Plantation Nation/Sounds Like Slavery

“[People of color] in Amerikkka have received half of what is good and double of what is bad.�

PlantationNation

Fahari-Libertad THE FAMILY President Saki Rizwana Editor-in-Chief Shatera Gurganious Vice-President Faisal Awadallah Layout Editor Saki Rizwana Cover Design Saki Rizwana Staff Writers Honey Brown Janea Thompson Roger Whitson Mosi-Chachawi Williams Guest Writers/Contributors Kevin Cavanna Patrick Donohue Jonathan Espinosa Matt Mueller Josette Ramnani William Venn Bene Viera Jodi Wolfhal Alumni Contributors Vixon "V-Jay" John

January 2011 Next Issue Deadline

March 2nd, 2011

Fa–ha–ri: (noun)

Dignity, respect, a good reputation, derived from the language of KiSwahili.

Li–ber–tad: (noun) Spanish for FREEDOM! The Fahari–Libertad is committed to printing the political, social, and economic views and concerns regarding people of color here at SUNY New Paltz.

It is published in the spirit of cultural unity as well as bringing about the spiritual unification of all people.

The main goal of the Fahari-Libertad is to enrich and educate all with knowledge and enlightenment.

We accept anyone who is truly committed to these goals to work with us.

Mission To seek knowledge, truth and unity with pride.

Contact Us The Fahari­–Libertad

SUNY New Paltz Student Union Building, Rm. 323 New Paltz, NY 12561 Email: faharilibertad@gmail.com Facebook: Fahari Libertad Magazine Blog: faharilibertad.blogspot.com Copies of The Fahari-Libertad can be found in the SUB, the MLK Center, the Black Studies Department, the Lecture Center and in The Fahari Office (SUB 323), along with various residence halls.

The Fahari-Libertad is sponsored by The Student Association of SUNY New Paltz. All authors and artists are responsible for their own submissions.

The Fahari-Libertad is currently seeking staff writers, copy editors, layout editors and photo editors. A major/minor in Journalism/English is NOT a requirement. Please inquire via email at faharilibertad@gmail.com

Spring 2011 Meetings Wednesdays @ 8.00pm MLK Center (Shango Hall) Special thanks to the Department of Black Studies and all of our brothers & sisters who submitted articles, toons and poetry for showing the support needed to publish this magazine.

PLANTATION NATION + SOUNDS LIKE SLAVERY

Inside this Issue 04

From the President's Desk

05

From the Editor-in-Chief's Desk

06

From the Vice-President's Desk

08

"Educare" vs. "Education" — The Real Purpose of Education and the Current Purpose of Education

09

"Real World: America" — The Reality Show that Doesn't End

10

Manufactured Dreams and Hand-Me-Down Half-Truths

13

Colorblind

15

The Lies of the American Dream

17

The End of Racism

18

"You Were Once a Slave"

19

Slaves on a Plantation

21

Song of the South: the Culture of the American Slave

24

Fighting the System with some Afro-Thunda

25

Diary of a Mad Brown Woman

27

BSD

27

Thanksgiving

28

Will the "Real Women" Please Stand Up?

30

Artist's Spotlight — Nicholas Alciati

32

Shit Damn, I'm Gay!?

33

No Fat Chicks: Navigating the Dating World as a Fat Girl

36

Recycling Tips

40

Help Haiti

43

The Poetry Corner featuring:

47

The Stereo Type

48

Suicide

49

Those Three Words

50

Crushing...Yet Oh, So, Crushed

51

La Lluvia En Mi Cara

From the President’s Desk We have traded in the physical chains of enslavement for ones that are much worse. We now have invisible chains that weave themselves in and out of our lives so quietly and stealthily that we don’t realize they’re even there. These chains are defined by words like “man,” “woman,” “gay,” “straight,” “beauty,” “patriotism,” “professionalism,” “success” and “education.” These ideas of what it means to be a man, woman, gay or straight or what it takes to be beautiful enslave our minds. They split people up into categories that have extremely narrow standards.

Our society functions in such a way that it keeps the wealthy rich and leeches life from the poor. We are institutionalized from an early age and taught to think a certain way. We are educated with questionable material and not told to be critical of our teachers or the learning process. Is it any wonder that we have so many problems as a society? We are all products of our environments and we live in a toxic environment that suppresses communal values for the sake of individual success. We live in a country that measures success by the amount of dollars in the bank instead of the amount of positive change created in people’s lives. We’ve been told for so long what we need to be successful that we’ve stopped questioning these requirements for success and, more importantly, the idea of success in general.

The solution is not simply to move to another country. The solution is one that involves a tremendous amount of hard work, knowing that you might not see immediate results or even see them in your lifetime. The solution involves having faith that the work you do will make the world better for future generations. The solution is to take off the blindfolds that keep us from recognizing each other’s humanity and keep us from understanding each other’s particular issues. We need to stop believing that we will be taught all we need in the schools our children go to because it’s a safe bet that it won’t happen. We need to begin educating our children on the issues within our communities and prepare them for a life that works to fix these issues. We need to be active in creating change, whether it’s your little boy or girl, your family, your friends or a whole community. We need to speak about the issues that exist because, paraphrasing the late great John Henrik Clarke, we cannot know where to go if we do not know where we are and how we got here.

To quote the Akrobatik, “we’re supposed to fight for freedom, not just the end of slavery,” so let’s continue the fight.

Khoda Hafez (Bengali) – Goodbye.

Phir Milenge (Hindi) – We will meet again.

Ma’as Salaam (Arabic) – I leave you in peace.

Adiós (Spanish) – Bye. Ciao (Italian) – Bye. Kwa Herini (Kiswahili) – Goodbye.

Goodbye (English) – Goodbye.

Fahari 4

Saki Rizwana President, Fahari Libertad

From the Editor-in-Chief’s Desk Somehow we’ve gotten stuck in the boxes that society has created for us. Are we truly living or just going through the motions? Are we just doing what we think others find acceptable? Are we compromising our freedom? Have we truly loosened our shackles and escaped enslavement? No. We’re enslaved by our minds. As willing participants, we give in to society’s hegemonic claims of what is deemed acceptable. Our notions of “normalcy” are based off of the dominant group of society’s ideas, beliefs and practices. We’ve lost ourselves in how we identify ourselves based on race, sexuality, class, gender, possessions etc. Yes, these are all factors of who we are but should we be defined based on labels? Titles and labels are limiting and do not denote our true identities.

They put us in boxes. These boxes are filled with the stereotypical behavior associated with traits of the titles.

Capitalism also puts us in boxes, influencing us to buy things we don’t need. Everywhere we turn something new is telling us what to buy. We’re told to spend our money on things we don’t need and sadly we give in to it. And why? These possessions are supposed to add to our “identity” when in reality all they do is give us temporary happiness while emptying our pockets in the process.

Our extreme consumerism added to the excessive commercialization of holidays has out priorities completely messed up.

The prison system is our modern day form of enslavement. There is a disproportionate number of Black men imprisoned within a system that keeps them in a constant cycle of being incarcerated.

Higher education is far from affordable. The debt that accrues upon graduation is another way of keeping us tied down. We live in “America the free” but the reality is that we are still shackled.

So how can we free ourselves? It’s an arduous journey that begins with knowledge – knowledge of self, our history viewed from the proper perspective and how all of this relates to who we are now. So here’s a challenge to whoever is reading these words right now: find the proper lens to examine your life with and make an attempt to loosen the shackles that society has placed on you.

There is nothing more liberating then finding yourself on your own terms and letting go of society’s notions of normalcy.

Let’s not be content with what we’re given… let’s strive for more.

Peace and Blessings, Shatera Gurganious Editor-in-Chief, Fahari-Libertad 5 Libertad

From the Vice-President’s Desk Greetings readers, Recently it has come to my attention that The Fahari-Libertad scares people (white people). This was not surprising but it was surprising that we turned off timid readers. Our quote on the front of our magazine which says: “People of color in Amerikkka have received half of what is good and double of what is bad.” Out of all the words in our magazine the “Amerikkka” is what hurts white people when they look at a cover of our magazine. The logic is that “Amerikkka” assumes that all white people in America are racist. I will not tell you who said this but I’ve heard this from a number of people. America was built on slavery and still thrives off of the labor we’ve endured for hundreds of years. America’s institutions are inherently racist; if your eyes are not open then you are a part of the system which destroys and steals our culture.

There have been talks of changing this quote, but I’m against the change. Truthfully, I don’t have a problem changing it but not for the satisfaction of white people. Our audience is for everyone, people of all colors. If someone feels threatened by this quote then they probably should not be reading the Fahari, or maybe they should be? If you flipped to the inside cover you would realize that Fahari does not discriminate against other races, we are about “spiritual unification.”

If anyone has a spirit and is down for the cause then they are welcome to join the Fahari team because Allah knows we need as much help as anyone else struggling to provide social change.

Peace and Blessings, Faisal Awadallah Vice President, Fahari-Libertad

Fahari 6

plantation Nation

7 Libertad

"Educare" vs

"education"

The Real Purpose of Education and the Current Purpose of Education

By Saki Rizwana, President

I’m mad that I have to pay such a ridiculous amount of money in order to get an “education” and attempt to be “successful.” I’m mad that when I spoke to an alumnus of SUNY New Paltz about the new school looking too corporate, his response was a nonchalant, “New Paltz is a corporation.” One word — “Seriously?!”

When did education become something to capitalize on? If you look at the etymology of education, it comes from the Latin root term educare which means to lead out or bring forth.* The Romans literally believed in education leading knowledge out of someone. The Egyptians before them believed in education as a way to free a person’s soul. Thus, education should be about freeing the soul and be used as a tool to improve the world. Education, in the US and in many other parts of the world, is the total opposite of this. We look at education as a tool to get ahead in life all right but it’s only our individual lives we’re concerned with. You go to the “right” school so you can get the “right” job that will lead to the “right” house and you can raise your kids there and they can go to the “right” school and continue the cycle. Though it benefits your children, this scheme is pretty individualistic. We should look at education as a tool to make our communities better, not move away to what we think is a “better” community because we are now “educated.” This means bringing what you learn back into your communities, figuring out how your knowledge can help in fixing the issues at hand and getting to work! Education should not be about making money. We should measure success in something other than dollar bills and how much ice we’ve got around our necks. However, because the majority of us come out of college with such large amounts of debt, we forget that education shouldn’t be all about money. So we start making that money any way we can and by the time we’ve paid off all that debt, interest and all, we’re too used to Fahari 8

our jobs and we’re comfortable with the lives we lead.

This really should be unacceptable. Education needs to not be a corporation.

Why is it that we pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house for the President of the university but I can’t get more money in financial aid when my mother barely earns $50,000 a year and supports my whole family?

Why is it that we go to such lengths to build useless glass pyramids that cost several arms and legs yet students are made to live in groups of threes when the dorm room was built to house only two? Why is it that I have to sell my damn soul to pay for tuition and then have to work two different jobs, on top of taking six classes, to be able to pay rent?

There seems to be a large disconnect between what education should be and what it actually is. Students shouldn’t be made to learn culturally irrelevant or inaccurate information (which is a whole different issue in itself) and have to pay such a hefty price.

