Just a quick and short blurb: folks are now in a tizzy because "Leaked Colin Powell emails fault Trump and Clinton." And that is interesting and exciting and so forth.
But I can't believe that folks aren't picking up more on this: "Among Powell’s emails, however, are comments that reflect that he too sought to use private email as a way to avoid creating documents retained by the government. Decrying 'friggin record rules,' Powell wrote [blah blah less relevant stuff]" These "friggin' record rules" are, in fact, citizens' best recourse for government transparency and oversight.
And it's what I've been saying for months: citizens have to make some noise, because our elected officials--those who oversee archives and ensure their funding--are the ones who have the most to lose by having their own records retained and publicly available. We're the ones who gain from that. So we need to make sure our elected officials know that we care. It's all fun and games to blame the archivists, but frankly, the archives doesn't have an enforcement mechanism; we have no teeth, in the politics game. So constituents have to make this enough of an issue that elected officials stay honest, at least as far as their records go.
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Following up on ally-ship
I've been thinking some more about the issue I discussed in "Who to contact, what to do: ally-ship for #blacklivesmatter"....in July. (Sorry; went to KY and got stranded in the Southwest cancel-a-thon, and then everything in the house broke [slight exaggeration], and I've been swamped with organizing roofing and water heaters and trimming dead trees and so forth.)
And a few things have occurred, or occurred to me.
Thing that occurred to me: I was really struggling with the whole issue of black folks not having to explain things to would-be allies. And I still think it's important, as allies, to remember that folks of color are really the ones "driving" this movement, and so asking is still good. But I guess the resolution I came to is that racism is not a problem that just affects folks of color. White folks like me also have an experience of racism....but it's an experience of normalizing racism, not seeing it, not exploring it, and not realizing--willfully or otherwise--the ways in which we are implicated in it or in which it is enacted through us (or not prevented by us). So I don't need to ask a person of color about the sorts of racism that I experience, as a(n unintentionally-) constituting party or factor: I should be able to figure at least some of those out myself.
So definitely still ask, when the opportunity is there. But also examine your own experience for things you haven't done for equality and civil rights. It'll be painful, but there are parts of this that we can figure out, and that we don't have to have folks of color explain to us. (Unless, any people of color who might be reading this, you want to.) And we can start working on those parts, through ourselves, in addition to supporting the movement with black leadership.
And related-ly, I am reading Eduardo Bonilla-Silva's Racism Without Racists (4th ed., now with a chapter about Obama!), and trying to take it in the manner in which it was intended--as a "good, honest, and painful sermon," to quote Samuel Pepys. I'm still reading and processing, but he is making the case for the notion of "I don't see color" as "color-blind racism," which is to say, a more covert and insidious form of racism that essentially relies on claims of neoliberalism (competition; a free market of candidates, schools, housing, etc.) and the fact that things used to be worse to undermine any further progress on social justice and civil rights. So far, I'm having trouble figuring out if and how what he's arguing--which makes sense, as a description of the general system--has to do with me, daily, on the ground. (And note: I don't think 'I don't see color,' because obviously that would be to ignore the ways in which structural, and otherwise, racism still impacts folks of color.)
Basically, as I understand his argument, I think that he doesn't believe that any decision, really, is innocent of race. I shouldn't put words in his mouth, but throughout the book he has claimed skepticism of white folks saying things like "it's just the way things are, race had nothing to do with it" (as in, "I just happened to grow up in a neighborhood that was all white"). Systemically, he's right, although I think you'd be hard put to blame someone for being born into a family that lived in an all-white neighborhood. The existence of the all-white neighborhood clearly is suspect and has roots (if not current support) in racist policies; being born into such a household does not make you suspect. I think it's an open question if purchasing a house in said neighborhood makes your decision suspect (because of implicit biases?). I suppose the point is, if race does not figure into your decision, it creeps in by virtue of your not consciously addressing it.
And speaking of implicit bias, one other resource I should have mentioned in my last related post: ProjectImplicit. I've taken several of the tests and think it's good for a person to do so--the results are interesting, although certainly you may question yours, but the most important aspect for me is feeling my brain's inner conflict between what it knows to be true (e.g., non-biased approaches) and the socialized-but-often-false neural pathways of "what everyone knows" (e.g., biased approaches). And I say that just to acknowledge that we all have biases, we may have them even as we logically know they're wrong, and we have to keep working to dismantle them in ourselves. I really, really loved Nonprofit With Balls' take on this issue, and strongly recommend their article "Hey, You Got a Little Racism Stuck in Your Teeth."
And in the news:
So we all know about Kaepernick and refusing to stand for the national anthem. I have a fraught relationship with American football. I kind of enjoy it. I come from a place where we're terrible at it. (Only 6 months until March Madness! Let's go, Cats! And Cards!) I feel dirty when I watch it because of the relatively-recent discoveries about its implication in brain damage and early death of professional athletes. And for several weeks Kaepernick has been using his profession as a stage from which to attest to the fact that #blacklivesmatter. And of course there's a huge kerfuffle.
And a few things have occurred, or occurred to me.
Thing that occurred to me: I was really struggling with the whole issue of black folks not having to explain things to would-be allies. And I still think it's important, as allies, to remember that folks of color are really the ones "driving" this movement, and so asking is still good. But I guess the resolution I came to is that racism is not a problem that just affects folks of color. White folks like me also have an experience of racism....but it's an experience of normalizing racism, not seeing it, not exploring it, and not realizing--willfully or otherwise--the ways in which we are implicated in it or in which it is enacted through us (or not prevented by us). So I don't need to ask a person of color about the sorts of racism that I experience, as a(n unintentionally-) constituting party or factor: I should be able to figure at least some of those out myself.
