Writing as Freedom

"You must keep writing. It will keep you free, and I said yes, but at that time I didn't know what she meant (61)."

I keep coming across this theme of women should write in order to be free. bell hooks called it "talking back". Victorian women writers wrote in order to be free. Writing is a way for ethnic and women writers to free themselves from societal constraints. It's one of the many ways that they have found their voices.

Is Esperanza's writing keeping her free from the same constraints? What freedom was her aunt talking about? Does this sound more like the author's voice than the characters in the book?

Minerva Writes Poems

After Minerva lets her husband move back in at the end, she "comes over black and blue and asks what can she do?" to which Esperanza says, in the last sentence of the vignette, "There is nothing I can do" (85). This sentence is straightforward enough, but the emphasis on the "I" seems to imply something more complex: while Esperanza may not be able to do anything, in her opinion there is actually someone else who can. Perhaps the emphasis is intended to mean Minerva, since she could have told her husband he couldn't move back in. This seems problematic to me, though, since I doubt that someone willing to abuse their spouse would feel entirely compelled to stay away just because they were told to. It seems that the emphasis, therefore, is possibly pointing in another direction.

What do you think? Why is the "I" emphasized in the last sentence of this vignette?

Gender roles in "The House of Mango Street"

In a book "The House of Mango street", Sandra Cisneros talked about female identity and describing women as "voiceless" and "powerless". Esperanza narrates the story of Ruthie who got married and moved away to a pretty house outside the city. She was curious why does Ruthie is still living on Mango Street and sleeping on a coach in her mother's living room. Also the Ruthie's husband never showed up to pick her up. This means that the Chicano women don't have an ability to make decisions and a courage to speak up.  

Through the Esperanza's character, Cisneros tells the story of a girl who doesn't want to belong to the low expectation neighborhood. The author is comparing Esperanza to the four trees which grow despite concrete.

Do you think Cisneros is trying to convey her message that women and girls should speak up from themselves and think about their own empowerment? 

Mango Street

I loved that the end she realizes that even though she thinks she doesn't belong here it is a home. The red house is where she began to tell her stories. You find this out in the last chapter when she says "I like to tell stories. I tell them inside my head...I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much. I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes..She sets me free" (109-110). I felt a connection with her as I read this because I do the same thing. Ever since I was little I wanted to get out of the town I was from so I wrote stories of awesome far away places. It wasn't until I went to college I realized that I never wanted to leave. Esperanza has had one dream her whole life: to have a place of her own and now that she is getting older the dream is soon going to be reality.

Have you ever wanted something so bad that when you do you finally obtain it you have a feeling of bitter sweetness?

Esperanza's Own Home

I like how the final chapter kind of feels like the first chapter at the beginning when she says, "I am going to tell you a story about a girl who didn't want to belong." This is why this chapter feels like the beginning of the book, but at the same time, it is the beginning of her new view on belonging. She goes through all of these things throughout the stories, the feeling of belonging and not belonging, the feeling of wanting a home of her own, the feeling of loss as she goes through the troubled times with Sally. But in the end her main goal is to want to feel like she belongs and she actually accomplishes this through her writing. I really like where she says, "[...] Mango Street, sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to. I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much. I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free." The only way that she feels like she belongs is when she writes about it and lets the house go, therefore the house lets her go. Her dream is to go away from Mango Street for good and have the house she has always dreamed about having.  I think through her writing she accomplishes the feeling of belonging and all her feelings come out that were making her so sad throughout the book.  I really enjoyed this book and there are so many different themes that  I feel it's so hard to choose just one.  I also wanted to talk about the "rape" scene because I'm not sure whether it was really rape or the guys were just touching her and kissing her.  But she kept saying that Sally was a liar and that all the books and magazines told everything wrong and "it" wasn't the same as she had expected it to be.  I think this gives it away that maybe "it" was rape and she struggles with those emotions as well.

What do you think about the chapter, "Red Clowns" and how did it come across for you? Do you agree with me that Esperanza was finally freed through her writing?

Coming Back

We were discussing the idea of community today in class. One of the three sisters says to Esperanza, "When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are" (Cisneros 105). Esperanza is fighting against her community, constantly fighting to escape Mango Street because she doesn't belong. She doesn't want to belong to her rundown red house or her neighborhood that white people fear. Though she doesn't say it directly, as Esperanza holds the three sisters' hands, she makes a wish to leave and never return. The sisters force her to realize that Esperanza's community will always be a part of her and she has a responsibility to return and help those that could not escape the cycle of poverty and abuse.

How does this idea of coming back out of responsibility tie to other works we've read, such as Home to Harlem or Bread Givers? Can one ever escape the community in which he or she matured?

AmerRican

In Tato Laviera's poem AmeRican, a practically utopian society is portrayed alongside an image of completely open-minded immigration policy.  The narrator even describes the process as being supported by national anthems and there being a great new future in store for everybody.  As the reader, do you think that the author intended this poem as an ideology or possibly as an act of foreshadowing?

Vignette.

The House on Mango Street has given me my first experience in reading Vignettes. I sort of felt as though I was watching a play, viewing a slice of life. There are no quotations. Just writing which made it hard for me to follow at times. I think this writing technique by Sandra Cisneros makes the story very raw. Then again, it is as if she is feeding the reader very hard to swallow information on a sugar covered spoon. Something tells me that this is a new way of writing. I think I like it. I'll report back once the book is read and done to see if I still feel the same way.

Your turn, how do you all feel about the authors choice of no quotations?

Names

The topic of names was interesting to me in this book because it reminded me of past readings like Hyman Kaplan and Daniel La France.  Esperanza talks about how her sister gets a nickname, but she doesn't, and I was wondering why you think Esperanza felt like she couldn't have a nickname?

Also, the chapter about the snow was an amazing metaphor:  on one hand we have thirty different names for snow and on the other we have two different kinds.  I thought this was a good explanation of how these girls saw the people around them because there are billions of different names for people but a very generalized view is "clean" and "dirty."  I think this is a concept that follows Esperanza, especially surrounding the shame that she feels about her house or the clothes that she's comfortable wearing or being around.

