The following is an introspective made by students of the class Feminism in the Borderlands at the University of Washington; it is a summary of 5 students’ experience at the un-conference.
Professor Jade Power-Sotomayor leading Bomba on February 11 2017 at the Womxn Who Rock (Un)Conference in Washington Hall, Seattle, WA. Photo Credit: Afomia Assefa
Tags: Women Who Rock, Building Communities
Photo Explanation
We choose this picture because it is clear convivencia in action. Everyone is learning together and instead of having a teacher at the front talking down to students, she is equal footing with the students while she educates them. People are learning from each other in what is clearly a very safe space, where making mistakes is not punished or frowned upon. You can see the feeling of fiesta through the amount of people and their colorful skirts – this uplifting energy was felt throughout this whole information sharing session. It’s also a very powerful picture because the participants are clearly ignoring and surpassing gender norms; everyone is having a good time and binaries do not matter.
Category Explanation
The category of this picture falls under Making Scenes: Scene Makers, as she is performing on the stage and leading others by example to dance Bomba. Jade Sotomayor is a professor at the University of Washington Bothell and emphasizes the influence of dance and music into the social world of politics and ethnicity and vice versa.
Julie Olivos’ Altar Construction (pictured on the right) on February 11 2017 at the Womxn Who Rock (Un)Conference in Washington Hall, Seattle, WA. Photo Credit: Afomia Assefa
Tags: Women Who Rock, Building Communities, Making Scenes
Photo Explanation
We chose this picture because it represents the collective altar construction of not just our group, but everyone in the course. Altar making is a communal activity and we are reminded of that in this picture as you can see everyone’s work came together and created the wonderful amalgams of our personal lives that are visible in the altars. The strong presence of Frida Kahlo was also important in this picture as it represents Frida’s strong radical influence in Mexican art. Our altares were meant to be be equally radical in that we reclaimed our spaces and fought binaries, homophobia, sexism, and patriarchy: all things that have held our communities down for so long.
Category Explanation
The collective Altar that was built by our class and by Julie resembles the theme of Building Communities. Although it is not a specific form of music or performance, it is a form of art and spirituality that demonstrates coming together and providing a safe environment while inviting our ancestors to attend the Women Who Rock (un)Conference.
Liveblog Links:
Mattie
https://womenwhorockcommunity.org/2017/02/11/liveblog-308-pm/
https://womenwhorockcommunity.org/2017/02/12/liveblog-535-pm/
Afomia
https://womenwhorockcommunity.org/2017/02/12/live-blog/
https://womenwhorockcommunity.org/2017/02/12/4090/
Women Who Rock 