How to Have a Conversation
In a packed auditorium at Howard University, a historically black college, students organized a protest in the back rows to chant and sing traditional songs of resistance against former FBI director James Comey, who had been invited to give the 150th Opening Convocation on September 22, 2017. The core group of students who organized the demonstration go by the name HUResist, and explain their reasons in a press briefing released through their twitter page:
“Convocation is an event designed to officially welcome freshmen and transfer students into the historically Black university. Comey, ironically, boasted many affronts to Black communities and communities of color during his tenure with the FBI, including the dismissal of racist state-sanctioned violence, and efforts to dismantle the growing Black Lives Matter movement, similar to the FBI’s efforts to dismantling of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements just a few decades prior.”
These students are referring to the fact that the FBI has put activists in the Black Lives Matter movement under surveillance (just as the FBI put activists like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and countless other civil rights protesters under surveillance), and Comey’s argument in 2015 which is that the scrutiny on police brutality (disproportionately targeted against black, latino and other communities of color) has actually caused an increase in crime because police officers are then too afraid to do their jobs.
None of these concerns surrounding Comey’s presence at a historically black college could be heard, however, amidst the protest of chant and song filling up the back rows of Howard University’s auditorium. What Comey heard as he walked up to the podium was: “We shall… we shall not be moved!”; “No justice, no peace!”; and “Get out, Comey – you’re not our homie!” His direct response to the demonstration was this (met with loud applause from the seated audience and more chanting/singing from the student protesters):
“And I love the enthusiasm of the young folks. I just wish they would understand what a conversation is. A conversation is where you speak and I listen, and then I speak and you listen, and we go back and forth and back and forth… And at the end of the conversation, we’re both smarter… Instead what happens in most of the real world and in about four rows in this auditorium, is that people don’t listen at all, they just try to figure out what rebuttal they’re going to offer when you’re done speaking… They aren’t looking to actually learn anything about you or what you think.”
Comey makes a valid point, one which universities and colleges across the country hopefully adhere to. Conversation should be the focal point of America’s education, and how we have a conversation should be reviewed. At a historically black college with overwhelmingly black students, a white man, who had once headed an organization that targeted Black Lives Matter activists and came out against scrutinizing police officers who are part of a force accused of disproportionately arresting and brutalizing black communities, was given center stage and invited to lecture black students. That is not a good beginning to a conversation; that is not a conversation at all. A conversation would be inviting Comey’s dissenters to share the stage with him, so that both sides would be represented. By placing Comey center stage, and relegating those with an opposing opinion to the back rows of the auditorium, Howard University validates and endorses one point of view while dismissing the concerns of its own students. On their website, the Howard Newsroom Staff does not even make any mention of the protest when covering the convocation address.
Many of the articles I came across referred to the student protesters as “hecklers” and made sure to highlight the views of other students, such as freshman Brittany Royster who reportedly states to CNN:
“What just happened is not the Howard way at all. I wanted to hear him out. I love being black, but I also love being black and educated. And in order to do that, is to choose intellect over ignorance — you have to keep an open mind and hear all parties out.”
Yes, all parties should be heard. That is the point of protest. A protest is not a conversation, but a group of people demanding to be made part of the conversation that is happening without them. Having Comey lecture from the podium and then allowing, for example, a ten minute Q&A session is not a conversation because it is not a dialogue between equals. Imagine if Howard University had set up an event where both Comey and his critics could engage in civil debate over FBI policy and police brutality, instead of dismissing the concerns of their students and endorsing one view over the other.
When people feel marginalized, when they feel left out of the national conversation, when they feel dismissed and ignored and forgotten and invisible – that is what leads to, as Comey says in his address, “a country marked with a lot of pain and hurt.”
~Amanda Jerido-Katz
A Dance for All Ages
On September 12th, Ritha Devi died at the age of 92 in Pune, India. She was a dancer and instructor at New York University from 1972-1982, where she shared her passion for Odissi, a traditional Indian dance. She was known for her command over a stage, at only four feet and 11 inches, and her lyricism. As a leader of the arts, Ms. Devi helped bridge the 2,000 year old dance form, developed in Hindu temples in the current state of Odisha, for worship, to American students. Although this classical dance lost popularity, by touring worldwide and becoming an educator, Ms. Devi was able to share the timelessness of dance.
To watch a video of Ritha Devi’s performances, click here!
Ms. Devi not only inspired students in the dance world, but women in general who were conflicted about following their passions. She graduated from Bombay University with a specialization in Manipuri (a martial arts influenced dance). She also married and later divorced Indra Chatterji in 1950, a man who insisted she stop dancing to become a housewife. Struggling to pursue her career, while raising her son, Rahul, she accepted an offer for a teaching position. She changed her name from Rita Mukherjeea by adding an “h” to her first and replacing the last with Devi, her grandmother’s maiden name. By pursuing her passion for dance, she was able to represent her culture and her upbringing, as both her mother and father embraced the arts. She leaves a legacy for strong women keeping tradition alive while leading a successful life.
I have also included a video below, which shows the classical dance performed to Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You.” Although this example does not highlight Hindu storytelling, it does offer a way to make it relevant, in the same way Ms. Devi revived the dance. As foreign as traditional dances may seem, Odissi is similar to tap dancing, in the attention to ankle/foot movements and their produced sounds.