College loans should not be looked at as a way to make money. Those going into education should be aware of such issues. We should also stress these problems with those who make educational policies. The laws need to be changed so that my tuition increase isn’t going to fill tax holes in the state government’s budget. We need to advocate for changes within the system and not become complacent. As always, let’s spread the knowledge and try to move some mountains. *Babeled.com [http://www.babeled.com/2008/11/27/word-power-education/]

“Real World: America” The reality show that doesn’t end

By Vixon “V-Jay” John, President (2007-2009)

“Stay in school; no literally, stay in school.”

I’ve been telling this to everyone I know who is currently in school or is about to attend an institution of higher education. As one talking from “the outside,” I’ll tell you right now, it’s not easy being a college graduate. I already knew of my impending doom when my days as a college senior were winding down. For four years of your life, you experience a level of independence that you have never experienced before, and then you graduate. I’ve always cringed at, and then started to hate, the term “the real world,” because sadly, no one inserted the word “hard” in between “real” and “world.” And before you read this and think, “you’re not the only person who has to deal with this; every other graduate like you is struggling,” you’re right. It’s hard out here for all of us.

The way I see it, graduating college is like leaving a small birdcage that’s inside of a bigger birdcage (and you have to pay for your stay in the smaller birdcage once you leave). In college, you have the opportunity to learn information and gain experiences necessary in making you a better-equipped person for your future. All the things you learn in college are crucial. Your mind is constantly expanding because of the people you meet, the professors you interact with and the courses you take (well, the good ones — Black Studies *hint* *hint*).

Once you’ve gained all that knowledge, it can never be taken away from you or altered — mental freedom. Once you enter the “real world,” all those experiences that you’ve learned (more outside the classroom than in) are never applied because everything becomes structured.

You must pay back your student loans, which means finding a job, which means searching for work, which means spending time to apply for work (and we all see how flourishing the job market is right now…yeah, right), which means not too much time to entertain yourself, which could mean mild depression, and the spiral continues. Doesn’t seem too bright, does it? The

mental freedom you had in college is “shackled” because of the “necessities” of the real world. There’s not too much room to explore what you have learned and apply it in real world scenarios. When you buckle down and work for “The Man” (and if you’ve never met him, he’s kind of an asshole), there’s not much of an opportunity to think of how to better your people or give back to your community with the major you choose and the skills you learned. Feeding more into the system, with all of your job searching/working woes, the mild depression may become more severe and becomes the root of your happiness; spending it whenever necessary on material things that make you happy for the moment, but once you run out of cash, you need more; it’s like a drug.

Granted, we live in a capitalistic society, but money becomes the top priority in life in order to sustain, maintain and remain relevant. We might not be like our ancestors, working in the fields, getting whipped and picking cotton for “Massa,” but we are working in the “corporate” fields, getting beat with a “money” whip, “picking” minutes and seconds for “The Man.” Now, before I get some of you discouraged and you call your parents saying, “Mom, Dad, I’ve decided that I’ll be staying in college…for about forever,” let me say that there is some light at the end of the tunnel! There is one solution to the woes of the real world and that is — stay educated and connected. Just because you graduate college doesn’t mean you must stop learning.

Education of self is the only way to loosen and break the shackles that constrict your brain from becoming more enlightened, especially in this matrix that we live in.

Don’t get me wrong, life after college is full of drama, surprises, twists and turns or no climatic plot at all, but the world is what you make of it. Never stop learning and pursue your interest, whether through more schooling or independently, like myself. Don’t only stay in school, but bring school with you when entering the real world; your mind will appreciate the freedom.

9 Libertad

Manufactured Dreams

and Hand-Me-Down Half-Truths

By Josette Ramnani, Staff Writer

“Write about this man who, drop by drop, squeezes the slave’s blood out of himself until he wakes one day to find the blood of a real human being — not a slave’s — coursing through his veins."— Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

The United States prides itself on being “the land of the free,” and in comparison to many other countries, it certainly is. However, what good is freedom if the citizens of a free state do not assert their rights and use that autonomy to make themselves more intelligent individuals and, as a result, move the country forward? In a country where “have it your way” is the national slogan, it is hard to imagine that the same society would accept sovereignty with stipulations. But our liberty does come with conditions; the illusion of choice distracts us from them. To live in this society, one must buy into consumerism; our freedom is available for purchase at WalMart, for the low cost of our independent thought. If there is one thing us Americans love, it is a good deal. But like all cheap buys, a smart shopper must look beyond face value to determine the legitimacy and consequences of his or her purchase. Ultimately, it is up to the consumer to demand better quality from the distributor, but perhaps we do not care much about quality, even when it comes to our rights.

The majority of people probably do not link civil liberties and corporate capitalism together. It is our government who passes laws and legislation, and so they receive the brunt of the blame in these difficult times. It is true our government is responsible for the state of the union, but government does not represent a country in its entirety. We must hold the other contributors to the social climate equally liable: corporations and citizens. The government is, arguably, concerned primarily with pleasing corporations and their lobbyists because that is where the money comes from. This means that conglomerates dictate their interests directly to the government while United States citizens go unspoken for in the political sphere.

Corporations have usurped our fundamental right to ordain the values of the country to our government. To say we are “having it our way” is to say that we share common goals with the corporate world, which unfortunately is true — we want to work as less as possible, make as much money as possible and get our basic needs and wants met, preferably for an inexpensive price.

The only difference is the wealthy actually attain this while the poor dream about it as they work overtime for barely enough money to keep their heat on. Corporations fund bi-partisan politics, and since corporations thrive off Fahari 10

consumerism it is often assumed corporations and politicians are legitimately invested in our livelihood. Unfortunately, this is not the case — corporations care primarily, if not solely, about profit. Wealth disparity and unemployment surprisingly do not affect profit, the lack of association is exemplified through the rising unemployment and poverty rates, while Wall Street and private companies thrive. Such is the case with General Motors who declared bankruptcy over a year ago and has managed to increase profits and pay back their bailout early after its initial public offering raised more than 20 million dollars this year. Most corporations did not have to pay their taxes last year, and as a result they are flourishing. The Bailout worked for the banks and corporations, and was intended to save jobs, yet 15 million Americans are unemployed.

If the corporations, who sell us cigarettes, genetically and chemically modified foods and gasoline, are not going to look out for our best interest, then we must look out for our own best interest. Regrettably, we care more for convenience and quantity, than quality, and we allow ourselves to be abused because we have become accustomed to it. President Obama and Elizabeth Warren have created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which emphasizes clarity on the part of financial industry. Most republicans and those in the financial industry, oppose this Bureau. It is obvious this regulation is needed and although President Obama is not a perfect president, he has followed through on the majority of his promises to us. So why would we vote in thirteen new Republican senators, who promise to extend Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and are unabashedly protecting the liberty of corporations over the well being of the people? The people who voted for Obama in 2008, stayed home in 2010, most likely because they have been discouraged because the change they voted for is not evident in their lives.

There is clearly no positive correlation between the affluence of the wealthy two percent, who own half the wealth of the country, and unemployment or poverty which half the world lives in. Yet American citizens continue to vote against their economic interest or not vote at all. Many have lost faith in the government a long time ago, and distrust President Obama the same way they distrust all government officials. Suspicion of government is the supposed

premise of the Tea Party movement; as a result, they back Washington outsiders, who clearly have no idea what they are talking about. Apparently the Tea Party does not know exactly what they stand for either, as they claim they want to decrease the deficit, yet vote for those who promise to stick to the policies of the Bush Administration, which are primarily the reason why the deficit is so high. Tea Party candidates are pro-corporate protection and anticonsumer protection, all the while claiming they stand for the “average Joe’s” economic interest. Obama and his administration have lowered taxes for 95% of the country. The current president has passed more progressive legislation than any president since Lyndon Johnson, but because we do not see how this change will affect us directly in the future, we assume that our government does not and will not ever work for us. Whether or not Obama is a corporate drone like most politicians is irrelevant at this point; we elected him on faith and only two years in, we have abandoned that faith.

This lack of faith ultimately masks a refusal of responsibility on the part of American citizens. Like everything else, we want change to be easy and we want a hero or a martyr to enact it, so that we can observe and benefit from reform but not actually sacrifice anything for it.

To transform this country would require a change of lifestyle by its people. Reform of course, requires political muscle and financial funding, but it also requires a moral backbone, which can only be provided by a country’s citizens. There is no profit in social reform; this is why the Health Care Bill barely passed and why cigarettes are still legal despite their toxicity. Without fiscal incentive, politicians are suspect to make progressive legislation, especially if that legislation directly opposes the interest of the lobbyists who support our elected officials.

We elected Barak Obama so he could change the country for the better, yet we did not think it necessary for its citizens to alter their behavior and choices to help facilitate progress. We take our civil liberties for granted and blame our government for our problems, and in so doing we abdicate any liability for the state of the country.

In the 1960’s, this country’s people protested the government’s actions that did not align with our morality. These protests were not in vain; the country moved in a more progressive direction and there were advancements in civil rights and women’s rights. But when the 60’s ended, many of those involved gave up on their causes because they had either been completed or were met with fierce hostility. Many of these radicals grew up to be corporate America.

My age group is the product of that generation, but we do not protest our two futile wars or actively pursue societal goals. We function off the ideas that progress has been made and there is no need for more; that change is natural and it is unnecessary to act as an agent of change, or that the whole system is in need of overhaul and the task is so daunting there is nothing we can do about it. The belief that our society holds no accountability for its well-being is detrimental to growth, and the thought that change is not necessary demonstrates a complete disconnect between those who struggle and those who do not.

Denial is certainly less frightening than accepting the truth. Corporations know that we would rather not confront issues.

We pose no threat to the tyranny of consumerism; we accept the choices it provides for us, ignorant or apathetic to the limitations and consequences of our decisions. Corporations manipulate egotistical motivations. The consequence is the exploitation of our own habits of indolence, insecurity and fear; the same tools George W. Bush and his compatriots used to exploit the United States’ residents in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, to implement the Patriot Act and wage war on an undeserving country. Our egotism is essential for the success of American capitalism. If we were to emancipate and educate ourselves so we could grow as a people, assert our rights, and reject our role as a consumer, the corrupt system that allows for gross profit would be unable to function.

For those that believe the capitalist system to be fundamentally corrupt, acContinued on Page 12 11 Libertad

ceptance does not exempt one from responsibility to change it; if anything, the opposite is true. If we are not to participate in voting, which an astonishing percentage of 18-21 year olds did not do in the most recent election, on principle that the electoral system is dysfunctional, then we should not participate in consumerism either. Easier said than done, because to wean us off consumerism would require unyielding principles and, if this midterm election has taught me anything, it is that we do not have the courage of our convictions, if we have convictions at all. This was not a staged boycott of the election but mere indifference. I am compelled to believe that most of the unresponsive youth do not think there is anything fundamentally wrong with our current brand of capitalism or the way in which they view or respond to life; they probably quite like it as they are allowed to indulge their superficial desires freely. What they fail to see is how these desires, and their fulfillment, keep our nation chained to a system that does not work for us, and encourages stagnation, or worse digression from intellectual or social improvement. We have surrendered our ability to think critically, challenge established norms and reject choices made by our government, our corporations and ourselves. We prefer the convenient option of majority consensus, which is easily exploitable — we are told what to fear, whom to idolize, what to desire and what is necessary.

The number of people who believe an opinion does not determine its validity, or even who proposed said opinion; fact is fact, yet we often confuse how we feel with what is real. For instance, even when experts agree that human activity is causing climate change, we have elected officials to the Senate who are interested in protecting fossil fuel corporations, which will undoubtedly further restrain us from addressing the energy crisis and continue to make it worse.

