Immigrant rights activism

As a result of connecting with other U.S. citizens whose significant other has been deported or detained, I have decided that I need to do something productive. There are far too many of us going through this tragedy. This needless suffering must come to an end! There are various ideas floating in my head, and I’m sure you have ideas too. We need to communicate with each other and brainstorm like crazy—and come up with ways to educate the public.

One idea I’ve been pondering involves borrowing an idea from our AIDS activist friends and creating a quilt that depicts the names of loved ones who have been deported or under deportation proceedings. This idea involves getting together a significant number of interested individuals willing to help create the quilt. Ideally, each person would agree to create a square of their loved one—or someone they know. Individuals who do not personally know anyone deported will still be welcome to participate. We can assign them a name. There is certainly not a shortage of people being deported and families being separated-- and the numbers increase every year.

Preferably, each quilt square would be created with materials that are durable. We want this quilt to be a testament to our determination to end these deportations—so it must be created to endure for decades. The idea is to send this quilt, upon completion, to various galleries and functions across the country to help raise awareness.

I have years of experience in needlework, sewing and designing so I am capable and willing to help coordinate the effort. If anyone else has similar experience, motivation or just passion please let me know. This group, unlike the contemporary functioning of our government-- will be a democratically organized community.
However, you don’t have to be an artist, designer or even be creative to make a quilt square. All that is needed is a willingness to learn and be spontaneous. I can help anyone who needs advice and can even design specific motifs. I’m sure there will be others willing to assist as well.

I do sincerely believe that art can change social consciousness. Art activists the world over are working diligently to help improve their communities. Right this minute there are thousands of activists, artists and performers who have congregated in Detroit to forge a different world. Change is not only possible, it is necessary.
Change begins with an idea—activists take those ideas and make them a reality. Let us be the immigrant rights activists who change the world for the better. If you are interested please contact me.

I can be reached on Facebook under the name Beth Brotherton, Hamilton College or at e-mail: silverwing6700@yahoo.com If you know of anyone else who may be interested please feel free to forward this message. Please, if you have any additional ideas let me know. I want to help forge a strong and unified community so we can help each other.

Curiosity confused the cat

Ruby, the curious kitty-- on my chair

In May of this year, Khalid and I adopted a cat from a local humane society. When I looked around at the various animals at this humane society a particular cat singled me out for her attention and I found her enthusiasm and insistent purr to be impossible to resist--so I brought her home. The employees named her Ruby, and we kept the name because it suited her.

Ruby is a sleek black and white kitty who possesses an abnormally long tail with a tiny dollop of white on the end. She looks like she has a pencil flashlight attached to her and she perpetually swishes it around like adoring fans languidly waving their lighters during a rock concert. Additionally, Ruby is vocal--to put it mildly. If she wants food or attention she is not shy about proclaiming it for the entire apartment complex to hear. She obviously enjoys the sound of her own voice and constantly indulges in satisfying the craving. The only time Ruby is silent, is when she is napping.

In this way, having Ruby in the house is akin to having a 2 year old human running around. The only discernible difference being that I could-- theoretically-- control the frequency and duration of a toddler's nap time: I have no such power over a cat. I can't tell Ruby to take a nap, or close her eyes or stop throwing the toy mouse in the air...well I could, but Ruby would likely blink her green eyes in annoyance and ignore me.

Ruby is also very curious...and this highly developed trait has gotten her into some serious trouble. For instance, one time she noticed a large paper bag on the floor. She went to investigate and decided she liked it. She got inside and pawed around: she batted her favorite toy mouse into it a few times, but suddenly she made a kamikaze dive onto it.The resulting loud crinkling sound frightened her. In a panic she turned around to flee but the handles on the bag got wrapped around her neck. She ran furiously around the apartment, all the while with the large paper bag following her and making dreadful crinkling noises.

By the time she ran upstairs the bag was in tatters and Ruby was panting and lounging on the landing with eyes as big as dinner plates. Luckily, she was jittery but unharmed. Since that day, she has looked at any kind of bag with disdain.

Ruby and I share something in common: an acute and terminal curiosity. I've been told by many people this is one of my most conspicuous traits. Although I have never crawled into a bag, panicked and run like a dervish around the apartment --I have done similar impulsive things as a result of my enthusiastic curiosity. Curiosity, like any trait, is a double-edged sword. It can lead to many wonderful discoveries and enrich people's lives, but it can also lead to precarious situations and confusion.

I have always wanted to know how things worked. Well,-- not really "things"-- but people, society and culture. I want to know why some people are "popular" and some people are "maligned" and how culture and society shapes those things. I want to know how morality and customs change --or stay the same between cultures. I want to know why racism, sexism and classism exists and more importantly-- what can be done to alleviate them. (Notice I said "alleviate" not eliminate. We can certainly alleviate these things but I don't believe its possible to eliminate them all together: although eliminating should be the ultimate goal.)

