May First Countermapping Project

[forest]

Hey All,

We had a good meeting tonight. We talked about doing a May First action about student debt. We all wanted to avoid the pitfall of framing debt in a way that makes us mere victims, and emphasizes our abilities to realize our context inside the broader world system of oppression/privilege.

So, we are moving ahead in some form with Fizza's suggestion; which is to ask people to map the world system at different points in history. The format will be very simple, more or less a board with pieces of paper people can mark and attach. We can ask people to locate themselves in their drawings. Also, this format will allow people to think for themselves and speculate about how the world has changed in the last hundred years or three months.

I'm going to work on the construction of the pieces. We're going to make three of them and put them up in the Barn, Downcommons, and the student center all day on the 1st. They will work best if people can attend them. So far those of us who are willing to do this include me, Fizza, Elsa, and Lauren.

(There is no need to skip class/work if that's not what you're into on May First, btw.)

If you're having a hard time visualizing the project, here are some similar examples that have happened in other places:

http://www.countercartographies.org/

http://archiveofdesire.com/

In Solidarity,

Forest

+1 (802) 445 5597
forezt.com