Sasafrás
11th September 2003, 03:24
So, I was just sitting around about to go to a forum about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict when one of my friends came to my dorm room and told me that she was going to a forum with an Black civil rights activist. I was like, "okay, that should be interesting." So, I decided to go to that instead of the I-P thing.
It wasn't until I arrived at the Rose Theatre that I found out that the Black civil rights activist was Angela Davis. Suddenly, it became much more important.
So, I was sitting there waiting for Ms. Davis to come up on stage.
Okay, but to get to the more important part of what Angela discussed.
The title varied between "The Color of Violence Against Women" and "The Circle of Violence Against Women," so her primary topic was basically Sexual Harrassment, Rape, and the like.
She started off talking about our unelected president in the USA, even though this really had nothing to do with the topic (I think she just really wanted to get all of the following in this paragraph off of her chest once again). She said, Quote, "We don't have to talk about his extensive vocabulary or his political intelligence." (Of course, her use of the words "extensive" and "intelligence" were sarcastic)... She then went on to say that many people in America looked upon the War in Iraq as being solely based on Saddam Hussein without even thinking about students (like me), mothers, fathers, and people with aspirations. She also said that demonstrations are an important part of the struggle and that they act as our "Political Theatre" but that they are not, however, the sole means of the radical left making their points.
Now, to the Topic @ Hand, Angela went on to discuss the "Militarization of Sexuality" and brought up the point of how, during the Viet Nam War/Conflict, many of the men, (and this is a quote that she gave from someone else) "raped the girl [the 'girl' being figuratively VietNam, but also representing the women of VietNam] and the last person to make love to her shot her in the head." She went on to say that it was strange that the "rape" and the "making love" are used interchangeably as if they mean the same thing. She said that, in many cases, wherever there is a US military base [even in foreign countries], there are sexual services nearby.
She discussed how many people feel the need to live up to some kind of sexuality, IE men need to live up to the stereotypical masculinity and women need to live up to that femininity that we see surrounding us in magazines, in movies, and on the television.
She went on to say that the term "Violence Against Women" has evolved through the years to include many other things. She mentioned how, in the past, domestic violence had the tendency to be looked upon as unimportant and, perhaps, personal, and not needing to involve the law because it was a "private" thing. She talked about America's fixation on people of color (IE Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and SOME Asians) being seen as "perpetrators of violence." According to the Ethnic Majority, "Every black man is potentially a rapist," she said.
She then went on to dicuss the CCA, or the "The Corrections Corporation of America" (http://www.correctionscorp.com/) (which I have provided a link to), which is, by the way, headquartered in the capital of my state, Nashville, Tennessee. She mentioned how they play an immense role in the "global prison market," for example, in South Africa (which, she mentioned, is taking numerous steps to provide equality in their country after years and years of opression), I believe, and in Australia. She discussed how the majority of the prison population in the USA is made up of black Americans (even though they make up only approximately 13% of the entire country's population). She said that the black prison population grew immensely after the end of slavery and also how the female population (primarily the BLACK female population) and the general African-American prison population is the fastest growing segment of the prison population in the United States. Angela Davis basically believes that the prison system should be annihilated and destroyed. (After all, she was in jail for numerous years).. She mentioned how many people in prisons are only there because they came from the wrong neighbourhood or didn't have the opportunity to have education or health care or the like and said that, had those people had the opportunity to have treatment for their mental and emotional problems, they would not have to be imprisoned.
Speaking of prisons, she also discussed "STATE SEXUAL ASSAULT" and asked the audience what they considered to be State Sexual Assault. She said that the well-known prison action of the "strip search" is sexual assault. I'll try to sum up what Angela basically said:
"If someone were to describe to you what happens during a strip search, the fact that the women have to remove all of their clothing and be subjected to a person sticking a finger in their vagina and rectum, you would automatically assume that it is sexual assault."
She said that we, as people who are not in prison, tend to look at people in prison as aliens and people who we cannot relate to and we do not think about the harrassment and/or assault that many of them are subjected to on a daily basis.
She then went on to talk about the US Patriot Act for a few seconds and said that the talk of terrorism is racism itself.
After that, she began to take questions, but one guy started talking for a long time and I didn't know what he was talking about, but I remember Angela talking about black people who are in positions of power in the US such as Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. Then, she said that if she had to choose between a conservative black candidate and a radical white candidate, she would choose the radical white candidate because he/she would be more likely to do things that would benefit minority communities. She mentioned that for a particular reason, but by then, I was tired and I had to go because I had homework to do :)..
But, I just wanted to mention that one of the coolest black woman ever came and spoke at my University and that I saw her.
So, I am asking you guys, black & white, young & old, conservative & radical, what do you think about the things that Angela said and what you think of Angela Davis in general?
Your opinions would be greatly appreciated...
