Texas

Experiments In A Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:05:00 +0000

Edited by Omi Osun Joni L. Jones, Lisa L. Moore, Sharon Bridgforth

In June 2009, I participated in a writing workshop with Sharon Bridgforth, not knowing what to expect and not knowing what I was expected to give. I only knew that I loved music, having already pledged my undying love for jazz at a young age, and that I loved writing; but I never intended to leave with a blueprint for the foundation of how I would put pen to paper from that point on. Since then, my writing has been centered in being present in the here and now, a soulful, deep listening, improvisation (which brings together both the aforementioned), and an integrity that refuses to deviate from what makes up what is known as the jazz aesthetic. It is always a work in progress, as it should be.

According to Austin Project founder Omi Osun Joni L. Jones, director of the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and Associate Professor of Performance Studies in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin, the Jazz Aesthetic Manifesto “is a way to forestall the erosion of human connection by bringing to voice women of color and those white women who are able to learn the role of allies.” Jazz has always been about being in the moment, listening to oneself and to one’s surroundings, improvisation, and continuous change. Those precepts are among the few that shaped themselves into the manifesto that would become the Austin Project.

The Austin Project (tAP) was started in 2002 with a stone etching that “all women-all people-are inherently creative, are artists in their own right, and that claiming this identity can be transformative for individuals and communities.” It provides a space for women of color and their allies to write and perform in a jazz aesthetic as a strategy for social change, be they writers, performers, doctors, or social workers. It consists of collaborators Lisa L. Moore, Associate Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at University of Texas at Austin, and Sharon Bridgforth, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of the bull-jean stories and love conjure/blues. Mentors and teachers of the women of tAP have included artistic nobility such as Laurie Carlos, Carl Hancock Rux, Virginia Grise, and Daniel Alexander Jones, to name a few.

Not often do I find it difficult to summarize the works of a collective into several hundred words; however, this is one of those times. Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic includes the works of some of the previously mentioned collaborative artists, as well as a veritable who’s who in all things to do with art, activism, and the academics. Jones wrote that in conceiving the Austin Project, she was trying to save her own life; consequently, many births seem to have taken place, for many artists have birthed a way of creating, organizing, and performing. Whether it is art, activism, or academia—being present, listening, body- centered, true to the both/and instead of the either/or all on an inclusive level all serve as the foundation with which to maintain the integrity of the jazz aesthetic. It is always a work in progress, as it should be.

Written by: Olupero R. Aiyenimelo, August 4th 2010

No Mexicans, Women or Dogs Allowed: The Rise of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:03:00 +0000

By Cynthia E. Orozco

University of Texas Press

So often, when studying the history of civil rights in the United States in school, the curriculum concentrates on the struggles faced by African Americans and white women. The plights of other minority groups though, such as Asian Americans or Hispanic Americans, are often omitted from the textbooks. In those rare instances when these other groups are mentioned, their histories are condensed into a paragraph or side note. Cynthia E. Orozco attempts to shed some light on one of these ignored civil rights movements in her book, No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed. Her chronicle is a fascinating exploration at an overlooked chapter of American history.

I grew up in Texas, graduated from a Texas university, and currently teach in the same district where I attended school as a youth. Suffice to say, I have some experience studying Texas history. I found Orozco’s book, which focuses mainly on the region of South Texas, to be extremely eye-opening. Orozco outlines the history and development of the Mexican American culture and civil rights movement, starting with the early 1900s and concentrating mostly on the cities of San Antonio and Corpus Christi. She draws readers in, not with flashy writing or hooks, but with historical data and simple statistics that are interesting and to the point.

The book starts out by defining the cultural differences between Mexican Americans whose families have lived in Texas since before it became a state and recently immigrated Mexicans—a difference that many modern Americans still struggle with. Orozco then delves into the history of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC as it is commonly known by, as well as other organizations that were influential in the Mexican-American civil rights movement. She also takes on the issue of gender inequality within Mexican-American society and how this affected the civil rights movement and modern scholars’ perception of the women who participated in it.

For those interested in American history, civil rights history, women’s history, or Mexican American history, this book should be at the top of your reading list. After completing this book, I found myself wanting to know more about the people and incidents discussed. One can only hope that more books like this one will be published so that people can be educated on all facets of the civil rights movement in America.

