Weekly Activism Log #4

This past Sunday we finally got to do our Garden Day in Fellsmere with the migrant farm workers. It was a very interesting day. We got to a bit of a late start, but when we arrived we were happily greeted. After some speaking and eating lunch we got outside to do the actual work. I started off in the bamboo group. We drove over to a road with bamboo trees all along the side. We cut and bundled a bunch of bamboo to bring back to the garden. Then we continued to cut the bamboo and stick it in the ground around the plants. I had no idea why we were doing this until later, but I just tried to do my best. Later we tied strings around the bamboo and created lines of the string throughout the garden. I learned this is to support the tomato plants so that they don’t fall over because of the weight of the fruit. We also did many other things like spreading manure around the fields and so on.

It was cool that we were able to use our activism to help others because we really got a lot done. However, we definitely helped ourselves much more than we helped them. We were able to get to know these workers and experience a tiny bit of what they experience. It definitely created a new respect for the workers, at least to me. I think this is something everyone should do. Gathering together as women to see firsthand the cause that we are fighting for is something irreplaceable. It is important to realize that just because we are willing to help, doesn’t mean we know the best way to help. The workers we worked alongside were brilliant and beautiful people that obviously know way more than I about their struggles. I still don’t know the best way for us to organize as women’s groups or feminists, but I know that we need to not only educate ourselves on what we are fighting for, but also really create knowledge through getting on the same level as those who actually experience it. Basically, we cannot feel as if we are above in some way or fighting for, rather we are fighting with.

This week was definitely the most impactful for me personally. I have gained infinite amounts of things that I cannot even fully express. I have gained knowledge, respect, and love for migrant farm workers.

My Year of Meats- Class Discussion 4/5

In My Year of Meats the television network wants to portray the American family as a white middle to upper class family with two to three children. I decided to read an article about the change of family types. In the article “The American Family Transformed” it looks at families in the 1960s compared to families in the 1990’s. This article criticizes the ideal of the nuclear family as a norm because it is something that has changed over the decades. The article explains how the ideal of the nuclear family cannot exist as the majority in our society anymore considering over half of all marriages end in divorce. Also, women’s priorities have changed since before women used to stay home, but now many more want to go out into the workforce rather than focusing on having a large family. Another issue that takes away from the ideal of the white nuclear family as a norm is the amount of teenage parents. Adolescents having children has been on the rise over the past decades. The article goes on to address the issues and problems that can come about because of these changes in the family, and the need for support and assistance in order to help these different family types be as positive as they believe the nuclear family to be.

I am not trying to address which family type is best by reviewing this article. I am simply trying to address the importance of realizing there are different family types, aside from the white, nuclear family that I believe need to be represented, and so does Jane from My Year of Meats.

Works Cited

Hamburg, David A. "The American Family Transformed." Society 30.2 (1993): 60-69. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Apr. 2011.

Weekly Activism Log #3

This week was a difficult week for me specifically because I was very ill and it was also the week of our collaboration movie night with HASA. I worked through my sickness in order to flyer some and help out with our movie night. Last week I spent a lot of time screening movies so we could show the best possible one. However, the difficulties that come with copyright laws and such prevented us from having a wide variety to choose from. We ended up watching Troubled Harvest, which was filmed in 1990, so it wasn’t as current as I would have liked, but it still showed the issues. I think the movie night was a success. Some petitioners came and spoke to us about signing a petition in order to have our voices heard as UCF students about the immigration law that has been passed in California and could possibly be passed here. Also, Dominique from YAYA came and spoke to us for a few minutes.

Overall, it was very informative. We were able to learn about the issues facing the migrant women farm workers as well as the political issues that could potentially affect them as well. It was cool because we were able to take an issue and teach others about it and help them learn more about what they can do. According to Trinh Minh-ha, on the other hand, we may all be doomed. Surely, our movie night contributed to the “othering” of the migrant farm workers. However, I don’t see how else we can teach people about what is going on around them without speaking up for those who don’t have a voice.

This week I haven’t gotten a lot out of our project. I continue learning more about the issue, but I haven’t experienced anything major. I am really looking forward to Sunday when we will be going to work with the actual migrant farm workers. I am excited to meet and learn about the women firsthand.

Works Cited

Minh-ha, Trinh T. Women, Native, Other. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana Univeristy Press, 1989. Print.