So definitely still ask, when the opportunity is there. But also examine your own experience for things you haven't done for equality and civil rights. It'll be painful, but there are parts of this that we can figure out, and that we don't have to have folks of color explain to us. (Unless, any people of color who might be reading this, you want to.) And we can start working on those parts, through ourselves, in addition to supporting the movement with black leadership.
And related-ly, I am reading Eduardo Bonilla-Silva's Racism Without Racists (4th ed., now with a chapter about Obama!), and trying to take it in the manner in which it was intended--as a "good, honest, and painful sermon," to quote Samuel Pepys. I'm still reading and processing, but he is making the case for the notion of "I don't see color" as "color-blind racism," which is to say, a more covert and insidious form of racism that essentially relies on claims of neoliberalism (competition; a free market of candidates, schools, housing, etc.) and the fact that things used to be worse to undermine any further progress on social justice and civil rights. So far, I'm having trouble figuring out if and how what he's arguing--which makes sense, as a description of the general system--has to do with me, daily, on the ground. (And note: I don't think 'I don't see color,' because obviously that would be to ignore the ways in which structural, and otherwise, racism still impacts folks of color.)
Basically, as I understand his argument, I think that he doesn't believe that any decision, really, is innocent of race. I shouldn't put words in his mouth, but throughout the book he has claimed skepticism of white folks saying things like "it's just the way things are, race had nothing to do with it" (as in, "I just happened to grow up in a neighborhood that was all white"). Systemically, he's right, although I think you'd be hard put to blame someone for being born into a family that lived in an all-white neighborhood. The existence of the all-white neighborhood clearly is suspect and has roots (if not current support) in racist policies; being born into such a household does not make you suspect. I think it's an open question if purchasing a house in said neighborhood makes your decision suspect (because of implicit biases?). I suppose the point is, if race does not figure into your decision, it creeps in by virtue of your not consciously addressing it.
And speaking of implicit bias, one other resource I should have mentioned in my last related post: ProjectImplicit. I've taken several of the tests and think it's good for a person to do so--the results are interesting, although certainly you may question yours, but the most important aspect for me is feeling my brain's inner conflict between what it knows to be true (e.g., non-biased approaches) and the socialized-but-often-false neural pathways of "what everyone knows" (e.g., biased approaches). And I say that just to acknowledge that we all have biases, we may have them even as we logically know they're wrong, and we have to keep working to dismantle them in ourselves. I really, really loved Nonprofit With Balls' take on this issue, and strongly recommend their article "Hey, You Got a Little Racism Stuck in Your Teeth."
And in the news:
So we all know about Kaepernick and refusing to stand for the national anthem. I have a fraught relationship with American football. I kind of enjoy it. I come from a place where we're terrible at it. (Only 6 months until March Madness! Let's go, Cats! And Cards!) I feel dirty when I watch it because of the relatively-recent discoveries about its implication in brain damage and early death of professional athletes. And for several weeks Kaepernick has been using his profession as a stage from which to attest to the fact that #blacklivesmatter. And of course there's a huge kerfuffle.
I remain surprised that folks who I thought would support his nonviolent protest were profoundly NOT supportive. Kudso to the NFL for not suppressing a legal and nonviolent protest. And I really love the #VeteransforKaepernick hashtag that was trending. I think his point is not a slap at veterans, but rather, something akin to a claim that he, too, sings America.
All this is old news, at this point, but this was on my mind again because it's happening closer to home, with the Broncos' Brandon Marshall. He's doing his own protest, and for doing so in a positive way: protesting on the field, but also engaging our local police chief in conversations and using his own personal wealth to invest in community organizations who are addressing some of the issues Marshall, Kaepernick, et al are trying to highlight through their protests.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Sexual assault, mandatory minimums, and indeterminate sentencing in Colorado
This post is basically a link library, but hopefully it's pulling together a lot of useful things for folks like me, who are concerned about sentencing for sexual assault, as recently highlighted by the Brock Turner case and the David Becker case and, closer to home for me, the Wilkerson case at CU-Boulder, which is an alma mater of mine (MA, 2011).
CU kind of has an ongoing problem with sexual assault (2014 and 2015)--like many campuses, obviously. I didn't experience this personally, but it happened to folks I know, and I know, from friends working in appropriate divisions/offices, that the statistics were troubling and the response underwhelming. Now, I don't think the admins at CU-Boulder are bad people who are intentionally looking the other way; I think there are a combination of forces at play, including too-many-irons-in-the-fire and uncertainty about how to address what is admittedly a very complex issue.
So how do we fix it? All together now.
Legal system (courts)
One very useful article I found explains the sentencing process and its related guidelines in Minnesota. Since I don't have a legal scholarship background, I thought this was really interesting and enlightening. I wish we could have such an interview done with a Colorado judge, but the news reporter I suggested this to told me that sitting Colorado judges were (unsurprisingly) unwilling to do so, and pointed me instead to this article in re: indeterminate sentencing.
