I like Mike’s post about community because I think it’s overlooked when we’re talking about starting social movements and protests. But when we’re talking about community, it’s not enough to just protest each other and keep arguments within the community. In many ways going online like this blog can put the conversation out there in unexpected places—just like traveling, for Kamanaka. I think it’s an important step to get out of the online community to find support. It can mean getting the screening up at the local theater or boarding a plane from Japan to the U.S. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if we knew what our counterparts at DePaul or the Art Institute were saying?
More recently, think about the outpour of online support for the Virginia Tech massacre. For people who couldn’t go to the memorial in person, internet websites became veritable “memory walls”—those memorials that go up after such tragedies. The internet truly breaks down the barriers, helping people find each other, find supporters, sharing knowledge and ideas. I just wish more of my classmates would post here, not that I think we need to rival Mixi. But wouldn’t it be nice? I mean at the same time, we can’t just preach to the choir. In any case, I am constantly amazed by the transnational possibility of protest, made possible by the internet.
So now we’re kind of using the internet representing our class/community to the online world, somewhat analogous to how Kamanaka used Mixi to set up screenings of her film. Does the very online-transnational nature of protest show symptoms of something postmodern?
Well right now I don’t want to interrogate what it means to be postmodern or to live in the West in this online century, a century characterized by internet-induced processes of globalization, because we’re obviously still convening in offline ways: classes, lectures, RSO meetings, festivals, receptions, etc. These forums are still very powerful.
As a side note, in China the internet watchdogs have an uncanny ability to censor dissent and they routinely topple any website that might induce a protest (and there are a million causes for protest—wrongfully detained prisoners, corruption scandals, broken contracts, etc.). As a result protesters have used cryptic notices on public message boards (like those you’d see on the street) to convene in secret locations.
Of course nothing beats just meeting people face to face. It was great to meet Kamanaka. She is such a inspirational person with so much strength, someone I’d call a hero, who has such a warm sense of humor, yet who under various guises maintains her voice of critical dissent.
Another interesting woman I met was Linda from Nuclear Policy Research Institute, who told me all her ideas and even took the time to call me early Saturday morning to tell me about the Chicago Green Festival. We both talked about how much we enjoyed the documentary. Socializing certainly has an influential effect. Linda impressed upon me her ideas for a documentary that addresses the proposed Illinois nuclear reprocessing plants.
Big thanks for these great receptions!
I hope that, in the same way Tari got us to think about lesbian identity, this documentary will get the ball rolling on questioning nuclear reprocessing. And we’ve got a lot to thank for giving us the push—from Mixi to the showings, from this blog to our conversations.
