Agathokakological Tendencies

CHIMERA

one of these days Newton

you’ll have to stop.

NEWTON

why do you have to

always be so dreadful

CHIMERA

you are morally

unsound

NEWTON

under what grounds?

NEWTON

you cannot deny you weren’t thinking

that yourself now Chimera

CHIMERA

you refused service to a couple

asking them if they knew where they were

and assuring them they must be lost…

CHIMERA

no, in fact I was thinking about

how you denied them service

based on a profile ---

a profile might I add that fits mine.

NEWTON

not at all.

did you not notice how they

looked about unsure of their surrounding

they didn’t even come to check in

CHIMERA

before or after they used their

keys to enter the elevator

NEWTON

I can assure you

they did not

CHIMERA

I cannot point these

details any further.

I am withering away

trying to show you

how your daily

actions affect people – and

those like me,

around you.

you are paranoid

and

you are racist.

Adrian x Dewey Marchall Convo.pdf

Dewey

Deep breaths. Sighhhh. This is easy- I am worthy…

[Dewey lights a circle of golden candles]

On this, the solar equinox. On this, the day the sun and moon align. I

call upon the stars near and far. Send to me the refulgent leader. Adrian, I

beseech thee! With a determination as fiery as the sun burning at the center

of the solar system! With a force of will as magnetic as Jupiter’s gravity!

Come to me, Adrian! Share with me thine divine light! Bathe me in thine

glory! Imbue me with thine strength! Anoint me a leader among men! For

my strength is as impenetrable as the night and my will as luminous as the

morning light! Adrian! Adrian! Anoint me thine chosen! Bless me thine

acolyte! And ever shall I be thine faithful subjugant! Thine emissary of Mars!

[the candles extinguish, Adrian appears in a

clap of light and sound] My Lord God!

[Adrian looks down upon his supplicant]

My God Adrian, please- Adrian

For what have you summoned me?

My most magnanimous Lord God, I seek your blessing.

[Adrian raises a critical eyebrow]

I seek your blessing, my most gracious God Adrian. For I have plans. I am a

most worthy supplicant! I burn with ambition. I am talented and smart. All I

need is the ability to gather people to me. You see, I have plans to improve

this planet. We have lost our way. The past four years have been spent in

never ending turmoil and I know I can restore peace to the people! Return

civility to our relationships. And why cannot you achieve this on your own?

I… Well, I do not entirely-Yet you claim intelligence.

Well, I am smart, yes. Perhaps not book smart, but I am most determined and

that really is worth more than a genius who is lazy. You see, I apply myself

to a problem until I fully understand all its facets. And then I work to bring

about the best outcome for everyone- And your ultimate goal?

Peace on Mars. A warm home and full belly for everyone. How do you plan on

achieving this?

I have spoken to politicians and looked

up strategies for effecting change. So

my movement will be a grassroots

movement. I have started cultivating

an online following. True, it is modest

at the moment- I am not edgy enough,

I think, for the younger generationsbut

with your patronage, my modest

Yes, yes, Well, you will I improve be - I am - lives. a most All dedicated lives,

big and small, follower. I’m You sure. see, I And found what the texts shall to

you give summon me in return? you and correctly performed

the ritual. And I will happily provide

whatever offerings you require. You see,

here, over there in the corner, I have

prepared an offering already: delicacies

and jewels. But if it is not to your liking,

if your tastes have changed since the last

written record of your summoning, I am

confident I can procure what you need.

If you have read of previous supplicants,

then surely you know of my other tastes?

Yes! Yes, indeed. I prepared women for

you- all consensual, I assure you!

Hmm. I do not think I will require the

women, at least not for this offering.

Excellent, my Lord God Adrian! I

am happy to hear that my offering of

gastronomic delicacies and thoughtful

jewels has appeased youĪt does not.

My Lord?

Get down on your knees.

My Lord?

Must I repeat myself?

But...

Do not be tiresome. If you wish my favor,

you will get down on your knees and

service me. It is fully your choice. As

consensual as it would be with those

women, would it not?

Adrian -

Supernatural.pdf

I rise above my counterparts.

They do not

have the ability to

understand how to be

in charge. They spend

their days on less

important matters, so

it is up to me to make

the universe go round.

How could they possibly

know what to do, if it

weren’t for me? I am a

guiding light in this

crazy galaxy. I was

handed this role from

those who came before

and shall pass it down

to my next of kin who

is best suited for this

responsibility. This

is not a place for the

emotional, you must

be strong-willed, and

level-headed to be like

me. It is not something

you can create for

yourself, but something

you are appointed

at creation. With my

fellow leaders I will

continue to make decisions

for those I care

most for. And will use

all of my experiences

to justify every decision

I make.

Reciprocal Solidarity:

Where the Black and

SA’ED ATSHAN

DARNELL L. MOORE

Palestinian Queer

Struggles Meet

The oppressor will

always seek to divide the

oppressed. It is how they

maintain power. They

understand the strength

in alliances, unions,

solidarity coalitionsafterall,

the White

American community

tends to stand in solidarity

with its members.

As someone of

Chinese A m e r i c a n

descent, I see parallels

with the Israeli and

labelled a model minority,

someone who proves to

more melanated bodies

that progress and

success are attainable.

But really, all that means is

that people try to use me

as a tool of oppression.

After World War II,

the UN declared that the

state of Israel would be

created. It was an apology

for Jewish genocide at

the hands of the Nazis.

I suspect it was also a

way to get the Jews out

of Europe. And now here

we are, with an apartheid

state so violent that it

causes some who have

lived under apartheid in

other countries to say

damn, that’s really bad.

I see White Jewish Israelis

as model minorities.

See, look at how they

have created success?

They’d be so much more

successful if those darkskinned

people would just

let them control things.

In America, Irish and

Italian immigrants were

originally not seen as

white. Now they are part

of the oppressive class of

White Americans.

As White people,

Israeli Jews seem similar

to Irish and Italian

Americans. And as

Jews, Israeli Jews, when

compared to Palestinian

Muslims, seem like a

Model Minority.

“bodies are ways of

dreaming utopia…

bodies bear the cost

of struggle and can

within and between

identities.”

When I hear the word ally,

I think about this asshole

I know who has a picture

of himself and his now

wife on their refrigerator

taken at the women’s

march (the year of the

pussy hats). He’s holding

up a sign that says “ally

to a strong woman,” while

air. Ally my ass.

This isn’t just a

rant. I’m mentioning it

because I think ally-ship

is more often than not

poisoned by people who

want a cause when it’s

convenient (for example,

the so called “ally to a

strong woman” also spent

a lot of time creeping

on women at bars and

being dismissive of

women in conversation).

I enjoyed reading this

article, because of its

examples of real allies

and individuals actually

pulling through to support

their comrades, even if

they are an ocean apart.

Like last week’s article, it

discusses the importance

of coalitions. Coalitions

are important, not just

because there is strength

in numbers, but because

there is a true exchange

and transmission of

information between

publics. That audible

exchange of stories both

personal and political,

creates an indelible

mark of solidarity and

presence that helps

prevent such backwards

attempts as pinkwashing

or blackwashing. “Allyship

is not provincial and

unidirectional.” P. 681

It was so interesting to

read about pinkwashing

and blackwashing in

this context. The domino

effect of colonialism

relies on phony ally-ship,

as well as redirecting the

hard-earned visibility of

one marginalized group to

extinguish the validity of

another less recognized

group. It’s insidious, and

it works. One critical

observation I have is that

I think we also need to be

mindful of insidious anti-

Semiticism, anti-Arabism,

or any anti-otherness,

which originates from

white supremacist circles.

The authors also

discuss “the importance

of remaining vigilant

when it comes to the

appropriation of another

community’s struggle in

the name of reciprocal

solidarity.” P. 692 I don’t

think it’s possible for any

of us to truly understand

anyone else’s struggle.

It’s easy to get so caught

up in a cause that we

erase the reality of those

we are trying to promote.

(Rachel Dolezal is one

extreme, comical example

of this.)

I told that guy he was an

asshole. It was under my

breath, so he might not

have heard me, but it felt

really fucking good!

“deep participation with each

other’ to recognize love as

a radical act and to sustain

communities across borders

in the face of colonization,

neoliberal individualism, and

The matrices of

oppression are complex,

layered, and veiled.

Reciprocal solidarity calls

for a deep cooperation

rooted in friendship as a

way to peel at the layers

and peek behind the veil.

Atshan and Moore throw

back the veil on pinkwashing

and blackwashing,

introducing a

new context of the word

“ally” to me. It reminded

me of what Christopher

Lee said about “inclusion

as a way of keeping you

apart.”

These layers

and veils can feel

o v e r w h e l m i n g .

Overwhelming is perhaps

what oppressors want to

project, and if anything

highlights the need for

reciprocal solidarity.

Even reciprocal solidarity

is not without its own

complexities and thin

lines. Awareness needs

to be paid towards

appropriation, demand,

bias, or becoming that

which you reject.

As we attempt to unravel

oppression, we must pay

attention to our own biases

and learned behavior.

These complexities have

been assembled over

time through society and

coloniality.

I want to digest

these complexities. What

follows is my attempt

level within our human

programming we are wired

to improve our situation.

This wiring is a spectrum,

some able to understand

where it should stop,

others not. This program

takes on a life of its own,

as numerous individuals

move to its sway. We

are like a body of water,

where each molecule

on some level seeks to

improve its position. This

has repercussions on

all the other molecules

in ways that are

incomprehensible, and

play out over time.

I am tired.“Come in, come in,” says my boss on a Saturday. So

I go in. Food is rather a nice thing to have,and the job situation

right now is beyond precarious. It’s always been precarious

for creativefields, but at least with design, I thought

I could earn a more stable living than with art. But it’s all

bullshit. Exhaustion is the death of creativity. Capitalism

just keeps people busy with constant distractions.I fell

into a period of depression. That’s a lie. I’ve always been

depressed. But it got really bad.Hustling turned me into

a robot. It’s funny how the phrase “dead inside” doesn’t

feel like a clichewhen everyone is a bit dead. Overwork.

Squashed dreams. Constant bureaucratic bullshit complicating

life, especially with mid-level managers acting just

like the authoritarians they see on TV and in politics.Anyway,

enough whining. It ground me down, so I fell into the

worst depression in my life. All Icould do was lay in bed

and read fanfiction. The comfort of a familiar story w as

grounding whenthe world around me was in chaos. But then

I read a fic that involved socialism, and thenanother, and

then I got a little curious. And now I’m down for the revolution.

Because fuck working six or seven days a week.

Labor laws mean shit when the country is based upon theexploitation

of labor. And I’m finding that as my definition

of what should count as a basichuman right expands, so

does my design. I’m not content anymore to just work away

until I saveenough to open my own business. I want to make

RO -

meaningful work. And maybe work that scares people a little,

at least scares those in power.

I want to break the cycle and seize this moment as an

opportunity for radical change, but I struggled to break

through the talking voice in my head, tormenting me.

One day I’ll have the courage to tear everything down

and rebuild a world of my own making. Till then, I

dream.

NAN

-Cameron

mask 5.Include words like on the page of a book 6.Add one

like a robot 3.Use all neutral colors 4.Smash your partially completed

edges2.Eyes

1.Must have at least four straight

human right” into the mask

bright color 7.Take a break from working on the mask 8.Incorporate a “basic

Samha

1. Create a template for the facial features of your mask using

round edges. Use a flexible material that is easily manipulated. 2.

Carve out holes for eyes so that you can see through the material.

You see so much more than the average person and are very

attuned to the injustices and inconsistencies of the world. 3. Along

with the eyes, your brow has a few lines from having a furrowed

brow from years of anger and irritability. Make sure to give the

material and brow the strong character that you have developed

over the last 40 years. 4. Use a few cuts to create a nose that will

sit-in the center of your face. The lines should not create a closed

shape—this shape will stay attached to the main face and will sit

on top of your nose, projecting through slightly. Remember to

keep your nose out of other’s business (even if they are annoying).

5. Give the mask the ability for you to tell the truth—it’s important

to speak up and fight for what is right. Use a long line (or lines),

either drawn or cut, to create a way to tell the truth. 6. There will

need to be loops to connect your mask to your head—two strings

(or ropes or twine or shoelaces) will work to tie the mask to your

head, ears, or fix to your glasses. Whatever gets the job done.

7. Finally, put on the mask

jump up and shot.

