A walk around Manchester

Christmas cards

First batch of Christmas cards inspired by Japanese paintings .

Challenging heterosexuality and nationalism through queerness.

As summer turns into autumn and winter the giddy joy that came with the season grows dim. This summer we celebrated Pride as usual. For the most part the festival is in accessible to me due to the cost. The other factor is that the festival does not speak much to me. Commercialism combined with a touristy feel make the event seem like one big giant party.

As a few LGBTQ friends and I walked past Manchester’s gay village on Pride Saturday and Sunday one of them remarked at the glut of rainbow flags in town in the shops of big business. Pride she claimed had lost the plot. I agree with her. It is wonderful that big businesses is supportive of the LGBTQ community but are they really? In a world where big business has taken over smaller business, exploits its workers a mere rainbow flag does not remedy the exploitation. As a black lesbian my friend saw the precarious peace she occupies in a homo-nationalist celebration.  Now that LGBTQ people are protected by the law of the land institutions that were once known (and still are) for their homophobia have jumped on a similar bandwagon.

Perhaps the most ironic one of these institutions was the Home Office and its support for LGBTQ people. For over a week now I have seen rather disturbing news of a young gay Ugandan friend being deported back to his country. This is not an isolated case, another friend I admire is in a similar situation for over a year. She is Nigerian and not lesbian enough. I am not comforted by the fact that the Home Office employs LGBTQ people. Both these people are Christian and members of the LGBTQ community. I mention their religion, as this is almost always a reason quoted by people of the faith and not to bash Africans and to justify the superiority of Britain. In more liberal Christian circles being tolerant of LGBTQ people is a sign of changing times in the nation, homophobia and transphobia is an African problem relegated to that continent alone. To non-Christians homophobia and transphobia in the global south is due to being trapped in religion and culture. Then of course there are cultural Christians to whom Christianity is an identity which is white and European. While the continent of Africa has some nations that have re criminalised homosexuality this takes on a nationalistic fervour. Homosexuality is imagined to be a western import corrupting the youth distancing them from good family values. Heteronormativity is invoked family is imagined to be a perfect situation where men and women marry in a lavish ceremony and produce the right amount of children. These ideas aren’t left unchallenged feminists and LGBTQ groups in these regions do challenge this idea. While Western Europe is imagined to be a safe haven for the community the rest of the world is thought of as backward lagging behind in social progress it does not have the same magnanimity to accept some of its citizens.

Intersectionality is lost in these debates, LGBTQ identity is thought of as the preserve of white lesbian and gay people (the the b’s, t’s and q’s don’t make it in this fantasy). That one can be non-white, LGBTQ, religious, disabled….. is never considered. White LGBTQ groups are notorious for their racism. The village in Manchester is perfect example of this which is very selective in its demographic. People of colour are not participants in this community only cab drivers and kebab makers, on the periphery. LGBTQ people are conceptualised through a homo-nationalistic lens, white, gay male and middle class, who then occupy the majority position in public forums. Terms like pink pound explain this situation perfectly. Revolutionary fervour and the precarious position the community occupies are lost in this celebration. It is wonderful that some sections of the community are in influential positions and have it easier than others however that sections acceptance has meant that homophbia and transphobia are thought of as a thing of the past, it happens everywhere else but here.

There is another way of looking at queerness and nationalism and that is through a black lesbian feminist perspective. Gloria Anzaldúa suggests another way that reaches out across national boundaries.

As a mestiza I have no country, my homeland cast me out; yet all countries are mine because I am every woman’s sister or potential lover. (As a lesbian I have no race, my own people disclaim me; but I am all races because there is the queer of me in all races.) I am cultureless, because as a feminist, I challenge the collective cultural/religious male derived beliefs of Indo-Hispanics and Anglos; yet I am cultured because I am participating in the creation of yet another culture, a new story to explain the world and out participation in it, a new value system with images and symbols that connect us to each other and to the planet.  Page 102- 103 Anzaldúa

In an era where nationalism is becoming a universal feature of all nations challenging notions of nationhood and homo-nationalism are pressing issues. Culture must be deconstructed.

Reference:

Anzaldúa, G. (1999) Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza . 2^nd edition. Aunt Lute Books. San Francisco

The limits of post structuralism

It all started with a simple question- what is post structuralism. Not being able to resist showing off I gave a long twisted answer. I have sat in lectures listening to post structuralists, I still don’t know what it is about or how it is applied. I understand the basics however most of it eludes me. A case in point is writing by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak whose writing no doubt has several important points but remains inaccessible. While I know this is deliberate attempt to open up the text to interpretations it does not make it accessible. Spivak’s arguments are important for black feminists yet alienating to those trying to understand it. For years I have struggled to read ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ For years I have pondered over paragraphs and sentences unsure who the text is for. I claim the same subaltern status Spivak does as woman of colour, I am written about as a helpless woman in need of rescuing. As an academic like Spivak I am privileged in one sense, yet as an early career academic of colour I have little or no visibility or voice. 

Can I as a subaltern then speak? No. Can I as a subaltern access the tools for my liberation? No. Can I as a privileged academic make space for other non-privileged women and men? Yes I can, in fact it is my duty to make my work accessible. Following in the footsteps of black feminist writes such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks I feel writing should be made accessible.

