"Urban Bush Women's choreography is emblematic of how individuals and communities work through social anxieties using layers of performance. . . . Performing artists can speak politically or socially and culturally in a way that no others can." (3) (George-Graves, Nadine. Urban Bush Women: Twenty Years of African American Dance Theater, Community Engagement, and Working it Out. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2010. Print.)
I was going to write about how much I love UBW's work to reclaim the body, but this afternoon I posted a link to facebook which provoked a discussion that was very emotional for me. And it connects, so here we go.
This is the link I posted: it goes to an article by a young, white, male blogger who protests the lack of social outrage about the Trayvon Martin shooting. For those of you unaware, here is a link to a source of information about the incident with links to the relevant news sources. Martin was a 17-year-old unarmed teenager walking to his dad's house in a gated community who was followed by a neighborhood watchman, who continued following despite having informed the police and been discouraged from it. George Zimmerman, who was carrying a handgun, shot and killed Martin, who was holding only candy and a drink. Martin was black, Zimmerman is white, and there has been no arrest. I posted the blog because I appreciated the sentiment of acknowledging that there is discrimination as the first step, and standing up for each other as the second step in ending racism.
A friend of mine who is white and has felt discriminated against for being white, responded claiming that we already have equal rights and people need to stop spreading reverse discrimination by making a big deal out of things. I was so frustrated! First because I felt that she hadn't read the blog just been offended by the title, and second, because I couldn't believe that my friend would support racism (in the sense that saying it doesn't exist allows it to continue happening) by saying we have equal rights. I kept thinking about all these books that I read in my PhD studies, the articles and ideas and research and knowledge that I've gained in graduate studies. I think about the Basic Speech class I am teaching in which I try to teach my students about the way that we build relationships/meaning/gender/society through our interactions and the choices we make and HOW do I help her see (without alienating her) that her experiences are valid but that there is also a HUGE problem with ignoring the racism still present in our society/zeitgeist etc. That being white, we are part of the dominant cultural hegemony, even if people of color are breaking into the top echelon, the top echelon is cultured white, and that being part of that group makes it harder to see the things that happen to other people. That being part of the hegemony, we aren't left out and when we feel like a non-white group is leaving us out we feel unjustly persecuted for the things we don't perceive that we did (ie slavery, or getting the colonial ball rolling back in the day).
In George-Grave's book, she discusses the way that UBW is perceived as a black lesbian group and when audience members see even a mixed race woman--who looks whiter--they respond with relief "Oh, I'm so glad you have a white woman" (27) as if without the white representative, we couldn't relate/wouldn't be allowed to participate with the performance. This is despite the fact that Zollar is happy to have all kinds of performers in her group: male, female, white, black, native american. But as part of the dominant hegemony, we rarely experience or understand what people of color do. I am not trying to say that we aren't targets or that we don't experience racism, but rather that we cannot make a straight comparison without trying to understand the other side. Specifically, in Martin Buber's terms an "I-Thou" relationship: "the subject (the "I") encounters a person (a "Thou") and sees her/him as a relationships rather than as an experience (or an object)" (Warren & Fasset 156). To me, this is what UBW's projects seem to do or aim for with their performance: "work through social anxieties using layers of performance" (3).
As I worked on typing up responses to my friend in the little comment boxes, I kept thinking of the UBW choreography and wondering if there was a way to use the performance to help explain what I needed to communicate. Embodiment as a way to work through the social anxieties with layers of performance seems to me to be able to communicate more than my halting, stumbling, static words. For instance, UBW's piece about hair as a way of understanding and expressing the itemization of the female black body through hair. But as soon as I say that, I recall the ways all women are pushed to look in our culture. There are differences and pointing out that you suffered too is a logical fallacy of some kind if you're trying to say that other suffering doesn't matter!! THAT is what I was trying to say! That!
The acknowledgement that we all suffer in someway returns me to my aesthetic of blending and expressing and working through these anxieties between "Inter"culturally as well as "intra"culturally. By bringing white bodies, brown bodies, yellow bodies, and all the color palates in between together, can we negotiate these things further? Can we engage and refuse to take the easy way out of "can't we just all get along"--getting a long is the dream, but it is not something to take for granted, like any relationship it takes "work"--incidentally the theme of this book =)
The "alternate modalities" (George-Graves 6) that UBW explores through dance, singing, and story-telling were really inspirational to me. So much so, that I actually turned my ipod on random and tried to work somethings out myself via dance. I'm glad I did. We live in our bodies, and the dominant culture--while promoting extreme exercise--does not consistently celebrate or reward or promote embodied living as a part of positive knowledge about self and other selves. UBW's work is still important, still relevant, and, I think, could stand to be expanded further--if they can get the performers =)
Warren, John T. and Deanna L. Fassett. Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction. Los Angeles: Sage, 2011. Print. <--This is my Comm 1010 textbook, it's really good.
