Alexis Pauline Gumbs: Technology’s Sister Insider
by Duchess Harris
January 11, 2010
In the Nov./Dec. issue of Utne Magazine, Alexis Pauline Gumbs was recognized as a “media activist” in an article entitled “50 People Who Are Changing Your World.” I initially discovered her work in a November 2009 op-ed piece, “The Revolution Will Be Blogged” for Wiretap Magazine, a re-envisioning of Gil Scott Heron’s famous 1970’s poem/song The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
I have to admit, forty definitely feels old when people are recognized for things that you haven’t even heard of (media activism?), but then I’m sure Gil Scott Heron can relate. Who could even have imagined the immediate and pervasive power of the internet back in the 70’s when the only mass medium was television, and the only roles for Black people were either based on or touched by minstrel stereotypes (remember Jimmy Walker’s Kid-a-Dy-no-mite?).
In her Wiretap piece, Gumbs writes,
Read the Full Essay @ Race-Talk
by Duchess Harris
January 11, 2010
In the Nov./Dec. issue of Utne Magazine, Alexis Pauline Gumbs was recognized as a “media activist” in an article entitled “50 People Who Are Changing Your World.” I initially discovered her work in a November 2009 op-ed piece, “The Revolution Will Be Blogged” for Wiretap Magazine, a re-envisioning of Gil Scott Heron’s famous 1970’s poem/song The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
I have to admit, forty definitely feels old when people are recognized for things that you haven’t even heard of (media activism?), but then I’m sure Gil Scott Heron can relate. Who could even have imagined the immediate and pervasive power of the internet back in the 70’s when the only mass medium was television, and the only roles for Black people were either based on or touched by minstrel stereotypes (remember Jimmy Walker’s Kid-a-Dy-no-mite?).
In her Wiretap piece, Gumbs writes,
If capitalism slept, it would have nightmares about us. … But capitalism doesn’t sleep. So neither do we. We stay up all night, or wake up early and refresh the screen. We live on each others’ words and prove the lie of the hourly news story about our worthlessness. We speak for far-flung intimate audiences, and when we wind up wounded, we don’t stop because slowly we learn that these words are salve. We stay up, stay connected, send love letters every way we know how. These words are salve. Halfway to salvation.What I’ve learned from Gumbs is that blogging is the 21st century version of “consciousness raising groups.” Consciousness raising groups were pioneered by Women’s Liberation groups in New York City, and quickly spread throughout the United States. In November 1967, groups began meeting in apartments. Meetings often involved women going around the room and “rapping” about issues in their own lives. Forty-two years later, Gumbs has gotten on the internet highway to embrace Queer Black women and their allies.
Read the Full Essay @ Race-Talk
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