All posts by jkoury

Dorothy Roberts and Her Fight for Social Justice

Profile

Dorothy Roberts is George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology and the Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights at the University of Pennsylvania. She has gained international recognition as a scholar, focusing on the areas of reproductive health, child welfare, and bioethics. Recently she visited Wellesley College as their 2019 Betsy Wood Knapp ‘64 speaker to discuss issues involving race-based medicine.

Roberts grew up wanting to become an anthropologist. Her father, an anthropology professor, and her mother, who gave up on her anthropology PhD when she gave birth to Roberts, encouraged her from a young age to enter academia. But during her undergraduate senior year at Yale, she suddenly decided to apply for law school. “I wanted to do something more concrete in terms of advocating for social justice and I didn’t really have any role models, as anthropology professors who did that. And so I switched gears and turned from anthropology to law and went to law school.”  In 1980 she graduated with a JD from Harvard. After practicing law for a number of years, she realized that her true passion lay elsewhere: in academic teaching, writing, and research of academia.

“ I figured out that I could be a social justice advocate while doing those things in academia so I became a law professor, and have always tried to merge my interests in social justice with the work of a professor in academia.”

Now as a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, she continues her work in social justice through her writing, sitting on boards, and advocating for others. She started out focusing on reproductive health, which led to her first scholarly article “Contesting the Prosecutions of Black Women Who Use Drugs During Pregnancy”. “That topic lead me to think about multiple ways racism and sexism are intertwined in the regulation of women’s childbearing, especially black women’s childbearing” says Roberts. Her book, Killing the Black Body, traces the restrictive and oppressive reproductive methods used to control black women’s childbearing from the era of slavery to today. While following the stories of black women’s childbearing Roberts discovered that newborns of black women who used drugs during pregnancy were immediately placed in foster care. This lead her to examining the child welfare system. In this area she noticed the same systematic black oppression she encountered in reproductive health. “As I start to understand it not as a system that benevolently saves children but as a system that is very oppressive and rife with racial discrimination, I decided to write a book on that topic.” That book, Shattered Bonds: the Color of Child Welfare, is an account linking the origins and impact of the unequal representation of black children in the child welfare system to racial injustice. Roberts identified both these areas of reproductive justice and child welfare as having systems rooted in the devaluing black women’s childbearing – first punishing black women for having children, then taking them away.

“Even though my conclusions are sometimes depressing, I think ‘oh, all these forms of oppression work together in these particular ways’. I still […] get satisfaction out of helping to figure out how oppression works. The reason I get satisfaction out of it is not just because it’s an intellectual exercise, but because I work with people who are parts of movements to end it.”

Roberts is affiliated both with a national panel for foster care reform in Washington state, and with the Standards Working Group for stem cell research in California. The intersectionality of the diverse work she does can appear daunting for those wanting to follow in her footsteps.  But her advice to younger generations looking to change systemic injustice is to follow their passion.

“[…] the silver lining of the fact that there’s so much wrong is that there’s so much you can do! And there’s such a variety of things you can do. […] Pick a field that you enjoy working in and then find people of like mind you can work with. […] I think that a student graduating from college can find their way into one of those movements. Or find their way in whatever they want to do into collaborating with a movement that is working towards change in an area they’re particularly interested in, or feel passionate about.”

Welcome to the Job Hunt

Op-Ed

Most millennials are familiar with the term “ghosting”: when a person stops responding to online communication. It is a pretty cowardly and lazy act that frequently happens in online dating. Yet surprisingly, this same cop-out used to discreetly reject Tinder matches is what employers use on applicants in a job hunt. Applicants will submit their resumes; an automated email will say “thank you for your application”. Then that’s it. No, “we’re sorry but” or “thank you but unfortunately” — just a silent rejection that applicants have to guess they received.

