What does a Colonizer Look Like?

There are 4 elements at play in the definition of a country as a colonial power over another:

(1) the economic: appropriation of land, exploitation of labor, and control of finance; (2) the political: control of authority;
(3) the civic: control of gender and sexuality;
(4) the epistemic and the subjective personal: control of knowledge and subjectivity.

With regards to the US and Latin America the United States has some hand, if not a full fist, in all of these areas. I have started reading the book The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi. The first section of the book attempts to define and depict the colonizer.

"Today, leaving for a colony is not a choice sought because of its uncertain dangers, nor is it a desire of one tempted by adventure. It is simply a voyage towards an easier life." Memmi goes on to describe the colonizer as one who leaves their country not simply for adventure, because if that was the case why would they not go somewhere among their own country men? "Our traveler will come up with the best possible definition of a colony: a place where one earns more and spends less". As he goes on it descibes the difficulty for a colonizer to leave the colony. After a few years returning to the "slow progress" of home, and more expensive lifestyle is no longer appealing. Additionally the colonizer has laid roots in their new home, and lost roots in their old one. Why should the colonizer then leave the colony, especially when their privilege makes life in the colony easier then it would have been in the home country.

This perspective on the colonizer brings me back to the expatriate community that I saw when I was in Guatemala last January. For the most part the people I met were white US citizens who for one reason or another (primarily political) had decided to leave the United States. While I understand the desire to leave the United States out of frustration, I also feel the need to stay out of loyalty and obligation to my people. One of the fellow students at the Spanish school where I was taking classes mentioned to me that all the expatriates there seemed to be lost. To me the idea of leaving the US in political protest seems to be in vein. First off, no change can come from a few individuals, that were likely to radical for the government anyway, leaving. Secondly, their efforts to escape the US government may as well be void because they have moved to a place that is, in many crucial ways, a colony of the US, or at the very least a place that the US holds colonial power over.

In his book, Memmi describes 3 types of individuals in the colonizer/colonized relationship. They are the colonial, the colonizer and the colonist. The colonial is described as a European (or for our purposes one from the United States) living in the colony but having none of the privileges of their position. "a colonial is a benevolent European who does not have the colonizers attitude towards the colonized", in the next sentance Memmi goes on to say "a colonial so defined does not exist, for all Europeans in the colonies are privileged".

What I am attempting to begin to examine here is what is the role and power that one posses in moving to an expatriate community in Latin America. How can one move in an effort to escape the imperialistic policies of the US while simultaneously re-enforcing that colonialism.

Rough Cut

SO! Although last week was crazy and hectic in terms of editing it all paid off because last Saturday I got to go to NYC for the day and attend the last post-trek meeting with most of the Trek team participants. The movie seemed to go over well with them, and I am excited about finishing it! Anyway, I am using the next week as a time to get feedback on the documentary. If you would like to watch it and provide feedback please let me know and I will give you the password.


http://vimeo.com/7263840



-helyx

Post Trek 2

So as many of you know I fell a bit behind in editing and so this week has been kicking my ass trying to get ready to show the team a rough cut of the piece tomorrow (today) in New York City at the final Post-trek Meeting. I am super excited to show the rough cut and get feedback not only from the team but also from anyone who is interested in providing constructive feed back!

if you want to preview and review the movie let me know!



PS- the tentative Philly premiere date is January 2nd 2010.

Colonialism/Capitalism Journal Writings

We are forever spinning in a world of our own creation
Capitalist Marketing Schemes pulling us farther into spiraling chaos
What choice is there but to keep spinning, or we fall.


Breaking the cycle
Deconstructing our own interactions
how do we see each other
human to human relationships
country to country destruction
is it our place to cross borders
created by our ancestors
destroyed by our governments
why do we do it?


The title of the documentary is El Trompo, which refers to a spinning top, a toy for children all over the world. Personally I suck at throwing them, but Olman would patiently let me try time after time. The spinning, the spinning reminds me of the world, of our lives, of me, and him and Gualacatu and Los Estados.


ALSO
As far as a production update goes:
I am almost done with the trailer (i swear), and am currently working on getting a rough cut of the documentary together by Saturday for Post-Trek 2 in NYC.

I still need help if anyone out there wants to help with:
animation
setting up the US-Latin American Timeline
color correction
music/audio
using the programs motion or after effects

Journal Reflections

Excerpt from a conversation I had shortly after returning from Nicaragua:

me- "My host mom had never heard of the Jews, and when she told us this we asked her if she had ever heard of Hitler and she said no, she hadn't"

someone else- "You'd think that would have come up in a history class..."

...

I didn't really know how to respond to that, my host mom only had a basic first grade education. When she was elementary school age the revolution was happening in Nicaragua and she had to flee to Honduras with her family; and Nicaraguan refugees were not allowed to attend the schools in Honduras. She eventually returned to Nicaragua and at age 18 she took first grade. I am pretty sure that she had her first son when she was 19. She never had a history class.

One of these things is not like the others:

I came back from Nicaragua with 13 and a half hours of footage to deconstruct, capture, and ultimately turn into the documentary component of The Trek Project. While looking through one of my tapes I isolated a few of these stills that brought one phrase to mind, as the song on sesame street goes, “one of these things is not like the others”. This concept comes to mind when I look at footage or pictures of me with the community, despite my feeling quite at home within the community; it is evident that I am still an outsider. I think that is something important for me, and others, to remember when doing work in, or, when creating work about, communities other than their own. Despite my comfort within Gualacatu, I must remember that it is still a marginalized community in Northern Nicaragua and I cannot hope to fully understand life, or the mindsets of the people in this community, my perspective on this entire project still comes from my position as a white, blonde, Jewish, United States Citizen.

HELP!

As you may or may not know on Monday I returned from Nicaragua at the end of a two-week trip where I completed the bulk of the production for The Trek Project (thetrekproject.blogspot.com). The Trek Project is a 3 part multi-media exploration of the way that we (people living in the United States) create and work within communities both at home and abroad. The first part of the project is a timeline of US-Latin American relations that will be incorporated into the final DvD. The second part is a series of Mapping Workshops and Discussions about the concept of global community, responsibility, and accountability.
Due to the fact that it was only possible for me to travel to Nicaragua with the Trek team as a single person the creation of this project, has, up until this point been primarily a solo process. I have had a number of meetings with people to discuss the project and build the concept into what it is now; however, in terms of production I have flown solo. Now I am looking for people who are interested in helping me more directly with the post-production process. I am looking for:

• Help (or continued help) with concept development
• Periodic feedback on cuts of the movie
• Help working on a soundtrack
• Help with Audio post-production in general
• Someone who can show me how to use After Effects
• Help with animation
• Help with checking Spanish-English translations
• Help creating subtitles in both Spanish and English
• Fiscal Sponsorship, or people with a head for fundraising
• Art, by independent artists (visual, digital, written, performed, or musical), that deals with issues of globalization, Latin America, the creation of communities, or any other related issues, to potentially be interviewed, speak about their art who have a piece featured in the documentary.
• Places and/or groups to hold Mapping Workshops with

If you have skills in any of these areas or know someone who does and is interested let me know! Everyone who participates in the creation of this project receives credit and a copy, for certain jobs monetary compensation might also be possible depending on the budget of the project.

***Also, I would absolutely love to have any buildOn students who are interested in the project and want to get involved in anyway.

Thank you for your continued support-

Helyx Chase
HHProductions
HHconnects@gmail.com
thetrekproject.blogspot.com