Written by: Victoria Kroeger, February 20th 2010

Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin

admin — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:31:00 +0000

By First Books

Ah, how luck changes. I once lived with my favorite person in my favorite neighborhood in my favorite city in the world: Austin, Texas. It was just the two of us. Quiet, peaceful and weird.

I also lived in what used to be my favorite apartment; it was perfect, until I unknowingly took in a flock of hungry, loved-starved fleas. Since that happened I have been fighting a constant war against these parasitic vermin. And it’s not just me. Every neighbor I know has the same problem—and many do not even own a pet, which leaves us all, for better or worse, scratching our heads and everywhere else for a solution.

And this is why I’m on a quest for a new home in a new neighborhood - one free of fleas - a space with no more inhabitants than my husband and me, with a wish that I can, once again, wear short shorts without being embarrassed by the bite marks on my legs. So, let me be the first to say that studying the Dallas-Forth Worth, Houston, and Austin Neighborhood Guide was paramount to me. As the marketers write in the cover, these guides are “designed to help you find the community that is right for you.”

It’s the first book in the series, and it’s chock full of valuable information about community publications, police departments, post offices, hospitals, libraries, schools, parks, websites and public transportation. It coverage includes the ins and outs of neighborhoods near and far, and it even speaks to the scintillating suburban areas of Dallas-Forth Worth, Houston, and Austin; fair suburbs, I raise my strip-mall purchased glass to thee! The book also chronicles the history of each different area, albeit from the perspective of a white, middle-class, male-leaning perspective.

The authors undoubtedly favor families, too, and though I have yet to help overpopulate the planet myself, I really have found its scrupulous details helpful in my new home search. The deft research deserves applause, but the book might be more enjoyable if it offered information about the shops, restaurants, and cultural aspects—you know, the things that make a neighborhood, well, a neighborhood.

While it’s not an even mildly entertaining read, the book might prove useful. So, if you’re living in or planning a move to Dallas, Houston, or Austin, it will give you an idea of your new surroundings. But you might, by serendipity, find a pub in one of the neighborhoods described and enjoy a nice beer in place of the cost of the book.

Written by: Laura Koffler, September 1st 2007

An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers Politicos Polluters and The Fight For Seadrift, Texas

admin — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:55:00 +0000

By Diane Wilson

Chelsea Green Publishing

Diane Wilson may hail from Texas, but An Unreasonable Woman, which takes the reader from the Gulf Coast to Taiwan and back, is no tall tale. In 1989, Wilson, a shrimper and mother of five, read a newspaper article reporting that her native Calhoun County (pop. 15,000) was the most polluted county in the nation. When she started inquiring about the chemicals being dumped into her beloved San Antonio Bay, getting the cold shoulder from government officials and the polluters only made Wilson more determined.

The book chronicles three years of Wilson's fight against chemical dumping by Taiwanese firm Formosa Plastics, while the company proposed to build a $1 billion facility in the area. Detailing corruption, death threats, lawsuits, worker intimidation and even attempts on Wilson's life, An Unreasonable Woman reads like a fast-paced political novel, and you almost can't believe it's real. Particularly angering is the chapter about Wilson's discovering that the Environmental Protection Agency knows about Formosa's illegal dumping, but won't prosecute – despite the fact that many of the chemicals are carcinogenic. (The book also notes that four counties along the Texas Gulf Coast have much higher rates of lung cancer than the rest of the nation.)

Wilson creates a memorable cast of characters that include friends, family, local politicos and environmental activists. Her writing is as captivating as the events that shaped the book: You can almost smell the waterfront, see the chemical clouds rising from the towers on the horizon, and hear the truck brakes squeal when one of the local fishermen is on the run from game wardens. You want to cheer her successes and cry for her defeats; her marriage is a casualty of her activism.

Despite all, Wilson absolutely will not give up. When she can't get hearings, she takes her protests to the streets. When she can't get legislators to return her calls, she befriends reporters. When her pro bono attorney tells her she should quit, she goes on a hunger strike. And she does all of this, amazingly, while being the primary caregiver of her five children.

