The Diversity Projekt
Empowerment for All People of Color
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The New Voter – MixedFolk Style
In mid-June of this year, SwirlPhilly hosted Philadelphia’s first official Loving Day events. We took a trip to the Franklin Institute for a viewin of their “RACE: Are we really so different?” exhibit. We also received permission to hold a discussion within the exhibit space. It was a great opportunity for us to share our impressions of the exhibit and how it fits into the legacy of Loving Day for us. Other topics included the fluidity and social construction of race and racial identities and the impact of being trans-national and mixed in U.S. society. We also talked about the marriage fight being waged across the country – same sex marriage. Swirl National released talking points just a few days before the event. Individual chapters have always bridged the gap between mixed and lgbt communities, and I am so very proud and excited that we are doing so in a more intentional way.
Another guest was the University of Maryland “News21 team” who were there to film our Loving Day events. They filmed our exhibit tour as well as the discussion. A few of us also had the opportunity to speak with them individual on the day of the event and a few weeks later. Chris and Nick came back to interview a few SwirlPhilly folk – three of us were chosen for the “Beyond Other” video segment.
WHO:
Chris Matthews, 25, is an M.J. candidate at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. He has interned at Fox News Channel, the Mount Hope Monitor, washingtonpost.com and Salon.com. He has reported on the U.S. Congress, Bronx politics and a hostage standoff. Matthews aspires to be a foreign correspondent and has traveled widely, including seven-month stints in Paris and Australia, where he was a semi-professional lacrosse player. He received his B.A. in political science from Kenyon College in Ohio. Born in Houston but raised in Manhattan, he is a passionate fan of the Astros, Rockets and the N.Y. football Giants. He can be reached at Christopher.Matthews@news21.com
WHAT:
A team of 12 journalism fellows at the University of Maryland, including two visiting fellows from the University of Missouri and University of Texas at Austin, spent the summer of 2009 taking an in-depth look at how demographic trends are influencing American voting behavior and attitudes as part of News21, a national journalism program. In addition to reporting compelling stories, their goal was to experiment with innovative ways of presenting them. They were guided and edited by a team of experienced faculty and consultants.
So, check out the site, the Mixed Race Section and interviews by several mixed folk on “Beyond Other”, including four Swirlies!
I would love to hear from other mixed people who were raised in a caucasian household or who are trans-national. How does that influence the way you construct your identity?
Ramadan Is (Almost) Upon Us
Quick pause and then back to BlogHer09 de-briefing!!
Twenty Days! I can’t believe another year has flown by and that Ramadan is once again at our door steps. Ramadan is practically around the corner - the 9th month of the Muslim calendar, and it’s most holy! Millions of Muslims around the world commemorate Ramadan by fasting from sunrise to sunset, in an effort to focus more on their intimate relationship with God (Allah). The intention is inner growth and giving of oneself to the less fortunate. The fast is a certain sacrifice and exercise in patience and humility.Last year I was invited to participate in Ramadan Kareem, a blog consortium of Muslim, Christian and Jewish bloggers. Check out some of last year’s musings. I will be posting a weekly podcast of Ramadan wishes
In a world where ‘establishment’ Islam has caused Islam itself to come under attack – the world’s punching bag if you will, I am really excited to join the blogroll again this year. I am not Muslim, nor do I have any desire to abandon my Christian faith. However, I relish the opportunity to share with you my personal experiences and encounters with Islam and the many wonderful things I have learned from my Muslim and Arab (not mutually exclusive) friends. (You may even get a guest post by an extraordinary woman who recently went on an equally extraordinary journey…stay tuned!)
This year, I will visit some of my favorite Mosques in Philadelphia to participate in inter-faith celebrations. I am interviewing several Muslim women who are active in Philadelphia’s Islamic community and local human/civil rights organizations. I look forward to your thoughts and feedback, and perhaps even your own Ramadan stories.
I hope you will join me – us, as we journey through Islam’s most holy month together.
I first got plugged in with CAIR a few years ago. They do really amazing work and are true advocates for Philadelphia’s Muslim Community. The fact that they work hard at being culturally and racially inclusive gives them extra brownie points in my book.
