In Conversation with Moya Bailey of The Cruck Feminist Collective PART I
In Conversation is a Media Speaks! summer blog series where we chat with fascinating folks in the field of technology, media, and education. For our current feature, we’re highlighting women of color mediamakers, techies, content producers, and programmers.
This week I spoke with Moya Bailey, current PhD candidate in Women and Gender Studies at Emory University, blogger for The Crunk Feminist Collective, and self-described Black queer feminist who's a "southern girl through and through". We discussed everything from Frank Ocean, Black feminism online, labels, cyborgs, and the future of Digital Humanities. Read on below.
Photo courtesy of Moya Bailey
Tara: The first time I came across your work was by way of the Ms. Magazine piece in 2010, “We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For: Black Feminism Lives (Online!)” You, along with co-author Alexis Pauline Gumes celebrated a newer kind of Black feminism at the intersection of online media and academia. That was two years ago. What does Black feminism look like now, particularly in the context of newer forms of online media that extend beyond blogs and outwards towards other, more micro and social platforms like Twitter and Tumblr? Is there a new theory of Black feminism on the rise?
Moya: Yes, yes, and yes! I think that Black feminism online looks different than it did before because we’re in different parts of the Internet. We’re using different tools of the Internet to accomplish our goals. There was a moment when blogs were really big and then a lot of folks switched to Twitter and Tumblr, and I think that’s definitely changed the way we’re doing things. People are also finding other mediums, like YouTube for instance, which are working for them too. People are cultivating community by way of many diverse media platforms. There’s multiple nodes where people are connecting, and I think that’s pretty awesome. I think feminism is more diffuse, which is also pretty powerful.
Tara: Yes, I’m thinking about the ways in which gender, sexuality, class, and race issues get discussed. I can’t help but think about Frank Ocean for a moment and about how he used a platform like Tumblr to talk about something so personal like his own sexuality. Ocean reminds me of how other young people continually take to these types of microblogging mediums to essentially tell their own stories.
Moya: Absolutely. And then think about way his story changed dramatically. I think after Frank published the Tumblr piece, he said something afterwards where he was like [paraphrasing] ‘Well, my first love was man, but I still date women’, which is interesting--and then there’s a response from dream hampton, who said something to the effect of [paraphrasing] ‘when I asked Frank about this piece I was doing, I asked him if I could use the word bisexual, and he said yes.’ So having access to that information in real time makes the story so much more complex and narrows the scope of what they’re saying about themselves. It’s dynamic and you can’t really put people in one place for too long, which is very cool.
Tara: Absolutely. I recently came across a Twitter conversation about labels. Poet and activist Staceyann Chin asked her followers: “Are identity labels obsolete categorizations? Are they of any use to us today?” You describe yourself as “Black” “queer” and “woman”, what do these labels mean to you? Do you even consider them labels, and do you think that labels are becoming a thing of the past?
Moya: I’m not sure what context Staceyann was tweeting so I’m not sure if agree or disagree. Labels are important to me. Those labels you described of me are important because they mark my location and say something about my perspective and where I’m coming from. So, you know, Audre Lorde talks about how naming yourself can be very powerful. Audre Lorde is a Warrior Poet, mother, lesbian, all of that. I think it’s really important for me to say that I am Black and I am queer and I was a girl child raised in the south, which means a lot about who I am, and it’s also a way for people to find me, and mark my connection to other folks who share my identities.
Tara: I believe Staceyann Chin posed the question to her followers and she tweeted a variety of responses from others who said “No, labels are obsolete” to “Yes, they totally are obsolete.” It was interesting to watch the debate occur via Twitter. From what I saw, Staceyann did a good job of moderating a controversial topic online. Moya: Yeah, I totally think it’s different for different people. I know people who really don’t feel as though they fit in the categories of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ that we have been described in the United States at this particular moment. I think it’s really important to assert that ‘yeah, these labels don’t fit me.’ But I think that even in doing that, you’re still naming yourself, even if it’s not with a label.
Read Part II of our conversation.
#inConvo
From Virtual Volunteers of Katrina to Cyberactivists of Arab Spring
A new study conducted by the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy details how women cyberactivists effectively used social media to facilitate activism and citizen journalism during the Arab Spring uprising of 2011. The study describes women cyberactivists by the roles they played off the front lines:
Radsch writes:
Women cyberactivists largely stayed behind the scenes in their homes, taking mobile phone videos, pictures, and reports from the frontlines and putting them online as well as spreading information about what was happening elsewhere in Libya (pg. 17).
While reading the report, I immediately thought about the work women were doing online 7 years ago during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. I thought about the ways in which social media helped to facilitate national relief efforts particularly during a time when government support was slow to non-existent. Similar to women cyberactivists of the Arab Spring, women virtual volunteers of hurricane Katrina were organizing and disseminating information from their homes in order to assist survivors directly affected by the storm.
I presented on the topic of women virtual volunteers back in 2007 at a Women's Studies conference at SUNY-Albany. I'm posting the slides below, along with my abstract, for MMC readers to peruse. In a time when digital media tools are increasingly being used as means to facilitate relief efforts and revolts, it's important for us to think back to a time not so long ago when women were virtually volunteering before Twitter and popular Facebook activist groups existed.