Similarly, an astonishing amount of American citizens believed, and I imagine still believe, that Obama is a Muslim, despite the fact that he is not. People buy into majority consensus for the same reason they buy everything else — it is cheap, mass-produced and most of all, convenient. If the majority of American citizens thought for themselves, perhaps we would not be so easily exploitable and would actually be able to change the institutions that are corrupt. But, as Gandhi aptly put it, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” and most of us do not feel comfortable changing our habits, which are more like dependencies, unless there is an incentive. Like any recovering addict will tell you, the first step is acceptance. Until we accept that we, as a society, have problems and that many of them stem from our decision to accept limited choices and corruption from our government and corporations, the corruption and illusion of choice will never cease.

We have been born into a world that has an unfair system of advantages.

When we play by that system’s rules, we accept that system. To surrender our ability to change present circumstances we affirm that we are not responsible for it. To a certain extent, our present climate is not our fault, in the same way President Obama did not cause the state of the union; but the condition of this country is his responsibility now and it is and will be our responsibility for as long as we choose to reside in this country. Changing the world is a daunting task, which is why we must first start with changing ourselves. Capitalism, or the capitalism we have been sold, assures us that our responsibility ends at being a consumer. Many cannot afford to be a “healthy” consumer, let alone a healthy individual. Responsibility varies with economic and social status; rather than condemning those who cannot fight their way up the class ladder and exFahari 12

alting those that could, we must fight majority consensus and have compassion for those struggling. The American dream is a hoax; just because one person can go from rags to riches, does not mean that everyone can or will.

We, who can afford to go to school, live comfortably and especially those who choose to surround themselves with an excessive amount of unnecessary shit, have a responsibility to affect change, so that those struggling for their basic physiological needs to be met do not have to. Most of us are too distracted with desire to realize that when you take more than you need someone else suffers; while some realize this and simply do not care. By remaining neutral and inactive while corporations exploit our government, its people and this planet, we are essentially siding with the oppressor. It is not necessary to slave under a system that perpetuates laziness, hate and shallow thinking, and essentially hinders individual and societal progress, yet we behave as if we have no choice in the matter.

To overthrow the oppressor, e.g. our own oppressive habits, would require probing self-reflection, an effort toward independent thinking, and a serious revaluation of our values. Most of all it would require an acknowledgment of our status as a mentally under-developed country, consumed with consumerism and egotistical endeavors. We have been raised in a selfish, ungrateful and self-victimizing culture. Without acknowledging the worst in ourselves we will not reach our best. Slavery, in our case, is a choice; corporations provide the chains and we put them on. We are not physically enslaved but enslaved to the physical. This is a special brand of mental slavery in which we allow our expectations, values, beliefs, prejudices and overall way of thinking to restrict us from reaching our potential. The liberties we have won in the past blind us from our current restrictions. We have lost our spirit to fight for autonomy and accepted our lack of options in exchange for material pleasure that is transient at best, and detrimental to our quality of life, at worst. If we are to emancipate ourselves we must focus our intent on doing so. We cannot afford to wait until our potential is something we must purchase and independence, a figment of our illicit imagination.

JOIN THE FAHARI-LIBERTAD FAMILY! FALL 2010 MEETINGS: WEDNESDAYS AT 8.30PM IN THE MLK CENTER FAHARI OFFICE STUDENT UNION BUILDING 323

Color blind

By Matt Mueller, Guest Writer

As the 21st Century continues to move onward, racial inequalities are ever present in the United States. This is due to Americans in power who are either unaware of or choose to ignore the roots of this problem. It essentially comes down to the “legacy of the civil rights movement… [as most Americans] believe [it] was successful (Brown, et al 1) and we “marvel ‘at how racial discrimination was abolished in the span of a few years’” (Washington 534). As a result of the forced legal integration of this era, Americans believe we have transcended race issues, and that any inequities are a result of the victim’s laziness or intellectual shortcomings.

For white people, “inequalities…appear to be natural and normal” (Collins). White privilege and color-blindness in the age of Obama, and his post-racial politics cannot bring about racial equality of all people. The understanding of white role’s in continuing inequality is important because if one “focus[es] on [just] black behavior,” they are dismissing a crucial element of the equation (Semmes 5). White people must not continue to “maintain their position and evade responsibility for their own actions” (Lorde 177), as their role in perpetuating the racial hierarchy is evident.

Avoidance of racial inequality obviously cannot alleviate the problem, because it is not seen as a problem in the country in the first place. In a speech by President Obama in 2004, he asserts that “there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America… There’s not a black America and a white America… there’s the United States of America” (Wise 11). In a perfect world, this may be true, but in the United States, a land of inequality, this is not even close to fact.

Unfortunately, that is how most white people

in America view it; color-blind, and completely unaware that they are, in fact, not color-blind in any way. Having the President say that racial inequity is over allows for the belief of this to remain a “fact.” The consequences of this and of “the Obama victory… [is] a mere shape-shifting of racism, from Racism 1.0 to Racism 2.0” (Wise 15). It has not changed the outcomes, just the style in which the inequality is shown.

Obama’s post-racial liberalism, or “the combination of race-neutral rhetoric and colorblind public policy” (Wise 16), has “ma[d]e the problems worse” (Wise 18). Moreover, now that a person of color holds the Presidential seat, Americans view racial inequity to be over. Obama is the “living embodiment of America’s longstanding racial drama” (Wise 12), but even when Black people do “make it” it does not signal racial discrimination to be ended. There was a Black woman millionaire in 1911 by the name of Madame C.J. Walker, but it is quite obvious that racial oppression was still ingrained in America at that time (Wise 70), so it is moot to argue that when individuals become successful, the entire group has made it as well.

Most Americans, especially whites, lack an “understanding of ingrained racial inequalities” (Wise 65) in American life. This is apparent when, in the early 1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement was pushing for equality, most white people believed that no only were “blacks were treated equally” but they were “asking for ‘too much’” (Wise 65). It is a problem when white people deny inequality when it is directly in their face, but now that legal integration is in

Continued on Page 14 13 Libertad

the country, whites are able to deny inequity even more.

When it comes to the job market and income, whites “believe blacks are just as well off as they are” (Wise 66). However, Blacks with similar education levels and experience as Whites are twice as likely to be unemployed. Even when Blacks and Whites hold similar occupations, there is a large earning gap between them, which should end the belief that “we are all in the same boat,” as Obama has said. Continuing with the boat analogy, white people are in speedboats, while everyone else has rowboats.

Not only that, white people have been given a head start in the race for success. Black men are also unemployed seven weeks longer than whites, and since unemployment is defined as actively seeking work, how can cultural differences and laziness be the answer for this job market gap? If you look at housing and education, you can make clear connections to answer all of this.

The housing market has a history of discriminatory dating back to post-WWII and the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA wrote large portions of the mortgages written during this time, and these mortgages were “almost exclusively for whites” (Wise 74). The FHA and the GI Bill helped to keep neighborhoods segregated, with whites receiving the more lucrative houses, which has created many ripples when it comes to housing to this day. Since families pass down houses and assets to their children, white children were given a head start by having nicer houses to sell or keep. History is important because “by ignoring the past, we are encouraged to repeat its mistakes (Lorde 179). Where one lives is very important because the next generation will go to school near one’s home. So if Black people are not allowed to move into the suburbs, the cycle of racial disparity will continue, as urban-area schools are less funded and have less qualified teachers.

In education, “70 percent of students of color attend majority-minority schools” and these schools are “11 to 13 times more likely than mostly white schools to be places with high levels of concentrated poverty among their students” (Wise 102). It has been shown in research that teachers “with the most experience, highest levels of certification, and best track records” (Wise 102) seek schools in suburban, Fahari 14

majority white areas and “leave schools when the numbers of black students enrolled begin to increase (Wise 102). Teachers claim to be colorblind but treat children differently based on color (Wise 21) and use it to rid their classrooms of Black students and push for them to be labeled “mentally handicapped or emotionally disturbed…1.5 times to 4 times more likely than white” students (Wise 105). Teachers who are assigned to teach lower-track students “admit their own low expectations for the children” (Wise 107), and as a result a self-fulfilling prophecy is created in which students are expected to fail and so they do. Colorblindness cannot help to create changes in education since teachers cannot get behind their own biases and treat children equally.

When it comes to race, we must not be colorblind, but color-conscious. We must see what race means and how it affects people differently (Wise 155-156). If people start to care about others, in terms of where and how they fit socially in the world, and they do all they can to make it so people were actually equal in practice, and not merely on paper, the world could be an amazing place. Legislation to get people of color the right to vote and the right to go to the same schools is a crucial step towards equality, but more importantly people within the United States, and around the world, must become more critical of who they are and what they believe.

Colorblindness and institutionalized racism work together to perpetuate the racial hierarchy that has been in the United States since the 1600s.

One can logically and systematically go through the racial aspects of society to illuminate how post-racial liberalism cannot create racial equality. It is as if Obama is helping to “manipulat[e]… a black personality [to accept] white supremacy as normal” (Semmes 6). Obama does ask white people to “acknowledge the lived reality of black people… [and to] own their own history of biases and prejudices” (Wise 54), but that seems to be unlikely as “oppressors maintain their position and evade responsibility for their own actions” (Lorde 177). If white people as a group did this, we could begin to, as a country, “look at contemporary phenomena in terms of past antecedents (Azibo 427), and “embrace an… analysis of how our lives are all interconnected” (Collins 26).

Works Consulted 1. Azibo, D. “Articulating the Distinction Between Black Studies and the Study of Blacks: The Fundamental Role of Culture and the African-Centered Worldview.” In The African American Studies Reader, edited by Nathaniel Norment, 420-441. Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2001.

2. Brown, Michael K. Whitewashing Race: the Myth of a Color-blind Society. Berkeley: University of California, 2003.

3. Collins, Patricia Hill. From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2006.

4. Lorde, A. “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” In Race, Class and Gender: An Anthology, edited by Margeret L. Anderson & Patricia Hill Collins, 177-184.

Belmont: Wadsworth-Thomas Learning, 2001.

5. Semmes, C. E. “Existential Sociology or the Sociology of Group Survival, Elevation, and Liberation.” Journal of African American Studies 7, 4 (2004): 3-18.

6. Washington, R. “Sociology by Blacks versus Black Sociology: Revisioning Black Social Reality.” In Confronting the Dilemma of Race: The Second Generation of Black Sociologists, edited by Donald Cunnigen & Robert E. Washington, 331-371. Lanham: University Press of America, 2002.

7. Wise, Tim J. White like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son. Brooklyn, NY: Soft Skull, 2008.

8. Wise, Tim J. Color-Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equality. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2010.

The Lies of the American Dream

By Bene Viera, Guest Writer

I waited anxiously on the phone line for a representative of Direct Loans to tell me how much in loans I had accumulated for three semesters of graduate school. I had an idea, but I wanted to hear how much I paid to obtain this fairytale of a myth that we call The American Dream.

America has been called the land of opportunity for centuries. It is where immigrants from far away lands migrate

to work hard, save money, achieve success, and create a better life for their families. No one bothered to tell them about the ugly truths of this country—racism, oppression, sexism, homophobia, poverty and injustice. A few succeed in obtaining that American Dream by eventually starting their own businesses, gaining a profit, purchasing their first home, and living well. The majority, however, work sun-up to sun-down for someone else for the rest of their lives, finally realizing that this land isn’t as sweet as the dream they were sold.

