An informal academic blog about my research and my everyday rants. I attempt to write about things that I encounter everyday which make me think. The pictures and paintings here are my own and are available for sale. The title is a tribute to the Conservative Sociologist whose blog I loved reading.
While I love
Black History Month I am beginning to have my reservations about the
celebrations. Don’t get me wrong I love being able to talk about race,
decolonisation and creating a more racial diverse community. I think it is
vital to celebrate and know one’s history my reservations come from a different
place. I am a Christian and a woman of colour. In woke black circles those two
identities seem an anathema. To be a Christian in politically conscious black
circles is seen as a being of lower intelligence. I have been told I am a
brainwashed person who follows the colonisers religion the theology (or rather
lack of) to support that argument is shoddy at best.
Christianity in
Africa and Asia go back to the early era of the religion. I wont elaborate on
this point now but use your common sense. My issue with equating my religious
identity with colonisation colludes with right wing elements in the global
south and takes agency away from my decisions.One of my on going problems with a lot of post colonialism
has been the way agency has been taken away from colonial subjects, this does a
great injustice to post colonials who devoid of agency can only be thought of
in relation to their colonisation. Never being able to exert ones free will or
take ownership of one’s decisions the west becomes a site of untold anxiety.
As a Christian
woman from the global south I embody those anxieties. I have never been
patriotic enough for the country of my birth nor assimilated enough. In the UK
I am an anomaly as my ethnic identity is not congruent with my religious
identity to most people. In black circles I can only be an enemy of all things
libratory. The exclusion hurts because it shuts off all dialogue, it colludes
with those who kill Christians because they are too foreign, too anti national,
too different.
I felt rather privileged to be invited to speak
as a panellist at a film festival organised by Rainbow Noir this weekend. I was
amazed by the independent films I watched, some heart warming some pointing out
a frightening reality experienced by QTIPOC around the world.
At the heart of this festival lay two basic
ideas one to showcase Black LGBT history through cinema and the second to
provide a wider representation of the LBGT community. Representation is perhaps
the most important issue here. October in the UK is celebrated as Black History Month. Which while essential is not very well publicised and often is met with
accusations of racism. These accusations could not be further from the truth.
History is often told in an ethnocentric manner, forgetting an essential part
of the process. The history of black people is often forgotten or told crudely,
lacking in nuance. However even within the events organised as part of Black
History Month some histories are not told.
At a conference I was earlier this month a
participant spoke about how the only Black History they learnt was about
slavery. Black identity is not a monolith it covers several intersectional
identities, each of which have their own intellectual standpoint. In an era
when LGBTQ identity is either (re)criminalised or punished by death history of
the community takes on a political meaning. A classic example is India
where both pro and anti LGBTQ rights groups argue by using history as an
example. Claiming and locating homosexuality either in the west or in an
ancient past does little to remedy the situation at hand. Homosexuality is
often spoken about as a western idea and a consequence of westernisation
threatening to erode the moral fabric of ‘traditional’ society. Despite these
claims LGBTQ history does exist, it does not always follow a linear path or
conform to the present day narrative, it is still a history that needs telling.
Films are perhaps the best medium to capture and
transmit this history. A popular means of communication of ideas films are
often used as propaganda and the mouthpiece of the nation. The three biggest
cinema industries (Indian, Chinese and Hollywood) are characterised by their
heteronormative content. Given the nationalistic element it comes as no
surprise that most films communicate a heteronormative, patriarchal reality.
LGBTQ characters if present tend not to be main characters adding very little
to the plot. Then of course there is the problem of stereotyping where the
LGBTQ character lacks nuances and is solely a part of the scenery. The Vito Russo Test seeks to address the issue of LGBTQ representation in films its
criteria being. While it does not guarantee the film is a good representation a
lot of mainstream films fail to pass this test.
Representation is a problematic area of
mass media. at its heart lies the idea that mere inclusion is not enough for
representation to matter it needs to be nuanced, it needs to challenge and
dismantle stereotypes. The problem with an incorrect representation is that it
informs a large majority about a minority. Playing into existing fantasies
about a minority a poor representation does not build an
understanding of minorities as people. Mainstream cinema tends to be formulaic
and ahistorical even when it attempts to portray history it presents an
anachronistic version of history. Black people and particularly black
LGBTQ people are excluded from this cinematic history.
Watching the numerous films I did on Saturday
one could see a nuanced narrative of the community, safe, precarious,
dangerous, celebratory, happy and sad. These were not mainstream films, while
not perfect they captured the nuanced life of the community. Thinking back of
the LGBTQ films I have watched it was almost always the non-mainstream films
that have done any justice to the subjects they seek to represent. This is
particularly true of Indian cinema, mainstream cinema uses homosexuality as a
running gag through films, gay best friends, fashion designers or butch women
bodyguards are the only visibility the community receives. In contrast Indian
art cinema which is not commercially viable manages to create complex
characters for whom there is sympathy not scorn. Memories of March by Rituparno Ghosh is one such film that tackles homophobia, coming out of the closet and
acceptance without resorting to stereotypes. While the film is by no means
perfect it is mature in its depiction of the LGBTQ community in India.
As stated
earlier mere presence is not always indicative of representation, knowledge of
the subject (in this case the LGBTQ community) is essential. Mere visibility
does not always help tackle a complex subject, as Foucault points out
visibility is a trap. While it is assumed that films have little or no effect
on our formation of stereotypes the idea is not true. Films represent our daily
lives, our fantasies. It is no surprise then that the common Hollywood trope
where the black man dies first is also a reality on the streets of America.
When the only image one sees of transgender characters is comical,
promiscuous and confused is it any surprise then that those are the exact slurs
used against transgender people in real life. In my research on Bollywood
films and their audience the blur between cinematic reality and mundane reality
crossed paths. While whistling at raunchy musical numbers on screen the men who
watched these films also extended this behaviour to women around them.
Cinema is not divorced from reality neither is it a discrete entity which is contained
in a cinema hall. To represent accurately is not pedanticism but a necessity.
October in the
UK is marked as Black History Month. Presenting history that is not part of the
mainstream curriculum and remembering events that are often forgotten is the
aim of the month. Slavery and colonialism form a large part of that untold history.
We relegate slavery to the past forgetting it is still a modern problem. People
are still trafficked into sexual, economic and medical slavery. It is only fitting
that we remember both the past and resist injustice of the present.
The problem of
present day slavery is tied to economic affluence and seated in an ethic that
devalues human life. While 1833 is thought to be the year slavery was abolished not all aspects of it were abolished completely. Economic greed and lust are still some of the chief causes for this crime to continue.
Manchester Cathedral is hosting a day conference in conjunction with several activist organisations
and individuals committed to fighting this oppression.
Afro Futures_UK, a collective of researchers, artists, programmers and activists exploring new ways of examining blackness and futurism. We are hosting a FREE Afrofuturist Conference and Exhibition on 10th October 2015. Please join us and share widely
