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week Ten. october 26

Link for this webpage: http://www.funkdafied.org/week-10.html
I. Welcome Back!

II. Reminders
  • Welcome to the new unit! Begin thinking about the final book that you will read.
  • ​Bringe earbuds!
​
III. Alexi Presents!
Next presenter: Christina
Presentation Line-Up:
Chris (week 12)

IV. alexi Presents . . .

V. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION: 
​"PUNKS, BULLDAGGERS, AND WELFARE QUEENS THE RADICAL POTENTIAL OF QUEER POLITICS?" (1997) by Cathy Cohen
In your homework, you read this 1997 essay named above.  It is a historical game-changer.   For today and next week, we ask ourselves: what is Black queer rhetoric?  What does it re-imagine for the world?  How does Cohen's argument constitute a Black Queer Rhetoric? 
​          "On the eve of finishing this essay my attention is focused not on how to rework the conclusion (as it should be) but instead on news stories of alleged racism at Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). It seems that three black board members of this largest and oldest AIDS organization in the world have resigned over their perceived subservient position on the GMHC board. Billy E. Jones, former head of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and one of the board members to quit, was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "Much work needs to he done at GMHC to make it truly inclusive and welcoming of diversity.... It is also clear that such work will be a great struggle. I am resigning because I do not choose to engage in such struggle at GMHC, but rather prefer to fight for the needs of those ravaged by H.I.V." (Dunlap).
           This incident raises mixed emotions for me, for it points to the continuing practice of racism many of us experience on a daily basis in lesbian and gay communities. But just as disturbingly it also highlights the limits of a lesbian and gay political agenda based on a civil rights strategy, where assimilation into, and replication of, dominant institutions are the goals. Many of us continue to search for a new political direction and agenda, one that does not focus on integration into dominant structures but instead seeks to transform the basic fabric and hierarchies that allow systems of oppression to persist and operate efficiently…."
                                                                                 ~Cathy Cohen
VI. Black, Gay & Pacifist: The Legacy of Bayard Rustin (1912-1987)
  • Have you heard of Bayard Rustin? If so, what do you know about him?
0:00-1:23... 6:46-11:15 
Brief Overview (Full)
"Turning Conflict into Creative Conflict"
Click here to read this memo that Bayard Rustin wrote to Martin Luther King. As you read:
  • What do you think of what Rustin says about the Montgomery Bus Boycott (#A)?  Please click here for info on the Boycott if you need that.
  • What do you think of Rustin's leadership style in his points in #B-G? 
  • How do you see Rustin shaping MLK's ideas?
  • Even if you have not heard of Rustin before, do you feel like you have been exposed to his thinking?  Please explain. 
Complete form below or click here: https://forms.gle/Z6GJYk2PHPGVMFbx5

VII. Closing discussion

How would you connect Black Feminist Rhetorical Impatience and Black Queer Rhetoric?