Occupy your closet?

As part of the Occupy movement, I am participating in a teach-in on my campus on November 3. I will be doing it in the Fashion and Consumer Culture course which will be conveniently in the middle of a unit on sustainability. When I saw the teach-in notice, I immediately saw the connection between economic injustice and consumerism, but I wonder how much I will have to explain to get students into the conversation. What do you see connecting the two?

My Earth Day rant

My Twitter friend, Amy (AKA @UUatHome), recently posted a reflection about living green with small children. It's a familiar story, and a timely one as we approach another Earth Day. Most American adults living today have grown up hearing the messages of conservation and environmentalism. I was not quite twenty-one on April 22, 1970, a college student caught up in activism on multiple fronts. It seemed to me at that time that my generation, through the sheer force of numbers, would be able to alter the destructive course our culture was pursuing. Now in my sixties, I look around with a heavy heart and feel that we failed.

I covered this territory in an Earth Day post in 2008, when I was feeling more optimistic.

But the power of the environmental movement, for me, is that the personal level means something. There WAS something I could do; in fact there were lots of things. I could choose to live and work near public transportation. I could grow and cook my own food. I could have no more than two children. I could redefine the American Dream for myself and my family, and raise young adults who shared that dream. I could live and consume consciously, with open eyes.

Why so glum today? Let me list a few reasons: Van Jones being run out of the White House by a demagogue. BP oil spill. Japanese nuclear reactor. Fracking. GOP governors canceling high-speed rail projects. GOP House of Representatives trying to defund the EPA. A Democratic White House sending mixed messages about its commitment to the environment.

All the bicycling, recycling and freecycling in the world won't do a damn thing if those in power are determined to sell out humanity for personal gain. Lately I have been nursing a baby conspiracy theory of my own: they are all aliens, and they need to rebuild their spaceships so they can get out of dodge and rendezvous with the mothership. That's why they don't care about the damage they are doing; they won't be here to see it.

Seriously. All the green initiatives by individuals and communities and -- yes -- corporations won't amount to a hill of beans if we don't elect leaders who support environmentalism. Get out your checkbooks and your canvassing shoes, people. There's an election coming, and it's a big one.

Christina and Zoe

Since the horrible events in Tucson, Arizona, my thoughts have been drawn to two little girls, both about nine years old. Had they met, these two vivacious, outgoing children might have been great friends, but their lives only intersected on a single day: September 11, 2001. On that bright Tuesday, as we know too well, Christina Taylor Greene was born, a symbol of hope in a terrible, frightening time. That very morning, Zoe Falkenberg, just two months shy of her 9th birthday, had boarded American Airlines flight 77 with her parents and 3-year-old sister on her way to an adventure in Australia.

Zoe's mom was a former colleague; we were also neighbors, members of the same babysitting co-op. September 11 will always summon up Zoe's face, and my still-confused horror that anyone could be so villainous as to look at that child and see a de-humanized, symbolic target for their hatred. Of all the victims in Tucson, it is Christina whose face and story haunt me, somehow joined now with Zoe in the sad trajectory of our recent past.

There were children born all over America on January 8, 2011. What kind of America awaits them in 2020? What can we do to break this destructive cycle of hatred, dehumanization and destruction? Minister better to poor in spirit? Pursue more just policies, here and abroad? Address our culture's embrace of violence? Speak to each other with respect and care? Turn away from those in the media who profit from inflaming our fear and anger?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. For the next Zoe, the next Christina and your children and mine. For Glenn Beck's children and Barack Obama's children. For all of us.

Race, Twitter and Melissa Harris Perry

This may seen like a sudden shift of topic, but it is, in fact, directly linked to my last post. In explaining my teaching objectives, I listed two examples of what I meant by "thinking, listening and being present":

It means learning to recognize that we each experience life from our own unique position in time and point of view, shaped by our identity. It means listening to others' opinions and experiences and being able to understand them in the contexts of their own unique humanity.

That evening, an example of this way of thinking played out on The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC). Like many news organizations, the show included a segment on President Obama's comments about Michael Vick's second chance in the NFL. The host then brought in frequent contributor Melissa Harris Perry, a Princeton professor often asked to comment on race, gender and politics. In a very short time (actually three minutes less than she thought she had) Perry attempted to lay out the very complex history and multiple viewpoints involved in the controversy. I thought she did well, probably because it's a topic I already know and could fill in some of the blanks. Apparently the Maddow show audience did not agree. Her email inbox was flooded with angry messages, and her Twitter stream caught fire.

