My friend Chipo recently sent me this pilot of a documentary travel series entitled Going Native. Not only was I pleasantly surprised to find Chipo in the pilot as one of the characters, but also found the concept and execution totally refreshing.
Tshego Molete, one of the show’s creators, describes Going Native as
“a travelogue series looking at the continent through the eyes of three young Southern African women. It explores notions of African being, not through conflict or strife, but through celebration… these three young women set out to ‘explore’ the motherland by visiting various cultural festivals and gatherings, hoping to learn how they too are a part of the continent as opposed to being separate from it.
What I found most poignant about the pilot (besides the fact that it’s a female led endeavor) was the admittance and interrogation of how South(ern) Africans see themselves as somehow different to the rest of the continent. I remember how, growing up in Cape Town, people used to talk about going “into Africa.” This is also where the title comes in. Tshego explains it as a satirical take on the notion of “Going Native”, which was a term used in colonial Africa describing Europeans who came to Africa who then proceeded to acquire some “native” traits. “We take that notion and subvert by applying it to people of the continent, who have been born and bred here, but somehow manage to make the distinction between themselves and the continent.”
Going Native is a Happy Brown Babies production. They are currently working on developing the show into a full series. I can’t wait to see it. Check out more of their work here.
Zeinabu irene Davis' documentary about the LA Rebellion-- a film movement out of UCLA in late '60s-- is worth every crowdfunding cent.LA Rebellion alums include Charles Burnett '69 ("Killer of Sheep"), Billy Woodberry MFA '82 ("Bless Their Little Hearts"), and Julie Dash MFA '85 ("Daughters of the Dust") and at the core of the movement is the work of the late of Ethiopian scholar Teshome Gabriel (blogged - here) and filmmaker Haile Gerima (Gerima on Gabriel - blogged here).
A documentary about the the LA Rebellion film movement
Our Story
Spirits of Rebellion documents the lives and work of a small group of critically acclaimed, but as of yet relatively unknown group of black filmmakers and media artists known as the Los Angeles Rebellion, the first sustained movement in the United States by a collective of minority filmmakers that aimed to reimagine the production process so as to represent, reflect on, and enrich the day to day lives of people in their own communities.
All of the filmmakers associated with this movement attended UCLA between the “Watts riots” of 1965 and the “urban uprising” in Los Angeles that followed the Rodney King verdict in 1992, but black film students at UCLA and beyond continue to look to this group of filmmakers for inspiration, filmmaking advice, and practical guidance. Independent filmmakers, grassroots media makers, and various media artists in the US have found the example of the LA Rebellion School of Filmmakers to be an inspiring example of commitment to the medium of film as a tool for imaginative art and transformative storytelling. Following from the Ethnocommunications Program at UCLA (1968-1972), an experimental affirmative action initiative which created a space for ethnically Latino, Asian, Native American, and African students to collaborate on the production of films, student filmmakers of color remade the university and production process in ways that addressed their shared, though rarely discussed, sense of how to work together and why it was important to make films.
The Impact
Spirits of Rebellion will address a series of questions about what we might learn from the LA Rebellion today. As is often the case, the moniker LA Rebellion was one conceived not by the filmmakers themselves, but by critics trying to name a group of films, in retrospect, that shared a common spirit. Nonetheless, the sense of community fostered by overlapping hopes for social and political change, and the collaborative work process that the filmmakers developed continues to connect them to one another, while informing the lives of those who chose not to pursue a career in film production.
Through intimate interviews with the filmmakers, archival research, and discussions with younger black artists, Spirits of Rebellion inquires into the future of a media-based social movement that started in the 1960s. How do the filmmakers assess the successes and failures of their efforts to create alternative cinematic forms for political ends? In what ways do they see their films expressing these aims? Where and how does the spirit of this movement manifest itself today, and what kinds of work practices innovated through the LA Rebellion might inform the principles of marginalized cinema collectives of the future? What are the long-term impacts of the public programs that enabled these filmmakers to access the resources to make films as students, and how should these insights inform future policies for funding the production of art and culture? Against the backdrop of cuts to social services and public education globally, transformations in the process of producing and distributing media, and growing wealth gaps in cities throughout the globe, it is an unusually poignant and urgent moment to reflect on the legacy of the LA Rebellion.