I was going to write about how much I love UBW's work to reclaim the body, but this afternoon I posted a link to facebook which provoked a discussion that was very emotional for me. And it connects, so here we go.
This is the link I posted: it goes to an article by a young, white, male blogger who protests the lack of social outrage about the Trayvon Martin shooting. For those of you unaware, here is a link to a source of information about the incident with links to the relevant news sources. Martin was a 17-year-old unarmed teenager walking to his dad's house in a gated community who was followed by a neighborhood watchman, who continued following despite having informed the police and been discouraged from it. George Zimmerman, who was carrying a handgun, shot and killed Martin, who was holding only candy and a drink. Martin was black, Zimmerman is white, and there has been no arrest. I posted the blog because I appreciated the sentiment of acknowledging that there is discrimination as the first step, and standing up for each other as the second step in ending racism.
A friend of mine who is white and has felt discriminated against for being white, responded claiming that we already have equal rights and people need to stop spreading reverse discrimination by making a big deal out of things. I was so frustrated! First because I felt that she hadn't read the blog just been offended by the title, and second, because I couldn't believe that my friend would support racism (in the sense that saying it doesn't exist allows it to continue happening) by saying we have equal rights. I kept thinking about all these books that I read in my PhD studies, the articles and ideas and research and knowledge that I've gained in graduate studies. I think about the Basic Speech class I am teaching in which I try to teach my students about the way that we build relationships/meaning/gender/society through our interactions and the choices we make and HOW do I help her see (without alienating her) that her experiences are valid but that there is also a HUGE problem with ignoring the racism still present in our society/zeitgeist etc. That being white, we are part of the dominant cultural hegemony, even if people of color are breaking into the top echelon, the top echelon is cultured white, and that being part of that group makes it harder to see the things that happen to other people. That being part of the hegemony, we aren't left out and when we feel like a non-white group is leaving us out we feel unjustly persecuted for the things we don't perceive that we did (ie slavery, or getting the colonial ball rolling back in the day).
In George-Grave's book, she discusses the way that UBW is perceived as a black lesbian group and when audience members see even a mixed race woman--who looks whiter--they respond with relief "Oh, I'm so glad you have a white woman" (27) as if without the white representative, we couldn't relate/wouldn't be allowed to participate with the performance. This is despite the fact that Zollar is happy to have all kinds of performers in her group: male, female, white, black, native american. But as part of the dominant hegemony, we rarely experience or understand what people of color do. I am not trying to say that we aren't targets or that we don't experience racism, but rather that we cannot make a straight comparison without trying to understand the other side. Specifically, in Martin Buber's terms an "I-Thou" relationship: "the subject (the "I") encounters a person (a "Thou") and sees her/him as a relationships rather than as an experience (or an object)" (Warren & Fasset 156). To me, this is what UBW's projects seem to do or aim for with their performance: "work through social anxieties using layers of performance" (3).
As I worked on typing up responses to my friend in the little comment boxes, I kept thinking of the UBW choreography and wondering if there was a way to use the performance to help explain what I needed to communicate. Embodiment as a way to work through the social anxieties with layers of performance seems to me to be able to communicate more than my halting, stumbling, static words. For instance, UBW's piece about hair as a way of understanding and expressing the itemization of the female black body through hair. But as soon as I say that, I recall the ways all women are pushed to look in our culture. There are differences and pointing out that you suffered too is a logical fallacy of some kind if you're trying to say that other suffering doesn't matter!! THAT is what I was trying to say! That!
The acknowledgement that we all suffer in someway returns me to my aesthetic of blending and expressing and working through these anxieties between "Inter"culturally as well as "intra"culturally. By bringing white bodies, brown bodies, yellow bodies, and all the color palates in between together, can we negotiate these things further? Can we engage and refuse to take the easy way out of "can't we just all get along"--getting a long is the dream, but it is not something to take for granted, like any relationship it takes "work"--incidentally the theme of this book =)
The "alternate modalities" (George-Graves 6) that UBW explores through dance, singing, and story-telling were really inspirational to me. So much so, that I actually turned my ipod on random and tried to work somethings out myself via dance. I'm glad I did. We live in our bodies, and the dominant culture--while promoting extreme exercise--does not consistently celebrate or reward or promote embodied living as a part of positive knowledge about self and other selves. UBW's work is still important, still relevant, and, I think, could stand to be expanded further--if they can get the performers =)
Warren, John T. and Deanna L. Fassett. Communication: A Critical/Cultural Introduction. Los Angeles: Sage, 2011. Print. <--This is my Comm 1010 textbook, it's really good.
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