Ashwini's Blog

The Spy Who Loved Me: Women and resistance in film

ashwini — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:18:36 EDT

SPOILER ALERT: The endings to 3 films are revealed in this blog.

I just finished watching Lust, Caution and I have to say—I am utterly sick of stories of underground resistance crumbling as a result of a woman’s actions. It’s really a tired formula: A female protagonist is involved in a subversive political movement, is depended on for a key element of some act being carried out, and at the last minute reveals the plan because her emotions get the better of her. I am tired of women being portrayed as the ultimate betrayers. And I am also angry that these consistent portrayals seem to reinforce the idea that women cannot help but develop emotional attachments and are therefore unreliable and unfit for work that demands clear-headedness.

Tourist itinerary includes...the slums?

ashwini — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:18:29 EDT

First there was eco-tourism. Now, there’s “slum tourism,” a growing industry where tourists are taken way off the beaten path, into some of the most impoverished neighborhoods and districts in the world.

A New York Times article today talks about the increasing number of tours to slums, and offers both the criticisms and defense of such excursions: “Critics charge that ogling the poorest of the poor isn’t tourism at all. It’s voyeurism. The tours are exploitative, these critics say, and have no place on an ethical traveler’s itinerary…” On the other hand, “[i]gnoring poverty won’t make it go away.”

I can understand the appeal of so-called slum tourism (I really don’t like this phrase, but I’m not sure what else to call it—any ideas?) Tourism is often extremely exploitative, and dependent on an underclass native population to survive. Jamaica Kincaid’s wonderful book, A Small Place, expounds on the actual feelings of resentment, even hatred, that locals often feel to tourists, who come to “get away from it all” while blinding themselves to the life that the local population leads. Furthermore, I know I have often visited places and come away feeling like I didn’t get past a pretty basic, surface experience. In short, is it even fair to visit, say, Mumbai or Rio de Janiero, and not be faced with the crushing poverty the overwhelming majority of the cities’ residents endure on a daily basis?

On the brilliance of men

ashwini — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:22:47 EST

Thank you, Charlotte Allen, for elucidating precisely how and why women are so “dim-witted.” As an addition to your worthy screed, I’d like to offer a treatise on the superior contributions and tendencies of men that have uplifted our world as a whole.

First, lynch mobs. Common to societies throughout the world, but perhaps most visible in the U.S., lynch mobs are absolutely brilliant. Conducting a trial where evidence is presented and deliberated in an unbiased manner? How stupid. It’s so much smarter to get a group of men together to murder another man, woman or child (extra points if he or she is Black, Chinese or Native American) based on an accusation! Let’s hear it for the men!

And I thought the one where they were murder victims was bad…

ashwini — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:23:30 EST

I know Tyra Banks wants to be the next Oprah Winfrey, but unless she stops pulling her ignorant on-air stunts, she’s never going to come close to having the credibility of Oprah*.

I’m talking about last night’s America’s Next Top Model, which goes with this season’s “conscious” theme: The aspiring models did a photo shoot where they were supposed to be homeless.

One of the contestants, who used to be homeless herself, captured the irony pretty well—she stated that it was strange to be pretending to be homeless while wearing such nice, expensive clothes.

The whole thing was sick, and ignorant, and actually made a mockery of the plight of the 3.5 million people who experience homelessness in the U.S. in a given year. Before the judging began, the required shot of Tyra imitating the photo shoot showed her on her back, legs splayed at awkward angles, with a cardboard sign that said “Will Pose for Change.”

Muslim Enough for MSA?

ashwini — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:34:21 EST

The Muslim Students Association is featured in today’s New York Times, with an emphasis on inclusiveness and acceptance of Muslim students who are not quite as conservative as others. The article opens with an anecdote about a Muslim girl in a short skirt walking up to a recruting table and asking to join the campus organization. Although some members were uneasy and accused the girl of being “un-Islamic,” the president defended her right to join.

Muslim Students Association chapters are present at colleges and universities across the country, and like many other cultural and religious organizations, are trying to negotiate questions of morals and identity while fitting in with the larger mainstream campus culture. On the one hand, an organization like the Muslim Students Association can be a safe-haven for students who feel alienated from the ways of life their classmates and roommates lead. On the other hand, students who might be more assimilated or less traditional might also want to join these organizations—which might not make some members (and parents) very happy.

Long Island couple found guilty of slavery

ashwini — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:27:11 EST

I previously posted on this story this past spring—a wealthy Indian couple in Muttontown, Long Island were accused of keeping their domestic workers enslaved, and subjecting them to physical and psychological abuse. The story broke when workers, both middle-aged women from Indonesia, escaped and a neighbor called 911.

