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Portfolio Learning Activity 7.1 "Education a new form of social advancement or social control?

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Portfolio Learning Activity 7.1 "Education a new form of social advancement or social control?

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During slavery, education was never offered to the slaves as this would have taken away time from working on the fields as even children were expected to work on the plantations once at a certain age. According to Campbell, after slavery was abolished, the British contributed £300,000 towards the education of the freedmen. This however did not develop into a proper education system for the freedmen resulting in religious bodies taking over the responsibility for providing education. The strong association between education and religion therefore leads to the question as to whether education in the British Caribbean was a new form of social advancement or a new form of social control.

Christian religions that entered the Caribbean included Roman Catholicism, Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist and Moravian. Some of these religious groups were responsible for providing education in the Caribbean resulting in children and adults having to convert to the specified religion in order to gain the benefit of education at denominational schools. For example educational institutions run by Roman Catholics and Presbyterians required that students be of the religion in order to attend the schools.

People were therefore able to socially advance themselves with education however Campbell says the hidden goal of these religious groups were to control the Caribbean population by producing people who were accepting of the status quo established by the British colonizers, God-fearing and tractable (69). In addition, at one time boys were the only ones allowed to go to school while girls were kept at home to perform household duties. This was influenced by the social norms recognized in the Metropole countries. This could represent a form of social control that the colonists still had on Caribbean society and social norms in the Caribbean as colonial gender stereotypes were highly emphasized in the era.

Furthermore, religions that the Africans and Indians brought with them such as Orisha, Islam and Hinduism were considered pagan religions by Christian authorities. Conversion was as a result strongly supported by the Christian religious groups. Therefore the fact that persons practicing non-Christian religions had to convert to these Christian religions to become educated shows how these religious groups used religion and education to control the Caribbean people.

It is therefore important to understand the influence of religion on education following the abolition of slavery. This lead to many Caribbean people having to convert to Christian religions resulting in an increase in the Christian community where education was then used as a form of control.

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Portfolio Learning Activity 1.1   "Christopher Columbus Lied?"

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Portfolio Learning Activity 1.1   "Christopher Columbus Lied?"

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Europeans have always claimed that the ‘great explorer’ Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean and made it what it is today. Revisionism has however proven otherwise. Caribbean musicians such as Shadow and Burning Spear have also contributed their thoughts on the topic of Christopher Columbus’ discoveries in the form of the songs ‘Columbus Lied’ and ‘Christopher Columbus’.

However revisionists have been able to prove otherwise. It was obvious that the indigenous people including the Tainos and Kalinagos were present in the Caribbean long before Christopher Columbus arrived. In the calypso ‘Columbus Lied’ by Shadow, he sings “He discovered a lot of Indians, who discovered the lands before” and “the truth of the story, those lands were discovered already”, in which the calypsonian clearly expresses the inaccuracy in the idea that Columbus discovered the Caribbean when the islands were in fact already inhabited by the Taino and Kalinago tribes. In addition, these same tribes were labelled as cannibals and uncivilised by the Spaniards which eventually lead to mass genocides and suicides due to their mistreatment as indicated by the lyrics “His authority was a cork hat and his passport was violence”.

In the reggae song, Burning Spears sings “What about the Arawak Indians and the few black man, who were around here, before him”, inferring that Christopher Columbus did not consider that these indigenous people had discovered these islands due to this Eurocentric view of what a civilisation should be. “The few black man”, mentioned in the lyrics may be referring to the West African who passed through the Caribbean pre-Columbus. Historian Ivan Van Sertima has also proven that West Africans came to the Caribbean before Christopher Columbus (8). He continues to say “The Indians couldn’t hang on no longer”, which makes reference to the suicides that took place among the native peoples following the harsh treatment and exploitation from Christopher Columbus and his fellow Spaniards.

To conclude, it is incorrect to support the idea that Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean as explained by calypsonian Shadow and reggae artist Burning Spear. It is important for us to remember that the native people and West Africans had already discovered and inhabited the Caribbean before the arrival of the Spaniards.

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Photo courtesy Nalis Library

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Tools made from stone by the indigenous people

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Tools made from stone by the indigenous people

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Portfolio Learning Activity 2.1 "Did Christopher Columbus Discover the Caribbean? Were the indigenous peoples primitive?"

