Reading the UM AMEL manifesto and thinking of hope as a possibility again leads me to think of writing my own manifesto and to seek others who would like to contribute. I would imagine these would be the instructions to write that manifesto: a call to action - directed at both the elites and the working class in Egypt; to organize, read and learn, and plan. I am not sure if I want to use Egyptian nationalism or Arabism – especially after the complication added in UM AMEL’s manifesto – to unite, but; I want to find a way to unite the people in order to be able to govern themselves. I would like to include in the manifesto an imagination of the next 100 years, which means, I would want to think of a very long-term plan. The first step in that plan is to write it, distribute it, and connect those who are willing to support it from the thinkers and academics into some sort of a congress. The next logical step would be to assign roles, have committees to divide the work, and have some sort of a clear vision of how things will be done while keeping in mind the necessity to be flexible in case things do not work out as planned. Understand that there will be some compromises but ensure that we keep moving forward and revisit and reconvene as often as possible and/or necessary. Use The model of Herzl’s Zionism to learn what organizing can produce, and the danger of nationalism as well, and use model of the Zapatista’s Sixth Declaration to imagine a different way of governing and news ways of dealing with the army, while keeping in mind the similarities and differences in relationship to Egypt in each case. Studying how others organize and learning what worked for them and what did not safes time and effort. Use the revolution of Jan 25th in Egypt, the teachings of Malcom X and Martin Luther King to give examples of when how non-violent resistance or violent resistance and self-defense will be used. Imagine a new community and explain the role of the Army, the role of the rich, the middle class, and the working class in an imagination that breaks away from the conventional nation-state capitalist system. Write about feminism and religious harmony as necessary means for our community to thrive and these concepts can become a reality in order to get Egyptians in control of their fate.
This week’s readings were the most enjoyable for me so far. Reading the FEMETECHNET manifesto gave me a feeling that it is a feel-good document, although it may seem radical and “progressive” from the outside. I started googling the people involved in one of the committees on the website and I found out that most of them are white academic women and things started to make sense. The document addresses the challenges that exist in the tech world and makes certain statement about what the network stands for, without any sort of specific action plan or resistance ways aside from offering classes that ended in 2017 according to the website. There are no real consequences for these kinds of resistance methods. It makes me feel that these academics just wanted to say, we see the injustice system, we acknowledge its existence, but we will continue to be a part of it. The manifesto does not challenge the current systems but instead they state that the people involved “work within the belly of the beast,” which is the language of the reformer and the ones who benefit of the current system. The language of the manifesto is full of academic jargon which tells me a lot about who can access the document or understand it. There is also a lack intersectionality, which is highlighted in the other reading, and a lack of acknowledging the responsibility and the roles these women play in the current unjust system.
When I started reading Dark Matters, I was expecting to read something about the universe and black holes, not about Fanon, the CIA, and the surveillance of black activists, which what the author predicted would happen and I really liked the way it was explained and why these words were picked. I got the feeling that Fanon was assassinated or purposely neglected and left to die somehow in relationship to the work he did in Algeria, Africa, while he was 36 years old. Something else I noticed is that most of the names mentioned by the author who were being watched by the FBI were assassinated or in jail including Mumia. The author’s writings is inspired by fanon’s work which is amazing. I like the idea that fanon thinks that workers can protest by coming in late, taking a sick leave, or breaking some rules on purpose, which is what I do sometimes as a grad student to protest academia. The writings about surveillance is very relevant to what has been happening to Muslim communities after 2001, and it is important to highlight how long surveillance practices of black and brown communities have been in place to uphold white supremacy. The ideas of maximum-security society, self-monitoring, and racializing surveillance are insane and true. Writing about security in regard to race is interesting and opens the road to intersectionality in a topic that is still affecting our daily lives nowadays. This is probably by far my favorite readings of the course, and yet this is one of the saddest readings.
Reading about intersectionality and internet studies makes me realize how much of this world we do not know. The more we read and learn, the more we realize we know nothing. The last part of the article that mentions critical social theory pushes me to think of how this theory and intersectionality play a role in my research. By thinking about critiquing class and gender and internalized race concepts inherited from colonization in Egypt, it adds an extra layer to the discussion, and it complicates the critique. Seeing how intersectionality can be used in design and how important it is to see the depth of the challenges that go by unseen in conventional research methods, it reminds me to always be mindful in my research and in the way I consume research texts as well.