Notes, Updates and recent events

MCLA Global Film Series Presents : "We Carry It With Us"

October 27, 2022

Students engaged with a screening of the award winning documentary 'We Carry It Within Us' , about Danish colonialism by Helle Stenum. Stenum questions the norms formulated in the dissociation and burial of Demark's history towards and within colonialism, and further showcases the horrors of how this embedded racism affects future generations of those who were directly affected by it and those who also deny/don't understand it.   

Within the conclusion of this film, Network Intern Egypt Benjamin presented these series of questions in reaction towards the film:

• In what ways does this movie complicate the notion of identity? Does it allow for conformity or does it allow for space of rebellion towards coloniality?

• What is your knowledge on the Transatlantic Slave Trade? How does this movie complicate the taught narrative?

• What examples does the movie give that play to the colonialist viewpoint of the Black body? In what ways does the movie juxtapose that imagery?

• Why would Denmark want to be absent-minded towards a big part of their history, based on the movie? 

• What image stuck with you from the movie? Did this Image offend you? Did it surprise you?

• How is slavery defined within the movie? How does this shift your view on what you've been taught institutionally? 

• What impact did the cuts and burns series had on you as a viewer?

• Historically, what are other 'Fire Burn Days' that we find in other colonialized spaces? 

• What does the title, We Carry It Within Us attest to or mean to you in the context you've received?

MCLA Annual Day of Dialogue:

Land, Spirituality, Identity: A Conversation About Our Experiences as People of Color

Presented By Salimatu Bah and Egypt Benjamin

October 19, 2023

Within our interactive two-hour presentation for Day of Dialogue called “Land, Spirituality and Identity: Our Experiences as People of Color '', there were several outcomes Sali and I wanted to achieve while utilizing the normatives formulated through colonialism. Mainly, Sali and I wanted to "facilitate discourse around ancestral spiritual systems that have been demonized due to colonialism. This interactive workshop [discussed] the systems of West African and Indigenous spiritualities. We want[ed] to discuss how the stripping of land and spirituality has impacted our identity, and mental health as POC. We want to talk about how knowledge and representation can aid in healing ourselves."

We first guided our audience through identifying and defining key terms and establishing community guidelines to provide a safe space as our talk went through the many motions a person of color might face societally. We then turned to administering a sound walk of sorts to establish the intentions of the space and guide listeners to embrace their backgrounds, beyond the one that surfaces in the present. Next, we went into our first section, titled Land which dealt with: the mass removal of Indigenous peoples (and their connection to the land), our ties to the land itself (more particularly through the lenses of the African Diaspora and Native connection). This also provided a sub-section specifically catered to colonialism through the lens of the Trail of Tears, African slave trade and lastly through gentrification and ghettos-exploiting the agenda to push people out of their homes--primarily peoples of color.

After, we then went into Spirituality starting through the demonization of practices formulated through nature by colonialism- and Christianity. More particularly, we go into the notion of the orality to conserve traditional practices as many of them would be lost due to religions put in place by settlers. We delved into the compression of Blackness as a word, maintaining an ‘evil’ presence generationally and furthermore continuing it as a normative. Next we discussed different types of ancestral systems- more particularly different practices created by people of color historically. 

Lastly, we went into the Identity aspect of our presentation, which was more interactive and formulated through a modern lens on Blackness. We begin by again going into the negation of “Blackness” cross-contextually and how many heteronormative writers (like Joseph Conrad) invoked this in their writing. They also invoke this by painting a picture through what the ideal woman looks like and degrading the looks of peoples of color through animalistic descriptions. We then introduced Chimananda Ngozie Adiche’s "single story" ideology and tied it back to our personal lives. Lastly, we emphasized this through a including the music of a variety of artists for participants to break down these formulations and how they play into today's conversation and culture around Blackness.

For any questions or to have access to resources compiled for this event, please feel free to contact egyptshibenjain001@gmail.com