Upcoming Sharing Ramadan Events:
RSVP by contacting Sharing Ramadan Event Coordinator Justin Peyton 215.592.0509 or e-Mail: cairphilly@gmail.comSharing Ramadan Schedule:
September 13 at 6:50 p.m.
Foundation for Islamic Education, 1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PASeptember 13 at 6:50 p.m.
Islamic Society of Greater Valley Forge, 958 Valley Forge Road, Devon, PASeptember 14 at 6:50 p.m.
Foundation for Islamic Education, 1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PASeptember 20 at 6:00 p.m.
Upper Providence Elementary School, 833 South Lewis Rd. Building #3, Royersford, PASeptember 20 at 6:40 p.m.
Foundation for Islamic Education, 1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PASeptember 20, 2008 at 6:40 pm
North Penn Mosque, 600 Maple Avenue, Lansdale, PA 19466September 21 at 6:40 p.m.
Foundation for Islamic Education, 1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PASeptember 27 at 6:30 p.m.
Foundation for Islamic Education, 1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PASeptember 27, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Zubaida Foundation, 850 Big Oak Road, Yardley, PA 19067September 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Foundation for Islamic Education, 1860 Montgomery Avenue, Villanova, PASwirlPhilly Hosting Loving Day Celebration @ The Franklin – RACE Exhibit Discussion
SwirlPhilly is celebrating Loving Day this year by hosting a trip to see the RACE exhibit at the Franklin. We will meet after the viewing to participate in a discussion on the exhibit and Loving Day. Community dinner to follow!
This is a family friendly event. Bring your children, spouses, parents, etc.!!
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009
Time: 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Location: The Franklin
Street: 20th and Ben Franklin Blvd
City/Town: Philadelphia, PAPhone: 215.776.1162
Email: kathrini@swirlinc.orgRSVP requested as we are receiving group museum rates!
The Loving Day name comes from Loving v. Virginia (1967), the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage in the United States.
Loving Day’s mission is to fight racial prejudice through education and to build multicultural community. It is a global network of annual celebrations you can host or attend, as well as an educational campaign that you can be a part of every day. Swirl partners with Loving Day every year as it’s mission is central to our work. We are a national organization with 11 chapters focused on challenging society’s notions of race through community building, education and action.
Philly Joins Swirl to Launch Intercultural Community and Dialogue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kathrin P. Ivanovic
Co-Organizer, SwirlPhilly
215.776.1172
kathrini@swirlinc.org
Jen Chau
Executive Director, Swirl Inc.
917.291.5227
jenchau@swirlinc.org
www.swirlinc.orgSwirl, Inc. Launches Chapter in the City of Brotherly Love
Swirl, Inc. has partnered with Kathrin P. Ivanovic and Alexis Jeffcoat, two emerging young non-profitleaders in Philadelphia, to launch and grow of a new, local chapter.
Philadelphia, PA, January 4, 2009 – Swirl, Inc. recently joined with Kathrin P. Ivanovic and Alexis Jeffcoat to launch its 11th local chapter in Philadelphia, PA. Kathrin is a freelance writer who speaks regularly about cultural diversity and transnational race relations. Kathrin hosts The Diversity Projekt on diversity and currently serves as the Director of Development for the Nationalities Service Center. Alexis is a graduate student pursuing her Master of Arts in Humanities at Arcadia University. She previously managed volunteers at Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia and just finished developing a volunteer program for Dress for Success Philadelphia. She has also worked on the planning committee for the Walk for Paws, a major fundraiser for the Chester County SPCA.
Philadelphia joins the SwirlFamily in 2009, during this historic time in American history. SwirlPhilly will work to build a community in Philadelphia that draws on its vibrant heritage and abundance of cultural diversity. While many individuals have called Philadelphia home for generations, Philadelphia is also home to one of the largest new-immigrant communities in the country.
Swirl has developed a two-pronged philosophy and vision focused initially on community building followed by programming focused on diversity advocacy and education. Through local community building, Swirl aims to challenge the idea that all individuals should be able to fit in one neatly packaged racial identity, label, or ethnic group.