For those of us born on this soil that was stolen from the Native Americans, we are also taught the power of The American Dream. Early on, education is instilled in us as the key to the golden gate to opportunity. Our parents truly bought the hype. Deep in their souls they believed that if you obtained your college degree, you were automatically qualified for decent paying jobs, you would climb the corporate ladder, set-up a nice retirement plan, all the while being able to support yourself.

What our parents, and the people we trusted for guidance, failed to mention are the struggles one faces with degree(s) in hand—landing jobs that pay us comparable salaries based on experience and education. Now, two and three degrees later, we are learning the hefty price we’ve paid in an attempt to obtain something that wasn’t necessarily designed for us.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment is currently at 9.6%. If you take into account underemployment, the numbers are significantly higher.

The unemployment rate for Blacks is 15.7%, and 12.6% for Latinos. This comes as no surprise to those of us born Black and brown. Any time the American public suffers from anything—disease, loss of jobs, recession—Blacks suffer ten times worse. “White folks catch a cold, Black folks catch the flu.” More like pneumonia.

The rate of unemployment for college graduates is 5%, but that doesn’t take into account unemployed Black college graduates, or underemployment.

Hunter College Professor, Courtney E. Martin, wrote an article three years ago, prior to the recession, sharing similar sentiments about the delusion of the American Dream.

But knowing the statistics on social mobility and the everwidening gap between rich and poor, I just can’t stomach this “happily ever after” scenario. It is too clean.

Part of me wants to cringe, lecture them about how one 15 Libertad

success story is dangled in front of a struggling public so they won’t get angry enough to revolt against an unfair system. How oppression can so easily be mistaken for personal failure. How many employers won’t even look at their resumes if they don’t see an Ivy League college at the top. But another part of me wants to keep my white, upper-middleclass mouth shut.

She continues on, expressing how she does not want to crumble their dream of making it big.

As long as they are distracted by their own dedication, they won’t stop to question why the richest people in this country pay far less in taxes, proportionally, than the middle class. They won’t have the time to organize against elitist candidates because they will be too busy working dead-end jobs.

Add to the recipe a dash of nepotism where meritocracy is as mythic as “justice for all.”

No one calculates that into the American Dream where people who are less credentialed, about as smart as Sarah Palin, will land a dream job straight out of college because daddy made a phone call to one of his golf buddies.

The American Dream was in fact designed to make the rich richer while the poor remain poor.

Fahari 16

Owing thousands of dollars in debt for the sake of adding a few letters behind your name, despite the fact your salary may never match what you’ve invested in your education, is not what I consider a beautiful dream. Sounds more like a nightmare. Blacks go to school, accrue an astronomical amount of debt sometimes taking up to 25 years to pay off, only to work for someone else’s company; sometimes never owning a home until the age of 40, still paying off debt and not really fulfilled with their career choice.

The Black middle class is depleting, many households living paycheck to paycheck. If you ask them, though, of course it was all worth it. They have been conditioned, trained, to think it is the only way.

I will always value education, which is why I went to college and then graduate school; but not at the expense of being indebted for half your life to the American government. It is our responsibility to tell the next generation the whole story. Not just the romanticized one. Just like the prison industrial complex, debt is a form of modern day slavery. We work hard for companies that don’t really value us, and then have nothing to leave to our children. No land. No homes.

No assets. No money. No businesses. Just the lies of The American Dream.

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If you didn’t know, slavery was a way for white people to maintain power and flourish their economic system. Contrary to popular belief Afrikans were not only slaves in the Southern region of America but in the North as well. Our ancestors were put on auction blocks and sold to the white man who wanted them the most. The ramifications of slavery still affect black people today. Slaves were not allowed rights because they were not thought of as humans, freed slaves still were not able to be active members of society.

Here are some slave narratives to better paint the picture: “My mother was sole and took from my father when I was jes’ a few months old. I never seed him till I was six. I had to be tole who he was. He saw my mother for de first time in six years in de fiel’s where we was a-working. Dey didn’t know how to ac’ or what to say. Dey seemed kinda let down, lak. You see, he had married ag’in an’ my mother had, too.”

-Delia Hill

“Y ou W ere O nce a S lave ”

By Faisal Awadallah, Vice-President

Slavemasters broke apart the black family as a technique to oppress them. If families were kept intact, the culture would be passed down from generations in a traditional way. Many slave families relied on others who were not directly related to them but all felt a cultural unity that helped to maintain a culture.

“I ain’t sayin’ nothin’ bout my white folkses, but sometimes I does wonder why I’s red-headed, when my pappy an’ mammy wuz black as tar. Maybe I is part white, but I ain’t sayin’ nothin’ bout my white folkses, as I done tole yo.”

-Tempe Pitts Rape was very common on the plantation. White masters would constantly rape black woman to breed and produce more slave children. This increased the population of Mulattoes in America, this is why most black people today are not fully Afrikan but are a mix of so many genes, on the account of slavery.

These narratives were taken from the book “Bullwhip Days, The Slaves Remember: An Oral History.”Since slaves could not read or write there is not much written history of the actual livelihood of these people. The reality of slavery is painted clearly within this book.

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Slaves on a Plantation

By Janea Thompson, Staff Writer

I relate to my enslaved ancestors who were brought to the new world because, I too have been an enslaved person. I believed that slavery had ended after the emancipation proclamation was issued in 1863.

During the years of reconstruction blacks battled for equal rights and citizenship. Little did I know slavery and this struggle is still pertinent in present day society. New age slavery is synonymous with the prison system. The cotton fields have now become the recreational yard. I was enslaved for 5 days. The way the women felt violated by their masters, I felt violated by my prison guards. I had been forced to strip naked to have someone visually rape my body in search of contraband. Forcefully gliding their fingers into every hole of my body all I could do was cry because I was inferior to these guards. Inferior, like the women and children who were raped every night. I empathize with my ancestors who experienced dehumanization by being branded or not being called by their name.

I was called by an unfamiliar number, a cell number.

My whole existence had become a number. I was detached from the routine during the first two days.

I was not used to being addressed by a number so I never responded. Others were so dehumanized that they accepted this number to be their identity. It was as if they forgot who they were before entering this institution.

Some Africans, allowed their Africanisms to linger on even while being enslaved. Some inmates would recollect their previous lives before being prisoners behind bars. Others however accepted their location and made the best of it. Some slaves were obedient so they would not receive lashes. The same was true in jail. Most of us were obedient because we did not want to suffer to consequences of losing meal times, shower times, or leisure. I always shivered at the thought of the slaves being whipped. In one instance, an inmate refused to quiet down after hours. During check-ins

the guard released her from her cell to tase her until she could barely move. The sight of this made me ill because the level of maliciousness was incredible just for someone not being quiet. I could only imagine how the slaves felt when a fellow African got whipped basically to death because he or she was unable to complete their work- load. The whole structure of this experience did not agree with my lifestyle.

Being told when to eat instead of eating when I was hungry was confusing. I always ate when I was hungry, now I ate when I was told to and ate what I was told to, creating this puppet on a string effect. As a woman

my hygiene was jeopardized. I was used to taking a shower when I wanted. Now I was only permitted one shower a day and I had to put on the same clothes right after. This made me feel dirty even after I was clean. I guess this symbolized that I wasn’t shit.

Furthermore if a woman experiences her natural flow Continued on Page 20 19 Libertad

she would sometimes be denied sanitary napkins. Even though this seems inhumane, enslaved people were not recognized as humans, so acts such as these were considered normal. Some of the correctional officers were black which reminded me of the overseer. The overseer was a slave himself, yet still felt superior to the other slaves because he was able to give orders and beat them if their master permitted. The correction officer had power over us prisoners, but his power was actually insignificant to the Warden.

I feel that within the institution of present day slavery there is a hierarchy. During the first 48 hours I was in the medical keep lock section. This section is the initial stop to determine whether or not an inmate is well or sick which is determined by their mental, emotional, and physical state. This medical keep lock had the worst conditions. For a toilet, there was a metal can, and for a bed was a hard ass cot. I couldn’t help to think where the hell is the Marriott? This was far from the Marriott and I’m sure the slaves were saying this is far from my motherland. Within days I was moved to a block that was much more appealing. My new cell had a toilet, the bed was softer and the correctional officers seemed more pleasant. I felt like I moved up the prison world, although I still felt every action was forced. I now had a new number, surprisingly when my number was called I would answer. Even though I was only enslaved for 5 days I still became assimilated to this way of life.

I got accustomed to this inhumane way of life, this dehumanization of people mostly of African descent.

I became assimilated just like our enslaved ancestors who had to change their names in order to become Americanized. I didn’t change my name, I answer to a number. I became assimilated just like our ancestors who accepted their condition as righteous.

Slavery did not end with the Emancipation Proclamation. The elite disguised slavery into the prison system we have today. Laws are created to be broken. These laws are not made for whites to follow; these laws were made for people of color to break. With this breakage, imprisonment becomes perpetual. This system continuously keeps blacks from progressing in society, self-progression, and the ability to pass on a sense of perseverance, pride, and joy about our people. Slavery still exists today in the prisons all over the United States and the world. Lets not continue the enslavement of American people. Hotep.

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Song of the South: the Culture of the American Slave

By Patrick Donohue, Guest Writer

From the inception of American slavery, when Africans were first transported from their native lands and forced to work on plantation fields as the backbone for the Southern Economy, there had always been a general belief held by many whites that these uneducated people were workhorses whose culture was primitive and inferior. This belief in some part, rationalized the terrible institution that of slavery. Though it is true that it was forbidden by law for slaves to read and write, lest they should start to challenge the system, it is not fair to say that the American slave didn’t develop a hybridized Afro-American culture of their own. As Peter J. Parish commented, “Music and dance, song and story offer rich evidence of the separate, independent life that slaves lived alongside their other existence of dependence upon their owners.” While during the time of slavery this view would likely be heavily challenged, when looking back through the lens of a historian it can be asserted and evinced through various resources that this claim is wellfounded, and the surfeit of evidence of a unique culture, both before and after slavery only reinforce Parish’s argument.

Song was a very powerful and effective means for slaves to preserve their African heritage, as well as establish their own. Singing songs in the fields was an everyday occurrence for slaves, as it provided a benevolent means for slaves to pass time and bear the load, and it also allowed for slaves to communicate amongst themselves so that their white masters could not understand them.

Many slaves adopted Christianity, and used the religion’s various stories to foster a moral superiority to whites, as well as envision a better afterlife for themselves once the onus of slave life had ended. Sterling Stuckey notes in his book, The Debate over Slavery: Stanley Elkins and His Critics the innate talents that slaves possessed with music.

There is some evidence that slaves were aware of the special talents which they brought to music […] What is of pivotal impact, however, is that slaves knew they were not inferior to whites.

Small wonder that they borrowed many songs from the larger community, then quickly invested them with their own economy of statement and power of imagery rather than yield to the temptation of merely repeating what they heard.

Since they were essentially group rather than solo

performances, the values inherent in and given affirmation by the music served to strengthen bondsmen in a way that solo music could not have done (Sterling 422) While these stories and hymns were given to the slaves by whites, the slaves completely made them their own by putting them in their own words, effectively creating a fusion of European and African influences, and the surviving songs are strong evidence as to the separate identity that slaves felt from the rest of the United States.

