I wrote an essay for a class I took at UHD, The History of the New South, that focused on the creation of a distinct Mexican American identity in Houston before WWII. While rereading it, and preparing it for submission as a writing sample for my grad school apps, I couldn’t help but post a piece of it here. This excerpt describes the problems people of Mexican descent (citizen and not) faced during the Great Depression. Looking at that now and considering the xenophobic rhetoric of the current political debates, this history is ever-more prescient.

Houston’s place in the Jim Crow South is as significant as any other major city in the Deep South. De Leon describes the bigotry Mexican Americans faced at the time because “Jim Crow codes applicable to black people extended to Mexicans.”[10] Barred from services and establishments specified for Anglos, the Mexican American community suffered deplorable conditions in their neighborhoods. Despite upward social mobility, many were forced to remain there because unspoken agreements in white society kept real estate agents from selling to the undesirable ethnic group.[11] Not allowing Mexican Americans to buy homes in districts other than the established barrios was only one aspect of the troubles facing the developing community. Terrible violence marked the first three decades of the 1900s in Houston for both citizens and non-citizens because as an insignificant sector of the city to local Anglo leaders; the barrios were not eligible for police protection. In fact the police perpetrated many of the most devastating acts of savagery, such as the murder of Elepidio Cortez in 1936.[12] By that time the leadership of the Houston colonia, along with others in the state, began to move to different methods of resisting the mounting oppression from the Anglo community, one that focused on assimilation and ultimately on citizenship.

By the mid 1930s, with the economy in shambles, the large, proud, and self-assured Mexican American population became the scapegoat for the financial troubles facing the nation. The history of Mexican Americans in Houston, and their ability to prosper amidst direct opposition became reasons for attack. Even though the local economy did not sink to the same depths as other cities did, the need for public services spotlighted the ethnic group in the eyes of Anglos. As more and more Anglos succumbed to the effects of the depression, Mexican Americans, legal and not, were singled out as foreign drains on the economy. In Houston the anti-minority sentiments had a chilling effect on those seeking help in the form of work relief and social aid. By 1932 even established institutions such as the Rusk Settlement House felt the crunch of the ballooning population of destitute individuals and famlies.[13] It is in this climate that large-scale repatriations occurred across the country and by the end of the decade one half million people of Mexican descent would either be forced or willingly return to Mexico.

Grasping how massive the number of people repatriated was can be explored when related to the Houston population, which in 1930 hovered around 300,000, and of that, 14,000 were of Mexican descent. Scholars Marilyn Rhinehart and Thomas Kreneck, in their article for the Houston Review, describe from oral interviews how the repatriations affected the colonia saying, “at least two thousand Mexican residents of Houston, or approximately fifteen percent of the city’s Mexican community in 1930, left during the early Depression years.”[14] For many people in the ethnic community being driven from their homes exposed a vile contradiction that traumatized many born in the United States.  The desperate times of the Great Depression caused many of the colonia’s elites to re-examine their efforts for equality. The belief that economic prosperity and a semblance of class equality would equal social equality faded from the minds of Mexican Americans because the actions and ideology of Anglo Houstonians readily asserted that being an American, and thus having all the rights of a citizen, meant being white.

Read the Full Essay Here

The University of Arizona Faculty Senate passed the following resolutions denouncing SB1070 and calling for its repeal citing the harm it will do to their reputation as a welcoming academic environment for students, faculty, and staff. The resolution also acknowledges the potential for racial profiling and the harm that will do to the state’s and so too the university’s reputation.

University of Arizona Faculty Senate – May 3, 2010
Resolution 1 on SB 1070‐

The University of Arizona Faculty Senate expresses grave concern about Senate Bill 1070, especially its detrimental effects on our ability to attract and retain students, faculty and staff, who are avibrant and critical part of the UA community. Further, the UA Faculty Senate is concerned about the bill’s potential for racial
profiling by law enforcement, again a detriment to our sense of community and to our diverse history as a border state, creating a hostile and disruptive workplace for faculty and staff and an unwelcoming educational community for our students and their families.

Resolution 2 on SB 1070-

The Faculty Senate of the University of Arizona calls on the Arizona State Legislature to repeal the “Support Our Law
Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” (SB 1070). If not repealed, the Senate asks the Arizona Board of Regents and the University Administration to establish as restrictive and narrow policies as possible in implementing SB 1070. The University must be a place where students, faculty, staff and visitors feel safe and
not worry that they may be asked for their identification for purposes of determining their immigration status and be arrested either if they don’t have such identification or that they are suspected of being in the United States unlawfully.