Swirl provides space for individuals who want to explore their identity, relate to others with similar experiences, or initiate community-led projects aimed at changing the way that society understands race and identity. Local chapters ultimately focus on growing and building capacity, and expanding programming to include a broader constituency.
“While Swirl continues to recognize the importance of building communities that support mixed heritage individuals, couples, and families, we increasingly aim to collaborate with a diversity of communities. If we are going to improve the way that we deal with race and identity in this country, it is imperative that we come together. It is easy to talk about tough issues in the comfort of our own communities, but how often do we come together cross-culturally? This is what Swirl aims to do, and I am excited for this sort of space to be created in Philadelphia.” says Jen Chau, Executive Director and founder of Swirl, Inc.
Swirl, Inc. is a national multi-ethnic organization founded in 2000 that challenges society’s notions of race through community building, education, and action. Swirl is active in: Atlanta, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston, Miami, NewLondon, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia and Phoenix.
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PBS “Germans in America” – The Desirable German Narrative
PBS aired a re-run of the entire Germans in America series the other night. I was able to see the entire series for the first time, instead of taking it in piecemeal. This four-part series examines German settlers who came to America in the early 18th Century, particularly how they adjusted to life in America, their experiences in moving and settling westward, and the ways that their descendants have maintained aspects of German culture today.
While I understand the representation of early German settlers is quite ethnically homogeneous, the exclusion of multi-ethnic Germans in the last segment is disappointing. It provides a fundamentally distorted and inaccurate representation of German populations in America today, particularly taking into account German-American relations since the Second World War. Nevertheless, this inaccurate portrayal is right on par with the way diversity in German society continues to be represented in the Motherland. Or, is it the Fatherland?! Regardless, this series once again recounts the history of white Germans in the United States, while ignoring any degree of diversity among Americans of German descent or recent immigrants from Germany.
Germans in America is primarily funded by Goethe Institute USA, German Originality and German Information Center USA, organizations that are major players in funding German cultural projects, both contemporary and historical. In funding such projects as this, these organizations are perpetuating exclusionary practices and attitudes about what does and does not constitute German identity. As the documentary traces the histories of various German American families from the 18th Century to the present, including representations of multi-ethnic Germans in that generational narrative would not create unwanted disjointedness. In fact, it would only add to discussions of ethnic diversity throughout the German diaspora.
Afro/Black Germans are still largely absent from the the contemporary narrative of Germans in America and in Germany. A considerable portion of us have either made America our permanent home or lead transcontinental lives. Also, more than 10% of the German population consists of immigrants and migrants, 3% or 2.7 million of whom are of Turkish background, and 6% are of Afro and Indo-Asian descent. Recent data shows that 30% of Germans aged 15 years and younger have at least one parent born abroad. Nevertheless, this is rarely evident in the ways in which government or government sponsored and academic entities have chosen to represent Germany’s cultural and ethnic demographics.
Save for a few indie documentaries such as the May Ayim story, there are little to no films about People of Color in Germany. More books by and about Afro Germans are published and enter the market every year. I hope that this translates into an increase in representations beyond the written word as well.
Islam, Feminism, Ethnic Diversity and Professors Who Imspire
I have learned a great deal from many of my professors. Yet, only a select few have inspired me and influenced my research interests in areas I only had a peripheral conception of. Dr. Hibba Abugideiri is one of those special professors, as is Dr. Maghan Keita (separate post to follow). I took Dr. Abugideiri’s Women in the Modern Middle East course last year and became intrigued with and excited about issues and themes at the intersection of gender, symbolic representation and power in the Middle East. She introduced me to cultural anthropological frameworks helpful in examining women not only in Muslim cultures, but in other societies as well. Participating in her course, as well as engaging in private conversations with her, has helped me confront my misconceptions and preconceived notions of the Middle East, Muslim culture and Muslim women. Dr. Abugideiri has also helped me think about more broadly about my research interests – Afro German women. As a result of some of our conversations, I have found myself paying closer attention to the intersection of Afro German and Turko-German women in German society, as well as the common threads and experiences of culturally hyphenated women around the world (a topic I will come back to in another post). Most importantly, she has imparted to me the importance of empowering oneself with the appropriate and necessary vocabulary with which to engage others in interfaith and intercultural dialogues.When I met with her earlier this week, the primary goal was to discuss my upcoming comprehensive exam (November 1). However, much of our conversation focused on the ways in which our bicultural identities in forms our work, whether in the scholarship we produce or the activism we engage in. As always, she gave me considerable food for thought on my academic future and some of the current work that I am engaged in. I hope to continue our discusses, even after my time at Villanova is over. I also feel quite confident about the exams (in spite of the amount of work that is ahead of me).