Do you think there's any other significance to the snow and cloud metaphor?

A space of her own

This interview with Sandra Cisneros, especially in the first minute, reminded me of Bread Givers and Sara's quest for a room of her own. She desperately wants to find a room of her own so she could form her identity. Similarly, Esperanza wants to live in a house she isn't ashamed of. And in the end, both characters get what they want. Or at least, Sara does and Esperanza likely will. And both books emphasize neatness and quietness as good attributes for their house.

Does this desire for independence and a different way of life signify a break in ethnicity, a desire to escape racial identity? Or does it simply mean these characters want to gain independence to further their already present ethnicity?

Tucson's Mexican-American Studies Ban

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-2-2012/tucson-s-mexican-american-studies-ban

Sandra Cisneros_Inspiration

what's in a name?

I thought Esperanza's discussion of the two different meanings of her name definitely had some significance towards the overall theme of the story. She says that in English her name means hope but in Spanish it means sadness and waiting. The fact that her name means two completely opposite things in different languages is definitely symbolic for the fact that people of different cultures feel like they have to be one or the other, in this case white or Hispanic...not both. However, Esperanza does seem to play the role of both definitions of her name...she is always waiting for something better than what she's got, she's hoping for a better life and isn't happy with the one she has. Can you find any other significant differences or similarities between the Spanish and English significances of her name and her personality?

Hyphens

Mora seems to be unhappy with her life.  She admits in the poem that she is an outsider to both cultures,  that her hyphenated identity seems to make her separate form other Americans and that Mexicans do not view her as one of them either.  How do you feel about hyphenation?  Do you think it's a good idea?  A bad idea?  Do you think it makes us more aware of cultural differences and therefore causes us to learn more about people different from us or do you think it alienates people?

Love Medicine

I thought that this books was really good. I loved the parallel from the beginning to the end with June. She was probably my favorite character in the book because she was the first story and had a mystery to her. I was so happy that Lipsha found out who his father was and that there was a kind of peace at the end.

The other day in class we were talking about how Native Americans were portrayed in films and I remembered that The Lone Ranger was coming out soon and that Johnny Depp was in it. I thought that this was really weird because they could have had a real Native American playing Tonto. How does this make you feel? Was this appropriate? Would you still have seen it if Johnny Depp was maybe another character or not in it at all?

The Healer

The medicine man/healer is a commonly and frequently negatively stereotyped way for Native Americans to be portrayed. In thinking of our discussion about portrayals of Native Americans in pop culture I thought of the character John Redcorn in the animated TV series "King of The Hill". John Redcorn is a healer. Dale hires Redcorn to heal his wife Nancy's headaches on a weakly basis. He gets rid of her headaches, but not by ancient Native American healing techniques. Unbeknown to Dale, Nancy and Redcorn have an affair every week for over half the shows seasons. In this case the healer is not portrayed as a believeable character or in a positive light. In Love Medicine the healer is unintentionally the cause of the patients death. Instead of making Nector fall back in love with Marie he chokes on the heart that is meant to make him fall back in love with her when Marie slaps him on the back. This scene seems to poses a bit of dark humor. Lipshaw says to himself, "From time to time I heal a person all up good inside, however when it comes to the long shot I doubt that I got staying power,". Considering that love medicine is the title of the novel I think it's important to note the irony of what this medicine literally does in the novel.

Do you think Erdrich's intention is to portray healers as somewhat of a myth?
Is she poking fun at the idea by having a leader character choke to death on love medicine?

This brief clip shows the moment when the Hank, the shows main character, brings his wife(Peggy, who is a bit slow) to the realization that Dale's son with Nancy is actually Redcorn's son. Peggy is the last to realize what has been going on nextdoor that the rest of the neighborhood has known for years... Kind of a funny moment. Thought I'd share for those of you unfamiliar with the show and Redcorn's character.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXlokoYQOWs

Flight and Love Medicine

Reading Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine brought to my mind Flight, a novel written by Native American author Sherman Alexie. In short, Flight was mostly a story about a young Native American boy dealing with being bi-racial, his history, and the universal teenage angst. Many of the themes such as alcoholism, abuse, family interconnectedness that are in n Love Medicine are similar to themes shown in Flight.  Utilizing specifically Love Medicine, if at all, how do you think this novel addresses the stereotypes of Native Americans?

Theme

This book covers a lot of material.  What do you think the central theme is?

Love Medicine

From finishing "Love Medicine" I feel that a great theme in this novel is the loss of a cultural identity and Native American spirituality. The two generations in this novel are characterized and separated by the sense of Americanization. For example, Albertine going to college to study western medicine, whereas her grandmother, Marie, is part of the generation where everything surrounding her environment was still pretty close to the Native American culture and rituals. I also find it somewhat ironic that this book is called "Love Medicine" mainly because of the chapter about Lipsha being the one the healing powers, but at the same time Albertine is studying to become a doctor. So in this chapter we learn that the entire family of Kashpaws/Pillagers/Nanapushes have special gifts of healing and insight. Lipsha Morrissey says that he's got the touch. But later we read that the Pillagers were members of the Midewiwin  which were medicine men and women who were blessed by the Higher Power to help others. So, even more of the irony is that this family already has the healing touch of being medicine people and of finding the cure to help others, yet earlier in the book Nector says that the Kashpaws die out pretty quickly and then we actually witness the death of Nector Kashpaw. Yet some how, with the final chapters we see the families comes together to help one another, and everyone's stories intertwined with one another, I think to emphasize the closeness of the tribe; although there were different families, it was still just one tribe and one community. 

How do you think the first generation is similar to the second one, and what do you think are the main differences? Do you think they all end up in the same manner the generation before them did?