Less than two weeks to go and I’m a little more than half-way done. I’ve crossed out the assignments that have been completed and turned in. The others are in the works.

I haven’t created a post in a few weeks because I have been very busy with more pressing concerns such as the many different final essays, projects, and presentations I have to do in the next three weeks. To help myself keep all of this straight, I’m going to give a rundown of the work I need to complete by May 10th. Since everything runs on time-lines and deadlines, I’ll start with the earliest due project first.

Update: Half-way there, but a long road to go.

ENG 3311: Studies In Poetry

Final Research Paper – DUE Monday, April 26:

• This essay will discuss the deconstruction of language in Tammy Gomez‘s “On Language” as a product of the U.S./ Mexico border. I will draw on the work of Gloria Anzalúa, and other Chicana(o) scholars to stake the claim that by breaking up the English language and merging it with Spanish in her poem, the poet is demanding for both to be reconfigured so that they better represent the multi-cultural aesthetic of the 2400 mile contact zone.

Teaching Presentation – Wednesday, April 28:

• I, and two other students in my class will have to present a twenty minute lecture on the poem “To Autumn” by English Romanticist, John Keats. We have broken the responsibility for the research up by stanza. I have the first stanza, Tamika the second, and Sandy the third. This should not be too difficult, and I may end up getting this out of the way as soon as possible.
  • Update: I have completed my portion of the presentation. You can view that here: “To Autumn” Presentation

ENG 3340: Critiquing Capitalist Cultures

Book Review – DUE Wednesday, April 28:

• Part of the requirements for this course is to write a detailed review of one of the four critical texts we read. The choices were The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein (2008) , The Country and The City by Raymond Williams (1973), All That is Solid, Melts Into Air by Marshal Berman (1982), and The Condition of Post-Modernity by David Harvey (1990). I have chose to test myself, and write about Harvey’s book because it seemed to be the most useful text for my final paper and creative project. I do have some work to do because it is incredibly rich in its ideas and sophistication.

Critical Analysis of Cities of Salt by Abdelrahman Munif – DUE Friday, May 7:

• For this essay I have to take a critical stance on the novel Cities of Salt and employ two of the works read in class that I listed above. The novel is an excellent description of the transition of a pre-industrialized country to a full-blown industrial powerhouse through the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia. I plan on using the work of Harvey and Berman to explore the use of silence in the novel to describe the problems that occur when a group of people are unable to use their language to describe current events. The most pressing concern with this essay is to finish reading the novel so that I have nice comprehensive understanding of Munif’s perspective.

Creative Project – DUE Wednesday, May, 12:

• For this project, I have quite a bit of freedom to do what I want, but it has to engage the ideas and themes we discussed in class. What I have decided to do is a photo presentation of the City of Houston. I am going to use images from its early development, the height of modernist development, and ultimately the post-modern creations of the last three decades to show both the benefits of and problems associated with capitalist growth. Because I have so much to do outside of this project, I will do my best to keep it as short and sweet as possible.

ENG 3387: Modernity and the Avant Garde

Critical Analysis Essay – Due Thursday, May 13:

• This essay needs to discuss the work of one of the authors discussed in the course: Charles Baudelaire, André Breton, Octavio Paz, Haroldo De Campos, and Julio Cortázar. I have chosen to work with the surrealist author, André Breton, who wrote The Surrealist Manifesto and Nadja (1928). I will use the aesthetic demands of the manifesto to help explain the work being done in Nadja. It is also important to connect the expression of surrealism with the social, political, and intellectual movements, taking shape in Paris in the years between the two World Wars.

SOS 3312: Statistics for the Social Sciences

• The final project in this STATS class is intended to use all of the skills we were taught in the course. I don’t have the full information about the project yet, but I will update this page when I do get that information.

That’s it, a lot of work, but that’s it. I have about two to three weeks to get most of this done. Once that is done, I’ll have officially completed my Undergraduate degree.

I received an email from the Association of Borderland Studies yesterday that was a forward of an email sent by the President of the University of Arizona, Robert Shelton, addressed to the “Campus Community.” In this email he briefly mentions that some students and parents are choosing to withdraw themselves from the University because of SB1070. This is an important message from the academic community, and its heartening to hear someone from Arizona speak in a way that does not demonize an entire group of people.

