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ISSUE OF IMPORTANCE TO CARIBBEAN CIVILISATION

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ISSUE OF IMPORTANCE TO CARIBBEAN CIVILISATION

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18th September, 2017
Whenever people think about Africa; the mindset of: incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, people dieing of poverty and AIDS, people unable to speak for themselves and waiting to be saved by a kind, white foreigner; come into place. The novelist and storyteller, Chimamanda Adichie discussed how she was also considered an African, that had undergone these experiences, by her American roommate even though she was from Nigeria. John Lok’s voyage in 1561 to Africa was also mentioned as he saved an account of his voyage where he referred to the Africans as,” Beasts who have no houses.” This represented the beginning of a tradition of telling African stories. A tradition of Sub-Saharan Africa as a place of negatives, of differences and of darkness. This was further encouraged by Rudyard Kipling the poet, whom also added his input of the Africans as,” Half devil, half child.” It is because of this single story with different versions, that people such as her roommate therefore acknowledge this. It is a single story of catastrophe and in this, there was no possibility of Africans being similar and having human connection as human equals. In today’s society, it is still common for the whites to think differently of the blacks even though they both work towards similar goals such as in the workplace, place of worship or school just as the author’s roommate ,as she found it strange to believe the music choice of Mariah Carrey being listened to. Therefore the consequences of this single story were that it robbed people of their dignity, made recognition of equal humanity difficult and it emphasizes how people are different rather than how they are similar.

This can be related to Caribbean Civilisation in respect to the voyage of Christopher Comlumbus when he discovered the Caribbean in 1492. Using Actitivty 2.2, the area was not one of darkness before the arrival of Columbus as, though, he was not the first to discover or settle here as the Neo Indians were originally there; it is the only recorded history present and hence believed by everyone as it is on many education curriculums in today’s society. This was because Caribbean people left no writing of their Caribbean experience or history therefore, it was the Europeans who wrote about the Caribbean as they destroyed all other evidence. It is because of this, that the story of Caribbean Civilisation, according to Dr. John Campbell in his lecture, that it has been told in different ways as recorded history is perspective driven. Therefore, when this changed through Revisionism, the story or interpretation also changed. Hence, there is also no single story as they create stereotypes that are incomplete and make one story become the only story.

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23rd October,2017
The University of the West Indies is one of the largest, premier institution and most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. It is because of this geographic separation; the “One UWI” initiative of the University of the West Indies was developed to strengthen and promote a culture of oneness and to dismiss the perception of being different and distant. This separation was similar when referring to the different practices, cultures and backgrounds of all the Caribbean countries that rooted from race, class, gender and ethnicity; yet they still belonged to the Caribbean since they all had been ruled by the same sovereign and shared similar experiences such as slavery.

UWI is therefore encouraging this idea by having online classes for most of the courses offered in all campuses such as Caribbean Civilisation that uses the Blackboard Collaborate, which allowed for a larger and more convenient platform for learning; where students are allowed to share their point of views on the various topics being discussed, communicate with their fellow Caribbean classmates and lecturers. This course also promoted Caribbean identity by discussing the different practices done on the islands as well as the types of music enjoyed, as at the beginning and end of each Monday night lectures, a song or music video from different artists from across the Caribbean, was played to promote awareness of one’s culture to others. Hence, the main idea emphasized during this entire course was “One Course, one University and One Caribbean.”

However, due to the different governance or funds required by the different campuses; not everyone can now afford to attend university which resulted in a decrease in the number of students taking courses offered, which then lead to a decreased level in unity or oneness that is being encouraged by the One UWI initiative; as the larger the communicating platform, the greater the Caribbean identity. This was seen in the St Augustine campus in Trinidad as they recently had to lower the entry requirements in the Faculty of Social Sciences as there was a small number of applicants for their evening programmes and this was because of the Government recently taking a decision to limit the GATE funding and apply a means test for students who required financial assistance where you were given aid according to your salary amount which deemed unfair to many. Therefore, placing the One UWI initiative on a stand still.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20170723/news/gate-fallout

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SOCIAL/ GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENTTOPIC: GENDER & EDUCATION

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SOCIAL/ GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENTTOPIC: GENDER & EDUCATION

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30th October, 2017
In the past, even though it was argued that education was primarily given to boys; it was open to both boys and girls. The three R’s: reading, writing and arithmetic were taught mainly to boys and they were taught skills such as carpentry and fishing as they were considered strong ,where according to Activity 9.3 #2, this was the general accepted idea of masculinity of society as they had a higher capacity to earn more money than girls but as time evolved, multiple ideas of masculinity evolved due to different perspectives. Whereas, girls were prepared to become good women, wives and mothers in the household.

However, in today’s society, both boys and girls are given equal opportunities but girls are succeeding more as they are more interested in making change to the past norm and not remaining or becoming housewives for the rest of their lives.  Having attended one of the best girl’s school in Trinidad, which is Naparima Girls’ High School; I can safely say this is true as each student took their education very seriously and was further reflected by the numerous government scholarships being obtained each year and high awards such as the President’s Medal. Being surrounded by the top boys schools in the area, such as Naparima Boys’ College and Presentation College San Fernando; the competition is intense yet the girls always excel more most of the time.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2015-10-15/%E2%80%98glory-my-school%E2%80%99

Girls are also becoming leaders or holding high positions in the workforces and doing jobs that people once thought only boys can do. As I reside in the Penal, Siparia region of Trinidad; this example was set by Mrs. Kamla Persad- Bissessar as she became the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; coming from a poor family and having attended Iere High School; she took her education very seriously and achieved success. As Dr. John Campbell emphasized in a lecture that education was never neutral; it was used in the service of the colonial authority and was used as a measure of control in society.

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24th November,2017
This course has been a learning experience and a true eye opener for me as I was introduced to new myths and theories since at the beginning of the course, on September 11th, I was a victim whom believed the myth of prehistory involving Christopher Columbus but it was because of Revisionism learnt from this course, this proved me wrong as I was unaware that Columbus did not enter an empty Caribbean in 1492. This also helped me understand that because there is no recorded history ,does not mean there is not one or a story behind it as historical accounts could be changed.  These recorded history is Eurocentric and biased. Learning about the mistreatment of the different races of people especially the Africans, further down this course, gave me more insight and helped me relate to current issues such as racism being faced in today’s society. Along with this and the last few units of the course, this sparked a revolutionary fire within me to fight for the injustice met out and to encourage unity amongst everyone since the Caribbean is already a small place. We all share common history, experiences and cultures; so why not work together as one ,as Bob Marley stated in his song to spread peace, “ One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel all right.”