At least in the world of online dating there are standard practices. For example, if someone reads a greeting but doesn’t respond after a few days, it’s understood that they’re not interested. With a company, it can take well over a month to hear back about an interview, let alone a rejection. Perhaps companies would seem less like FuckBois if they actually made an attempt to communicate instead of hitting someone up after months of silence for a face-to-face. Just a one line automated email giving an estimated number of days to expect a response by would be an improvement.

Why is this behavior okay? Millennials are famously criticized for not wanting to work, yet as older millennials take charge of companies they’re making it difficult for the younger generations to navigate the job hunt. For example, if a graduating senior needs to find a job by graduation, but most positions aren’t posted until February, then that applicant won’t hear back from employers before March. Most jobs require at least 3 interviews which could take all of April to complete. So by the earliest, if an applicant succeeds after their first application, they’ll find out by May if they have a job. Congrats grad, now just graduate, find an apartment, move, and start a brand new job all by June. And this is only for the successful applicant. Those who don’t succeed on their first wave of applications might have to wait until March before sending out a second wave because they weren’t sure if their first applications were successful. It’s difficult for students who need a job to secure their housing to – ‘try try again’ when they’re homeless. Being forced into an am-I-going-to-be-homeless-or-not position is what can happen when employers give no answers. Finding a job shouldn’t be like reading Stephen King, there shouldn’t be this much suspense.

The most infuriating aspect of this is that it’s not even that difficult to fix! In an age where Facebook can alter an election and Google can read our minds, it’s not as if companies don’t have the technical capacity to send out rejections. Even a one-line automated email to rejected applicants saying “thanks but no thanks” would suffice. It would be nice if employers had a progress bar that tracks the application. First, it would say submission accepted, then under review, and finally done. After that point, if the applicant doesn’t receive information about an interview they would know they’re rejected. It’s a simple no-muss no-fuss system. If Domino’s can track every pizza they make, then HR departments should certainly be able to track their applications.

There is no reasonable explanation for why things are the way they are. Applying for jobs is difficult enough without having to guess about one’s application status. When applying to other things like colleges, insurance companies, or credit cards, issuers inform applicants when they’ve been rejected. It’s standard practice. Only in the professional world is it okay to treat applicants like an accidental Tinder match. Why?

Film Review Women Without Men: A Powerful Watch

Movie Review: "Women Without Men"

Watching Women Without Men is an engaging experience. The film’s director, Shirin Neshat, is best known for her photography. The cinematography throughout the film is outstanding. The detailed images and long takes work in tandem with minimal diegetic audio to both draw the viewer in and focus attention on the immediate scene. As a result the audience comes away with hearts pounding, feeling as if they were really there beside the characters. There are some glaring plot holes in the film, but even the plot seems less significant compared against intense and immersive experience Neshat’s artistry creates.

For this, her first dramatic feature Neshat chose to adapt a novel by Shahrnush Parsipur into a movie. Both the film and the novel are currently banned in Iran. The film follows the lives of four Iranian women in Tehran during the 1953 American-backed coup. The four, Munis, Faezeh, Zarin, and Fakhri, all represent very different backgrounds of women in Tehrani society. Despite their initial differences, all in their own way go through a transformative struggle that changes their life. Throughout the film, the characters’ stories weave in and out of each other, with touches of magical realism that highlight symbolic moments.

The first scene depicts Munis falling off a building. Her death is a central element not only to her storyline but to the film as a whole. This same scene is shown three times throughout the film: at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. Even though the image of her falling through the air, face turned towards the sky with a serene expression, is repeatedly shown, the moment of impact when her body hits the ground is never actually seen. The audience is only given the scene of her falling, indicating that the most important action is Munis’ choice to jump rather than the act of suicide. Munis’ voice breaks the silence; she speaks of the desire for freedom as she falls. Her calm voice begins speaking unsettling words which seem to describe suicide as a choice to be free. Together,  Munis’ expression and message create a pervasive eeriness that lingers with the viewer, returning echoes throughout the film each time she is shown falling.

