February is Black History Month.
This is a pretty well known fact, as we have been reminded about it every February since kindergarten. But what are the other months for?
I did a little research and apparently, other months have "history" too.
I found it strange that some months, were not recognized as anything, like April, while other months, like May, had more than one "History" to be acknowledged. What does that say about our values as a nation? Are some issues less important that they can share a month with another issue?
Black History Month was a definite necessity, but today, should it still be a primary focus, or should the nation focus on a topic like Gay and Lesbian Awareness Month?
An blog post from the Chicago Tribune News Blog, opened discussion on this very issue, and had many interesting responses.
Personally, I think that Black History Month is important, but all the other "months" deserve equal recognition. If we are trying to create a perfect world in which everyone is equal, one type of history cannot take precedent over another, they must all be focused on equally and draw similar attention.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Perception of Danger
In class we discussed the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.
We discussed how the poem used to be read as a poem about love in a father-son relationship, but today, the first thing people think of when they read this poem is an abusive father-son relationship. As we discussed this, I started to think, why has this perception changed so much? Has the US really become a more dangerous place, or is it just that we perceive the dangers differently?
On one hand, the advances in technology has made people's lives more accessible. It is easy for a person to get information about someone else, track locations, etc. But on the other hand, technology also increases safety. Now that people have cell phones, it is easier to call 911 from any location, and a lot faster to get ahold of people in times of need. On this one I'm pretty split, but my gut instinct is that as dangers emerge, disappear and evolve as time goes on, so do our perceptions of danger. The US has not become a more dangerous place, just dangerous in different aspects. We just perceive out dangers differently.
My Papa's Waltz
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.
We discussed how the poem used to be read as a poem about love in a father-son relationship, but today, the first thing people think of when they read this poem is an abusive father-son relationship. As we discussed this, I started to think, why has this perception changed so much? Has the US really become a more dangerous place, or is it just that we perceive the dangers differently?
On one hand, the advances in technology has made people's lives more accessible. It is easy for a person to get information about someone else, track locations, etc. But on the other hand, technology also increases safety. Now that people have cell phones, it is easier to call 911 from any location, and a lot faster to get ahold of people in times of need. On this one I'm pretty split, but my gut instinct is that as dangers emerge, disappear and evolve as time goes on, so do our perceptions of danger. The US has not become a more dangerous place, just dangerous in different aspects. We just perceive out dangers differently.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
A Depiction of Huck Finn
In class, we looked at different depictions of Huck and Jim. Here is an interesting, to say the least, depiction.
Why do you think the author/artist created this comic and portrayed the characters in this way?
Monday, January 17, 2011
Meta-Post Numero Dos
This quarter, I included a LOT more music into my blog. Some of the songs were just relating to an issue, as in Make That Change!, while others were complete lyric analysis such as in Is there life in America?. Another way I incorporated music into my blog was referencing something about music and a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. In my post High Five Chorus!, I mentioned briefly how music can have such a positive impact on people and then posted an article and a video explain what High Five is. (If any of you have a few minutes, I urge you to watch the video and read the article. It is quite inspirational.)
Also, when I was looking through my blogs from this last quarter, I realized that a few of my posts are MEGA post. Some of them are so long, that I would even question reading them, and I wrote them! For the next semester, I definitely want to work on the conciseness of my posts. As I said in my first meta-post, I'm a ranter, and it definitely comes through in my blogging.
I tried linking to other sources as well this semester. In one of my posts, Make That Change!, I linked to Olivia, another girl in my class' blog. Another post, Post Secret: Childhood, I decided to post a "Post secret" that seemed to fit in with out discussions of childhood.
Also, I should probably work on spreading my posts throughout the quarter, as this one became a little cramped at the end. This quarter though, I became almost obsessive with commenting. I'm pretty sure I commented multiple times each week. I would log into my account with full intent to put out my own blog post, and next thing I know, I'm commenting on my fourth post of the day. I don't know what it was about commenting, but I sort of became addicted to it.
**Please read A Day in the Life
This post was one of my favorite ones to write.
Also, when I was looking through my blogs from this last quarter, I realized that a few of my posts are MEGA post. Some of them are so long, that I would even question reading them, and I wrote them! For the next semester, I definitely want to work on the conciseness of my posts. As I said in my first meta-post, I'm a ranter, and it definitely comes through in my blogging.
I tried linking to other sources as well this semester. In one of my posts, Make That Change!, I linked to Olivia, another girl in my class' blog. Another post, Post Secret: Childhood, I decided to post a "Post secret" that seemed to fit in with out discussions of childhood.
