ENGL 344: Blog #8- Chi-raq

Chi-raq seemed a little corny at times but it brought an interesting message about reformation and protesting. It takes many people to effectively protest. Even with very little not joining the women's protest to stop gun violence, men were still not convinced because they were getting what they wanted. The women stayed strong until the end and built each other up in the process. They had to join forces in order to get everyone on board with the demands they had.

So, how can this teach us to take on protests today? The more people involved in the protest, the more effective it can be. It takes a lot of will power to protest for a long period of time and the protesters must be dedicated to the cause. If you have something to offer: sex, obedience, or civility, that should be taken away to persuade the opposed.

Many college campuses and large cities have been holding protests against president-elect Trump. The protesters are chanting "Love Trumps Hate" in hopes of showing the world that they are sticking together, loving one another, and not taking white nationalism for what it is.

In the movie it seemed that it was easier for people to join the protest or the cause and give up gun violence if others, especially their leaders, had previously joined. How many people will it take? How long could protesting go on? In Chi-raq, it took months of protesting. It is so sad that it took little children dying, multiple times, for this protest to happen and to eliminate gun violence. What will it take for Americans to establish respect and love for all individuals?

ENGL 344: Blog #7- Citizen and What Whiteness Means in the Trump Era

There are white people fighting for superiority in 2016 and defining what it means to be white. I have seen the true feelings, especially of white nationalists, come out after Trump was elected. People of many races and women have been yelled at, threatened and even beat up. We have regressed a lot in such a short amount of time.

I've never been so embarrassed of my skin color. I feel like my skin color now defines me as a racist, as a white nationalist, as a Trump supporter, and as a horrible person. This embarrassment as well as the assumptions people now make of the white person has made me somewhat awakened to what black people have felt all their lives. I can't say that I 100% understand but I feel I have a grasp. After reading Citizen, I see that in so many simple ways black people are discriminated against every day.

Many people have expressed their feelings on black people and people growing up with these views just get used to it. White people may not be racist towards them but they easily have many thoughts when seeing a black person based off of what they have heard all their lives. If you are told something all your life, it becomes easier to believe. I struggle with this myself. Yet, I am not racist and truly want freedom, respect, and righteousness for all. Why does it have to be so hard? We're all human. But lately it seems like people have regressed to white superiority. They have forgotten something simple: dividing up America is not going to make us a stronger country.

I have also never been fearful of who I am: a woman. These white nationalists are against white women and their rights and many women have already been discriminated against. Just because Trump is elected doesn't mean all of multiracial America's rights and women's rights disappear. White nationalists need to be more realistic. We have huge majority of other races besides white and Trump can't possibly ignore, deport or disrespect them all. He will now have to go back on many of his promises or presumptions about his own power while in the white house.

ENGL 344- Blog #6: Response to Margaret's Presentation

The idea of words and language is very powerful. Words resonate with us and people can take the same word differently than one another. The tone, attitude, and volume we use when we speak contributes highly to how a person might perceive these words.

I wanted to comment on the Colonel's use of words. He seems to use his words to manipulate other's thoughts. In a particular scene starting on page 75, he is having Smith try and guess Hero's worth. He tells Smith that if he guesses correctly, he can then own Hero. Previous to this discussion, the Colonel was trying to convince Smith to consider owning slaves and how great they are to have. Smith repeatedly denied wanting to own slaves. Thus, the Colonel has Smith guess Hero's worth. The Colonel takes his time in explaining what slave buyers might look for and how much that would be worth. He describes Hero's work and character in great detail. He chooses his words wisely and works them to intrigue Smith. It does, indeed, intrigue Smith when he says "Should I name my price now?" (Parks, 76). At this point, the Colonel doesn't let him name a price just yet, as he goes through the many other traits of Hero to put a price on. The Colonel knows at this point that Smith is engaged and is probably fairly confident that he won't guess correctly. Thus, he is manipulating Smith's thoughts and feelings. So, what could be his real motive? To get Smith to honestly consider owning a slave and to enjoy the process of buying one; to draw him in to this specific lifestyle, which he does so through words. In my opinion, the Colonel never actually considered giving up ownership of Hero as a real possibility.

Even Hero's feelings are toyed with in this scene. Hero is intrigued, not only because his freedom is on the line, but to see his worth. Hero wants to know what his best traits are and what the Colonel thinks of his hard work. On page 95, Hero says, "Where's the beauty in not being worth nothing?" as he and Smith are discussing freedom in the near future (Parks). Hero can't even fathom the idea of not being worth anything and even looks down on it. He would rather be worth a lot than nothing at all. He is stuck in this mindset because it is all he knows. Although someone reading through this scene would probably think this is rude to Hero and inappropriate to discuss in front of him, the Colonel's use of language makes it intriguing to Hero and a conversation he prefers to hear.

