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Title: Voice of our own Rating: 2.6 out of 4 References: Directors & writers, Premika Ratnam
& Ali Kazimi; producer, Premika Ratnam.
Library of Congress subjects: Minority women Women immigrants Sociology subjects: Community activism Diasporas & immigration Feminisms & feminist analyses Identity Reviews and Numerical Ratings 2.5 We like the insight into minority political organization & counter-hegemonic political identity, the speech by Rosemary Brown about building unity across diversity, the overview of the economic status of women. On the other hand, visually not so interesting – there’s a scene in which a bored audience member chews on her necklace while listening to a speech. Lecture topics: social movements, minority political mobilization, collective identity. Kathy Bischoping & Kevin Gosine 2 The video is a bit dated and, on the whole, a bit of a bore. The beginning actually opens nicely with some interesting comments on the contributions of immigrant women to Canadian society. Most of the video focuses on the National Organization for Immigrant and Visible Minority Women Conference in Winnipeg 1981. We get to see some of the issues which arise when bringing diverse women together around issues of racism and sexism in Canadian society. Lina Samuel 3.5 Stupendous illustration of how a grass roots organization takes flight by building from the bottom up. The determination of variant women to build a unified national organization that would serve both the needs of immigrant & visible minorities was admirable & inspirational. It was rivetting to see how women tried to find the threads of commonality among all the different fibres. The respect that these women had for one another, regardless of their differences & various historical specificities was remarkably exhibited. The theme of all women’s issues being intertwined & not making a hierarchy of oppression or underscoring difference was an impressive establishment. The video challenges the concept of a postmodern feminism, since “othered” perspectives have never found a nesting ground in mainstream feminism. The video argues wisely, through women’s voices, that women didn’t need to start with a model of perfection for their organization. Instead, it was thoughtfully stated that imperfection could be used as vehicle to advance their struggles. Superbly, it recognized the power & integrity of the women’s movement. And the construction of this national, Canadian organization was a tremendous example of women’s agency. However, more attention could have been paid to issues of assimilation in the process of mainstreaming this “othered” feminism. For students at any level. Belinda Godwin 2.5 A course about political/social organizing and/or feminism may find this documentary useful. One of the big questions it raises, and which took the headlines in the 1990s, is identity politics. Lots of fiery & articulate women of colour. One white feminist bores the rest of them with terrible clichés. Production values are terrible, but oh well. Kalina Grewal
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