final blog

The dreamer and the dream.......

When considering the DS9 episode, "Far Beyond the Stars" it is impossible to not note the afrofuturistic elements and implications.

One afrofuturistic message I observed in the episode was the black Baseball player's commentary on how he may be wealthy and a sports hero, but outside of the game he is just another "negro" to whites. He lives in the lower class "black" neighborhood because of this social racial restriction, emphasizing that the class structure is ultimately based on race, and there is nothing that can be done to escape the "fact of blackness". Additionally, this same character is somewhat of a hero in the black community for his success, yet he recognizes that his career is [nearly] the only one which is open for blacks to "make it" in. This is emphasized by his comments to a young black fan, in which he encourages him to work hard and persevere in order to get ahead, but he is being sarcastic- revealing the reality of the condition and potential for social and individual [black] improvement; quickly adding on "hah! who am I kidding? You better learn how to play basketball."

Perhaps more afrofuturistically significant however, is the that the episode itself simultaneously explores imagined realities of both the future and the past with regards to race relations and the roles of Blacks within society.

The main character is transported back to a reality in which racial equality is nonexistent and he , as a writer is instructed to "spread the message" of an optimistic future for blacks in which they will be excelling in vocations presently closed off to them. By imagining both future and past realities, the audience is compelled to map out the time in between, and in doing so prompted into imagining/ mapping the path for such a future.

blog post 7

"I begin, a sentence lover. I'm forever delighted, then, delighted all over, at the things sentences can trip and trick you into saying. I'm astonished -- just plain tickled! -- at the sharp turns and tiny tremors they can whip your thoughts across. I'm entranced at their lollop and flow, their prickles and points."
-- Samuel Delany



1) It was a simple, beautiful, traditional song- I'd heard it fifteen or twenty times on various hunts ("Ihave come to carol my search for guarry of the mind, only to encounter in the mind of another...."); I was both moved and dissapointed. There re flambouyant songs, sung wiwth seven or more toungues at once, full of buzzings, clickings, and poppings, highly rhythmic, where one tongue acctually slaps and vibrtes aginst other tongues-songs designed almost exclusively to impress and excite humans, true.

2) In this passage I think Delany Is talking more bout language rather than "songs". I think he is suggesting that language may be created with motive- the motive and intention of impressing a certin audience, for example. Also, I think Delany is exemplifying this very element within this sentance itsself, the use of descriptive words/ language, as well as employment of multiple various types of punctuation/ grammar constructs a sentnce which is somewhat of a n art form in itsself- perhaps like a song?

post # 6

While the posted criteria for this blog state that I must discuss the story "Space Traders" with another of the assigned texts, I decided to pursue a more pressing element of the text. Yet, the story may be compared to "Brother from Another Planet," in that my interpretation does suggest the condition of the african americans to be comparible to that of a hostage, which is similar to that of the slave state which the "brother" is escaping from. However, the brother is escaping a fate of control by higher authoritative figures, where as the blacks of Space Traders are not......

At any rate:

One aspect of “Space Traders” which we discussed briefly in class was the “visitor’s” adoption and use of “Reagan-esque” English. It was noted in class that President Reagan perhaps had taken some actions during his presidency which may have not been in the best interest for African-Americans. Yet, I feel that the alien’s utilization of this accent was not necessarily an attempt to imply that Reagan had promoted an anti-black agenda. Instead, the events and circumstances of the story seem to be more comparable to the Iranian hostage release which occurred January 20^th, 1981.

For an overview of Ronald Reagan’s Presidency and additional information regarding this event, I consulted Wikipedia:

► During his Presidency, Ronald Reagan pursued policies that reflected his optimism in individual freedom, promoted individual liberty domestically, and pursued freedom abroad.

The "Reagan Revolution" as it came to be known, aimed to reinvigorate American morale, and reduce the people's reliance upon government.

Addressing the economic malaise he inherited, in his inaugural address Reagan argued, "Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem."

The Reagan Presidency began in a historic manner. The first major event happened just thirty minutes into the administration on January 20, 1981. As he was delivering his inaugural address, fifty-two American hostages, held by Iran for 444 days, were set free.

►444 days hostage

The hostage-takers, declaring their solidarity with other "oppressed minorities" and "the special place of women in Islam," released 13 women and African-Americans in the middle of November 1979.

[The other] hostages were held captive until January 1981 and were often paraded blindfolded before local crowds and television cameras. The crisis led to daily, seemingly unchanging news updates.

In the United States, the public was all but unanimously outraged against the perpetrators' taking hostages. The action was seen "not just as a diplomatic affront," but as a "declaration of war on diplomacy itself".