What can we-the-people really do about this? It's a confusing question, especially, again, if you're a person who (like me) doesn't have a background in law. It's not that the sentencing was illegal, per se; I think that would be quickly recognized and rectified, if it were. I think it's more a question of recognizing implicit biases (his future was "brighter" than hers, thus more valuable), plus the confusions surrounding indeterminate sentencing and, as far as I can tell, the absence of a minimum mandatory sentence.
I never figured out if there was really any point to contacting Judge Butler, who apparently did the sentencing. It's confusing to me, because I know that judges aren't elected officials with a constituency in the same way that legislators are. I also know that there are nuances to the law (including this whole foolishness about indeterminate sentencing) that are foreign to me. And I want to believe that our judges and legal system are generally well-intentioned, and I do believe that this judge was: after all, in many cases I am in favor of rehabilitation and opposed to excessive incarceration (like that often visited upon communities of color for minor offences), and that is what this judge has specifically referenced as a factor in his decision. (I know it may be naive of me to implicitly trust the legal system and its actors, but I don't think there's much progress to be made by demonizing and calling individual actors bad names.)
So I am still not sure if there's any point to contacting the judge: all I would want to say is "listen, I know this was complicated and the entire situation is bigger than your sentencing on this one case, but I think the sentence was a mistake because of how it minimizes the crime of sexual assault and rape." And I'm hardly the first person to say that, and the judge doesn't need my vote to get re-elected, since that's not how judgeships work. I may still contact him directly, because I do think it's important that folks know that citizens are watching and care about this issue beyond the week when it actually is in the press. I also feel like it's a shame for the person assaulted to not have our support, in light of this outcome.
And folks may think, "Hey, why not have this judge recalled, if his rulings are not consistent with the values of the community?" Because in Colorado, judges are not recall-able. The judge in question won't need a re-confirmation vote (in the general election) until 2020, and frankly, I'm not sure that would be the most productive route, either. It doesn't seem that he was acting in bad faith; it seems like the sentencing laws don't provide the appropriate guidance (e.g., lack of mandatory minimum) and that the laws do exist deter reasonable sentencing because of the 'squishiness' in the language (e.g., indeterminate sentencing potentially leading a 2-6 year sentence with treatment to become a life sentence). Please don't take that as apologism for the judge or sentence: I still think the judge erred in his decision, but I think it would not be unlikely that, if this judge were replaced, that a new judge would reach a similar conclusion in a similar case. And to avoid that--which is the ultimate goal--it seems like we citizens need to get the legislators involved.
CU kind of has an ongoing problem with sexual assault (2014 and 2015)--like many campuses, obviously. I didn't experience this personally, but it happened to folks I know, and I know, from friends working in appropriate divisions/offices, that the statistics were troubling and the response underwhelming. Now, I don't think the admins at CU-Boulder are bad people who are intentionally looking the other way; I think there are a combination of forces at play, including too-many-irons-in-the-fire and uncertainty about how to address what is admittedly a very complex issue.
So how do we fix it? All together now.
Legal system (courts)
One very useful article I found explains the sentencing process and its related guidelines in Minnesota. Since I don't have a legal scholarship background, I thought this was really interesting and enlightening. I wish we could have such an interview done with a Colorado judge, but the news reporter I suggested this to told me that sitting Colorado judges were (unsurprisingly) unwilling to do so, and pointed me instead to this article in re: indeterminate sentencing.
What can we-the-people really do about this? It's a confusing question, especially, again, if you're a person who (like me) doesn't have a background in law. It's not that the sentencing was illegal, per se; I think that would be quickly recognized and rectified, if it were. I think it's more a question of recognizing implicit biases (his future was "brighter" than hers, thus more valuable), plus the confusions surrounding indeterminate sentencing and, as far as I can tell, the absence of a minimum mandatory sentence.
I never figured out if there was really any point to contacting Judge Butler, who apparently did the sentencing. It's confusing to me, because I know that judges aren't elected officials with a constituency in the same way that legislators are. I also know that there are nuances to the law (including this whole foolishness about indeterminate sentencing) that are foreign to me. And I want to believe that our judges and legal system are generally well-intentioned, and I do believe that this judge was: after all, in many cases I am in favor of rehabilitation and opposed to excessive incarceration (like that often visited upon communities of color for minor offences), and that is what this judge has specifically referenced as a factor in his decision. (I know it may be naive of me to implicitly trust the legal system and its actors, but I don't think there's much progress to be made by demonizing and calling individual actors bad names.)
So I am still not sure if there's any point to contacting the judge: all I would want to say is "listen, I know this was complicated and the entire situation is bigger than your sentencing on this one case, but I think the sentence was a mistake because of how it minimizes the crime of sexual assault and rape." And I'm hardly the first person to say that, and the judge doesn't need my vote to get re-elected, since that's not how judgeships work. I may still contact him directly, because I do think it's important that folks know that citizens are watching and care about this issue beyond the week when it actually is in the press. I also feel like it's a shame for the person assaulted to not have our support, in light of this outcome.
And folks may think, "Hey, why not have this judge recalled, if his rulings are not consistent with the values of the community?" Because in Colorado, judges are not recall-able. The judge in question won't need a re-confirmation vote (in the general election) until 2020, and frankly, I'm not sure that would be the most productive route, either. It doesn't seem that he was acting in bad faith; it seems like the sentencing laws don't provide the appropriate guidance (e.g., lack of mandatory minimum) and that the laws do exist deter reasonable sentencing because of the 'squishiness' in the language (e.g., indeterminate sentencing potentially leading a 2-6 year sentence with treatment to become a life sentence). Please don't take that as apologism for the judge or sentence: I still think the judge erred in his decision, but I think it would not be unlikely that, if this judge were replaced, that a new judge would reach a similar conclusion in a similar case. And to avoid that--which is the ultimate goal--it seems like we citizens need to get the legislators involved.