Yesterday, the Sabhnani couple of Long Island was found guilty of forced labor and involuntary servitude, among other counts, and could be sentenced to up to 40 years.

Racial perceptions among minority groups

ashwini — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:55:51 EST

The New York Times reported today on a poll conducted by New America Media, a coalition of ethnic news organizations, that attempted to gauge minority perceptions— about each other. The poll surveyed African-Americans, Hispanics (I use this word because the poll did not say “Latino”) and Asians on various economic and social issues, and directly asked groups questions about other minority groups. The findings are quite interesting—for example, the groups that likely have more immigrant members, Asian and Hispanic, seemed to have more faith in the so-called “American dream,” that if one works hard one will succeed economically. African-Americans, on the other hand, were far less likely to agree. Asians were also by far the least likely to indicate that their community experienced significant discrimination in the U.S., while contrastingly 92% of African-Americans responded in the affirmative.

The GRE sucks

ashwini — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:06:13 EDT

Well, at least the 2008 Kaplan test prep book does. Look at this verbal practice question:

“Despite the increased attention ________________ juvenile delinquency, there has been a ________________ in crimes committed by juveniles.”

Here are the choices:

a) allotted to…dip

b) offered to…development

c) given to…rise

d) spent on…decrease

e) withdrawn from…growth

I picked a) allotted to…dip. Now I knew this was a rather awkward fit in terms of syntax, but it seemed slightly less awkward than d), and still fit with the inverse relationship of media attention paid to juvenile crime versus the reality of decreasing juvenile crime rates.

Apparently, I was wrong.

According to the book, the correct answer was c) given to…rise. The explanation is, “You would expect that with increased attention, there would be fewer crimes committed by this group. However, the word despite indicates that what you might expect does not prove to be true.”

What?? First of all, how does media coverage lend itself to lower crime rates? And isn’t it pretty much a well-known fact these days that the media latches on to sensationalistic pieces of information, fabricating trends and fanning hysteria when facts and statistics prove the opposite?

Or am I just too intimately caught-up in defending our Black and brown youths against the onslaught of the school-to-prison pipeline?

Too Drunk? We're Calling Your Parents

ashwini — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:07:51 EDT

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has started enforcing a policy of parental notification for any student who is intoxicated to the point of needing to be taken to a detox center. According to the University, the goal of the policy is to get at the root of emotional or mental problems causing binge drinking, and to involve parents in the recovery and treatment of the student. Other colleges and universities are looking into Wisconsin’s protocol, and might even adopt the rule themselves.

I am in two minds about this policy. I know that if the University of Michigan had this policy in its residence halls when I was written up for intoxication during my freshman year, I would have been terrified of the wrath—and disappointment—of my mother. Over the subsequent years, I saw many more such incidents—friends who would drive drunk themselves rather than call a parent for a ride, friends who would incur thousands of dollars of hospital fees rather than risk having their drunkeness show up on their parents’ insurance statement. Many parents, particularly those of extremely high-achieving students, refuse to believe that their son or daughter would even engage in excessive drinking.

But overall, I think the policy is a good idea. Despite the fact that I believe that college students are adults and should be treated as such, many (even most at some elite schools) are supported financially almost 100% by their parents. Simply the fear of knowing a parent might get a phone call the next day could be a strong deterrent from taking that next shot.

Happy 60th Independence Day to India!

ashwini — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:50:33 EDT

60 years ago, on August 15th, 1947, India declared independence from Great Britain. We've come a long way, and there are marvelous things and horrible things that have happened in our post-indpendence years. Check out the Hindustan Times feature on "India at 60" for more.

I believe that in the history of the world, there has not been a more genuinely democratic struggle for freedom than ours. I read Carlyle’s French Resolution while I was in prison, and Pandit Jawaharlal has told me something about the Russian revolution. But it is my conviction that inasmuch as these struggles were fought with the weapon of violence they failed to realize the democratic ideal. In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established by non-violence, there will be equal freedom for all. Everybody will be his own master. It is to join a struggle for such democracy that I invite you today. Once you realize this you will forget the differences between the Hindus and Muslims, and think of yourselves as Indians only, engaged in the common struggle for independence.

-Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi

Lauryn Hill's free concert in Brooklyn

ashwini — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:04:02 EDT

Brooklyn loves Ms. Hill—at least, the old Ms. Hill.