To:         Campus Community
From:     Robert N. Shelton
Subject: SB 1070 – Arizona’s New Immigration Law

Many people and organizations on campus are expressing understandable concerns over the ramifications of SB1070, the new law that was signed last week by Governor Brewer.  The law directs local police to require anyone whom they reasonably suspect of being in the country illegally to provide evidence (such as a driver’s license or alien registration document) of their lawful presence.  This has raised worries about racial profiling along with troubling questions about how SB1070 will affect the University’s international community on our campuses.

The University of Arizona is an institution that is international in its impact and reach.  We attract students and scholars from every corner of the world to our campus.  On any given day there are literally hundreds of people here from around the globe.  They come to our campus to learn, to collaborate in research projects, and to share the products of their own scholarship.

I cannot state more firmly that the health and safety of our international students, faculty, and professional staff are priorities of the highest order for us, and we are going to do everything possible to help each of them understand the law and its impact.  We intend to put in place whatever procedures are necessary to ensure their safety and free movement on campus and in our community.

Foreign students who have come to study at American universities are responsible for huge portions of the gains this nation has made in technology, medicine, materials, and so many other academic areas critical to our nation’s defense and economic prosperity.  We must do everything possible to ensure that these students continue to feel welcomed and respected, despite the unmistakably negative message that this bill sends to many of them.

UAPD, which is one of the finest police operations anywhere, will be receiving extensive training on the specifications of the new law.  I have total confidence that they will abide by the letter of the law, which includes a provision that individuals may not be stopped solely on the basis of race, color or national origin.

We have already begun to feel an impact from SB1070. The families of a number of out-of-state students (to date all of them honors students) have told us that they are changing their plans and will be sending their children to universities in other states.  This should sadden anyone who cares about attracting the best and brightest students to Arizona.

Additionally, large numbers of UA students, faculty, staff and appointed professionals have expressed concerns that they or members of their families or their friends may now be subject to unwarranted detainment by police.  Many of these individuals are from families that have been residents of Arizona for generations.  While I am completely confident that no one need fear the way that UAPD will approach the application of this law, I nevertheless appreciate the anxiety that friends and colleagues are feeling.  It is a concern and fear that no one should have to harbor.

At its meeting in Phoenix later this week, the Arizona Board of Regents will be discussing the implications of SB1070.  I will keep you informed of any developments that might result from that meeting.

_______________________________________________
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Abs.newsletter@lists.uvic.ca
https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/abs.newsletter

A new Twitter friend (@Peta_de_Atzlan) sent me a link  to historian Rodolf Acuña’s response to the calls for boycotting Arizona. He draws on Linda Greenhouse’s article in the NYTimes that I pointed to on Tuesday to say that a boycott may not be the best way of gaining political support and/or pressuring Arizona to change the law.

The White Rose
by Rodolfo F. Acuña

Linda Greenhouse in the New York Times (April 26, 2010), wrote “I’m glad I’ve already seen the Grand Canyon. Because I’m not going back to Arizona as long as it remains a police state, which is what the appalling anti-immigrant bill that Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law last week has turned it into.” Greenhouse was referring to a state law that requires the police to demand proof of legal residency from any person about whom they have “reasonable suspicion” that “the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States?”

It does not take a rocket scientist to deduce that the law profiles Latinos—the hue of their skin makes them suspect. Those who know history remember the repatriation drives of the Great Depression and numerous historical events where Mexican Americans were discriminated against. The gigantic pro-immigrant marches testify to this awareness.

Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Arizona) has called on the nation’s business community to protest the law by withholding its convention business. While I believe in boycotts and I respect them, I believe we should take our actions to the next level.

Arizona is an easy target – it is a small state and small states are always singled out while states like California are ignored. Example, Latinos did not coalesce after the passage of Proposition 187 and other draconian laws targeting Latinos and minorities. Indeed, even Latino elected officials discouraged massive demonstrations fearing that they would hurt the Democratic Party.

Without a doubt a moral case can be made for a boycott of Arizona. However, time is not our ally. The summer season is already casting its sunlight over the state – a time that much of the state goes into hibernation. I remember getting a hotel room in Phoenix half of the going rate.

So what then should people do? We cannot dismiss this blatant attack on the entire race. At the same time, our narrative must be honed. House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates, from Arizona are running scared. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Senator John McCain have joined the racist. Getting elected is more important than decency. They are not unintelligent goons such as Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio. They are scared and have decided to join the lynch mob.

