Category: Uncategorized

Group Six aka The Slick Six (Un)Conference Final Project

Group Members:

Kinsey Eager – Interviewer

Liam Pronovost – Photo Editor, Category Editor

Alexis Griggsby – Photographer, Metadata Editor

Tyler Sphar – Live Blogger

Michael Hinman – Quality Editor

 

Why we selected these photos: Liam Pronovost

The photos below capture the feeling and community of the WWR (un)conference. From interviews with artists to the many archives in the Women Who Rock website, what makes this conference so special is the community it brings. The photos below give examples of artists talking with each other, and people whom they have inspired. The women in these photos are artist who worked toward their goals, and are still continue to inspire young artists. By working together on this project we learned how to work hard toward a common goal, communicate effectively through technology and in person, and solve complex problems while relying on each other for support. The presence of specified jobs and steps to complete helped facilitate the timely completion of the project and keep confusion to a minimum. 

 

Photos taken by: Alexis Griggsby

Women Who Rock (Un)Conference Photography (Alexis Griggsby)

AFRAM

Pictured: Black Mama, Ixtlixochitl Salinas -Whitehawk, Kibibi Monie

Category: Write to Rock

Black Mama is a female artist who isn’t afraid to sing about her culture and story. She is an inspiring artist and hard worker.

AFRAM 2

Pictured: Kibibi Monie

Category: Reel Rebels.

Kibibi Monie leads the way in storytelling, art, and music going against social norms and working toward her goals.

AFRAM 3

Category: Making Scenes

Pictured is the WWR Alter. It stands as an example of story of the women who have impacted rock in numerous ways. This archive gives them the attention and acknowledgement that they may have not received due to the culture they were in.  

AFRAM 4

Pictured: Ixtlixochitl Salinas -Whitehawk

Category: Reel Rebels

Ixtilixochitl is a cultural educator. She was born into an indigenous tribe which sparked her love for art and dance. Her work is ever changing and always inspiring.

AFRAM 5

Pictured: Black Mama, Ixtilxochitl Salinas- Whitehawk, Kibibi Monie

Category: Building Communities

This represents the WWR (un)conference well. Female artists from different backgrounds and stories coming together to share their experiences and talents.

AFRAM 6

Pictured: Julie C

Category: Building Community

At the WWR (un)conference, artist are able to share their stories, art, and experience with those around them. Julie C did this wonderfully this weekend.

 

Women Who Rock (Un)Conference Interviews

3/10/18 — 10:15am-12:30pm

(Kinsey Eager)

Interview 1:

Interviewer: Kinsey Eager

Interviewee: Amber Clark

Date: 3/10/18

 

KE: Alright, what does this conference mean to you?

AC: I just think that the gathering of communities is really empowering especially since it fell so close to International Women’s Day

KE: It’s really convenient that that happened actually

AC: I know!

KE: I can’t believe that. And then my second question is what is the most significant thing to you about this day and this conference?

AC: I just‒ I think the fact that women are all coming together to celebrate each other is so important especially for people like me, you know, in their mid twenties, and ready to make a difference in the world and in a position to do that, you know?

KE: Totally, totally! Yeah and I’m in college right now too so it’s like really‒ college is such a big place for that and women empowerment so, thank you so much for talking to me!

AC: Yeah, thank you!

 

Interview 2:

Interviewer: Kinsey Eager

Interviewee: Roshanak Kheshti

Date: 3/10/18

 

KE: Alright so what does this conference mean to you, like why are you here?

RK: I actually was invited by Michelle to come to participate in the longer version. I’m a professor at the University of California San Diego.

KE: Oh cool, wow! So you came all the way up here from California?

RK: Yeah!

KE: Do they come down, like do they have a similar conference down there too?

RK: No, we don’t! This is pretty unique, there’s really nothing else like it.

KE: Yeah that’s really amazing. This is my first time being here so it’s really cool.

RK: It’s a very special thing you have here.

KE: Oh yeah, for sure. And then also, what is the most significant thing to you about this day and about this conference? Like what’s the most important to you about it?

RK: You know, the fact that there’s so many people from the community coming together with artists and using incredible resources like this that the city has. That is not very typical for an academic to experience. You know, I don’t really ever see stuff like this coming together, so that’s definitely very unique.

KE: Yeah and like I said this is my first time I’ve ever been to a conference like this, and it’s really actually been very cool so far like listening to the panels and stuff like that, it was actually really amazing.

RK: What’s your major?

KE: I’m going Nursing or Psychology, either one.

RK: Oh okay.

KE: Yeah, so this is more of an experience, diversity class I’m taking.

RK: Oh I see, I see. What’s this class called?

KE: It’s a “Music and Social Change” class but it’s mixed with a Gender, Women’s Sexuality Studies class.

RK: Oh very interesting.

KE: Yeah! Well thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.

RK: Sure, sure! Good luck!

KE: Thank you!

 

Links to Live Blog posts (Tyler):

Post #1: https://womenwhorockcommunity.org/2018/03/10/womxn-who-rock-unconference-live-blog-1-tyler-sphar-group-6/

Post #2: https://womenwhorockcommunity.org/2018/03/10/womxn-who-rock-unconference-live-blog-2-tyler-sphar-group-6/

Black Mama Response

By Kinsey Eager

It was really interesting to hear Black Mama speak and sing. She was so passionate about everything she stood for and knew her values from the heart which was pretty inspiring for a college student finding themselves. When she sang, even though it was in Spanish and I couldn’t really understand what she was saying, I knew she was singing about something important and something that was extremely close to her heart. It was also pretty impactful when she spoke about the things going on in Ecuador. It hit me when she was talking about how sexism and racism is so bad where she’s from. When someone from the audience asked how her music and her image gets backlash from it’s content and she spoke on how she is criticized and abused all the time, it was very inspiring because if she can get through all of that adversity to fight for what’s right, then so can I. She is a very strong, empowered (not to mention badass) woman and people need to see that more in their lives.