Last night, in her first solo performance in Brooklyn, NY, Lauryn Hill played a free concert to over 10,000 eager fans. Lately, Lauryn has been plagued with reports of erratic, if not downright unprofessional, performances. At a recent concert in Oakland, CA, a reporter from the San Jose Mercury News declared that “calling it a fiasco would be an insult to fiascos everywhere.” Similarly, her European tour was derided by journalists and fans alike—unrecognizable arrangements of her hits, odd new material, incessant vocal problems, a bizarre and arrogant on-stage manner.

At last night’s show in Crown Heights, Lauryn fulfilled most of these complaints. But she also played an incredible, amazing, high-energy show that I am truly thankful I got to witness. For free.

Top 5 Worst Websites

ashwini — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:14:12 EDT

Time.com has a list of the top 5 worst websites:

Eharmony: "if you've taken the time to answer eHarmony's 436 compatibility survey questions and paid its premium charges ($21 to $60 a month, depending on how many months you prepay), and the site then delivers terrible recommendations — or worse, rejects you as unmatchable — what do you tell yourself then?"

Evite: "The site, in short, is crying out for an overhaul."

Meez: "the 3-D animations and other digital doodads created with the help of Meez and other sites of its ilk...are just plain annoying."

Myspace: "yes, Time.com named MySpace one of our 50 Coolest Websites of 2006. But since then, things have taken an ugly turn, and we're not just talking about poor page design. It seems the community has become infested with marketers and other opportunists who create false profiles and essentially spam other users, all under the guise of 'making friends.'"

SecondLife: "We're sure that somebody out there is enjoying Second Life, but why?"

What do you think? What are the worst websites out there?

Michigan Dems: Defenders of the Prison Industrial Complex

ashwini — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:54:47 EDT

As Michigan is in a full-blown budget crisis, the Department of Corrections and Governor Granholm proposed yesterday that Camp Manistique, a prison labor camp in the Upper Peninsula, be shut down. Closing Camp Manistique, which is a minimum-security facility, would save the state $4.5 million per year. It would also cost 45 prison employees their jobs (although according to The Mining Journal, both prisoners and employees would be transferred to other facilities).

The prison employees are unionized, and they tend to vote Democrat, therefore the Dems have undertaken a full-blown campaign to keep the prison open. Prisoners currently incarcerated in Michigan, of course, cannot vote. Although shutting down Camp Manistique would not actually reduce the number of prisoners in the state, Michigan, like other states, has a detention and corrections budget spiraling out of control. Michigan’s annual prison budget is $1.9 billion, a fifth of the state’s general fund. Tom Clay from Citizens Research Council of Michigan says that if Michigan didn’t have such high rates of incarceration compared to other Great Lakes states, the prison budget would be closer to $1.4 billion. According to Families Against Mandatory Minimums, “States such as Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania have more residents than Michigan but incarcerate fewer inmates. Michigan's per-capita incarceration rate is the country's 11th-highest, ranks higher than seven other Great Lakes states and is fourth-highest among the 11 most populous states.”

Queer and Colonized

ashwini — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:17:56 EDT

The New York Times has an article today, about queer Native Americans coming to urban centers such as New York City due to homophobia in their own communities. The most interesting part of this article is the assessment that homophobia in most Native communities came about as a result of colonization and European contact—and often the religious beliefs that Europeans brought—rather than being indigenous to Native American culture:

“Historically, in many tribes, individuals who entered into same-sex relationships were considered holy and treated with utmost respect and acceptance, said Dr. Gilley [author of “Becoming Two-Spirit: Gay Identity and Social Acceptance in Indian Country”]. ‘Prior to European contact, sexuality was not a determining factor in someone’s identity,’ he said. ‘It was the role in the community. Gender was tied to that role. Who you had sex with was not a concern. The Europeans come, Native American societies are thrust in rapid change, and some societies incorporate European ideals quickly.’

And because the European settlers, influenced in part by their religious beliefs, were largely intolerant of homosexuality, they helped reshape long-held practices among many Indians, Dr. Gilley said.”

NAACP holds funeral for N-word

ashwini — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:19:40 EDT

The NAACP's Detroit chapter held a symbolic funeral for the N-word yesterday. Participants in the mock funeral, including chapter president Reverend Wendell Anthony, Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, and Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick marched through downtown Detroit in an attempt to "put [the word] to rest."

Organizers of the funeral stated that the goal of the funeral was to raise awareness among communities about the use of destructive and hurtful language of all kinds. As Derek Blackman of the Detroit Fellowship Church said, "It's about self-respect. We need to throw all of this language in the garbage can -- all of this racist, sexist and misogynistic language."

Others questioned the effectiveness of the demonstration, asserting that the funeral would do nothing to actually stop the use of the word, among Black Americans and those outside the community alike: "You can eliminate the use of this word, but that's not going to stop the problem of the word. The problem comes from a racist mind-set, and you can't stop a racist mind-set,” said Detroit rapper Trick Trick.

