J. W. Wiley has possibly orchestrated and engaged in more conversations about diversity and social justice than anyone else in the North Country of New York. He is as eager to get in your ear as he is to have you share your thoughts.
I have had the pleasure of being published many times by the Press Republican in its In My Opinion section. As a matter of fact, in all that time, I may have submitted approximately 25 “in my opinion” articles. Does anyone want to venture a guess as to how many times I was denied? Come on, out of 25 times what would be a reasonable expectation of failure? 4? 7? Well, the answer is 2. Yes, twice the PR didn’t publish IMOs that I’ve written. Once when I wrote a scathing IMO about a previous SUNY President that had no love for me and demonstrated it often while trying to pretend he wasn’t aiming at a target he had placed on my back himself. Do I sound bitter? Well, let’s just say I couldn’t be any more bitter than I am wiser from the experience. I learned a great deal about myself during that period and have become so much stronger from surviving and richer from the friends who were truly there with me throughout it all. The IMO I submitted about him was a scathing indictment of him, his administration, and those complicit with his deeds. There is no doubt in my mind that I might have lost my job if Bob Grady, the editor of that aspect of the paper, hadn’t cautioned me at length about the possible consequences. He was measured/deliberate and took the time to make sure I was hearing him clearly. Fortunately for me, I did.
Continue reading "What No One Wants to Talk About – Which May Be the Very Reason Why We Should..." »
Annalee Newitz cites Scifi writer Nalo Hopkinson for stating in the Boston Globe that “In the US, to talk about race is to be seen as racist. You become the problem because you bring up the problem. So you find people who are hesitant to talk about it.” She further states that the main mythic story you find in science fiction, generally written by whites, "is going to a foreign culture and colonizing it." Does this describe Avatar? Is it a film about race? Is Hopkinson correct in her assertion that to talk about race is to become racist? (For the record, I agree with her assertion. In my experiences talking about it, I have been labeled racist many times because I unabashedly engage it in my lectures, presentations, and classes). More so, is it even difficult for people uncomfortable with discussing race, or any significant socialized differences, to even go and see Avatar once the hype about its socio-political message is out there? Is it possible that people will be afraid of what they see, or afraid of what it might say about them?
Continue reading "Despite its Socio-politically Charged Criticisms, I Enjoyed Avatar! What About You?" »
With the holidays upon us I was reflecting on the notion of what it truly means to keep someone in the center. The notion of centering continuously appeared over the last couple of weeks as I have wandered here and there. In my last blog (Girl Talk, When If Ever Is It Appropriate, Nov 14) we talked about language and how terms like girl infantilize women. We talked about how the acceptance of the term girl by women as non-problematic can easily be interpreted in many cases as internalized oppression not too dissimilar to the way other disenfranchised groups internalize disparaging statements as non problematic as well (gays with the terms “fag” and “straight,” Blacks with the word “nigger,” Whites with the term “cracker,” people with disabling conditions with the word “retard,” etc.) when articulated by in-group members. Our conversation also included phrases that aren’t necessarily deemed problematic (i.e. you guys), but that contribute to keeping men at the center, which means the use of such phrasing subconsciously contributes to de-centering or marginalizing women. On top of all this, I recently attended the third conversation of a scheduled seven that the SUNY Chancellor is hosting in support of situating our higher educational system to achieve its potential greatness. In that conversation with the Group of 200 (the name given the collective of representatives from the 64 SUNY campuses) we discussed some of the overriding goals that should permeate each campus. Two of these goals were academic excellence and student centeredness. Yes, there is that “centeredness” concept again.
Continue reading "Should This Holiday Gift/Sentiment be Given 24/7/365?" »
Recently I sat down to grade papers for a diversity class I teach and was surprised like you wouldn’t believe. Reading one of the student’s papers I was all of a sudden faced with an intriguing situation. The student started the paper by informing me that he was in a local business and over heard two people discussing J.W. Wiley’s take on the word “girl.” Aside from the fact that this business owner was publicly disparaging me with gossip that could be heard by anyone within earshot, the business owner is also a woman who condones “girl talk” as well, and was attempting to make a point about not just the substance of my message, but the delivery of my message. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem for me to hear about and I’ve even had students close to me ask me about my delivery or style, trying to figure out the rhyme or reason for my approach at times. That has never bothered me. But this business owner allegedly didn’t realize that she was criticizing and chastising me for my style of delivering a message while she was displaying her style, class (or lack thereof), and aplomb before people that she had no clue might possibly be connected to me somehow. In this case, one of them happened to be a student of mine who decided to include some of the specifics of the business owner’s public critique in a paper he was writing on gender. The main reason the student included the business owner’s comments in the paper was that he couldn’t understand how, under any circumstances, this business woman wasn’t in agreement that the use of the term “girl” is very much inappropriate when aimed at an adult woman.
