Sock and Buskin’s new production combines history and mysticism

Posted in Articles, Arts, History, Native Americans/First Nation, United States on 2015-12-09 02:51Z by Steven

Sock and Buskin’s new production combines history and mysticism

The Brown Daily Herald
Providence, Rhode Island
2015-11-16

Jennifer Shook, Staff Writer

‘The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry’ examines journey of Black Seminoles to Oklahoma

In Sock and Buskin’s newest production “The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry,” legend and history come together to present a portrait of mid-19th-century life from a segment of the American population not usually depicted: the Black Seminoles, a group of black and Native American people.

Written by Marcus Gardley, assistant professor in playwriting, and directed by Kym Moore, associate professor of theatre arts and performance studies, “The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry” follows a community of Black Seminoles forced to relocate from Florida to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. There, they create a new community and culture that is entirely their own while struggling with their racial and cultural histories. The Black Seminoles also face continued rivalries both within their community and with the neighboring Creek tribe. While the play depicts the plight of the diverse Seminole community, it also incorporates a mystical undercurrent that allows for a more metaphorical interpretation of its larger themes…

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Brown campus newspaper issues apology after racist columns

Posted in Articles, Campus Life, Media Archive, Native Americans/First Nation, United States on 2015-10-14 19:10Z by Steven

Brown campus newspaper issues apology after racist columns

The Associated Press
2015-10-07

Amy Anthony

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Brown University campus newspaper apologized Wednesday after publishing what it says were two “deeply hurtful” and racist columns.

The Brown Daily Herald’s editorial board published an editor’s note saying it regretted the hurt caused by the two opinion columns, both written by student M. Dzhali Maier.

One titled “The white privilege of cows,” which was published Monday, “invoked the notion of biological differences between races,” while “Columbian Exchange Day,” published Tuesday, argued that Native Americans should be thankful for colonialism, according to the editor’s note.

“The white privilege of cows” column was left on The Herald’s website “in an effort to be transparent,” according to an editor’s note later added to it. The “Columbian Exchange Day” column was removed and replaced by an editor’s note. That column was “unintentionally published due to an internal error,” according to the note. It was online for about an hour before it was taken down.

“We understand that these columns contained racist content that has no place in our paper or community,” the editor’s note said…

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A Statement from a Collective of Multiracial and Biracial Students

Posted in Articles, Campus Life, Media Archive, Native Americans/First Nation, United States on 2015-10-14 18:23Z by Steven

A Statement from a Collective of Multiracial and Biracial Students

bluestockings magazine
Monday, 2015-10-12

Multiracial and Biracial Students at Brown

For further context, please see the bluestockings editors statement.

Introduction

We, a collective of multiracial and biracial students, write this statement to address the publication of a series of articles by the Brown Daily Herald, as well the publication of “An open letter to students on power, learning and responsibility” written by President Christina Paxson, Richard Locke, a provost, and Russell Carey, executive vice president for planning and policy. We write out of deep concern for the decisions made by the Brown Daily Herald to publish the racist opinion articles “The White Privilege of Cows,” and “Columbian Exchange Day” [by M. Dzhali Maler ’17] on October 5th, and October 6th, 2015, respectively, and the administration’s choice to address the publishing of these articles with an open letter that minimizes the pain of Native and Indigenous students.

The Herald’s staff privileges writers who continue in the legacy of white supremacy, further marginalizing students already systemically oppressed by the University. In an effort to recenter and stand in solidarity with Native and Indigenous students, we call attention to The Herald’s errors and their history of racism…

…We also call multiracial and biracial community members to interrogate the ways in which we are complicit in the erasure of Native and Indigenous people. Moreover, multiracial, biracial and Indigenous identities are not separate—there are multi- and biracial people who hold Indigenous identity. We, as a community that experiences multiple histories of racism and colonization while often being heralded as a signal of the end of racism, must evaluate, address, and decolonize our own actions…

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Dominic Mhiripiri ’12: Please. Mr. Obama is not black

Posted in Articles, Barack Obama, New Media, Politics/Public Policy, Social Science, United States on 2010-02-27 02:39Z by Steven

Dominic Mhiripiri ’12: Please. Mr. Obama is not black

The Brown Daily Herald
2010-02-03

Dominic Mhiripiri, Opinions Columnist

Recently, the United States marked the first anniversary of Barack Obama’s historic ascent to the apex of American politics. For a candidate who electrified a whole generation of American youth and whose promise gave the whole world great expectations, the man’s image borders on the divine. At least, it did one year ago. Since then, America has basked in some sort of self-congratulatory-slash-too-good-to-be-true euphoria. It’s because Obama’s election comes in a different context — namely, a very historic one. It’s because he is the first black president of the United States.

Wait. Really? Black?…

…In an understandable but nevertheless misplaced assertion, the U.S. is trying to convince itself, primarily through Obama’s election, that it has attained the cherished ideal that Martin Luther King Jr. and many others fought for in their illustrious civil rights movement: a post-racial America…

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