Cardinal Roger Mahoney has compared the law to Nazism. This is not hyperbole. Fear of losing something especially to dark people is irrational, i.e., the anti-immigrant cabal makes millions of dollars annually by stoking this fear. What hope is there that the Democrats will do the right thing? Most elected officials care about one thing, getting elected, i.e., healthcare.

Then what are we supposed to do? Roll over? No. We have to fight. We have to get in the fascists’ faces. The demonstrations have to continue but we cannot isolate Arizona. Bigotry is infectious and we should descend on Arizona with cameras, tape recorders and “White Roses” in hand, and then follow the Mexican American leadership in the state – encouraging daily marches on racist business establishments.

The White Rose was the symbol of opposition to Adolph Hitler. Those standing up to bigotry believed that it was the duty of a citizen to stand up against an evil regime. As I said, people are afraid, and a lynch mob is not subdued by placating it or isolating it.

Today in the NYTimes, Linda Greenhouse writes a compelling article against an economic boycott of Arizona saying, “a boycott is a blunt instrument that can hurt innocent business owners and their employees,” (Opinionator). What she does not acknowledge is the fact that many of these “innocent” business owners are themselves supporters of SB1070. She does offer an alternative:

So what to do in the meantime? Here’s a modest proposal. Everyone remembers the wartime Danish king who drove through Copenhagen wearing a Star of David in support of his Jewish subjects. It’s an apocryphal story, actually, but an inspiring one. Let the good people of Arizona — and anyone passing through — walk the streets of Tucson and Phoenix wearing buttons that say: I Could Be Illegal.

While I still believe a boycott of Arizona is the best measure of protest, I think that her suggestion is a great way to build support for the movement among those less militant than I. In fact, it is already gaining support. I just received this email from the Western Literature Association email list:

Greetings from Arizona,

As you may know, last Friday the Arizona State legislature passed an extreme anti-immigrant law. The law, promptly signed by Governor Jan Brewer, allows for drastic measures to be taken against suspected illegal immigrants. This law will lead to racial profiling and is racist, intolerant, and stridently anti-humanitarian. Many in the state, in the west, and indeed in the nation are shocked by what the Arizona governor calls a “tough” attitude toward “border security.”

There has been some talk among WLA members about the ethical implications of our 2010 conference in Prescott. As WLA president, I believe that there is no more urgent moment for us to come together to counter the oppressive politics of Arizona and other like-minded states who legislate the denial of human and civil rights. I am in this business because I believe in the transformative power of literature; I am certain many of you do, too. In addition to the topics suggested in this year’s call for papers, and the usual rich diversity of topics our members inevitably present on, there is certainly room for papers and panels on the literature of immigration, the globalization of the American West, the contemporary or historical literature of racial discord, of labor, of land and territory. And what better year to honor our Distinguished Achievement Award recipient Luis Valdez, who began his career writing and producing agitprop theater to demonstrate the humanity of Mexican American farm workers? His work on behalf of civil rights in the face of those who seek to deny these rights should be a reminder to us: artistic expression is a powerful force against oppression.

In today’s New York Times, op-ed columnist Linda Greenhouse presents a good alternative to boycotting, which may actually hurt innocent small business owners and divest us of our political voice: “Here’s a modest proposal. Everyone remembers the wartime Danish king who drove through Copenhagen wearing a Star of David in support of his Jewish subjects. It’s an apocryphal story, actually, but an inspiring one. Let the good people of Arizona — and anyone passing through — walk the streets of Tucson and Phoenix wearing buttons that say: I Could Be Illegal.”

I look forward, more than ever, to seeing you in Prescott in October.

Sincerely,

Gioia
Gioia Woods, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Humanities
President, Western Literature Association
Department of Comparative Cultural Studies
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011

I was not planning to attend this conference, but if I were, I would definitely consider canceling my reservations.

I just found an announcement for a Seminar in Borderlands and Latino Studies and thought I would post it because it is incredibly important to explore more questions about the products and consequences of creating borders. It also informed me of four schools with Mexican America or Latino Studies programs.

Northwestern University’s Program in Latina and Latino Studies
Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame
Center for Latino Research at DePaul University
Katz Center for Mexican Studies at the University of Chicago

Four incredibly prestigious institutions to explore further. Thank you Newberry Library for pointing me to these schools.

On Wednesday of last week, the UH-Downtown administration and public affairs offices held open meetings to discuss the results from the research conducted by the STAMATS research firm. I won’t recant the proceeding of the whole meeting because that can be found in my Twitter feed. I do have a response to the two proposed names even though I still oppose the name change in general.