Unlike Munis, Zarin does not choose to die, nor is she resurrected. Scenes of Zarin lying down in nature precede her death. Often in these scenes the colors are uniquely vibrant. Lush green backgrounds are in stark contrast with Zarin’s pale form. These scenes are more subtle than the scenes where Munis appears, but in their mysterious beauty they are equally powerful. In contrast with Munis’ rebelliousness Zarin comes across as resigned. She gives no explanation to anyone, and shows no signs of illness until she collapses. On her deathbed Zarin expresses no desire to get better, or not to die. At the moment of her death, the sounds of Faezeh’s cries, without background music or other theatrical effects, pulls at the viewers emotions. It’s hard not to feel have an emotional reaction to Faezeh’s cries. Given that Zarin’s silence throughout the film, it is difficult to know what her death symbolizes. Perhaps it foreshadows a future in which women are unable to escape in time from their torment. Despite the ambiguity of Zarin’s character, the beautiful artistry that surrounds her death make it a deeply affecting moment, much as in the case of Munis’ death.

Throughout the film there are often glaring instances of plot holes. To name a few, after Munis’ resurrection she visits a cafe that women are not allowed to enter. Faezeh is with her, and she is noticed by the men in the cafe, but Munis is not. Later on when Munis is sitting in another cafe, she is approached by a man she saw earlier in the town square. Parts of this inconsistency can be explained by the genre magical realism, like Munis’ resurrection, and her invisibility. But even magic has logic. Munis’ selective invisibility seems random. Calling this randomness magical realism sounds more like a cop-out than a credible explanation.   

In important scenes like these, the audience is never left feeling indifferent to the characters. Neshat’s skill in cinematography expertly guides the hearts of viewers to beat strongly with each character, even when it’s hard to understand their actions. The intense, dramatic visual experience of the film leaves a strong impression that stays with the audience long after the final credits have rolled.

Fixing This Garbage Fire May Be More Work Than We Thought

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor,

Your recent article, South Korea’s Plastic Problem is a Literal Trash Fire itself reflects the careless way in which we treat environmental issues worldwide. The story it tells of this black market garbage pile is not the one begging to be told —  a story of systematic neglect. Rather, we read a tale of simple Band-Aid fixes, paired with lamentations of if only we had known.

This massive combusting garbage pile in Uiseong did not spontaneously appear; it was the result of a series of poor attempts to mitigate pollution. The article highlights a number of regulations — from strict cutbacks in waste incineration to international waste import bans — but nowhere in this list of pollution mitigation strategies do we see an attempt to solve the underlying problem of South Korea’s surplus waste. These so-called solutions only address the symptoms, and have resulted in a combusting trash pile rather than a decrease in waste.

The exploding trash heap that’s given the spotlight here is a story that is replayed by many nations that have failed to fix a broken system. Your writer succeeds in highlighting the ways environmental policies fail, but like these policies, it doesn’t conclude with a call for a true fix. What’s needed is a systematic change — a deep industrial restructuring and an effort to reduce waste before it’s created, not once it’s spontaneously combusting and threatening lives.

You get points for telling this story, but like so many others it will fade into oblivion as more waste piles up, and frankly, there are more important things to take away from a 170,000 ton garbage heap than a lone fist shaking at the ‘what ifs.’

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/02/asia/south-korea-trash-ships-intl/index.html

 

Xīn Nián Kuài Le – Happy New Year

Feature Report

New Zealand may seem like an unexpected place to celebrate xīn nián, Chinese Lunar New Year, but every year, the city of Christchurch hosts a lantern festival to mark the occasion. Compared to traditional lantern festivals in China, Christchurch’s is much smaller, filling up only the city square. Yet despite the size, both the event’s activities and crowd were surprisingly robust for a Chinese Festival in New Zealand. The educational elements included in Christchurch’s event also make it different from a traditional lantern festival. Unlike in China, Christchurch’s lantern festival is advertised to an ethnically mixed audience, most of which are not Chinese. Intended for a mixed audience, the event is geared to both welcome the New Year and encourage attendees to learn more about Chinese culture. The festival is organized by the small, strong Chinese community and is backed by a China-based organization known as the Confucius Institute, an independent group that teaches courses on Chinese language and culture. Cultural events like Christchurch’s lantern festival are what bring ethnically mixed communities together in both celebrating and sharing cultural diversity.

