Caribbean Analysis by Avie Alexander https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun A commentary analysis of topics as it may relate to the Caribbean society and Caribbean Civilisation courses en-us 2017-11-23 15:18:59 UTC 2026-02-21 06:09:34 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Shakinghands.png Introduction aviealexander https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/210038215 As we come to the end of our Caribbean civilisation journey we look back to the topics and themes being discussed throughout the semester such as understanding the definitions of civilsation and culture and learning the grounds on which slavery had a contribution to the issues of gender and identity, just to name a few. In this portfolio, a reflection on the different topics was used to demonstrate critical thinking on the importance of Caribbean civilisation, its application in social environments and problems with regional current affairs. ]]> 2017-11-25 14:43:47 UTC https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/210038215 The Dangers of a single story. aviealexander https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/210146666 In the video that spoke about the "The Dangers of a single story", the author spoke about how her life as a Nigerian was an example of how society had many single stories about her culture and identity. She outlined that “The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren't true, it's that they are incomplete.”(13:22). In any society today, such as the Caribbean society, if we look around us and truly understand the definition of a "single story", we can easily say we give a  wrong or incomplete perspective of one's society or an individual based on their country or continent. With that being said, the Caribbean society has a “single story” of  Haiti. If you are to ask someone where they are from, and their response is Haiti, the first thing that comes to mind is: poor, hungry and underdeveloped. However, that is the problem behind "single stories" Haiti and Haitians get their incomplete story through the broadcast of media. The lines "....Show a people as one thing, and only one thing, over and over again and that is what they become." (9:35). Ideally, the media often forgets that before natural disaster struck Haiti, their country was as beautiful and developed as any other country. In “The single story” by Mennonite Central Committee Haiti, The author reiterated that Haiti’s own single story is bought about by the more powerful nations such as the U.S. that portrayed them as poor and deprived nation and their image was built on what they have been through in terms of their natural disasters. If we were to analyse what is the cause of "single stories" within a society we can either refer to the topic of Caribbean Identity, Culture and American Imperialism in Caribbean that was discussed in the course. We discussed that the superiority of american nation as being dominant and have the rights to interfere and manipulate the inferior nations. In our case, we use our society's culture to create the incomplete story of Haiti without considering that their was more to Haiti, than it is today and that one day, they would return to life before the disasters]]> 2017-11-26 14:57:24 UTC https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/210146666 Issues within the Caribbean aviealexander https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/210592704 The mannerism and culture that existed from the 15th to 17th century against women can be seen today as one of the major social and gender related issues within the Caribbean. The enslaved women during the slavery days were led to believe that their only roles were to be sexual partners, child-bearers and care-givers, while the men were left to do the duties of working and providing for the home. In the 21st century, some women, households or cultures believe that women are still viewed as mere sexual objects, child-bearers and care-givers. Consequently, while learning about the women's predicament through Caribbean civilsation, I made a personal reflection to compare the life of a woman in slavery days to the females in today's society. It drew to my attention that although women today may be seen has having more privilege than those in the past, today they can be seen as being the provider of homes just as men and still be able to be care-givers. Even though women have seen positive changes in their roles since then some things became worse as some women are no longer seen as a valued asset to a home or society. Rather, they are being portrayed as prostitutes and being sexually objectified and later on ridiculed for living such lifestyles. In further reflection, an article was discovered about how a young lady, her family and society fell victim to gender discrimination. Sarah Duval's, "Gender Inequality in the Caribbean" spoke of her experience when, President Martelly, made a gender biased statement to a woman who was simply asking about an epidemic in her region. She spoke about how the discrimination against women because they were inferior often lead men to abuse the women and also have them discriminated against leading to problems in becoming gainfully employed. Thankfully, some parts of the Caribbean society, woman are becoming more involved in acts that was once only meant for the male gender, such as becoming Prime Minister, Kamla Persad- Bissessar, and are slowly paving the way for more gender equality in the Caribbean society.]]