Post structuralism is deliberate in its obscurity, the reader has to construct and deconstruct the text which will be open to several interpretations. It delights in being difficult. To me this is an expression of privilege. This writing if vital to the subaltern should be accessible to the subaltern, yet it hides behind erudition. To quote Audre Lorde ‘the masters tools will never dismantle the masters house’. Inaccessible writing does not and will not reach the people who need it most. Academia in most parts of the world is an elite enterprise, hidden behind exorbitant tuition fee, and limited by the identity of scholar. Deconstruction while a clever philosophical stance does not lend itself to accessibility. Spivak like several other post structuralists is well educated in some of the finest institutions of the world. While she lacks privilege as a woman of colour she makes up for in education and position.

Post structuralism is preserve of those in higher education. Black feminism on the other hand takes difficult concepts transcribing it into simple and accessible writing, loosing none its integrity. It encourages activism and liberation.

PS: Here is a link to Post Structuralism explained using hipster beards 

Burmese tofu stir fry

This is a very simple recipe, it is vegan and gluten free what could be better. 

This is best and simplest recipe  of Burmese tofu on  the internet. I have however improvised it a bit . I usually add in finely chopped onion and red and green peppers. This adds colour and nutrition, it also saves time cooking the vegetables separately. 

The recipe above is very simple. Slice mushroom, spring onions, sauté the mushrooms in a flat pan till they have a nice colour on them add in the white bits of the spring onions separately in the pan toss them in the pan for a minute. Season the vegetables with soy sauce and sesame oil. You could season this dish with any sauce you like and adjust the seasoning accordingly. The tofu can be sautéed similarly in a pan, it wont get very crisp but it develops a light skin, season accordingly.

To prepare the noodles boil water in a deep pan add a little salt add the noodles cook till al dente, drain. Keep a little water from the noodles. Throw the noodles in a dish season with soy sauce and sesame oil or any oil of your choice. A spoon or two of the noodle water will prevent it from drying out. 

To serve place noodles in a dish, add the vegetables and tofu, garnish with toasted sesame seeds and finely sliced green bits of spring onions. 

PS: I have tried this tofu with various kinds of seasoning. It makes for a nice salad which doesn't require cooking. I chopped mint leaves, onions and peppers and added it to the tofu. To serve the salad I added Burmese tofu that had been in the fridge for an hour with a lime and palm sugar dressing mixed with mint leaves, onions and peppers. 

Feel free to try variations on this recipe and please experiment. 

Liverpool on a cloudy evening.

25 years and still strong - Asylum magazine.

I am proud to work on the editorial collective of Asylum magazine. This year we have four special issues on the theme of comics and mental health.  Helen Spandler is an academic who has been involved in Asylum magazine for a number of years.  Here is a podcast about History Of Asylum Magazine by Helen Spandler

You can subscribe to us here 

Soteria Network AGM

Caturday

Black cats are the last to adopted. This little kitten showed up on my doorstep. Cats and blacks cats are anything but bad luck. 

Manchester In Autumn

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Every year transgender people are killed across the world. They are murdered due to their identity as transgender people.  At the start of the year I heard about the deaths of five transgender women the number has grown since.

In the month of November we remember them and hope that there comes a time when transgender people can live their lives in peace.

A remembrance event has been set up in Nexus Cafe on 19th November between  7.30-8.30 pm 

Har saal transgender log duniya bhar mein maare jate hain. Unkie hatya is wajeh se hoti hai kyon ki unki pechan trangender hain.  Is saal ke shuruwaat mein maine paanch hatyaon ke bare mein suna tab se yeh sankhya badti gayi hai.

November ke mahine mein hum unko yaad karte hai aur ummed karte hain ki aisa waqt aye ki transgender log apne zindagi shanti se guzaar paye. 

Unki yaad mein ek ghante ke liye hum Nexus Cafe mein 19th November ko shyam ke 7.30 se 8.30 baje tak mil rahien hai.


हर साल ट्रांसजेंडर लोग दुनिया भर में मारे जाते हैं. उनकी हत्या इस वजह सो होती है क्यों की उनकी पेचानट्रांसजेंडर हैं. इस साल के शुरुवात में मैंने पांच हत्याओं के बारे में सुना तब से यह संख्या बढ़ती गयी है. 

नवंबर के महीने में हम उनको याद करते है और उम्मीद करते हैं की ऐसा वक़्त आये की ट्रांसजेंडर लोग अपनी ज़िन्दगी शांति से गुज़ार पाये.

उनकी याद में एक घंटे के लिया हम नेक्सस कैफ़े में १९थ नवंबर को शयम के ७.३० से ८.३० बजे तक मिल रहैं है. 

Language and mental illness

‘I am such an idiot!’ Said the woman sitting behind me in a cafe. This is mild compared to people self-diagnosing themselves at the drop of a hat; one is no longer tidy OCD is the new term used to describe a preference for cleanliness. Language is important anyone who has been diagnosed with a metal illness will tell you the term schizo, spaz or autistic don’t feel particularly empowering.

While mental illness is still stigmatised and feared in society the idea of it has trickled down into everyday speech. This perhaps is a triumph of the system, it no longer has to worry about going out to diagnose, we have become our own policemen. Foucault in his writing did envisage an era where power would be distributed in such a way that it became a means of self-regulation. Visibility as he pointed out was a trap. Mental illness is one such trap, our behaviour is constantly normalised to such an extent that any deviation is automatically classified as mental illness.

Mental illness is also dependant on language as the language to describe mental deviation is almost always unpleasant. Terms we throw about carelessly have an effect on a person. 

November is here