Contacting my legislators
Noticing a theme here? Seems like I contact my legislators at the drop of a hat. But anyway, the reason this seems like a potentially-useful avenue is because it sounds like the judge in question may have been hesitant to impose the "normal" 2-6 year sentence because of the possibility that, due to the wording of the indeterminate sentencing portion of statute, it could become a life sentence depending on various factors, some outside the offender's control. Or at least that's the claim, and it could well be true. So one obvious win would be revising this portion of statute so that judges did not feel reservations surrounding sentencing due to the possibility of indeterminate sentencing exceeding the maximum sentence they believe would be appropriate.
Second, legislators should also be lobbied to institute mandatory minimum sentences for sexual assault and rape cases, as California just did. If the indeterminate sentencing issue is a real issue and not a red herring--and again, I'd accept the professionals' statements that it is a legitimate issue--then the two revisions will need to be done in concert. But that should not be impossible; it's a needed revision to protect the rights of the victim (or survivor, as some prefer) and the perpetrator.
Third, if folks do feel strongly about the need for judicial recall, that would also be something to be added or amended in statute. For me, I think the two changes above would be a more-important step forward; judicial recall could be considered in future legislative sessions, if needed. But others may feel more strongly that it needs to be on the books now, and there are arguments for that, I suppose, of the nature of "why not pass it now, because even if not this judge, some judge may need to be recalled at some point, and might as well have the ability to do so when it happens."
Contacting and supporting departments on campus
Here's another useful model coming out of Minnesota: Minnesota Coalition against Sexual Violence hosting a summit on campus sexual harassment prevention*. I wish the article said more about what the summit actually included (panels? lectures? activities?), but I can imagine a lot of things that would be helpful. And I know Boulder does already do an orientation seminar on consent and alcohol, so that's good, but it's obviously not good enough, based on the statistics we're still seeing.
Frankly, it's a little confusing to figure out who on campus to even contact. It appears that multiple offices are involved in prevention, response, and aftermath of sexual assault and rape.
- The campus police's "Safety Website" [sic] includes some info on prevention and "what to do if..."
- The Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance appears to offer many of the prevention trainings, although they also do investigations and reporting, it appears
- The Office of Victim Assistance seems to offer advocacy and support, after an assault has occurred
- The Women's Resource center has a nice list of who to contact for help with a variety of issues, including sexual assault and rape
- The Office of Student Affairs also offers services for reporting sexual assault
Again, I'm not really sure how much folks from outside CU can really help here. Presumably we can contact the Board of Regents, who are elected officials, and ask them to support the development of programming and the allocation of additional resources to these departments and programs that work to reduce sexual assault and rape. Because the case went to trial, it seems like CU must have done a decent job, at least in referring it to law enforcement. But in the victim's/survivor's open letter, she repeatedly alleges that CU officials did not do enough to help her feel safe, so it would be nice to have a statement from CU about the actions they took, their duration, and how that reflected their policy.
In closing, it's discouraging that a town and campus like Boulder could have this sort of thing happen. Well, it's awful to have this sort of thing happen anywhere, but given that Boulder likes to think of itself as forward-thinking and liberal, it is doubly surprising. As a female CU-Boulder alumna, I want to figure out how to help, and the most productive approach seems to be talking with my elected representatives, particularly in the state legislature but possibly also the CU Board of Regents. So for anyone out there who read about this case and also was (and is) still wondering what they can do to advocate for change so that this travesty is never repeated....well, this is what I came up with.
*There is a Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault; They apparently do have an annual "campus meeting" geared toward campus professionals, to permit them to "convene, network, and enhance their skills through trainings on current topics and trends." Training the trainer is good, but it is a little different, I think, than the Minnesota summit I reference.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Who to contact, what to do: ally-ship for #blacklivesmatter
I've been AWOL for a while, waiting for inspiration to strike. And while I was working on a really fascinating (hah) piece on the Creation Museum in KY, more and more news kept coming in with reference to police violence and communities of color.
I've been reading a lot about these most recent two instances of police violence, and I am trying to figure out how I, as a white girl, can get more involved. (Clue: this is it done WRONG.)
One of the many pieces I read, looking for guidance, is This is what white people can do to support #BlackLivesMatter (from August 2015). Unfortunately, if anything, it left me a little more confused. I understand the argument that it's not the responsibility of communities of color to educate white folks about...well, anything. That the onus rests upon us to educate ourselves. And I try to accept that responsibility, hopefully with some success, but I think there's a disconnect between educating ourselves and knowing how to be a good and useful ally (or other term of your choice, since some folks don't like that word). Specifically, having worked in museums in collaboration with folks of Native/Native American/American Indian/First Nations heritage, the idea is (usually) to get the heck out of the way and do what you are specifically asked to do. That is, the community makes the decisions about what needs to be done, and you are, in essence, a foot-soldier for the community's mission. You are not making your own decisions about how Native folks should be organizing or prioritizing activism and community-building.