ENGL 344- Blog #5: Video and Roundtable Thoughts

Video-

This video was hard for me to watch because the people just seemed so ignorant to anyone else in the world that aren’t white! I wish they could consider if other races were to be so against them (whites) and if they were to be kicked out of their country. A very shocking fact to me was when they said they wanted Jews to be kicked out of the country. This immediately made me think of the Holocaust and I am disgusted with the fact that people can just forget about this, not consider these issues, and give in to the same horrible mindset that Hitler had.

The community of East Tennessee feels torn a part because their businesses have had trouble staying open and they blame this on global trade companies. This pushes them towards being Trump supporters. There are many rally and committee meetings for these white nationalists in hopes of kicking people out of “their” country. They are calling this a European Style Nationalist Movement. Matthew Heimback refuses the term racism as they believe this to be used to determine “white people who want to advocate for their best interest.”

I would agree with Carol Anderson, a professor, when she exclaims that racism is framing this discussion. America is becoming vastly more cultural and this mindset to rid of so many races is a huge problem. It is scary to think that Trump’s campaign has opened the door for what many hope to have a wider following. It’s easy to think that if Trump isn’t elected all of these problems will go away, but they probably won’t. This presidential election has more than likely negatively affected any progress America has made to be more accepting and equal for all.

Graduate Round table Discussion-

I thought many of the ideas discussed were relatable and awakening. From chapter 5, they pulled out the quote: “Inexperience is a quality of the human condition. We are born one time only, we can never start a new life equipped with the experience we’ve gained from a previous one … even when we enter old age, we don’t know what it is we’re heading for: the old are innocent children of their old age. In that sense, man’s world is the planet of inexperience” (ibid). It is like we are too hard on ourselves as humans, that we should constantly have all of the answers and know all of the next steps. Yet, life is just much more complex than that and we find ourselves lost or unknowing of the road ahead. We build upon the experience we do have every single day. In Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi seems to fully understand this when he is telling his son how grateful he is to be black and not have to ever blend in or try to be white. He doesn’t just complain about the problems he faces, he knows this is the life he was given and that he must accept and appreciate it for exactly the way it is.

ENGL 344- Blog #4: Convocation

Rita Moreno spoke at convocation this afternoon. She sang in the middle of her speech and sounded beautiful. The theme of her speech "If you quit, you can't." I found this easily relatable and a good reminder for my own goals.

When Rita was younger her dad left before her and her mom moved to the states. It was just her and her mom moving to America. When she first saw the statue of liberty, she called it the "green lady." She thought the "green lady" ran the country and was enamored by this fact. They first moved to the Bronx and her mom rented a four bedroom apartment but there were already a couple of families living there when they arrived. So eventually, they moved to a different apartment across the street that was very small.

Her mom always reminded Rita to follow her dreams. She listened to her mother when she quit secretarial school to pursue her dreams as an actress and singer. She did a performance where a talent scout saw her and was so in awe of her performance that he put a word in for her at the MGM. This talent scout set up meeting for her to meet people that could offer her a contract. She was offered a seven year contract and she took it. Throughout this time, she was given dusky-women roles and dusky performances. These roles objectified women as being inferior and not having as much of a say in society.

There were no dialect coaches for her to learn from so she tried to come up with her own accents. She came up with a universal ethnic accent. She started to truly learn the meaning behind acting, and becoming another person since the characters were not true to how women truly were. Luckily, she soon went to a make up studio at MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayor) and "learned that the eyes are more than just gateways to the soul." She said that room could have been sweating from the inside out because Marlon Brando was so gorgeous. She soon saw him as more of a narcissist and righteous in his own way. She felt obligated to please him and compliment him since he was so well known.

Eventually, she was offered her role as Anita in West Side Story. This was the first time she had a role where she could voice her opinion and wouldn't have to worry about sugar coating the role. She could be closer to who she truly was. This very much helped her career because her and her mother were very poor.

Reflecting on this experience, it was amazing to learn about someone's past and struggles who has won so many awards because she never gave up on her dreams. This is inspirational to me as I can relate to her family and financial troubles. It is my aspiration to always follow my dreams as it can clearly take you in the right direction.