What We Need & What You Get
When finished, Spirits of Rebellion will be a multi-platform project. Though based on a 90 minute documentary, the project will also include a twenty minute version for use in high schools and community discussion groups, and a website with an historical timeline, video profiles of individual filmmakers, teaching guides, and brief clips designed to catalyze discussion about issues of race, class, gender, California history, and community based media production.
The project is also associated with scholars of the UCLA Film and Television Archive, who have recently restored a number of the filmmakers’ prints, conducted oral history interviews with many of the participants in the movement, and published the authoritative book about history and significance of the LA Rebellion.
A work-in-progress of Spirits of Rebellion will screen at the Billy Wilder Theater within the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 8th at 4 pm as part of a three month long retrospective of approximately 30 of the LA Rebellion films. While we have conducted interviews with some of the filmmakers, we are currently raising funds to continue the project. Our current funding will end as of December 31, 2011. We have some grant applications pending that should come in around March 2012, but we would really like to keep going without stopping come January 1st!
If you are convinced that it’s worthwhile, or if you just like us, please consider contributing to our IndieGoGo campaign! Or, if you’re intrigued, but don’t have any money, please write a comment to tell us what interests you about the project and refer others to our blog or website.
“Time Leak” features Talib Kweli on the verses and Sly Johnson‘s soulful belting on the hooks. The music video pays homage to The Matrix, Alien, the work of David Cronenberg. Get the EP via iTunes.
DEADLINES These dates are ANNUAL, REVOLVING deadlines
SHORT FICTION……..MAR 30, SEPT 30 POETRY…………………MAR 30, SEPT 30 NOVELLA…………….. JAN 7 ESSAY/NON-FICT……JAN 7, AUG 30 PHOTOGRAPHY……. AUG 30 SCREENWRITING…….NOV 30 YOUNG WRITERS…….FEB 1
If deadlines are missed, the piece will automatically be entered into the next contest cycle for that particular genre.
GENERAL RULES OF ENTRY
All contests are void where prohibited by law.
All contests are open to the public over the age of 18. International submissions accepted and encouraged. For publication in the English Version of CALR, participant must have work translated into English. All rules apply.
All work must be original, and by submitting the pieces, author gives rights to the Carpe Articulum Literary Review to print the piece and to use it on the web or other media. All rights revert back to the author. See website for release and terms information. We want authors to become well known, and have no desire to encumber work. We do however, reserve the right to use it.
Multiple entries are accepted.
Previously printed work is acceptable as long as the circulation did not exceed 2,000 copies of a magazine, newspaper, book or other printed media. Previously printed authors are permitted.
Two Cover Sheets must be included: One with author’s contact information, including name, address, telephone number, email, entry title and contest name. The second must contain the contest name and working TITLE of the piece ONLY. Absolutely no author name may be included on the work itself (unless it is a painting) or the piece(s) will be disqualified.
No manuscripts will be returned, see winner’s announcements in the magazine or on the website.
Electronic entries are accepted and encouraged, as long as all guidelines are observed, and entry fee accompanies its submission, ear-marked for the work’s title and author. Send electronic entries in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx file extension) through the email address: Editor-in-Chief@CarpeArticulum.com
If no suitable winner can be found by contests’ end, the judges may invoke the right to extend the contest date slightly, in order to find enough appropriate work material. However, all contests will be awarded the funds allocated by the end of the extension date.
All reader’s fees are non-refundable, and work is non-returnable. Please see to it that you are NOT sending us your only copy.
All reader fees can be paid online via PayPal, OR by check or money order payable to: CARPE ARTICULUM LITERARY REVIEW. Entries can be sent via regular or special mail to: The Carpe Verbum Contest / [write short fiction, novella, etc. here] PO Box 409 Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034
All Submissions MUST be postmarked by the deadline in order to be considered for that genre. We get a lot of work in, and in order to give it the proper attention, appropriate time allowances must be made. THE EARLIER, THE BETTER. If for any reason you feel you may have omitted an important piece of information, or may have inadvertently made an error in putting your package together, feel free to contact us and we will do our best to straighten out the issue. We sincerely want all worthy authors to get their due recognition and will in no way arbitrarily disqualify a participant for a slight oversight. International submissions welcome.