So that's where I get stuck when folks say things like "It is not up to Black Lives Matter, nor any movement led by and for communities of color, to make space for or articulate a vision for white people." Absolutely it's not their problem to "make space for" white people, but I think it would be very helpful to hear what folks from communities of color want from white allies: since I don't necessarily share their lived experience, I may guess just plain wrong about helpful roles that I can play. I don't get to speak for communities of color; I don't get to say what they need most urgently. And so I can and will stumble along doing what I can, to the best of my judgmnt but I may not see things that are obvious to folks in other social positions, and reading all the bell hooks and Malcolm X and Ta-Nahisi Coates and Baratunde Thurston in the world may not rectify that, because book-learning is different from experiential-learning. I can and should do the book-learning on my own initiative, but I'm not sure that'll be enough to get me where I need to be.
And of course, if communities of color don't want to elaborate on how white folks can be allies, that is also their choice. I don't get to tell them that they can't do that, either! But I do think that, to the extent that leaders within communities of color can tell us how to ally, we will be better and more effective allies, if that's what's wanted. And our job is to not make it about us and to do what we're told will be helpful to the community. Maybe it's "shut up; this is our movement," but I think there is actually a desire to have white allies, because it's NOT just an issue for black people; like Pres. Obama said, it's an issue that should concern all fair-minded people.
Coincidentally, I also just finished Negin Farsad's How to Make White People Laugh, which also contains a section on "how white people can be allies to minority communities." (Farsad is Iranian-American, so she's speaking from a rather different social position..although she talks a lot about her introduction to social justice work coming through civil rights with reference to the African-American studies scholarship community.) Even more confusingly, her take on white ally-ship is pretty different from many of the folks quoted and paraphrased in the Washington Post article, above. (And of course different people have different perspectives, so duly noted. But that lack of consensus sure makes it hard for a would-be ally to know what to do!) I'm talking specifically about that last section, "What I Want from You Already" (pp224-239). What are some of her suggestions?
A few concrete ideas that I found and liked:
I've been reading a lot about these most recent two instances of police violence, and I am trying to figure out how I, as a white girl, can get more involved. (Clue: this is it done WRONG.)
One of the many pieces I read, looking for guidance, is This is what white people can do to support #BlackLivesMatter (from August 2015). Unfortunately, if anything, it left me a little more confused. I understand the argument that it's not the responsibility of communities of color to educate white folks about...well, anything. That the onus rests upon us to educate ourselves. And I try to accept that responsibility, hopefully with some success, but I think there's a disconnect between educating ourselves and knowing how to be a good and useful ally (or other term of your choice, since some folks don't like that word). Specifically, having worked in museums in collaboration with folks of Native/Native American/American Indian/First Nations heritage, the idea is (usually) to get the heck out of the way and do what you are specifically asked to do. That is, the community makes the decisions about what needs to be done, and you are, in essence, a foot-soldier for the community's mission. You are not making your own decisions about how Native folks should be organizing or prioritizing activism and community-building.
So that's where I get stuck when folks say things like "It is not up to Black Lives Matter, nor any movement led by and for communities of color, to make space for or articulate a vision for white people." Absolutely it's not their problem to "make space for" white people, but I think it would be very helpful to hear what folks from communities of color want from white allies: since I don't necessarily share their lived experience, I may guess just plain wrong about helpful roles that I can play. I don't get to speak for communities of color; I don't get to say what they need most urgently. And so I can and will stumble along doing what I can, to the best of my judgmnt but I may not see things that are obvious to folks in other social positions, and reading all the bell hooks and Malcolm X and Ta-Nahisi Coates and Baratunde Thurston in the world may not rectify that, because book-learning is different from experiential-learning. I can and should do the book-learning on my own initiative, but I'm not sure that'll be enough to get me where I need to be.
And of course, if communities of color don't want to elaborate on how white folks can be allies, that is also their choice. I don't get to tell them that they can't do that, either! But I do think that, to the extent that leaders within communities of color can tell us how to ally, we will be better and more effective allies, if that's what's wanted. And our job is to not make it about us and to do what we're told will be helpful to the community. Maybe it's "shut up; this is our movement," but I think there is actually a desire to have white allies, because it's NOT just an issue for black people; like Pres. Obama said, it's an issue that should concern all fair-minded people.
Coincidentally, I also just finished Negin Farsad's How to Make White People Laugh, which also contains a section on "how white people can be allies to minority communities." (Farsad is Iranian-American, so she's speaking from a rather different social position..although she talks a lot about her introduction to social justice work coming through civil rights with reference to the African-American studies scholarship community.) Even more confusingly, her take on white ally-ship is pretty different from many of the folks quoted and paraphrased in the Washington Post article, above. (And of course different people have different perspectives, so duly noted. But that lack of consensus sure makes it hard for a would-be ally to know what to do!) I'm talking specifically about that last section, "What I Want from You Already" (pp224-239). What are some of her suggestions?
- work to change your own community
- work to change the census so categories are more inclusive
- turn guilt into action
- stop getting mad when people ask questions (she's specifically talking to "immigrants, minorities, and 'Third Things'"--her term--here)
- let the media and Hollywood know that you aren't on board with racist portrayals, reporting, or just-plain-ignoring of nonwhite and/or non-Native-English-speaking groups
- use the "T-word" (terrorism) appropriately--not exclusively for terrorist acts performed by Muslims, but for all "ideologically motivated attack[s] on a civilian target." (233)
- create stuff: this is pretty catch-all, but I love her idea for a "Exchange Your Confederate Flag-Themed Accessories for Cupcakes" booth (234-235).
