Midterm Blog by Aleyna Akcam https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9 en-us 2018-02-05 22:16:23 UTC 2018-03-10 01:40:46 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/File.png Mothers Essay “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” A quote by Abraham Lincoln that really sums up what a mother means to me. In my opinion this quote is telling readers that a mother is the most powerful. From the nine months that you are balled up inside your mothers stomach to the day you are born, you began to have a connection with your mother. While the baby is growing inside, he or she is constantly hearing the voice of this ‘stranger’. The stranger is providing you with shelter, food, and plenty of other essentials. You are a literal form of her. The day you are born you finally come face to face with this stranger that has been protecting you throughout these months. You know her smell, her voice, her touch, and you began to realize that she is no stranger. She brought you into this world, without her you would be nothing. You see unfamiliar faces all around and then you see the person you only trust hand you away to one of them, then the next and so on. You don't know these people, you don't recognize their smell, or voice. All your feeling is scaredness. So you start to cry, and you are handed back to the only person you trust, your mother. That's where the part “all that I am, I owe it to my angel mother” plays a role. As you grow older and older you began to trust others more, and your relationship with your mother seems to diminish. You're barely home, it seems that your guys can't agree on anything which causes constant arguments. But it's not over yet. You continue to grow and mature and realize all that you8r mother has done for you throughout the years, so you feel as if you owe her something. You want to grow up to be just like her, because she's the person who made you who you are today. You've seen her at her worst and at her best and yet, you still hope to be just like her. As you began to get into your older stage of life you might turn into a mother yourself. You remember how your mother raised you, and you start taking the role of a mother through what you learned from your own. Now your mother is also a grandmother, your children treat her with respect, and you see how happy your mother is to be around children again, it reminds her of you. You also see your mother getting older, not being able to care for herself, so you repay her for all the years she took care of you, and you care for her through the years she might have left. No one in particular really inspired me to write in this way, but my mother has shown me what mental strength really looks like. She has been fighting for years for me to have the best health, education, and overall life. She was living and raising me on behalf of her own mother. It is a cycle. Mothers everywhere get stronger and stronger as generations expand, they learn from past mistakes and they become even stronger. My grandmother was very hard on my mother which made her not have as much freedom growing up, now my mom tries to give that freedom back to me in a responsible way. I of course think she can change her ways on some things, but I will grow up and have my own kids and raise them through what I learned growing up with my mother. A mother is the strongest woman out there. akc9951701 https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/228380090 2018-02-05 22:18:19 UTC https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/228380090 Identity 1 In the world today, random people walking down the street are only characterized by their appearance. You don’t know anything about them just the visual representation they display. Racism has been a huge factor in society for centuries. The color of your skin, the class you are fallen into, the gender you view yourself as, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, ability to retain information, and even your nationality. But what even started to categorize humans. What made you white?, what made you muslim?, why are you assigned a gender at birth?, these are all things that have been created to put humans in separate categories. In Robin DiAngelo’s reading he states that “The frames of our glasses are the big picture ideas about group identities”. Everyone is classified in their own frame, a frame is something we use in order to filter perceptions to create meaning. Such as judgment and understanding. Some peoples frame works differently, some sees black as bad and muslim as terrorists. Some of them accept people for there choosing, whether it be sexuality or their gender. But some don’t. This is how racism came about. Many people with different interpretations of people. I am a white female. I am in middle class, and I am muslim. I am heterosexual and a citizen of the United States. I am Turkish and I am able-bodied. I already have 3 traits that are minoritized in today’s society. Being a women from different decent, and also being muslim. DiAngelo writes that lenses are the more complex thing in a frame. This is what separates you from the others. This is what makes you unique. I am a white women that is muslim and a US citizen, and so is my mother. We share the same frame. The thing separating us from being the same is she is sporty and I am more laid back. We have different lenses. I think the overall reading, and using parts of glasses to explain the view we have on society is a very helpful way in order to help the younger generation understand. People always view people differently, and thats where racism came into play. akc9951701 https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/239849054 2018-03-08 18:55:23 UTC https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/239849054 Family Feud At the beginning of the video it displays a quote that reflects on a description of life. This description states that the only thing us as humans have is life itself. It's a war against all life. Life vs life. The quote goes along with the overall video, it shows family members fighting to gain the “throne” of the house. Deeper through the video you get a sense of how the government plays a role in our lives. With racism, war, power, and etc. In one scene women of different backgrounds sat down and discussed the issues and how it is a constant war. It shows how the past turned into the present regarding racial and government issues. Jay z is a walking legend. He is the best selling musician of all time. He portrayed his intelligence not only through the music, but throughout the whole story line in the video. My conclusion of the video ‘Family Feud’ is that Jay Z is trying to show how good things can happen when people and families work together, but the morals of loyalty and family are fading overtime. The beginning of the video showed that it was year 2444 where a royal family is killing each other to be on top, it then slowly descends to the present time, 2018. The second scene shows two presidents from different countries both very royal. The women is stating how they have worked and fought together for generations, but at the same time how they are related. As the years dwindle down the male president shows flashbacks of his people fighting for peace. The foremothers came together and revised the constitution to better the future, they made up the amendments that we live by today. But the thing was it only worsened it, what they thought would make america great again actually made us frightened of each other, which I quote from the video. When Jay Z starts rapping the year is 2018, he starts in confession saying how he has this perfect life perfect family. He says “what's better than one billionaire?” and him and beyonce both said “two”. This shows