Week 13

Once again, I am amazed at the literature. I find it hard to summarize my blog post of what I have taken from the reading this week, just as I always do. But self reflection is what I always experience after reading. I think that the chapter as a whole has reminded me that there are so many things that I can do to continue to stand up for social justice although I still feel blind. I am aware, but to stay aware without doing anything to help spread awareness, to encourage the social change to take place is tedious, discouraging, and sickening. I have so much to learn, I don’t know where to start because I have so many other things to worry about in my life, its all too much to take in but I will not give up looking and figuring out what it is that I can do to make a difference in this world. Out of all of the text that I have read, I feel like I can’t keep up with what I read anymore.

I have began to look at my privilege, not just as a white woman, and someone wouldn’t think it but my hearing loss is a privilege, as I receive the tuition exemption that makes my attendance to college possible. I am hesitant and embarrassed to share that information, but I guess it would be the first step for me to share something like that. Just because I have a hearing loss, my college is paid for, basically free, in the state of Texas. I have the opportunity to go to college for free unlike many people who do not. I have the choice of not working because my mother helps take care of my daughter while I go to classes and study. I worry about my mother’s future because she didn’t graduate from college due to health issues, so I imagine someday I will have to take care of her and wonder if I will be able to afford to do that? I also can't start working because I am dependent on Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Section 8. Even though these things help a lot, I would not be stable with a job in college, with kids, and unable to make enough money to pay for everything and risk losing the assistance that I need. Even though I have this great opportunity, it comes with stress, fear, past trauma, confusion, sacrifice, and doubt. 

This all relates to how it is 1000 times more worse and unfair for millions of people that have to struggle while going to college, or not being able to go to college, because they have no one else to depend on, or everything depends on them. Elites and dominant groups put the blame on oppressed populations as if it is all their fault for the poverty, crime, health disparities, and struggles that exist within life. If only roles could be changed, so much would come to the light, and the oppressors would be begging for mercy. I have made mistakes in my past but I have had quite a few handfuls of chances, unlike many stories that I have heard. I am not sure where to start on this journey in social work. Finishing college is the most that I can do while trying to take care of my children, reading and learning as much as I can, as I have the privilege of my mother here to help me through this. To see the problem of privilege and oppression clearly is very strenuous, I feel like I can’t even figure it out, how to get to the bottom of it, or most importantly, to the top of it. I feel like I know where and what the problem is, I just don’t know how to solve it because I can’t do it alone, how do I get everyone on the same page? Social movement, revolution, education, social media, but sometimes it seems like no one cares. Maybe right now not many care enough, or just don’t know what to do, they just let it go and focus on themselves, not realizing how connected everything is. I think that getting out into the real world in a job in social work would help me pin point a few answers to my questions and help guide me into the direction that I am feeling pulled towards. I have to do more research and find out what it is that I am looking for, and how I could be most of help to the world around me. Everyone deserves to be able to go to college for free, given another chance, and the ability to access equal opportunity. Everyone deserves a livable wage, home, and job. How to make these things happen for people is exactly what I want to do. 

Week 12

As it is reality that all members in society play a role in keeping an inequitable system in place. I believe there is the opportunity to rise out of where the standards have been set and only we the people can make it happen, if we unite and work together. Through the socialization process, individuals are prepared to play roles that have determined many aspects of their lives. We need to improve the surrounding control factors that influence the process of socialization of how society works in order to eliminate the system of dis-equality. It was interesting to see the author say how there was no single person that can be charged with the creation of the oppressive systems that are in place. I believe someone started it a long time ago and it has evolved into this massive worldwide crisis. One of the chapters reminded me of how I wanted to live a complete vegan and green lifestyle for the purpose of wanting to participate towards social change to reduce inequality and bring justice but I still behave in the ways that preserve and perpetuate the system by not being vegan and using gas to drive my car, along with electricity, and other nonrenewable resources that are harmful to the planet, instead of solar power. It is hard. I was vegan for a whole year and told myself that I am obligated to the well-being of animals and the planet. But when I found out I had to move out of my old home where I had lived in for 18 years, I ended up buying fast foods, frozen foods, etc, all while overwhelmed with keeping up with my classes, kids, and finding a home that would accept our beloved pets. I lost my motivation and inspiration to cook vegan, to cook at all. It takes so much time and energy to find out what to cook or make to eat as a vegan because as a mother of three and a student in college, I don’t have the time and energy to look for recipes and plan for vegan grocery lists and meals. Just like how I buy things that I need, pull ups for my youngest child, baby wipes, different things like paying for gas to drive, clothes that were possibly made from slave labor, ect… I just wish that there was more that I could do to follow what I believe in. I have come to the conclusion that I just have to take it one day at a time. One day I will be able to focus on switching to a vegan lifestyle, and one where I can contribute honest labor and to helping keep the planet clean.