U.S. President Jimmy Carter applied economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran: oil imports from Iran were ended on November 12, 1979, and through the issuance of Executive Order 12170, around USD 8 billion of Iranian assets in the U.S. were frozen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on November 14, 1979. A number of Iranians in the U.S. were also expelled.

Upon absorbing the information [Wikipedia, above] regarding this event, my impulse was to find out more! Although I am admittedly a helpless sucker for literary endeavors which involve decoding elaborate political messages, I felt restraint out to be shown. Hence, my analysis ought to be considered not as a sound declaration, but more appropriately as a preliminary speculation.

My theory is that the “visitors” are representative not of the Iranian Hostage takers, but of Ronald Reagan and the US government during his Presidency. The United States of the story is conversely cast the role of the Iranian hostage takers, translating the state of African Americans as “hostages”.

If considered at this angle, the text takes on a distinctly Afro-futuristic light, as the visitors are not terrorists but liberators, whom have come to negotiate for the release of all the African Americans being abused and held hostage by the United States.

In Space Traders, the visitors negotiated for the relinquishing of all the African Americans in the US in exchange for national relief from environmental, economic, and social hardships. This is similar to the US government’s conditional lifting of the Executive Order 12170 upon the safe release of the hostages.

The interpretation of the story in this fashion also makes sense because the visitors are actually portrayed positively as a superior race which is eloquent and clearly calmly in control of the situation. Conversely, the US government is in a relatively subordinate state of chaos and conflict.

Also, the condition of the African Americans in the story is marked by confusion, uncertainty, and complete loss of control over their lives. In the story, the fate of all blacks is determined not by them, but through negotiations between the visitors and their nations government. This state is similar to the helplessness experienced by the hostages, whose lives were also completely in the hands of their captors and the authoritative negotiating party [the US government].

Group Blog "Vivid.....! Speculative......!"

Fanon's piece may be read as science fiction in that it utilzes vivid imagry and makes large statements through metaphores and paralells, as well as through symbolism. The language usage also reminded me of Cane, in that it utilized many differnet genres. ANother aspect of the text which struck me as beeing very stylistic was Fanon's usage of [.......] to indicate the trailing off of speech and thought, as well as [!] to indicate high emotion, as in "Blood! Blood!". This leads me to the use of repeating phrases in an almost poetic style, as is the case with the aformentioned quote. Lastly, Fanon's use of description , frequently regarding himself and experience, which describes him in non human language; at one point he states that he feels the negro race is at a symbolic stage of insects and uses first person narrative to make a statement in which he mentions his "anntenna", ascribing the anatonmy of an insect to himself.

MidTerm :Failure to Define and Confine “Blackness” in “Separation Anxiety”

Failure to Define and Confine “Blackness” in “Separation Anxiety”

Both Stuart Hall’s “New Ethnicities” and Cornel West’s “”The New Cultural Politics of Difference” address the notion of “blackness” and how the ides and opinions concerning the role and significance of this cultural category have shifted and changed in recent history. The essays by Hall and West claim that previous “cultural workers” had goals of promoting positive images and ideas about “blackness” and black culture, and downplayed any negative aspects or stereotypes. Presently however, the goals of these “cultural workers” have changed, and instead of spending energy on trying to alter and construct a “positive” black cultural category, attention has been shifted to questioning and contesting the very notion of an “essential” culture and spirit of “blackness”. Hall and West argue that this act of categorizing is ineffective and inaccurate because it fails to recognize the complexity and diversity of blacks and black culture.

The short story “Separation Anxiety” by Evie Shockley subtly addresses and engages several of the ideas and arguments Hall and West suggest in their essays. To begin with, the story its self is set in the future on a black “reservation” which the characters fondly refer to as the “Ghetto”. In the “Ghetto,” the goal is to isolate, preserve, and document black culture; consequently, diversity and exposure to other cultures is seen as “contamination”. The strain that this strict emphasis only on “Black” culture and tradition creates is evident in the conversation between Roosevelt and Peaches in which he explains, “ we keep it real for our young people, so that they grow up with their history living all around them.” Peaches responds, “there are times when this emphasis on the past like to drowned me. All these authenticity rules! Gotta have eighty percent historical content in each program. Can’t change not a step in performing some nineteenth or twentieth century dance……. I need to see if black dance got a future.” This perspective is clearly synonymous with Hall’s assertion that “there can be no simple ‘return’ or ‘recovery’ of the ancestral past which is not re-experienced through the categories of the present: no base for creative enunciation in simple reproduction of traditional forms which are not transformed by the technologies and identities of the present.”