- get to know folks from other communities: her examples are immigrants from different places, religions, and backgrounds, but obviously generalize-able beyond that.
A few concrete ideas that I found and liked:
- 5 questions every citizen should ask about police accountability
- Supporting Black-led Racial Justice Organizations
- Participate in the world done by Campaign Zero (and I'm sure there are dozens, if not hundreds, of similar excellent programs--this is just the first one I've become aware of)
- How and Why You Should Record the Police
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
New experiment: do yellowjackets think tofurkey smells like real meat?
My war on the yellow jackets AND European paper wasps continues unabated.
We've had the darn yellow jacket traps out for months now; earlier this week I re-baited with the pheromone packs. The yellow jackets have seemed only mildly interested. So I figured I'd up the ante by adding a food bait. According to the literature with the traps, at this part of the season (spring, early summer) , yellow jackets are interested in protein food sources. (By late summer, they will be more interested in sweet foods, such as fruits and sodas, so plan accordingly!).
Recommended protein baits are lunch meats. But of course, we are vegetarians. So, research question: do yellow jackets find vegetarian lunch "meats" attractive? Clearly an experiment is in order!
I got out my Tofurkey hickory smoked deli slices and divided a single slice into four sections, one for each of my traps. (I didn't want to waste four whole delicious slices, if the yellow jackets are not interested.)
They've been out 24 hours now; I have caught exactly one new yellow jacket--which is not a lot, but is also above average, as I don't catch even one/day right now. Will have to update if the tofurkey seems to be increasing the number I catch, as I figured I'm not the only vegetarian with a yellow jacket problem who was wondering if this would work!
Update (7/7/2016): I did catch marginally more yellow jackets since putting out the tofurkey. I am not sure, however, if this corresponded with having added tofurkey or just getting to the point in the season where there are more yellow jackets out and about.
We've had the darn yellow jacket traps out for months now; earlier this week I re-baited with the pheromone packs. The yellow jackets have seemed only mildly interested. So I figured I'd up the ante by adding a food bait. According to the literature with the traps, at this part of the season (spring, early summer) , yellow jackets are interested in protein food sources. (By late summer, they will be more interested in sweet foods, such as fruits and sodas, so plan accordingly!).
Recommended protein baits are lunch meats. But of course, we are vegetarians. So, research question: do yellow jackets find vegetarian lunch "meats" attractive? Clearly an experiment is in order!
I got out my Tofurkey hickory smoked deli slices and divided a single slice into four sections, one for each of my traps. (I didn't want to waste four whole delicious slices, if the yellow jackets are not interested.)
 |
| Mmmmm, tofurkey |
They've been out 24 hours now; I have caught exactly one new yellow jacket--which is not a lot, but is also above average, as I don't catch even one/day right now. Will have to update if the tofurkey seems to be increasing the number I catch, as I figured I'm not the only vegetarian with a yellow jacket problem who was wondering if this would work!
Update (7/7/2016): I did catch marginally more yellow jackets since putting out the tofurkey. I am not sure, however, if this corresponded with having added tofurkey or just getting to the point in the season where there are more yellow jackets out and about.
Monday, June 6, 2016
National Day of Civic Hacking
Saturday, I went to my first-ever hackathon: Code for Denver's event for National Day of Civic Hacking. Ostensibly we were working on the low-income housing challenge suggested by the national organization (although one group was specifically working on the EPA/waste-visualization challenge). While I'm not sure about how successful the development process was, it was a great learning experience for me and helped me in my quest to understand how code/programming can be a social good/helping profession--that failure of imagination I think I've mentioned before on here.
So, being my first experience, my general takeaway: very overwhelmed, and also, I should have prepared differently (could have used more info from our host location, but I could also have done more with the national site to prepare: they had a lot of really neat ideas up there).
One thing my location did that I think was a great idea, but that didn't work out so well in implementation, was having a representative from an area nonprofit (MetroCaring) come to talk about his organization's needs. I think this was a really good idea, but a couple of problems: first, they don't actually work in housing (but they do refer people to other agencies that do, so there was at least a related need), and second, the rep had to leave pretty much immediately after his statement, which means that as process questions came up, we would get stuck trying to guess how they would use various features, and which ones most closely met their needs.
We ended up having several groups working on various projects: I chose to work in the group dealing with MetroCaring's case. (Other groups had already-in-process projects, such as data mapping or....data visualization. Everybody likes data visualization, I guess, but that brings me to another point, which I'll address below: what are the limits of coding application to actual real-world problems.) Our group was about evenly divided, with four developers and three new-to-tech types. I ended up being the proxy-stakeholder, because for the morning session, at least, I was the only person with any experience working in nonprofits. (In the afternoon, one of the developers had experience working with emergency shelter nonprofits, which led to a bit of a midday pivot from facilitating access to vouchers to facilitating access to emergency shelter.)
But what was surprising to me was that one developer in particular kind of hijacked the project because: a) he knows better than nonprofits (since folks in nonprofit work "benefit" by the problems continuing, in that they can keep their jobs), b) he was bound and determined that we could find a way to develop a product that paid for itself, and even made a profit to spin off its own "descendant" projects, and c) he was wedded to using two proprietary products, even though it meant changing the problem we were solving because of limitations in those products. So instead of generating a tool for tracking voucher availability that would be update-able by any disbursing agency and check-able by any referring agency, he (and I say he, because really no one else could be involved, as nothing he wanted to do was delegate-able) created a sort-of-working zap that would call an agency when someone updated a particular spreadsheet, and ask that agency to call them back with a number of available beds.
