “history” and “freedom of speech” and “states rights.” Now that you’ve spouted off all the awful comments about almost every demographic, they can’t hide behind such bullshit anymore. They have to face their own prejudices they’ve worked so hard to mask.

Blatant discrimination has reared its ugly, orange, toupee-wearing head. Your ugly words have stripped the veneer of so-called “political correctness” so people can be openly prejudiced. As white people everywhere gasped, oppressed people angrily pointed their fingers at the TV and yelled “SEE?!”

So thank you, Donald. You’ve confirmed that we’ve got a lot of work to do in this country.

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” is highlighted in the writings of the author, feminist and social activist Bell Hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This bimonthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves. 

The post Decolonize Your Mind: Thank you, Donald Trump appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This month’s artist creates politically-conscious clothing that challenges anti-black attitudes, police brutality, and neurotypical assumptions. This Haitian-American designer has created a menswear label called Pyer Moss and worked with Erykah Badu to direct fashion shows that support the Black Lives Matter movement and issues of mental health.

Featured on Forbes’ 2015 30 under 30 list, Kerby Jean-Raymond founded his menswear label in 2013 and gained fame in the past six months with recent artworks that reflect the current political climate.

I’ve never been very interested in fashion and clothing, because I think the industry encourages eurocentric beauty standards and caters to the interests of upper class white people, ignoring the issues of others.

However, this designer tests my ideas.

Last season, Kerby Jean-Raymond’s Spring 2016 collection focused on police brutality with references to the death of Eric Garner and other black people who died at the hands of police. Sounds of gunshots accompanied the models as they solemnly walked down the runway, their clothes splattered with red paint. Some of the apparel shown included netting materials and tight collars, which Jean-Raymond meant to convey the immediate, physical, and dangerous limitations and “entrapments that hold the black body.”

However, even before the models entered the runway, audience members watched a ten-minute video which showed the graphic and tragic footage of the deaths of Walter Scott, Eric Garner, and violence against the numerous teens brutalized by aggressive cops at a pool party in Texas this summer.

Jean-Raymond emphasized that if people were going to label him as a black designer, as so many other people of color are labeled in their own respective careers, he was going to control the narrative and present black issues in his own way.

Forcing audience members to contextualize the circumstances facing the black community does not allow for a separation between trendy clothes and blackness in America. Cultural appropriation of black hair styles, black vernacular English, and black music has encouraged and propagated such a separation. This artist decolonizes our minds by making wearable political assertions that do not leave room for this ignorance.

Recently, a Black Lives Matter activist named MarShan McCarrel II took his life at age 23. Before he died, he made a Facebook post which said, “My demons won today. I’m sorry.” Jean-Raymond incorporated this tragedy into his Fall 2016 collection, along with the larger issues of mental health, specifically, depression.

With clothing that includes lists that resemble possible side effects from drugs, to buttons which portrayed vices people fall back on to alleviate depression, audience members were reminded of the intent of this show with each model that walked the runway.

Collaborating with Erykah Badu on this show allowed Jean-Raymond to manipulate music in ways that helped affirm black people living with mental illnesses and black art, too. Using a genre named by Badu herself called tropera (a mix of trap music and opera), the show combined music from classic black spirituals and current popular music, promoting black music and art.

Kerby Jean-Raymond presents narratives about black people, untainted by the dominant white perspectives that minimalize and erase issues affecting communities of color. He uses his platform in an industry which largely ignores political issues and mental health. Jean-Raymond decolonizes our minds through his political, influential clothing and the composition of his shows.

I’ve never followed news from the fashion world before, but I’m eager to see the politically conscious art that Kerby Jean-Raymond creates in the future.

Follow Kerby Jean-Raymond on Instagram and check out his label website!

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” comes from writings of the author, feminist and social activist bell hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This bimonthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves.

The post Decolonize Your Mind: Kerby Jean-Raymond’s Designs appeared first on KRUI Radio.

For a little while, I felt surprised after reading the (very pale) list of Oscar nominees.

I had watched Straight Outta Compton and heard great things about colored actors in Creed. I read about Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation, and loved watching Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina. So many actors of color had great performances this year, and none of them received any recognition from the Academy.

Straight Outta Compton was nominated for one award: Best Screenplay. Two white people write the screenplay of a movie about gangster rap and they’re the only ones who are acknowledged for their work. Sylvester Stallone, one of the only white main characters was nominated for his role in Creed despite incredible performances by Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson.

This is not a new problem.

The Academy has an insidious history of only praising movies cast, produced, directed, written, adapted, and performed by white people. Each year they face criticism for their homogeneous population of nominees when numerous actors of color deserved recognition for their performances, and each year we hear the same story.

In 2014, 12 Years a Slave received three Oscars, and seemingly, the Academy feels that is enough.

The 94% white, 76% male group of people seems to have decided that their decisions in 2014 will carry them for a few years until they’ll be obligated to award nonwhite actors, producers, directors, and writers for their work again.

I couldn’t find a picture of the Academy, but here’s a picture of a rally for Donald Trump. I’m sure the images are basically the same.

