Circle - Annabelle, Araceli, Jonathan
We chose to build off the “Earth Shopping Catalog” that Annabelle, Katie, and Euju created for the first week of Praxis 3. Their project was an example shopping catalog for technology and housing packages in a dystopian world where social class is equated to one’s access to internet and technology.
We wanted to build a more utopic version of this society. A world where social mobility was possible even in a tech heavy society. As seen in Black Panther and imagined by the “Earth shopping catalog,” it is clear that lots of progress and wealth comes from having advanced technology. However, we wanted to imagine a world where the pursuit of technological advancements and discovery is available to all.
A major theme in the film Black Panther was globalization. A constant argument between the Wakanda council was if they should interact and share with the outside world, or keep themselves prosperous and isolated in their secret utopia. Later in the film, this struggle is aggravated by Killmonger. Killmonger advocates for people of color around the world. He believes that Wakanda has a responsibility to share its advancements and tech with oppressed people everywhere. This brought our group to the question: is globalization a good thing and is it the responsibility of nations that have more to share with the world? In further discussion we concluded that this responsibility of helping the oppressed often falls on the oppressed. Wakndan people are not oppressed within their society, but when put in the context of the larger world, especially America, their race is looked down upon. The film shows us this in the scene in South Korea after capturing Klaw when Agent Ross talks down to T'Challa and Nakia. Agent Ross assumes that Wakanda has less resources than it does, and that even after successfully capturing Klaw, T’Challa and Nakia are not as equipped as the American government to deal with him. This theme in the film, and clear problem in the world today, brought us to question: why are the oppressors allowed to ignore these problems and continue to advance and better themselves within these unfair systems while the already oppressed are expected to fix/educate society about the issues while also trying to advance themselves? This dilemma prompted us to create a system where oppressed people can ask for reparations to even the playing field. “Circle” is an algorithm we’ve imagined that gives aid and reparations upon request of the oppressed (mostly minorities). These reparations are the opposite of Killmonger’s idea of revenge and are more in reference to Hook’s love ethic. They are not an act of revenge against the oppressor, they are an act of love to the oppressed in the attempts to create a world where formerly oppressed people can focus on advancements rather than constant reform. It is a world inspired by Wakanda; a place where minorities do not have to face constant oppression and can instead better themselves and their communities.Circle, our program and algorithm, would lead to the creation of a utopian society and world founded on the principles of equity. In All About Love, Hooks claims that, “The heart of justice is truth telling, seeing ourselves and the world the way it is rather than the way we want it to be” (Hooks 33). Around the world, those who have suffered from both colonization and imperialism are still denied the rights and privileges they deserve. Their voices are still quelled and the truth put behind the sparkly screen of romanticism, evident through even the textbooks of public schools in the United States that only share the hyperbolized neighborliness and cruelty of Native Americans, deeming the white colonists as the protagonists with the most proper morals despite that in reality they caused the erasure of so many different cultures on the land they stole. Today, Natives are still greatly mistreated by our society and government. This goes for many other ethnic groups and countries who have suffered colonization and imperialism. Along the lines of Hooks' love ethics, Circle acknowledges the truths and creates the best way to make amends, by asking the people who were hurt what would help them. The reason we find this necessary follows another one of Hooks ethics, one that holds privilege and superiority with disdain, “When love is present the desire to dominate and exercise power cannot rule the day” (Hooks 98). The existence of first and third-world countries creates an agenda of domination, which is an obstacle on the path to love. Circle pushes against this, and aims to create a world prosperous for every being and a place of opportunities instead silence, repression, and discrimination. Ultimately our goal is that this algorithm will tend to the wounds of the history that created our present and lead to a culture and society founded on love and well-being.
Citations
Coogler, R. (2018). Black Panther. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Hooks, B. (2000). All about love: New Visions.