Professor Perry uses Twitter better than just about anyone I know, and she followed up her Maddow appearance with a series of 140-character posts that served as a mini-lecture on the nuances of America's racial history as played out most recently in the Michael Vick controversy. She even provided the slides from a class lecture/discussion that occurred when a PETA demonstration at Princeton angered African American students by comparing animal cruelty to slavery. The "twecture" and the class slides can be found at Mediaiate.

How does this connect to my post? We are fortunate today to have a multitude of ways to connect and interact with others, including people with very different lives and views. How well those conduits serve us depends on our own inclination to think and LISTEN to those views, and to understand that they come from real, living breathing people who are trying to tell us their "truths". The real truth -- if there is one at all -- may be theirs, or ours, or some yet-undiscovered truth. When we communicate only in one direction, or only with our own "tribe", it doesn't matter if we are speaking face-to-face or using the latest sophisticated social network. We do not learn.

Twitter can be an amazing tool for listening to a multitude of viewpoints, and for engaging with earnest questioners. Melissa Harris Perry has it right, in a tweet posted towards the end of the exchange:

Completely possible that I've explained nothing, but hopefully at least raised some questions. As always Tweeps provoke & engage.

Spoken like a true teacher!

Update: Professor Perry has posted her own follow-up at The Nation.com.

The hard days ahead

We may not be re-living the Great Depression, but this is as close as I ever want to come. Thanks to the surviving New Deal safety nets, those much-aligned government bailouts, and a modest federal stimulus, the economy is recovering -- slowly. Keep in mind that two years into the Great Depression, Hoover was still President and the economy was still sinking. I heard on the radio this morning that it may take four or five years to restore the millions of jobs lost during the recession, to the point where everyone who wants to work has a job and is working to their desired capacity.

My husband and I are fortunate. We have secure jobs, and my full-year, half pay sabbatical two years ago reacquainted us with frugal habits that still serve us well. But the last two year's political kabuki, culminating in the shameful unemployment insurance extension vs. tax cuts lame duck congressional drama has convinced me that it is serious hunker time.

What do I mean by hunkering down? I don't mean withdrawing into my shell, taking care of myself and building walls to protect my safe little world. There's too much of that attitude around, as it is. Here's the deal:

Whatever the government does that is going to work, it's going to take a while. (If we are lucky, the bad stuff will also take its time to manifest itself. Some silver lining!) So it's up to me to make sure the people in my immediate circle survive the hard days ahead. That means supporting my son until he gets work. Entertaining more at home, because it not only saves money, but feeds bodies and souls. Working through my communities to neighbors in need. Supporting local nonprofits who are taking of the slack when government programs are cut back.

This doesn't mean I've given up on political activism. I will be watching our leaders and I have an excellent memory. Any politician who blocks good ideas for the sake of partisan politics or cold ideology -- should consider that a warning.

Poison Politics: Confessions of a Not-so-nice White Lady

Don't get me wrong; most of the time I am just about the nicest person you've ever met. The UU first principle, to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, is central to my world view. Most of the time. But now and then,  -- have you ever seen the old Disney cartoon when mild-mannered Goofy becomes a "motormaniac" behind the wheel? (Linked below) That's me when I consume too much partisan political media. Twitter, Facebook, Huffington Post, Time's Swampland -- all my favorite haunts are danger zones for me these days. Information is good; in fact, reliable information is essential to forming an intelligent opinion. Intelligent opinion, likewise, is awesome. Sadly, reliable information and intelligent opinion do not have the entertainment value of opinions full of snark, satire and bile, especially when I agree with those opinions. It can be even more delightful to add my own sarcastic zinger to a re-post or comment thread.

But I am growing tired of their bitter aftertaste. I feel the need, more and more these days, to mind my acid tongue, to pause and edit, to delete that mean-spirited tweet. I am trying to generate a more reasonable ambiance, even in my own little corner of the internet. Later on today, I am going to split my "political" list on Twitter into two groups: the sane and the snarky. Then, I plan to make every effort to maximize my consumption of good information and rational opinion and moderate my exposure to political venom. I will try  VERY, VERY hard to pass along only what is constructive, especially in the broadcast spaces of Twitter, Facebook and blogging. 

Because keeping the "Nice" alive is important.

I don't want to be like Mr. Wheeler:

Legalize Hemp!

Glory Hallelujah! Is sanity finally returning to our shores?

Hemp Bill Introduced In Congress

A snippet:
The United Sates is the only nation that blocks its farmers from growing hemp, though hemp products are legal to import and to sell. Somebody would have to smoke several acres worth of hemp, which has negligible psychoactive properties, for that policy to make any sense.
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Hemp is a great, environmentally-friendly fiber. If you care about green fashion and sensible policies, let your congresscritter know you support this bill.