The whiteness… it’s almost blinding…

Many celebrities of color have spoken out about the pattern of exclusion and reacted differently. Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith both plan to skip attending and watching the event. Chris Rock, the host of the 2016 Oscars, dubbed the night “The White BET Awards.” Idris Elba posed critical questions in an interview, asking viewers to analyze the casting of women, actors of color, LGBT+ people and disabled people.

These responses are all valid and important, and encourage us to consider how we consume media and what we choose to watch, listen to, read, experience. Many people choose to watch movies based on the Academy’s recommendation, but the overwhelmingly white and male board may enjoy different media than a queer woman of color, or a trans man with a disability. If the Academy isn’t willing to acknowledge underrepresented artists in film-making, we cannot rely on the Oscars to provide an exhaustive list of movies worth watching.

So what if we just stopped acknowledging them?

What if we sought out other movies to watch that include all kinds of people?

Various Internet sources have compiled lengthy lists of LGBT+ films, movies by and about women, movies directed by non-western women, films about disabilities, and so many more. A quick Google search will yield innumerable results of little-known movies that address all sorts of issues.

I’ve recently began this habit and I have already watched incredible movies. I’ve seen Mississippi Masala, which tackles anti-black attitudes among South Asian culture and more, Pariah, which portrays a young queer woman of color navigating her sexuality and tradition, and The Black Power Mixtape, which documents the evolution of the Black Power Movement.

Queen, SLC Punk!, Dear White People, and Gulaab Gang portray beautiful stories of non-heteronormative people, too.

Assume an active role in your media consumption. Take every opportunity to decolonize your mind by valuing nonwhite, non-heterosexual, non-western art.

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” comes from writings of the author, feminist and social activist bell hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This bimonthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves.

The post Decolonize Your Mind: #Oscarssowhite appeared first on KRUI Radio.

While this column normally discusses my experiences with negativity on campus and in our world, I’ve decided to try something new. Each month, I’ll write a profile that highlights someone I feel actively works to decolonize our minds and world. Don’t worry, you’ll still read my irate rants each month, too. This column’s going:

Bimonthly.

Anyway, the first profile will feature a talented, fearless jazz artist named Esperanza Spalding.

First, let’s establish how fucking amazing this woman is.

She started writing music before she started school, and she played all sorts of instruments at a young age. She joined her local symphony playing the violin and became concertmaster of the Chamber Music Society of Oregon at age 15. If that’s not enough, she started college at age 16, graduated, and became the youngest faculty member ever hired at Berklee College of Music at age 23.

Since then, Spalding has played with world-renowned artists like McCoy Tyner, who played in John Coltrane’s Quartet, Prince, who needs no introduction, and many more. In 2011, she pissed off teenage girls worldwide when she beat Justin Bieber for a Grammy in the category of Best New Artist (although she had been making music professionally since 2006).

Here’s a really great article in the New Yorker all about her badassery.

Now that we’ve sufficiently established that she’s incredible, we can talk about a few of my favorite songs written and performed by Spalding.

“Black Gold” is an anthem dedicated to young black boys and men which becomes clear in her lyrics. “Hold your head as high as you can… Little man,” begins the song and the singers repeat this line throughout the song as a reminder. She even admits that this may be hard because “not necessarily everyone will know your worth.” This message is SO SO important when our country witnesses the hateful rhetoric and violence directed towards black people daily. She affirms young black men with the repetition of the phrase “you are black gold.” Listen to the inspirational song below! The music video is great too! I like to imagine Spalding singing this song to Tamir Rice before he died.

Although “Black Gold” is my favorite upbeat, sing-in-the-shower song, “Land of the Free” sends an equally powerful and bold message. The opening lyrics, “Finally, we’ve exonerated Dupree” refer to the wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration of a black man named Cornelius Dupree, who spent 31 years in prison after being wrongly accused and imprisoned for crimes he did not commit.

She sings “Five fifths an innocent man but the court only saw three” which refer to the 3/5th’s Compromise in 1787 where black people only counted as a fraction of a person in terms of civil rights, and less than that in human rights. This song is basically her musical question that asks how this country can even call itself “free” when its justice system steals a man’s life like that. Spalding brings our attention to such serious issues in her music, actively working against the narrative that is fed to us from many news outlets and people.

Spalding has so many more incredible songs that address important issues like self-worth, being mixed race, her woman-ness and more, but alas, I will only discuss one more song.

“Endangered Species” discusses, as you may have gathered from the title, the pressing issue of climate change and how humans have led to the destruction of animal habitats and species. Spalding personifies Mother Nature literally as a maternal figure with whom we haven’t spoken in a long time, and speaks of the threat we pose to her when she sings “she’s in danger too.” It’s a pretty dark song, but again, politically engaged and so important.

Esperanza Spalding actively works to decolonize and desocialize us from the Eurocentric false narrative that the rest of the world feeds us, and she does this work through music. Here’s a playlist with some of her live performances, but not all of them! Be sure to do your own YouTube searching to find more.

Check out her website to keep up with her incredible music!

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” comes from writings of the author, feminist and social activist bell hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This bimonthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves. 

The post Decolonize Your Mind: Listen to Esperanza Spalding appeared first on KRUI Radio.