Also from recent news__Russel Means, AIM leader, has died

You can read more about him here. Complicated figure, important legacy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/opinion/the-siege-of-wounded-knee.html?_r=0

butter?

This blog post isn't supposed to lead to a deep intellectual debate or spark meaningful contemplative thoughts. I figured if this blog is for discussing the readings, it can be for fun conversations from time to time to.
 I honestly just want to know that someone else in the class is confused as I am about Nector Kashpaw's chapter where he has sex with Lulu. Did really know one else go WHAT THE FUCK? when they broke out the butter? I had to reread it multiple times to myself and then once out loud to my girlfriend to make sure that it was real. Paula Dean will never be the same.

Faith in Love Medicine

Lipsha, as the one with "the healing touch," frequently discusses faith in his chapters. He believes in his healing powers, and after he goes to church with Nector and the old man yells his prayers, he asks, "Was there any sense relying on a God whose ears was stopped? Just like the government? I says then, right off, maybe we got nothing but ourselves. And that's not much, just personally speaking" (Erdrich 233). His faith in God parallels his faith in the government. Both ignore the pleas of those that are in need of help. Also, Lipsha has little faith in himself.

 Later, he seems to regain his faith, both in higher powers and, briefly, in the government. He says that "faith could be called belief against all odds and whether or not there's proof. How does that sound? I thought how we might have to yell to be heard by Higher Power, but that's not saying it's not there" (Erdrich 241).

Where else in the novel do you see faith? Which other characters discuss faith and how does their impression compare to Lipsha's?

:)) Forwarded to me by a friend in American Indian Studies

So what do you think?

Kateri Canonization

We talked about Kateri's recent canonization.Katherine Coig, can you please post a link to the info about the other "Indian saint"?

Debbie Reese has a great blog about American Indians in Chidlren's Literature. In the post below she discusses the coverage of Kateri's canonization recently and the problematic representation of American Indians in the media. Take a look!

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

As many of you have mentioned, it is important to think about the role of Catholicism, and spirituality, in defining contemporary Indian identity (where many tribal members practice both tribally-specific religions and a form of Christianity).

Drink, Drank, Drunk

Alcoholism is one of the themes that sticks out to me in Love Medicine. Some scientists, like Dr. Ting-Kai Li, from Indiana University, believe that alcoholism is a result of both genetics and environment. He says, ""We have identified two genes that protect against heavy drinking, and these are particularly prevalent among Asians," Li says. "We have shown that Native Americans, who have a high rate of alcoholism, do not have these protective genes. The one that is particularly effective is a mutation of the gene for the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase, which plays a major role in metabolizing alcohol. The mutation is found very frequently in Chinese and Japanese populations but is less common among other Asian groups, including Koreans, the Malayo-Polynesian group, and others native to the Pacific Rim. "We've also looked at Euro-Americans, Native Americans, and Eskimos, and they don't have that gene mutation," says Li. Thus, incidentally, the study of genetic mutations and alcoholism links native North-American populations to central Asian ancestors, not to those from China and Japan." (Genetic Influences on Alcohol Drinking and Alcoholism)

This book is depressing. The suggestions of incest are a little disturbing, and I get mad each time one of the characters cheats on their spouse.

West of Eden.

In the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck, the relationship between brothers is used to show opposite personalities, or at least the difference between privilege and lack. Love Medicine also uses these sibling relationships to show two sides of a coin.

Nector Kashpaw is sent to school, while Eli remains at home, which shows a division between formal Euro-American schooling and native teachings. Similarly, Henry Lamartine Jr. joins the armed forces and is sent to Viet Nam, while Lyman stays home. These situations allow for characters of the same background to have completely different life experiences. Do these experiences with other cultures amount to a privilege for one brother? Or does staying home away from such exposure equal privilege?

Struggling with the outside world

So sar far we have read about a lot of the characters struggling to deal with their two worlds. The first being their life within their culture on the reservation and the second being the outside world off the reservation. You see it in the beginning with Albertine when she returns from college and with Henry Jr. with the war. I was really sad when I read about Henry's death. The war had such a strong impact on him that he was no longer the same person from when he left the reservation. So I guess my question for you guys is. Do you think it will ever, or has already in todays generation, become easier for Native Americans to balance their two worlds, the first being their own culture and the second being the world outside the reservation or do you think one will dominantly take over completely?

The War in Henry's Mind and the Mind of Native Americans

For some reason I can't find the page or the quote, but I do remember this line that went something like this, "The War was over, but it was still going in Henry's head." I feel like this line could go even further. Even though all of the atrocities that the Native Americans have suffered by the hands of white Americans and the government, they are still suffering from it when this book's timeline and even today. The "war" against Native Americans is "over" but it's still going on because some are still suffering from discrimination and the actions of people from the past.

Do you guys think that this interpretation of that line makes sense?

how a woman handles being left

I really liked Marie's chapter where she talks about how a woman and mother keeps going after something so tragic and keeps on doing her daily chores and keeping up with everything; her life doesn't stop because of her loss so she has to keep up with it. I thought where she says "Him loving her, him finding true love with her, was what drove me to peel all the potatoes in that house" shows her strong personality and her sarcasm. I don't know what it was about that passage but it really made me like Marie much more. There was also another passage I really liked a few pages later "I felt better, that's all I know, as I scrubbed off the tarnished wax and dirt. I felt better as I recognized myself in the woman who kept her floor clean even when left by her husband". I like that she is even acknowledging that many women probably would have tried to stop everything and lay in bed depressed but she couldn't and didn't which made her a stronger woman and empowered her. What do you think about Marie's character and how she handled being left?

Marie's story

I liked Marie's story the best but was confused about the last paragraph on page 162:

"He stood there looking at me over that long, shiny space.  It rolled and gleamed like a fine lake between us.  And it deepened.  I saw that he was about to take the first step, and I let him, but halfway into the roo, his eyes went dark.  He was afraid of how deep this was going to become.  So I did for Nector Kapshaw what I learned from the nun.  I put my hand through what scared him.  I held it out there for him.  And when he took it with all the strength of his arms, I pulled him in."