Ana Cano aka Black Mama response – Tyler Sphar

It was very compelling and inspiring to see Black Mama perform and hear her story. Specifically, I was moved by her stance and fight against injustice that women in Ecuador face through sexism and racism. Ana talked about how queer people in Ecuador are celebrated by indigenous culture but not by the rest of culture which I found interesting and unfortunate, but inspiring that she is using her art and platform to have a voice. I really like Ana’s combination of art and activism and they way that she is using her voice for justice but is also very talented. Relating to class, hear Ana Cano’s music and her talk was important because it was a real life example of shifting the focus in music to a female artist who may not be receiving world wide recognition, but is very talented and has really important and powerful things to say, and is also having a definite effect on people who come into contact with her music. For me, Ana is a very inspiring and badass individual and I am really happy I got to see her.

 

 

Response to Ana Cano aka Black Mama

By: Alexis Griggsby

What I learned from Ana Cano aka Black Mama that we need to take a look at yourself when trying to change a system before asking other to what they can do. Also, respect is a big thing within any community and before us as people start to judge others and look how we would feel in a situation. To add to that we never really know how bad someone situation is unless you are put in their shoes. While looking back on the course a lot of mixing of different genres and how women get put down for not being able to speak about controversial topics based on the fact that they are women. Most men don’t get blamed it’s just the women who get the backlash and that need to change within the hip-hop community.

Blog post #4

The reading for this week was inspiring and cool but also very sad. Reading about Mia Zapata and her early death can’t help but make the reader wonder what could have been if she were not killed and The Gits were given their chance at musical success. Zapata sounds like she was an very cool as person, as NPR writes “we fall in love with Mia Zapata, a singer who sounds like a punk rock Janis Joplin—both in her soulful voice and her ardent personality, which mixed brashness, kindness and vulnerability in equal parts. Zapata never became a bona fide star, but she had star quality, the ability to command attention without ever seeming to seek it.” While it is great to get to read these different articles that remember Zapata through descriptions and stories, it is really unfortunate that the world did not get to see the magic that she had. In Mia Zapata’s death there is a tragic and powerful reality. Not only is the music industry largely sexist and not favoring women, Mia’s rape and death show how violence women face both inside and outside of the music industry. From Mia’s death was born the organization Home Alive, which stood out to me in its mission to not only teach women self defense, but “it was also about reimagining self-defense as a whole thing, such as verbal boundary setting, which is like saying ‘no’ when you feel uncomfortable about a situation. Or like finding escape route techniques, or really believing in yourself and your intuition, like, ‘I don’t feel safe in this situation; I’m just going to leave. I don’t need to explain or to rationalize why I’m feeling uncomfortable’ ” (Bitch Media). Home Alive both aimed to teach women physical resistance as well as empower them to face situations on a mental level. I found these readings to be powerful, but also very sad and a reflection of the the oppression and violence that women face in the world.

 

I have included a link to Tupac Shakur’s “Keep Ya Head Up” because, even though Tupac definitely had sexist elements in some of his other music, this song has a powerful message and lyrics about violence against women. I have also included a link to Lesley Gore singing “You Don’t Own Me” because I think the song was very punk rock for its time and a powerful statement of female empowerment.

 

 

Response to Black Mama Event

By: Michael Hinman

A lot of what Black Mama talked about that corresponds with the class material has to do with her message about resisting unfair cultural precedents that are set upon you. As an Afro-Latina woman she faced significant discrimination in her community. Instead of allowing herself to be forced down, she fought to express herself through her music and became the person she was meant to be. Decades of African American music shows that music can be extremely honest and expressive and Black Mama taught that the ability to do this can lead to positive movements in society and in yourself.

Blog Post #4

By: Alexis Griggsby

The Mia Zapata story is a classic story of how someone’s death can have to mean to it. Many artists like Prince, Michael Jackson, Whitney Huston, and Amy Winehouse effect a whole community and that shows that artists aren’t just for entertainment they have a bigger purpose they are here to have an impact on the world and bring them together under one house. Also at the same time knowing that they are human it’s sad to say many women in our society have been raped and some people like to believe that unfortunate event like that can’t happen to them. Even if Mia Zapata wasn’t as big yet she was still known she had to have been if she was getting ready for a tour. When they found the murderer “Zapata’s family and friends weren’t seeking vengeance; in the end, they were simply seeking justice” with tragic incidents shows how much that they want Mia’s life to remember the good that came out of her short but celebrated life.

You see a community feel grief and try and make a difference in the world but with Mia Zapata’s death, a change happened women are given the tools that they need to come home alive. I respect that because growing up in the world where women are raped, and no one believes them or they are too scared to tell. “In the aftermath of her murder, friends created a self-defense group called Home Alive, which disbanded in 2010” young women have been given the strength to say I am getting home alive no matter what I have to do. The songs that I chose is “Runaway Love” by Ludacris and Mary J. Blige I believe that everyone is going through something and it’s hard to speak up because that’s all you’ve known but there is always a way to let your voice be heard. The second song I chose was “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson because the world that we live in has many problems that a woman can get raped and murder about a couple of blocks from her home. It just shows that we need to take a look at our world and make a change like Mia Zapata’s friends and family did.