The two proposed names, City University and Houston City University, were the most reflective of the identity that the students, faculty, staff, and alumni, see of their school. The research Stamats presented revealed something many of those associated with UH-D already know, we love our city and our place within the fabric of the city. The central urban location and Houston’s prominence as a world class city are the most referred to characteristics that people use to identify the university. City University was the preferred choice by Stamats and I can only infer, the administration as well. Several times in the presentation, both Stamats representatives argued against using Houston because of the increased potential to be mistaken with UH. If the name is just City U, well that just clears up all the confusion.

One of the main reason’s for changing the name in the first place is to remove confusion between the University of Houston and the University of Houston- Downtown. For more reasons why the UH-System Board of Regents agreed to change the school’s name you can read about those on the UHD Web site or in the orginal Richards/Carlberg Survey. I have my own suspicions about the name change, and even though several members of the UH-D administration have attempted to sway my opinion, I have not been given any new information to that end. With that being said, if the name change is inevitable (which I do not believe it is) than the two names being presented do not do anything to alleviate the confusion that the current name is blamed for. In fact, they create more confusion. Using City University would still require a long description of who, what, and where the university is. Adding Houston to the beginning of the name only clarifies some of the location problems, but it does nothing to solve the problem of being associated with UH.

If changing the name is supposed to solve the problem of confusion between UH and UH-D then the two names submitted will not solve it, but if the change is to create a new more prestigious identity than it will never work on its own. Changing the name will not increase the respectability of the school’s brand. That will only be solved with more scholarship funding, developing more undergraduate degrees in specialized fields (such as Urban History/ Sociology/ Literature, American Studies, Journalism, and Engineering Degrees), graduate degrees (such as the much needed and desired MBA program, as well as MA’s and PhD’s in every college), and most importantly promote the great things already happening at the university.

It is unheard of that a university the size of UH-Downtown does not have a more substantial student newspaper. While the The Dateline is a great effort on the part of a handful of dedicated students, it does not come close to serving the students it can because the lack of interest from the university administration inhibits real growth and innovation on the part of the students. Editors of the Dateline, and others, have been trying for the better part of two years to acquire a top level domain name and dedicated Web site for the newspaper to publish on. While the entire publishing industry has continued to decline because of costs due to lack of print readership, it is unfathomable that a student organization such as the Dateline is not keeping up with the market trends by publishing via the Web. I understand that Web design and architecture is not an easy thing to do and it takes time, money, and someone to do it, but with the proliferation of free and professional content management systems, such as WordPress and Drupal, there is no reason to not have a basic Web presence. A student run and operated Web site/ portal that is dedicated to the University and branded with the university identity is one of the best ways to create a more substantial group identity among students, alumni, and the community in general.

Changing the name of UH-D is not going to get the desired result. The proposed names, City University and Houston City University, are not going to give the school any more credibility than it already has. Neither name grabs the imagination with wonder or possibility, and they don’t solve the problem of confusion. They cause more. Building a new identity does not have to include a name change. Let the people who are the life-blood of the university be the ones to make it anew. Keep the best students from transferring by giving them the things they want, and attract the best students by reaching beyond our current academic horizons. That should be the way UH-D differentiates itself from UH. Unfortunately, I suspect there are interested parties whose main goal is to see UH-D completely disassociated from UH, and ensure that flagship school maintains its position of prominence. The process is about to really kick into high gear, and everything will culminate with a vote in the 2011 Lege. I’ll be following the process as close as I can, and trust that I’ll be speaking to elected’s at the Convention in Corpus this summer.

Here are some links associated with the name change:

Official UH-D Name Change Web Page (You can also find the videos for Wednesday’s meetings here)

UH-D President Dr. Bill Flores: View From the Bayou

Alumni and Students Against  UHD Name Change Facebook Page

Houston City University 2011 Facebook Page

The fact that the Texas State Board of education is running rough shod over culturally important parts of our history should be reason enough, but if you need a few reasons to sign the National Cesar Chavez Day Petition they are not hard to find. Aside from being a hero for millions of farm workers across the United States, he is one of the 20th century’s most profound social movement theorists. Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr are only a third of the great peace activism story.

Cesar Chavez on Time Magazine

Cesar E. Chavez, an extreme intellectual with an eighth grade education, lived his philosophical education and earned a Phd in organizing people to action in the face of certain death.