GUIDELINES FOR SHORT FICTION Submissions must not exceed 25 pages double-spaced. Submissions must not be less than a 12 pt. nor larger than a 14 pt. of a typically used font.
Reading Fee $20
AWARDS FIRST = $1,250 / SECOND = $300 / THIRD = $200
Each additional entry in this SAME category, $10, not to exceed 5 total submissions
GUIDELINES FOR NOVELLAS Eligible submissions must be of a single novella. May be a self-contained portion of a larger book, but must be a complete work in and of itself. May be comprised of up to 150 double-spaced typed pages; other than length, all Short Fiction guidelines apply. Submissions must not be less than a 12 pt. nor larger than a 14 pt. size of a typically used font.
Stories or novellas previously published are eligible, as long as the publication did not exceed 2,000 copies.
Reading Fee $25
AWARDS FIRST = $1,000 / SECOND = $300 / THIRD = $200 Each additional entry in this SAME category, $10, not to exceed 5 total submissions.
GUIDELINES FOR POETRY Not to exceed three pages per poem.
Not to include more than three poems per entry.
Reading Fee $20 (for 3 poems)
AWARDS FIRST = $400 / SECOND = $200 / THIRD = $100 Each additional poem entry in this SAME category, $10 each, not to exceed 5 total submissions.
GUIDELINES FOR PHOTOGRAPHY (JOHN & EVA KEENER AWARD) Work can include up to 3 black and white or colour photographs.
Work must not be digitally altered beyond very basic touch up, (i.e. no inserts of fire-breathing dragons over the White House).
Work must not be pornographic (sexually explicit) in nature.
Work must be provided between the sizes of 3×5 to 11×13.
Work must be available in jpeg and PDF format, preferably 300 dpi.
ENTRY FEE $20
AWARDS FIRST = $400 / SECOND = $200 / THIRD = $100 Each additional entry in this SAME category, $10, not to exceed 5 total submissions.
GUIDELINES FOR CARPE VERBUM ESSAY/NON-FICTION AWARD See GUIDELINES FOR SHORT FICTION
Reading Fee $20
AWARDS FIRST = $300 / SECOND = $200 / THIRD = $100 Each additional entry in this SAME category, $10, not to exceed 5 total submissions.
GUIDELINES FOR “MAKE A SCENE!” SCREENWRITING COMPETITION The contest is open to all screenwriters, both professional and aspiring. Submit either the opening scene of a feature-length script or the full text of a short film. The submission may not be optioned, in development, in production, or produced, as the award is intended to provide exposure for a project the writer is developing. Submitting artist must have full rights to the original work. If the submission is optioned or placed in production before the winner is announced it will be disqualified and the writer should provide us notification. All genres are considered. We are simply looking for the writer with the best ability to capture a scene. There is a 20 page limit and the winning entries (1st, 2nd and 3rd) will receive total cash awards of $1,400 ($700, $400 and $300) along with publication in the next issue of Carpe Articulum Literary Review. A judging/reading fee of $29 should accompany each submission. Screenwriters may present multiple independent submissions, not to exceed 3 total packages.
All submissions should be formatted to industry standards. The title page should include the author’s name, address, telephone number, email, entry title, and contest name.
All work must be original, and by submitting the piece, the author gives rights to the Carpe Articulum Literary Review to print the work and to use it on the web or other media. All rights revert back to the author.
No manuscripts will be returned, see winner’s announcements in the magazine or on the website.
Only electronic entries are accepted. Send entries in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx file extension) to Editor-in-Chief@CarpeArticulum.com
This contest will award a winner, as the judge believes it is unethical to not do so.
An entry fee of $29 must accompany the manuscript. All reader’s fees are non-refundable. Fees can be paid online via PayPal, or by check or money order payable to Carpe Articulum Literary Review sent via regular or special mail to The Carpe Articulum “Make a Scene” Screenwriting Award, P.O. Box 409, Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034.
All Submissions MUST be postmarked by the deadline, NOVEMBER 30 ANNUALLY, in order to be considered. International submissions welcome. Electronic submissions accepted and encouraged as .doc files to Editor-in-Chief@CarpeArticulum.com (must be accompanied by site registration and judging fee). By submitting work to Carpe Articulum, author/artist acknowledges, accepts and agrees to all rules and terms of service as listed on the website www.CarpeArticulum.com.