Since negotiating agreements with Formosa, Wilson has become a self-described "radicalized woman," staging hunger strikes and other acts of civil disobedience all over the country. Whether fighting for justice of chemical plant leaks in Bhopal, India or calling for an end to the war in Iraq, Wilson's courage is an inspiration for anyone who believes in social justice.

Written by: M.L. Madison, February 15th 2007

The Education of Shelby Knox: Sex, Lies & Education

admin — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:39:00 +0000

Directed by Marion Lipschutz, Rose Rosenblatt

Incite Pictures

Good Southern Baptist girls pledge abstinence until marriage; rarely do they take on the school board in a battle for comprehensive sex education. Shelby Knox did both-and made national headlines in the process. The Education of Shelby Knox: Sex, Lies & Education, chronicles both Knox’s fight for information and her own questioning of her religious upbringing. As she struggles to push the school board of Lubbock, Texas to go beyond its abstinence-only sex education policy, she also challenges the narrow views her church has taught her. It’s an honest, compelling story that opened the doors for a national dialogue about what teens are-or aren’t-being taught about sex, and the consequences. Knox’s story begins during her sophomore year. She can’t reconcile the district’s official sex education policy, "no sex before marriage," with the fact that Lubbock has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STI infection in the nation. "People just really ignore pregnant girls at my school," she says, noting that teachers in the district risk getting fired if they stray from the official line that abstinence is the only way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Despite her own commitment to remain a virgin until she gets married, Knox spearheads the Lubbock Youth Commission’s efforts to get more information. Just fifteen when she starts this quest, Knox bucks her own pastor, who criticizes her transition to becoming a "liberal" Christian, and compares showing students how to use condoms to showing kids how to use guns. Undaunted by a superintendent who won’t return the Youth Commission’s phone calls, and a principal who tells her that the school board "had warned him" about her, Knox spends three years on a tireless crusade in the name of comprehensive sex education. Undaunted by the adults who treat her as a child, she insists to her parents that her mission is worth the toll it’s taking on her emotionally. She also takes on a new goal: getting the district to approve a gay-straight alliance at her school. She even meets with the head of the right-wing Family Values Coalition, asking him not to object to the teens’ efforts, and doesn’t hesitate to talk back when he challenges her standing as a good Christian.

In the end, Knox didn’t persuade him, or the school board, to take her side. Rather than confront the issue at hand, the City of Lubbock decides to yank the Youth Commission’s funding. Sold out by the Commission’s politically aspiring youth mayor, Knox resigns after three years of fighting. Although she says it’s the first time she tried to do something and failed, one can’t help coming away with the sense that Knox-and the filmmakers-won. Knox, and the documentary, sparked a national debate that no one anticipated. Filmmakers Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt told PBS that when they started making the documentary in 2001, no one wanted to talk about sex education, including a prospective funder who told them that "culture wars are over." Five years later, that’s hardly the case.

Knox continues to push for comprehensive sex education in Texas, where she is studying public policy at the University of Texas at Austin, and schools across the country are engaged in a debate about what should be taught. Don’t think that the abstinence-only policy is limited to conservative Southern states, either; Lipschutz notes that her son’s school outside of New York City "won’t talk about abortion and is giving incomplete information on how HIV/AIDS is transmitted." Twenty minutes away from where I live near Portland, Oregon, across the Washington state border, several school districts teach abstinence-only education. And although it’s considered a "blue" state, Washington doesn’t require schools to teach medically accurate sex education information. State Representative Brian Blake is one of the legislators fighting to pass a bill that would require medically accurate information. His district includes Cowlitz County, which currently has the state’s highest rate of gonorrhea and has high rates of teen pregnancy and other sexually transmitted diseases. Blake, a Democrat, says he can’t understand "for the life of me" why legislators would oppose students having access to medically accurate information. "Abstinence-only education puts kids at risk," he says. "I think we have an obligation to give them age-appropriate information that allows them to make informed decisions. We know that our kids are getting pregnant, and we’ve got to drive the rate of (teen) pregnancy down, and the rate of disease down. You would hope that every home had supportive parents that had open communication with their children, but unfortunately, that’s not the reality that we’re in." If Washington had an advocate like Knox, they’d get a dose of reality pretty quickly.

Written by: M.L. Madison, November 20th 2006