Cheryl Dunye and Takemoto

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Reflection Paper
This paper exposes and evaluates the works of Cheryl Dunye and Takemoto in the intervention in the marginalized and their fight for liberation. Thesis statement: Capturing the memories of the past for instance through photography is of major importance as memories can help in the fight for rights within the community. The enslavement of blacks in America, although outlawed several decades ago, has had a negative effect on black women today and this slavery is attributed to the history of queer behavior of African America women. The Japanese American concentration camps played a role in the development of queer desires formed around same sex relationships among Japanese Americans. Through their art which included works of fiction and photography, Cheryl Dunye and Tina Takemoto learned about the existence of queer behaviors in the community. They used their documentaries as a method of intervention and to support the fight for the rights of gay people within the community and to speak for the oppressed who include African American women and Japanese Americans.
Several authors have acknowledged the power and importance of memories in the fight for rights in the community. Stories should pass through generations if they must be nurtured, modeled and identified. This helps people to reflect on the past and change the undesirable habits and practices for the good of every person regardless of their culture. The presence of Onuma’s gay photographs is evidence that the activity was at the Japanese American concentration camp in America (Sueyoshi 6). However it does not prove that this is the origin of these queer behaviors because Onuma being gay could have escalated from his personal desire. Through photographs, movies and reading history, we are able to tell the past, the effect of memories vary according to gender and society, the memories inform of the various stakes held by individuals or institutions in what the past means today. Other scholars have it that time is marked with anniversaries each presenting a desire to fix history and declare it stable. However, if we are to fix the past memories, we should consider them as an encouragement rather than a night mare.
The use of photography is very important for memorization. They have a profound ability to create trouble and also interfere with our memories as people or communities (Sturken, 689). For example, for many World War II veterans, Hollywood films on the World War II reenact their personal memories into a general script. However the presence of images can also be used as a tool to forgetting. The world war produced various images. Iconic images such as the raising of the American flag by American combatants as well as the image of the mushroom cloud as a result of the atomic bombing rising over Hiroshima are components of the national story of the war in which United States was successful, and these images screen out most disruptive images. In some cases such as the genocide in Rwanda and inside Japanese American concentrations, the government prohibited photography. This was aimed at burying disruptive images that may raise memories in the future. The use of Photographs of Onuma at the Japanese American concentr...