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Portfolio Learning Activity 2.1 "Did Christopher Columbus Discover the Caribbean? Were the indigenous peoples primitive?"

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A common belief expressed in history was that Christopher Columbus was the first explorer to discover the Caribbean region. Revisionism however aims to revise ideas and theories that were once accepted as fact. Revisionism is therefore based on archaeological evidence. According to historian Ivan Van Sertima, revisionism has proved that there is evidence that West Africans passed through the Caribbean before the Columbus and his fellow Spaniards did (8). Williams also supports the idea that West African arrived to the Caribbean before Columbus (18). Furthermore, the Neo-Indian civilisations existed for years in the Caribbean before both Christopher Columbus and the West Africans set foot.

During his stay in the Caribbean, Christopher Columbus claimed that the native peoples had no civilisation and were primitive. However, revisionism states that civilisations are different throughout the world and should not be compared as better or worse. Christopher Columbus expressed ideas that the indigenous peoples were cannibals and portrayed the women as prostitutes. The women however were not prostitutes and were raped by these Spaniards. To add, Myers also contradicts that there is no existing evidence to prove that the native people were cannibals (147).

Therefore the Neo-Indians did have a civilisation as they had their own religion, political systems, agricultural systems, cultural traditions and their own forms of technology. To add, the Neo-Indians were present in the ceramic period which allowed them to create their own forms of pottery and tools.

It is therefore inaccurate to say that Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean and created civilization as the Neo-Indian civilization was already present in the Caribbean region. This demonstrates Eurocentrism and Androcentrism in the views of Christopher Columbus and his fellow Europeans that their culture and way of living was better than that of the native peoples.

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Campbell, C. "The Young Colonials. A Social History of Education in Trinidad and      Tobago 1834-1939" 1996. UWI Press Jamaica.

Campbell, C. C. "Endless Education". Mona, Kingston, Jamaica. The Press                 University of the West Indies 1997.

Myers, Robert A. “Island Carib Cannibalism”. New West Indian Guide, vol. 58, no.      3 – 4, 1984, pp. 147 – 184, https://doi.org/10.1163/13822373-90002079,            Accessed 6 July 2018.

Van Sertima, Ivan. “The Secret Route from Guinea”. They Came Before Columbus: The         African Presence in Ancient America. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003,         pp.8.

Williams, Eric. “Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the West Indies”. From         Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean. First Vintage Books         Edition, 1984, pp. 18.

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Portfolio Learning Activity 9.1 "Misogyny, Empowerment or Something Else?"

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Portfolio Learning Activity 9.1 "Misogyny, Empowerment or Something Else?"

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The music video “Rolly Polly” enacted by Mr. Killer contains performing dance moves on large and “big boned” women. The issue however is if this video portraying large women is misogynistic or whether it aims to empower women larger than the average sized female. In this instance, the video may be a double-edged sword in that it degrades overweight and obese women but it may also empower other women to be proud of their bodies.

“I want a fat gyal, I want a rolly polly”, is one of the lines sang in the chorus of this song. The terms ‘fat gyal’ and ‘rolly polly’ may be considered derogatory language when referring to women larger than the average sized woman.Mainstream media typically portrays slim and fit women in music videos, tv shows and movies. On the other hand, overweight and obese men are not shamed as overweight and obese women are shamed in the Caribbean. The fact that this video focuses only on big sized women, one can infer that there is a prejudice against ‘fat’ women in the Caribbean.

However the lyrics of this song may also empower plus sized women who may have not been proud of their size or confident in their body. “Only maigre gyal getting d bligh”, is a line in the song which indicates that slim and slender women have been the optimum choice for Caribbean men. “But this year in the back of my mind, fat gyal meh want tackle”, in which Mr. Killer infers that larger women need attention too. “God that make you, so tell them don’t judge your size”, also adds to the point of empowerment as he is telling bigger women that it is okay to be large and that they do not have to be ashamed of their size.

In conclusion, on one hand the way the women are portrayed in the video can be considered degrading to large women but on the other hand plus-sized women may consider this empowering to them and boost their confidence.