In 1968 Robert F. Kennedy was in the middle of running for President, and he recognized the deep devotion Cesar had to his cause by appearing with him at the end of a prolonged hunger strike. The emaciated, dying Chavez sat next to one of the nation’s most beloved leaders and made him see the pain and exploitation farm workers were suffering.

Cesar Chavez and Robert Kennedy

I won’t keep going. If you would like to read more please visit the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, United Farm Workers, and read José-Antonio Orosco’s Cesar E Chavez and the Common Sense of Non-violence. If you want to see the statement from the UFW Web site follow the jump, I’ve posted it there. Then go sign the petition.

Sign the Petition for a National Cesar E. Chavez Holiday!

The United Farm Workers and the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation are proud to support the grassroots efforts of the Cesar E. Chavez National Holiday Coalition.

Cesar was in Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s words, “one of the heroic figures of our time.” He led the historic non-violent movement for farm worker rights and dedicated himself to building a movement of poor working people that extended beyond the fields and into cities and towns across the nation.

He inspired farm workers and millions of people who never worked on a farm to commit themselves to social, economic and civil rights activism. Cesar’s legacy, like the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., continues to educate, inspire and empower people from all walks of life. He is a role model for all Americans and for generations to come.

Please help us ensure all Americans learn about Cesar’s life and work. The Cesar Chavez National Holiday Coalition is gathering signatures on petitions asking Congress to designate March 31, Cesar’s birthday and the day the UFW was founded, as Cesar Chavez Day.  Sign the petition today. Help ensure Cesar’s legacy is recognized and celebrated throughout our nation with a federal paid holiday and a day of service and learning in our public schools.

Nadja, Andre Breton - 1928

One of the courses I am taking, this last semester of my undergraduate career, is titled Modernity & the Avant Garde, and it is one of the most interesting and powerful subjects I’ve studied so far. We began with Charles Baudelaire’s Paris Spleen (1869) and “The Painter of Modern Life”. Moving into the 20th century, we skipped over Dadaism and took up the heavy task of understanding the motivations and inspirations of the Surrealist movement. Moving from Baudelaire’s modernism to 2oth century surrealism was not much of a jump because the 19th century French poet shared much of the same aesthetic appreciation for that which is not traditionally understood as aesthetic. (Aesthetic was used by Enlightenment Philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant, to describe “the science which treats of the conditions of sensuous perception.”) The modernist movement that Baudelaire pioneered found beauty in the things that most people found repulsive, vulgar, and even demonic. The surrealists, such as André Breton, took that definition of beauty and art to explosive new heights. Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism, in all of its chaotic order, revealed the motives driving artists living in Europe after the first world war. After reading his novel (?), Nadja, the class was instructed to write our own manifesto based on what we read and our own vision of the modern world. I titled my short essay, The Unreal Manifesto. So, take a look by following the jump, and tell me where I’m wrong, right, or just bat-shit crazy.

The Unreal Manifesto, 2010

The course of human events, complete with political, economic,and technological innovation, has brought humanity no further than its own destruction. In the infancy of the 21st century, nations as they stand now are just as willing to destroy each other as they were two millennia ago. It is time for a new modernism to take hold, one that rejects the defeatism of cynical people whose entire consciousness have been are utterly stolen through commercialistic development; one that affirms the possibility of providing a more equitable existence that finally opens art and beauty up for those who have never or could ever know it. To release art, and so too beauty, from its confines in the gravesites we know as museums and watch roam free among the poorest, filthiest, most downtrodden corners of the darkened earth because that is where the beauty of human survival and life determined to resist being shut out are most abundant. The goal of every artist and student of beauty is to reject their political, religious, economic, and even academic bondage for the many different truths the world of difference has to offer. It is time for the unreal, the parts of our world that we could never possibly imagine to exist be brought out into life. The unreal is by necessity that which has refused to be killed; those women (and by women I mean young girls, children) who are shipped like most inanimate cargo across thousands of miles of ocean to arrive in a distant shore and be sold into slavery, in the 21st century, only to escape and build a life of her own; the unreal are the tribes who, after thousands of years of being able to avoid so-called civilization are now taking full page ads out in the New York Times to save their indigenous, untouched by industry way of life. The unreal is and are those things that our five hundred years of education and documentation have told us should not exist in the so-called modern day. To be beautiful in the 21st century, to be worthy of artist reverence, the artist must be able to take the worst of our advanced abilities, to reveal the unreal, in one’s creation so that all those who look at it can see the destruction our progress has made; to make them question what is real and what is unreal.