While many slave songs were inherently Christian, slave songs were also created that contained coded messages within the lyrics that allowed slaves to spread information without their master’s knowledge. Many of these songs detailed escape methods that slaves could use to find their way via the Underground Railroad to freedom in the North. One of the best examples of these songs that survives to this day is “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” a song that gives Slaves implicit instructions how to get from the Deep South, up the Mississippi River and across the Ohio River to freedom in Canada (Ponomarenko). “The Drinking Gourd” in the song that is repeated every other line is code for the big dipper, the constellation which makes it easy to point out the North Star (Ponomarenko).

While the song is coded well enough to so that slave masters would not be able to understand, with a little background information, the lyrics become very resonant.

When the Sun comes up and the first quail calls, follow the drinking gourd For the old man is waiting to carry you on, follow the drinking gourd The riverbank makes a very good road; the dead trees show you the way, Left foot peg foot, travelling on, follow the drinking gourd The first line tells slaves to leave when the sun first starts to rise in the sky, at the beginning of winter, when migrating quails call across the sky. The old man is the person who will lead them to the North, the riverbank road is the path to follow, and special peg leg markings were made on fallen trees so that slaves could find Continued on Page 22 21 Libertad

the right way, even on overcast nights (Ponomarenko).

Another such slave song that was later made into a blues song is “Wade in the Water,” while the song doesn’t break down specific instructions as “Drinking Gourd” does, the title gives runaway slaves a hint as to how to throw off the scent of bounty hunters’ bloodhounds, and the lyrics, “If you get to Jordan before I do, tell all my friends that I’m coming too” are an obvious reference to the underground railroad, and the “promised land” of Canada (Ponomarenko). Such ingenious coding in a song that was clearly meant to be understood by slaves only, is no doubt representative of an independent culture that used its own methods of communicating so as to separate itself from the power system in place.

Storytelling and folklore was an important facet of slave society, and through stories, American slaves were able to pass on and retain the traditions of African Culture, as well as create their own culture based on the world that they saw. Storytelling was important to slaves, just as it has and continues to be important to Africans today, as their history is largely an oral tradition. In many West African tribes, story tellers known as Griots held important societal positions. As witty and talented singers and dancers, these people were the men that Africans would go to have counsel, and learn stories of generations passed. One of the best examples of the stories that Griots would tell that survived into the New World is of Anansi. Aunt Nancy, or Boy Nasty as he is known in the Caribbean, is a trickster spider whose mischievous acts always create problems (Davidson). There are hundreds of Anansi fables, all designed to teach African and Slave children morals. An interesting note is that in West Africa, in most Anansi stories he ends up getting punished at the end of the story, while in many American stories he is celebrated for his cunning and ability to outwit his opponents (Davidson). This shift can be interpreted to represent the American Slaves’ desire to outsmart his master, and it also represents a turning point; not only are these stories completely non-European, but they are being adapted from African stories to represent The American Slaves’ own distinct culture and moral values.

Another good source of slave folklore is Joel Chandler Harris’ 1881 anthology entitled: Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folklore of the Plantation, an enormously popular collection of slave stories that Harris collected as he travelled the Deep South (Kane). While the book is written with the bias of a Georgian White man, and its content would be deemed overtly racist by today’s standards, it nonetheless serves as an important source for many slave stories that would otherwise be forgotten in the sands of time (Kane). These stories all have to do with life on the plantation, many of the fables based around a character named Br’er Rabbit, an amiable if Fahari 22

misguided protagonist that narrowly escapes being eaten

by Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear on several occasions (Kane).

These stories, while only a sampling of the rich folklore that was created by slaves in the South, are valuable relics of a largely unrecorded folklore, but surely drive home the point that African- American slaves were able to create a vibrant culture in their new surroundings free of white influence.

Evidence of the rich, independent life that slaves cultivated as a result of their situation can also be found post-slavery, when in time, the roots that were planted in the Antebellum era were allowed to flourish. In the Deep South, black music continued to prosper, and genres such as jazz, gospel, and blues, the songs of struggle, can all find a common ancestor in the songs of the field. When Sam Cooke sings “A Change is Gonna Come” you can feel the pain in his voice, and the lyrics sound as if they have been directly lifted from a slave song of deliverance: It’s been too hard living, but I’m afraid to die ‘Cause I don’t know what’s up there, beyond the sky It’s been a long time coming, but I know A change is gonna come, oh yes it will Elsewhere in the United States, black culture blossomed during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s and 1930’s when black authors such as Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Zora Neale Hurston were finally given the strong critical reception that they deserved. This outpouring of African-American culture that continues today is both directly and indirectly a result of the slave culture that existed, both dependently and independently of their European-American masters. Slaves, while given no credit and treated as 3/5ths of a human, were able to establish their own, distinct way of life, and the expressions of struggle and longing to escape through means of song and story are the best evidence that exists to reinforce this.

Bibliography 1. Sterling, Stanley “Through the Prism of Folklore: the Black Ethos in Slavery.”, in The Debate Over Slavery: Stanley Elkins and His Critics. Ed. by Ann Lane (University of Illinois Press, April 1971) pp. 417-437 (p 422) 2. Ponomarenko, John. “Coded Slave Songs” (2005). http://www. localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/Soulreview/Understandingpages/ coded.htm. Accessed 28 Oct 2010 3. Davidson, Marcia. “Anancy Introduction” (2003). http://www. jamaicans.com/culture/anansi/anancy_intro.shtml. Accessed 28 Oct 2010 4. Kane, Matthew. “Introduction to Uncle Remus Tales. (2001) http://homepage.ntlworld.com/matt_kane/uncle%20remus%20 tales.htm . Accessed 28 Oct 2010

Sounds like Slavery

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Fighting the system with some

Afro-thunda

By Jonathan Espinosa, Guest Writer

Que te hago? Una recorta, uno y medio (What will it be? A haircut, one and a half). The last time I had this conversation with a barber was 18 months ago, at a neighborhood barber shop in the grid-iron streets of the Bronx, where the radio switches between modern reggaeton and classic salsa, dudes break their necks checking out a fine girl walking by and the elderly passionately go back and forth about which baseball player they think should win the MVP award. It is a comforting setting that has become too foreign, and yet I feel little nostalgia. Since June of 2009, I have been growing out my hair, and it has been an interesting learning experience.

As a dude who always got a haircut, having a lot of hair gave me a lot of appearance flexibility that I had never experienced. One month I’d wear a headband, the next I’d hair-dry it, in another I’d have it out, the next I’d braid it, then the next I’ll put it in a ponytail. I have a lot of different ways to express myself, a freedom I am grateful of because, in many other countries, this is not the case. Just recently, the Iranian government, in its efforts to rid the country Fahari 24

of western culture, cracked down on male hairstyles by implementing a hairstyle guide for men that rejects western-style haircuts. No more mullets in Iran!

Regardless, we must be critical of this new policy.

This uniform hairstyle is directly and explicitly implemented, while homogeneous appearances here in America are subtly and implicitly demanded.

The way we look is reflective of how the media interprets and glorifies body image.

We are brainwashed into believing that for women to have straight, blow-dried hair and for men to have short haircuts are both beautiful and professional.

Why can’t we express ourselves freely? Because, if we do, we’ll be judged and defined as someone trying to rebel against an already established conceptual system.

We live in a world that is threatened by unique individuals who decide to step out of the assembly line that we have been hypnotized to follow.

We’re experiencing mental colonialism, a process in which the ideas of the ruling class become the ruling ideas of the society. Since the ruling class of today

consists of rich, upper-class white people, the image of beauty and professionalism is propagated onto us through advertisements in magazines, television, radio, and the internet. It is as simple as having a unique hairstyle to go against the status quo, but this political conflict is only the first step to changing the system.

Until we find a way to change the status quo that we have been brainwashed to follow, one that does not take any pleasure in appreciating one’s selfexpression, I will continue to walk past my neighborhood barbershop, rockin’ the afro.

Photo Courtesy of Saki Rizwana

Diary of a Mad Brown Woman The following was written in December 2009. It’s a year later and the program described has yet to be put together…

As the Fahari-Libertad is both a publication as well as a club, it has more responsibilities than either a club or a publication by itself.

Not only do we publish a certain number of issues each semester, we also try to cosponsor some programs and hold some major ones of our own. For example, the

on a big topic. I suggested gentrification.

I had heard about a panel discussion the Fahari-Libertad had done on affirmative action and imagined we would do something similar with gentrification.

We would need three people to speak about the cons of gentrification and three people to speak for the pros of economic development. These views did not necessarily need to be views held by the presenters themselves. It would begin

Diary of a Mad Brown Woman

By Saki Rizwana, President

Fahari-Libertad is always represented in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration that is held annually, our members aid in planning, organizing, putting up fliers and etc. Suffice it to say, as a club and a publication, we do a lot.

Now, this past semester, we had a bit of a heavy semester as far as executive board members went. We had decided on publishing two issues for the fall and use the money allotted for the third issue to buy a computer, the necessary designing software and some filing cabinets for archiving old issues. The first issue was supposed to come out sometime midsemester. However, because of poor advertising, we simply did not get enough articles to put together a substantial issue. So, we decided we’d hold off and put together one REALLY good issue. To supplement the issue, we’d do a program

as an informational panel explaining the theory behind gentrification and move on to the consequences and the actual reality of gentrification. I assumed this would be a relatively easy program to put together — boy, was I wrong!!!

We attempted to contact the Department of Economics at our very school and were told that no one in the department could speak on a topic that they did not specialize in. I approached a professor who teaches a course on economic development. Although he teaches about economic development in developing countries, he still could have drawn connections between the gentrification that goes on in the United States and various developing nations. He could have explained the impetus behind gentrification Continued on Page 26 25 Libertad

and how, in theory, this should revitalize the community. However, he chose to turn us down and did not even have the courtesy to point us to someone else when we asked him for a reference. We also contacted a member of the Young Republicans Club, which was on campus a few semesters ago. We were told that no one from this organization wanted to participate in the event because it would just be a bunch of Black people yelling at a bunch of white people (their words, not mine). So we had no one to speak in favor of economic development.

Similar things happened when it came to getting speakers to speak about the cons of gentrification. We spoke to several anti-gentrification groups. No one could send a representative at the particular time we wanted to have a program. It’s understandable that these people have jobs and lives they lead that don’t make it easy for them to take a drive outside the city and attend panel discussions in the middle of the week. However, we planned that we would use technology to the best of our ability and have the representative speak via web-cam and later put up an instant messenger page for any questions.

We problem solved in such a creative way!

However, there were still reservations on many peoples’ parts on being a part of the panel discussion. All in all, it was a week before the program was scheduled to be held and we didn’t have speakers, we hadn’t put out flyers and no one knew about the event. Needless to say, this went on the back burner to be done at a later date and time.

Because we still wanted to do a program, we decided to tie it in with our next issue and have a program called “The Death of Dating.” Of course, we had skits, discussions, even a round of speed dating planned out. The whole program came together. Everyone knew what they were doing and the program went off without a hitch.

Fahari 26

Now, my question is why it is so damn difficult to talk about issues such as gentrification and so damn easy to talk about dating and relationships. Why is it that we are willing to work so much harder for putting on mushy programs that end up as being bitch-fests about our miserable experiences in life and love but we’re not willing to do everything it takes to make sure a program that would really spread some knowledge is put together? Why is it that if we want to get a good turn out at an event, the best way to ensure that is to have food? Why is it that the main attraction of an event is what goes in your belly? Shouldn’t it be about what goes into your mind? It’s great that we want to talk about relationships and what not to do on a date and things like that. That’s important. But these programs are put on at least once a week by one club or another. Maybe it’s time we realized that college is truly what will help you build a community later on in life and the skills and knowledge acquired here can make you or break you. So, let’s start acquiring some real knowledge. Let’s figure out what’s going on. Let’s start putting more programs together that educate people about issues such as gentrification and affirmative action. Let’s start doing something that puts an end to the ignorance so people can’t say that SUNY New Paltz uses affirmative action as a deciding factor in admitting students (because they DON’T!).

