Aneesa A. Baboolal

The Magic Children: Racial Identity at the End of the Age of Race

farhana — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

“I used to think that I was Indian. The world was filled with magic children, living in America under the spell of race. But one day I learned that racial identity was just something to imagine about myself, and I devoted several years of careful thought on the matter. Then shortly, before that century turned into this one, before the old millennium became a young one, I decided to give it up.” —Roger Echo-Hawk, The Magic Children

So begins Roger Echo-Hawk’s exploration of the deconstruction of race in his personal account of identity, ultimately ending with his abandonment of the concept of race. He examines the fact that race has been scientifically discredited by biologists, geneticists, and anthropologists yet society continues to allow the idea of race to thrive. Echo-Hawk emphasizes that race is an inherently dehumanizing concept therefore; racial identity must be rejected in order to embrace a larger acceptance of humanity. “Race tells us a lie—a lie that defaces the true nature of humanity,” Echo-Hawk notes. The concept of race is oversimplified in order to categorize people (or divide) without considering the complex uniqueness of heritage.

Echo-Hawk’s journey into his past and an exploration of his mixed heritage of being White, Indian, and Mexican shapes The Magic Children. These terms reflect on his life once early childhood teaches him a lesson that follows him throughout the course of his adulthood: that he is viewed differently because of his “race” (essentially, the color of his skin). Roger Echo-Hawk questions terms like Mexican (as it reflects national citizenship and not race) as well as Hispanic (as it implies ethnicity and culture but not race). His separation of racial identity is not as complex as the ideology of race as Echo-Hawk carries us through his lifetime in an array of short stories that leads the reader to an understanding of how race has affected his life. These interweaving stories include young Echo-Hawk as a schoolboy, throughout his hippie and college years and later on his reflection on life changing moments. As a student who has participated in programs that assists minority students with funding, Echo-Hawk’s analysis of being an “Indian” in Boulder, Colorado was personally profound to me as it depicted the way in which the education system continues to utilize race negatively. For instance, the rejection of race can have severe repercussions. Hypothetically, a minority student who abandons the idea of “race” and does not fit the standards for funding based on under-representation in a certain field faces the risk of being excluded from assistance that may be vital to their future successes.

The urge to integrate one’s journey with Echo-Hawk’s is inevitable. His understanding, acceptance and the freedom that he has found with embracing the non existence of a racial identity is almost ideal. Echo-Hawk encourages the reader to step outside of one identity and explore not just the various complex identities that reside in all of us but also the identities that are assigned to us by outsiders. The Magic Children is a journey of recognizing those differences as an external factor and uniting to demobilize race by denying it the power to construct our social realities. Everyone’s journey is different, the process of being under the “spell” of race is complex but the ability to free oneself from the confines of a label that segregates humanity is in itself the magic that will help us all move beyond racial identity.

Written by: Aneesa A. Baboolal, March 28th 2011

Whitewash: The Disturbing Truth about Cow’s Milk and Your Health

farhana — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

By Joseph Keon

New Society Publishers

Joseph Keon’s Whitewash aims to provide enlightenment on the industrialization of dairy farms: a place where happy cows no longer exist. Keon, a wellness consultant, nutritionist and fitness expert examines the production of milk while emphasizing the negative impact it has on the health of American consumers. It also helps that John Robbins, the son of the founder and owner of Baskin-Robbins ice cream company provides endorsement in the foreword of the book.

Keon builds on the fact that bone fractures and osteoporosis rates remain higher in countries with a higher intake of calcium (like the United States) and attributes this to the inability to retain the nutrient. However, he also explores a host of other potential illnesses that milk contributes to including acne, allergies (lactose intolerance) and heart disease. However, at times his scientific truth appears to be stretched as he demonizes cow’s milk to also contribute to Crohn’s disease, cancer, and infertility, not recognizing other potential factors. He also discusses obesity and the forty billion dollar diet industry.

However, one cannot help but feel that he may be part of that industry as well as he spends a chapter endorsing veganism. At times, there is simply not enough scientific evidence to place a significant proportion of the blame on the dairy industry. It is also never considered that there may be other components of milk that are causing this reaction in humans. Unless of course you consider the poisons present in America’s favorite source of calcium.