Abstract
"Virtual Volunteers: Hurricane Katrina's Impact and Women's Resolve"
My research focuses on a new form of twenty-first century activism I call virtual volunteering. Virtual volunteering is when community activism/support and grassroots organizing is conducted via the World Wide Web. More specifically, my research focuses on hurricane Katrina networking relief blogs, newsgroups, and Internet forums that are operated and utilized mainly by single mothers in search of assistance for their families. These virtual spaces are fascinating pieces of historical evidence that reveal not only the horrific impact of hurricane Katrina, but also the ineffectiveness of government sponsored assistant programs like TANF and FEMA. Some of the voices echoing through the blogs share similar sentiments regarding their current state of living and their dwindling confidence in government agencies such as FEMA. My research focuses on Katrina survivors, specifically single mothers, and how they have found ways and means beyond government assistance. If anything, these networking forums provide a place where women can connect with other women and families. These virtual spaces not only provide material and monetary assistance, they also seem to be a necessary and comforting place to congregate.
[slideshare id=13088543&doc=virtualvolunteerspresentationrevised2012-120526161333-phpapp01]
Photo Credits: Michael Thompson (Freestylee), Flickr CC Nick Bygon
MMC's Got a Wordle!
Ever wonder what "stuff" you discuss or search the most? We did. So we decided to put together a Wordle of Media Speaks! content. Media Make Change has been up and running for two years now so we thought it would be cool to get a bird's eye view of the content we've been producing recently. Take a look at how MMC's most talked about topics stack up!
Below is the linked image from Wordle's website. Wordle allows you to copy/paste the code you generate from content. Note, however, the image is incredibly small. We recommend you click on the thumbnail image of your Wordle to a larger image and then screen grab it (Apple + Shift + 4). Save your larger image as a .jped or .png file.
Wordle is also a great tool for educators and researchers who are interested in seeing how topics of interest compare. We recommend Wordle for students who are thinking about their next research project, but can't seem to narrow down a topic. Hint: Perhaps a good place to start is with the big words!
To create your own Wordle, simply go to www.wordle.net/ and start wordling!
An Educator's Guide to Pinterest [Media Literacy]
The National Association of Media Literacy Education defines media literacy as "a series of communication competencies, including the ability to access, analyze, and communicate information in a variety of forms, including print and non-print messages."
More specifically, NAMLE breaks down media literacy into several definitions:
- Media refers to all electronic or digital means and print or artistic visuals used to transmit messages.
- Literacy is the ability to encode and decode symbols and to synthesize and analyze messages.
- Media literacy is the ability to encode and decode the symbols transmitted via media and the ability to synthesize, analyze and produce mediated messages.
- Media education is the study of media, including ‘hands on’ experiences and media production.
- Media literacy education is the educational field dedicated to teaching the skills associated with media literacy.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the newest darling of social networks, Pinterest, is valued at over $1 billion. As the online pinboard platform grows in influence, media literacy educators may want to consider ways in which the platform can be used to incite conversations about representation on the web.
Below are some ideas for using Pinterest in various formal and informal learning settings. These general activities are grouped according to some of the main components of media literacy education outlined by NAMLE above, including; Decoding, Encoding, and Communicating Messages, and Media Production. Please feel free to share and expand on these ideas in the comment section below.
Decoding, Encoding, and Communicating Messages
Questions: Who/what is source of the message? How is the media message conveyed through Pinterest? By whom is the message received? How might the source information and platform itself impact how the message is received?
- Students can begin by creating pinboards that represent social, community, and political issues they care about most. Make use of the search function within Pinterest (not only the categories section) to explore topics of interest.
- Students can create 'counter pinboards' in response to controversial posters as a way to incite discussions within the platform and extend conversations offline.
- Debate! Use comment sections to debate content on Pinterest (see Kate Moss 'Skinny' poster).
- Cross curate with other social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, & alternative SMS and personal blogs). Post, tweet, embed images and videos from Pinterest to incite further discussions about how media messages are represented on the web.
- Organize "Media Lit Pint-Ups" or Pinterest meet ups, to showcase, discuss, and debate content popularized by way of Pinterest.
- Organize Pinterest scavenger hunts with media literacy education principals in mind. For instance, incorporate Google Maps to also explore how (and in what ways) users curate using geographical spaces. See Google Maps images on Pinterest.
- 'Fundraise for a cause' using Pinterest. Create original pinboard content having to do with an issue for which you wish to raise money. Include donation information in the caption section of the images.
Media Production
Questions: What can I create to make Pinterest better? What can I produce beyond the confines of Pinterest's platform ? What tools can I use to produce media influenced by content found on Pinterest and/or influenced by the platform itself? How might the design of my media influence the message I am trying to convey?
- Design a 'copy cat' Pinterest platform with a specific aim to interrogate/investigate media representations in online spaces.
- Storytelling with images: Create boards that tell alternative stories. Involve commenters to help create narratives.
- Produce, publish, and compose other types of online media (digital video, wikis, blogs) inspired by content found on Pinterest
- Create and curate "Media Lit" content in the DIY and Education categories on Pinterest. Create "Media Lit" pinboards as resource pages.
See also:
Community Producers Program is Thriving!
A few months ago Media Make Change partnered with the Beyond the Bricks Project to create a comprehensive media literacy program that serves young Black males. The Community Producers Program is a four-month course that invites young Black males to interrogate media images and subsequently create their own stories using digital media technology. We're elated to report that the program, now in it's second month, is thriving. Take a look at the new campaign video featuring several young men currently enrolled in the program at Teachers College, Columbia University--a sponsoring university.
We encourage you to donate to the summer fellowship program, an extension of the Community Producers Program, so the young men can continue to produce awe-inspiring work. If you are unable to donate, then please consider spreading the word to your various networks and encourage family, friends, and co-workers to contribute to this project.
On behalf of Media Make Change, I want to thank all of those involved in creating this program from the ground up, including Derek Koen, Ouida Washington, Dana Salter, Nisaa Ali, Bianca Baldridge, and Jose Vilson. I'm overjoyed and proud to have been a part of this project with all of you.
Interested in working with and/or contributing to Media Make Change? Contact us directly at mediamakechange [at] gmail [dot] com.