Skip to content After several grueling hours of protesting against systemic injustice (no one can prepare you for long hours on your feet, long hours screaming for recognition of your humanity), we stood with our signs tucked safely under our arms as the organizer introduced some parting words. The speaker was an older Black man, the weariness of the movement evident in his face and in the way he leaned against a streetlamp for support. But his passion was clear in his speech as he declared that we were not the first to fight for our rights, and we will not be the last: he was protesting in the streets back in his early adulthood, the same way we were today. It was then that I looked at the faces of the people around me; some couldn’t be older than sixteen, and some as old as the speaker, or older. It was in the aftermath of being surrounded by these people, all aligned in our goal for the abolishment of the systemic injustices that cause Black oppression, that Nina Revoyr’s literary crime novel Southland came to mind.
I first encountered this sweeping tale of past and present iterations of Los Angeles, of riots, looting, and the reincarnations of allyship, in my Asian American Literature class, junior year of college. My professor had casually remarked that it was her favorite novel of all the ones we read; I was too awash in pre-finals anxiety to give her remark a second thought. It wasn’t until I came home from the protest that I gave the text the attention it deserves. A story about injustice dressed up as a detective novel, Southland reminds us that activism is both an ongoing project and a deeply personal choice.
The pathway to justice in Southland is a quiet storm, at odds with the loud righteous moment going on today—but the unity in creating genuine change remains the same, predicated on the past. Southland draws on Los Angeles’s history of activism—the Watts riots of 1965 and the Rodney King riots of 1992—but also shows how that hunger for change can manifest in isolated actions, in individual lives. Today, we take to the streets, we sign petitions and start hashtags that address the various inequalities Black people face in the workplace. We are very loudly and openly discussing the systems that have led to decades long, ongoing oppression. These open discussions are no longer isolated to a single March on Washington, or even a city-localized riot: this is a national conversation gone worldwide. Southland reminds us that it must become personal, too.
‘Southland’ shows how the hunger for change can manifest in isolated actions, in individual lives.
The protagonist of Southland, Jackie Ishida, discovers in reading her grandfather’s will that he played a role in a multiple homicide decades earlier, during the Watts riots. Jackie and her acquaintance turned friend, James Lanier, a cousin of one of the victims, look into the murders and fight for a legal investigation. Along the way, Jackie learns more about her grandfather, and about the history of Los Angeles through the eyes of those she encounters along her journey. The journey Jackie Ishida goes through in uncovering her grandfather’s past, and the important weight his corner store holds to the surrounding Crenshaw community, means so much more to me now in the wake of the media’s spin on rioting and the national attention on the police state we live in.
Jackie Ishida, a second generation Japanese American, is, like so many of us, comfortably enveloped in privilege. Much of the conversation lately has shined on the workings of white privilege and the ways it bleeds into every aspect of our livelihood, but it’s important to speak on the ways we as black and nonblack people of color have privilege, too. In order to truly dismantle systemic injustice, there must be a dedicated effort to address the variant intersections that allow for some of us to be ahead of the curve, while others struggle to even see where the curve is. One of those privileges often, is silence: the ability to not speak up on the sufferings of others worse off than you because you are doing fine. For Jackie Ishida’s family, though, this silence became a double-edged sword.
In so many ways, Jackie Ishida’s family suffered: internment, forced participation in World War Ⅱ, constant mistreatment from white people due to their being Japanese. But rather than address the systemic injustices they faced, they secured higher positions (and profit), letting their silence wrap around them like a noose. “Her family didn’t talk,” Revoyr writes. “None of them, including her grandfather. No words laced together into a chain of intertwined stories that connected her to anyone’s past. More than gaps in the narrative; there was no narrative. Whole years, like the years of World War Ⅱ, dropped cleanly from their collective history.” This silence eventually disconnects Jackie Ishida so much that she is uncomfortable addressing race or racism in any way, which is its own privilege. If you cannot speak up for others, how can we all dismantle the system?
If you cannot speak up for others, how can we all dismantle the system?
This silence is also the reason why she knows nothing about her grandfather, or the shocking scene that lies at the core of Southland’s intrigue: four Black boys found dead in the freezer of his store in the aftermath of the Watts riots. No one cared enough even to report it. Jackie’s inability to reconcile her grandfather’s past with her concept of him is how the tale begins, but it expands into an investigation of what it means to renounce the privilege of silence and ignorance. The novel is a love letter to Los Angeles, but also a gentle takedown of Jackie’s assumptions and judgmental nature, the legacy of growing up enveloped in privilege and a genuine lack of awareness.
Discovering the bodies is the catalyst for Jackie to start filling the silence with noise, creating a narrative with pieces of the past: through constant discoveries, old and new, of her grandfather’s role in Crenshaw and the homicides. Jackie’s insistent probing into the multiple homicide becomes her connection to a history of oppression and activism; despite his silence in life, she feels her grandfather “practically willed it.” Like myself when I stared into the eyes of the people protesting with me, Jackie feels the totality of the past, long ignored in her family, and uses her privilege to bring it to light.
