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reading packet
This reading packet presents a variety of perspectives on race, class, gender, sexuality, social justice, and what it means to participate in community service and social change. There is no one official view of FUP; the packet is designed to provoke critical thought about the issues it raises. Please do all of the reading carefully, as we will be holding organized discussions throughout FUP week. Happy reading, and we'll see you in Setember!
There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions by Audre Lorde. Self-explanatory.
Next Door but across an Ocean by Robert Coles. How does Harvard look from the perspective of the neighboring communities?
Harvard Homeboy by Ruben Navarette, Jr. Describes one Mexican-Ameican studet's sruggle to find his identity at Harvard.
Poverty Facts and Stats by Anup Shaw. GlobalIssues.org's compilation of statistics from 2004.
So Is My Life by Pablo Neruda. This Chilean author and activist was one of the 20th century's greatest poets. We like.
No Connections from The Night is Dark and I Am Far from Home by Jonathan Kozol. Explores the process by which human connections are weakened.
Adios, escuela by David S. Bernstein. Examines how national and local standardized testing requirements are disproportionately affecting the drop-out rates of black and Hispanic high school students in Massachusetts.
"Fracisco's Money Speech" by Ayn Rand. An excerpt from the highly popular (1000-page) novel, which offers a critical exploration of the meaning and the value of money.
To Hell with Good Intentions by Ivan Illich. This speech confronts the pride and complacency of volunteers in areas that are not their own.
If Men Could Menstruate by Gloria Steinem. How would the world change?
New Technologies of Race by Evelynn M. Hammonds. The intersection of science, genetics, and social constructions of race, personified in Time Magazine's 1993 cybergenetic covergirl.
A View From the Charles by Brent Whelan. An alum and Allston resident considers the implications of Harvard's upcoming expansion into Allston.
The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Golden Age by Louis Uchitelle. In the richest era since the Gilded Age, American billionaires reflect on their rise to wealth, their social obligations, & the nature of their unique social status.
White Privilege and Male Privilege by Peggy McIntosh. This women's studies and anti-racist educator questions race from the perspective of what it means to b e as well as the advantages bestowed upon whites and males alike.
Daily Effects of Class Privilege from the Piedmont Peace Project. How many of these are taken for granted?
Behind the Counter from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. A critical look at McJobs.
The Third Gender Poem by Kit Yan. Sometimes gender isn't as simple as man or woman
Why We Are Hunger Striking by the Harvard Stand for Security Campaign. Read for yourself how and why these 11 students decided not to eat for days in protest of unfair wage contracts for campus officers.
Harvard Will Not Intervene by Marylyn Hausammann. The administration's response.
Cartoon from The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder.
"We Can Do it!" by J. Howard Miller. The iconic Rosie the Riveter herself makes an appearance in the FUP packet.
Learning about Globalization by Watching a Soccer Game. Think sports aren't political? Think again.
"An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg" from McSweeney's. Take a break from the FUP 2007 Facebook wall to check this out.
A Hostile Climate by Josh Braun. Did Global Warming Cause a Resource War in Darfur?
Ancient Darfur Lake is Dried Up' from the BBC. Breaking news, just as we were compiling the FUP packet.
Breaking the Silence by Ryan Petersen. One Harvard junior (and student body president) speaks out his freshman year and mental health at Harvard on the whole. If a majority of students deal with mental health issues during their time at Harvard, is the university prepared to respond to their need for support?
College Faces Mental Health Crisis (Stats) by Katharine Kaplan. The Crimson polled 361 Undergrads in Dec. 2003 about their perceived level of depression that year. We put together the snazzy graph.
A Right to Food? by Frances Moore Lappi. Sure to shed a whole new light on your next trip to the grocery store.
The Billion Dollar CEO. The average American CEO's pay is how many times that of a minimum wage worker?
Stop Trying to "Save" Africa by Uzodinma Iweala. A former Harvard undergrad questions Africa-targeted college activists.
How to Write about Africa by Binyavanga Wainaina. A clever satire on the West's depictions of "Africa"
LGBT Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness by the National Gay and Lesebian Task Force. Selected facts.
Meet the World by Icaro Doria. Brazilian artist Icaro Doria, 25, applied data from Amnesty International and the UNO to give new meaning to world flags.
Housing Issues in Boston by Tim Sieber. Background information on the housing inequalities that prompted the Symphony of a City project in 2001.
The Ethnic Game by Nicole Kuwahara, Lee Lind and Jonathan Reed. A poem from Forever Foreigners or Honorary White? The Asian Ethnic Experience. Where are you from?