GUIDELINES FOR THE YOUNG WRITERS COMPETITION: YOUTH TRUTH For those under 18, grades 6-12 by US Standards
No Reading Fee
Genre: Poetry or Short Fiction (under 20 pages)
Due date: February 1, annually
AWARDS FIRST = $500 / SECOND = $300 / THIRD = $200
Entrant must be sponsored by a teacher in a traditional high school or middle school classroom. Sponsoring teacher’s contact information must be included on the entry cover sheet along with entrant’s parent or legal guardian’s signature authorizing and releasing entry and acceptance of Carpe Articulum’s Terms and Conditions as stated on the website and on behalf of the student. NO AUTHOR NAME may appear on the work itself. By entering, parties are also acknowledging the acceptance of the site’s conditions and terms of service.
Student’s parent(s) full contact information is required as well as the school attending at time of entry. Statement of the parents’ and student’s signed willingness and intention to use award money to furthering the student’s post-high school education (either in a collegiate setting or trade schools). Teacher must acknowledge that any funds awarded will be used for the classroom and/or educational projects.
No single entry may be longer than 20 pages double-spaced. All other rules apply as outlined in the submissions/rules section on the website for Poetry or Short Fiction. Entries must be sent both ELECTRONICALLY as a .doc file, with the scanned signatures mentioned above, and via REGULAR MAIL. These can be sent in one package per classroom by the teacher.
Chapbook Competition (Jan-Feb), 1st/2nd Book Competition (May-Jun), & Open Poetry Competition (Aug 1-Nov 15)
The winner of each of the three Omnidawn poetry book competitions wins either a $1,000 or a $3,000 cash prize, publication of the book by Omnidawn, 100 free copies of the winning book, and extensive display advertising and publicity. All three Omnidawn poetry book contests have very similar eligibility requirements, guidelines, and submission procedures, including online and postal submissions. The only differences are the contest dates, the judge, the dollar amount of the prize, the reading fee, the manuscript page limit, an optional Omnidawn book offer, and for one contest only, the First/Second Book Poetry Contest, a limit on the number of the previously published full-size books by a submitting poet. These differences are described immediately below, under the "Current Poetry Competition" and "Upcoming Poetry Competitions" headings.
Open poetry book competition for writers with no limitations on the amount of poetry a writer has published and no page count limitation. (Note that the deadline for this poetry book contest has been extended from October 31 to November 15, 2011.) Online and postal submissions accepted. Reading fee is $25. For $3 extra to cover shipping cost, entrants who provide a U.S. mailing address may choose to receive any Omnidawn book (including 4 PEN USA winning books) or this poetry competitions winning book. The winner will be announced on this web page in March 2012, and we expect to publish the winning book in the spring of 2013. Click here for full details.
Chapbook competition open to writers with no limitations on the amount of poetry a writer has published. Poetry chapbook contest submissions should be 20–40 pages of poetry, not including front and back matter (so that this will fit in a 5.5 x 7 inch published chapbook of approximately 50 pages or less). Online and postal submissions accepted. Reading fee is $15 for the poetry chapbook contest. For $2 extra to cover shipping cost, entrants who provide a U.S. mailing address may choose to receive any Omnidawn chapbook or this chapbook competitions winning book. The poetry chapbook contests winner will be announced on this web page in July 2012, and we expect to publish the chapbook contest winning book in the fall of 2012. Click here for full details.
First/Second Book poetry contest open to writers who have either never published a full-length book of poetry, or who have published only one full-length book of poetry, so that the poetry book contests winning book would become a poet's first or second published book of poetry. Writers who have published two or more full length books of poetry are NOT eligible. (Chapbooks do not count.) The manuscript page limit is 120 pages for this poetry book contest. (Most manuscripts we receive are 40-70 pages long.) Online and postal submissions accepted. Reading fee is $25 for this poetry book contest. For $3 extra to cover shipping cost, entrants who provide a U.S. mailing address may choose to receive any Omnidawn book (including 4 PEN USA winning books) or this poetry competitions winning book. The contests poetry winner will be announced on this web page in November 2012, and we expect to publish this poet contests winning book in the fall of 2013. Click here for full details.