What do you think Marie is talking about?  I'm think there's a connection with Sister Leopolda but I'm not sure what Nector is afraid of.  Also with this story, why do you think Zelda might want to become a nun after seeing the altercation between Sister Leopolda and her mom?

Respond to Julie's post "Flight" by Sherman Alexie

Thanks Julie for this post. It also reminded me Sherman Alexie's novel "Flight". The main character -Zits had the madness on his own father, because his Indian father abandoned him. I want to read Zits’s embodiment as his father through the lens of Native trauma theory because American Indian historical grief is widely understood to be transmitted intergenerationally and this situation has a thematic relationship to Alexie’s recurring exploration of fathers and sons, abandonment, and the complexities of forgiveness.
Initially Zits does not know he is inside his father; he simply wakes up on the ground staring at a rat and vomiting blood. He realizes he is a street drunk, a loser whose belly is torn apart by booze. When a “pretty white” couple approach him and he asks them if he is white (he’d most recently inhabited the body of the white flight instructor), they tell him he is Indian: “I look down at my dirty T-shirt, emblazoned with a black-and-white photograph of the Apache warrior Geronimo and the ironed-on caption FIGHTING TERRORISM SINCE 1492” (Flight, 132). Appearing soon after the 9/11 attacks, this popular T-shirt expresses many American Indians’ perspective of having been invaded, terrorized, and colonized and the patriotism of American Indians in their struggle to retain their land, lives, and culture. But the grief and rage that result from Indians’ awareness of the ongoing reality of colonization and the dominant culture’s denial of it are registered in this man’s drunken state. Zits/the man is disgusted by the good Samaritans’ compassion and tells them “it’s all your fault” and “white people did this to Indians” (Flight, 136). Zits tells us, “I don’t even know if I believe that. But this fifty-year-old guy wants to blame someone for his pain and his hunger....This homeless guy’s anger is even stronger than my anger. And anger is never added to anger.
It multiplies”  (Flight, 136).
After being punched in the face by the woman’s partner, the man/Zits awakes, aware that he is in an alley in downtown Tacoma. As he “shambles” out of the alley, his bloody face horrifies the people on the street: “‘I want some respect,’ I say. I read this desire for respect and understanding as a direct expression of disenfranchised grief—the sense that no one recognizes or cares about the suffering of Native people.
After that, one man on the street was him a story about his family and pulled out a photo. Zits realizes, "It is me, the five-year-old me. The five-year-old Zits. The real me” (Flight,150). Confused, he looks into the side-view mirror of a nearby truck: “I stare at my bloody reflection. I am older than I used to be. I am battered, bruised and broken. But I know who I am. I am my father” (Flight, 150). Zits realizes he’s staring into the face of his betrayer—the man he should kill—but “what satisfaction is there in killing a man who wants to die?”(Flight, 151).Zits asks the questions he has always wanted to ask his father: “Why did you leave me, why did you want to carry a photograph of me but not me?” (Flight, 152). These are questions his father/the man doesn't want to answer: “I can feel him fighting me. He doesn't want to remember the day he left me” (Flight, 152). But Zits forces his father to remember and learns that his father was not only sexually molested but cruelly ridiculed by his own father to believe he was utterly worthless: “My father wants to weep. He wants to cry out for his father. He wants to be forgiven, to be loved. But if he speaks he will only be ridiculed again. He will only be diminished”  (Flight, 155). Now inside his father’s memories at the hospital where Zits’s mother is giving birth to him, he realizes, “My father cannot be a participant. He cannot be a witness. He cannot be a father” (Flight, 156). Zits understands that his father has been so damaged by abuse that he does not have the strength or confidence to raise his own son and perhaps fears that he will inflict the same abuse on him that he received from his father.Zits is now a witness to his father’s abuse and understands why he was abandoned, there is hope that he can forgive his father, perhaps find relief from his own suffering.

Forgive our Fathers

I think this scene in Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals encompasses much of the family strife in Love Medicine. We see many fathers - and mothers - in it who are a bit of a mess. And they perpetuate problems throughout the generations.

Diaz and Erdrich-received National Book Award nominations 2012

You can read more about their nominated books here: http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2012.html#.UH1hRltJmQI I do hope this helps you realize (even more) that you are reading some really fine writers this semester. :))

1970s "Keep America Beautiful" Campaign_Dave Chapelle hints at the "Crying Indian"

The guy who plays "the Indian" was, actually, Italian. You can research Iron Eyes Cody and learn more about him. Here is another appropriation by popular culture of "the Indian" (and, as usual before the 1970s), the "Indian" is played by a non-Indian actor.

Love Medicine

Of the chapters we've read, only two are not first person narrative.  These two are the opening with June and the last chapter that focuses on Beverly.  I understand that June's chapter would not be narrated by herself considering her death; however, I find Beverly's more interesting.  Does this perhaps foreshadow his death?  Is it because he is not really part of the family?  Does the third person narration effect us differently than if he had narrated this chapter?

Love Medicine

In the beginning chapters of Love Medicine, the reader is presented with a rather peculiar, and somewhat comical, love triangle between three character: Marie, Nector, and Lulu in the year 1934.  Nector had always been in love with Lulu, but instead he settled down with Marie for reasons that he himself cannot make sense of.  In the case of Lulu, she had always assumed that Nector would marry her, and once she found out about his engagement to Marie, she found a man named Moses but left him because he refused to leave the wilderness.  This love triangle is presented in a rather humorous and intriguing way, and when such a dramatic topic is a central part of a novel, why would the author make a less than serious presentation?

Love Medicine/ Comedy

I am still getting a grasp on this novel and thought instead of posting something pointless that I would share a comedy sketch I saw a few years ago that I thought was relevant to what we're learning right now. It's Dave Chappelle so it can be taken a little offensively by some. But I think that underneath the humor he's pointing out the stereotypes that we have put on Native Americans.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DROyY8xztEM

First Impressions

A narrative technique that I've always loved is when the reader is given a story, a chapter, or some other text without context, but then that context is slowly revealed throughout the rest of the story, such as in Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov or The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner.