Having a liberatory consciousness sounds like something that I have but not totally yet, I am still practicing. I have experienced the symptoms of not seeing things the way that other people see like as in movies, or in public, general conversation, or like on Facebook. I thought that I used to understand everything about how I thought things needed to be done about the injustices that exist but now I don’t know and I feel like that was because nobody else felt the same way that I felt, concern, care, worry, obligated to do something about these issues, and that made me feel like what I cared about didn’t matter or it was irrelevant to what was really going on, like if I didn’t really know what was going on. Everyone may be in a different state of mind and I can understand that, there is only so much that we can do. But there is no excuse for neglect, ideas and actions spread, it is critical to ensure that we spread the right things that help instead of deprive society. I love the ideas of social networks related to goodness, we do need more connections, our society is as close as it is together, yet things are in chaos, and divisions are made everywhere, we need to unite once and for all.

One of the questions that come to my mind is why are there debts and taxes? We all have a responsibility to take care of ourselves and others, in a proper way. New forms of wealth have emerged and taken over society, controlling many different aspects of life, determining the direction of our lives. It would be a sight for sore eyes to see cooperation among society, which takes a lot more effort and knowledge about the issues at stake here. Everyone should be able to access this information in all institutions, not just in the School of Social Work or during their own research.

Week 11

Derek Thompson’s The Liberal Millennial Revolution proved a few points. His statement is quite gloomy, “Its here, its coherent, and its doomed, unless young people change their approach to political reform.” I often wonder if young people will ever push forward for change with the persistent effort that will make an everlasting impact. The struggle is never going to end until we all move forward towards the same goal together, so until then, it seems like there is only going to be less effort that doesn’t amount to the real change that we need. If young people are more liberal than their parents, then what does that tell you? The world has been on the path that humans have steered the direction. Now many things have come to exist. Although many people may believe in justice and making a difference in the world, like the author said, “all throat and no vote.” What else is going to happen based on what we do not do?

TED Talk by Ash Beckham made me think of myself when she asked the question, “Who am I?” Which made me think, who am I? A mother or an advocate? There have been a few times where my husband has told me that I can only worry about myself, not about anyone else. I know he is only trying to help me when I find difficulty in some areas in life but I don’t think that he fully understands what it is like to be a student in the School of Social Work. The lens and perspective that I see through, what I see, what I think, how I see, how I think, what I feel, how I feel, what I believe, everything is different and I frequently have thought in the past, how am I supposed to enjoy my life when there is so much pain and suffering out there? Yes, I understand that I have to focus on myself and my kids to ensure that I do what I need to do for us, but sometimes that is hard when I want to advocate for all of the things that I believe in speaking and standing up for. I also thought it was nice that the busser that Ash worked with was respectful towards her, how they respected each other although they had differences. I thought it was really sad when she talked about how she goes through the experiences of not knowing whether to keep on holding her girlfriends hand or not when they walk out in public. I found it inspiring when she mentioned how many things we can hold in life all at the same time.

Verna Myers TED Talk reminded me how violence continues and victims are often the ones who are blamed. I wonder will the world ever be a place that is open to black men? We need to teach kids how to respect themselves and others because without respect, our world will burn to the ground with all of this discrimination. Kids need to learn and understand that we share this world with others who are not only the same but different from each and every one of us.

