Breaking Through Hegemonic Norms
Against the systematic oppression intended to keep us minorities from excelling and having a voice.
Once in discussion, we were asked to draw out a representation of the word “resistance.” Without say or much thought I proceeded with drawing a fist. I grew up with this image throughout my childhood. Wherever I went, I would encounter this symbol of power, strength and leadership. A symbol of brown/black, minorities to say the least, power. A symbol of empowerment meant to keep us thriving, pushing and questioning the normalized systematic oppression that we encounter as minorities.
I found this exercise to be a rather powerful form of expression because I take this pride to heart. It is the reason I am where I am. The reason why I am even in this institution educating myself in fields that were not designed for me. Despite the lack of consideration for people of color in the upbringing of these spaces, we — people of color — continue to push through proving that we are just as worthy. This pride was handed to me like an Olympic torch at such a young age to serve as a constant reminder as to why I have set such great expectations for myself; to be able to voice the success that my people have always envisioned for themselves but never had the means to do so. It is my time.
We completed this exercise individually amongst our group, but our perspective of “resistance” was rather synonymous throughout the table when we finally came together to discuss our sketches. There was the constant theme of struggle and an outcome that would derive from the unfortunate events that we would encounter.
In the poster that we put together, you could note the waves (in blue). They represent the forces that attempt to drag us down. The waves are reflecting against a wall of RESISTANCE which symbolizes our individual attempt to literally push through any obstacle that lies in our path. Furthermore, the flames (in orange) were drawn to state the need for struggle to continue to resist and triumph; no fight worth fighting for comes with ease. Lastly, the image that makes up the center of the poster was the fist that I was alluding to earlier. The fist can be seen tearing up a document titled “RULES.” In my opinion, this is by far the most powerful symbol that made up our poster.
Rules — laws — were literally designed to keep the order throughout our society. Although a needed component to our everyday lives we must all come to some agreement as to what is wrong and right. However, that’s exactly the problem. For many, many, years these “rules” were intended to keep people of color from having a superior status in society. Over the years, there have been many attempts to bring equality into our system, unfortunately white supremacy continues to be an underlying issue in our contemporary society. Yes, there have been many people who have put their lives on the line for sake of moving their agenda, that lacks racism, forward. However, there are many individuals who are not capable to see through our structured society. Instead they simply become normalized to these ways. Simply put, they do not question the hegemonic society that we live in.
The lack of questioning and confronting these structured issues are the reason as to why our society remains as toxic as it is.
One does not need to partake in protests to express one’s opinion. There is a myriad of different forms of expression varying from spoken words, vlogging, blogging, social media, art etc. I had the privilege to attend a performance by Alvin Ailey. There I witnessed Black dancers questioning the status quo through mere dancing and limited vocals — they continue the legacy of the Black art movement.
There dance practices ranged from tribal dancing to ballet and everything in between. Although they incorporate these styles into their choreography, as part of the audience, it was difficult to draw the line and distinguish between the multiple styles. Everything was intertwined in such a way that it was simply graceful. The fact that these dancers can be proficient through different dance practices diminishes stereotypes within itself. These performers are not mediocre, they are advanced professional dancers that can perform various styles despite the stereotypes stating that one is only able to perform their native dances well.
The performance by Alvin Ailey made it clear what it is to be a Black dance group that perfectly utilize multiple cultures to deliver a stronger message; there is no need to segregate one culture from the rest. There is often a perfect way to harmonize everyone’s perspective. We are all different but there must be a way to consider everyone’s individuality and embrace each other’s views.
The way that “change” is viewed in our society can be summarized by Greg Castillo. His talk, “Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia” was about the vision for a utopian society being far too absurd to accept. The theme revolved around the notion of individuals wanting change throughout society for the greater good of everyone. Any utopian proposal throughout history called for the refitting of norms. Although these activists have a rather selfless approach, these movements do not get far as it is difficult to break away. We are so used to routine that when it comes to change it is portrayed with a negative connotation.
We must do something “different” but “different” is what we are afraid of.
It’s not that any idea is too utopian. Rather it is the fact that it is completely different from that which we have come to accept — hegemonic norms.
We may believe we have made progress. Yes, we might have. But there is much more that ought to take place. We continue to be distant from that idea of equality; for it continues to remain a fantasy.
Continue to resist.