Continue reading "Girl Talk: When, If Ever is It Appropriate?" »
I was sitting in my office with three of my TAs when the email arrived. It had the student’s name on the subject line: “Danny Keeler.” I turned and shared with the TAs that I was about to open an email that had me quite nervous. The colleague who had sent me the email is one of my mentors and while we are close in many ways, with me owing him a debt for the support he gave me early in my problematic career at SUNY Plattsburgh, recently we hadn’t talked much. In fact, at that time, I probably owed him a phone call. Suffice it to say, we hadn’t spoken in a while, so an email from him with the subject line” “Danny Keeler,” was more than a bit odd, it was actually quite daunting.
Continue reading "Ode to Danny Keeler: A “Star” If I’ve Ever Gazed One!" »
Recently in the CDPI Diversity Film Series we watched “Vicki Cristina Barcelona.” Coincidentally (or not) in my Romance, Sex, Love and Marriage (RSLM) course at SUNY Plattsburgh we are about to complete the sex theme where we also watched film clips from “Vicki Cristina Barcelona” to further accentuate/breath life into some of the assigned readings. A scene that garnered quite a bit of conversation was when Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) approaches Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) upon their first meeting and invites them to join him on a private plane ride (with himself as pilot) to a small somewhat hidden away island for a weekend of what he describes as showing them around where they will “eat well, drink good wine, and make love.” Upon resistance from one of the women, Vicky, Juan Antonio further adds “Why not? Life is short, life is dull, life is full of pain, and this is a chance for something special.” When further challenged by Vicky to be more explicit about who exactly he is proposing could be making love, he unabashedly states “the three of us.”
Continue reading "What are the Socio-economic/Gendered Implications to an Intimate Proposition?" »
What is really happening with our nation’s response to the Obama presidency? Since my professional reality centers upon challenging others/myself to recognize the biases we have that may be counterproductive to our being the best we can be, I need assistance unpacking some observations surrounding “our” first African American president that just don’t make much sense.
Continue reading "Are Responses to Obama Reflective of a Hidden Agenda, Paranoia, People's Inability to See Themselves, or Privilege?" »
It has been a short summer, hasn’t it? I wonder if everyone is happy putting so-called relax time behind them for a while? For me, I’m excited to be back in the mix with the steady flow of my life. This semester excites me more than others because I am teaching my Romance, Sex, Love, and Marriage (RSLM) course once again. I only teach it once every third semester and because of that there is usually a healthy number of students clamoring for it by the time it arrives. This energizes me because if you know anything about college electives, it isn’t easy attracting students to do serious work for a class that isn’t required. So, having 50 students in what is essentially a non-required philosophy class to discuss various dimensions of their lived, or soon to be lived lives is what we would call in the vernacular of my old neighborhood “off the hook!”
Continue reading "Does Excessive Flattery/Admiration Undercut the Ability to Romance: Is It a Socio-Economic Issue?" »
How many songs have influenced us in our lives? Remember those times when we listened to a song and from listening and reflecting upon its meaning we knew what we needed to say to that loved one of ours upon our next interaction? Can’t you hear Billy Joel saying,
“Don’t go changing, to try and please me, don’t change the color of your hair…”
Don't try to act as if the song title I Love You Just the Way You Are didn’t become a personal mantra of yours. Then there were those songs that we listened to that made us want to be better people. John Lennon asked us to,
“Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people, Sharing all the world... “
I tried real hard to not be materialistic after hearing the lyrics to Imagine. There were even those songs that made us not want to take any crap off of someone. An agitated, irritated 50 Cent rapped in his song Places to Go,
"You mistaken me for somebody that you should be testing,
You should be stressing I'm gonna "frollicking" teach you a lesson,"
No, he didn't actually say "frollicking." Work with me here!
Continue reading "Could Obama’s Edge Come From Music, Perhaps Even Gangsta Rap?" »
When we romance someone do we consider how/why she/he receives us the way she/he does?
When we kiss someone what is the criteria that contributes to our kiss being considered a “good” kiss as opposed to a bad one? Could it be because my lips are fuller or less full than other people’s lips? Could it be that a person has been told they are different, enough to affect their confidence?
Is a preference or disdain to lip size or hip size racism, or ableism?
Does our sexual orientation affect the quality/way we are capable of loving or being loved?
Can sex be better if you have it within a backdrop of a 5 star hotel, or with cars racing past as lovers hurriedly attempt to take advantage of a moment, with the only option available being a car and the only location the side of the road?
Are these questions that most people ask themselves? Would our experiences with romance, sex, love, and marriage be better if we engaged these questions as we move in and out of our intimate moments? Well, what do you think?
Continue reading "Romance, Sex, Love, and Marriage: Perhaps the Most Significant Discussion We Never Had!" »
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