Clint Smith quoted MLK which has been one of my favorite, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends." This means a lot to me because it is true, silence is consent. Consequences of silence manifest in the form of oppression which is one of the things that really needs to change in all places of the worlds, homes, stores, schools, job places, everywhere. I love how he said that, “all you ever needed is your voice.” Sometimes I feel like I cannot put my voice to the best of use because I am really nervous and shy but deep down inside, I know and feel the urge for speaking out for what is right, and I intend to practice becoming better at that.

Week 10

The assigned readings and video should be shared on T.V. instead of a lot of these commercials that waste a lot of time and money. For the first reading when the author said, “What forces are in motion” reminded me of how that is the hardest for me to figure out. That is one of the things that constantly bugs me every day, what forces are in motion that is steadily causing these inequalities? It seems like a lot of forces are in motion everywhere, except some kind of forces that are not being given the opportunity to take place. When it was said that there are flesh and blood women and men that are involved, it made me think of how I heard in another class lecture that was said about how humans have made all of this happen. Which leads to the question of, only a certain group or all? From the looks of it, the dominant group is causing all of this chaos. There are people who are living in inequity without a choice to do anything else, so when the author had said that there hasn’t been any finding good ways to go from unequal to equal, I feel like there are ways and it is just not being done. Maybe I shouldn’t say that because I don’t know everything that is going on in the world but if I can wish for world peace, and think of at least a few ways to fix some things, then surely there must be so many brilliant brains and ideas out there with solutions that can be established that could work better than it is now. The system was made into what it is today and I believe that it can be fixed to meet the needs that are urgent, by doing what is not being done, by doing it instead of all this procrastinating, but I guess it doesn't happen because not everyone is stepping toward the same goal: justice and liberty for all.

Another fact mentioned was how your birth defines you. I find that interesting in how it supposedly relates directly to astrology, which that is the case of how your birth defines you, that the time and place of our births define each of our personalities that are defined and created by the different locations of the planets and the stars that affect all aspects of our lives. But speaking in this social foundations of justice context, there are labels that are destructive and created by the dominant group. The last questions of the chapter were the same ones that I have been asking, who sets the terms? It is time to set the right terms, it is time to get the right people to set the terms straight and keep it the way that it should be.

 In the second reading, it verifies that banks have a responsibility other than just profit. When the author had mentioned how one of the students had said that they needed to balance the budget for the good of the country instead of helping others, that made me automatically think to myself, what was the country like in the first place? It seemed like it was doing good enough without all this complexity.  It wasn’t always like this, so how did humanity survive before all of these issues? Native Americans seemed to live in peace amongst each other with the way things were before someone came over here trying to dominate and control everything. This country is built and based on a bunch of whatever you want to call it and it has made excuses for everything that it has done in the past. It is time to get down to the nitty gritty and settle the real issues once and for all.

Now the video really pressed my buttons. The very fact that when people come out of prison and there is nothing there for them, except being labeled as a felon where most jobs wont hire, difficulties with Medicaid preventing people getting their medicines, along with neglected trauma victims, and convenient liquor stores, what other options do they have? The system has only came up with incarceration as the only answer to the problems that exist. Wow, I mean if it doesn’t get any more obvious than that. (I still don’t understand). But if someone does good in jail just because someone is there to feed them, tell them what to do, then that means when they get out, there is no where to go, nothing to do, because all options have been taken away from them, there is nothing out there for them because of the way that it has been made to be like that. Nobody trusts them, or gives them the opportunity to try again. That is what people need, these chances with a real opportunity, and not just something that they can barely get by with.