ELIZABETH BROEDER

TRASHGiRR

RRLLZZZ:

A Manifesto

Trash Grlz R the pollution

ageTrAsh

of the ‘Merican Dream

TRASH dnt get sik dayz

they get minimum •

wa1ge s Trsh gets raped

in public n’ spenz the res

of owr lyves apologizing

“empowering THE

oppressed”

What started as a

with misspelled words,

incorrect use of capital

letters, and inconsistent

breaking off of text,

quickly turned into a

poetic and rhythmic piece

of literature with a punch.

Trash Girls are less than,

and they have grown up

feeling that way. They are

taught to put themselves

behind because if they

don’t, the world surely

will. They are free to be

taken advantage of, at

the disposal of men who

will never see a single bit

of consequences for his

actions towards her. No

matter what the situation.

No matter who did what.

It is the trash girls who are

at fault. And the shame

that comes with it is their

burden to bear, at no fault

of their own.

But despite the graphic

imagery the author

puts forth, she poses

solutions. The trash girls

are willing to die for their

freedom. “wel surrender

to an incinerator befor

lose it.”

“We must CAMP outside

the ConVents of ConVicts;

Study the trsH to learn

WHAT fuels the bEAST.”

It is time we go to them. If

we really want to help the

“needy” we as a society

must be willing to accept

them. Because if they

are always labeled as

“poor” and that still has

a negative association

tacked onto it. They will

always be considered

lesser.

The “casual-internet”

writing style of this

manifesto stands out. I

wonder who Elizabeth

Broeder is. But then I

consider, does it matter?

I wonder if the style is

intentional to make a

point, or authentic to either

herself or her audience.

I wonder if some might

appropriation of some

kind. I wonder if I’m too

focused on the style and

not the message and

if somehow that says

something about me.

The unconventional

style engages the reader

to pay attention to

understand. It serves as a

contrast to other academic

essays we’ve read, but

in its way humble. The

style rejects academic

and societal structure,

much like its message.

Broeder observes

peoples from their point

of view. “Trash girls”

are compared to toys,

objects, market value,

things to be used, fuel

to be burned. “How do

we make ourselves, our

futures, our lives better

when your ‘US’ treats our

wonders.

Communication is

key to the solution. Work

with others outside your

group. Educate others

about the way things

are. Become a single

organism starting small

and growing into action.

Cooperate. Use hardship

and necessary resilience

as strength to overcome.

Lugones in her text illustrates how the the intertwined

network of power structure and colonial ideas of

race, patriarchy and heteronormativity can be hidden

behind the mask of western feminism and still be

rooted in oppression. As I read this text as a student

in America, I struggle to situate myself in it as an

Indian. I come from a culture that is probably still

a few steps slower the West in terms of dialogue about

patriarchy, race, class, gender and sexuality; where the

dialogue is not as open and “work” needs to happen

not just at a systemic level but also at a household level.

My constant question is — how can I take this

learning back home in a way that is pertinent to

my communities?

Reflections on reading

‘The Coloniality of

Gender”

- First, I googled Maria

Lugones and learned

she’s a badass

Argentinian Feminist

Philosopher who wrote

this text in 2008. Then

I read that she passed

away just this July...

- I found the reading

dense but provocative.

I messaged the cohort

that “Pouya assigns

readings to make my

blood boil. Lol” …

Lugones’ text effectively

stirred my feminist rage

and I sat in the break

room at work pissed

about men, and how

western colonization

likes to f*** everything...

literally and figuratively.

Ok, now that that’s

out... a calmer take

of the text:

I have been thinking about men’s (or more broadly, human beings) indifference to other humans. Specifically in connection to violence against each other in regards to sex. So I felt grateful we were reading this article. I haven’t

read anything before that puts in such plain language “the indifference that men...who have been racialized as inferior, exhibit to the systematic violences inflicted upon women of color.” On a personal level (and I apologize if you

actually read these reflections...) but I carry in me a constant fear that something I do will somehow trigger “the other” in someone. “The other” being the hidden private character that sees me, and treats me, as an object. I carry

with me a fear that somehow something that I do gives them permission to expose this side of themselves where they have their way with me regardless of my consent. It is something I fear can happen at any moment without much

notice. And why do I feel as if it is my responsibility to tame that within someone else? And, like why the fuck would you treat some like that ever to begin with?

This year, feminism has been a big issue in South Korea due to a series of crimes

of sexual exploitation of females. This has shown that gender discrimination

and exploitation have been thoroughly carried out by the capitalist system This

is because they exploited the victim’s sex and labor in an efficient way by

targeting the young and inferior class of women.

The reason why sexual exploitation is the act of killing one’s souls is that it

objectifies those who are exploited and make them as an ‘other’. It resembles

colonialism, nationalist ideas that reject differences. So to me, the colonial

exploitation that Maria Lugones is describing throughout her writing was very

compelling. And her view on exploitation make me feel shame because I

hadn’t thought about the racial and sexual things.

Engageing with “Coloniality of Gender” has left me with an apprehension or perhaps a lack

of understanding of the lived experiences of women of color / feminism. Lugones begins

her essay with a polemical statements, “men who have themselves been targets of violent

domination and exploitation, any recognition of complicity or collaboration with the violent

domination of women of color”. Any conversation that aggregates an entire array of lived

experiences as “violent” can be militant and dismissive of the vast differences of experiences.

It’s interesting to see the breakdown of the inner workings of colonialism. It is infinitely more twisted than just a form of “oppression.” We can see through Lugones’

examples of the social destruction of indigenous communities, that, much like a parasite, it depends on the biology of other beings to survive. By causing

turmoil from within colonialized communities and planting pervasive ideas of western hegemonic thinking, colonizers managed to undermine the “wildness” that we

were discussing last week. Colonial thinking has pitted gender, race, sexuality, and endless other categorized identities against each other to cause our natural

selves to crumble.

A woman is more than just her “gender.”

She is her sexuality, her race and so

many other things that make her whole.

I thought the segment on Intersexuality was especially interesting. Society’s

treatment of intersex people is a vivid example of the pervasiveness of colonial

thinking. It’s disturbing that when one is born intersex, they are forced to

submit to surgical procedures that lead them to having one side or the other of

the gender binary imposed on them. Doesn’t it sound just like a scene from

a horror movie? Sexual identity can’t get much more constructed than that.

The intersex community is just one marginalized group that is finally getting

some acknowledgement. [...]

I’ve been reading about crip theory, and this is absolutely something that happens

in the disability community as well. We are a community whose bodies are

controlled by ableist colonial thinking. Just like the experience of intersex

people, our reality becomes pathologized. The medical industrial complex and

pharmaceutical companies rely on “broken” bodies to stay in business.

After reading this, I find myself asking, How has colonialism mutated over time

and what insidious forms of colonial thinking are happening around me on a

daily basis? What forms of colonialism have I unknowingly submitted to?

By examining the legacy of

colonialism through the

framework of intersectionality,

we can begin to form language

around race and gender that

allows us to rethink our social

order in our neighborhoods and

communities. The continuation

of oppressive gender roles can

manifest themselves in our

households and create everyday

threats for men and women of

color. The arguments presented

in the article helped me broaden

my understand of my identity

as a Black man.Additionally, the

argument helped me understand

the different risks I face as a

Black man navigating through

various power systems are real

and saturate our global capitalist

systems, which uplift racial and

gender hierarchies.

My mind could not help but travel to my own family’s experiences escaping Bosnia during

the war in the 90s. The “dark side” of gender/sex system was extremely prevalent during this

war. Although it had not happened to my female family members directly it has happened

and was a tool used. The female identity has always been centered around their ability to

procreate and carry on generations. In the Bosnian war violence towards females was one of

the weapons of choice deployed to halt reproduction. By committing these acts of violence

on women and female children, it was an effective method in tainting and eliminating those

I wonder

what it would

mean for

contemporary

society if

gender was

instead tied

to

temperament

and

inclination? I

think it would

be better to

remove

gender bias

from all

vocations but

I do wonder

what the

Yuma way of

gendering

would mean

for our

contemporary

society. I

guess you

would first

have to

resolve

issues found

in the

patriarchy

because it

seems that at

the top of

most precessions you find men. This is interesting to me though. I have always been interested in the arts and not really at all interested in

“male” things like sports — why are women who are into sports called guy’s girls or tom boys — I think that at times this may have cast a

more feminine light on me amongst my peers. If we were operating in the Yuma society would I be considered of the female gender? I

guess not since I am and have always felt in line with the gender I was assigned at birth, but it is an interesting thought nonetheless.

There were very clear first hand descriptions of non-white

women as completely separte (aggressive not sexually

passive, strong not fragile) in the eyes of colonialists to

white European women. This section makes a connection

to our previous reading (Theory in the Wild by Jack

Halberstam and Tavia Nyong’o): “Women racialized as

inferior were turned from animals into various modified

versions of ‘women’ aas it fit the process of Eurocentered

global capitalism.” These black or American Indian women

were viewed as “animals” or wild.

Although coming from

a very different cultural

background, the

dominance of socialism

and communism has

also formed today's

Chinese perception of

gender and class, which

also follows the rule of

Plato’s allegory of the cave came to mind while reading and learning about coloniality of both power

and gender. [...] I realized I too am in the cave, as I was reading the examples of indigenous peoples’

view of gender with some initial skepticism. But then it occurred to me, in my mother’s native Filipino

languages of Tagalog and Ilonggo, they have no words for “he” or “she” but simply “siya”.

My skepticism is rooted in coloniality I’m sure. In order to change I need to admit where I get hung-up,

and am open to hearing where I misunderstand. The sexual dimorphism of gender, and physical

traits of peoples around the world make it hard for me to accept the claim that gender and race are

just a myth (p12). I do agree that there are myths spun within gender and race, specifically myths of

hierarchy and absolutes.

a patriarchal society. [...] Mankind loves to pick out otherness and enjoys to put

them into a box then label it. However, this action of labeling has enormously

sapped the power of any equal rights movement, as we were only fighting for

our own little groups. Colonialism or not, the definition of human equality

should not be written by one single group of people. Identifying a way to

understand different cultural backgrounds and barriers, then find a common

ground to unite people into one single force would be the challenge for any

Has there been anything

good to come out of

colonialism? This is the

question I am stuck with

when I finished this

reading. I feel uprooted.

And uncertain.

Everything I have been

taught as a child seems

to be crashing down

around me. And for good

reason. So many things

we are taught in schools

reflect the white Euro

colonized way of

thinking. Reading pieces

like this really make me

aware of the white privilege I have been living in and also brings up a sense of guilt. Because now that I

see these injustices. I hear these stories. What do I do now? How can I move forward in a productive

manner? How can we as a society move away from this culture and lifestyle we are so deeply rooted in?

It seems to be a human characteristic (a common one rather than a universal one, I like to say in my more optimistic moments) to

want to make others suffer when we are suffering. Especially nowadays, when we are so wrapped up in our individual needs, that

I think we are more likely to assume that others suffering is somehow a personal affront to or repudiation of our own suffering.

The selfish audacity.

Karens are oppressed by white men. But others being oppressed somehow minimizes their own oppression. While they cannot

acknowledge the oppression of others, they exercise what power they have by oppressing people of color. Men of color are

oppressed by white people. Yet they know that they can exercise power over women of color, so they do. Children of every

heritage are bullied, and in response, they lash out at people lower in the pecking order than them. Everyone can and has likely

been guilty of this, regardless of heritage, gender, sexual orientation, and countless other attributes which we use to Other people.

I come from a small conservative town in Western

Michigan where people are quite set in their ways. Some

believe strongly in traditional “eurocentric” gender roles.

They also question why we would even talk about racism

because “I’m not racist.” This article challenged all of

the things that I grew up being taught by the community

I was surrounded by. I was first stunned, and then

became drawn in by what Lugones was arguing. I began

to wonder if part of my identity as a white woman has

been built for me: that I might be passive, quiet and

subordinate. I was struck by all of the things today that

seem to be built upon a colonial categorization of people,

places, and things. This categorization seems to dominate

our society so that we might fit within social systems and

structures that keep us obedient and “in our place.” These

structures also cause immense inequality, segregation,

and harm of anyone not in the majority (white males).

Other than Michelle Obama, Rosa Parks, and

Harriett Tubman, no other woman of color is

highlighted in the history books of grammar

and high school systems. You won’t hear about

women like Angela Davis because of how

powerful she was, being a black panther and

beating the government in a case accusing

her of terroism acts.

The coloniality of gender has brought suffering to women of color.

Despite having ideas and knowledge, their capability is ignored

by society. Women of color should be empowered by giving them

a chance to express themselves and pursue their dreams.

I feel like all of Western society is built on this high and mighty law and order and it suffocates the

natural beauty of humanity. Is it possible that wildness can in fact be beautiful? Have I been taught to

think otherwise my entire life?

[...]