In Love Medicine, the first chapter is not as inherently difficult to understand as a 999-line poem or a stream of consciousness from a mentally handicapped character, but I found I was having a lot of trouble keeping track of all the characters introduced, as well as their relations to one another. The advantage of introducing so many characters all at once, though, is that the author is then able to provide the reader with first impressions, but then later offer contrary impressions, such as with Nector, who is first introduced as a senile old man before his back story is introduced.

Do you feel that this is an effective tool in preventing the reader from making up his or her mind about a character too early on in the narrative? Or is this technique a recipe for inconsistent and unbelievable characters?

What's your love medicine?

I just wanted to discuss two quotes that I thought seemed really important (because honestly I'm not really sure where this story is going, if anywhere). I liked on page 70 when the narrator asked Nanapush "What's your love medicine?" and then goes on to say "She hates you but you drive her crazy." I like that the narrator is describing different kinds of love to be like medicine, like even if you are sick or dying love may keep you alive. I really like this idea of love as medicine but I'm not really sure what to do with it, what do you guys think? My second quote I really liked was "The greatest wisdom doesn't know itself. The richest plan is not to have one" on page 76. I thought this was in itself wise advice and I like the idea of the greatest plan you'll ever have for yourself won't compare to the one that was meant for you so it's best to stop planning and let life happen. What do you guys think about the way Native American elders passed down advice to younger generations?

Family Cycle

Family Cycle

                Loiuse Erdich’s novel, unlike any novel we have read to date, takes the reader on a whirlwind journey through the lives of members of these two families. I researched this particular novel and found that this book was favored among many Native Americans because of its traditional story telling technique.  I find it interesting to imagine older characters such as Grandma Marie and Albertine’s mother Zelda when they were younger. It made me think of the different phases in which we go through life. The trials and tribulations in which we go through life shape who we are. They say quite often that art imitates life. With that being said, in my mind, I attempted to parallel this novel into real life in relation to my own experiences. Imagining who my parents may have been when they were younger is something I cannot quite wrap my head around at times. We tend to pass (either purposefully or indirectly) our life experiences onto our children. Take for instance the character King. The pain he felt throughout his life was surely passed onto him. My question is, do you feel as though we may carry on some of our families burden?

Hope

I've really enjoyed this book so far even though it is filled with a series of characters that are struggling and seem broken.  It doesn't seem like any of the unities between these people really make any of them happy, especially since the main connecting character is shown in such a bleek situation right before her death.  But through all of that I've been trying to figure out the sense of hope that I think is underlying all of the depressing stuff.  The way that June's story ends still has hope in it, almost like even though we figure out that June has died, her soul is still very much alive.  When reading Marie Kashpaw's story, we also figure out that June was found in a situation that probably should have killed her, so the way that June entered the world and left it are both really connected to the environment and harsh situations.  To me it seems like these characters find happiness in situations that are ultimately really destructive, but in the end people seem to be at terms with it...the relationship between King and Lynette is something that I think really shows that, especially when the other relatives ignore their fighting and violence for so long and the thing that seems the most important to them is the pies.


Do you find any hope in this book and what do you think motivates the decisions of these characters?  I'm still not clear on what "Love Medicine" is or what the author is trying to do, but hopefully it will become clear soon!

Native American Lit.

I noticed some comparisons between Love Medicine and the poetry we read for last class, especially regarding education and the boarding schools. Erdrich writes, in the voice of Lulu, "I ran away from the government school...I ran away so often that my dress was always the hot-orange shame dress and my furious scrubbing thinned sidewalks..." In her poem "The Runaways," Edrich writes, "We scrub the sidewalk down because it's shameful work..."Also, Grandpa, the one in the set of brothers who was sent away to get an education, is described as soft and rather senile in his old age. While his brother, who grew up wandering the woods, is still hardy.

Obviously, Erdrich is making the point that the the outside culture, including the government education, has not been good for the Native Americans. As evidenced by the many self-destructive characters in the book, it has done them harm. What other instances of this do you see?

And the touchy mascot debate, Comedy Central (TheDaily Show)

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-may-2-2007/trail-of-cheers

Contemporary Native American Comedians

Charlie Hill, Oneida Comedian, on the Richard Pryor show in the 1970s

(Oneidas are part of the 6 Nations or Iroquois Confederacy).

Native-American poetry

Carlos Montezuma writes almost with rage; his infuriated tone inspires Indian pride and strength.  His parallel structure such as in "Steady, Indians, Steady" is reinforced by the repetition of such phrases as the title.  Like the tone, these elements inspire as well as fortify the Native-Americans and their culture.  Zitkala-Sa's tone is very different; in "The Indian's Awakening", the speaker opens with a somewhat defeatist tone.  However, through the Divine, the speaker is rejuvenated and inspired.  He/she discovers that though in the earthly world, the Indians may be persecuted, in the Spirit-world, their supremacy prevails.  Zitkala-Sa's tone inspires hope and in turn pride and strength.  Though the two poets take different avenues, the end game remains the same.  I was a little confused though in these readings; I was under the impression that the native-american religion focused on spirits of nature rather than really a god.  However, in the poems we read, God is a central element of hope and redemption.  Were the Native-Americans Christianized or did they always believe in God but with spirits in nature as well? 

Indian Boarding School

I couldn't help but think of the movie The Education of Little Tree when reading Louise Erdrich's poem "Indian Boarding School: The Runaways". The voice in the poem seems beaten and sad and the way the school is portrayed in the movie reflects the reason the voice in the poem would be so down trodden. The Indian boarding schools were a place Indian children were sent to be Americanized and stripped of the "savagery" of their ancestors and parents. It wasn't about education in the since the white people in the movie say to take the main character Little Tree from his grandparents but to make sure to enforce the idea of white capitalistic patriarchy was still in control. While in the movie Little Tree really does manage to run away the voice in the poem seems to run away mostly in their mind.