Simultaneously, I've also wanted to know how to make things: draw, paint and master various crafts including embroidery, stamping, and quilling . These two pulls, one between how to "do" certain things, and how to "figure things out" have always duelled within my psyche. In my college career I've vacillated, between majoring in humanities and arts. I want to be an artist and yet at the same time I have a desire to be an academic as well. Previously, I have mislead myself into into believing that I had to choose between the two.

Although curiosity hasn't always killed the cat, it can certainly confuse her.

Cobblestone & Arbor

Recently I have been thinking of the worst case scenario. In my life, the worst case scenario would involve my husband being deported to India. This is not something I want to dwell on, but I have to.

Preparing for the worst is practical and necessary, but it is scary because there is the fear that thinking about the negative outcome is going to invite it into my life. You often hear life coaches telling you to imagine the positive--don't think about the negative. Just believe that the best is going to occur in your life and it will. If you focus on the negative you invite it to materialize.

I wish life was that simple. All you have to do is think positive thoughts and nothing bad will ever happen to you. Humanity can conquer all evils in the world by just thinking positive thoughts. Strife, death, and illness will simply vanish. Sigh......

I have spent a lot of time recently going over how Khalid's absence will affect my life. In addition to substantial spiritual and emotional strife, there will also be serious monetary concerns. Under certain conditions-- I should be able to cover most of my monthly expenditures, with about four dollars leftover.

This will mean I will be living from paycheck to paycheck, and if any large expenses pop up; such as car repairs or medical expenses I will be in financial trouble.

With that in mind I have to consider getting a second job. This fills me with trepidation because jobs are hard to come by, and the only ones that are available around here are retail. I hate retail jobs for several reasons. They don't pay well, require substantial extroverted skills that I don't possess and involve consumerism. Ick!!

So, I have decided to finally listen to some of my friends who have encouraged me (for years!) to use my artistic abilities to make extra money. With this in mind, I have decided to create watercolor paintings of beautiful houses, particularly old historic homes and B & B's. I have already started a series of colonial houses in Salem, Massachusetts. When the first one is completed I will officially open my new business called Cobblestone & Arbor.

Of course, this would still be a capitalistic enterprise..but it would be my own handmade goods I would be selling and not some manufactured, plastic commodity made by some far away factory workers who are paid 30 cents an hour!

Taking a cue from those life coaches, I will visualize my business as a huge success. Maybe positive thinking will work this time!

Art as immigration reform activism

I Want You... Out of the country --at gunpoint!

Art has always been an important and integral part of my life. I can not remember a time when I haven't been inspired by a color, a story, or a particular image on t.v. or housed within the sanctified pages of a picture book. Beautiful things have never failed to capture my imagination.

When I was younger, I was under the impression that art had to be aesthetically pleasing, refined and pleasant to gaze at. It wasn't until I went to Buffalo State College in 1996 that my viewpoints changed slightly. I was majoring in Art Education and took a class with Professor Mary Wyrick. She was an inspiring teacher and challenged my notion that art had to be beautiful. Instead, she made me see that art was about expressing ideas-- first and foremost. A piece of artwork was able to transcend time and place and speak to people on multiple levels all at once. The artist, with a mere flick of a brush could express the same nuance that would take the writer volumes.

Although I realized that art was about ideas, I was still painfully ignorant about the power of art and its ability to challenge ingrained ideas and social mores. Until recently, I had never acknowledged this power. I took a class at Hamilton College last Fall semester entitled Feminist Visual Culture. Through viewing works by artists such as: Judy Chicago, Ghada Amer, Ana Mendieta, Cindy Sherman, Shirin Neshat, and Carolee Schneemann, I realized that art had the power, over time, to create subtle shifts in social consciousness.

Feminist art is not about being "pretty", "conforming" or "safe". Instead, much of it is meant to be "challenging", "controversial" and "activist". This is what makes it dynamic and a catalyst for social and political change. People can become complacent, comfortable and desensitized to their environment: even if that environment is stagnant, corrupt and unhealthy. It takes a shock to the system to get them to wake up.

With that goal in mind, I have started to design a series of art pieces centered around immigration reform. Eventually I will have enough works to show in an exhibit. The two pieces at the top of this page are part of this series. I cannot think of anything more controversial than using the iconic images of Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty to illustrate the irony and discrimination of contemporary U.S. immigration policies.

I hope my writings and artwork will inspire a change in someone's thinking regarding immigrants rights and the need for immigration reform-- and as a result-- changes will be made . This hope gives me power and optimism and sustains me throughout this whole ordeal. Without this hope there is nothing.