- did colonizers ever anticipate their influence to spread this far?

WHAT GIFT DOES WILDNESS OFFER US IF NOT THE ABILITY TO CREATE SPACE IN THIS WORLD? THE CONCEPT

OF WILDNESS GENERATES A NEW EXPERIENCE AND VOCABULARY. IT BRIDGES HUMAN BEHAVIOR, OUR

SENSES, OUR UNDERSTANDING OF AUTHORITY, INFLUENCE AND FREEDOM, ECOLOGICAL CRISES, GENDER

AND SEXUAL PRESCRIPTIONS. BY JOINING THESE TOGETHER, WE ARE INITIATING CHANGE AND

GENERATING FURTHER INTROSPECTIVE DISCOURSE ON HOW WE MIGHT DEFINE WILDNESS FOR OURSELVES.

»

»

»

»

»

“WILDNESS” IS A TERM I HEARD IN MY LIFE MASKED AS “DIFFERENT”, “MISBEHAVED”, AND “OUTSIDER.” A TERM I AM TOO FAMILIAR WITH, AND ONE

MANY IN PEOPLE WHO SHARE MY SAME SKIN UNDERSTAND.

»

THE WAY THE AUTHOR INTRODUCED A PASSAGE THAT DESCRIBED LITTLE BLACK GIRLS AS “WAYWARD” IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY IS SOMETHING

THAT STUCK WITH ME AS I PERUSED THROUGH THE REST OF THE ARTICLE. IT BEGGED AN EVEN BIGGER QUESTION I STARTED GRAPPLING WITH AS

I CONTINUED. IN WHAT OTHER WAYS HAVE MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES BEEN LABELED “WILD” WHEN THEY WERE JUST EXPRESSING THEIR TRUTH?

MORE IMPORTANTLY, A TRUTH THAT DOES NOT HARM ANYONE AT ALL?

ULTIMATELY, I AM LEFT WITH ONE THOUGHT THAT DOES NEED AN ANSWER: IS IT OKAY TO REPURPOSE TERMS THAT WERE ONCE MEANT TO

OFFEND? THE AUTHOR BROUGHT THIS UP THROUGH THEIR ANALYSIS OF “QUEER.” ONCE AN OFFENSIVE TERM, IT IS NOW MORE COMMONPLACE.

DRAWING FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE, THIS SIMILAR ISSUE COMES UP WHEN REFERRING TO THE “N-WORD”. SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE IN RECLAIMING

THE WORD WHILE OTHERS SAY WE SHOULD REMOVE IT FROM OUR EVERYDAY LANGUAGE. THROUGH THIS ARTICLE, I BELIEVE THAT WILDNESS IS A

TERM THAT SHOULD BE EMBRACED. THERE IS POWER IN RECLAMATION. IN THE WORDS OF THE LATE REP. JOHN LEWIS “GET IN GOOD TROUBLE.”

»

»

EVEN THOUGH THE THEORY OF

WILDNESS RETHINKS RACIST IMAGERY

OF THE COLONIAL PAST, I REJECT

THE NOTION THAT HUMAN BEINGS

HAVE TO BECOME “ANIMALISTIC" TO

ACHIEVE A MORE PROFOUND SENSE

OF SELF OR ENLIGHTENMENT. THE

IDEA THAT WE NEED TO COME ONE

WITH THE WILD TO UNDERSTAND

OUR PRESENT IS THOUGHT-

PROVOKING, YET PROBLEMATIC.

»

»

IN ORDER FOR US TO UNDERSTAND WILDNESS, I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO DISCUSS THE THEORY WITH AN OPEN MIND.

SOCIETY TODAY HAS BEEN CAREFULLY CRAFTED TO ALTER WHAT “WAS” CONSIDERED TO BE WILD SO THAT WE DON’T

HAVE TO FACE THOSE “PROBLEMS” ANYMORE. IN OTHER WORDS, WE HAVE BECOME ACCUSTOMED WITH THE SYSTEM

IN WHICH WE RESIDE, AND MAYBE OLD FORMS OF WILDNESS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED TO MAKE OUR LIFE EASIER.

I HAVE TO SAY I DON’T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE MEANING OF THIS ARTICLE IS. IT’S SEEM

LIKE THE AUTHOR USE “WILD” TO DESCRIBE COLONY, FEMINISM, ANARCHIST, QUEER AND ANIMALS…

WILD THEORY IS ABOUT BRINGING THESE PERSPECTIVES INTO THE DISCOURSE ON ART, TO HAVE A MORE DECOLONIZED, INTERSECTIONAL APPROACH

TO ARTISTIC DISCOURSE. THIS IS THE ESSENTIAL TENSION OF THE WILD VERSUS COLONIALISM. THE WILD IS MESSY, UNCLEAN, IMPURE. SINCE THE LATE

19TH CENTURY, IT STANDS IN DIRECT CONTRAST TO MODERNIZATION AND COLONIALISM. OUR SOCIETY VALUES CONTROL, HUMANS, MANAGEMENT,

EXPLOITATION, AND CONSUMPTION OVER THE UNRULY, ANIMAL, MESS OF THE WILD. THUS THESE VOICES THAT DO NOT FIT INTO THIS FRAMEWORK —

OFTEN WHITE, CAPITALIST, AND CIS MALE—ARE LEFT OUT OF THE CONVERSATION. BRINGING IN BLACK, BROWN, QUEER, FEMINIST, INDIGENOUS, ARTIST

AND DESIGNERS, WE SEE WORK MADE FOR ANARCHY AND DISRUPTION.

“TO THE EXTENT THAT IT FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE

ACCUSED OF WILDNESS — INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WHO GET CAST

AS THE INHABITANTS OF A LOST WORLD OF ANOTHER SOCIAL

ORDER MAY WELL ASK, AS JODI A. BYRD DOES IN HER ESSAY

IN THIS ISSUE, “WHAT IS THE WILD TO THE AMERICAN INDIAN?”

FOR THOSE BODIES THAT CONTINUE TO REPRESENT THE VERY

CONDITION THAT OTHERS HAVE THE LUXURY TO CONTEMPLATE

AND DEBATE, THE WILD CAN BE A TREACHEROUS AND, IN

BYRD’S WORDS, A “DANGEROUS AND DEADLY” PLACE.”

THIS SECTION REALLY STOOD OUT TO ME TO CONTEMPLATE

WHAT OR WHO WOULD BE ACCUSED OF BEING WILD. MAYBE

THE ANSWER LIES ON THE ONES WITH POWER IN THEIR HANDS,

OR IT’S BECAUSE OF THE ONES CANNOT END UP BEING THERE.

The use of the word queer helped me to gain a hold of what wildness implied—not of

the wild persona but society’s (status quo) reaction to wild. It definitely opened for me “a

range of concerns...” that might fall under the category of wildness.

»

»

THEORY IN THE WILD IS BOTH AN INTRODUCTION AND PERFORMATIVE EXEGESIS THAT FORMS AND REFORMS QUEER IDENTITY, FEMINISM, BLACKNESS,

AND INTERSECTIONALITY. THE TEXT PRESENTS ITSELF AS AN ECSTATIC PRACTICE OF DECOLONIZATION WITHOUT BEING GROUNDED IN THE HISTORICAL

CHAIN OF WESTERN COLONIALISM. THE TEXT IS DIZZYING. THE INTRODUCTION OF WILD THEORY IS PERFORMANCE, SEEING THEORETICAL OBJECT

THROUGH A KALEIDOSCOPE. SHIFTING COLORS, TONES, AHISTORICAL OBJECTS GRAVITATING IN UNISON FOR A MOMENT, BEFORE BEING PULLED APART

AND REFORMED INTO ANOTHER TEMPORARY MOSAIC.

[…]

LASTLY, THE AUTHOR MUNOZ ASKED THE EDITORS BEFORE HIS PASSING, “WHAT IF THE ‘QUEER’ IN QUEER THEORY WERE TEMPORARILY BRACKETED IN

ORDER TO EXAMINE EVERYTHING THAT GATHERED UNDER ITS SIGN AND EVERYTHING THAT REMAINED BEYOND ITS PURVIEW”. SPECULATIVE QUEERNESS AS

A FORMAL TOOL OF INTERROGATION AND TAXONOMY RESOUNDINGLY NEGATES THE FLUIDITY OF QUEERNESS. IT IS THE SPACE BETWEEN, PRE-THOUGHT,

THE MOMENT BEFORE THE BREATH. QUEERNESS IS AN EXPERIENCE, NOT A CATEGORY WAITING TO BE DEFINED.

“WILD” HAS ALWAYS BEEN A TERM THAT I WORK HARD TO KEEP OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE’S VOCABULARY WHEN THEY DESCRIBE ME. I TEND TO BE QUIET,

SOFT SPOKEN, GENTLE, AND EVERYTHING BUT WILD. HOWEVER, THIS READING CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD AS IT DESCRIBES “WILD” IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT

AND ASKS US TO CONSIDER AN UPDATED AND MORE FLUID DEFINITION OF WILD. ON PAGE 1, HALBERSTAM AND NYONG’O JUMP RIGHT IN WITH A

GUT PUNCH WRITING, “WILDNESS HAS CERTAINLY FUNCTIONED AS A FOIL TO CIVILIZATION, AS THE DUMPING GROUND FOR ALL THAT WHITE SETTLER

COLONIALISM HAS WANTED TO DECLARE EXPIRED, UNMANAGEABLE, UNDOMESTICATED, AND POLITICALLY UNRULY.” I WONDER HOW MANY TIMES

I HAVE ADOPTED THE POSTURE OF A WHITE COLONIAL SETTLER PUSHING THOSE WHO ARE RADICALLY DIFFERENT FROM ME TO THE EDGES AND

CALLING THEM “WILD” WHILE ASKING THEM TO BELONG ELSEWHERE; THEY MAY BELONG ANYWHERE BUT INSIDE MY POLITICALLY “CORRECT” RULE-

FOLLOWING CALM.

WHAT IF, INSTEAD, I REFRAME MY THINKING OF “WILD” AND CONSIDER IT “AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE POLITICAL THAT IS NOT COEXTENSIVE WITH

OUR FUCKED-UP POLITICAL PRESENT, BUT NOR DOES IT APPEAL TO AN IDEALIZED ANARCHISM OF THE PAST. ANARCHIST POLITICS TODAY, WHICH WE

FIND TO BE A CLUSTERING OF ALL KINDS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE POSITIONS” (459). SOME OF THIS WILDNESS SEEMS TO BE AT THE ROOT OF JUSTICE AND

EQUALITY INITIATIVES THAT ARE STARTING TO BE MORE PREVALENT IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY. I AM STARTING TO THINK THAT WILDNESS CAN BE A

DRIVING FORCE THAT ASKS US TO DIG DEEP INTO THE GRITTY MESS OF OUR COLONIZED WESTERN SOCIETY AND BE DESIGN REBELS. ASK THE TOUGH

QUESTIONS. RAISE THE VOICES AT THE BOTTOM. AND PUSH AGAINST THE PRIVILEGED IDEOLOGIES BROUGHT INTO SOCIETY BY THOSE IN POWER.

»

»

ARE MANKIND AND CIVILIZATION MAKING PROGRESS? THE VIEW OF WILDNESS AS THE OBJECT OF ENLIGHTENMENT PRESUPPOSES THAT THERE IS

SUPERIORITY IN CULTURE AND THAT IT DEVELOPS IN ONE DIRECTION. FROM OUR READING, "IF WE REFUSE TO ACCESS ALL THAT WILDNESS…WE WILL BE

TREATING TO A RELIGION OF CITIZENSHIP WITH ITS NARRATIVE ALIBIS OF HUMANITY, ECONOMIC GROWTH…" (PG.455), THOSE ALIBIS WERE USED WHEN

JAPAN HAD COLONIZED KOREA IN THE 19TH CENTURY. I BELIEVE THAT THE DIRECTION OF THE PROGRESS OF CULTURE FLOWS BACKWARD, COMES BACK,

AND FLOWS SIMULTANEOUSLY INTO THE PAST AND PRESENT. JUST AS WE TAKE OUR JEANS THAT WERE POPULAR FIVE YEARS AGO. CULTURE IS RESPECTED

IN VARIOUS FORMS AS IT DOES NOT VIOLATE UNIVERSAL VALUES.