Eligibility
This contest is open to all writers. (There is no limitation based on the number of poetry books a writer has published.)
There is no page limit for this contest. Most manuscripts we receive are between 40 and 70 pages, although larger manuscripts over 100 pages are perfectly acceptable. We do recommend that manuscripts be at least 40 pages in length.
Individual poems in a manuscript may have been previously published. However, full manuscripts that have been previously published or self-published as books are NOT eligible.
The manuscript must be original and in English. Translations are NOT eligible. However, it is perfectly acceptable to use some words from other languages occasionally in poems.
Manuscripts by more than one author are NOT eligible.
Friends, colleagues, and past or present students of the judge are NOT eligible to compete. Past or present Omnidawn staff or interns are NOT eligible to compete.
Guidelines
Simultaneous submissions of the same manuscript to other contests, including other Omnidawn contests, are acceptable but please notify us with an email to submissions@omnidawn.com if your manuscript has been accepted elsewhere.
Multiple submissions to this contest are acceptable, but each manuscript must be submitted separately, with a separate entry fee.
We prefer manuscripts that have been paginated.
No revisions to submitted manuscripts will be allowed during the contest.
We will announce contest results via advertising, on our websites, and via email, including display advertisements in the print publications of American Poetry Review, Poets & Writers Magazine, Rain Taxi Review of Books, and other publications, and announcements on this web page (www.omnidawn.com/contest) and the Omnidawn blog (http://omnidawn.wordpress.com). If you provide us with an email address as part of your contact information we will also send you an email notification of the contest winner and finalists.
MERIDIAN will begin accepting online entries for its Editors’ Prize Contests in fiction and poetry starting in late October or early November. Deadline: midnight, Dec. 30, 2011. Genre winners receive a $1,000 prize and publication; all entries receive a one-year electronic subscription. Entry fee: $8.00.
Please note a few changes in our 2012 contest: 1) Our entry fee is now only $8 2) Entrants receive an electronic version of the journal (.pdf or ePub) rather than a print subscription 3) We are only allowing two submissions per entrant
We believe this lower cost contest model is better for you, and better for us. Rather than having you pay substantial entry fees to cover the cost of a print subscription (and mailing fees), we’re trying a lower $8 entry fee and will e-mail you an electronic version of the January and May 2011 issues. Fewer trees, less cost … and we’ll still have print-on-demand versions of Meridian for those who like to keep things tangible.
We expect to announce winners toward the end of March or early April.
All submissions will be considered for publication in Meridian.
Fiction writers may submit one story of 10,000 words or fewer. Poets may submit up to 4 poems totaling 10 pages or fewer.
You may only submit two entries (we begin to feel exploitive when people submit eight times and don’t get in print … just send your one [or two] best submissions).
Submit your work through ManuscriptHub.com. Make sure that your account includes a working e-mail (one valid through March of the contest year). It’s the only way for us to contact you.
Best of luck!
Contest Eligibility Rules:
UVA alumni who graduated after June 2008 are NOT eligible.
UVA MFA students and alumni are NOT eligible.
Current UVA students, staff, and faculty are NOT eligible.
Former Meridian staff are not eligible. (If you’ve ever been on our masthead, don’t enter.)
Friends, relatives, and former teachers and students of current Meridian staff or its advisor are not eligible.
Our Meridian Editors’ Prize winners from 2005 and after are not eligible to enter, even if their win was in another genre.
Authors with two or more published books are not eligible. This does not include chapbook publication. This does include self-published books (If it’s been for sale and it was not a chapbook, it counts). You may enter our fiction contest if your published books were in poetry, and vice versa.
Current subscribers may enter the Editors’ Prize Contest for the same $8 fee.
"Like most poor people in the United States, I have no voice. The Black press and the progressive media, as well as Black civil rights organizations, have historically played an essential role in the struggle for social justice. We should continue and expand that tradition. We should create media outlets that help to educate our people and our children, and not annihilate their minds. I am only one woman. I own no TV stations or radio stations or newspapers. But I believe that people need to be educated as to what is going on and to understand the connection between the news media and the instruments of repression in America. All I have are my voice, my spirit and the will to tell the truth. But I sincerely ask those of you in the Black media, those of you in the progressive media and those of you who believe in truth and freedom to publish my story.' -Assata Shakurhttp://www.assatashakur.org/
What Billie Holiday has to do with Burma, growing your own marijuana, and the American Revolution.