Difficult personalities aside--because those are omnipresent--it was not exactly a success, but the rest of the group did at least have some interesting discussion and maybe made some progress toward defining a different version of the project, working from the United Way's 2-1-1 resource. One of the developers found a good data source in a non-intuitive place in 2-1-1; another scraped it, with resultant JSON that could potentially be used for a more accessible data source, rather than duplicate-calling the same shelters, depending on how many of the entries were up-to-date.
In the day-end wrap-up presentations, the other groups had made some progress on their data visualization projects, whether it was triangulating average housing cost, access-to-transit, and access-to-schools in a single map or visualizing waste flows.
But what is most interesting to me here is how few of the projects seemed actually to meet a need, rather than just generating something that looked cool. One of the mapping apps is intended to help folks determine where to focus their housing search, based on where they work, where their kids go to school, and where they can afford to live, in a mobile-friendly/responsive format. So that could be useful. The other projects really didn't meet a concrete need, as far as I could tell, although of course, more information shared with more people is still good.
So my failure-of-imagination, in reference to being able to figure out how programming can really help people, in the sense of a public good (like the helping profession post from a few weeks ago), continues. The hackathon experience was a good one, even though we didn't get much actually accomplished--I think it pointed to ways tech can and cannot help with actual problems.
And then this morning, the weekly Nonprofit with Balls blog post: Hey tech people, stop thinking only you can save the world. And it is just really good. My most-favorite part was about how a tech-can-fix-it-all!-approach can lead you to ignore the root problems of social inequity, for instance. It came up at the hackathon: we aren't going to solve homelessness. We aren't. But maybe we can make a tool for helping folks get access to vouchers (since this was before the pivot...). One of the attendees wanted to work on a mapping tool for low-cost properties that could be developed into low-cost housing, so that would be a tool for increasing supply, and thus actually addressing the problem on the ground, but there is (as yet) no way to code actual living spaces, and frankly, is unlikely to be. (I dunno, 3D printing?)
I don't really have a conclusion. I'll keep exploring. I love some of the National Day of Civic Hacking's ideas, and I love what Code for Denver is trying to do. So I guess it's all about tempering expectations, and realizing that data visualization doesn't actually solve everything.
So, being my first experience, my general takeaway: very overwhelmed, and also, I should have prepared differently (could have used more info from our host location, but I could also have done more with the national site to prepare: they had a lot of really neat ideas up there).
One thing my location did that I think was a great idea, but that didn't work out so well in implementation, was having a representative from an area nonprofit (MetroCaring) come to talk about his organization's needs. I think this was a really good idea, but a couple of problems: first, they don't actually work in housing (but they do refer people to other agencies that do, so there was at least a related need), and second, the rep had to leave pretty much immediately after his statement, which means that as process questions came up, we would get stuck trying to guess how they would use various features, and which ones most closely met their needs.
We ended up having several groups working on various projects: I chose to work in the group dealing with MetroCaring's case. (Other groups had already-in-process projects, such as data mapping or....data visualization. Everybody likes data visualization, I guess, but that brings me to another point, which I'll address below: what are the limits of coding application to actual real-world problems.) Our group was about evenly divided, with four developers and three new-to-tech types. I ended up being the proxy-stakeholder, because for the morning session, at least, I was the only person with any experience working in nonprofits. (In the afternoon, one of the developers had experience working with emergency shelter nonprofits, which led to a bit of a midday pivot from facilitating access to vouchers to facilitating access to emergency shelter.)
But what was surprising to me was that one developer in particular kind of hijacked the project because: a) he knows better than nonprofits (since folks in nonprofit work "benefit" by the problems continuing, in that they can keep their jobs), b) he was bound and determined that we could find a way to develop a product that paid for itself, and even made a profit to spin off its own "descendant" projects, and c) he was wedded to using two proprietary products, even though it meant changing the problem we were solving because of limitations in those products. So instead of generating a tool for tracking voucher availability that would be update-able by any disbursing agency and check-able by any referring agency, he (and I say he, because really no one else could be involved, as nothing he wanted to do was delegate-able) created a sort-of-working zap that would call an agency when someone updated a particular spreadsheet, and ask that agency to call them back with a number of available beds.
Difficult personalities aside--because those are omnipresent--it was not exactly a success, but the rest of the group did at least have some interesting discussion and maybe made some progress toward defining a different version of the project, working from the United Way's 2-1-1 resource. One of the developers found a good data source in a non-intuitive place in 2-1-1; another scraped it, with resultant JSON that could potentially be used for a more accessible data source, rather than duplicate-calling the same shelters, depending on how many of the entries were up-to-date.
In the day-end wrap-up presentations, the other groups had made some progress on their data visualization projects, whether it was triangulating average housing cost, access-to-transit, and access-to-schools in a single map or visualizing waste flows.
But what is most interesting to me here is how few of the projects seemed actually to meet a need, rather than just generating something that looked cool. One of the mapping apps is intended to help folks determine where to focus their housing search, based on where they work, where their kids go to school, and where they can afford to live, in a mobile-friendly/responsive format. So that could be useful. The other projects really didn't meet a concrete need, as far as I could tell, although of course, more information shared with more people is still good.
