365 Days of POC Media.

I originally resolved at the beginning of 2013 to engage only with media made by people of color. Many of us go through a process of questioning the representations we see of our own or each other’s communities, to rejecting, to searching for alternatives. At the time I began this project, I had just had a racial crisis (I’m mixed), and I knew it was time for some learning/unlearning/reflecting. I decided to read books, watch movies, go to performances, and see art made exclusively by people of color. This is my attempt to understand self and community within a historical and cultural context–and to change my own internalized narratives. A year later, and I’ve made my way through less than athirdof the work I wanted to; thisproject feels more urgent than ever to me. So I decided to keep going, and to document this process.

A caveat: My sample is not representational. Because of my work and who I am, it is weighted towards women and Asian Americans. However, as mixed race APIA/white person with the following privileges: cis-gender, middle class, light skin in a world where colorism is real, I am also trying to include more perspectives of people who don’t share those experiences.

The decision to do this has been deeply personal, and the media I’m engaging with is personal too. However, I wanted to reflect about it in the blogosphere for a number of positive reasons, like

1.  Lifting up some of the less well-known POC media that people have pointed me towards since I started this.
2.  Connecting other people who may be feeling culturally isolated with work that nourishes & sustains.
3. The reactions this has provoked among friends & family. From “that’s interesting” to “you are perpetuating race when we could be moving to a raceless society” to “what about white oppression!?!?” to “that’s awesome, good for you” to “why?” Makes me wantto engage with others in critical reflection about the media we consume and the narratives we internalize.

   

   Print by Noah Exum: http://black-box-art.tumblr.com/

What this is NOT: This is not meant to erase the oppression of people who are raced white, especially those who are queer, trans*, women, survivors, working class or poor, live with disabilities, or otherwise not privileged by capitalism & heteropatriarchy.

This is not a diss on all the beautiful, critical, life-affirming art & media out there made by white folks that I HAVE seen, loved, been challenged by, appreciated, and it is not to suggest that there is something inherent about all POCmedia. Simply the thing about all POC-created/centric narratives in America: they are harder to fund, harder to find, harder to distribute, and sometimes just harder to make, than their white counterparts.

More than anything, I wanted to lift up visions of the world where people of color got to be protagonists.

Susan Kikuchi is a 4th generation Japanese American mixed race feminist mediamaker and, currently, legal worker. She wants to explore (in this project and in life) how creativity, resilience, resistance, and defiance persist– despite white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, and capitalism.

__________________________________________________________________________

2013 marked my 5 years of activism and organizing, and the last of months of 2013 has left me emotionally drained, thinking hard about the root causes of injustices in America and how that continues to be sustained.  My remainder work with Soulforce.org on Fundamentalism, and community organizing with Minnesotan Asian American activists in the arts around Don’t Buy Miss Saigon has enabled a personal-political perspective to challenge Institutional Racism and funding by White Supremacists leaderships specfically in Minnesota. Even in Social Justice work when only led by White leadership, culture and organizing models, and perpetuates Institutionalized Racism at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, ability, class, faith and immigration,  does no justice to POC communities. I seek to learn, share and create alternative spaces to creatively organize on Intersectional Justice not dependent of the Nonprofit Industrial Complex in which is deeply rooted in White Culture and Organizing Models and funded by corporations/capitalism. “The Master’s Tool Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.” – Audre Lorde

My commitment to People of Color media started in November 2013 when I chose to boycott The Walking Dead. I love horror films and Zombie films are my most favorite to watch! I’ve been a fan since the television series first aired Fall of 2010, and never missed a beat. As I watched TWD season 4, I felt indifferent and reminded of the master narrative that is always about the White heroes’ humanity, dignity, thoughts, skills and experiences… as if they are the only ones that matter and are human.

Linda ‘Nkauj Xwb’ Hawj is a 2nd generation Hmong American, queer womyn of color,  artist, activist, and a co-organizer/founder of MidWest Solidarity Movement. She utilizes writing, poetry, spoken word, hip hop and filmmaking as forms of self-healing, empowerment, exploration, reflection, and to speak truths that are often silenced, marginalized and eliminated by oppressive systems. Linda pairs her Art forms and humanitarian work to evoke dialogue, challenge normality, and importantly, mentor, foster and sustain Southeast Asian LGBTQA activists and organizers.