2011 has been the year of protest. From the Arab Spring to the London Riots to the global Occupy Wall Street movement, civic unrest and sociopolitical dissent have reached a tipping point of formidable scale. This omnibus of ten nonfiction books that illuminate protest through the customary Brain Pickings lens of cross-disciplinary curiosity, spanning everything from psychology and philosophy to politics and government to art and music, extends an invitation to better understand the art, science, and psychology of protest, both in our present reality and in the broader context of our civilization.
33 REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE (2011)
Since the dawn of modern history, song and poetry have been tightly woven into movements of social change. In some cases, singers have been censored, arrested, beaten, or even killed for their vocal bravery. (Just recently, the Occupy Wall Street movement attracted such legends as Willie Nelson, Pete Seeger, and Arlo Guthrie.) In others, they have unscrupulously exploited the protest ethos to garner publicity for mediocre pop songs. In 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day, British rock critic Dorian Lynskey digs deep into the underbelly of 20th-century protest songs to explore why the best of them give you chills and goosebumps, even decades later.
The best protest songs are not dead artifacts, pinned to a particular place and time, but living conundrums. The essential, inevitable difficulty of contorting a serious message to meet the demands of entertainment is the grit that makes the pearl.”
And, lest we forget, music is particularly engrained in America’s present political reality. When Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the United States, he stood up in front of one hundred thousand supporters and channeled the exhilaration of his inauguration by paraphrasing the lyrics of soul singer Sam Cooke’s iconic anthem. “It’s been a long time coming, ” Obama proclaimed. “It’s been a long, long time coming,” Cooke sang. “..but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.” “…but I know a change gonna come.“
Obama is, in a sense, the first protest song president. He grew up on the politicized soul of Stevie Wonder and used Curtis Mayfield’s civil rights anthem “Move on Up” at his election rallies. During the campaign, a list of his ten favorite songs printed in Blender magazine included “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye, “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones, “Think” by Aretha Franklin, and will.i.am’s “Yes We Can,” which was written around a recording of his own speech, thus making him the lyricist of his own protest song.”
From Billie Holiday’s 1939 “Strange Fruit,” the first openly anti-racism song and the tipping point at which pop music fully embraced politics, to John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” and other anthems of the 1970s anti-war movement to contemporary songwriters addressing everything from nuclear energy to corruption, Lynskey lays out a layered and fascinating study of the intersection of music and politics.
Billie Holiday recording 'Strange Fruit,' 1939
Charles Peterson/Associated Press, courtesy of Don Peterson/ITVS via The New York Times
For a while, in the dizzying rush of the 1960s, it was thought that pop music could change the world, and some people never recovered from the realization that it could not. But the point of protest music, or indeed any art with a political dimension, is not to shift the world on its axis but to change opinions and perspectives, to say something about the times in which you live, and, sometimes, to find that what you’ve said speaks to another moment in history, which is how Barack Obama came to be standing in Grant Park paraphrasing the worlds of Sam Cooke.”
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE (1849)
Even though Henry David Thoreau’s beard ranks rather low on Underwood’s Pogonometric Index of poetic gravity by beard weight, his legacy as a poet, philosopher, abolitionist, historian, and transcendentalist makes him one of the most important thinkers in modern history. In his seminal 1849 essay Civil Disobedience, Thoreau made a compelling case for individual resistance to civil government that would inspire generations of revolutionaries and ordinary nonconformists alike to engage in moral protest against being made unwitting accomplices in the injustices perpetrated by the state. The essay, considered one of the greatest masterpieces of the form ever written, was inspired in part by Thoreau’s outrage over slavery in America and the Mexican-American War, and was based on his 1848 lecture “The Rights and Duties of the Individual in relation to Government.” Insights and elements from it have inspired some of the greatest social change agents of the 20th century, including Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume, is to do at any time what I think right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.”
Just about every week, Mama and I went shopping downtown. I loved having her all to myself for the afternoon. Whenever it was hot or we got tired, we’d head over to the snack bar at the five-and-dime store. We’d stand as we sipped our Cokes because we weren’t allowed to sit at the lunch counter.”
