SL blog post 1

Janet Audette

Activism:

This week was all about some research. After our sub-group meeting, where we discussed our plan of action for hosting the symposium, we decided to split up some of the work. My portion was to contact Lake Eola (in downtown Orlando) to request a facility to host our event. We were thinking that it would be a great place to contact other demographics and help to spread our word and perhaps gather more donations. Although I finally contacted the right person (Susan of Orlando Parks and Recreations gets an extremely long lunch break), our requests were not granted. There were simply too many lop holds and snags (AH , the simplicity of local governments…). Luckily, working in a large group has benefits as well as problems. We are able to split the work further, which allows tasks to be completed in a more timely manner but communication then becomes a bit of an issue.

Reflection:

The goals we are working towards and the information we are trying to spread are very connected to all of the ideas that we are learning in class. I was struck by a sentence that helped to put things in a bit of perspective for me. “This is the world in which I move uninvited, profane on a sacred land, neither me nor mine, but me nonetheless” (Minh-ha 1). Admittedly, in the text it made much less sense, but when applied to this project I seem to grasp her concepts much easier. Understanding the situation that the farm works are in, gives the text a tangible outlet for connection making. In terms of the farm workers current economic stand point in relation to the labor demanded of them; our text simply becomes much more realistic when applied to this project.

Reciprocity:

This project is allowing me to understand something that I have not previously had any knowledge. I readily admit to being ignorant of the situations that claim millions of farm workers across our nation. I am certainly more aware of the types of produce I purchase, where it comes from and who I will be supporting with my purchases. As far as the pesticides go, I think this will be a battle of mine for quite some time. I feel like it would be a wonderful project to push for a stricter regulation/screen process for pesticide use. So, I would say that this project is giving me the inspiration to work on yet more projects concerning the farm workers. I also feel that it is an extremely easy (and disgusting) scapegoat to classify carcinogens by a simple defect in molecule boding (or lack thereof). But alas, that is for another blog entirely… A feminist comparison of my enlightenment would be just that; curing my ignorance. The processes by which we (our group) move for a change mirror the feminist fight for rights in all economic and social avenues.

WORDS: 487

Trinh, T. Minh-Ha. Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1989. Print.