Dr. Abugideiri contributes to discussions about Islam in American, as well as throughout the world. She participated in the U.S. State Department’s American Speaker and Specialist Program. She also presented Speaking from Behind the Veil as part of the Georgia Tech’s Prometheus Club Lecture Series. The lecture/discussion is definitely worth viewing. The Q&A towards the end of the segment is lively and quite insightful. In her presentation she examines Islam and the Qur’an and places gender and religious symbolism within an extremely useful historical matrix. Her comments in the presentation remind me of a passage from one of the books we examined in her course:
In the 1970s, often to the consternation of parents and siblings, certain progressive young Arab women voluntarily donned the veil. The movement, which rapidly expanded and continued to gather momentum, has sparked controversy within Islamic culture, as well as reactions ranging from perplexity to outrage from those outside it. Western feminist commentators have been particularly vociferous in decrying the veil, which they glibly interpret as a concrete manifestation of patriarchal oppression.
However, most Western observers fail to realize that veiling, which has a long and complex history, has been embraced by many Arab women as both an affirmation of cultural identity and a strident feminist statement. Not only does the veil demarginalize women in society, but it also represents an expression of liberation from colonial legacies. In short, contemporary veiling is more often than not about resistance.
- Fadwa El Guindi, Veil: Modesty, Privacy and Resistance
I am happy to announce that Ramadan Kareem, a blog that traditionally focuses on highlighting the ways in which Muslims around the world celebrate the month of Ramadan, has chosen to keep its doors open all year around. I contributed several pieces that focused on various interfaith Ramadan events throughout the Philadelphia area during this Ramadan season. I would love to see this blog contribute to the discussion of a new, more equitable, analysis and establish a more productive and constructive lens through which to approach Islam and Muslim cultures. The traditional Western lens, with roots located in 19th century imperialism, is problematic at best. Further, this frame of reference is subconsciously inherited and implemented to draw inaccurate and damaging political meanings from various objects within the Muslim nexus. Through this, many in the West are socialized into seeing the symbolism of such images as the veil (and other arbitrarily assigned emblems of Islam) as one of oppression, subjugation and restriction.
Throughout the West, Islam is often packaged within an ahistorical matrix, without any real conceptualization of its political, social, and cultural development. Further, Muslim women are often appropriated as political tool to within the West. Is it prudent to propose the squashing of the Islamist movement by saying “Muslims can be good Muslims by being secular”, particularly by being secular to the point of not being religious?
There are some exciting, new trends emerging in Islamic Studies, particularly among the Islamic feminist intelligentsia. The works of scholars such as Leila Ahmed, Amina Wadud, Hibba Abugideiri, Asma Barlas, Shirin Ebadi, and Davar Ardalan, are a fundamental component to my gaining knowledge about women and gender issues throughout the Muslim world. Their works have helped me conceptualization women in Islam beyond my preconceived (and somewhat inaccurate) understandings. These women have made incredible strides in reclaiming their bodies and identities from centuries of appropriation by masculine powers, whether it be from within their own societies or from the West.
Feminism in Iran sounds like an impossible contradiction, but Iranian women ARE among the most active reformers in the Muslim world. They’re pushing the interpretation of Islamic law in ways that modernize the treatment of women. The debate over religion and modernity in the Muslim world will continue for decades to come but Iran, the birthplace of the first modern theocracy, might very well be preparing for a future Islamic reformation.
- Iran Davar Ardalan, Women’s Search for Justice (undated)
Which feminist authors are “must reads” for you, particularly in developing your understanding of diversity among women and women’s issues around the world?
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