The past is always rearing its head and making itself known in the present, in the future.
Perhaps it is Jackie’s recognition of her grandfather’s loneliness, or her desire to piece together the bits of noise amidst the silence, but she does everything in her power to give the murdered Black boys justice — and in doing so, discovers her family’s past. Her family’s past, the history of Frank’s store, is simply the beginning. The past is always rearing its head and making itself known in the present, in the future. Jackie’s reflection on how the Rodney King riots of 1992 were portrayed in the news, as the media described the looters, rings true to today’s 2020 media coverage: “’it’ was coming closer to ‘us’; telling their viewers —as if they couldn’t see and smell for themselves—of the smoke that hovered over the city.” The media has a history of taking whole swaths of people (often people of color) and painting them as the Other, a dangerous conglomerate threatening any source of normalcy. This “it” versus “us” dynamic echoes today as we see people who riot and loot are called “outside agitators,” as people discuss looting with more care than the fact of Black people losing their lives to police every single day.
One of my favorite moments in the text is when Jackie finally steps foot on the ground where Frank’s store used to be, though it suffered damage after the aforementioned Rodney King riots of 1992.
Her grandfather’s money had been made and lost here. Four teenage boys had died here. It seemed to Jackie that if she could just get inside, beyond the boards, the answers would all be available to her, scattered among the ashes. … Her past was like this neighborhood—still there, intact, but she had never bothered to visit.
Frank’s store’s existence, standing through riots, looting, and death, is what drives Jackie. Frank’s store is a piece of history; a chance for Jackie’s redemption and her ability to restore a narrative otherwise lost to her. Jackie’s past, her grandfather’s past, the history of Crenshaw, is only the beginning. I spent some time protesting in the neighborhood I grew up in—the place I hung out with my friends after school, the place I grew into the steadfast woman I am today. Bringing the fight for our rights to such a local place has changed me forever, in ways I’m incredibly proud of. The same sentiment stands for Jackie, who is driven to change her present after setting foot in her grandfather’s past.
The past is prologue. The Black Lives Matter movement has existed for going on a decade, and yet it is only the beginning, a continuation of the work done by civil rights activists of the ’60s, of the Watts riots of 1965, of the Rodney King riots of 1992. We are standing on the backs of those who have fought long before us, and we all would be better if we remembered that. The news is telling one story of rage, looting, and woe, but as in Southland, we must create our own story.
The post The Novel That Shows Us How to Face Our Past to Change Our Future appeared first on Electric Literature.
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for website
Thank you, I’ve just been looking for information approximately
this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I’ve discovered
so far. But, what in regards to the bottom line? Are you
certain concerning the source?
Great article, exactly what I wanted to find.
I do not know if it’s just me or if everybody else encountering issues with your blog. It seems like some of the written text in your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them too? This may be a issue with my internet browser because I’ve had this happen previously. Appreciate it|
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share. Thank you!|
Very interesting points you have remarked, thankyou for putting up. “Curiosity is the key to creativity.” by Akio Morita.
I was looking through some of your blog posts on this website and I think this website is real instructive! Keep on posting.
I dugg some of you post as I cerebrated they were handy very beneficial
http://beautyhealthlife.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=zenwriting.net2F13sf67lw7l
Just wanna remark that you have a very decent website , I like the style and design it really stands out.
http://www.astrus.ru/bitrix/rk.php?goto=https://thetimearticle889.weebly.com/blog/virtual-assistant-services-what-exactly-are-these-people
I think you have mentioned some very interesting details , thanks for the post.
I truly enjoy studying on this internet site, it holds excellent content. “Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master.” by Demosthenes.
hi!,I like your writing very a lot! proportion we communicate extra about your post on AOL? I require an expert on this area to solve my problem. May be that is you! Looking ahead to peer you.
Good day very cool site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your website and take the feeds also…I’m glad to find so many helpful information here in the publish, we want develop extra techniques on this regard, thanks for sharing.
You are my inspiration , I possess few web logs and sometimes run out from to brand.
I like what you guys are up also. Such intelligent work and reporting! Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my website :).
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such fantastic information being shared freely out there.
Enjoyed looking at this, very good stuff, thankyou . “If it was an overnight success, it was one long, hard, sleepless night.” by Dicky Barrett.
I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this site. Thanks, I’ll try and check back more often. How frequently you update your website?
I conceive this website holds some really fantastic info for everyone :D. “The test of every religious, political, or educational system is the man that it forms.” by Henri Frdric Amiel.
I was studying some of your articles on this internet site and I believe this website is rattling instructive! Continue putting up.
you’re in reality a excellent webmaster. The web site loading pace is incredible. It kind of feels that you’re doing any distinctive trick. Also, The contents are masterpiece. you’ve performed a excellent process in this matter!
great issues altogether, you just received a logo new reader. What might you suggest in regards to your publish that you just made a few days ago? Any certain?
Great – I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, site theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Excellent task.
I believe this internet site has some very great info for everyone :D. “Time–our youth–it never really goes, does it It is all held in our minds.” by Helen Hoover Santmyer.