Let’s start educating ourselves so we have the ability to change our lives, our communities and hopefully leave the world in a better condition than it was in when we came in it.

Support Our Clubs and Organizations

BSD

By Jodi Wolfhal, Guest Writer

Black Solidarity Day (BSD) is about a day of unity. It’s a time for people with the same mindset and beliefs to get together and share an experience. It’s a time for self-evaluation and caring for fellow brothers and sisters. It’s a place to reflect on what you are and realize what you want to become; a holistic individual.

You strive to “know thy self ” while being a role model for your community.

We are all African. We all originated from Africa, therefore, communities originated in Africa. So why, even after our ancestors have fought against segregation and inequality, is our generation segregating itself? Until our generation can overcome social norms, we will remain segregated.

Be educated by being self-educated. Know yourself inside and out, because without knowing yourself, how can you know anybody else? We must take advantage of being at a university by having the courage to try new things and truly seizing the moment. And after we have had the chance to learn on a universal basis, we have to use this knowledge to recognize the issues that plague our society, realize that we have the knowledge to recognize that these are problems within the community, and take the responsibility of using our opportunity to an get an education and spreading what we’ve experienced.

Throughout the day, two quotes lingered in my head: “Be the change you want to see in the world” — Mahatma Gandhi, and “I’m starting with the man in the mirror” — Michael Jackson. Black Solidarity Day is just such a moving experience. From the beginning of the day with welcoming everyone and giving every person in the room a hug, BSD has a strong, positive energy.

You can tell that everyone is happy to be there and appreciates the experience that they are privileged to have. There is no way to walk away from this program without being impacted.

Thanksgiving

By Matt Mueller, Guest Writer

On this Thanksgiving Day in which I am writing this, I’ve been thinking about what this day truly means.

How and why should we, as a country, celebrate this and other holidays? I am currently against most, if not all holidays in the United States due to the grotesque commercialization of these days. Moreover, certain holidays have lost whatever meanings they originally had and have been warped into a monster, highlighting what America truly cares about. These so-called “Hallmark Holidays” take great beliefs and ideas and turn it into another reason for people to get drunk, eat red meat, and do stupid things. Like Americans really need a reason to do those things. Of course, that’s a vast generalization of Americans, but if you think about it, it’s true.

People get wasted on New Years, barbeque from dawn to dusk (and drink heavily) on Independence Day, and Americans do weird traditions on basically every holiday.

Another thing I’d like people to think about is why has Christmas, a traditional Christian holiday, become a national holiday. No one seems to care that Santa Claus is everywhere (including the Thanksgiving Parade), and it seems that Christmas is the only holiday to most people in the phrase “Happy Holidays.” I have to deal with month-long preparation of your holiday, but you won’t even listen to what Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or Ramadan (on some years) even means.You just call it an “ethnic holiday” and go about your “merry” way. But we live in a society of Christian dominance and it has created a distortion of historical facts, which creates this grand idea of America, which is anything but the truth. So Thanksgiving, as we have learned in primary school, is the day in which “Pilgrims” and so-called “Indians” ate a large meal together, to celebrate their new friendship.

Unfortunately, this is a lie, and people are either ignorant Continued on Page 28 27 Libertad

of the truth, or chose not to listen. They call me antiAmerican for trying to bring some knowledge to the table. Maybe I should have just brought some mashed potatoes. I could go deep into what “Thanksgiving” actually is, but that would take a while.

However, if we are to celebrate this day, we should know the truth. The religious separatists today known as the “Pilgrims” came to this land to take over the “unimproved and wild” land (and people) of the Massachusetts area. Upon their arrival, they stole land, enslaved Native Americans, and actually stole the Wampanoag’s winter supply of corn. Not only that, the “Pilgrims” also raided Wampanoag gravesites. The only reason any Native Americans were at this “Thanksgiving feast” is because they heard gunshots and were preparing for battle. That’s why only men, no women or children, showed up.

I’m writing this because all I want is for people to think about our holidays and traditions. Perhaps we could make America a place of new traditions, where turkeys aren’t slaughtered in massive numbers and we don’t distort and commercialize national and religious holidays.

You can tell a lot about a society by the rituals they perform, and at this point in time, I would argue America has a great sickness of the soul if you look at our traditions. People always say, “question authority,” but all I’m asking you to do is to question yourself, your family, and most importantly what you believe to be “natural and normal.” From there, it’s up to you what you do.

Past issues of Fahari and FAHARI LIBERTAD are available by contacting us at faharilibertad@gmail.com

Fahari 28

Will the "Real Women" Please Stand Up?

By Britni Danielle Referred by Shatera Gurganious, Editor-in-Chief

Have you ever uttered one of these statements?

“Real women have a little meat on their bones.”

“Real women don’t need to depend on anyone.”

“Real women don’t sleep around.”

“Real women know how to take charge.”

“Real women know how to treat a man.”

And my personal favorite, “Real women do real things.”

If so, stop.

While these catchy phrases seem to give props to sisters who are handling their business and owning their self-worth, they actually do little more than continue to set up contentious relationships between women. Inevitably some of us will be left out of whatever definition a “real women” is intended to encompass.

Case in point, “Real women aren’t a size two.”

Recently, I was watching The View and Beyoncé and her mother, Tina Knowles, were on the show promoting their newest ventures. Mama Knowles was hawking her affordable fashion line and had brought along a few outfits for a mini-fashion show. During the show, which featured models of varying sizes, Sherri Shepherd remarked that she was impressed that Tina Knowles used different types of models.

“Not many people will show you, they usually will have the slinky size two model, and we never know how it will fit on real women. And the fact that you bring up two different sizes, kudos to you Ms Tina.”

Co-host, Joy Behar, quickly jumped in. “Well the thin models are real women also.”

Sherri countered, “The thin models are real women, but the average size is bigger than a two.”

Although I knew what Sherri meant, that the fashion world rarely presents realistic representations of what the average-sized American woman looks like, her comment still made me wince. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one.

After hearing her comments, several petite women in my Twitter timeline expressed offense at what they felt was Sherri taking a jab at them for somehow being less than “real women” because of their size.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the average woman in the United States is 63.8″ tall (about 5’3″) and weighs 164.7 pounds, so if we were to measure what a “real woman” is by those standards, a lot of us would be left out.

The debate over the ideal body type of a “real woman” continues to divide us. From the “skinny bitches are evil” meme, to the line of thinking that overweight women are lazy and advocates of poor health, we continue to lose if we take sides and buy into the mentality that some of us are “real women” while others are not worthy of the title.

Not only does this thinking do little to build real self-esteem, it causes us to diminish our collective power as women.

When conversations like these occur, I’m reminded of the power, and problematic nature, of generalizations. If we start to classify certain types of women as “real women,” what happens to those of us who do not fit neatly into the box?

And moreover, who decides who is and is not a “real woman”?

Historically, women have had to live within rigid ideas about femininity. Compared to men, we were considered naturally weaker, less intelligent, and unable to perform tasks that involved physical strength. In pre-industrial societies, for example, women were relegated to domestic tasks, leaving more physically demanding tasks, such as

hunting and plowing, to men (although Black women were often times forced to handle such demanding tasks as well). Moreover, women have also had to operate under double standards that seek to strip them of their sexual freedom.

Although such unyielding ideas about women were primarily created by men and a patriarchal society, many of us continue to perpetuate these antiquated ideas that do more to oppress, and little to uplift.

But why?

Some sisters cling to the label, “real women,” like it’s some sort of banner that sets them apart from those they consider undesirable. For instance, some of us who rock natural hair mistakenly consider ourselves more “real” than our sisters who relax or alter their hair. As if how we look determines our “real woman” status. Another sticking point for many of us is how other women behave. We sometimes label those who are sexually free as “wrong” (or whores, or sluts), and those who are more “pious” or less open about their sexuality somehow “better” because they’re behaving more like a “lady should.”

This “I am a ‘real woman’ but you’re not” attitude repeats itself over and over again in terms of how we look, dress, how we act, and how we view each other, but it needs to stop.

The media constantly focuses on the supposed cattiness and jealousy of women, but most of us are too quick to point out our love for our girls.

However, we need to be aware of how we treat the women we don’t know, and, even more, how we talk about ourselves if we are to foster any sort of true and lasting bond as women.

When it all comes down to it, all women are “real women.” No matter our age, size, race, attitude, sexual history, or body type. And whether you’re discussing Nicki Minaj, Jada Pinket, Oprah, Lil’ Kim, Michelle Obama, your mother, or yourself, we are all women and we no longer need to separate ourselves by false barriers in order to feel good about ourselves.

29 Libertad

A r tist ’ s S potlight

Nicholas Alciati

[Human condition (n): the positive and negative aspects of existence as a human being, esp. the inevitable events such as birth, childhood, adolescence, love, sex, reproduction, aging, and death.]

Photography has a way of capturing memory that no other medium can achieve. It captures actual images, emphasizes aspects such as light, subject matter and composition, which allow the photographer to evoke a specific feeling or emotional response from the viewer. This is why photography has become my passion and choice of media. My work is often inspired by my past. My photography is inspired by my personal life, juxtaposing my experience with that of our society and culture in The United States. Themes in my work include exploring gender roles, body image, sexuality and family life. The use of found imagery, as well as text act as compliments to the images photographed in my current work. This allows for a dialogue to form about my life and how I have dealt with the challenges of living as an open-minded male in a society that teaches us that boys don’t cry.

Many of my childhood memories are not ideal. Yet, looking back I wouldn’t change much about my life. I have grown so much from my past experiences. As human beings, we experience trauma, heartbreak, loss and rejection. My work uses this idea of human condition, exposing my life and how I have grown through both the positive and negative experiences.

Visit Nick's website at www.nickalciati.com Fahari 30

Top to bottom: The Real Ken Don't Ask Don't Tell

Top to bottom: Boys Don't Cry Rocky

On opposite spread Top to bottom: The American (Boys) Boy Scout 2 31 Libertad

Shit Damn, I’m Gay!?

By Mosi-Chachawi Williams, Staff Writer

“I’m a straight guy that likes guys. I’m a straight girl who likes girls. Yet no one understands why.”

I have heard so many stories from people who have homosexual urges but refuse to fall under the gay umbrella. Now the clinical term for these people is bi-curious. But I guess being labeled as such is offensive. Now this is written from the perspective of a proud homosexual man with several heterosexual friends. When I hear about their sex-capades I think to myself how wonderful it is that my friends are open to an experience that may be out of their comfort zone, that they are open minded enough to act on their sexual urges.

But then I’m taken back to the resentful and then unforgiving statement, “I’m not gay.” Gay, first of all is an umbrella term. Just because you’re not licking her cooch or sucking his dick does not mean that you’re not in some way gay.

Here’s some science. Sexuality is a scale. We’re all in some way shape or form “bi-sexual.” You can be anywhere from extremely hetero sexual, to extremely homosexual. But most do fall somewhere in the middle.

strictly dick-ly

Even though I am a gay man I don’t shy away from the fact that I can at times be attracted to a woman.

