Makin Connections, Thanks Keba Konte!

Our class just hooked up with a tight workshop from Keba Konte on photomontage on wood. Keba's work is the result of resisting to conform to traditional forms of photography and using innovation inspired by creative spirit, as he states:

Working in this medium has been very liberating, allowing me out of the darkroom and into the salvage yards and dumpster bins. It has released me from the glass and pristine white mattes to a more spontaneous method of working and thinking. As well, it has enabled me to expand in scale and dimension. It's an adventure.

This Sunday students will be visiting his Guerilla Cafe to meet for lunch, viewing his "88 Pieces of Me" exhibition, and to talk about forming a photographers collective outside of the confines of the school day.

Stay tuned for results of their work to be posted here. Also in progress is a documentary on East Oakland Youth Street Photojournalists.




Images by Keba Konte

East Oakland meets Palestine.

Young photojournalists from East Oakland met with young photojournalists from Balata, a camp within the West Bank of Palastine, during their Picture Balata tour in the U.S. Youth from both places discovered the similarities of living in states where political, economic, and cultural repression affect the everyday lives of children and families. Palestinian and East Oakland youth shared images and testimonial essays that reflect the experiences of their every day lives. Through discussions and other activities, youth from both nations revealed to each other that violence, social marginalization, as well as resistance and an emphasis on education are some of the factors that inform the every day realities of young people and their families. As a stepping stone to building international awareness and coalition opportunities, this was a beautiful and powerful experience filled with hope, insight, and the recognition of the state of humanity among people of different nations who refuse to cease to resist repressive regimes.

We also made a trip to the beach, which was particularly significant for the youth from Balata, who although live right by the Mediterranean Sea, have never seen the ocean due to lack of access by Israeli military.

Images by Steve Wake and Deonte

SOVEREIGNTY

Understanding the right of sovereignty.

Are we participants of a sovereign nation?

Sovereignty: The union and exercise of all human power possessed in a state; it is a combination of all power; it is the power to do everything in a state without accountability; to make laws, to execute and to apply them: to impose and collect taxes, and, levy, contributions; to make war or peace; to form treaties of alliance or of commerce with foreign nations, and the like.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary (1856 Edition)

Cultural Sovereignty: The right for the people of a community or nation to observe cultural practices without persecution or repercussion. This includes the practice of religious practices, the use of native languages, the practice of place making, and the carrying out of other forms of traditional customs. The understanding of a cultural and historical cohesion among the people of a sovereign nation.

Economic Sovereignty: The right for the people of a community or nation to have sufficient and equal access to the means of economic survival and self-determination. How individuals gain access to these means is determined by the nation/community and is not dictated by those outside of the nation/community.

Political Sovereignty: The right for the people of a community or nation to govern themselves. This includes the production laws, systems of accountability, and the right for the people to choose their own political leaders without interference from those outside of the sovereign nation.


Students will investigate issues of sovereignty within their communities in East Oakland. Students will also have the opportunity to interact with young photographers from Palestine who are touring the U.S. Connections between challenges of sovereignty in East Oakland and Palestine will be made through picture swaps, discussions, and other activities.

Race, Culture, and the Politics of Public Space

Through reading passages from Haymes' Race, Culture, and the City: A Pedagogy for Black Urban Struggle our photojournalists reviewed the theory of public "space as a metaphor" where power struggles and resistance are represented through the ways in which people and institutions make use of public space on a day to day basis. Some of the concepts we covered in class are:

Placemaking: The formation and use of public space through principles of culture, ideology, or politics.

Centralization: Upholding a particular perspective, idea, or principle as an authoritative position above all other perspectives, ideas, or principles
To DECENTRALIZE is to remove an idea, perspective, or principle from its assumed authoritative position.

Gentrification:The displacement of a group of people by another, more economically wealthy group of people.
The displacements of local businesses, housing, or any public spaces or institutions that support the group of people being displaced.

Commodification of Culture: The distortion of culture from its historical and/or political context for the purpose of consumerism and economic capital.

Spaces of Self-Actualization:The formation and use of public spaces that not only resist oppression but also creates community self awareness.

Students are in the process of researching how these terms play a role in their own communities in East Oakland.
More to Come!