One thing this year’s unrest and its treatment in the popular media have exposed is the tendency of today’s scholars to reduce protest to “objective” factors like resources, evolutionary biology, and political structures. More than a decade ago, prominent NYU, Columbia and Princeton sociology professor James M. Jasper channeled his frustration with this conflation in The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements — a thoughtful and provocative treatise on the creative, subjective side of social and political protest. Since Jasper’s central focus is on mental life, his inquiry extends not only to culture but also to the role of the individual in the dynamic of social movements, something often ignored in theories of collective dissent.
Culture is everywhere, but it is not everything. We can only see it clearly by contrasting it with biography, strategy, and resources. At the same time, we cannot understand those other dimensions of protest without defining culture crisply.”
Jasper examines how issues of innovation, creativity, and change relate to culture and biography, converging to produce powerful social shifts.
Individuals often initiate small changes, many of which become widespread, and it is through cultural learning that they spread. People learn from the interaction between their existing cultural or biographical equipment and new experiences — a preeminently mental process.”
PERFECT HOSTAGE (2010)
Burmese opposition politician, intellectual, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the most inspiring figures in modern political history. Between 1989 and 2010, she spent nearly 15 years in house arrest for her political convictions and persistent whistle-blowing around the country’s undemocratic elections. In Perfect Hostage: A Life of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s Prisoner of Conscience, Justin Wintle peels away at the reserved demeanor, Oxford education, and gentle femininity of Burma’s Iron Lady to reveal the rugged fabric of her tireless dissent in what’s as much a rigorously researched biography as it is a deeply reverential homage to her bravery and character.
Thus has been created the best-known prisoner of conscience presently alive. In the narrow gallery of modern saints, her images stands out, and it is commonplace to hear Aung San Suu Kyi likened to Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, even Mahatma Gandhi, whose philosophy of non-violence she assiduously espoused.”
For an even more personal perspective, see Suu Kyi’s own Letters from Burma, full of poignancy and urgency, published mere months before her release.
COMMON SENSE (1776)
On January 10, 1776, radical author, intellectual and revolutionary Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense. Though he did so anonymously, signing it “Written by an Englishman,” it gained immediate success, with the largest sale and circulation of any book in American history relative to the population at the time, and went on to become one of the most incendiary and important documents of the American Revolution.
Premised on the conviction that American colonists needed to attain freedom from British rule at a time of uncertainty around the issue of independence, Paine’s pamphlet resonated not only because of the candor and passion of its argument but also because it was written in a style that common people understood, a radical departure from the pompous style of Enlightenment-era writers, riddled with Latin references and over-intellectualized language. Instead, Paine borrowed from the structure of sermons and connected independence with the ethos of dissent fundamental to Protestant beliefs, ultimately crafting a distinctly American political identity.
Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”
For another layer of added relevance, Common Sense is also a powerful case study in successful self-publishing and the viral potential of books, something particularly hotly debated today.
PARASTOU FAROUHAR (2011)
One November evening in 1998, Iranian intellectuals and activists Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar, supporters of the democratically elected Prime Minister, were savagely murdered in their home in Tehran. Their devastated daughter, Berlin-based artist Parastou Forouhar, channeled her grief in the language she spoke most fluently: art — powerful, poignant, subversive art that pulls you into its uncomfortable beauty with equal parts urgency and mesmerism. Parastou Forouhar: Art, Life and Death in Iran is a stirring chronicle of the artist’s protest against these most gruesome crimes against human rights, a commentary on both her painful private experience and the broader cultural tensions it reflected, exploring everything from democracy to women’s rights to her parents’ brutal murder.
With work that stands in stark contrast to the loud, conspicuous, explicit messaging of Iran’s street art, Forouhar uses soft colors and fluid shapes to draw you in, only to jolt you with the grave scenes of torture and tragedy they depict — living proof that art doesn’t have to be “street art” in order to be subversive and make compelling cultural commentary on even the most uncomfortable of subjects.
