sigelphoenix

Assistant Professor Andrea Smith was denied tenure by the University of Michigan. The press release regarding the denial can be found at http://www.woclockdown.org/ImmediateRelease-TenureForAndreaSmith.pdf in PDF format, or pasted on La Chola.

Smith is one of the foremost indigenous feminist scholars and activists working today. By that I don't mean that she's only important to "indigenous feminism" - she's vital to both indigenous rights and feminism. Writing about indigenous women is indigenous scholarship. Working for indigenous women is feminist activism. If either of these groups forgets how necessary she and her work are to their movements, they're cutting themselves off at the knees.

Note that, while the Program in American Culture recommended Smith for tenure,
the Department of Women's Studies, where she is jointly appointed, did not. As a result, the College of Literature, Sciences, and the Arts also gave a negative tenure recommendation.

You can read in the press release about Smith's publications and service and nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. I personally first heard of Smith when taking a course by Luana Ross, who was one of Smith's former professors. We were assigned Smith's book, Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide, which analyzes the ways in which sexual violence was and is central to the genocide of indigenous peoples in the United States. This book is insightful and infuriating, and I recommend it to anyone. If you know me offline, I will loan you my copy.

In conclusion? This fucking bites.

(hat-tip: Oyceter)

Okay, so I dropped the ball this past week on fulfilling my goals. Setbacks happen, and I need to move on.

For now, I'm starting small. Here's what the next, oh, ten hours of my day will be like (curse you, Daylight Saving Time!). This list includes both things that I need to do, and things I want (and therefore need, in my own way) to do.

Level Sae

This will not only be fun, but will hopefully get me back into the mindset of thinking, "Okay, how did Sae change after last week's adventure?" so I can get to thinking about the fics I want to write before the next game.

One post for NWSA community

Really, really need to do this.

Get calendar art to inking stage

From there, inking and coloring are relatively easy. They still take time, but it's not as hard to motivate myself to do them as it is to draw something on a blank piece of paper.

Dinner reservation at 7:30

FYI for anyone in the Seattle area, Dine Around Seattle is going on, so you can get a fancy full-course meal at certain Seattle restaurants for $30 per person.