Faith in Flushing, Queens

ashwini — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 16:09:17 EDT

Having moved from my beloved Queens hood to a yuppified corner of Manhattan (you could say “The enemy of Avenue A”) my first blog entry after a rather long absence has to be on my most favorite borough, QNS. It is often stated that Queens County is the most diverse in the entire nation, which is indeed true. This is why, as the New York Times reports today, a professor named Albert Waters from Kuala Lumpur came to Flushing to learn more about the world’s religions: “This dizzyingly diverse corner of Queens is an urban showcase for the varieties of religious experience, where traditions brought over by Asian immigrants coexist alongside those of Catholics, Jews and mainline Protestants.”

An Invisible Suffering: Domestic Workers and Forced Labor

ashwini — Fri, 18 May 2007 11:49:39 EDT

A South Asian Long Island couple worth millions of dollars is accused of torturing and keeping enslaved their two Indonesian domestic workers for several years. A full story as well as photographic evidence of what the workers endured (some of these pictures may be disturbing) can be found here.

The case speaks to the larger issue of forced labor and abuse that countless domestic workers throughout the world face. These workers are overwhelmingly women, come from primarily Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean countries, and have families who are dependent on their meager incomes and immigration status. The abuse that many of the women face is horrific beyond imagination—physical, sexual and emotional exploitation, torture, and denial of food, water, hygiene and adequate amounts of rest, among others. Human Rights Watch released a report in 2006 that not only outlines the plight of exploited domestic workers, but also condemns governments for their failure to protect domestic workers from abuse and slavery. “Most countries around the world, however, exclude domestic work from their labor codes or provide for lesser rights. Labor legislation must be complemented by criminal laws allowing for successful prosecution of offenses such as physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, forced labor, forced confinement, and trafficking in persons,” according to HRW. Additionally, this issue has a decidedly gendered aspect to it: “Millions of women and girls turn to domestic work as one of the few economic opportunities available to them,” said [Human Rights Watch researcher Nisha] Varia. “Abuses often take place in private homes and are totally hidden from the public eye.”

Jerry Falwell--denouncer of Tinky Winky--dies at 73

ashwini — Tue, 15 May 2007 15:08:08 EDT

“The ACLU’s got to take a lot of blame for this. ... And I know that I’ll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say: “You helped this happen.”

--Jerry Fallwell, 700 Club, 9/13/2001

The founder of Moral Majority, the evangelist who made hate speech profitable and established fundamentalists as a viable political force, Jerry Falwell has died at age 73.

Grace Lee Boggs and the Power of Transformative Organizing

ashwini — Tue, 08 May 2007 00:07:19 EDT

At 91, Grace Lee Boggs still regularly travels the country for speaking engagements, providing guidance to activists and organizers on her experience with social justice movements and her vision for the future. All this is done in addition to her usual commitments as an activist in Detroit, running the Boggs Center and participating in labor, civil rights and people of color movements in the city.

On Friday, May 4th, I once again had the chance to hear Grace Lee Boggs speak in New York City. Although I have heard her speak several times in the past, this time the theme of Grace’s speech was Martin and Malcolm—the connections, common threads, and shared lessons we can take from these two visionaries. The event took place at the Brecht Forum in Greenwich Village, as community members packed into the space to hear her words.

Happy May Day! The REAL Labor Day

ashwini — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:03:57 EDT

Today is May 1st, recognized in all but a handful of countries in the world as “International Workers’ Day.” The U.S. is one of those handful, that does not commemorate the struggles of working people on the first of this month. But in fact, May Day originated in the U.S in the late 19th century.

The demand for safe conditions at work places, the right of workers to organize, and above all an eight-hour work day was at the forefront of the burgeoning workers’ rights movement of the 1800s. In Chicago, the movement culminated with a rally at Haymarket Square that ended violently, with a bomb thrown into the crowd and police opening fire on the marchers. Subsequently, a group of eight anarchist men were scapegoated for the bombing. All were convicted, some of them even hanged, and 3 eventually pardoned.

The (organized) labor movement in the U.S. has a history of classism, racism and gender discrimination. Strides made in the 20th century often came with a price—most notably, in the exclusion of agricultural and domestic workers from the union-affirming Wagner Act of 1935. Agricultural and domestic workers also happened to be overwhelmingly either people of color, women, or immigrants. This continues today, as our most vulnerable workers, especially undocumented migrants, are still not protected from exploitation.

Let today’s May Day be about confronting what has and continues to divide workers, and affirming the right to dignity and economic security that all people deserve.