When I arrived in Germany, I was Parastou Forouhar. Somehow, over the years, I’ve become ‘Iranian.’ This enforced ethnic identification took a new turn with the assassination of my parents in their home in Tehran. My efforts to investigate this crime had a great impact on my personal and artistic sensibilities. Political correctness and democratic coexistence lost their meaning in my daily life. As a result, I have tried to distill this conflict of displacement and transfer of meaning, turning it into a source of creativity.” ~ Parastou Forouhar
As much a tongue-in-cheek survival guide for life in America (or, Amerika, as it were) as it was a serious piece of cultural commentary on the status quo, Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book inspired a generation of social revolutionaries to challenge the cultural and political mandates of the day. Brilliantly and often scandalously illustrated by the one and only R. Crumb, this classic offers insurgent advice on everything from starting a pirate radio station to how to making pipe bombs to growing marijuana. The title reflects Hoffman’s assertion that it isn’t immoral to steal from the state, which he infamously calls “Pig Empire,” calling for rebellion against authority, both governmental and corporate. A frequent rebel himself, Hoffman famously wrote the book’s introduction while in jail.
Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit. When all today’s isms have become yesterday’s ancient philosophy, there will still be reactionaries and there will still be revolutionaries. No amount of rationalization can avoid the moment of choice each of us brings to our situation here on the planet. I still believe in the fundamental injustice of the profit system and do not accept the proposition there will be rich and poor for all eternity.
Hoffman was also a fellow Marshall McLuhanite with a firm belief that “structure is more important than content in the transmission of information” — his modification of McLuhan’s iconic catchphrase, “The medium is the message.”
TRESPASS (2010)
Trespass: A History Of Uncommissioned Urban Art, one of our 7 favorite books on street art, explores the history and context of illegal art, from traditional graffiti to performance to design interventions, as a powerful form of urban protest. As a proper Taschen treat, this lavish 320-page volume features work from 150 influential artists across four generations of visionary outlaws, including Keith Haring, Os Gemeos, Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Blu, and Banksy.
A good report from the Australian TV show Foreign Correspondent, catching up with a bunch of activists to see how they feel post-Mubarak. Very anti-SCAF sentiments, expressed very well there, with good footage. And on top of it you get the Aussie accent. [Via Pulse]
On May 17, 1793, the Saint-George Legion, sent an “Address to the National Convention and to all the patriotic clubs and societies on behalf of the Negroes held in slavery in the French colonies of America.” It was written in the name of “one million slaves” and asked for the immediate abolition of slavery. The soldiers and officers who had signed the document, along with the Société des citoyens de couleur, launched a joint campaign for the end of slavery and the slave trade.
A delegation of black men and women was received by the Convention in Paris on June 4. Among them was Jeanne Odo a woman born in Saint-Domingue, who claimed to be 114. The delegation carried a new flag: a black man on the blue stripe, a white man on the white stripe, and a mulatto on the red stripe, with the slogan “Our union will be our strength.” The flag symbolized the end of the colonial order, as well as general freedom and equality. Following the black citizens’ campaign, the new constitution enacted on June 24, 1793, specified that no one could be sold. Although it did not address the abolition of the slave trade and slavery, it was considered a step in the right direction.
“Black Abolitionists in France,” African Resistance, (The New York Public Library, 2012)
Parmi les pétitionnaires se trouve une femme de couleur, âgée de 114 ans; elle marche appuyée au bras de deux pétitionnaires. A son arrivée devant le bureau, l’orateur de la députation déclare qu’elle se nomme Jeanne Odo et qu’elle est née au Port-au-Prince. — L’Assemblée rend un hommage respectueux à la vieillesse, en se levant tout entière, et le Président, en signe de vénération, lui donne le baiser fraternel.
Image: L’insurrection des esclaves de Saint-Domingue se prolonge à Paris. Les Hommes de couleur libres entrent dans la Convention et demande l’abolition de l’esclavage dans l’empire colonial d’Ancien Régime. On voit Jeanne Odo à la tribune avec une jeune fille (1794). For source click here.
33 REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE (2011)
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE (1849)
FREEDOM ON THE MENU (2005)
THE ART OF MORAL PROTEST (1998)
PERFECT HOSTAGE (2010)
COMMON SENSE (1776)
PARASTOU FAROUHAR (2011)
STEAL THIS BOOK (1971)
TRESPASS (2010)
Issandr El Amrani