And for those of you who don't know much about Angela, you can go to these sites:
Here (http://www.speakersandartists.org/People/AngelaDavis.html)
Here (http://www.cofc.org/htm/AYD.htm)
Here (http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s70350.htm)
And, Here is where you can buy her books on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-keywords=angela%20daivs&search-type=ss&bq=1/102-4459670-5312134)
It wasn't until I arrived at the Rose Theatre that I found out that the Black civil rights activist was Angela Davis. Suddenly, it became much more important.
So, I was sitting there waiting for Ms. Davis to come up on stage.
Okay, but to get to the more important part of what Angela discussed.
The title varied between "The Color of Violence Against Women" and "The Circle of Violence Against Women," so her primary topic was basically Sexual Harrassment, Rape, and the like.
She started off talking about our unelected president in the USA, even though this really had nothing to do with the topic (I think she just really wanted to get all of the following in this paragraph off of her chest once again). She said, Quote, "We don't have to talk about his extensive vocabulary or his political intelligence." (Of course, her use of the words "extensive" and "intelligence" were sarcastic)... She then went on to say that many people in America looked upon the War in Iraq as being solely based on Saddam Hussein without even thinking about students (like me), mothers, fathers, and people with aspirations. She also said that demonstrations are an important part of the struggle and that they act as our "Political Theatre" but that they are not, however, the sole means of the radical left making their points.
Now, to the Topic @ Hand, Angela went on to discuss the "Militarization of Sexuality" and brought up the point of how, during the Viet Nam War/Conflict, many of the men, (and this is a quote that she gave from someone else) "raped the girl [the 'girl' being figuratively VietNam, but also representing the women of VietNam] and the last person to make love to her shot her in the head." She went on to say that it was strange that the "rape" and the "making love" are used interchangeably as if they mean the same thing. She said that, in many cases, wherever there is a US military base [even in foreign countries], there are sexual services nearby.
She discussed how many people feel the need to live up to some kind of sexuality, IE men need to live up to the stereotypical masculinity and women need to live up to that femininity that we see surrounding us in magazines, in movies, and on the television.
She went on to say that the term "Violence Against Women" has evolved through the years to include many other things. She mentioned how, in the past, domestic violence had the tendency to be looked upon as unimportant and, perhaps, personal, and not needing to involve the law because it was a "private" thing. She talked about America's fixation on people of color (IE Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and SOME Asians) being seen as "perpetrators of violence." According to the Ethnic Majority, "Every black man is potentially a rapist," she said.
She then went on to dicuss the CCA, or the "The Corrections Corporation of America" (http://www.correctionscorp.com/) (which I have provided a link to), which is, by the way, headquartered in the capital of my state, Nashville, Tennessee. She mentioned how they play an immense role in the "global prison market," for example, in South Africa (which, she mentioned, is taking numerous steps to provide equality in their country after years and years of opression), I believe, and in Australia. She discussed how the majority of the prison population in the USA is made up of black Americans (even though they make up only approximately 13% of the entire country's population). She said that the black prison population grew immensely after the end of slavery and also how the female population (primarily the BLACK female population) and the general African-American prison population is the fastest growing segment of the prison population in the United States. Angela Davis basically believes that the prison system should be annihilated and destroyed. (After all, she was in jail for numerous years).. She mentioned how many people in prisons are only there because they came from the wrong neighbourhood or didn't have the opportunity to have education or health care or the like and said that, had those people had the opportunity to have treatment for their mental and emotional problems, they would not have to be imprisoned.
Speaking of prisons, she also discussed "STATE SEXUAL ASSAULT" and asked the audience what they considered to be State Sexual Assault. She said that the well-known prison action of the "strip search" is sexual assault. I'll try to sum up what Angela basically said:
"If someone were to describe to you what happens during a strip search, the fact that the women have to remove all of their clothing and be subjected to a person sticking a finger in their vagina and rectum, you would automatically assume that it is sexual assault."
She said that we, as people who are not in prison, tend to look at people in prison as aliens and people who we cannot relate to and we do not think about the harrassment and/or assault that many of them are subjected to on a daily basis.
She then went on to talk about the US Patriot Act for a few seconds and said that the talk of terrorism is racism itself.
After that, she began to take questions, but one guy started talking for a long time and I didn't know what he was talking about, but I remember Angela talking about black people who are in positions of power in the US such as Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. Then, she said that if she had to choose between a conservative black candidate and a radical white candidate, she would choose the radical white candidate because he/she would be more likely to do things that would benefit minority communities. She mentioned that for a particular reason, but by then, I was tired and I had to go because I had homework to do :)..
But, I just wanted to mention that one of the coolest black woman ever came and spoke at my University and that I saw her.
So, I am asking you guys, black & white, young & old, conservative & radical, what do you think about the things that Angela said and what you think of Angela Davis in general?
Your opinions would be greatly appreciated...
And for those of you who don't know much about Angela, you can go to these sites:
Here (http://www.speakersandartists.org/People/AngelaDavis.html)
Here (http://www.cofc.org/htm/AYD.htm)
Here (http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s70350.htm)
And, Here is where you can buy her books on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-keywords=angela%20daivs&search-type=ss&bq=1/102-4459670-5312134)