Gather in my name abstract submission for FEMIGRA Conference 9-11 February 2012 University of Barcelona (UAB)

Hesk, GCO; Osuji, J

Abstract

This performance of a conversation between my white mother and myself - her mixed race black daughter, will deconstruct the complexity of the intersection of migration, racism, sexism, disability and class within the space and place of the dynamics of our relationship. The performance uses the idea of ‘migration’ and ‘borders’ as metaphors to explore what Carol Boyce Davies describes as the ‘ in between space that is neither hear or there’ (1994 p1) . It will address key issues such as;
 ‘Migratory subjectivity’ in other words, the translation of the process of inclusion and exclusion across the borders of oppressive social constructions to the lived emotional experience of being a mother and a daughter.
 The ways in which race as a system of visibility uses the ‘gaze’ as a tool of regulation through inconsistent processes of recognition and misrecognition.
Here I am reminded of Sojourner Truth’s statement ‘ain’t I a woman’ and the numerous times I had to assert, ‘ain’t I my mother’s daughter and my mother had to repeat, ‘ain’t I the mother of my daughter’.
 The ways in which as mother and daughter we, as individuals and together from our particular standpoint made use of what Patricia Hill Collins calls “subjugated knowledge’s” of “the matrix of domination”. This conversation will bring to life ‘The re-negotiating of identities’ in the historical and social context spanning the period from the 1950’s through to 2012.’
 In exploring ‘the politics of location’ this conversation between mother and daughter will bring to life, ‘a whole host of identifications and associations around concepts of place, placement, displacement; location, dis-location; memberment , dis-memberment; citizenship, alienness; boundaries, barriers, transportations; peripheries, cores and centers. It is about postionality in geographic, historical, social, economic, educational terms. It is about postionality in society based on class, gender, sexuality, age, income. It is also about relationality and the ways in which one is able to access, mediate or reposition oneself, or pass into other spaces given certain other circumstances. ( Boyce Davies 1994 p153)

Citation

Hesk, G., & Osuji, J. Gather in my name abstract submission for FEMIGRA Conference 9-11 February 2012 University of Barcelona (UAB). Presented at Femigra Conference 2012, Barcelona Spain

• Presentation Conference Type: Speech
• Conference Name: Femigra Conference 2012
• Conference Location: Barcelona Spain
• End Date: Feb 12, 2012
• Acceptance Date: Feb 12, 2012
• Deposit Date: Aug 18, 2015
• Keywords: Intersectionality, Migration, Mixed Race, Migratory Subjectivities, Borders, Politics of Location, Inclusion, Exclusion, Gaze, Matrix of Domination, Subjugated Knowledge, Positionality, Recognition and Mis-Recognition.
• Related Public URLs: https://blocfgh.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/programa-final.pdf; http://www.gregorsamsa.org/en/portfolio/femigra-2012-eng/
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/femigra; Event Type : Conference; References : Angelou, M, (1974) Gather Together in My Name, Bantam Books, New York. Hill Collins, P, 1990, Black Feminist Thought, Routledge, New York and London. Boyce Davies, C, ( 1994)Black Women Writing and identity: Migrations of the Subject ,Routledge New York and London.; Funders : University of Barcelona