»

WHILE READING THE TEXT I REALIZED HOW THE WORD ‘WILDNESS’ COULD

BE SOMETHING SO INDEFINITE BUT ALSO BROAD IN MEANING, AS WELL

AS PERTAINED THROUGH VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF THE PAST AND THE

PRESENT. TO SEE IT IN THIS WAY, ’WILDNESS’ CAN BE PERCEIVED AS AN IDEA

OBSERVED ON SIDES OF BOTH, SUBJUGATION AND SALVATION ALONG

POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SECTORS. FOR EXAMPLE, WE LIVE IN

A SOCIETY WE GROW UP UNDERSTANDING AS CIVILIZED BUT IN REALITY, IT

HAS BECOME SO ERRATIC, DRIVEN BY INSANITY AND DESIRES. IT BLURS THE

LINE OF HOW WE CLASSIFY THINGS. MOREOVER WHAT GIVES SOMEONE

THE RIGHT TO DEEM SOMEONE’S CHOICE AS “WILD’ OR ‘CIVILIZED’. I FEEL

THERE’S A NEED TO INTROSPECT AND BRING REFORM TO THE STRUCTURE

AND SYSTEMATIC HIERARCHY AND TO BREAK FREE OF THE EXISTING

SOCIAL CONSTRUCT. I’M SURE THERE COULD BE A MORE DETAILED AND

COHERENT DIALOGUE ON THIS.

»

WHEN DESIGN IS WILD AND EXPERIMENTAL, THAT IS WHEN YOU GET TO SEE THE TRUE IDENTITY OF THE DESIGNER

SHINE. WHEN THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE UNAPOLOGETICALLY THEMSELVES. THAT IS WHEN WE GET THE

MASTER PIECES OF APRIL GREIMAN, WOLFGANG WEINGART, AND MOIRA CULLEN. THEY WEREN’T AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS

AND BE WILD. AND I THINK THAT IS WHAT THIS READING IS TRYING TO TELL US. THAT THERE ARE A LOT PEOPLE OUT

THERE TRYING TO FIT US IN A BOX, BUT IT IS UP TO US TO EMBRACE THE “WILD.” GRAB ON AND DON’T LET GO. RULES

ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN AND I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE AT THE TOP WHO DON’T WANT US TO KNOW

THIS. BUT IT IS TIME FOR EVERYONE TO GET ON THE SAME PAGE AND TAKE A RISK. THERE IS NEVER JUST ONE WAY TO

DO SOMETHING, AND IT’S USUALLY THE ROUND ABOUT WAYS THAT BRING UP THE MOST INTERESTING RESULTS.

I ENJOY THE WORD “WILDNESS” AS A WAY TO DESCRIBE A REFUSAL TO CONFORM TO

CONTROL. MICHELLE CLIFF DISCUSSES HOW SHE GREW UP INTERNALIZING MESSAGES

OF ANGLOCENTRISM AND WHITE SUPREMACY. SHE TALKS ABOUT FINDING A LOST PART

OF HERSELF FROM “THE DARKER SIDE.” PART OF MATURING AS A PERSON IS UNEARTHING

THE WILD PERSONA THAT’S DEEP INSIDE. I THINK THAT BEING LOUD AND DISRUPTIVE IS

A PART OF THIS PROCESS. SOMETIMES IT DOES MEAN BEING VIOLENT, FIGURATIVELY OR

LITERALLY, BY NOT FOLLOWING SOCIETY’S RULES. IT MEANS THAT, MOST LIKELY, OTHERS

IN YOUR CIRCLE ARE GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED AND EMBARRASSED BY YOU AT SOME

POINT. BUT OF COURSE THE REAL VIOLENCE IS THE REGIME OF CONTROL IMPOSED ON

US DAILY. SPACES WE ASSUMED WERE SAFE ARE NOT. PRECIADO REFERS TO IT AS THE

PHARMACOPORNOGRAPHIC SEEKING TO INOCULATE US. OUR WORLD IS CONSTRUCTED

WITH RACIST, SEXIST, HETERONORMATIVE, ABLEIST IDEALS, AND THERE ARE ALWAYS GOING

TO BE BODIES THAT ARE CONVENIENTLY IN “NEED OF REPAIR” FOR CORPORATIONS TO

CAPITALIZE ON, ALL UNDER THE GUISE OF “SELF IMPROVEMENT” OR “SELF HELP.” THESE ARE

EUGENICIST IDEALS, AND WE’RE SURROUNDED BY THEM CONSTANTLY, EVEN IN ACADEMIA.

AND IT SEEMS LIKE, ONCE WE’VE WON A LITTLE RESPECT AND REGARD, WHATEVER IT

IS BECOMES COMMODIFIED AND POISONED. I THINK WE NEED TO BE VIOLENT AND

DISRUPTIVE AND ANGRY BECAUSE IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO BE HEARD. AND WE NEED TO

ALWAYS REEXAMINE OUR SELVES AND HOW WE ANALYZE OTHERS’ WAYS OF BEING AND

FORMS OF PROTESTS (“LINGERING IN THE VOID.”) THERE ARE MANY TIMES WHEN WE FIND

OURSELVES WEARING THE MASK OF A FALSE PERSONA THINKING THAT IT’S OUR OWN.

I FIND IT IS EXTREMELY CHALLENGING TO UNDERSTAND THIS ARTICLE AS SOMEONE FROM A DIFFERENT CULTURAL

BACKGROUND, AS I HAVE NEVER ENCOUNTERED THE IDEA OF "WILDNESS" BEFORE. THUS, MY UNDERSTANDING OF

THE TERM "WILDNESS" IN THIS ARTICLE IS SOMETHING EQUAL TO "OUTCAST", LIKE ANY CULTURE OR PEOPLE THAT ARE

IDENTIFIED AS OUTSIDE OF THE MAINSTREAM CULTURE. ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE, SHOULD I SAY THAT UNDER A

WHITE-DOMINATED SOCIAL SYSTEM, ALL CULTURES SEEM ABNORMAL OR ODD ARE CLASSIFIED AS "WILDNESS?" THAT

OUR SOCIETY IS PROJECTING ANY "WILD AND WAYWARD" RACE, COLONIALITY, ECOLOGY, ANARCHY, AND EVEN GENDER

AND SEXUALITY, TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD AS A FANTASY OF WHITE CAPITALISM? THAT IS, IN A WHITE-DOMINATED

SOCIETY, "ERRAND INTO THE WILDERNESS," IS A SYMBOLIC IMAGE THAT HAS BEEN MISINTERPRETED AND OVER-

INTERPRETED, LEAVE ALONE THE REALITY BEHIND IT. KENT MONKMAN'S WORK SEEMS TO GIVE AN INTERPRETATION

OF THE "WILDERNESS" IN AN ARTISTIC AND METAPHORICAL WAY. AND PEOPLE WHO ARE EDUCATED BY THIS IDEA

OF "WILDNESS" OFTEN WILLING TO ANALYZE AND INTERPRET THESE SYMBOLS, TO MATCH THEM TO WHATEVER THEIR

PROJECTION ABOUT "WILDNESS" IS. WITHOUT THE CONTENT OF EACH SYMBOLS' HISTORICAL ORIGIN, THE MEANING

OF THEM IS DEMOLISHED AND CONSUMED BY THE MASS CULTURE. IN MY OPINION, THESE MARGINAL GROUPS OR

CULTURES ARE PART OF THE HUMAN HISTORICAL PROCESS, AND IT IS ARROGANT AND UNFAIR FOR ONE DOMINANT

CULTURE OR SOCIAL NORM TO DECIDE THE REST AS "OUTCASTED."

WILDNESS AS SHOWN HERE IS MAYBE BEST PUT THROUGH A PHRASE USED AT THE VERY END OF THE TEXT, DISCURSIVE CHAOS. AN UPENDING OF

CURRENT HEGEMONIC STRUCTURES THROUGH A WILDING OF THOUGHT THAT LEADS TO THOUGHTFUL OR IMPACTFUL DISCUSSION. HOW CAN

THEORIES, TANGIBLE, SPECULATIVE, OR OTHERWISE LEAD US TO THINK DIFFERENTLY ABOUT THE REALITY OF OUR COLONIZED, WHITE-WASHED MODES

OF LIVING? THIS MAKES ME WONDER HOW DESIGNERS-AS-AUTHORS CAN HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE WORLD AROUND US THROUGH THE PRODUCTION

AS WELL AS DISSEMINATION OF IDEAS THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF THE TRADITIONAL CANNON OF WHAT IS PUBLISHABLE MATERIAL APPROPRIATE FOR

DISSEMINATION TO THE MASSES THROUGH POWER OF SELF PUBLISHING. THE NOTION OF WILDNESS ALSO MAKES ME THINK OF ECOLOGY AND THE

EFFECT WE HAVE ON OUR SURROUNDINGS (THE EFFECT OF COLONIZED LIFE ON OTHER MODES OF LIVING?). I KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY

WHAT IS MEANT BY WILD IN THIS SENSE, BUT IT IS INTERESTING TO ME THAT THROUGH THE TERM WILD ONE CAN DRAW CONNECTIONS BETWEEN

NEGLECTED LAND AND CAST-ASIDE POINTS OF VIEW/LIVES. OTHER SIMILAR LINES COULD LIKELY BE DRAWN, THROUGH WILD, BETWEEN COMMERCIAL

COMPONENTS OF WILDERNESS (REI AND STATE PARKS) TO COMMERCE’S COOPTING OF BLACK AND QUEER VOICES TO MOVE PRODUCT. CAN

EVERY DESIGNER, REGARDLESS OF TEMPERAMENT, PLAY A ROLE IN THE COLISEUM OF DISCURSIVE CHAOS OR MUST YOU BE OF THE PHLEGMATIC

ACADEMIC OR MELANCHOLIC AUTONOMIST ILK. MUST I BE THE AUTHOR OF THESE WILD AND DISCURSIVE IDEAS, OR IS IT ENOUGH TO BE A TOOL OF

IMPLEMENTATION? THAT SAID, IT SEEMS LIKE THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS MEANINGFUL ACTION WOULD BE TO FIND THE WILD WITHIN ONE’S SELF.

“LIVE YOUR WILDEST DREAMS” HAS ALWAYS BEEN A TERM THAT POSES AS A POSITIVE SYNONYM FOR LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE, ACHIEVING

YOUR GOALS, OR EVEN THE TERM YOLO. THE KEY WORD “WILD” IS LITERALLY WHAT YOU MAKE IT. THE WORD TAKES ON ALL TRAITS.

I WOULD REFER TO IT AS “GOOD TROUBLE” IN THE WORDS OF JOHN LEWIS. TO BE WILD IS TO LITERALLY BE A RADICAL. THE SOUTH

ATLANTIC QUARTERLY CONFIRMS THIS WHEN REFERRING TO HARTMANS RESEARCH ON AMAZING BLACK GIRLS OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

THEY FACED DAILY. THIS PIECE CONNECTS GREATLY TO WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE WORLD TODAY. SOME WOULD CALL THE PROTESTS

THAT ARE CURRENTLY HAPPENING, “WILD”, WHEN OTHERS WOULD REFER TO IT AS A FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE. I COMPLETELY AGREE

WITH THE ANIMAL REFERENCE AS THE COUNTRY SEEMS TO DEEM ANYTHING “WILD” IF THEY AREN’T ABLE TO CONTROL OR MANAGE

IT. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT’S WILD TO SEE WHAT GREAT THINGS COULD HAPPEN IF CULTURES AND IDEAS WOULD COME TOGETHER.

SOMETHING MAGICAL WOULD BE CREATED, SUCH AS THE AFRICAN MASK CREATION FROM WILFREDO LAM, INFLUENCED BY PICASSO. IF

ONLY OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM WERE TO REALIZE THE SAME THING, THE COUNTRY COULD TURN OUT BETTER.

»

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IF WE DID NOT SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM NATURE, WE WOULD NOT NEED TO BE WILDED OR RE-WILDED. HUMANS ARE FROM NATURE, WE ARE

PART OF NATURE, NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE LIKE TO PRETEND OTHERWISE. ENTIRE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES HAVE EVOLVED ALONGSIDE

OF AND BECAUSE OF US. THEY CHANGE US AND WE CHANGE THEM. CATS, DOGS, SWEETGRASS, ENTIRE REDWOOD FORESTS. IF THAT IS NOT

SUFFICIENT PROOF OF OUR NATURAL HISTORY AND LEGACY, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS.