-Stephanie Montalti
PSA: BIG DATA
I’m taking two business classes this term, and in an oddly interconnected turn of events, one seems to be warning us of the internet’s collection of our personal data while the other teaches us how to exploit it. When it comes to personal privacy, it’s quite impossible to be completely off the radar. If you have Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, an Amazon account, a company somewhere has gigabytes upon gigabytes of data on you. Think about it this way – nothing is free. And if you are doing anything on the internet that you are not paying with money for, you are paying for it with your personal data that is then sold to third parties for profit. This includes all social media sites, web browsers like Google, and any “free” membership or shopping profile.
While the high profile cybersecurity attacks like the Shadow Brokers, WannaCry, Petya, and Wikileaks are constantly on the news, we never really hear about things like the NSA asking Facebook and other online service providers to give them access to user information (June, 2013) or the debacle that just happened with the football team, the Ravens, and their collaboration with ORIG3n, a DNA testing company. There, ORIG3n offered “free” DNA testing – meaning there was no monetary exchange involved. They did however, under a bunch of fine print legalese, not only acquire a personal profile of yourself and your family, but own your DNA and have the rights to “a perpetual, irrevocable, fully paid-up, worldwide, non-exclusive right and license, with the right to sublicense through multiple tiers, to make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, import and export your genetic information.” An article by The Baltimore Sun points out that this gives ORIG3n the rights to store your genetic information anywhere it wants and in any country that may have more lenient laws about what can and cannot be done with an individual’s DNA. It also talks about how a public DNA profile can be sold to healthcare companies and can affect your coverage, leading into a tangent about gene discrimination and such.
This and this are interesting articles if you’re interested in more about that.
I’m not saying that everyone needs to start shutting down their Facebook accounts and stop online shopping or even to start reading pages of fine print. Technology is a great thing that has given us so many benefits and advancements. If anyone here is a Parks and Rec fan, even Ron Swanson couldn’t escape the digital age. But I am promoting a heightened sense of awareness, especially when it comes to services that are marketed as free.
And at least skim the fine print when you’re giving out your DNA.
– Merav
Celebs Take A Knee In Solidarity
Colin Kaepernick, an American hero, spring boarded a powerful movement within the NFL and across the country last year when he knelt during the National Anthem in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. His protest sent waves throughout the country, but it came with consequences; though Kaepernick sparked a movement, he was criticized by countless public figures (not least of all a Supreme Court Justice), he galvanized other players to join him, but many lost endorsement deals, and though he was a free-agent player in his prime, Kaepernick was effectively blackballed by the NFL.
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- This is patriotism. (Photo via Gerry Melendez for ESPN)
Despite it all, though, Kaepernick remained steadfast in his beliefs and has emboldened countless NFLers to take a knee, despite all the opposition. And under our new administration the opposition has only gotten stronger.
The newest public official to take umbrage with the Kaepernick movement is none other than the 45th himself. In a recent statement, Donald Trump bemoaned NFL players’ kneeling in protest, taking to Twitter (his favorite place for venting) to encourage that sports fans return the favor and protest back:
In true Trump fashion, the 45th went a step farther in his critique during a Republican rally, using an expletive to describe protesters:
Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say, “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!”
And the White House is fully backing up their President. When asked if Trump’s comments were taking away players’ First Amendment rights, Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, told ABC on “This Week” this past Sunday that players “have the right to have their First Amendment off the field. This is a job.” He also argued in favor of Trump calling said players ‘sons of bitches’, stating “I think the president can use whatever language he wants to use.”
Ironically, these developments have only prompted leagues of celebrities and sports teams to further protest and speak out against the 45th and denounce his incendiary, juvenile comments.
This weekend, two dozen NFL players took a knee in solidarity during the Wembley Stadium National Anthem. Living legend Stevie Wonder took two knees onstage at the Global Citizen Festival “in prayer for our planet, our future, our leaders of the world and our globe.” Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs tweeted a meme (pictured below) which highlights Trump’s hypocrisy:
https://twitter.com/diddy/status/911674519366115330
Singer John Legend accused Trump of being anti-free speech, the “opposite” of a patriot, and “consistently loyal to white supremacists and Putin.” Award-winning director Ava Duvernay said that Trump is “declaring way against black people with opinions.”
Lebron James called Trump a “bum,” and in response to an article about this comment, Chance the Rapper had this to say:
Colin Kaepernick’s own mother even took to Twitter, responding to Trump’s comments:
https://twitter.com/B4IleaveU/status/911436659907948544
Even everyday Americans are taking a stand, or rather a knee. A youth football team of 8 year olds in Cahokia knelt at a recent game. When asked why, the coach said it was actually the kids’ idea. Apparently the players also knew “of a local judge’s decision to acquit former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, who was accused of murder in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith.”
“One of the kids asked me if I saw (people) protesting and rioting in St. Louis. I said yes; I said, ‘Do you know why they are doing it?’” Gooden said, according to Fox.
Gooden said his player answered, “Because black people are getting killed and nobody’s going to jail.” Gooden chose to use it as a teaching moment and discuss greater issues regarding race in America, including Colin Kaepernick’s protest.
“One of the kids asked, ‘Can we do that?’,” Gooden explained. “I said, ‘As long as we know why we’re doing it, I don’t have a problem with any of it.’”
We live in strange times indeed, when 8 year olds behave with more tact and pragmatism than the President of the United States.
-Isaiah Rivera
The Junction Journal 