December 21, 2022 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 7
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Mermaid
cont’d from pg 5
by white men.
2. Monique Roffey’s
“The Mermaid of Black
Conch” (2020)
This gorgeous and
complex work of Carib-
bean literature dips into
magical realism but is
deeply grounded in the
reality of today – specif-
ically, the effects of colo-
nialism and exploitative
tourism.
Like “The Deep,” “The
Mermaid of Black Conch”
explores lost ancestries
and imagines alterna-
tive futures. The novel
highlights the continued
impact of white settle-
ment on a fictional Carib-
bean island called Black
Conch.
One day, a mermaid
named Aycayia is caught
in the net of a fisherman.
She is ancient and Indig-
enous – “red-skinned,
not black, not African”
– and carries the weight
of history. David, the
fisherman who finds her
and falls in love with her,
recalls his first sight-
ing of her: “She looking
like a woman from long
ago, like old-time Taino
people I saw in a history
book at school.”
Similar to Solomon’s
historian in “The Deep,”
this mermaid is depicted
as an embodied archive;
her hair is a home for sea
creatures, and her face is
a history book.
However,
Roffey’s
mermaid is an anomaly,
singular and isolated,
not a member of a tribe.
The ocean keeps this an-
cient beast safe, hiding
her from the destructive
forces of Western capi-
talism, embodied in the
father-son duo of Amer-
ican tourists who seek
to capture and capitalize
on what they see as an
aquatic trophy.
3. Nnedi Okorafor’s
“Lagoon” (2014)
“A star falls from the
sky. A woman rises from
the sea. The world will
never be the same.” The
publisher’s summary de-
scribes a science fiction
novel that combines the
alien-encounter genre
with African mythology
to create a vast narrative
network of characters,
human and nonhuman,
that stretches across Ni-
geria.
The arrival of aliens
off the coast of Lagos
transforms the area and
the people, miraculous-
ly remedying centuries
of oceanic destruction
caused by industrial and
colonial exploitation. It
also turns Adaora, a fe-
male marine biologist
caught in a bad marriage,
into a mermaid.
“Lagoon” is far more
than an allegory of eco-
logical repair. But I want
to point out how litera-
ture explores the glob-
al ecological crisis and,
specifically, how ecocrit-
icism plays a key role in
the emergent genre of
Black mermaid litera-
ture.
As ecocritic and Carib-
bean literature scholar
Elizabeth DeLoughrey
writes, rising sea levels
caused by global warm-
ing are spurring a plane-
tary future that is “more
oceanic.”
Many contemporary
mermaid tales share an
acute sense of environ-
mental concern.
Mermaids serve as sig-
nals, in both senses of the
word – as an emergency
alert and as a medium for
transmitting a message
about humanity’s in-
creasingly oceanic plan-
etary future.
In “Undrowned: Black
Feminist Lessons from
Marine
Mammals”
(2020), Black feminist
theorist Alexis Pauline
Gumbs points to “sever-
al practices of marine
mammals that resonate
with Black freedom
movement strategies and
tendencies.” Racial jus-
tice and environmental
activism are aligned –
and, as many Black mer-
maid novels teach read-
ers, inseparable.
There are many more
works I could have in-
cluded in this roundup
– Natasha Bowen’s “Skin
of the Sea” (2021), which
grounds its narrative in
the West African myths
of Mami Wata and the
goddess Yemoja, or Beth-
any C. Morrow’s “A Song
Below Water” (2020), a
young adult novel that
tells the coming-of-age
story of a Black girl who
becomes a mermaid.
None of these texts are
outliers because they
feature Black mermaids.
Instead, they are part of
a broader cultural move-
ment – a contemporary
mermaid craze deserv-
ing of critical attention
and appreciation.
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(D-Texas), Rep. Hakeem
Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Rep. Sta-
cey Plaskett (D-V.I.), and
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
(D-Texas), also did not re-
turn messages.
“Instead of supporting
local broadcasters and
improving our access to
the news, the JCPA favors
big broadcasters and
threatens our ability to
find factual information
online,” ACLU officials
said.
Officials at the nonprof-
it Public Knowledge ar-
gued that the legislation
would do nothing to help
preserve local journal-
ism.
They further claimed
that it could compound
some of the biggest prob-
lems in the information
landscape today, includ-
ing consolidation and
declining quality of in-
formation.
“While the JCPA has
undergone extensive re-
writes, it is still an anti-
trust exemption, a legal
maneuver that has a his-
tory of failing to achieve
beneficial goals,” said
Lisa Macpherson, Senior
Policy Analyst at Public
Knowledge.
“Allowing the largest
media
conglomerates
– like Alden Global Cap-
ital, Gannett, Sinclair
Broadcast Group, and
News Corp – to collude
on the terms of access
cont’d from pg 6
and value of their con-
tent will hurt competi-
tion and make our news
landscape worse, not bet-
ter.”
Macpherson
contin-
ued:
“In a bill that is suppos-
edly meant to encourage
local journalism, there
is no accountability for
how the money is spent.
Facebook and Google
will fund more stock
buybacks and executive
bonuses than journal-
ists’ salaries. It also in-
troduces a precedent of
payment for simply link-
ing to information on the
internet.
“This bill is also a threat
to content moderation.
The JCPA allows publish-
ers to sue Facebook or
Google for taking down
content that the plat-
forms find offensive or
Advertising deadlines 12:00 Noon Monday
contrary to their commu-
nity standards.
“And with the most
recent
amendment,
proposed by Sen. Cruz
(R-Texas), harmful mis-
information, networked
disinformation,
and
hate speech will be even
harder to police under
this bill — and that is by
design.
“The JCPA will not save
local journalism. In-
stead, it will make a few
billionaires even wealth-
ier at the expense of a
healthy and open inter-
net and information en-
vironment for all of us.”
THE OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER-
ELECT RENE GONZALEZ
Multiple Positions
Closing Date/Time: Open Until Filled
Salary: Depends on Qualifications
Job Type: At Will Location: 1221 SW 4th Ave, OR
Bureau: Commissioner #3 Public Affairs
For more information or to apply for the job, please visit
our website: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/
portlandor/jobs/3822488/the-office-of-the-commission-
er-elect-rene-gonzalez-multiple-positions-open-un?key-
words=office%20of%20the%20commissioner&page-
type=jobOpportunitiesJobs
12-21-22
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER JOB AD
DIRECTOR OF
DEVELOPMENT
AND PARTNER
GIVING
Clark College Founda-
tion, in direct support
of Clark College and its
mission, is currently ac-
cepting applications for
a full time, exempt Direc-
tor of Development and
Partner Giving (Director),
responsible for raising
approximately $1 million
per year. For more infor-
mation visit https://www.
clarkcollegefoundation.
org/about/careers.
12-21-22
INVITATION TO BID
2022-74 Invitation to Bid for Fourth
Plain and Andresen Fiber Repair
Clark County Public Transportation Benefit Area (dba
C-TRAN) has issued an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for the
2022-74 Fourth Plain and Andresen Fiber Repair. This
ITB may be found at https://www.c-tran.com/about-c-
tran/business/procurement/bid-and-proposal-opportuni-
ties. Bids will be accepted until 3:00 p.m. on Monday,
January 12, 2023.
12-14,21-22
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12-14,21-22