Whitewash points out the obvious existence of pesticides and natural growth hormones in milk (it is meant for baby calves, after all). However, Keon goes a step further and discusses the existence of rabies in unpasteurized milk, a onetime incident of flame retardant being mixed in with cow’s feed and other chemicals present in milk. These brief incidents in his book only weaken his overall argument as it seems a bit overreaching since it cannot be a basis for each gallon of milk in every freezer section across America. It can be agreed though that our health, physical inactivity and overall exposure to drugs (and chemicals) can be attributed to the price that we pay for living in a modern society in comparison to the rest of the world.

Essentially, a deep analysis of other imperfect industries (for instance, chicken, livestock, and the consumption of eggs) would potentially produce similar results. Keon has demonized cow’s milk similarly to the blame placed on high fructose corn syrup and the corn industry that was initially one of the scapegoats for the obesity epidemic facing America. Additionally, the alternatives Keon provides to dairy are essentially idealistic as the consumers of cow’s milk would now be relegated to investing more money into alternatives to get vitamins A, D, K and calcium which may not be feasible. International alternatives are also not provided. If cow’s milk in the United States is so detrimental to our health, does that mean that imported powdered milk can be a replacement? This is highly unlikely since so much emphasis was placed on the fat content of the milk itself.

Whitewash may not set the ardent milk consumer straight, but it will allow us to take a second look at the fat content. However, the average low/medium income family will not be rushing out any time soon to pay higher prices for calcium alternatives. Perhaps further insight on the dairy industry itself would sway the average milk drinker into sympathizing for the unhappy cows across America.

Written by: Aneesa A. Baboolal, March 27th 2011

All of Us

annette — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Directed by Emily Abt

Pureland Pictures

Emily Abt's emotionally stirring documentary, All of Us, takes us not just on a journey from the South Bronx to Ethiopia and back, but to a place deep within ourselves. The film follows Dr. Mehret Mandefro, as she embarks on a mission to uncover the truth behind the startling statistics regarding women of color and HIV infections in the United States. According to the film, African-American females compose approximately 12% of the population, yet according to the 2005 CDC report, a staggering 66 % of this minority accounted for new infections with the virus in the United States. The dynamics of power, control and domination play a role in the rising rate of HIV infections. However, other crucial factors are also explored including social roles, the exploitation of women and a prison culture that allows the epidemic to thrive.

The film takes us into the personal lives of two HIV positive women struggling with not just their health but with the effects of being a disadvantaged minority. Chevelle, an addict since she was a teenager, is recently clean, raising a family and looking forward to her upcoming wedding. Positive and motivated, she is determined to get an education and to share her life experience with young African-American women who may be about to follow the same destructive path that she once did. Tara, on the other hand, is not just battling HIV but also cervical cancer. However, her deepest personal struggle may be her inability to say no to her partner given her painful past experiences of sexual abuse and rape. Her relationship is on the rocks as her fear and frailness do not hinder her boyfriend from pressuring her to have sexual relations as she is recovering from surgery.

Perhaps the real power struggle confronts the viewer when we see Dr. Mandefro herself become vulnerable in her personal life. Not just this experience but also her visit to her home country, Ethiopia, a country that has the sixth largest AIDS infection rate in the world, as well as a 'truth circle' with her privileged friends leads her to the conclusion that strong educated women are also facing a silent power struggle in the bedroom. This may be one of the most significant aspects of the film, as it emphasizes that this is not a social class issue as it may initially be perceived to be. The reality is that young, educated, empowered women are also vulnerable and risk infection because of the dynamics that thrive in their personal relationships.

All of Us is not about a young Ethiopian-American doctor, nor is it about HIV-positive women residing in the South Bronx. It is about us as women. It is the story of every woman, what we know versus what is expected of us, and ultimately, the decisions we make given the circumstances that society and culture have thrust upon us. At the core of this film is a moving realization of empowerment. It is the reality that regardless of social status, education or economic advantage we all still live as women in a society where men may have the final say not just in how we live, but rather in how we die.

Written by: Aneesa A. Baboolal, September 23rd 2010