[BEHNAN ALBAHSAHLI]

For this week’s photo share surrounding Standing Rock and #NoDAPL, I wanted to center the focus of my writing on the significance of water to indigenous peoples, and water’s critical role in indigenous people’s lives.

This week, I followed the hashtag #MniWiconi on Instagram, and read through different reflections surrounding the significance of water. The reflections provided supplemental information into the importance of water, adding on to our discussion in lecture surrounding water’s importance.

The photo I shared below had a very powerful caption, that shared some strong reflections surrounding the versatility of water and its central role it plays within ourselves. These reflections were very well constructed, and added on to the material I had gained from class.

These reflections on the Instagram page added to my understanding of what it means to be a water protector. Indigenous peoples’ emphasis on the central role of water in our lives is held true in the photos that I found because of our dependency on clean water for life. Through this recognition, protecting water has been a core element in indigenous life.

 

Photo source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Br-kUELl87_/

 

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[BEHNAN ALBAHSAHLI]

A concept from this week’s themes that I would like to focus on for this week’s photo share is the concept of intersectionality, and the different ways in which I see it operate in my daily life.

Because the concept of intersectionality is such a crucial one, it deserves the acknowledgement and space in all avenues of discussion and thought. One avenue that I have come across in my daily life that emulates the concept of intersectionality is the instagram page, When She Rises. When She Rises is an intersectional art exchange that focuses on social justice, ecology, and matriarchy, amongst many other things. What I really enjoy about this Instagram account is how central intersectionality is to their artwork, and how the page really stresses the importance of an intersectional approach to activism and the fight for women.

The page has discussed through several posts the importance of intersectionality in the fight for all women’s rights. Like our discussions in lecture, the page also reflects how intersectional feminism is what allows us to understand the individual, various experiences of different women.

The photo I have shared is one of the intersectional art pieces on the instagram account.

Photo Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/BtOmTZvhz-v/

 

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[BEHNAN ALBAHSAHLI]

My greatest takeaway from the theme of the week, the Black Lives Matter movement, is the emphasis of the movement on reparations and healing. In our discussions in lecture, we talked about how this movement is unique in this aspect and how this has allowed for the Black Lives Matter movement to stand unique amongst other movements. In my own life, I have seen the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement on individuals, institutions, and businesses. The BLM movements’ incorporation of this crucial concept is necessary for its success and to further its goals. One example of a business influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement, GreenBoxShop, embodies the core beliefs of the movement. This online shop sells politically conscious clothing that embody the core values of the Black Lives Matter movement, and serves as a continuum of the movement’s agenda.

 

MAKE AMERICA PAY REPARATIONS

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[BEHNAN ALBAHSAHLI]

For this week’s photo share, I wanted to relate the concepts that we discussed in class to something personal. Our discussion of student activism and protests surrounding the fight for the department of Ethnic Studies can be compared to relatively recent action that took place on our campus around three years ago.

Our University’s campus is structured in a way that tries to limit student protests and gatherings. Because of these plentiful structural limitations, our once politically active campus relatively seldom engages in radical action. There are some instances that I have witnessed in my time at UCSD that challenged these structures, and allow us to envision the university as a more politically active space.

The largest action (in quantity of protestors) that I have witnessed at UCSD was after the first travel ban from Muslim-majority countries. In the photo that I have attached, I find it very interesting to note how even though the university has been constructed in a way to limit the masses of people from gathering, protestors continued to gather in breaking numbers. Even though gathering on campus might feel slightly tricky due to the uneven/narrow walking spaces, people continued to gather and congregate in extraordinary numbers.

 

Photo source: http://triton.news/2017/01/ucsd-msa-statement-immigration-ban/

 

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[BEHNAN ALBAHSAHLI]

For this week’s photo share, I really wanted to discuss a hip hop artist in the music industry whose music requires a lot of dissection and investment in order to understand the messages in their pieces. As an individual who choses one artist at a time to invest a good amount of energy into listening, understanding, and reading their work, I didn’t really have a comprehensive list of artists to chose from. One group of artists that I had the chance to listen to was the hip hop boyband Brockhampton. I took a lot of interest in this music group around a year ago, because both the sound and the messages of the group were appealing and required me to actively listen in order to understand what messages the artists were trying to convey. The boyband relates to this theme of the week in that their works contain information that challenges bodies of information that are fed to our societies. Brockhampton discusses in their music topics that are not being addressed in our societies, such as toxic masculinity, racism, and rape culture. Brockhampton like many other musicians/music groups in the genre of hip hop are continuously addressing issues in society that need to be discussed.

Photo Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/3ac96b4c-4f42-48c8-b793-84dbf54d7ac6

Date of photo unknown

 

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[BEHNAN ALBAHSAHLI]

One aspect of this week’s theme that really resonated with me was from our discussion on Friday in defining what it means to be a good ally, and interracial solidarity. I tried to relate these questions to myself on a personal level and reflect on how I see interracial solidarity act within my community, and within individuals that hold similar identities with myself. I immediately thought of Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian  American Muslim activist that has been working within the both the American Muslim and American community at large to shed light on political issues that impact our society as a whole. Sarsour’s activism is not limited to her own struggles navigating as an American Muslim in this  current political climate, but rather engages in interracial solidarity through organizing action/marches for other marginalized communities as well.

Photo was taken on April 13, 2015 at the March 2 Justice protesting police brutality.

Photo Source: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/9/linda-sarsours-rising-profile-reflects-new-generation-of-muslim-activists.html

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[BEHNAN ALBAHSAHLI]

When reflecting back on this week’s themes, one aspect that really stuck with me was in regards  to James Baldwin, and him leaving the United States to reside in a foreign country due to the racism he was facing endlessly. I thought it would be interesting to compare the departure of James Baldwin to the arrival of refugees to the United States in the current political climate. In both cases, individuals are departing the country of which they reside to a foreign land with hopes of a better future. The United States in these two scenarios holds two opposing stances. On one hand it is perceived as a place of refuge (even though it is perpetuating violence abroad and creating refugees in the first place), and on the other it is the perpetrator of violence and exclusion.

 

Photo Source: https://www.aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/muslim-ban-loses-court-again

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[BEHNAN ALBAHSAHLI]

The photo that I chose was taken on March 26, 1964 at the U.S. Senate after a hearing for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The picture captures Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X meeting for the first time. At this time, Malcolm and MLK both had different philosophical views and approaches to their activism. Even though their interaction was short lived, this picture lives on to analyze their journeys in activism side by side forever. The reason why I chose this picture is because I enjoy how it represents an opportunity for me to analyze the active work of both of these influential individuals side by side. Similar to the theme of the week, through this picture I was able to view their work timelessly and draw on the shifts in their views through a comparative perspective.

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