American are savages?

This poem was very heart felt. in the article American Indian Stores it talks about how Indians was mistreated and even though the U.S. government established an Indian Affairs bureau they did not accomplish anything that was helpful to the American Indians. There was such a racism and corruption in the government, even though there were the same people as the Americans, Indians were considered to be savage because of their culture. I especially like a quote from a Civilization poem, where it talks about who the real savages are, "Play-toys to modern weapons for fighting brother against brother." Indians suffered because of their savage like behavior, but Indians viewed the Americans as savages.

What do you think about American who were being savages? do you agree?

Death Race 2000

So, I mentioned Death Race 2000 in class the other day, and wanted to recap it a little bit - I realize it was near the end of class, and you were all probably wondering what on Earth I was rambling on about.

So basically, this movie was done in 1975 as a satire of American culture at the time. You've got all of America being super-hyped over an exceptionally brutal pastime - people drive cars cross-country, and aim to slaughter as many people with their cars as possible. But a small group of rebels - holders of the "true" American dream, plot to fight back and end the race by blowing up the racers' cars.

Specific things that stood out to me about this movie, and thus make it pertinent to this class, are:

-The stereotyping: While being an entirely Eurocentric movie, several characters seemed to play up to certain stereotypes: Sylvester Stallone's character, for example, is a womanizing mobster.

-The American need to blame someone: At one point, as the resistance starts blowing up cars, the American government orders a coverup. And when they can no longer manage a coverup, they start blaming the "terrorist" attacks on "[their] most hated of enemies, the French, who were responsible for ruining [their] economy and telephone network."

Now, consider this my trigger warning to you if you decide to look this movie up (which I think you should, honestly). As this was meant to satire certain aspects of American culture, such as predominantly the love of excessive violence, there are some particularly troublesome scenes and events, though actual gore is kept to a minimum. Also, at one point, Stallone nearly kills one of the lead female characters quite brutally, so if these kinds of things are things that you cannot deal with, then perhaps you should give the movie a wide berth. Or at least go and look up a plot summary and chuckle to yourself, anyway.

Red Man's America

"The Red Man's America" was definitely my favorite poem. I love how the poem parodies the original "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." I am a big fan of all kinds of parodies ranging from music to television and movies. I think parodying "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," adds a lighthearted feel to a serious topic. The author is clearly trying to show the mistreatment of the Indians at the time. The use of well known song about the liberties and freedom that American's have provides a great platform to comment on the injustice the Indians are face with. The poem shows how the original song has a completely different meaning to the Indians. The same liberties that white Americans were celebrating in the song were not afforded to the Indians. Parodies if executed well, and this poem is very good, can open the minds of the readers to things they may have never considered before, and this poem does that very well.

How well do you believe this poem parodies the original song. 

Looking in The Rearview Mirror

In this video, we revisit Professor Henry Louise Gates Jr.'s Faces of America. In this particular section, he is interviewing Louise Endrich. This interview brought me back to her poem Family Reunion. Also in retrospective, it made me think of our first family history essay. I thought of the journey of finding about family history, but I also thought of the relevance in discovering what comes before us.  I wondered if finding out about family history was important for everyone as it was for me as a first generation American.

So my question is  finding out about your cultural/familial history important or do you feel as though it is more salient to form your own path?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5GHHbIUxZY

I just found this video on youtube about some American's thoughts on making Muslims carry special identification so we can all know "who they are". It's a little biast because its from an Australian tv show obviously aiming at making fun of Americans, but the things they say are just so ridiculous that I thought I had to show it.

Rasha

After reading Rasha's story of inhumane treatment and resentment from Americans, I was struck with man emotions and reactions. First, it was interesting to digest the kind of life that many Muslim-Americans must have to go through. The text highlighted on the idea of growing up and the challenges associated with that already tumultuous time in one's life. However, growing up as a Muslim in a post-911 United States is undoubtedly harder. Rasha and her family were discriminated against simply because of their religion and where they came from in the world. This is absolute madness. Its absurd that there are even people ignorant enough to discriminate against someone solely based on the actions of a few individuals who share their religious beliefs. If that were the case, than every religion in the world should be hated, as there are equally bad Christians and Jews and Buddhists and every other denomination. It is not a certain religion that is the problem, it is the humans that interpret those teachings in negative ways.

One part of her story that really struck me can be found when she was discussing taking riflery classes in Syria. The fact that the girls around her told her not to speak about the government, that it wasn't allowed, just makes me feel very privileged to live in this country; to be able to live in a place where our freedoms are guaranteed to us. At the same time, it makes me question why my freedom should be more guaranteed than Rasha's. She, for the most part, grew up in this country the same as me. She was a college student when our government unfairly "kidnapped" her family. I can't understand why so many people in the world allow fear to govern their ideas about others, and allow that fear to slowly turn to nothing more than blind hate. A person is a person, regardless of where they are from or what they believe in. Everyone should be allowed to practice whatever religion they so choose, or none at all, not only in the United States, but in every country in the world. Basic human rights should be a global theme, but, sadly, that is not the case. America is meant to be a refuge for anyone that is in need, and stories like these are further developing my disgust with the fact that this refuge has always been something that is only for people that we deem as worthy. Everyone is worthy. Everyone deserves that chance.

"Changing Is Not Vanishing"

I found this poem particularly interesting in light of our discussion about change on Thursday. We talked about how fear of change is what sparks a lot of fear of immigrants and cultures different to our own. As a result I had a few different interpretations of this poem.

                On the one hand, it seems to be arguing that change is a natural part of life – that there is no need to mourn or fear change because essence remains the same. If you think about it, with or without European invasion, Native American culture would not have remained static, like any other it surely would have evolved to be something quite different today than it was then.