Although I don’t consider myself bi-sexual or even bi-curious, there is another term that expresses that sexuality. For a gay person who at rare times has heterosexual urges, they fall under the term “homo-flexible.” For you straight people, you would be called “hetero-flexible.” Now don’t be alarmed.

You’re not going to grow a third arm. That’s just the scientific term for it. Gay people are just more likely to accept that sexuality varies over straight people.

I’m only writing this article from the LGBQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer) perspective. Sexuality goes even deeper and includes transgenders and pansexuals as well. But that’s a whole other chapter.

Now back to the original point. Accept who you are. I think most of this stems from sexuality still being a taboo subject. God made you beautiful and individual just the way you are. Don’t think just by holding on the “straight-label” that things are going to get any less difficult. Nature is nature, and whatever you’re attracted to is what you’re attracted to. As long as you’re not hurting anyone in the process.

half & half

I love cooch

No Fat Chicks: Navigating the Dating World as a Fat Girl

By Tasha Fierce Referred by Shatera Gurganious, Editor-in-Chief

Thick, curvy, voluptuous—nah. I’m a proud fat Black chick with no hangups about my size, and I have the nerve to expect a romantic interest to be comfortable with it. I learned a long time ago that I needed to love myself before anyone else was going to love me, so I’m perfectly happy being on my own if I can’t find a partner who accepts me as I am. But my past experience has borne out that it’s not impossible for a fat chick to get a date. Being sexy and fat isn’t as hard as some people would have you believe.

That said, society doesn’t exactly make it easy on fat women to develop healthy self-esteem. Even within the Black community, where fat is supposedly accepted so much more readily than in other cultures, fat women experience discrimination, disgust and ridicule. Fat might be more acceptable, but you have to be a certain kind of fat—padding in all the “right” places and none where it’s not desirable. Fat women with bodies that don’t fit the bill are either desexualized and Mammy-fied, or their sexuality is seen as a joke—take for example, Eddie Murphy’s Rasputia in “Norbit.” Black men dressing in fat woman drag and overpowering skinny men with their animalistic desire gets a lot of laughs because society has conditioned us to see fat female sexuality as something to be laughed at or disgusted by.

Where dating is concerned, there’s another stereotype regarding fat women to contend with that runs rampant in the minds of men in particular—the mythological fat chick with low self-esteem who will let any brother still breathing have a taste. While there are, of course, fat women out there with low self-esteem, most of the fat chicks I know aren’t down to settle for just anyone. This stereotype tends to be applied most often if you’ve got boobs and a booty. You might be carrying that spare tire, but that won’t stop men from hitting it and quitting it the morning after. Just don’t tell their boys.

The images we’re bombarded with via sources such as fashion magazines, hip hop videos, “reality” TV, and other outlets of mainstream media, reinforce the dominant cultural paradigm which states that only thin bodies can be desirable. Fat women are taught that they are less-than and unworthy of love or sexual pleasure. Being Black women, we already are made to believe that we’re not as attractive or desirable as our White counterparts—add fat to the mix and you’ve got a cocktail deadly to our self-esteem. Not to mention the constant barrage of news stories telling us

we’re doomed to be single. If thin Black women aren’t getting any love, what are the chances for us fat Black chicks?

It’s often said that being a Black woman means you have to work twice as hard as the next White woman to be seen as equal. That goes doubly for fat Black women in the dating game. Everything has to be on point—hair bangin’, makeup perfectly applied, style impeccable—just to be noticed. Is it fair? Of course not. Is it real? Unfortunately, yes. But although appearance may be the key to get you in the door, even more important for your well-being and success at finding a quality partner is your internal game.

It may be cliché, but confidence in yourself is your best asset. All you’re going to attract are scrubs if you don’t have a self-assured aura—and, yes, that means some nights you might be alone. It’s better to not have a date than to end up with some fool who doesn’t appreciate your value. You have to realize that you deserve a partner who isn’t out to take advantage of you or isn’t ashamed to be seen with you in the daylight. Don’t end up on someone’s “booty call” list.

If loving your body as it is is new to you, I suggest you get familiar with some voluptuous Black women who are famously comfortable in their own skin–and offering their tips on how to feel the same. I’m talking our lady Afrobella, the amazing Marie Denee of The Curvy Fashionista, everyone’s favorite MTV TJ Gabi Gregg, the forever fashion-forward Xtina from Musings of a Fatshionista, and any of the other gorgeous Black “fatshion” bloggers out there repping for the stylish plussize chicks. Seeing these women work it just might give you the self-confidence to say no to the next zero who’s trying to hook up for a one-nighter. Unless, of course, you feel like a one-nighter, to which I say go get yours–as long as you’re doing it because you’re feeling sexually liberated and not downtrodden and lonely. Not judging, just saying.

Despite all of the obstacles fat Black women face while trying to find a potential partner, it’s not all bad. There are good prospects out there, you just need to be patient, refuse to suffer fools gladly, and practice self-love. Trust that if you send positive energy out there, you’ll get it in return. You might have to whack a few weeds down, but it’ll be worth it when you find that person who’s going to make you feel like the gorgeous fat Black woman you are.

Belly, hips, thighs and all.

MarTin LuTher King Jr.

The Man and The MyTh SUNY New Paltz Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration 2011

Monday January 31, 2011 Lecture Center Room 102 7.00–9.00pm Letter writing campaign and FOOd 6.00-7.00pm

Sponsored by the Department of Black Studies, Black Student Union, FahariLibertad Magazine and Voices of Unity

Fahari 34

What the #@$%?! insert four letter expletive of your choice

35 Libertad

RECYCLING

Recycling saves energy, reduces pollution, lessens the need for landfills, protects the environment and preserves ecosystems and it can help keep our air and water systems clean and healthy! Next time you have one of the following items please remember to put it in the correct recycling bin, NOT the trash!

Pla s

tic a 5 wate cen r bo t d ttle ep osi s for t

tles

t Glass bo

sti

pla ilk

cm

Co-Mingle It Recycle

s

jug

PLASTIC, METAL & GLASS

in the same recycling bin

Plastic #1,2,4,5,7

od

tal

Me

se rin , s an

t

ou

fo the

c

ent

Alum inum for a can 5 cen ts de s pos

it

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PLEASE NOTE: All kinds of paper can be recycled together, but in a separate bin than the items above Fahari 36

TRASH DON’T PUT THESE ITEMS IN A RECYCLING BIN. THEY ARE TRASH. RECYCLING

uncommon knowledge

Don't put this in your recycling bin

All of the items listed below are not recyclable in New Paltz.

People commonly mix these “trashy” items with recycling but there are speci c qualities that prevent them from being recyclable. It is best to avoid putting these products in a recycling bin.

When 10% trash is mixed with 90% recyclables the entire contents of the recycling bin becomes garbage.

1. Orange Juice and Milk Cartons Why: These cartons are built from a thick paper that is coated in plastic.

The melted plastic on paper combination is di cult to recycle.

4. Napkins and Paper Towels Why: This soft paper is usually made from recycled materials and becomes trash once used, since the materials it cleans up are not recyclable Paper towels and napkins are compostable where facilities exist

2. Sushi Containers

Why: At NP these containers are either made from black plastic or styrofoam. Both of these materials are not recycled in Ulster County.

3. Co ee Cups

Why: Similar to the milk cartons, co ee cups are also coated in a paper and plastic combination.

5. Solo Cups

6. Unmarked Plastic

Why: Most solo cups are made from Plastic # 6, which is not recyclable in NP.

Why: This plastic is made from many di erent types of plastic, since

If you are unhappy about the amount of trash created by using these products you CAN help make a change.

Write letters to companies using non-recyclable packaging, let them know you want to be able to recycle their product. Every time you purchase something you vote for it, choosing to not buy non-recyclable products demands a change from the manufacturer. http://greenthinking.newpaltz.edu 37 Libertad

photo by Marc Russell

A Note from the Recycling Coordinator

New Paltz Recycles From February 6 to April 2, 2011 recycling kicks it up a notch by competing in the Recyclemania tournament.

In celebration of Remcyclemania please find some quick recycling reminders in the next two pages. If you are looking for more information on recycling and what you can recycle in New Paltz please check out any of the links below.

Get involved with NP Recycles:

•Like us on Facebook: “New Paltz Recycles” •Check out the Blog: greenthinking.newpaltz.edu •Watch our youtube channel: “newpaltzgreenthinkin” •Twitter: NewPaltzRecycle •Office: SUB 334 •Email: newpaltzrecycles@gmail.com •Meetings for Spring 2011: TBD

by Lauren Brois Fahari 38

39 Libertad

http://www2.newpaltz.edu/tzm

Thursday February 3rd 7:00pm in LC 100 Free Pizza and Q&A

-Dr. James Gilligan, Psychiatrist - Harvard Medical School

“IN THE PAST, THE MAIN THREAT TO HUMAN SURVIVAL WAS NATURE. TODAY IT IS CULTURE...WHAT WE ARE DOING TO EACH OTHER.”

Help Haiti Whenever donating, please specifiy where you would like your donation to go to ensure it is given to the particular cause you wish to help.

By Phone: Action Against Hunger 877-777-1420 Agape Flights 941-5848078 Airline Ambassadors International 866-2643586 American Red Cross 800-733-2767 American Refugee Committee 800-8757060 American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 212-687-6200 American Jewish World Service 212-792-2900 AmeriCares 800-4864357 Beyond Borders 866424-8403 B'nai B'rith International 202-857-6600 CARE 800-521-2273 Catholic Relief Services 800-736-3467 Childcare Worldwide Fahari 40

800-553-2328 Church World Services 800-297-1516 Clinton Foundation 501-748-0471 Concern Worldwide 212-557-8000 Convoy of Hope 417823-8998 Cross International 800-391-8545 CRUDEM Foundation 413-642-0450 CRWRC 800-55-CRWRC Direct Relief International 805-964-4767 Doctors Without Borders 888-392-0392 Episcopal Relief and Development 800-3347626 Feed My Starving Children 763-504-2919 Food for the Poor 800427-9104 Friends of WFP 866929-1694 Friends of the Orphans 312-386-7499 Habitat for Humanity 1-800-422-4828 Haiti Children 877-4248454 Haiti Marycare 203-

Courtesy of MSNBC

675-4770 Haitian Health Foundation 860-886-4357 Healing Hands for Haiti 651-769-5846 Hope for Haiti 239434-7183 International Child Care 800-722-4453 International Medical Corps 800-481-4462 International Rescue Committee 877-7338433 International Relief Teams 619-284-7979 Islamic Relief USA 888479-4968 Lions Club International Foundation 630-2033836 Lutheran World Relief 800-597-5972 Medical Benevolence Foundation 800-5477627 Medical Teams International 800-959-4325 Meds and Food for Kids 314-420-1634 Mennonite Central Committee 888-5634676 Mercy Corps 888-2561900

Mission of Hope Haiti 816-246-7774 Nazarene Compassionate Ministries 800-3069950 New Life for Haiti 815436-7633 Operation Blessing 800-730-2537 Operation USA 800678-7255 Oxfam 800-776-9326 Partners in Health 617432-5298 RHEMA International 248-652-9894

Rural Haiti Project 347405-5552 The Salvation Army 800-725-2769 Samaritan's Purse 828262-1980 Save the Children 800728-3843 UNICEF 800-367-5437 United Methodist Committee on Relief 800554-8583 World Concern 800755-5022 World Hope International 888-466-4673

World Relief 800-5355433 World Vision 888-5116548 Yele Haiti 212-352-0552 On the Web: CarmaFoundation Clinton Bush Haiti Fund Haiti Foundation Against Poverty ShelterBox UN Central Emergency Response Fund

The Fahari-Libertad Magazine is not responsible for any complications that may arise with your donation to any of these agencies.

