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"The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar."-chimamanda ngozi achidie (2009)

Chimamanda ngozi achidie is a nigerian novelist, in TedTalksGlobal (2009) she brought light to biased beliefs, meaning that a single-story forms incomplete stereotypes that become the only story; that is ignorance towards cultures that are unfamiliar. It is observed that we must seek diverse perspectives in other to gain the full story and not only one side. She was exposed to her first single story at the tender age of eight. When her family got a new house boy that was seen to be very poor, she was shocked in knowing that fide’s family could weave such beautiful baskets, and was ashamed of her own ignorance when she could not see them as anything else but poor. It is important for us as a Caribbean people to understand the dangers of a single story, this can lead to unacceptance of other cultures from a single story we were exposed to, and shame of our history and roots. When living by a single story one can become accelerated by the notion of our oppressors who wish to control us and prevent us from being our innate selves. Achidie foments that we must rid the single story and accept who we are, and emphasizes the graveness of discarding  the norms and ideals that were imprinted on the Caribbean society by those that attempt to rule over others.

Reference video down below

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Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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Child marriage (social importance in the Caribbean)  

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Child marriage (social importance in the Caribbean)  

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This unit helped me grasp a better understanding for religion, education and Caribbean family life. It gave me a better perspective on different cultures and norms in the Caribbean seeing as it is a multicultural region. In the Caribbean, child marriage is still very prominent, it has recently been discussed in Trinidad and Tobago. Four acts regulate the age of marriage in Trinidad and Tobago, but these acts lead to a large number of inconsistencies. over 3,000 child brides in the last 20 years has been recorded, UNICEF records that 2% of girls are married by the age of 15yrs, and 8% are those that are married by 18yrs. This course had material that allowed me to develop my critical thinking and analyzing skills on certain cultures and religions that permit child marriages. I’ve come to understand that Muslim, Hindu and Orisa religion hold dearly to tradition with marrying off young girls. I believe that any child ages 12yrs-18yrs should not be wed, as stated in Trinidad express by Anna Ramdass (2017) there were thousands of births to children, the total number of teenage abortions recorded by the heath sector was 743, this included ages of 13-16yrs, they do not have the capability to raise a child when they are children themselves, at such a young age they are not psychologically, socially and physically able to give consent to marriage. Barbara burke, head of spiritual Baptish church supports child marriage and gives reasons as to why it should remain. Her reasons for supporting this is that she fears that once the law strikes down one aspect of their religious beliefs, many others would be eliminated thus causing a loss of tradition.

Learning artifact
Faris al rawi speaking on many child abortions in Trinidad, this has opened my eyes to the current social struggles that are occurring

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Debate On Child Marriage Opens In Senate, AG Reveals Over 160 Girls Impregnated In 2016

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Attorney General Faris Al Rawi revealed that over 160 girls between the ages 12 and 16 were impregnated in this country last year.

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Haiti is a sovereign country located on the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea territory. They possess a rich history, full of revolutions, by them being one of the first black republic  ( jan 1st 1804) and was the first to gain independence. Haiti, despite being labelled the jewel of the Antilles, due to its success in being a contemporary society, has major struggles currently. A contemporary society features great technological dependence and innovations, longer average life spans, higher levels of literacy and greater levels of gender equality (rox pricopie) .one of the main issues currently is the black-mulatto tension. Haiti’s racism was adopted by the French. Due to the hierarchy from slavery days, the mulattos were considered to be higher in strata than those of blacker features which caused inequality. Haitians faced troubles with globalization since they were unable to innovate and improve the living standards of others. Haitians still have traditional habits, such as misogyny and a wariness towards education. It is understood that Haiti has been execrated for their ignorance, but in reality the Caribbean countries must allow them into their communities, and help them as good neighbouring islands. Collective Caribbean identity was gathered from this course as being wildly important in order to grow together as a region than as singular countries. We as a plural society should act as such and remove mentalities and values of our former oppressors.
reference: “ the social structure of Haiti” (march 8th, 2010) by ashleylightburn

Learning artifact
This introduced me to the social structure of Haiti and the three classes that reside there

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http://www.jstor.org/stable/2085502
The Social Structure of Haiti
Haiti's social structure is important to understanding why the government of Haiti is the way it is. George Eaton Simpson's article on the Social Structure of Haiti provides valuable insight to this end. Simpson's article discusses how Haiti social structure, under French rule. There are many similarities especially with the rather large wealth gap between the small amount elite and greater number of poor, but even more so as the top bracket of the elite after the Haitian Elite consisted of the military leaders. Simpson describes the Haiti under the French had French Colonial officials at the top, followed by white planters, employees of the colonials, free men of color, and at the very bottom slaves. He then says the Haitian social structure after the revolution consisted of the military elite at the top while the majority of the population remained in the lower poor class. Simpson divides his discussion of Haiti into 3 categories, the elite, the middle class, and the poor.
The elite in Haiti consist of no more than three percent of Haiti. According to Simpson, that means in a population of 3,000,000 the population consist of no more than 150,000. Generally the wealthy in Haiti consist of those who have inherited to wealth, are high in the government command structure, or are successful entrepreneurs. While wealth is a huge factor in determining the elite of Haiti, a more important determinate of social status is whether an individual is on good terms with who is in power within the government, as government holds the majority of the wealth in Haiti. The middle class of Haiti is in even smaller then the elite class. This class according to Simpson consists of government employees of lesser importance, shop-keepers, coffee buyers, and a few artisans. Very little has been done successfully to create a larger middle class in Haiti. The majority of the Haitians are part of the lower, poor class.
Another interesting topic Simpson covers in his article is about rising through the ranks of the poor to the elite and likely hood of someone being able to successfully become part of the elite that way. He discusses that a peasant who is able to become wealthier then someone in the middle class of Haiti, is not considered middle class or part of the elite, but rather a rich peasant.
Many of the themes in this article connect with what we have been studying in the History of Latin America. For instance we have the elite military being control, which very similar to other Latin American nations we have been studying in that the military and government tended to be intertwined in many Latin American nations. Many of the works we have been looking at have a heavy emphasis on ones place within the class structure, particularly in our class discussion of Avezedo's The Slum, which looked at class structures in Brazil in the 19th century.

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http://www.jstor.org/stable/2085502 The Social Structure of Haiti Haiti's social structure is important to understanding why the government of Haiti is the way it is. George Eaton Simpson's article on the Social Structure of Haiti provides valuable insight to this end. Simpson's article discusses how Haiti social structure, under French rule.

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In doing this foundation course (foun 1101), I’ve come to appreciate my ancestors and history more. During the semester various tutorials and lectures exposed me to the in-depth topics such as religion, plural society, geographical makeup etc. The tutorials had me indulge in different ideas and perspectives through discussions that were mentioned in lectures. At the end of this course I have taken more interest in knowing who I am as a Caribbean person and the history behind the lives of others. My experience in the course was both informative and enjoyable, it helped edify me on current and past events before me. The “blackboard collaborate” was extremely convenient but there seemed to be technological difficulties at the beginning of each session, as well as the exaggerated introduction song which gave rise to annoyance of students, it was not as well coordinated with the question and answer sections as it would be in the traditional face to face interaction. Nevertheless, this course has been a beneficial part of my experience in schooling, especially since I am a science based student, it gave me a better understanding of my roots and heritage that I have based part of my life on.