On the other hand, “Separation Anxiety” fails to completely dispel the concept of “blackness” and stereotypes concerning blacks and black culture. First of all, Shockley writes without capitalization, proper grammar, and uses slang regularly throughout the story, and in doing so contributes to the stereotypical notion of blacks as uneducated. Secondly, the “Ghetto” is suggested to be economically struggling, importing more goods from outside than it is exporting; and with wages which are not keeping up with the cost of living. This characterizing of the community also contributes to a negative black stereotype about “black” neighborhoods, suggesting unrelenting, inevitable poverty as a racial characteristic of blacks. Finally, many of the various small environmental details within the story are overtly stereotypical, from the church with its gospel music and “praise Jesus” and “amen’s”, to the fried chicken, collards, and cornbread, and not to mention the fact that the occupation of the characters is as dancers!

Upon examining “Separation Anxiety” in light of these overt assertions of “black culture” as a predictable, definable category, it is difficult to assert that the story clearly conveys the suggestions set forth in the essays by Hall and West. Yet, perhaps this combining of generalizing “blackness” with the suggestion that it is not a full, simple definition of blackness, is merely exemplary of the “splitting of ethnicity” which Hall suggests that “we all speak from a particular place, out of particular history, out of a particular history, out of particular experience, a particular culture, without being contained by that position….” .

Ultimately, it is the restrictions and excessive attempts to document, monitor and categorize the “culture” and “history” of blacks in the “Ghetto” that drives Peaches to leave the reservation, even though she loves it and supports the goals of the community. She feels that the “Ghetto” is stagnant and static in its dictation of what “black culture” is defined and promoted as. With all attention and emphasis placed on maintaining the borders and limits of what can be defined as “black,” the project in a sense has failed if blacks feel culturally stifled and want to change and/or leave the black cultural community creation “Ghetto”. This story therefore supports the most significant argument posed by Hall and West that “blackness” is not a static, definable cultural category; indeed, the very notion of essential “blackness” is debased.

The fate of the Negro?

The fate of the Negro?

Upon examining the fiction and nonfiction literature of W.E.B. Dubois, there are several connections which are notable. However, rather than layout independent summaries of each of the pieces examined, then in afterthought observe the connections, I chose to read the non fiction works first, then keep them in mind while reading the fiction piece.

The fictional piece by DuBois which I read was “The Comet,” and the non fiction works I examined in conjunction were, “The Conservation of the Races,” and “Souls of Black Folk”.

A significant aspect which stood out to me when reading “The Conservation of the Races,” was the seeming attempt of the author to be objective and not project a racist or bias attitude toward any of the “races” discussed. However, it seemed that even in Dubois’s attempts to write and think neutrally, negative opinions and preconceptions concerning negros and “black” races were inevitably presented. Dubois seemed to think that race was more than just physical appearance and nationality, but the characteristics and internal traits which marked each particular “race”. However, he unwillingly also seems to attribute these characteristics to the same origin from which physical attributes spring- genetics, DNA, or “blood” as Dubois puts it. His attempts to disassociate nationality and physical appearances with assumptions fail though, as he continues to consider aspects concerning “Black Blood” vs “German Blood”.

Another concern which Dubois addresses in this article is the necessity of the “Negro” race to establish and make a name for itself within the American society; rather than simply infuse themselves into the collective cultures which make up America. Dubois urges “negros” to in a sense, pull themselves up by their bootstraps and assert themselves to this goal of establishing the value and quality of their race, despite history and social negative trends which presently plague their race. Those who step up and embrace this challenge/ opportunity to represent the negro race must be “(a.) Representative (the best/ most admirable) in character (b.) Impartial in conduct. (c.) Firm in leadership” (p.823)

In “Souls of Black Folk” Dubois speaks briefly on his experience of growing up and his realization that not only was he different because he was blacks, but that he would be forever considered inferior despite his equality if not superiority to his white classmates academically and physically. “Then it dawned on me that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil.” (p.?)

Upon examining these non fiction texts as compared to Dubois’s fiction work “The Comet,” I noted several connections. First, the main character of the comet, “Jim Davis” is a hard working, honorable black man. He works at a bank and accepts his social position relative to whites and the stigma and circumstance of it. He is a capable, stable, family man and the hero of this story, the rescuer of a young rich white girl who seems irrational and unstable in comparison to Jim. It is only after this great disaster which occurs when Earth passes through the tail of an unknown comet that Jim is finally able to rise up and become “human” and equal to the rich white girl. “He seemed very human, very near now….” (p. 14). He is a black man who has become the representative for his race and is now fated to rise up and represent humanity…. Yet the bittersweet ending of the tail suggests a more depressing fate. Instead of succeeding in this promotion, white men come and reassert the social structure despite his actions and position. Hence the message seems to be more like that “Souls of Black Folk,” that the only thing blacks can do is continue to try, continue to prove themselves; that if they persevere and endure this difficult period eventually, they will take their destined place as equals and great for their race.

Alien Identities Article About Butler ...

Alien Identities Article About Butler ... .

http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/65/peppers65art.htm