Photo Courtesy of the American Red Cross 41 Libertad

Fahari 42

The Poetry Spot

43 Libertad

I stand, arms stretched ahead of me,

legs spread apart Pounding heart, head pressed against

the side of a police cruiser Getting bruises on my forearms Told that my friend and I fit the profile,

but all the while

Untitled

by Kevin Cavanna, Guest Writer

I’m about 5’6 and light skin, my friend

is 6’2 and black I ask, who are you looking for officer,

'cause our appearances don’t match Told me if I knew what was good for

me I’m better off not asking

questions like that Now I have the right to remain silent,

but I refuse to be a fool See schools won’t teach you the tools

you need for the streets So I spent a vast amount of time

studying this here concrete My feet have passed here many times Seen officers try to blame us for

any crime Looking for another black or Latino

man to toss into their prisons A system envisioned by the same

people who conditioned us to

fear them By the inflection of my voice,

complexion of my skin,

texture of my hair I am subjected to “legal” search

and seizure Which I’m told is merely a procedure

to keep the community devoid

of fear While in Arizona they can stop you

and decide whether or not you

should even be there Fahari 44

I wonder, are you pressing me

because I’m really a suspect?

Or because you know that my people

can be a potential threat?

And you’re just knocking another

soldier off the field and placing

him under arrest See historical “facts” have undergone

significant excisions Its all scripted bullshit, in need of

serious revision We will all sit and watch, but few will

make the decision To set their doubts aside, and stand to

face the opposition Ready for battle, I am ready for collision I will go harder like a martyr, I will die

for all my vision In God we claim to lay our trust But we let our ignorance get the

best of us So we remain like slaves in cages, too

afraid to be courageous Ignorance becomes contagious,

got pastors turning bible pages War wages in the confines where fury

combines with curious minds And riddles up the body of people

of all ages Our

Our

Our

Our

Our

Our

Our

Our

ignorance is a lifeless body swaying backwards and forwards in the wind ignorance is the needless spending to prevent the marriage of two gay men ignorance is allowing the rich to force the Earth to vomit oil into their hands ignorance is the military invasion upon sacred holy lands ignorance will blind you, speaks with promise, it misguides you ignorance fills you with hate and makes you think we’re designed to ignorance will haunt you, targets your fears, it will daunt you ignorance will rob your pride, with nothing left, it taunts you

Our ignorance will mangle up

your body Until people can no longer tell

whether your Emmitt Till or not Tell them momma keep that

casket open Let all the world see it ain’t just

burning in Mississippi Hell, it’s hot wherever you be Told me America is the land of the

free, well I beg to differ When we’re dying swifter in a battle

against ourselves Who said the civil war is over when it’s

still sleeping in our back yards From the cell block, to the rooftop We’ve taken our first steps onto the

auction block We’ve become the livestock of a

country willing to sell our

lives away Or pave the way that leads us to

believe that we are our own enemy And we foolishly become part of this

disease which has no remedy And it doesn’t matter who you think

you are, in your mind don’t get

that idea stuck Cause unless you’re sitting in the oval

office, trust and believe me,

you’re fucked We have been shackled for so long

that we have forgotten how to

extend a hand To our fellow man and those in need There is no color, no race, no breed Just flesh and blood And that’s all there ever will be Just flesh and blood and bones Decaying on the roadside If we fail to realize that we’re share

the same sky Understand that our God above

watches us with the same eye From which he cries if we do not set

ourselves free

45 Libertad

untitled

By Matt Mueller, Guest Writer

intellectual masturbation on this narcissistic plantation performing unconscious castration to this desacralized nation here’s a sitting ovation but you fools need no motivation to continue your call for assimilation and integration meaning negation of distinct creation overcompensation for your mutation and spiritual alienation causing cultivation of misinformed education to ensure deprivation of the exploration of our divination Fahari 46

They tell me I am the fallen I have indeed done just that When I fall into categories of Stereotypical labels that slam My reality into the hands of another How can I say I am a brother What does it mean to be a black male?

When anything I do with whites Is used as black mail How can I address these issues How can I leave my stamp behind How can I be delivered from this Confusion From this indecisiveness I should not have to choose who I am I should already be People need to accept What is already me How I dress should not dictate The manner in which we speak How I speak should not dictate The manner in which we dress our words Can you feel this knowledge This profound realization that race is Just that A race to see who can dominate the realm The realm of what?

Our mind Let us judge a man not Let us judge a woman not Let us be and live To be free and give what we have In our hearts and mind lies the secret The cunning key to letting go of our Petty differences and nimble jealousies That can travel without directions To our emotions and cross the border Of our thoughts We need border control in our memories Before who we are simply fades Like December leaves.

The Stereo Type

By William Venn, Guest Writer

47 Libertad

Suicide

By Saki Rizwana, President

I am not suicidal, but my body is.

It aches from having to fit myself into this mold.

It aches from the stones you throw at it.

My bruises tell the story of your intolerance, of your ignorance, of your inability to accept me for who I am.

I am not suicidal, but my heart is.

It hurts from the words you throw at it.

Your words have sliced me open with their cruelty.

The cuts run long and deep, and I bleed rivers from my wrists to see if it could ease the pain.

But it never does.

I am not suicidal, but society is.

This society is bent on destroying those who don’t fit the mold.

It feeds on people’s insecurities and their fears, and turns us against each other.

It turns some into bullies and others into victims.

It gives some a reason to live and others a reason to die.

I am not suicidal, but if I am, it is society that has made me this way.

It has imprisoned me with ideas of what it means to be gay and straight and man and woman.

It has conned me into believing that I am not worthy of a chance at life because I do not fit!

It has enslaved my mind and made a cage out of my body And it has convinced me that the only way to freedom is through a release of my soul from this cage.

I hope this makes you see, that we are meant to be more thatn just the mold.

That my neck breaking on the noose of twisted words of hate you’ve spewed does nothing for me.

And it does nothing for you...

Fahari 48

Those Three Words

By Honey Brown, Staff Writer

Sweet kisses stolen when no one was watching A caress here and there Your hand sliding up beneath my dress Your fingers circling and sliding through my silk panties The sound of your breathing, quickening Feel your heart pounding through your chest You utter those three words and they kill me slowly and softly I love you…

Whispered words spoken in secret Remembering your sweet scent The touch of your hands The taste of your tongue When I ask you who you love more Is it me, or her You utter those three words and they kill me slowly and softly It’s not you…

49 Libertad

Crushing...

Yet Oh, So, Crushed

By Mosi-Chachawi Williams, Staff Writer Nigga got me crushing Oh Dee. Can’t get my mind off of him.

I’m trapped because I know I always do this Fall for a man that don’t want me, or one so far out of my reach.

I’m fighting it, so hard I’m fighting it because I know what the outcomes lead to He’s always on my mind Day, night, and all that in between.

All I wanna do is shrivel up and die.

I hear myself talk about it, and I’m like...yo I’m sprung… but then Ms. Keys is in the background singing You don’t even know my name.

But I already know so much about you.

Still tryna figure out if you’re that match tho.

Been heartbroken, so I’m still on guard.

Still hoping.

Oh I hate wondering Wondering why I keep putting my heart in jeopardy Why do I keep putting ME in Jeopardy Me in submission. Me on the back burner ‘Cause that’s exactly where I was before I met you.

Oh I digress.

But all I wanna feel is your smooth, tan skin.

Look into your warm brown eyes.

Ooh there it goes, putting my heart at risk, over some…over some…

Beautiful Adonis, and yet I’m crazy….

But why, why does my heart overshadow my head.

Why don’t I see the irrationality in it all…

Trapping myself in isolation, Bashing my head against the wall Wanting to rid myself of this feeling.

Can’t even contemplate asking you out My insecurities are too loud, too strong…too hard to hide.

But why should I be hiding who I am from you.

Yet I’ve never spoken to you. I don’t know what you like What you don’t like…

What I don’t like is how my emotions are on edge right now.

I can’t even deal with this.

So much on my plate, yet I still find room to crush on you.

Yet none of these emotions can you see yet.

I suppress them under a calm, cool, collective surface…FAKE Fake I tell you…I’m sweating profusely.

Love birds are chirping, but all I wanna do is shoot one down from the sky.

Yup…I’m crushing again, I love it yet I want someone to stab me so I don’t feel it when it hurts.

Fahari 50

Collision

By Shatera Gurganious, Editor-in-Chief

you pull me closer to you I want it, but I don’t want it to show I don’t want you to know that I’m aching for you anticipating your touch your skin on mine those beautiful lips touching every part of me tasting me I hold my breath trying not to moan and call out so sweet you taste so good I don’t want this to end you grab me, tell me I’m yours for the moment, I believe you give into the fantasy that all of me is what you desire and not just parts of me I run from the truth and crash into you our bodies collide momentarily we are one she’s no longer important all that matters is right now with your skin touching mine your soft caresses kisses you go deeper I let you in even though you don’t deserve it, damn it feels so good I lie to myself and say that you’re mine but you never were, never will be we embrace for this moment but I know come morning, it will just be a memory you were never really here this was never real

La Lluvia En Mi Cara

By Shatera Gurganious, Editor-in-Chief

Today I took a walk in the rain Slow strides, no umbrella to shield me from the wetness I look up into the sky, thinking, why do we run from the rain?

Why do we curse its arrival?

As the little drops hit me and tickle my face, I wonder...

Am I the only one that sees this beauty?

We wouldn’t be here without the rain What would replenish us?

Suddenly filled with joy I was tempted to kick up leaves and sing and dance But I feared I would look like a fool Maybe I am, for not recognizing this beauty sooner The rain stopped, it saddened me I wished it would return So that I could be soaked in its knowledge Once again 51 Libertad

Sonnet for My Grandmother (circa 1957)

By Roger Whitson, Staff Writer

Grandmother fed us black-eyed peas and ham Irish potatoes, hoe-cake bread and jam.

She milked her cow and from the milk she churned butter and she stored the milk in the spring.

When she scrubbed our clothes, I could hear her sing.

What practical knowledge I know I learned from her. She kept our house and worked the fields.

Grandmother made molasses and hoed corn and no sweeter woman was ever born.

And somehow she always fed us three meals a day on my grandfather’s meager pay.

As she said, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

She knew the Bible and taught us to pray.

She loved to laugh and was rarely forlorn.

Sonnet for My Grandfather (circa 1957)

By Roger Whitson, Staff Writer

I remember watching my grandpa plow brown loam between the long tobacco rows as I followed barefoot dirt ‘twixt my toes or played in the shade-a stone for a car.

Grandpa would pause in sweat soaked overalls to drink ice water from a Mason jar.

He could tell time by length of shadows cast.

O! How I loved his stories of times passed, of his childhood, of brothers sent to war.

I remember well grandpa’s big roan horse red as the berries that grow on sumac and never was a whip laid on its back for he followed quickly grandpa’s commands.

My grandpa was an honest workingman.

Fahari 52

“Change will come...with Revolution or Evolution. Which one are you waiting for?”

Photo Disclaimer — The nudity is a reference to the enslavement of Afrikans, thus tying in modern day enslavement to historical enslavement.

SoundsLIkeSlavery