> 2017-11-27 18:55:34 UTC https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/210592704 Immigration between Haiti and Dominican Republic aviealexander https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/210654224 There are numerous regional affairs that are of importance to the Caribbean. During the years of 2015 to 2016, The Dominican Republic with the help of the United States created a conflict between the its Haitian residents violating their human rights by deporting them back to Haiti. This conflict created serious tension between the two sides which either left individuals without citizenship, education even employment. Additionally, those that were born in the Dominican Republic had  to reclaim their citizenship as well as have their parents as proof that their parents were born in the Dominican Republic. Consequently some of these individuals were left without documentations which hindered them to becomes jobless, thrown out from school or even killed. The Haitians that resided in The Dominican republic, simply sought employment and a better life for their families but the Dominicans thought differently, they believed that they were the cause of crime and downfall. As we analyse the situation, we look back to the time after the Grenadian Prime minister was murdered and led to the American Imperialism.The american influence the deportation of the Haitian descent Dominicans which we spoke about in our previous analysis, denying their human right as to where they should reside within their own nationality. In the video a young man spoke about   not being able to go university made him feel as a failure and disappointed in himself. The video below further explains the effect of situation has done to the nationals.  ]]> 2017-11-27 20:42:18 UTC https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/210654224 Let's Reflect aviealexander https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/211125037 For the Semester of 2017/2018 Caribbean Civilisation, I gleaned that as a Caribbean society there are a lot of issues we are faced with and having the knowledge of using critical thinking from the themes and topics discussed in the course has allowed myself to sit and rethink the things I may have done in the past and know how to approach situations better in the future. One aspect that stood out to me during the course is the topic of Ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism to reiterate is the idea that a person's culture, values and norms are better than someone else's. In the society of Trinidad and Tobago and by extension the Caribbean this sill taking place. Due to my knowledge of this and knowing how persons may feel as well as my understanding of the reason behind it, allows me to avoid acquiring such a mindset. Secondly,through this course, I gained an understanding that although a society may be displayed or stereotyped a certain way this does not mean that that society's reality is fully based on what is being shown to us in the media. The information given to us in this and and what was practiced in the book report and portfolio taught me that we are to break free from the "single story" of societies and learn the complete story of them. To conclude, I was very grateful for the lessons t
hat were taught as it gave a new perspective on how to view and treat situations within the Caribbean society.]]> 2017-11-28 19:35:11 UTC https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/211125037 Cited Work aviealexander https://padlet.com/aviealexander/tn4ygq1jgrun/wish/211148580 "The single story of Haiti" by Mennonite Central Committee Haiti
http://www.haitimcc.org/oswaldpost/2014/08/the-single-story.html?rq=single

Caribbean Civilisation, Unit 9
http://myelearning.sta.uwi.edu/pluginfile.php/355574/mod_resource/content/1/Unit%209.pdf

Caribbean Civilisation, Lecture 7
https://itx-sms-api.bbcollab.com/media/stream?

Caribbean Civilisation, Lecture 4
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZMxsXp7mbDrGeep-B1U3tQ-qX50_UpwKAkkbuezXLVc/edit#slide=id.p4

Carribbean Civilisation,Lecture 11,Caribbean sexuality & gender relations
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1J4Mb9KtKRzvV_tlCqfIHRASd-RoxM6Vo_OJlXBGQISM/edit#slide=id.p17

"Gender Inequality in the Caribbean", Sarah Duval
http://myblackmatters.com/gender-inequality-in-the-caribbean/

"The Dominicans of Haitian descent denied a right to nationality"
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2015/jul/01/dominican-republic-haitian-descent-denied-nationality-rights

Haiti, .gif image
https://desertpeace.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/haiti.gif

Wavin' Flag by  K'naan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMo9vNVkPOs

Photos of Haiti before earthquake
https://www.hobotraveler.com/travel-journal/890-haiti-photos-before-earthquake.html
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