Monthly Archives: March 2024

I really enjoyed reading these two chapters as they differ a lot from what we read so far. In this book, the author talks about how animals are rescued and cared for in sanctuaries. She describes what measures are being … Continue reading →

I really liked the first picture we see in the introduction of the chicken and pig hanging out. Was very heartwarming! I will confess I am not really an “animal person”—I didn’t grow up around a lot of them and … Continue reading →

“Under each of these contexts, sanctuary animals face costs in exchange for the benefits of care, simultaneously creating the conditions of possibility for sanctuaries to operate and limiting the realization of total liberation of animal subjects from their social status … Continue reading →

This reading made be think back to one of my favorite articles from last year, “Caring for an Unsettled Senior Rescue Dog in the Anthropocene.” In this article, Douglas writes about her senior dog’s fears and trust issues as rooted in humans … Continue reading →

In the spirit of addressing my own positionality I will admit that this sphere of exploration is something on the newer side for me. As I have gone through life I have not found myself particularly attuned with the hardships … Continue reading →

Admittedly, I’ve straddled the world of animal welfare/rescue in several different ways since high school. I’ve served as a volunteer for two separate dog and cat animal shelters in Miami, interacted with and cared for rats, fish, turtles, geckos, birds, and … Continue reading →

In her book Saving animals: multispecies ecologies of rescue and care, Elan draws a very empathetic and insightful picture of the conditions of life under which animals in the US live, their current status and the way they are represented. I appreciated the nuanced … Continue reading →

In Lara’s perspective, the pursuit of queer liberation and Black sovereignty entails a departure from direct engagement with the existing arrivant state. Instead, it involves a process of deconstruction and transcendence of the settler colonial futures that perpetuate it. This … Continue reading →

Having read this last year, I can (sadly) confidently say that a second year with this reading still continues to leave me confused, but I’ve definitely found I have a greater appreciation for Ana-Maurine Lara’s craft and style this time … Continue reading →

In the opening ceremony, the author introduces the idea of decolonization through ceremonies. It talks about veve which is a drawing that stands for offering. Lara emphasizes the importance of this offering as it has deeper meaning and stands for … Continue reading →

In her book Queer Freedom: Black Sovereignty, Lara articulates a number of meaningfully charged concepts like Blackness, queerness and Black sovereignty in the hope to see emerge the “wholeness” of which “arrivant” populations were deprived under the yoke of what she calls … Continue reading →

In her opening ceremony, Ana Maurine Lara makes the claim that “given knowledge and language… there is a responsibility to enact that knowledge and that language, and to render with great care the many ways of being that have sustained … Continue reading →

This week, we read the chapters “Opening Ceremony” and “Altars-puntos” of Queer Freedom : Black Sovereignty (2020) by Dominican American Anthropologist Ana-Maurine Lara. More than an ethnography, this piece serves as a ceremonial ofrenda to the complex, unclear : unknowing, intersecting, time-space oriented, physical-social, … Continue reading →

In the introduction, the author talks about a drug detoxification clinic in New Mexico’s Espanola Valley. This area is where a lot of heroin addictions occur and it often results in deaths. I found the stories of the people that … Continue reading →

As we continue reading several of the bestselling ethnographies of the twenty-first century, I can’t help but continue to think about some of the recurring themes and trends these ethnographies have in common. For instance, violence. This week’s The Pastoral Clinic: … Continue reading →

As I went through this reading I was struck by many of the same things as Stephanie. I think it also has to do with the fact that I am also currently studying and preparing to be involved in the … Continue reading →