Digging Deeper:

The following exercises allow students to “dig deeper” around issues that informed both Sara Ahmed and my own development of Kamp Krystal Killjoy. In researching the context in which Friday the 13th & Kamp Krystal Killjoy is situated, namely the socio-cultural-politics of the 1980’s, I was struck by the stark contrast between what actually happened during the decade vs. the histories told about it. We’re intimately aware of acid wash jeans, hair bands, the choreography of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, while most can’t define neoliberalism or worse – haven’t even heard of it. These exercises are designed to tell untold stories, to tap into lived experiences students may not be familiar with.

The Time Machine Badge

In Kamp Krystal Killjoy Episode 8: Hindsight/Foresight, Winifred plays with perspectives on the past and the future. When it comes to history, Win declares “we rarely look back far enough to realize that the only way to get HERE is by travelling through THERE. And THERE is a place they never want to tell the whole truth about.” Case in point, the 1980’s.

The only way to uncover the truth about this decade, and to understand how what happened back there led us to the right here, right now, is to jump into our time machine and to (re)visit the decade.

Listen to Konjuring Killjoy Episode 8: Like, what’s your damage? It’s the 1980’s! Dig deeper into the decade by researching “hot topics” introduced in the episode, like Reaganism, Conservativism, Neoliberalism, Globalization, the Aids Crisis, ACT-UP, etc…

Dig even deeper to learn more about the Combahee River Collective, which was developing a Black Feminist approach to justice around the start of the decade. Their statement was published in 1977 and can be read here: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/combahee-river-collective-statement-1977/. A more thorough “history” of the Collective can be found in the book, How we get Free, edited by Keeanga-Yamhatta Taylor.

Taking a page from afrofuturism, reclaim the future by considering what HERE would be like if when we were THERE, we chose the Black feminism of the Combahee Collective rather than the neoliberalism of Reagan and his white, western cronies (ie: Margaret Thatcher, notorious footsoldier for the patriarchy).

Write an essay, a fiction story, a song, an opera, a play, a poem; draw/paint a picture, a comic; make something that shows how our world, our lives would be different had we followed a different path in the 1980’s.

The Black ARTIST Badge

Sara Ahmed considers the feminist killjoy as “poet,” stating that “poetry is a way of thinking about what makes it possible to speak our minds, to give shape to our thoughts and feelings given the pressure we are under to comply” (The Feminist Killjoy Handbook, p. 160). Poetry, in the loosest sense of the word, is how we make something that does not yet exist; how we tell what happened here, how we plant a possibility…

Kamp Krystal Killjoy, Episode 1 includes Langston Hughes’ 1931 poem, Tired, and throughout The Feminist Killjoy Handbook and Living a Feminist Life Ahmed references Black and Brown feminist poets like Gloria Anzaldúa and Audre Lorde. These are just 3 poets who were/are integral in the resistance of white supremacist hetero patriarchy.

In addition, there are countless other artists whose craft brings their own killjoy skills to life. Artists Amy Sherald (https://nmwa.org/art/artists/amy-sherald/) and Mickalene Thomas (https://nmwa.org/art/artists/mickalene-thomas/) come to mind.

Perform some research to identify other Black poets or artists who have, or are, using their art as a resistance form of expression around social justice issues.

Choose a poet/artist to “dig deeper” on, learning who they are and how they contribute to past, present, and perhaps future social justice movements.
Select a poem or piece of work to “discuss”
1. Why did you select this piece? How does it speak to/resonate with you?
2. What issue(s) do you feel this poem speaks to
Use this piece as “inspiration” – even if you don’t consider yourself an artist – take a stab at writing/making something that communicates your thoughts and feelings around an issue.

The Naming Badge

In Episode 2 Winifred reveals her heritage from “up the mountain.” The group she refers to are real people, who have a long history in the area, namely around Ringwood, New Jersey. There is an entire section of website Weird New Jersey that highlights the misconceptions around the group (https://weirdnj.com/stories/fabled-people-and-places/jackson-whites/); a 1974 book by David Cohen called The Ramapo Mountain People; and a 2014 documentary called American Native.

The Kamp Krystal Killjoy Episode, and the lived experienced of these people bring up excellent questions about “naming.” Are we each equally able to name ourselves, or do others have power over, and therefore the ability, to name us?

Listen: Kamp Krystal Killjoy Episode 2
Watch: American Native (2014)
Read: Weird NJ webpage (linked above)
Read: Why we have so many words for ‘people of color’ https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/11/07/362273449/why-we-have-so-many-terms-for-people-of-color

Review the materials and reflect on the struggle to identify ones’-self under the oppressive systems of white supremacist cis-hetero capitalist patriarchy. Think specifically in relation to the Ramapough Lenape Nation, who was/is largely defined by a website called Weird NJ. What does it mean, what does it feel like when your very existence grows from the assumption that you – your ancestors, your community – are “weird?”

a. Comment on the politics of “naming”: how it relates to the oppressive systems, how it shows up in “everyday life,” and how it impacts people & communities.

b. Channeling your feminist killjoy:

How will you “show” the injustices around naming? (Cultural Critic)
What will you “make” to “break” the injustice? (Poet & Activist)

*Do your best to use phenomenology (the knowledge produced through lived experience) to complete this exercise. You may consider identity and “naming” broadly. That is, the materials consider Native American identities, while you may consider your own identity, or simply your own life, “naming” things like your experiences, your emotions, etc… (ie: victim vs. survivor).

DIGGING DEEPER