                On the complete other hand, however, when considering the “boarding schools”  in which Native Americans were stripped of their culture, I could see this poem instead as a battle cry. “The Indian race vanishing? No, never! The race will live on and prosper forever,” states the last line, seeming to say that no matter how Native Americans outward appearances may be controlled, their thoughts and their spirits will remain free and Native American.

               Any thoughts?

Steady, Indians, Steady!

This poem hit me the most out of all of them. I think it was because Montezuma made it a point that while America was fighting the Native Americans did not. He wanted to remind them that this was not their battle and to think before they act. They had no reason to fight with them because it no concern for them. It made me think of how many things that I rush into because I think that I need to.

My question is: Have you ever done this? Got into a fight that you didn't need to get into because you thought you needed to?

Off topic but I saw this book and thought you all might enjoy.
 here's the link for more information at Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-story-of-america-jill-lepore/1110912612?r=1&ean=9780691153995&cm_em=ernshaw90%40aol.com&cm_mmc=Other-_-This_Week-_-121009_MI_NEW_RELEASE_TUESDAY-_-

Who stood up for them?

I was originally going to write about the recurring use of the word "Indian" in the poems by Montezuma, but changed my mind upon reading the last poem.  The recurring theme (and name of the poem) is "I have stood up for you."  As I read this, I kept hoping that at the end "I" would be revealed, but nothing like this happens.  Who do you think the "I" is in this poem?

Congress Apologizes for Slavery, 2008

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93059465

US gvt. Apologized to Japanese Internees during WWII in 1988

You can read more about it her and see the Civil Rights Act passed in 1988:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/japanese_internment/internment_menu.cfm

Video recommended by Lebanese student

One of my Lebanese students this summer showed this video in class and I can't help but post it on our blog. Since a lot of our discussions about contemporary ethnicity will inevitably go to food and food metaphors (remember also the melting pot and salad bowl metaphors), we might as well enjoy it:

Also, The Lebanese festival in Richmond is in May. Check it out if you have a chance!

"Rasha" and "The road to the Guantanamo"

Not long time ago I have read the story in the New York magazine about "American Girl" - it was the about the life of young Arab girl in Brooklyn and it was pretty normal until she was being thrown in jail with her family after 9/11. Therefore, it had changed her idea of what it means to live in the U.S. For this week reading's I have a chance to read the whole story about what happened in jail and with her family. 
In my opinion, Rasha and her family were thrown in jail because Our culture is racist and can't understand the difference between a radical Muslim terrorist and a normal American college student. The government probably used Arab-Americans as scapegoats, they attack peaceful law-abiding Arabs just because they look sort of like our image of terrorists. The government wants to create the illusion that they are protecting their citizens and showing to us that they are doing something not just wasting our tax money. Unfortunately, they are violating the basic human rights, torturing people in prisons and detection camps. 

Rasha photographed at home in Bay Ridge.  

(Photo: Jessica Roberts)

This story is referring to the documentary movie "The Road to Guantanamo" which was about three British young males who spent over two years in military prison for no justifiable reason. It turns and abstract debate about human rights and the Geneva Conventions into horrible experience of lived injustice: What if you were rounded up with friends on the eve of your wedding; shipped to an American airbase to be shackled, beaten, and interrogated; and after that sent without trial into a cage in Cuba?

Here is the trailer of the movie: 

Booker T Washington quote

"I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him."

I think this quote goes perfectly well with Rasha's story. Even though she was treated like a criminal, she wasn't consumed by hatred. She didn't hate all Americans because of the handful that treated her like garbage. When she started school again, she became a part of an organization to prevent what happened to her from other people. She won't let her adversaries bring her down to their level. This quote applies to a lot of disadvantage groups in America and all over the world. I thought it was pretty cool that she was able to reprimand the counselor that caused her and her mother and sister so much grief?

Do you think her response to the counselor was appropriate? How else could she have handled that exchange?

Citizenship

Rasha's story paired with the other reading had me thinking about what it means to have your voice be heard.  America has more freedom of speech than many other countries, but people are still not able to say anything that they want.  Rasha and her family weren't even given proper information or chances to defend themselves before they were placed into a prison.  Reading that and then reading about all of the writers that I wasn't aware of, mostly because they aren't the regular books that we read in school, shows me how ignorant I actually am of a lot that happens/is happening in this country.

Rasha talks about how American Citizenship is taken for granted, and I realize that America is much freer than a lot of other countries, but there are still a lot of problems here.  Her story makes me a little afraid of a country that can basically abduct whoever they want to when they think a threat calls for it.

Do you think that just because people aren't citizens that they should be treated as less than human?  Should the government of the United States, or any country really, be able to take away a person's basic rights?  If you think so, under what circumstances?

Also found this to be interesting
http://www.aclu.org/national-security/president-obama-signs-indefinite-detention-bill-law

The counselor in Rasha

When reading "Rasha", I couldn't help but think the counselor that was so mean to Rasha and her family in prison was a representation of the way many Americans treated people of certain ethnic groups after September 11th. There is a part where she is describing how he acted that sounded a lot like the way angry Americans treated anyone that looked anything like the terrorists that had caused such a tragic event for the U.S (whether these victims were related by race to the terrorists or not seemed unimportant): “He would look at Rasha and her family, in their prison jumpsuits, and treat them like the dust hiding under dust. He didn’t know the reasons for people’s incarceration, and he didn’t care anyway. He was always shaking his head at the inmates, telling them they should expect anything at MDC and that they deserved everything they got. Since they had all done something terrible, they all deserved to be here." After September 11th, Americans wanted answers and wanted to hold someone, anyone, responsible for the numerous deaths and tragedy that we suffered. Americans wanted someone to blame and someone to pay for what had been done. We went to war to fight these terrorists and eventually the idea that anyone from the Middle East was a terrorist became a commonality. Though the counselor was wrong and many Americans were wrong to treat people differently based on the way they look for an event that was completely out of their control, I think the counselor is a strong representation of those Americans that did look at people of a different race and think "oh you're a terrorist, you must have been involved in 9/11, you deserve to pay". Do you think Americans still look at foreigners in a "you must be a terrorist because you look like the ones from 9/11" type of way and if so, why? Or do you think this was primarily immediately after the attacks because people were upset and wanted anyone to blame?