So my failure-of-imagination, in reference to being able to figure out how programming can really help people, in the sense of a public good (like the helping profession post from a few weeks ago), continues. The hackathon experience was a good one, even though we didn't get much actually accomplished--I think it pointed to ways tech can and cannot help with actual problems.
And then this morning, the weekly Nonprofit with Balls blog post: Hey tech people, stop thinking only you can save the world. And it is just really good. My most-favorite part was about how a tech-can-fix-it-all!-approach can lead you to ignore the root problems of social inequity, for instance. It came up at the hackathon: we aren't going to solve homelessness. We aren't. But maybe we can make a tool for helping folks get access to vouchers (since this was before the pivot...). One of the attendees wanted to work on a mapping tool for low-cost properties that could be developed into low-cost housing, so that would be a tool for increasing supply, and thus actually addressing the problem on the ground, but there is (as yet) no way to code actual living spaces, and frankly, is unlikely to be. (I dunno, 3D printing?)
I don't really have a conclusion. I'll keep exploring. I love some of the National Day of Civic Hacking's ideas, and I love what Code for Denver is trying to do. So I guess it's all about tempering expectations, and realizing that data visualization doesn't actually solve everything.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Armenian Literature
Good news yesterday morning: German MPs recognise Armenian 'genocide' amid Turkish fury. What's good about that? Well, the documentation seems pretty clear that what happened in 1915 meets the threshold for being described as genocide. (Just like the USA's treatment of North America's First Nations/Native peoples does--which I bring up because, while the US does live in a glass house and should throw no stones, we can still recognize it.) Similarly Germany. So kudos to Germany, or rather, some of Germany's politicians, for being willing to acknowledge what I think is a pretty obvious truth, even though it may not be particularly politically expedient to do so. From the reading I've done on the Armenian genocide, it sounds like the main reason the US doesn't officially recognize this Armenian genocide is for self-serving political interests: Turkey is a strong US ally in a volatile region.
I suppose I'm naive: I find it hard to understand why acknowledging historical errors, even crimes, is so problematic. When I say, "I've done some reading and it sounds like the Armenian genocide of 1915 was, in fact, genocide," that doesn't mean that I think today's Turkey is horrible, its people racist, or anything like that. I suppose the trouble comes from questions of restorative justice, reparations, and the like. And that is both understandable and difficult to resolve. I unfortunately have no answers.
But for purposes of educating ourselves (this was supposed to be a book blog, after all!), here's a useful list of "essential Armenian literature." I've only read 1.5 of these books, so I have lots to go for a more nuanced and overarching view of the Armenian people and their history, but it just so happens that the two books from this list I've read dealt with the events of 1915 (and then I had to go look up some more info on what happened, as I'd never heard of it at all prior to reading these books!).
OK, so, which 1.5 books did I read?
And as noted above, it's hard to know what to do, in hindsight, to try to do something to improve the lives of people affected by these events. As usual, my go-to social welfare nonprofit was Kiva, which does have loans to folks in Armenia. Presumably there are also individuals of Armenian descent in other countries represented there, but it'll be hard to guess who, exactly, so looking at Armenia proper seemed like a good start. (Periodically there are also loans available to folks in Turkey, but it looks like Kiva's field partners there are relatively new to the Kiva interface, so there are comparatively few loans to Turkish residents fundraising at this time.)
I suppose I'm naive: I find it hard to understand why acknowledging historical errors, even crimes, is so problematic. When I say, "I've done some reading and it sounds like the Armenian genocide of 1915 was, in fact, genocide," that doesn't mean that I think today's Turkey is horrible, its people racist, or anything like that. I suppose the trouble comes from questions of restorative justice, reparations, and the like. And that is both understandable and difficult to resolve. I unfortunately have no answers.
But for purposes of educating ourselves (this was supposed to be a book blog, after all!), here's a useful list of "essential Armenian literature." I've only read 1.5 of these books, so I have lots to go for a more nuanced and overarching view of the Armenian people and their history, but it just so happens that the two books from this list I've read dealt with the events of 1915 (and then I had to go look up some more info on what happened, as I'd never heard of it at all prior to reading these books!).
OK, so, which 1.5 books did I read?
- Black Dog of Fate, by Peter Balakian: I thought this was very well-written, readable, informative, and insightful. Definitely recommend.
- The Sandcastle Girls, by Chris Bohjalian: This one gets so much hype, and I had such high hopes. It was remarkably similar to Black Dog of Fate, but I couldn't finish it, though I started it first. Why? Because I have an aversion to literature using genocide as a backdrop for a sappy love story. Oh, sweet little white missionary falls in love with a dangerous-but-sensitive Turk. I just couldn't. A lot of other people could and did, but I honestly found it insultingly bad, for cheapening the very events it tries to shed light on. Just my opinion, but it is very much my opinion.
And as noted above, it's hard to know what to do, in hindsight, to try to do something to improve the lives of people affected by these events. As usual, my go-to social welfare nonprofit was Kiva, which does have loans to folks in Armenia. Presumably there are also individuals of Armenian descent in other countries represented there, but it'll be hard to guess who, exactly, so looking at Armenia proper seemed like a good start. (Periodically there are also loans available to folks in Turkey, but it looks like Kiva's field partners there are relatively new to the Kiva interface, so there are comparatively few loans to Turkish residents fundraising at this time.)
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