that having a family is all you can possibly need. Overall Jay Z is portraying that he has this perfect life, perfect family. He is also saying how people switch up on each other, especially family. But thats all that is going to be there for you, your family and loved ones. akc9951701 https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/239858265 2018-03-08 19:08:12 UTC https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/239858265 Identity Inventories Identity plays a role in our daily life on many aspects, the most common aspects are categorized by race, class, religion, gender, love orientation and ability. Then in each category are sub categories. Are you black, white, hispanic, etc. Are you christian or muslim? Are you a boy, girl, transgender, etc. Do you like boys or girls? And are you able to do certain tasks. This is what categorizes us as humans. I chose three identity inventories that I feel are the most viewed in today's society. I chose white privilege, upper class privilege, and hetero privilege. I chose the three that I think have no certain consequence behind them. They are in most cases never frowned upon. I am a white women, I am heterosexual, and I am classified as middle class. When checking off the list for white privilege I was surprised to see that when I was finished almost every single one was checked off. If this was given to a person of color in today's world I think the list would be pretty empty. On checklist number six it says “I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the food I grew up with, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can deal with my hair.” This is true in my case. The country I live in is completely white-washed, there are endless hair salons that can cater to any whites hair, but may not be adequate to style a person of colors hair. When viewing the bullet points for upper class privilege I wasn't entirely surprised. I knew that people classified in the upper class were most wealthy. That they usually treat people in other classes with minimal respect. The whole reading was kinda showing that people of the upper class can do what they want when they want and still make money, while others have to work hard and for hours just to make enough to provide food and shelter for their families. One bullet point surprised me alot. “I can treat the people I employ in ways that deny them personal respect.” Just because you're wealthy doesn't mean you should treat people differently. You should treat everyone with equal respect. People in the upper class grew up a different way, they always got what they wanted, never really had to hear the word “no”, they see how their parents act and that's what they think is normal and they grow up and take after them.Lastly I did the heterosexual privilege checklist, and since I am heterosexual I was able to relate to a majority of the checkpoints. The thing that didn't really surprise me, but made me want to pick this topic is the bullet point that states “I do not have to fear that if my family or friends find out about my sexual orientation there will be economic, emotional, physical or psychological consequences.” In many cases people of a different love orientation other than hetersexual are usually scared to come out and say it, especially to friends and family. The thought of not being accepted by mostly their family frightens them. It shouldn't be like that. God made everyone on this earth different for a reason. It shouldn't matter who you are attracted to. Your family should be there for you because others may not. And it saddens me to see so many kids nowadays that either hide their attraction, or are abandoned by their loved ones who don't approve. akc9951701 https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/239939969 2018-03-08 21:58:32 UTC https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/239939969 Black Panther The film Black Panther was portrayed as a fantasy science-fiction film. I film made typically for the younger audience, although it has marveled the eyes of many around the world, being the number one film in the nation. The overall storyline of this movie is when the king of Wakanda; an african nation, resulted in sudden death. His son, T’Challa was next to throne, so he would need to fulfill his rightful place as new king of Wakanda. Wakanda is not like any ordinary place, it is kept a secret from the rest of the world. It is hidden in a sort of “barrier”. The nation has a surplus of the fictional rare metal vibranium which is why this nation has amazing medical needs, weapons to stop almost anything, and what is in the suit of the black panther. The black panther is the name given to the king when he drinks this special potion giving him strength unimaginable. I believe that he is called the black panther because black panthers are known to not attack unless the opponent strikes first. The theme identity plays a key role in this 2018 film. It's a journey through black culture. It shows takes on traditional African life to African life on the streets. It shows the beauty hidden from society's eyes of black women, and it shows how powerful they really are. In Americas society Africans have been portrayed as a savage and chaotic race, thanks to news and other films. I live and grew up in baltimore, about twenty minutes from the city, and although i'm not there often, the news makes it seem like I am. Telling us about gangs, highest murder rates, constant riots, and so forth. I've never personally seen this and when I do go in the city i'm not that terrified as people might be. I remember when I went to West Virginia University in the fall and of course people would ask where I was from, when I told them baltimore there eyes would get all big and they would ask me all these crazy questions. “Are you always scared?”, “are you ever alone?” I even got “have you ever seen someone get shot”. Even if that was a joke or not people living in america are blinded by the truth. They only know what media has told them, and media is only gonna tell/show what the people want to hear/see. If I go on twitter right now and scroll through my timeline I will probably find at least 10 things involving people of color being framed as savage and chaotic. It's not always white and black conflicts either, there are a surplus of black and black casualties as well. Black Panther in my eye was a black on black conflict.Black Panther showed two sides of the life of a person of color. It showed Wakanda, a nation flourished by wealth and many advancements, but it also shows the city, which was lacking qualities. In a scene it showed young black boys playing basketball at a court in front of a run down apartment complex. Sounds normal right? Unfortunately, there were no baskets, only crates attached to the backboard, no net, and no rim. While Wakanda had a surplus of wealth, this city was lacking it. In the city there was a man. His father was native to Wakanda and his mother was one of the city. His name was Erik Killmonger. He was apart of Wakanda but he was living in the lower class. He resulted in criminal ways to get him money, to get himself wealthy. Toward the end of the movie he went to Wakanda and fought for the throne and won his place as king of Wakanda. His goal was to provide his fellow blacks in the city weapons, not being able to fight for themselves. His goal was more criminalized as to providing good for the society. When T’Challa gained the rightful air to the throne back he provided the city with medical advancements. He bought the beaten down apartment complex and was planning to turn the whole city around. akc9951701 https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/240400866 2018-03-10 01:40:05 UTC https://padlet.com/akc9951701/zlpj4xrrevw9/wish/240400866