Utterly pent content material , thankyou for entropy.
of course like your web site but you have to test the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I to find it very troublesome to inform the truth then again I’ll certainly come again again.
Worldwide Touur Travel (WTT) ช้อป ผลิตภัณฑ์ออนไลน์
กับ Lazada Shopee Priceza Accesstrade ได้แล้ววันนี้
Look att myy hhomepage … Worldwidetourtravel
I believe that is one of the so much significant information for me.
And i am satisfied reading your article. But wanna observation on few general issues, The site taste is perfect, the articles is
actually excellent : D. Good task, cheers
That’s an awesome point
Miałem (nie)przyjemność pracować w firmie “AGNIESZKA”
u leszka Czmielewskiego w lokalu “MORSKIE OKO” W Kołobrzegu, Jeśli mam być szczery i obiektywny to takiego lokalu
dawno nie widziałem, bez toalety dla personelu, bez odpływu wody
w pomieszczeniach, szczury w barze to norma!!! baptyzowany alkohol, oszustwa podatkowe itd…
Mógłbym wymieniać grzeszków Pana Leszka jeszcze wiele
ale chciałbym dodać tylko tyle, że zmarnował i zrujnował mi życie
i karierę po tym, jak odszedłem jako nastolatek z niewolniczej pracy z opisywanego lokalu
którego był i jest do dzisiaj “właścicielem”.
Waruni pracy jakie mnie obowiązywały to
około 13 godzin dziennie w sezonie letnim 7 dni w tygodniu
Tak nie pracowali nawet Żydzi w obozach koncentracyjnych
Miesięcznie wychodziło ponad 400 godzin!!!!
Prezentacja Leszka Leszek Czmielewski Kołobrzeg ul Rzemieślnicza 6 a OSZUST PODATKOWY
Za to, że opuściłem miejsce niewolniczej pracy zemścił i
mści sie do dzisiaj zamykając mnie w Szpitalu Psychiatrycznym aż osiem razy.
Nie pozwolił mi na zdobyć Prawa Jazdy, zagroził mi także, że nie znajdę żadnej pracy, nie założę rodziny i nie WYBUDUJĘ własnego Domu!!!!!
Jest odpowiedzialny za wiele upokorzeń i krzywd fizycznych i psychicznych Dlaczego ?> Ponieważ zlecał “półanalfabetom” różne makabryczne szkolenia w stanie HIPNOZY czyli z wyłączoną świadomością, Rozpowszechnił
także w internecie materiały oczerniające i szkalujące mój wizerunek!
A szczerze mówiąc to największym błądem w moim życiu
było to, że spotkałem Leszka Czmielewskiego Prostego
Chłopa bez wykształcenia!!!
Agora, saiba também que é possível baixar vídeos
do Instagram (Android
The application charge for a dependent child visa from outside the
UK is ₤ 1,523, plus the immigration health additional charge of
₤ 1,200. From within UK, you will certainly pay a
government fee of ₤ 1,033 plus an immigration wellness
surcharge of ₤ 1,000. On making an application for visa, there we will need
to pay a quantity apart from application charge which is immigration wellness additional charge.
Main candidate together with dependents too will require to pay of this immigration health
additional charge for their treatment. Do the dependents need
IELTS to sign up with the major applicant?
Dependent staying in UK without the primary candidate if visa is not stopped.
This only shows the cash criteria concerning the main applicant.
The candidate will certainly additionally need to pay
₤ 19.20 biometric enrolment charge as part of
the application. So you need not fretted about handling your children’s education untill 16.
There are currently no limitations on dependents studying in the UK.
So throughout that certain period as it discussed in visa, there will certainly be cost-free treatment
for dependents (since they’re currently paid for
the wellness services to some prolong, that may be
well depicted in the plans). If you’re a worldwide trainee, you can look for a financing gave that: You’re resident
in the UK; you’re enlisted in an approved UK college; and you’re at the very least 18.
Being on a trainee visa, lenders in UK will permit global pupils on certain visa kinds
to obtain approximately 90% of the value of the acquisition rate, offered they meet the loaning criteria.
Thank u po for the information
It’s impressive that you aгe getting thoughts frpm this pօst as well as ffrom our discussіon mɑde here.
Thank you for every other informative blog. Where else may just I get that kind of information written in such a perfect way?
I have a venture that I am simply now operating on, and I have been at the look
out for such information.
This is my first time go to see at here and i am
truly impressed to rread all at alone place.
Wow! At last I got a webpage from where I be aable to in fact get valuable data concerning my study and knowledge.
n Whenn iit comes to vifeo games, one of the most popular genres is tthe MMORPG.
What is an MMORPG? MMORPGstands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.
What does this mean in layman’s terms?
You can divide bonuses for Sports and Casino as you open the Promotions page.
Mostbet, spor ve kumarhane oyunlarına bahis oynamak için harika
bir yerdir.
Hi there mates, pleasant paragraph and nice arguments commented at this place, I am actually enjoying by these.
It will substitute the version beneath for new begins
from 1 August 2024 with a funding band of £23,000.