The history of the Chinese Lunar New Year begins with ancient Chinese astronomers. As they observed the night skies, astronomers began to notice a cycle in star patterns. They called one full cycle yì nián (one year). Assigned to each year is a zodiac animal that comes from a Chinese creation legend. In the story the Jade Emperor, the ruler of the heavens, offers all animals a chance to have a year named after them if they win a race. The first twelve animals who win the race then celebrate at a heavenly banquet, each being awarded their own year. The lantern festival, which celebrates both the animal and the beginning of the New Year, is held at night and often displays decorations featuring that year’s animal.

At the Christchurch Lantern Festival, crowds fill an entire city square. To judge from their accents, almost everyone is a New Zealand native, a Kiwi, but about half the crowd looks to be not ethnically Chinese. This year, everyone is bustling towards different attractions to celebrate the Year of the Dog. In one corner, there is a stage where groups perform traditional songs and dances. These performances range from a single, elderly Chinese man playing a flute to a children’s group dressed in traditional garb moving to percussion beats. A little farther from the stage, makeshift stands of collapsable poles and tented fabric line the border of the square. Each contains something different. In one, young kids learn to make small origami animals. The next stand is filled to the brim with festive decorations like hóng zhǐ (red paper), and keychain tassels, all to bring good luck this New Year. At the end, there are a few stands organized by the Confucius Institute. They’re easily identifiable because they are twice as big as all the others, and they’re connected. Tonight, their presence signifies that to fully appreciate Chinese culture, it is necessary to understand its roots. Inside each stand, teachers walk visitors through the basics of calligraphy and teach them about the origins of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. It’s striking to hear the traditional Chinese myth told in the soft drawl of the Kiwi accent. The crowd in this half of the square alternates between watching the stage and milling about among the stands.

There is so much to watch and listen to, but it’s the smell that pulls people to the other side of the square.

Across from the stalls and the stage is a wall of food trucks. Their aroma has been pervading the entire festival, enticing would-be customers. Most of these trucks are not serving Chinese food, which is a casual nod towards the mixed crowd. Ironically, the one with the longest line happens to be for yakisoba, Japanese fried noodles. Amongst traditional dumplings and fish ’n’ chips, the scents of Chinese and Kiwi cultures mix in the air. As customers equip themselves with small treats they begin wandering through the spectacle of lanterns. They are unlike the traditional small lanterns one sees hanging from trees or set on tables. Instead, they are huge creations of thin nylon-esque material covering dazzling lights formed into an array of intricate shapes. People crowd around them and wander from dragons to pandas, ships, and horses, their gazes fixed on each for several moments before the cameras click.

Amidst the revelry of the crowd, a sound rings out signaling for people to make way as the parade starts coming through. The parade marks the peak of the festival, drawing people from all over the square towards the center as the marchers file in. Small and energetic, each procession is full of music and excitement as musicians march alongside traditional dragon dancers. As the parade begins to exit the other side of the square, everything else quickly follows. The lights on the stage are already dimmed, most of the stalls are in the process of being collapsed, and many of the food trucks have packed away their signs. Even as the festivities come to an end, the goal of the lantern festival here has clearly been achieved. The Chinese Lunar New Year has been welcomed through traditional festivities, while large crowds at the information booths testify to the success of cultural education. As the crowd filters out, only the lanterns are left; a light guiding us into the New Year.

Photos taken by J.Koury at the Lantern Festival. Christchurch, New Zealand . March 11, 2018.