THE CONCEPT OF MODERNITY GREW OUT OF ENLIGHTENMENT THINKING. ONE OF THE MAJOR EXERCISES OF ENLIGHTENMENT THINKERS WAS TO

COME UP WITH JUSTIFICATIONS FOR THE SLAVE TRADE. THIS RESULTED IN POLARIZATION, US VS THEM. THEY ARE IMPROPER BECAUSE THEY DO

NOT BELIEVE IN TWO GENDERS. THEY ARE IMPROPER BECAUSE THEY ARE SAVAGES, AND THUS NO BETTER THAN MERE ANIMALS. WE ARE SUPERIOR

BECAUSE WE HAVE SURPASSED NATURE. IF NATURE IS GOD (AS WAS A COMMON BELIEF AMONG 19TH C ROMANTICS, THEN WE ARE GOD BECAUSE

WE CAN AND WILL CONTROL NATURE. SO WE CANNOT BE NATURE. THEN WE WOULD BE FALLIBLE. LESSER BEINGS. THUS WE MUST REJECT OUR

NATURAL ORIGINS. AND WOE BETIDE ANYONE WHO APPEARS HUMAN BUT NOT EUROPEAN. LOOK TOO CLOSELY AND THEY’LL START TO LOOK

LIKE US. THEIR NATURAL, OR WILD, PRACTICES AND BELIEFS MUST BE ERADICATED. AT THE SAME TIME, WE MUST MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR THAT

THEY ARE NOT AS GOOD AS US. SO WE ARE THE BENEVOLENT MISSIONARIES CIVILIZING THE WILD SAVAGES.

»

»

A FULLY TAME SOCIETY

PAVES A POSSIBLE PATH TO

AUTHORITARIAN RULE IF

LEFT UNCHECKED. THAT’S

NOT TO SAY THE SOCIETAL

CONTRACT IS ALL BAD, WE

NEED ASPECTS OF IT TO

COEXIST PEACEFULLY IN

LARGE NUMBERS. TO CREATE

BALANCE, WE NEED TO

HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH

WILD BOTH IN SOCIETY

AND WITHIN OURSELVES. IT’S

IMPORTANT TO REALIZE OUR

WILD NATURE AND EMBRACE

IT, TO LEAVE ROOM FOR

IT. THIS WILD NATURE

GIVES US INDEPENDENT

EMOTION AND THOUGHT.

IT’S WHAT LEADS TO

ART AND INNOVATION,

PLAYING WITHIN UNKNOWN

TERRITORIES AND FRONTIERS.

A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE

WILD IS WHAT ALLOWS US

TO COPE WITH MASSIVE

CHANGE LIKE THE WORLD

OF COVID. WILD IS NOT

A FINGER TO BE POINTED,

BUT A SPACE TO BE LEFT,

AN INNATE SENSE TO

EMBRACE, A DIFFERENCE TO

CELEBRATE.

Grab a sheet of

tin foil and cut

it in an ovalshapeto

cover your

face. Make sure

its large enough

to cover your

entire face.

Cut out two

slits for your

nose. Use a

photograph

of a lizardfor

reference

If possible, cut

out the shape of

a smile (maybe

use a photo of

the Joker for

reference)

Cut out two

holes for eyes.

Be sure to make

them relatively

large

1. Light a candle. 2. Make your favorite dinner.

3. Think about a happy memory and write it down.

4. Think about a sad memory and write it down.

5. Write a poem to your past and future self.

6. Paste all your writings on the inside of your mask.

Put on goggles

D

Cut out two

small holes on

each side of

mask (by your

ears)and tie

string through

both holes A so

mask will staywhen

you put

it on

V

E

I am instead hoping to

carve out a camp within,

where I can feel content

but not constrained

while also lifting those

with abilities that exceed

mine to a higher plane.

I am not the academic,

the high level reader,

or the individual with

ability to retain what

I’ve read in one pass, but

I will sure as hell try

my hardest (even if that

means reading something

a dozen times). I believe in

treating everyone fairly

and am constantly

reviewing/reevaluating

what I consider to be good

or valuable because I —

like everyone else — am

constantly changing,

growing, and learning.

Put on bandana

“How wrong to assume that once colonizers leave,

the oppressed bounce right-up and become

independent immediately. Psych-therapeutic

techniques are called-for, such as anamnesis, to

assist in re-examination.”

“The colonizers still have an inferiority mentality

towards the people and the country they colonized. Africans,

outh sians, and est Indians were the most affected by

colonialism. Additionally, the historical injustices strain

therelationships between the western countries and their

colonies.”

“I think we often

forget how deeply colonialism has

affected every community.”

‘to elaborate their current

problems by freely

associating

apparently inconsequential

details with past situationsallowing

them to uncover

hidden

meanings in their lives and

behaviour’

“Cultures spread across the globe have

effectively been destroyed and we are

left with millions of people lacking a true

identification of who they are and their

cultural past. Maybe rebuilding what has

been destroyed isn’t entirely possible.”

“The colonizers have presented their

violent ways as explained in the first

“bandit-mode” of colonialism. They’ve

shown their greed, rapacity, and lack

of love for the common human. With

that being the root of this country, I

wouldn’t expect for them to operate

any differently.”

“I remind people

I speak to about

how those in

power are more

likely to keep

that power within

the system they

already belong

to.”

“Our society thrives on the idea that

we are imperfect and that through

consumption we can become more

perfect, that we can control our bodies

and become slightly “better,” with better

defined as being more like the colonizer.”

“The colonial aftermath is also fraught by the anxieties and

fears of failure which attend the need to satisfy the historical

burden of expectation.”

“We would not

think our way out

of our past” - I think often times it’s also hard to move forward

when you are stuck living in the past. onsciously

understanding where your history comes from and

then pivoting towards using it as a tool to change

the future should be the right approach but I

find that even with my own people that becomes

dicult. e are stuck looking too closely at the

relationship and memories of our past to proceed

into a newer future.

“How do we reconcile the past with the future?

How do we acknowledge the past and

move toward a new vision for the future?

How do we break from tradition and introduce

new

patterns of thinking, without rewriting history?

How do we acknowledge the psychological

trauma of colonialism on the image of a man?”

Part of postcolonial study

requires an unearthing. It

requires facing the realities

of a colonial past and the

damage that it has done

to us as a nation and as

individuals regardless of how

we identify ourselves (as a

colonizer or as one who has

been colonized). For me, this

means a reckoning with my

elementary, middle school

and high school history books

that told me partial histories

told by those in power. They

didn’t include the stories of

the oppressed. I must re-learn

and un-learn the past and

understand my role in it and

my role now because of it.

We cannot expect

colonialism to be ended

just because we can

identify it and are currently

in the colonial aftermath.

We must remember it,

face it, and actively work

to identify our role, the

structures that are and

were in place, and surpass

colonialism.

PRESENT

“Another really fascinating part I found was when Gandhi

spoke about this this desire of those colonized to be like

those in power: “to speak in desired way is to speak against

oneself.” This seemed to me to say that moving forward (I

should say “forward” as this is referring to moving towards

the ideals of colonialism) is to move away from culture and

heritage of a colonized community, against that way.”

“What happens when the colonizer

leaves? A chasm is left in the wake of

cultural destruction. A community is

tasked with the immense responsibility of

rebuilding. How do you rebuild years of

erased culture, language, art, philosophy,

history? You can’t.”

“I surely don’t believe the physical conquest is ever

going to end and the occupation of cultural identities

is certainly going on right now considering we are now

living in a world dominated by English. Personally, I

see globalization as an extension of colonialism, as it

somehow merges all cultural identities to be one that is

heavily led by western culture.”

I know I need to do something.















I

I

know

know

I

I

need

need

to

to

do

do

something.

something.

















I

I

know

know

I

I

need

need

to

to

do

do

something.

something.

















I

I

know

know

I

I

need

need

to

to

do

do

something.

something.

















I

I

know

know

I

I

need

need

to

to

do

do

something.

something.


I’ve recently decoded a series of Zoological

prints from the “Druck und Verlag

von Theodor Fischerin Cassei”series.

The lithographic prints seem to be dated

around 1884, perhaps older. The axonometricstructureof

the series will make

an important referencepoint as I begin

to map outand illustrate the new species

on this plant. There is no known Class,

Type, Order delineationthat makes any

coherentsense.I’ll continue touse the

traditional monopod dissection structures

to beginmyvisualresearch. The

new conjectures by my peers are crude

and reductive. How can we move forward

with discourse aroundthe teleological

functionof a Thing as it appears, ifwe do

not yet have a solid grasp of the thing

initself? The Formation of Objects(Foucault,

Order of Things)a.We must map

the first surface of their emergence:

show where these individual differences,

which according to thedegree of rationalization,conceptual

code, and types

of theory, will be accorded b.We must

describe the authoritiesof delimitationc.

We must analyze the grids of specificationAs

with any newinsight, phenomenal

or otherwise“the denomination of objects

does not follow upon recognition;

it is itself recognition”(Ponty, Phenomenologyof

Perception). When Iwas browsingthrough

the organic matter archives,

Icame across Datura Inoxia. It may be a

suitablemodel for my design system.

Proust

3. Once you finish your

I was married five years ago, we had love and beautiful time,

really. I don’t know why things becomes in this way. In the

begging,me and my ex-husbandwere artist, we met at a gallery

and we both have crush in the same work, thatwasareally

good time, we date on different gallery and share our opinion.

But after 2 years, he thinks he can’t make enoughmoney

being an artist. He became an entrepreneur, dealing

with crafty businessmen every day, and gradually became

bad-tempered. My ex-husband always wanted me to have

a child and stay at home be a housewife. We always had

fights. I don’t want to havea baby and I love my job.I don’t

know why he always want control me, Why I can’t have my

own life? Women have a lot ofthings to do as sameas man,

Loria

mental

weare not just reproductive machines. I got divorced three

years ago,finallyI can breatheand have my own life. I’m a

graphic designer now. I do a lot of works for female and

LGBTQ. Now I am full and happy. I have some good friends

who share the same goal and do the things we like.

1. Think of an object/thing that has the color Purple.

2. Think of an object/thing that has the color Black.

3. Create a mask with a material of your choosing in cylindri-cal

or half cylindrical shape

4. On top of your mask, add a layer of plus sign that would

reach the top and the sides of the mask.

5. Cut eye holes for your eyes (in rectangles) and cut holes

around your mouth area.

6. Translate your objects/things into runes through this

link:https://valhyr.com/pages/rune-converter

7. After choosing your language, implement the runes

into the mask of a place of your choosing in their respective

colors.

8.Put a vertical rainbow over the plus sign on your mask.

(Print, color, etc. it is up to you)

9. Add a reflective (gold,silver,etc.) surface (paint, objects,

etc.) on the horizontal side of the plus sign

preparation,

gather the following

supplies:

4. On the medical mask, cover it

completely with tape. The tape

symbolizes your ability to tap into your

potential and stitch together a new

future of your own making

standard

medical mask, masking

tape, sharper, and

scissors. If you don’t have

all the supplies, please

find an appropriate

Nimo

substitute.

5. Once the medical mask is covered, use a

sharper to write down the word “voice.” Be

big and expressive.

Proust Instructions

Step 1 First things first, you have to grab a forest,

fisherman type of bucket hat.

Step 2 Grab some fresh plant soil or dirt type of

texture, just to make a few marks on your face

as ifyou’ve been in the forest for a few few days.

Step 3 You have to form your voice like Steve

Irwin(the late great crocodile hunter).

Step 4 If you have futuristic black glasses, those

will help since we are in the year 2150,If not,

clear frames will do.

Step 5 This will work with either pair of glasses-

Apply small amount of plant soil to frames(so

that itlooks dried up).

Meet Proust

6. After you write down the

word voice, cut incisions

into the mask for your

mouth. You can make the

incisions as small or big as

you’d like.

“Looking inwards for change is vital.

Being articulate and open to others for

growth is critical. My family is extremely

important and I pride myself on having instilled

a strong work ethic at such an early

age. I recall the one night we wentout

as a family for an anniversary dinner in

the city. On our way home,I made sure we

drove through the main shopping areas.

My son was already in a suit, so I stopped

my car outside of the flagship Gap and

told my son to get out of the car, walk in

and not come home until he hada job. I

did not care what the job was but simply

any job would suffice.He was fourteen at

the time.”

Loria

“I was married five years ago, we had love and beautiful

time, really. I don’t know why things becomes in

this way. In the begging,me and my ex-husbandwere

artist, we met at a gallery and we both have crush

in the same work, thatwasareally good time, we date

on different gallery and share our opinion. But after

2 years, he thinks he can’t make enoughmoney being

an artist. He became an entrepreneur, dealing

with crafty businessmen every day, and gradually

became bad-tempered. My ex-husband always wanted

me to have a child and stay at home be a housewife.

We always had fights. I don’t want to havea baby and

I love my job.I don’t know why he always want control

me, Why I can’t have my own life? Women have

a lot ofthings to do as sameas man, weare not just

reproductive machines. I got divorced three years

ago,finallyI can breatheand have my own life. I’m a

graphic designer now. I do a lot of works for female

and LGBTQ. Now I am full and happy. I have some good

friends who share the same goal and do the things we

like.”