Asians suffer under model-minority myth by Matt Grace. A closer look at where this myth comes from.
I Want a Twenty-Four-Hour Truce During Which There Is No Rape by Andrea Dworkin. An anti-rape activist demands that men end rape now.
Understanding Gender Terminology. Useful definitions.
Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison-Industrial Complex by Angela Davis. A famous prison abolitionist exposes the realities of the US prison epidemic.
Complex Facts by Patrisia Macmas Rojas. An accompaniment to the original Davis article in print, from Colorlines.
Immigration Enforcement Benefits Prison Firms by Meredith Kolodner. Who profits when the government cracks down illegal' immigration?
Gendered Assaults: The Attacks on Immigrant Women by Syd Lindsley. Considers how pro-environment' arguments have fronted for anti-immigrant sentiment.
On the Streets by Crystal Evans. A homeless youth writes about surviving the streets as a young person.
Soup Kitchen Volunteers Hate College-Application-Padding Brat from The Onion. A satirical look at the world of volunteerism from a humor newspaper.
The Limits of Charity by David Hilfiker. When do our acts of service hurt more than they help? How do we advocate for structural change in society?
Heterosexual Questionnaire. How often do these questions come up in conversation?
Your Revolution by Sarah Jones: An artist-activist shows her conviction to social change through a song that satirizes the misogyny of mainstream hip-hop.
Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes. Challenges us to work for an America which lives up to the ambitious ideals it was supposedly founded upon.
Worker Testimonial by Jane Mawson. A personal statement from the Harvard Living Wage Campaign of 2001.
Deadly Silence on the Middle East by James Zogby. With so much time, effort, money, emotion, and human resources being spent in the Middle East, why hasn't there been serious public debate about our foreign policy endeavors there?
Toxic Soup Redux: Why Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Matter after Katrina by Julie Sze. How has Katrina's impact on low income communities of color been compounded by hazardous environmental conditions that existed long before the storm?
The "Beyond and Boston" section of The Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard. This is not included in your packet, but it should be sent to you by the University along with the rest of your orientation materials. It will give you background information on the greater Boston community in which you'll be living for the next four years.
All images in articles are the work of Ricardo Levins Morales, from the Northland Poster Collective (online), unless otherwise specified. (P.S.-- Check them out if you like what you see! www.northlandposter.com. There are tons more we couldn't include.)
Table of Contents: "The Viewing Packet"
(ONLINE!)
Stuff to Check Out
First Writing Since by Suheir Hammad. A powerful spoken word performance from the premier episode of HBO's "Russel Simmons presents Def Poetry." Suheir Hammad is a Palestinian-American writer and political activist, whose poetry has been featured in various sources, including: the Middle East Report, Hip-Hop Magazine, the BBC, NPR, and Essence magazine..
Implicit Awareness Tests by ProjectImplicit. What if what you really think is not what you think you think? Try a test or two and see what you think of them. Surprised?
Princeton University is racist against me, I mean, non-whites by Lian Ji. Thi s editorial stirred up quite the flurry when it was published in The Daily Princetonian's Joke issue. Responses from the staff as well as the Asian-American Students Association are also available.
Scorecard Search your zip code or search by either a particular environmental burden or the demographic it most affects. (FYI--Harvard's zip code is 02138.)
University Hall Occupation, 1969. A bit of history of the infamous student protest/sit-in right here at Harvard. News: from the Washington Post and editorial: from The Crimson
Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Educational Apartheid by Jonathan Kozol. If you liked "No Connections" this is a must-read. Over 50 years later, have we really lived up to the promise of Brown v. Board of Education?
A Look at Gay Youth Homelessness, with Katherine Moennig. A four-part documentary that looks at gay, homeless youth from critical and personal perspectives. (Especially check out parts one and two.)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
You can also visit the website of the Hetrick-Martin Institute, which supported the project, for national stats on the mental health and school-life of LGBTQ youth:
link here!
Other stuff we quoted/mentioned:
Poverty Facts and Stats by Anup Shaw. Link to the online version for the full footnotes, as well as external links (and a pretty useful website, in general)
Toxic Soup Redux by Julia Sze. Again, lots of useful footnotes we couldn't include.
Toxic Waste at Twenty. The full March 2007 report, with tons of history, pictures, data, and policy recommendations on Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism.
An Epidemic of Homelessness. Check out the Executive Summary of the full report, which includes more statistics, diagnostics, policy recommendations, and more.
A Climate Culprit in Darfur by Ban Ki Moon. Read the UN Secretary General's editorial on the environmental side of the conflict with Darfur. It was just published last month.
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