A Traveling How-To

Blog Post

Travel isn’t an experience isolated to the destination. Perhaps like you, as a kid I dreamed of traveling the world. Now that I’ve grown up to become a world traveller, I’ve often thought about the question: what is the best way to travel? Of course there is no straight textbook answer, but since you’re reading my blog, you may be interested in a couple tips I’ve picked up along the way.

  1. Know your own culture:

Culture clashes come in all shapes and sizes. On a small scale, this can mean not understanding why fries are chips and chips are crisps (it makes no sense, a waffle chip?). On a larger scale, it can mean stumbling embarrassingly through broken French, begging the waitress to take back the plate of raw meat when I assumed boeuf tartare meant cooked with tartar sauce. As a traveler you have be clear with who you are, what you like, and most importantly what you cannot stand. Some like traveling with a companion, because it can feel hollow if they don’t have another to share the experience with. Others are perfectly fine venturing off on their own, preferring the freedom of autonomy. Some need an itinerary (the if-we-keep-to-the-time-we-can-visit-everything schedule), others prefer to unleash their own spontaneity (i.e. burning that aforementioned schedule). Understanding your culture is key to not only planning the logistics of your trip, but also selecting a destination. Are you okay if the country’s native language is not your own? Do you prefer public transit to renting a car? Are the local customs contrary to your personal beliefs? Can you respect that? These are all questions that need to be asked of yourself before you decide on a destination. The world is not a one size fits all, so doing a bit of research both introspectively and online is worth the time.

  1. Treat yourself:

When you’re on a tight budget, logistics don’t always get the attention they deserve. For those of you planning to go very far away, read twice as closely. There are two ways to get around the world: the long way, or the short way. As someone who is constantly working just to scrape enough money together for a ticket, I don’t say this lightly: if financially possible, always choose the shorter option. As a frequent traveler, I have lost more time and money taking the cheapest way out (I’m looking at you, Spirit Airlines) than if I considered slightly more expensive options. It’s hard on a tight budget, but if you’ve got any wiggle room, treat yourself to the convenience of a shorter flight. It’s logical, a shorter flight means there is less time for something to go wrong. For example, minimizing layovers decreases the chance that your luggage could be lost or damaged. Even more importantly, your body will thank you. Being cramped up in a three-foot space for 21 hours is not fun, no matter how many movies are available.

  1. Don’t Screw Future-You

The Boy Scouts say “be prepared” but I like my title more. You never know what might happen when you’re abroad so don’t screw yourself by being unprepared. For example, on my way to France, I never expected to be in a situation where I would purposely pretend  not to know French. Yet that’s what I had to do to escape, because I also never imagined that a father asking for directions would actually be a man using his baby as a trick for starting a conversation to hit on me (I’ll never forget that baby). Should anything go wrong (a traveler’s mantra), always know your basics: how to contact help, how to get home, and always have cash. Contacting help isn’t always easy. If you don’t know the language, keep certain local words and phrases written down either on your phone or a piece of paper (like ‘help me’ or ‘do you speak [insert language]?’). This will help you communicate without pronunciation affecting the message. Getting home isn’t always the same getting there, so make sure if you’re traveling far from where you’re staying that you have a definite way of getting back. Often public transit closes down after a certain hour, and taxis are harder to find in areas with fewer people, so planning ahead can make a huge impact. A good habit to get into is memorizing landmarks around the area you’re staying in, this way if you need help and someone doesn’t know the address, they still may recognize the area. Finally, always carry some cash with you. Not everyone takes cards, but everyone always takes cash. In a pinch, you might not know what you’ll need it for, but you’ll be glad you’ve got it (surviving is part of the experience, right?).

From transportation to culture, there are plenty of factors that can make traveling an unpredictable adventure (which is part of the fun). With that said, there is still a lot within your control which can help keep ‘unpredictable’ fun. It may seem that traveling is all about getting on a plane, and stepping off into an adventure. Truthfully, that’s most of it. For the rest, these tips are here to help.