http://hyperallergic.com/54678/poetry-immigration-and-the-fbi-the-transborder-
immigrant-tool/
Sonya,
Good question, I read the article but it did not describe the work of the tool very well. It appears that it may provide water locations using GPS and then stream poetry onto a hand held device in order to provide immigrants with some sense of salvation; both physical and spiritual. The article also does not explain how it literally works, if it was used by immigrants and their frequency of use, though it implies that it was- from the media reactions.
Hand held technology could be a useful tool also for non-confrontational encounters between security (CBP) and immigrants, especially for those who speak indigenous languages and those that don't (CBP). I am actually looking into this as a possible solution for indigenous language speaking immigrants. This link below is a summary of that problem system wide.
http://www.amaconsultants.org/uploads/55e9f8a282d4c.pdf
If you find a description of the project, please post it.
The proliferation of technology to militarize solutions from the fall out of on going economic insecurity (driven by free trade and drug cartels) continues to drive public policy in the US -Mexico Border region. The intellectual remoteness for most citizens from the US interior about the border's real labor flow control function is aided by the anti-terrorist marketing of security firms. Wall building, remote sensors, ariel unmanned vehicles, etc. become an ironic fetish for security when several states in the interior have experienced actual terrorists and arrested them: (Minnesota: 10) (Virginia :2) (NY: 2), but fail to call for legislation to build walls around those bastions of terrorism. Not to mention the proliferation of guns in the hands of US nationals massacring innocents far from the border.
In Arizona there have been zero reports of terrorists at the border before and after 911. Key to the concept of the racist email mentioned in the artilce is the disdain for indigenous peoples; they (we) are reminders of the inadequacy of such systems in previous technological advances to eliminate indigenous peoples, and of the reality of new attempts to erase such history. Walling off humans through technology is a fallacy; neither is it a solution for why they come.
Perhaps a Haiku can more effectively describe this conundrum:
water we pray for
but words, sweet words quench our thirst
our blood, a guidepost
Thanks for this thoughtful response Blake A. Gentry, and for the moving Haiku. I am interested in how mobile interface technology can be used to create more understanding and empathy between peoples. The Transborder Immigrant Tool takes empathy and compassion to the next level with practical help. It sounds like your work will do so too. For more detail about how the Transborder Immigrant Tool actually functions, one of the creators explains it very well in the YouTube clip I have attached. Start watching at 5m33s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL1uqN1tepk
Sonya , thank you for the post bout how the tool works!
Banglab which produced the embedded Vimeo fed video within the article you first posted has other videos posted as well. The "Dubliners" piece I found quite moving and have sent it to poets I know. Thank you for the post.
I have seen mostly the absence of technology bridging gaps for immigrant families in transit from the border to the interior. However, I Skype with a group from a health training project in Peten, Guatemala in order to connect with trainers of acupuncture. (project at www.GUAMAP.net). It dramatically increased our ability to assess training goals at the end of week long training. It has also allowed for exchange on emergency aid to a stroke victim in the same area - in August, a month ago.
When we began in 1994, neither cell phones nor electricity was available, let alone the internet. Those changes happenned in one generation. The more recent phenomenon of satellite based internet and global internet cables have made the world possible for electronic devices which use microprocessors for localized and individualized applications. Indigenous communications often do not have access to such technology, but others do.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Medicine
- Disease
- Infectious Diseases
- Immunization
- Vaccination