Something You Should See: The Natural State of America

From the film's webpage

Last week at the annual conference of the Arkansas Anthropological and Sociology Association, Dr. Bryan C. Campbell, professor of visual anthropology at the University of Central Arkansas, played a short clip from his upcoming documentary about the Newton County Wildlife Association and their ongoing fight to keep their forests free of toxic herbicides. The tiny bit of the film that we got to see was incredibly compelling. Beginning with the history of the organization’s founding in 1970, the film focuses on this highly effective and active resistance movement in the Ozarks, detailing how every day people are able to organize and fight to keep their forest safe.  Unfortunately today they face a new host of challenges.

The preview of the film is now available online, and you should really check it out. To watch the preview click here.

The film will be shown at all major film festivals in Arkansas and throughout the nation. To keep up with developments related to the film and to find a viewing location, be sure and become a fan of the film on facebook.  To do that go here.

Dr. Campbell runs Conserving Arkansas’s Agricultural Heritage (think I have posted about this before. If not, I should have!). They preserve agricultural folkways and engage in seed conversation and seed swaps across the state. Check out all the information by clicking here. If you are a seed saver you would love to attend these gatherings.

And, for a little extra info, Here’s a nice article about Dr. Brian Campbell and his work with the Seed Bank at UCA.

“The Gulf Between Us” Terry Tempest Williams tells stories from the gulf oil spill

Yesterday writer and environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams was interviewed on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez regarding her recent piece about the gulf oil spill. Explaining her reasons for writing the piece she said, “And I just think it’s really important that, at this anniversary of six months, that we begin to really hear from the people on the ground. And that’s what my purpose was. You know, I have a pen. I’m a writer. I was home in Utah thinking, you know, what can I do? And I had to go. I had to see it for myself. So it was about ground truthing. It was about bearing witness. And I don’t think bearing witness is a passive act.” To hear the interview go here.

The piece, published in Orion Magazine, tells the stories of a handful of gulf residents whose lives are directly affected by the spill. Although Williams calls Utah home, she wants to call attention to the stories we are not hearing about the situation in the gulf and the familiar reality of production taking precedent to living creatures and the land that sustains us:

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Great article about women farmers and Farmlink.org, sort of like facebook for farmers.

Organic Gardening magazine has a regular facebook feed, and last week they posted this article from Rodale.com about women farmers.

The article claims the growing trend of women in agriculture is a movement that could save the future of farming and tackle food insecurity issues throughout the world:

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The Rural Assembly and the Rural Compact.

Today I came across an organization called The Rural Assembly and I am so excited about their work and I think you will be too. The Rural Assembly is a part of the Center for Rural Strategies, an amazing organization whose fingers are all over most of the rural sustainable movements going on these days.

The Rural Assembly

According to their webpage, “The National Rural Assembly is a movement of people and organizations devoted to building a stronger, more vibrant rural America.” At the core of their work is the Rural Compact: “The National Rural Assembly encourages individuals and organizations to endorse the Rural Compact, a basic statement of principles for building a stronger rural America that improves opportunity for all of us.”
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Human Rights Watch Issues Statement Urging Israel to Allow Journalists in Gaza.

Although certainly not all folklorists would argue this is an issue that pertains to our work, I feel denying access to journalists and human rights workers is a human rights violation that pertains to the larger study of folklife on many levels. As folklorists we understand the inherent importance in the documentation of culture. All people, most certainly those experiencing war, have a right to have their voices heard and tell of their experiences *in their own words* to the larger world community. To not allow journalists to cover combat is foremost a human rights issue that is illegal. It also robs civilians of their right to tell their story and call for justice. It is essentially inhumane and unjust to deny journalistic entry. If you feel the same, please help spread the word and express your feelings about lack of journalistic presence in Gaza.

See original statement post on the Human Rights Watch webpage here.
Or visit Human Rights Watch.org

Israel: Allow Media and Rights Monitors Access to Gaza
(Jerusalem, January 5, 2009) – Israel should immediately allow journalists and human rights monitors access to Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. Their presence can discourage abuse by warring parties and help save lives.
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Online Petition Asks Obama to Create Secretary of Arts Position

I found out about this online petition, authored by Quincy Jones, on the Public Folklore Listserve.
More information can be found at the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Government and Policy Watch section of their webpage here.

National Association of Social Workers Issues a Statement about Grassroots Advocay

I found out about this from a fellow folklorist on a folklore list serve. I thought many would find it informative and interesting. This is not a partisan statement.

NASW Advocacy

Election Speeches and Community Service

The last few days I have been very upset about Palin’s comments about community organizers.
I feel her comments reflect she has no respect for everyday citizens who work to make this world a more just place. I firmly believe community workers and grassroots activists are the heart of a democratic nation.

I found this article last night and encourage everyone to read it and pass it on.

As folklorists, we too are community organizers. Some of us may be overt activists and some of us not. But we are all community service workers, and I believe we can not stand for having those in power mock our democratic struggle. I encourage everyone to talk to your family, your neighbors, your friends, about the importance of community work. We can not afford a leader in office who does not understand the value of everyday citizens working for change. It’s unacceptable.

GOP Mocks Public Service

Up the Ridge, a film about remote Appalachian prisons, racism, and the intentional tension between rural and urban

This very important film was produced out of Appalshop’s hiphop radio program, Holler to the Hood.
The film synopsis reads:

Up the Ridge is a one-hour television documentary produced by Nick Szuberla and Amelia Kirby. In 1999 Szuberla and Kirby were volunteer DJ’s for the Appalachian region’s only hip-hop radio program in Whitesburg, KY when they received hundreds of letters from inmates transferred into nearby Wallens Ridge, the region’s newest prison built to prop up the shrinking coal economy. The letters described human rights violations and racial tension between staff and inmates. Filming began that year and, though the lens of Wallens Ridge State Prison, the program offers viewers an in-depth look at the United States prison industry and the social impact of moving hundreds of thousands of inner-city minority offenders to distant rural outposts. The film explores competing political agendas that align government policy with human rights violations, and political expediencies that bring communities into racial and cultural conflict with tragic consequences. Connections exist, in both practice and ideology, between human rights violations in Abu Ghraib and physical and sexual abuse recorded in American prisons.
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Always Becoming, podcasts at the National Museum of American Indian

I recently saw this exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C. The artist, Nora Naranjo-Morse, who is a Santa Clara Pueblo, is the first Native American woman to make an outdoor sculpture in D.C. What amazed me most about these beautiful sculptures is they will eventually be worn away by the wind and rain, thus purposefully eroding over time.
You can listen to the podcasts about this exhibit here.
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