I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but

my background speaks for itself.

Look at my client list. This should

easily paint a clear picture of my

capabilities. I’mgoing to give you

110% every step of the way and I

will help shape your brand into a

global wonder. The point I’m trying

to make is that if you want something

to get done, you’ve called

the right person.I’m built for this. I

know how to build brands. I know

what people want and I know how

they work. If you follow my lead, we

will get their attention no questions

asked! I’m driven to create a

positive solution for you. Just wait,

we’ll get everyone on board...trust

me!

Mr.Hongdae - founder of Studio Hongdae

“Without a doubt, you must know me. Although

you are not a person working in the

designarea, at least you have heard my name

at once. My studio is located in the design

hotspot of this city. Technically speaking, this

area beganto have a reputation as the mecca

of design and indie culture since I started

my early work here.There was a factory area

when I first have settled here. But, now, you

can see glossy flagshipstores and famous

design brand shops near my studio.”

“I am a city planner

and have been living

on Mars for almost 100

years. In the last few

years, I have created

a well-functioned

city system that has

been serving people

from other planets.

They can share their

values and cultures

here freely because my

cityadvocates freedom

and fairness. I enjoy

sharing my design

concepts with new

friends who I believe

will join my city and

build stable networks.

Based on that, my

team and I built rules

to help people keep

their private property

and offer powerful

teaching resources for

everyone”

“My work is my break.

You want me to focus

on one thing and how

it can be improved to

assist people and have

the greatest impact on

humanity? That sounds

like a work week that

is 8 hours of meditation

fie days a wee.

“I fell into a period of depression.

That’s a lie. I’ve always been depressed.”

“This makes it harder for me to work my

designs as a designer and find alternatives to

question norms where every norm that ever

existed were questioned in any given design

culture. Is it even possible to start a new

culture without bonding to the past, belonging

to a planet that is 46.668 million miles away?

I guess being human carried a heavy baggage

alongside it no matter where you are.”

Declarations of Whiteness: The Non-Performativity of Anti-Racism

Sara Ahmed

The University of Lancaster

This paper examines six different modes for declaring whiteness used

within academic writing, public culture and government policy, arguing

that suchdeclarations are non-performative: they do not do what they say.

The paper offers a general critique of the mode of declaration, in which

‘admissions’ of ‘bad practice’ are taken up as signs of ‘good practice’, as

well as a more specific critique of how whiteness studies constitutes itself

through such declarations. The declarative mode involves a fantasy of

transcendence in which ‘what’ is transcended is the very ‘thing’ admitted

to in the declaration (for example, if we are say that we are racists, then

we are not racists, as racists do not know they are racists). By investigating

declarative speech acts, the paper offers a critique of the self-reflexive

turn in whiteness studies, suggesting that we should not rush too quickly

beyond the exposure of racism by turning towards whiteness as a marked

category, by identifying ‘what white people can do’ , by describing good

practice, or even by assuming that whiteness studies can provide the

conditions of anti-racism. Declarations of whiteness could be described as

‘’unhappy performatives’, the conditions are not in place that would allow

such declarations to do what they say.

There has always been something that did not sit well with me whenever

I met a non-Black person that was “overly aware” of their privilege.

In a way, it felt very performative and annoying lip service. In that

declaration of claiming they are not racist, their whiteness forced me to

pay attention and reaffirm that notion for them.

In an interesting turn of events, I had a very difficult time

understanding the text initially. The way Ahmed describes “nonperformative”

is opposite of what folks on social media consider the

phrase to mean. After re-reading the first page of text repeatedly, it

finally clicked. Ahmed considers performative to be a positive thing. In

the literal sense of the word, this makes sense. While reading the six

declarations of whiteness, I was moved by the subject matter. I have

never read a text that eloquently outlined how whiteness and those who

benefit from it, are so coddled and encouraged to almost exclusively

denounce racism; that is all. No action is needed. Ahmed argues that

“such declarations [of racism or privilege] are nonperformative: they

do not do what they say”.

If I am being quite honest, the inhumanity the world views marginalized

bodies, especially Black ones, is tiring. I personally am tired of these

conversations, and I honestly don’t have a deep or critical analysis of

the text outside of: self-awareness is not enough and I am glad someone

called it out.

“The production of whiteness works precisely by assigning

race to others: to study whiteness, as a racialized position,

is hence already to contest its dominance...”

“Racism is a way of describing histories of struggle,

repeated over time and with force, that have produced

the very substance or matter we call inadequately ‘race’.”

“As Lorde shows us, the production of whiteness works

precisely by assigning race to others: to study whiteness, as a

racialised position, is hence already to contest its dominance,

how it functions as a ‘mythical norm’.”

It’s funny (and by funny I mean not funny) how careful and apologetic

we feel we have to be when critiquing the white norm. A lot of time and

energy is wasted tip-toeing around feelings. Criticizing whiteness is

not racism, because it is not attacking anyone’s biology. It is criticizing

the institution that it resides in and that upholds its superiority. Being

disregarded as less because of your biology is as low as it gets.

“[...] Richard Dyer, whose work has been important and crucial:

‘Whites must be seen to be white, yet whiteness consists in

invisible properties, and whiteness as power is maintained by

being unseen’ Dyer shows us a paradox: there must be white

bodies (it must be possible to see such bodies as white bodies),

and yet the power of whiteness is that we don’t see those bodies

as white bodies. We just see them as bodies: the history of

whiteness can be traced through its disappearance as a bodily

or cultural attribute. ‘Whites must be seen to be white’. As a

declaration, this sentence would operate as a call for action: we

should see whites as whites. You only call for an action when

the action is not something that occurs in the present. So the

statement is also a claim about the present: whiteness is unseen,

and this invisibility is how whiteness gets reproduced as the

unmarked mark of the human.”

“Whiteness is only invisible to those who inhabit it.”

“The declaration that we must see whiteness,

which could even be described as foundational

within whiteness studies, assumes that

whiteness is unseen in the first place.”

As a subject of the humanities, I’m

not comfortable with the thought of

whiteness studies. As a subject of

the sciences, such as a sub-subject

or specialization within sociology,

psychology, etc, I cannot help but be

afraid of it. Because this could easily

lead us back to eugenics. The veil of

science, the worship of science as a

logical idea that props up notions of

whiteness, could all too easily shroud

the racist outcomes of such work.

After reading it I went crazy, what did

I understand. I do not know. From the

beginning of “whiteness studies”, before

I came to the United States, I often

heard about white supremacy or cultural

hegemony. I was curious at the time.

Is this really the case? Maybe. As an

Asian, I feel around me. The most subtle

influence is that girls must be white,

their eyes must be large, and the bridge

of the nose must be high to look good.

Does this look come from white people?

I’m curious. This article is difficult. There

are many words connected together so I

don’t understand it very well. Save me....

“In other words, whiteness

studies seeks to make

whiteness visible insofar as that

visibility is seen as contesting

the forms of white privilege,

which rests on the unmarked

and the unremarkable ‘fact’ of

being white.”

“The desire to act in a non-racist or anti-racist way when one hears

about racism, in my view, can function as a defense against hearing

how that racism implicates which subjects, in the sense that it shapes

the spaces inhabited by white subjects in the unfinished present.

Such a question can even allow the white subject to re-emerge as an

agent in the face of the exposure of racism, by saying ‘I am not that’

(the racists of whom you speak), as an expression of ‘good faith’.”

It is a challenge to distinguish someone who is actually racism and antiracism.

It seems like the paradox to identify a real mental illness patient

by simply asking them “are you insane?” Neither of the answers like “I

am insane” or “I am sane” are trustworthy for the doctor to make the

diagnosis. As a doctor, he/she must make a correct judgment based on

whether the person in front of him/her has a mental disease through a

series of medical tests and psychological assessments. Meanwhile, how

can we be absolutely sure that this doctor is a sane person?

However, it seems to me that (according to Ahmed) whatever I do

as a white person to attempt to stand in solidarity with minorities

or people of color will just be received as an act of performance.

Because of this, I think I felt discouraged while reading. As a young,

white woman who comes from privilege, I aim to understand where

I came from and better understand the parts of the world that I don’t

know much about. To me, this means analyzing the different aspects

of my life, and specifically in places where I am ignorant.

“To declare oneself as being racist, or having been racist in the past,

often involves a cultural politics of emotion: we might feel bad for

one’s racism, a feeling bad that ‘shows’ we are doing something

about ‘it’. But what does declaring one’s bad feeling do?”

“What kind of whiteness is a whiteness that is anxious about

itself? What does such an anxious whiteness do?”

Do you think she said the word “whiteness” enough?! I think, actually

I know that is where a lot of my confusion with this text comes from.

It seemed like whiteness was a filler word, but a filler word that holds

a lot of weight and meaning. I felt like there was a lot to get out of this

text but my brain felt like I was going in circles. Is the meaning that we

don’t see whiteness like we see blackness because we have decided

as a society that white is the base color for everything? That it was out

of narcissism that white men decided they were superior? And how

do we go about studying this whiteness without getting too involved or

too opinionated one way or another? Is it possible to study something

and remain neutral on the subject? I don’t think so. And I don’t think

the author believed this either. She said, “We do after all get attached

to our objects of study, which might mean that whiteness studies could

‘get stuck’ on whiteness, as that which ‘gives itself’ to itself.”

“In other words, the

transformation of the

collective into an individual

(a collective without

individuals) might allow

individual actors to refuse

responsibility for collective

forms of racism.”

I have to admit that I didn’t fully understand this reading. I’ve never

heard of such a term, ‘whiteness study’, in my life. Therefore, as part

of my efforts to understand this reading, I’ve begun to read the whole

definition of the Study of Whiteness on Wikipedia. Then, I became to

know that it’s about what socially makes white privilege, what makes

the notion of white people even it doesn’t exist in reality. And then I

go back to the reading, part 41~43, declaration 6. Because I felt the

same feeling which Ahmed says in paragraph 43. The study reminds us

that we are all colored people, but at the same time makes the border

between the discriminator and the discriminated person ambiguous.

And I thought that ‘I am colored too’ statement might be a comfortable

resting place for some people who have prevailed in present.

Is that enough? Of course, not. However, I believe the above attempts

and studies are worthy. This is also what I say to my male colleagues

who ask ‘What we can start in gender discrimination discourse?’. I

answer them that breaking away from innocence and admitting that

just because they are men, they are the beneficiary of discrimination

are starting point. But like the author, I don’t think it’s enough. So

what’s the best, end way to become an anti-racist? Just like the

author, I don’t know. But I believe that words are more effective than

thinking, and actions are more powerful than words.

“Whiteness studies could even

become a spectacle of pure

self-reflection, augmented by

an insistence that whiteness

‘is an identity too’.”

I think I am done with readings. Everything feels so heavy. Where

is the lightness? The resilience? You know? The reprieve? Where

is the other side of things, like how people prevail and keep going?

Life is full of crisis and victory, I feel like we just keep reading about

the crisis. I mean, these things are important for us to discuss. It just

is a lot of heavy. “And what is our role as designers?” There has to

be some form of victory? Or is that what the structure of academic

writing leads us to? Circles in circles? Important points made, but

remain stuck in this vacuum? And observations that can be made far

quicker out in the world when you live in it and with it? Bah.

“In other words, the transformation of whiteness into a colour can

work to conceal the power and privilege of whiteness: as such, it

can exercise that privilege.”

To me this section really seems to be in

dialogue with the first. Whiteness must be

seen, but it also must not be placed next to

or in equal relation to those that it has

oppressed. It must be made clear but it must

not take away from the experience/struggles

of nonwhite peoples in its clarification.

Again, in design, this can be seen as making

clear the colonial nature of certain modes

of design by placing them in or on an equal

playing field with other modes/forms of

design while not also forgetting the visual

and conceptual stranglehold it has/had on

the design canon.

“Both emphasise how

feeling bad about racism

or white privilege can

function as a form of selfcenteredness,

which returns

the white subject ‘back into’

itself, as the one whose

feelings matter. hooks in

particular has considered

guilt as the performance

rather than undoing of

whiteness. Guilt certainly

works as a ‘block’ to hearing

the claims of others in areturning

to the white self.”

“A paradox is clear. The

shameful white subject

expresses shame about its

racism, and in expressing

it shames, it ‘shows’ that

it is not racist: if we are

shamed, we mean well.

The white subject that is

shamed by whiteness is

also a white subject that is

proud about its shame.”