ENGL 344- Blog #3: Speaker Rory Wheeler

On Friday, September 16th, Rory Wheeler spoke about the pipeline in North Dakota and what the different tribes are doing to protect their water. He had actually been there this week to help defend his family's land and just got back. He mentioned that his grandma and grandpa used to fish in the river and he wanted to make sure the pipeline didn't go through the river. He was there as an EMT and wanted to fight with everyone but they wouldn't let him because if he had gotten hurt, he wouldn't be able to do his original job as an EMT. He didn't know when it was safe to sleep because something could have happened at any moment and he was constantly anticipating the sound of gun shots. Fortunately, he never heard any but this kept him up and alert. He was always needed and prayed that everyone would come back safely.

When he had left, there were about 5,000 people fighting and when he was leaving North Dakota to come home, there were about 7,000 people fighting. There was plenty of young people helping out with whatever they could. He says that everyone was very friendly there when it came to helping out.

Unfortunately, he told us how a lot of what is happening is censored on the media. There were pictures and updates online that had to come down because they want to keep this on the down low.

Wheeler learned forgiveness during this sleepless trip. They were digging up sites and hell could have broken lose but it didn't. He repeats that we have to forgive, we have to move on, and we have to fight. The Morton County Sheriffs are apparently siding with the pipeline. This is hard for them to realize and hurts their chances in stopping it. There was pepper sprayed at women, children, and men. Some were beaten harshly and there were racial terms said like it was nothing. Meanwhile, the sheriffs department just stood there and watched. People were charged with attempted trespassing and they held one person for a week because of a misdemeanor. Everyone was outraged at this fact. The county is working against them. At the camps, they are getting ready for winter with sleeping bags and such so that they can continue to fight. They are looking for funding and supplies to stay fighting until this is completely stopped.

As far as politics go, Hilary Clinton has a bunch of support for climate change on her website but hasn't actually done anything about this. Bernie Sanders has been very vocal about this and their fight to stop the pipeline. Trump hasn't done anything.

It was acknowledged that he is a young native american still having to fight for something that belongs to him. When he first arrived, he saw the river and the sun setting on it. This made him think, "This is the reason I am here." He wanted to fight for this water, that his father, and father's father relied on everyday. When he saw everyone come together, he realized that they are strong and that they are there for one another. He said, "You pick on one of us, you pick on all of us," which is a very strong statement.

Currently, there is still construction going on but not on land where the army is. There is a very limited amount of water left. Especially after the California water shortage and with very little clean water left, they should be fighting. For people that are non-natives, he asks that we educate them and make them aware of what is going on. He wants people to know what was done to preserve their land. He has hope that pollution will decrease in the future. His biggest point made was that there should be more consultation with the tribes.

Wheeler talked about the fact that he is not an activist, rather a water protector. This is his duty as a native American and as an EMT. He believes this is his mission here on earth, that he was sent to do this, and that he should be there 24/7. People rely on this water to live and an oil leak will cause permanent damage. Children could have birth defects if this continues. Some people chain themselves to the equipment trying to physically say, "If I don't have this water, I have nothing at all." His mentality is hopeful. There is a unity in all of the tribes. There are many charges they have to face just to protect their water but he is happy to see that all of the tribes are coming together for a good purpose.

ENGL 344- Blog #2 Edwards Orientalism definition

Orientalism is very important to our society and our world. It is the idea of coming together and becoming aware of our surroundings. We must be aware of the Eastern part of the world and all it has and will contribute to us. It is interdependent on Orient and Occident because the world is made up of those two unequal halves. The countries of the East and the West should have an awareness of one another's interests. There is a problem when it comes to power. Who has the most? Who has the least? How can one gain power? All of the questions keep us divided. We should be looking past that and gaining awareness of one another and what we can do for each other.

ENGL 344- Blog #1

Banning a Muslim from wearing a hijab is the same thing to me as banning a Muslim from being Muslim. France is basically taking away their religion but not openly saying it. When we were talking about this in class, I was thinking about how sad it is that we can't be ourselves because a higher power believes differently- that we can be told one thing but have laws suggest something else. A Muslim can be a Muslim but just can't show off her beliefs through a hijab. However, a catholic can be a catholic AND a nun can wear a habit, which is very similar to a hijab. Why and how is this fair? It's not. One religion can get away with believing what they want to and another is forced to partially conform to society or leave their homes. Sometimes I think I am privileged being that I have never had to deal with these problems and other times I believe I might not be as privileged as I think. People who's beliefs are challenged in such a way get to challenge their own morals and values. I have never been challenged like this. How do I know my beliefs are strong when I have never had the opportunity to stick up for what I believe in to a higher power? Truth is, I don't. Getting into debates is really important because it lets one see another perspective and to work through one's own thoughts. The person has to defend themselves, thus creating more of a dedication towards a religion/belief system. The person will become more open minded through this discussion having heard someone else's thoughts. I wish I knew more of what other people thought or maybe even why people disagree with how I feel. I might be more committed to my values.