Angel Island Poems and "Rasha"

When informing Rasha and her family that they would be detained, the official "sounded like he was lecturing them, telling them with a kind of official nonchalance that we're cleaning out the country and you're the dirt" (Bayoumi 24). America has a history of "cleansing" immigrants in the name of security. Bayoumi mentions the Japanese interment after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but parallels can be drawn between "Rasha" and the Angel Island poems we read earlier this semester. One anonymous Angel Island poet wrote:

"America has power, but not justice.
In prison, we were victimized as if we were guilty.
Given no opportunity to explain, it was really brutal.
I bow my head in reflection but there is nothing I can do."

We can clearly see the pain at being unjustly detained for both the Angel Island poet and Rasha's family. Bayoumi expressed Rasha's sentiments, saying that:

"At least if she had committed a crime, she would have stood in front of a judge and answered the charge against her. If convicted, she would have been properly sentenced, and then she would know exactly how long she was to be here. But as a detainee she had no idea when she would be let out." (30)

Bayoumi says that the prison guards are "beasts acting like gods"  in the same way that the immigration officials at Angel Island were brutal (Bayoumi 29). Both groups have been victims of racial profiling and discrimination. They were unjustly incarcerated and sought justice to the best of their abilities. The Angel Island poets wrote on the walls and Rasha yelled at an official in a restaurant.

How else are these texts similar?

Halloween is approaching fast, so take a look

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/living/halloween-ethnic-costumes/index.html

One student last semester told me that she saw no problem dressing up as "slutty Pocahontas" once a year, for Halloween.If we think about the implications of such a decision, what else can we add to it and how can we educate this student and other people dressing in demeaning "ethnic" costumes for Halloween? Please post your thoughts! There is no right or wrong answer.

How does it feel to be a problem?

I can't believe I have been so ignorant about what truly happened to Arabs and Muslims after September 11, 2001.  I heard and read about persecutions but had no idea they arrested them left and right for no real reasons.  Neighbors being scared and people snitching about their neighbors' race and ethnicity was what got Rasha and her family in trouble and arrested.  Reading the story about Rasha made see September 11 in a different way because it made me realize how America is towards immigrants in a time of tragedy.  Just because one group of people do something horrible doesn't mean that the whole race is to blame. One thing that stood out to me as I read this story was when Rasha said,

"If there's anything that I've discovered out of this whole thing, it's that people take for granted being a citizen of this country. They don't see the importance of having a privilege like that."

I think this is very true. I came to the United States from South America when I was little and pretty much grew up American just like Rasha, but I was just a resident of the USA due the fact that I wasn't born here. Therefore, I became a citizen just last year with my whole family. It was a long process and of course expensive as well, but we made it.  Becoming a citizen made me realize that I should exercise my citizen rights such as voting because every single vote counts.  I didn't really understand this concept until this election year because I know that by vote will count and voting is such an important thing that we, as citizens, should not take for granted. There is so much apathy among Americans that we need to somehow wake up and realize that voting is very important and should not be taken lightly. People take this and so much more for granted when they don't realize that many of the countries immigrants come from don't allow their own citizens' words to be heard and their choices to be communicated and valued. Rasha and her human-rights advocacy will help her voice be heard and will help others see what she saw.

Had Rasha's story been your story, what would you have done? Would you succumb to depression and keep looking to the past, or would you become and activist as well and fight for your race and ethnicity and help people as others helped you?

Also: Do you think you take your citizenship for granted. Are you active in your community as well as an active voter, especially with the presidential elections coming up in November? Do you have apathy towards your country or do you believe your voice can be heard?

I thought this video was interesting.

Moustafa Bayoumi, the author of "Rasha"--"My Arab Problem"

This is an article Bayoumi published in The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2010, which adds a lot of context for understanding the reception of this collection of stories and its impact both in academia and beyond. I hope you have a chance to skim it at least.

http://chronicle.com/article/My-Arab-Problem/125019/

Columbus Day_A relevant topic for our class

Please watch this video and post your comments. October 12, 1492.

The Arab-American Presence

After I reading our texts for class, I found this article especially pertinent:http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/10/opinion/obeidallah-muslim-september-11/index.html

I especially noted how the author, Dean Obeidallah, mentioned that after 9/11, he was revoked from the "white club." I remember that time and how even my family bought into the idea that Muslims are all dangerous and awful people. Long since then, we've changed our minds, realizing that every religion has its fundamental, terrorist factions. But I think a lot of people still have a very close-minded view of Arab-Americans.

On another note, Obeidallah also does stand-up! This clip is both funny and poignant. 

Represent!

After reading Contemporary US Multicultural Perspectives, and in particular "Children of Al-Mahjar: Arab American Literature Spans a Century", what I came away with is a better knowledge and appreciation for just how prolific Arab American writing was at the turn of the 20^th century. What shocks me more is how little I heard of these writers and poets prior to college. I wanted to learn more about the voices of past and present Arab American writers, and I found one of the works of Ameen Rihani, "the father of Arab American literature" online. You can read his work, "The Book of Khalid", here.

Another voice that was mentioned in the Journal was that of Suheir Hammad, a contemporary poet and author of "Drops of This Story". I found a bit of her performing her poetry. Take a look:

 

It is a powerful performance that directly addresses the effects 9/11 had on her as an Arab American, born and raised in Brooklyn. It also ties in well with Bayoumi's "How Does it Feel to be a Problem", and the issue of coloring all Arab Americans with the same brush of terrorism.


Question: It has been over a decade since 9/11. Have relations with Arab Americans progressed or regressed? Have things stayed the same? What are some effective ways of combating Arab American stereotypes?