Michelle Obama's help not enough for J. Crew

Just a quick link from my Saturday morning browse. J.Crew is eliminating 95 positions in its New York offices and suspending 401(k) company matching contributions. No merit-based pay increases, either. There's a still a chance that the Obama ladies can have an effect: watch the fall collection for styles like those worn by Sasha and Malia at the inauguration.

I used to love J. Crew, and used to have two identical denim skirts (I hemmed one at knee length and left the other mid-calf). But I dropped them back in the early nineties when they helped close down a local shop that sold catalog returns from various merchants. The offense: not destroying the J.Crew boxes for shoes, thus violating the agreement that all labels be removed from the merchandise. That seemed at the time to be incredibly short-sighted of J. Crew, since the store essentially offered them an outlet for their leftovers (some irregulars, but mostly returns for other reasons) and free publicity. After all, most the people who shopped there recognized the various Land's End, Eddie Bauer and J. Crew items from the catalogs, and getting the occasional item for a great low price only increased the love. This was back in the 90s, so perhaps I need to consider letting go of my grudge.

"Dressing to Impress" for Power Shift

As a long-time student of the socio-cultural aspects of fashion, I find this fascinating. The organizers of the March 2, 2009 Capitol Climate Action has issued a strategy note asking participants to "dress to impress" at the event. Back when I taught clothing and human behavior, we'd get into heated arguments over the idea of being judged by appearance. My students realized that teachers, law enforcement officers and employers engaged in a kind of "character profiling" of young people based on their clothing, hair, tatoos and piercings, and <i>they hated it</i>. On one level, we all hate being judged by our appearancel in fact, I hate it even more as I get older and attempt to learn the rules for women over 55 who choose not to nip, tuck, dye or dress like 20-year-olds. But I digress.

Two interesting points about the strategy note: first, the acknowledgement of the historical importance of "serious" clothing in the civil rights and union movements. I remember this being a huge point of contention between my African American friends in the late 60s and their parents, who were horrified at their surplus store wardrobes and Afros. Appearance was also controversial during the very early days of the women's rights movement; Amelia Bloomer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others debated the wisdom of delivering their message while wearing reform dress (such as the loose trousers named for Bloomer). Eventually, they decided the clothing was a distraction, and abandoned reform dress for their public work. It's taken progressives forty years to realize that a political demonstration is not a rock concert.

The other item of interest for me (as always) is the response thread, which is a microcosm of my class discussion. Someone even referenced hegemony!

I was planning to be there on March 2, anyway, but now you can count on a report as well. I'll be twittering live, if you want to follow.

Obama's new "green" WPA: is there a role for artists and artisans?

I think Obama's plan to stimulate the economy by rebuilding and "greening" our infrastructure is a great idea. (Particularly since I checked the Bridge Tracker on MSNBC.com and discovered how many bridges in our area are "structurally deficient".)

But I've been mulling over the arts and crafts side of the WPA -- the muralists, community theater organizers, weavers, rugmakers and seamstresses and wondering if there will be a place for them in Obama's economic plan? These programs were not without their critics -- the WPA sewing rooms did provide work for thousands of poor women, making clothing and other products for sale or distribution through relief agencies, but these jobs were at the lowest rung of the economic recovery ladder.  WPA programs reinfornced traditional gender roles by channeling women into domestic skills-based programs, even when they were willing to do heavier, higher-paying work. The arts projects were criticized as "make-work" projects -- after all, who needs a mural in every post office?

In retrospect, though, the idea still appeals to me. The WPA arts projects nurtured some major talents and kept them painting, writing and performing through very tough times. The crafts programs provided income and also helped people learn household skills which were being cast off and forgotten. If the economy is going to get worse, people will need many of those same skills: making, mending, repurposing, and altering clothing and other wearables.

Buying for Equality: A Different Take on Ethical Fashion

After the Proposition 8 debacle in California, I'm adding support for LBGT concerns to my list of facets of ethical fashion. As always, it pays to be vocal. Let manufacturers know why you are supporting them -- or not. I have been leaning on the "making progress" firms on my list, to encourage them in that direction. The Human Rights Campaign has a great website that makes activism easier.

Election Connection

I've been AWOL for some time, thanks to a combination of good research/writing mojo and the distractions of the election. Today I was reading a blog about Senator Joe Lieberman's future and his possible "punishment" for supporting McCain, and happened to notice that one of his chairmanships is this one: Chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection (under the committee on Environment & Public Works). You'd think this might be a body with some interest in greenwashing and such, but they are not THAT interested; their last posted hearing is November, 2007. Given that, I'm all for replacing Joe with someone who might actually do something. After all, if the new President wants to empower and engage individual action on the important issues of our time, this subcommittee might want to get up to speed.