Also, I should probably work on spreading my posts throughout the quarter, as this one became a little cramped at the end. This quarter though, I became almost obsessive with commenting. I'm pretty sure I commented multiple times each week. I would log into my account with full intent to put out my own blog post, and next thing I know, I'm commenting on my fourth post of the day. I don't know what it was about commenting, but I sort of became addicted to it.
**Please read A Day in the Life
This post was one of my favorite ones to write.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Post Secret: Childhood
I was just about to write my meta-post, when I found this post secret.
I found it very fitting, as we have been discussing what age a person becomes an adult at.
See more at http://www.postsecret.com/.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Make That Change!
I just read a classmates post, and found it really interesting and wanted to write my own blog about a similar topic. Check out Olivia's blog!
Her post was all about what prayer does for a person. Olivia wrote; "It won't make your life better in any way unless you do something. Take action and make your situation change." This first of all immediately reminded me of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". The lyrics go; "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change". Both the post and the lyrics say the same thing. If you want to change something, do it yourself, make the change. I agree with this, if you want something fixed, you have to do it yourself. If it is something that you can fix, don't mope, get up and go.
For me, I don't go to temple for the service (and to be honest, I rarely go to temple). But I see it as more of a community. When I think of Judaism, I think of faces. I see the faces of the people that I have met because of it, and the people that will always be a part of my life. I don't think of the prayers or Torah passages and honestly most of the things I learned in Hebrew or Sunday school I can't remember. I think of how everyone came together when there was a terrifying situation for one of the families in the community. I think of the support I got and kind words when I butchered a Torah portion I chanted on Yom Kippur one year. No one cared that I messed it up, they just were happy I tried.
These are the things I remember from my temple community. These were times that we came together to help out another member of the community. I don't really pray because as Olivia wrote, I believe more in fixing something and getting it done rather than praying for it.
Her post was all about what prayer does for a person. Olivia wrote; "It won't make your life better in any way unless you do something. Take action and make your situation change." This first of all immediately reminded me of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". The lyrics go; "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change". Both the post and the lyrics say the same thing. If you want to change something, do it yourself, make the change. I agree with this, if you want something fixed, you have to do it yourself. If it is something that you can fix, don't mope, get up and go.
For me, I don't go to temple for the service (and to be honest, I rarely go to temple). But I see it as more of a community. When I think of Judaism, I think of faces. I see the faces of the people that I have met because of it, and the people that will always be a part of my life. I don't think of the prayers or Torah passages and honestly most of the things I learned in Hebrew or Sunday school I can't remember. I think of how everyone came together when there was a terrifying situation for one of the families in the community. I think of the support I got and kind words when I butchered a Torah portion I chanted on Yom Kippur one year. No one cared that I messed it up, they just were happy I tried.
These are the things I remember from my temple community. These were times that we came together to help out another member of the community. I don't really pray because as Olivia wrote, I believe more in fixing something and getting it done rather than praying for it.
I do think that prayer can be a healthy outlet for people though. I'm not really a religious person, but in hard times, people need to find whatever they can to help them get through it and for some people it is religion that they turn to. If there is stress of a sick family member, it can really weigh on a person and each person must find what it is that can help them. For my mom, she starts cleaning. For me, I go run until I can no longer run anymore (not run away, go for a run). Each person has his or her own way of dealing with things, but at some point, we all need to stop trying to deal, and start trying to fix.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Are Kohlberg and Maslow linked?
The other day in class we were discussing Lawrence Kohlberg's Moral Stages. These stages he created explain moral reasoning development. There are six stages, but eventually he stopped using the sixth stage to categorize people into, because it was such a rare stage to find a person at. The sixth stage, universal principles, included people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.
Kohlberg's Moral Stages
This idea of moral development levels reminded me of another set of stages I learned about in my freshman english class, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It has four levels that must be in tack to make it to the top level of the pyramid, or "self-actualization". The first thing listed under the self-actualization section is "morality". Are Maslow's and Kohlberg's ideas linked? If so, do you have to be at a certain one of the stages to reach self-actualization? Though Kohlberg's stages do not have a hierarchy, the sixth stage is clearly the stage Kohlberg found hardest to reach, and those who did were extraordinary people (so there is some sort of hierarchy).
This being said, can a stage one person, if they have all of Maslow's basic needs covered ever reach self-actualization? Or is self-actualization as difficult to reach as Kohlberg's sixth moral stage?
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