“Shame would not be about making the offender feel bad (this

would install a pattern of deviance), so ‘expressions of community

disapproval’ are followed by ‘gestures of reacceptance’

(Braithwaite 1989, 55). Note, this model presumes the agents of

shaming are not the victims (who might make the offender feel

bad), but the family and friends of the offender. It is the love that

offenders have for those who shame them, which allows shame to

integrate rather than alienate.”

That is not to say that

I did not think she had

many important, wellwritten

points, it just

wasn’t the easiest read

for me. I did appreciate

the conclusion of

the work. Ahmed

acknowledged areas

of her writing that were

contradictory and areas

that she did not have

the full answers which

I appreciated. I felt that

made her seem like

even more of a reliable,

articulate author.

The only question I have in regards to “national shame” is it’s

proximity to white guilt. The “anxieties” in regards to the assumed

privilege of whiteness, creates a kind of psychoanalytic projection,

casting the authors own experience into the abstract Nation at

large. People are largely motivated by affective processing, I am

uncomfortable and would like to be comfortable. In the context of

a racial “awakening”, can whiteness try to assume the a post racial

society without addressing a long history of exploitation, extraction,

and marginalization (who owns indigenous artifacts in Western

Museums?). This is a complex reflection that white communities need

to have amongst themselves, but I am fortunate that I was able to

listen in and have a passive role in the conversation.

“What would it mean for the nation to declare its shame for being?”

“The language we think of as critical can easily ‘lend itself’ to the

very techniques of governance we critique.”

Strip all the academia away, all the confusing layers, all the deep

thinking, and one clear message I’m left with is sincerity. Have the right

intent. Don’t say, do. Follow through with action. The right intent is not

the end, it is merely the beginning. It’s not even the beginning it’s the

on-going journey. Intent – act – reflect – study – correct – re-intent –

act – reflect – check-in – am I being sincere? – repeat. Don’t give up.

Don’t feel hopeless. Don’t be complacent.

To be completely honest, I really did not enjoy this text at all.

I attempted to re-read about three times to see if I could gain

a better understanding and some things are still completely

lost on me. Apart from the language being quite difficult to

discern – I think the set up of her arguments seem rather

“doctrinal” or manifesto like which if we were to contrast

Trash Girlz a lot could be said about the debate on language

or semantics in addition to some of the similarities posed

between arguments.

“This is the same elitism that

says that those who don’t

get to university, have failed,

or are deprived.”

As important as it is to study and understand the anti-racist

movement in America, for someone who has been in America

for just a little over a year, it gets difficult to grasp the theories

without any strong historical understanding. Trying to respond

to the text as a global citizen seems difficult and I obviously

cannot assume the position of an American either. How can

the subject of anti-racism be studied from a non-white/non-

American perspective? Is it wrong or inappropriate to do so? Is

the subject of racism centered only around whiteness?

“I am of course risking being seen as producing a ‘useless’ critique

by not prescribing what an anti-racist whiteness studies would

be, or by not offering some suggestions about ‘what white

people can do’. I am happy to take that risk. At the same time, I

think it is quite clear that my critique of ‘anti-racist whiteness’ is

prescriptive. After all, I am arguing that whiteness studies, even

in its critical form, should not be about re-describing the white

subject as anti-racist, or constitute itself as a form of anti-racism,

or even as providing the conditions for anti-racism. Whiteness

studies should instead be about attending to forms of white

racism and white privilege that are not undone, and may even be

repeated and intensified, through declarations of whiteness, or

through the recognition of privilege as privilege.”

One of the main arguments found in the text perhaps is

the argument that the declaration of whiteness centers

white subjects in critical race studies and takes away

the guilt and shame associated with admitting a racist

past. By changing the subject’s orientation from the

oppressed to the oppressor, Ahmed argues that the

declaration of whiteness acts as a deflection strategy to

omit white agency in social justice work.

“You might not be surprised to hear that a white response to this

paper has asked the question, ‘but what are white people to do’.”

Not sure how to put this, but I found this reading extremely difficult to

understand and that’s left me with a lot of guilt; guilt, because I want

so badly to understand and yet I really cannot.

Maybe that’s the perfect metaphor for the content. I will never “get”

whiteness. It’s difficult enough to see my own whiteness (invisibility).

I even sought-out other resources to help me grasp the full article.

Someone on Github tried distilling the numbered sections to their

clearest forms and that did help a little, I guess?

After some time digesting everything, I decided to talk to my sister about the reading because she is extremely passionate about this subject. We had a great

conversation and I think it helped me wrap my head around the material. As a white male, I’ve felt shame, but that’s not helping anyone. Like Ahmed discusses

in the reading, shame will only bring attention to the one who feels it and that only enhances whiteness and one’s personal pride. That said, I think that it’s okay

to feel some level of guilt as long as you can channel the negative feeling into positive action. As we all know, actions speak louder than words at the end of the

day. One of the main reasons I wanted to study design and attend graduate school was to educate myself on current issues/conflict and look for ways that I can

positively impact the world.

“One suspects that happy

whiteness, even when this

happiness is about antiracism,

is what allows racism

to remain the burden of

non-white others.”

White Privilege is very much alive and walking, better yet running

around the world today as it always has. It can be the key to your

next job, house, or possibly even a get out of jail free card. The crazy

thing is, many Caucasian people don’t think it exists-“white does not

claim to be an exercise in white seeing.” It’s amazing to one side but

extremely damaging to other races.

Once blacks wanted to obtain similar things as whites, things such as

credit, and redlining were invented to knock them away.

If you were to ask me, whiteness studies have been around ever

since July 4, 1776. The risk has already been taken throughout our

education system and has brought multiple “white power” groups

throughout time. If we want to educate whites on their whiteness

in the present time, I’m in complete agreement with it being a huge

risk. Whiteness would become the center (as it already is) rather than

“decentering” it and helping them recognize the issue.

All companies, whether it be a university or a bank, now have policies

on racism, sexual harassment etc. that make it mandatory for these

things to not take place in the workplace. However, that piece of

paper doesn’t mean anything. It’s not an “ anti racist act”to put those

JACKIE WANG

Against Innocence

Race, Gender, and

the politics of Safety

Wang’s description of

Trayvon Martin and

Oscar Grant’s murders

occurring within the white

imaginary highlights

the limits of empathy

some to feel moved by

events unless they can

conceive of it happening

to themselves. In Trayvon

Martin’s case, Wang

describes how, because

Zimmerman murdered

him while visiting his

friend in a residential

neighborhood, white

Americans could imagine

the space where this

occurred. This contrasts

with the common

perceptions of urban

violence, which are

imagined to occur in an

alternate reality. I think

we can see that through

the counternarratives

that develop in response

to every instance of state

violence against Black

people. We have seen

the pattern play out, as if

by rote, in recent police

murders. We know that,

every time the police

murder someone, that

within a day, the Right

will trot out a counternarrative

showing that

the victim was “no angel”

and bringing in past

transgressions against

the social order that the

victim may have done,

like committing a robbery,

the maximum amount of

state violence. In some

ways, this counternarrative

does exactly

what Wang describes, it

removes victims from the

white imaginary by taking

away the view that they

are innocent. However,

I think it’s clear that the

counter-narrative is in

no matter how weak or

may be, the Right will

remove the Black victims

of state violence from

the class of people with

whom they empathize and

returns them to the other

existing in an alternate

universe of violence.

The example of this that

is Tamir Rice. It takes

some kind of monster

to say that a 12 year old

boy is not fundamentally

innocent, but the Right

generated an immediate

counter-narrative that he

was threatening people,

despite the fact that

he had a toy gun, and

the fact that the person

who called 911 told the

police that it was a toy

gun. While I agree with

Wang’s view that Black

victims are only treated

with empathy if they can

be contextualized within

the white imaginary as

innocents living within

a recognizably white

world, I think that even

innocence and whiteness

are no defense against

state violence.

“Within this framework,

empathy can only be

established when the

standards of authentic

victimhood and moral

purity, which requires Black

people, in the words of Frank

Wilderson, to be shaken free

of nigerization.”

Innocence should not

be a preconditional

requirement to recognize

abuse of power. Victim

blaming misses the

point and transfers the

focus away from a rooted

problem of hierarchy and

bias.

There are several

ways innocence is

politicized

1. Innocence as a means

of relating to another.

It is human nature to

connect with people and

places familiar. If this is

a doorway to open and

understand a larger

problem, I don’t see it

as a bad thing. However,

if it’s a requirement like

prescription glasses in

order to see an issue,

then we’ve fallen short.

2. Citing one’s own

experience of abuse,

highlighting innocence

as a means to gain

power over a situation.

For me it touches on

the thought: how to we

oppressing others in the

process? I appreciated

the way Wang addressed

this: “That does not mean

delegitimizing the claims

made by survivors –

but rather, rejecting the

framework of innocence,

examining each situation

closely, and being

conscientious of the

multiple power struggles

at play in different

3. Close examination of

a situation to “have all

the facts.” This often

includes “understanding

the victim.” The constant

media stream with

interchanged fact and

opinion requires effort

to sift and understand,

which I support. Just as

long as we don’t miss the

forest for the trees.

4. Attempts to downplay

destructive protest,

washing over a movement

with “innocence.”

This takes away from

a message, downplays

frustration and anger,

and gets hung up on the

participants rather than

The bottom line

is our obsession with

innocence inherently

makes the situation about

the victim. Meanwhile,

situations with similar

settings, victims, and

oppressors repeat,

showing the rooted

societal issues – clear to

some but not to all.

“The liberal is afraid

to alienate anyone, and

therefore he is incapable

of presenting any clear

alternative…The politics of

innocence and the politics

of safety and comfort are

related in that both strategies

reinforce passivity.”

you realized you were

“different”? Was it when

you and your cousin

were stopped by police

while riding bikes after a

post-Shake Shack lunch

with your dad? How

about being stopped

after school hours with

your best friend by police

asking to search your

backpack? How about

when you separated from

your mother in Marshalls

outlet store to look at

boys clothes, and caught

an employee closely

weaving through aisles

with you on a journey you

did not consent to lead?

Did you realize it after you

walked into a 7-Eleven

with your headphones

blasting rap music and

being followed around for

it? Was it brought to your

attention after a group of

Black mentors explained

to a room full of Black

high school boys how

to conduct themselves

during a police stop? Let

me rephrase the question:

you realized the world

was “racist”?

Against Innocence:

Race, Gender, and the

politics of Safety is the

most moving piece of

writing I have read all

year. As I moved through

the texts, many emotions

and repressed memories

rose to the surface. Living

in a world where stories

are so readily available,

I catch myself reading

countless narratives of

racism, homophobia,

Islamphobia, and many

other horror stories that

I forget to address the

ones I experience with

my own eyes. Being able

only the stories shared

in the article, but my own

experience, was deeply

needed. It was a reminder

that it is important to pull

from one’s own lived

experience because that

is where the true passion

and anger reside.

This passage

reminded me of the

structures that never

provided me the space to

be a boy. I was forced into

manhood before I could

even enjoy innocence. For

so many people who look

like me, we never were

told to enjoy “boyhood.”

We were almost trained to

“man-up” and never show

emotion. This ultimately

impacts the way we

interact with the world, but

more importantly, how the

world interacts with us.

As the passage mentions,

this is not exclusive

to Black men. This

manifests itself differently

in the upbringing of

Black women and how

society views them, but

the outcome is the same:

harm to Black bodies.

Reading things like this, I

am almost always left with

multiple questions. How

did we fail Black women?

Why is patriarchy so well

ingrained in our society?

Why do we criminalize

Black victims and

victimize white criminals?

Why does my Black

skin offend the world so

much?

No one has the

answer, but I hope I am

around long enough to

see the solution to even

one of these questions.

THE PRIORITIZER

"Time is of the essence"

1. Select a particular time of the day to

make the mask. (an stick to it!)

2. Cut out a circle large enough to cover

your face.

3. Again cut out 2 large circles out for

the eyes.

4. Now cut the entire mask into 10 different

pieces. (Just to pu them back together.

Yes!)

5. Think of the good and bad moments in

your life.

6. Either color the pieces in shades of

blue (joy) and red (pain)or use materials

of the mentioned color.

7. Take Post-its and cut them into strips.

8. Stick the strips onto these different

pieces.

9.Writetime stamps (Bold and LARGE) on the

strips as you stick the pieces together

one at a time.

10. Pour yourself a drink. Cheers!

Chimera

I am usually a woman, sometimes a man, and on the rarest

of occasions, a labradoodle. When I am a woman, I am

aware that I am a woman. When I am a man, I am a man.

And when I’m a labradoodle, I lie on my side and am

undaunted (other than by that fucking bold squirrel in the

yard.)

