my caribbean civilization project by fayola young https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf Made with a wish on a star en-us 2017-04-17 08:26:05 UTC 2024-11-17 12:16:26 UTC hello@padlet.com THE ISSUE OF CIVILISATION (Date of entry-January 26th 2017) As Caribbean people we are defined as being" third world". Automatically we struggle with ideas and taughts that we are somewhat "uncivilized" in comparison to other societies. This inadvertently begs the question of who then is civilized and ultimately what is deemed a civilized society. Ideas of persons who utilize technology in a particular way, drive certain cars and conduct themselves in certain ways may flood our minds, however we have learned that this is not so. It was interesting to note that there is no one particular definition which encompasses civilization, it can be applied to all groups throughout time. It only varies in appearance, no one particular segment of society’s application of civilization is “better” or “worse” than another.These classifications are culturally driven and so would include different levels of biases. Developing societies may be viewed as primitive and uncivilized as opposed to more advanced societies who may be considered first world and civilized. As a result of our history as Caribbean people, our ideals of civilization may be tainted by areas of ethnocentrism, various religious persuasions, gender issues, etc. When we think of someone as being uncivilized certain images come to mind, some may think of cavemen, persons in loin cloths, persons who live in the country side without running water etc. however is this necessarily so?An interesting take on history might be the example of when Cristopher Columbus came to the Caribbean from the “Old World” on the first voyage, to the “New World”; it is an established fact the he also brought with him viruses and diseases. The islands early inhabitants had never experienced this and suffered high mortality, so much so that the early inhabitants in the Bahamas were annihilated. One may be of the opinion that because the “old world “may have been considered more civilized, that these fatal diseases would not have existed or at least been able to be controlled, but this was not so. If we were to put ourselves in the place of the first people, who would been accustomed to making their own natural medicines and antidotes; they may have considered Columbus and his voyagers to be “uncivilized” and maybe even unclean because of this. This is to show that civilization is a matter of perspective it is not subjective. http://www.smithsonianmag.comhttp://ic.galegroup.comA recent example of this misnomer is the case of the “Acai berry”. Although used for centuries by people of the Amazon, which may be considered to be “uncivilized” to this day, for medicinal and holistic purposes, the widespread use of this fruit has only come to our civilization within the last couple years. One example of such (photo provided) is the “Organique Acai premium blend food supplement” launched in 2009 and found here at our local grocers in more recent time.This information about civilization is beneficial as a Caribbean person, student and as someone whose career facilitates travel; not to feel that our level of civilization is inferior or intimidated by more advanced societies as well as not to feel superior toward societies that are developing. It allows for a greater appreciation of all civilized societies. fayolaayoung https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf/wish/167570798 2017-04-21 18:54:50 UTC https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf/wish/167570798 Why we are where we are (Dated 15 March 2017)Various communities in the island of Trinidad are throIt has now become apparent to me, journeying through this Caribbean civilization module, why our social and geographical environment are constructed in particular ways. Often times commuting about the island of Trinidad one may ponder on the names of communities. One might be lead to believe that many of the names are of Spanish origin but in fact they are indigenous. After the Encomienda system was introduced by the Spaniard, this lead to the settlement of indigenous people in pockets of the island and the subsequent naming of said communities such as Arima, Siparia, Tacarigua and Mayaro. Many of these communities still to date engage in greater social activity and political awareness as opposed to those communities that would have been developed outside of the mission. Major development of the landscape of the island was made possible including the clearing of the northern region of the island to increase connectivity and to provide a backbone for the growing economy. It is noteworthy that this work is enjoyed by many if not all of us to date especially in the case of what is now deemed to be the East/ West corridor. fayolaayoung https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf/wish/167570945 2017-04-21 18:55:32 UTC https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf/wish/167570945 The Great Deception-The Myth of “Caribs and Arawaks”(date of entry February 12th 2017)It is interesting to note that the persons who truly discovered the Caribbean region did so around 5000BC, from South and Central America. We had been brain washed into thinking that there were two uncivilized homogeneous groups in existence namely the “Caribs” and the “Arawak’s”, who were “fortunate “to be discovered by Cristopher Columbus. We were taught that he was somewhat a noble man who essentially taught the local inhabitants to be “civilized”. One of the lies dispensed throughout hundreds of generations preceding us. Thankfully through extensive work by the hands of historians, and archaeologist, and their findings in various middens, we are able to get insight into the truth of the past. We now understand that these early people belonged to a much larger population of approximately fifteen groups, who existed is civilized societies, with its own technology of the day and they were quite intellectual. It is important to note that these Europeans came with an agenda, which was to “divide and conquer” and to claim the land as their own so they told us they were only two groups that existed one “bad” and cannibalistic in nature- the Caribs and one ”good” who was peaceful and accommodating to this, now imposed cohabitation. This was used as a “free pass” to kill the savages because they were deemed uncivilized, however if the Arawak’s revolted they were labeled Caribs and executed, all fulfilling their ideals. It is interesting to note that there is no evidence to support these findings of cannibalistic behavior.These blatant lies and misinformation, I have come to understand through this course, was done willfully and systematically through its indoctrination into our school system. It is a mandatory part of our syllabus as Caribbean people from as early as the primary level and continuing to much higher levels of education, where more deceptive and cunning lies are constructed and documented as law. Unfortunately our history was and still is essentially written by those whose views were and is presently Eurocentric in nature. As a result of these lies being documented, it somehow purported itself as being the truth and placed in the text books. Although we are aware that there are historians and various groups which exist such as “the first people” (located in Arima ,Trinidad) who are exposed to the truth with documented evidence, it is clear that the rich history which belong to Caribbean people is not being disseminated to the wider population the way that it ought to be done. There is a greater need for more local historians to do more extensive research and generate documented history with supporting relics. This information must then be introduced into the teaching syllabus. These lies and misinformation must be omitted forthwith from the schools, also extensive work must be done by the ruling bodies to reeducate the public with the correct information, if this is not done speedily the negative effects of double consciousness will continue, where Caribbean people seem to suffer from an inferiority complex because we don’t know who we are. If we don’t know who we are or where we came from we will not be able to effectively and efficiently chart our course for the future generations. fayolaayoung https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf/wish/167571080 2017-04-21 18:56:15 UTC https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf/wish/167571080 Overview of the course ( April 18th 2017)This is a course I was quite apprehensive about undertaking. “just a historical overview of how Cristopher Columbus came to the Caribbean” I taught. I was pleasantly surprised as this mindset was immediately dispelled by the very first class. This course has been a life changer for me! I am grateful for this because I have never done history at any level but this fact, I came to realise was to my advantage. I was able to learn the correct information initially I was not one of those students who has to erase the many lies that was taught over the year to them. What this course does is destroy, challenge and re direct much of what was previously taught to us as truth. A greater understanding and in some cases much needed clarity of why, what, where and who we are as a Caribbean region has been brought to light. This brings greater insight o where we need to go as a people and how to get there in the future. Particular topics intrigued me without question such as the concept of native Indians, the contribution of indigenous people and how their contribution to the development of the East/ West corridor but above all the “myth of Caribs and Arawaks”. The impressions of this course would be life changing for generations. Let the revisionism continue! fayolaayoung https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf/wish/167571201 2017-04-21 18:56:43 UTC https://padlet.com/fayolaayoung/pw064weeq4rf/wish/167571201