What is the significance of creating archives and bibliography in the struggle of women struggle feminism? What can we do as a class to participate in that struggle?

The importance of archiving and creating works and art about women and our struggle for a more feminist society is only up to us. The dominant patriarchy has no self-investment nor desire to help chronicle our struggles and our victories. Insitututionalizing our herstory is the only way future generations of resistance fighters will be able to learn and see that they were and are never alone in this struggle for justice. The importance of chronicling our conferences, events, papers, 'zines, meetings, organizations, rallys, protests, etc etc will prevent the "re-invention of the wheel" syndrome that affects our organizations and education, in which we spend so much time re-creating a product or campaign that our struggle has turned into creating an instrument instead of a movement.

Our class is a demonstration of an effective and creative approach to documenting not only our stories (which are often never told or heard, even to ourselves) but giving voices to those that are not priviledged to be in a higher education institution with resources and access to create multimedia art that can be viewed by the masses. The class website, our work, and publishing and presenting it truly adds to the cypher of the black feminist struggle.

What strategy should media activism take in both creating space for self expression and critique of women of color and in critiquing racism, sexism, etc in media theory?

In this politically and culturally conservative time in the US, what is at stake in self expression and self representation for women of color in art and media?

There is so much at stake, thinking about it, creates a knot of fear and urgency in my gut. This conservative political and cultural climate is a a result of retaliation and decades of rebuilding the Right, after the liberation movements of our people was able to insitutionalize the attitude and laws that we deserve as respect for people that have been oppressed, repressed, and suppressed for centuries.

Our continual demonstration of our existence and our voices need to be loud and proud to make sure that the Right and the priviledged know that our state of poverty, depravation, unhappiness, and violations are not our fault, but a structural problem that they are part of and that they also have the power to change.

What alliances should happen with white women? What needs to occur for it to be in a productive way?

Alliances with white women should be a self-initiated one. White women cannot ask what they can do to be more friendly or of an ally to womyn of color. Due to their white priviledge and class priviledge, they have keys and their job is to realize that and make copies of those keys, so we, as womyn of color can have the same access they do.

He Got Game, She Got Defense

Over the weekend, I found a copy of Silicon Valley DeBug lying around my sister's room (it's a 'zine that's written for and by young folks in San Jose). There was an article called He Got Game, She Got Defense about the author's experiences with men and the tactics they use to hit on her and her friends. She got to the point in which she says "I try to do my rejections clean, with male egos intact", and that sparked my interest and I thought she was going to go on and lay it out and say FUCK THAT, I'm sick of male egos!

But she never made that leap or any type of analysis with that, other than telling the funny stories from the "game". After discussing and processing this idea with Mary, I want to explore this for my final video project. Expanding on Ghose's idea of the "game" and "conquest" to how men and women play the game in heterosexual and queer relationships because women play the game just as well too, but in different ways (I certainly played it). The game is fun, but are we all just playing the game because males were the ones that took the lead in it (overtly that is), and thus we all played the game too because it's all part of the "norm" now? Is the "game" just another "mating ritual", a mating game that's played by all other animals in the kingdom? A game that monkeys play just to mate?

I want to explore this with males, females, in heterosexual and queer relationships. So I just need to develop questions and a direction for my video, since it's only really 10-12 minutes.