When I look you in the eye, I’m looking at the sun. When

you ask me how I’m doing, “I am doing good.” When I ask

you how you’re doing, I am ready.

I have a hirsute plant that smells like lip balm. When I

pluck a leaf, I apologize and reassure it with gratitude. I

rub the leaf over my hairy upper lip clockwise and then my

hairy lower lip counterclockwise; then I reverse directions

until the leaf is bare and doesn’t smell like lip balm and is

desiccated.

The other night, I saw black spiders and millipedes on my

walls creeping and staring at me. What the hell else could I

do — I creeped and stared back! And then they faded. Have

I lost it?

Whether we’re awake, or asleep, or in some liminal space

in between, the personal is just as real as a hallucination.

A plant has a personality. A stock response is authentic. A

persona is just as real as the personal. The personal is political.

Mask Instructions for Cassidy:

1. Before starting, take a moment to

meditate and think seriously about the

change you want to make in the world.

You’re a DOER. But first, you have to

manifest. You can put on some meditation

music or sit in silence.

J Mask Instructions •Head contains a compass

fixed on one direction•Outstretched hands in

place of a mouth•A rose-colored view•Needs

to be wound like a clock•Impressionist •Trendy

headphones

2. After you finish meditating (you can decide for how

long), do ten pushups to pump yourself up for the project.

You got this. Let’s DO IT. If you can’t do ten pushups, then

it’s OK. Do as many as possible. But you have to BELIVE

to achieve because that’s what doers do.

We DO.

I am a point-blank type of person. I don’t like to beat around the bush and dislike when conversations go around in circles with no progress. I believe we are given a voice and need to use it to better the community around us. I am a doer. I want to decide my goal and chase it. I am always there for my family and friends when they are in need of a helping hand, but when I get them back on their feet, it is time to let them go and continue to find their own way. Life is about taking risks and it does no one any good if you walk through life timid and afraid to step out and try. I like to see the potential in others even if they don’t see it in themselves. And use that untapped potential to inspire my work. I have found my voice and now it is my mission to help others find theirs. Because when we work to better our neighbors, our community will benefit as a whole.

yCassid

Marcus Graham

I’m a 29 year old artist living in downtown Chicago.

I’m also a graphic designer for the biggest agency

in Chicago.I like working with them, however, with

the trauma and tragedy going on in the world, I

want to promote a bigger message. I like expressing

truth for people to see. It may seem extreme at

some points, but I rather the knowledge get out.

I’ve also lived in many different places so I would

consider myself to have a wide perspective on social

issues. I’ve also been able to grow my network to

a nice size by moving around as much as I did. I

mainly use my social media to post my visuals. My

Instagram posts reach the masses, so that’s where

I’d go to post a raw design. I’m very outgoing

and have a nice group of close friends. I’m also

pretty optimistic about life so I do my best to

make everything and everyone around positive

as well. I’m pretty social so sometimes I uplift

random people through random conversations or to my

associates.I truly believe that my creative work

will change the world one of these days.

5. Don’t forget to tag

3 of your follower to

share a challenge.

2. Reflecting your tastes and personality, make

another mask opposite of the former one.

#RACISMISAPANDEMIC,

3. Put on and take a selfie

of each mask

4. Upload them on your Instagram

with hashtags,

“We did not cross the border, the border crossed us!”

US Immigrant Rights Movement Slogan

The demonstrators marched from Möllevångstorget in central Malmö to the main police

station in Davidshallstorg. Towards the end of the protest, demonstrators entered the

police station and started to shout slogans at the police forces running the project, who

had been creating fear among undocumented migrants, many of the latter being friends

of the demonstrators. The situation became violent when the demonstrators, including

two of my friends and I, refused to leave the police station. The police started to push

out the demonstrators who had been linking arms in order to resist the police officers.

When they did not succeed, more 296 police officers joined

the struggle and started to beat a few of the demonstrators.

“This chapter opens with a rather

evocative narration of the demonstration

in Malmö. The description of the event

reminded me of the recent widespread

protests back in India against the

CAA(Citizenship Amendment Act) set

in motion by the Indian government

to grant citizenship to refugees and

immigrants belonging to specific

religious minorities from neighboring

countries, excluding Muslim immigrants

bereaving them of similar benefits. The

police brutality in Malmö draws a strong

parallel to how the circumstances were

handled by authorities in India, followed

by religious profiling and mass arrests of

the demonstrators.”

“This leaves us countryless. We are seen as

belonging neither by the ethnic majority in the

countries that we legally call home nor by the ethnic

majority in the countries our ancestors are

from.”

The LifeGuard machine used for “search and rescue’’,

can also be used for “capture and deport”.

Nothing in life is “black or white.” We try to place

things into a neat box so we can keep it pushing,

but that is not possible. Is that broom truly a

broom, or is that what you have just been told? Is

humanitarianism a positive thing, or is that just

what you have been told? Do borders truly keep

us safe, or is that what you have been told?

“Are you undocumented? Haven’t got

residency? Between the 13th and 26th

of October an operation called ‘Mos

Maiorum’ starts in Sweden and E.U. The

Police will hunt people without papers

and residency. They want to know from

which routes immigrants come to Europe

and they will arrest as many people

as possible. Be careful at the subway

stations, the trains, airports, highways

and at the borders.”

To be completely honest, I know little about immigration

policy in the United States. I know much of the general

information when talking to my friend but was really struck

by the many, small details that seem to keep her from becoming

a citizen, imposed by the rules of the government. I feel like this

was directly spoken about in the reading in regards to REVA’s

project in Sweden to arrest a deport those in Sweden ‘illegally.’

During this ‘the police support[ed] racialisation and search[ed]

those that don’t match common image.’ I found this fascinating

that not only did this enforce racial stereotypes, profiling, and

fear, it alienated and made ‘legal citizens’ who visibility looked

like ‘illegal citizens’ feel like ‘quazi-citizens.’ It makes me think

about the emotional component to being a citizen and how that

emotional, psychological component is a boarder itself. And

could we, in much of this reading, replace

boarder with the word ‘barrier?’

However the infamous case of the left-to-die boat

(Heller and Pezzani, 2012) tells us that there is no

guarantee that such conventions will be followed

in the Mediterranean Sea.48 48 Heller and Pezzani

(2012) write: “In the case of what is now referred to as

the lefttodie boat, 2 migrants eeing ripoli by boat

on the early morning of arch 2, 2 ran out of fuel and

were left to drift for days until they landed back on the

ibyan coast. With no water or food onboard, only nine of

the migrants survived. In several interviews, these survivors

recounted the arious points of contacts they had with the

eternal world during this ordeal. his included describing

the aircraft that ew oer them, the distress call they sent out

ia satellite telephone and their isual sightings of a military

helicopter which proided a few packets of biscuits and

bottles of water and a military ship which failed to proide

any assistance whatsoeer. he eents, as recounted by

these suriors, appeared to constitute a seere iolation of

the legal obligation to proide assistance to

any person in distress at sea, an obligation sanctioned by

several international conventions”.

“People are seeking refuge and get

turned around all because you didn't

grow up in that area. The Papadopoulos

and Tsianos reference stuck out the most

as they were rescued from the water, not

because they were running for their lives

from danger, butbecause their boat was

sinking, which they had to do themselves

to be taken seriously. Who’s to say that

tactic will also come out successful?”

risis as a problem and humanitarianism as a

solution”. (329)

“An ethical action following a crisis does not make you a

humanitarian. All that is doing is encouraging the repeated

behavior that is already endangering thousands of lives

(in the case of border control). That said, you can think

ahead and search for ays to find a soltion that preents

a crisis, then I believe we can discuss whether a plan has

humanitarian characteristics. This is all extremely relevant

to me as a designer b/c I must always be considerate of

how a design is going to impact my surrounding and as

stated in the reading, “Designers are not exempt from

humanitarian practices.”

“The border

security system

should consider

humanity

and ensures

that migrants

are treated with

dignity and

humility.”

“This is terrifying given that I deeply

understand this with how my family

had to leave Bosnia due to war.

The border should have acted as a

point of sanctuary but in fact was

probably the most dangerous point

as it allowed for further screening

and regulation by the politics of the

state they ere eeing.

Borders, as a result of the forces

of neoliberal globalisation and new

economic patterns, have taken new

forms, scales, shapes, materials and

technologies articulated through a set of

practices, performances and

interactions that make them hard to

measure and quantify in the same

way as one measures a line, a fence

or a wall. This change in what can be

defined and understood as a border

makes it necessary

to pay attention to how researchers can

try to capture, document and perhaps

materialise what has otherwise been

argued, presented and consumed as

immaterial and borderless.

“Understanding borders in a post

globalized social construct is

complex. Borders are politically

charged, porous, and spatially

contextual depending on race,

nationality, religious tradition, and

legal status. “Border Working”

contextualizes the humanitarian crisis

of irregular migrants, refugees, and

other stateless people within the

discipline of design.”

The kit includes: a yellow-red

barricade tape bearing the legend

“CAUTION BORDER DO NOT

CROSS BORDER”; a map of the

sites where police have carried out

their ambushing strategy of racial

profiling or raids to find deportable

migrants; it also contains a small

paper plaquedescribing the event,

date and time of the police operation.

The rest of the materials are often

tools to facilitate the process of

setting up uickly and efficiently

such as scissors, sticky tapes,

ropes, etc. (Figure 7.4).

So far, we have worked with the

project in two ways and are open

to its transformation. One way of

working with it is through quick

interventions such as full days of

action in Malmö or Stockholm,

where a group of volunteers can

mark out sites where the racial

profiling, arrest and conseuently

deportation of undocumented

migrants occurs.

“Unlike the lifeboats,

the design solution by

Keshavar gives agency

to the undocumented

migrants to take control of

their own situation, even

though it does not fully

address the structural force

of borderworking.”

“I think leaving refugees to drown at

sea or rescuing them only to deport them back

to their place of origin are twovsides of the

sae coin only dierence is one is less hane

than the other and oth dont oer a soltion to

the situation that made it happen.”

Clémence — Sanguine Entrepreneur

3 rectangles centered:

8.5 x 7in

8.5 x 5in

8.5 x 3in

I just couldn’t sleep last night. My meeting at Lucas’ school went south and my blood felt

acidic— which was worrisome, as I’m positively alkaline. I rectified it with some meditation

and yoni exercises. I reoriented my chakras and boss-babe mentality and perched in my

den to address the problems at hand.

I know I can work the room. And though I may be demanding, I exude excellence. Why

wouldn’t you want me? My resumé spans multiple continents. I am tried and true. I can

enact actualpositive change and I don’t accept a project unless it’s destined for a national

platform. Didn’t you know I was invited to The White House? (Yes, even recently...) Anything

less would be stifling. Deepak says, “Happiness is a continuation of happenings which

are not resisted.” I won’t argue with that. (Here, let me text him...)

My campaign integrates social justice and eco-positivity. I’ve assembled a team of trailblazing

women and sky-rocketing BIPOC. You won’t step on a bus, enter the grocery store, or

check your email without knowing our initiative. Celebrities will speak life into to our mission.

They will wear our designs. We will exhibit in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Venice,

and Lisbon.

I will be the change we wish to see in the world!

cat eyes length is in

take a toothpick dont pick your teeth

make a layer between the three

a peacock hue though it will flourish in whatever you

choose

weighted but delicate

textures accepted

punch some holes for some straps

put it on

Nimo

THE PRIORITIZER

In esSence, I am designing each moment of my life.

I journey map the life of each of my kids in my

mind as I their overalL life and the particulars

of where they are in their curRent age of development.

One could say that my partner and I

conduct interviews with them each day to prepare

meals with them, work out sibling/friend arguments

(help them cope with the complexities of

human interaction), or as we shufFle them from

one thing to another. The hard, more complex

and serious interviews are either reserved for

when I get in fights with them or it ocCurs spontaneously

one-on-one---which hapPens mostly

while driving in the car. My partner and I try to

compare notes, but honestly--who has that kind

of time? Maybe we should make journey maps for

each kid and leave stick-it notes for each other

to glance at. Pour me a drink.Make it a double.

By the time I get to work, a firm where I am an

actual designer, I go on auto-pilot. This work is

far more easy than the actual work of guiding/

navigating/trying to understand on a deEp level

another human being's pain points and joy points

that is life. My work is my break. You want me to

focus on one thing and how it can be improved

to asSist people and have the greatest impact on

humanity? That sounds like a work weEk that is

8 hours of meditation five days a weEk. Can you

believe theypay me. My friend said that they paid

$2,500 for a yoga retreat to regroup and recenter.

I told them, “I think you might be doing life

wrong.”

Agathokakological Tendencies

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