One of the girls has all of these goals and when she starts talking about her father, she says she doesn’t care, but she starts to cry, saying she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. In my opinion, she has to talk about that to someone who can help her get through that, get some kind of therapy counseling because I know what it feels like, to not have a father there when needed. Yes, my father loved me and said that he wished he was here with me but he made the wrong choices that led him somewhere else, even though he has found another wife, had two young kids and he is finally doing for them what he never did for me and my older brother and sister. He is still not there for me, financially, mentally, emotionally, he says he would help me but he never does. He has problems of all sorts, supposedly now he is sober, and it still affects me because its like I made the mistakes in my life because he wasn’t there, but I knew what I was doing in the past, or maybe I didn’t. But whatever happened, happened, now I am on the right track, and I still need his help but I know that I cannot depend on him and that still hurts, but I got to grow up and be the woman that my kids need me to be. I feel better that I have told him how I felt, but its all the same. That is like when these people get out of jail, they still need help and they don’t get the help that they need. For the kids, they got their whole life ahead of them but the way that the life is made for them sets them up for failure. Imagine how many kids grow up without the parents that they need to depend on? It is time the USA as a whole community makes the changes that need to be made now. All these institutions and people who get paid for a living to work in all those bug buildings need to get started on something and keep up with it. They got started on something that is obviously not working, so what is the next step? Have a meeting, talk about these issues that exist, mass incarceration, discrimination, laws, employment, education, etc. It is time for these systems to be updated.

Week 9

The two articles assigned for this week made me think of my husband and our sons. Based on what I have seen in my two boys and getting to know my husband throughout the 11 years we have been together, being a boy and becoming a man involve many aspects in life, just like being a girl and becoming a woman.  Getting to know ourselves is important, as well as our surroundings that affects almost everything in our life. It is very important that boys and girls are able to live in a positive environment, learn how to love themselves and be themselves, who cares what anyone else thinks or says about them. Although, it is wrong that may be a safety hazard in the world we live in because it is infested with ignorance and hate. It is best to learn about these things and to become skilled at knowing  how to maneuver this planet and lifestyles that exist in it.

Cyntoia's story reminded me how permanently wrong my life could have went a long time ago. She didn't deserve to be in jail serving her life for a crime that someone else had committed. She was out and about where she should not have been, doing what she should have never been doing, but that doesn't justify the law to charge her for the murder of the man who was committing a crime in the first place. They basically put her in jail for killing a man who was going to pay a minor to have sex with him, or who knows what he was going to do, he could have killed her. She was obviously experiencing trauma, severe trust issues, and whatever else that was bothering her. How did she get there in the first place? The closed captioning wasn't perfect so I struggled to keep up with what was going on but clearly, the system is messed up big time. Cyntoia was ignored, its like the law doesn't care or acknowledge that they can do better than what they did. This happens all over the world, when is it going to stop? We as a community have to step in and intervene.

Because Who is Perfect is another first of its kind that I have seen. It was nice to see something different, artistic, and like a teachable piece of display that could be useful and used more often. I have been reading a lot about disability lately as another class is focused on the social construction of disabilities and while not really have been close to many people who have disabilities, it feels good to learn more about the area of disabilities. This video made me think how there may be differences in life and indeed, no one is perfect, but perhaps they are in their own little way?

I saw the video A Girl Like Me Before and but it wasn’t closed captioning like this one but I think I understood most of it. I think it is really, really, disappointing that black girls have experienced this. In my mind, it just doesn’t make any sense, like, how people could even set their mind to making people thinking like this but I guess that is the nature of evil, oppression, discrimination, ignorance, hate, and narrow-mindness. I hope that this kind of negative perspective can fade away. When one of the girls started talking about how not knowing where they are really from in Africa, because there are so many different tribes, cultures, and origins, it totally makes sense, that not knowing your true ancestral line and where your family originated from is a negative feeling and reality that I have been experiencing lately. I want to know where my family is from, who they were, what they did, how they got to this country, and from where, etc. I feel like because of not knowing where we really come from, that makes life more difficult, disconnected, and srange. What black girls have had to go through due to society’s oppressive, discriminative, and racial perspectives need to come to an end once and for all. Black is beautiful, but it looks like it is painful too.

I LOVED the TED Talk for this week. It reminds me that the U.S. Constitution is really not what it sounds like it is. There are so many things wrong with it and the society that has been structured to follow rules of some made up agenda that is totally off track from where we should be. LGBTQ should be able to adopt children without any problems, they should be able to live without worrying about what the law or anyone thinks about or does to them. I really hope that these things will change but just today someone was telling me that the world will never change. That is the hardest, not knowing what to do or say, I can only keep hoping, and learning what to do that might have more impact on the world.

Week 8

Jacqueline Novogratz mentioned that the problem and question that I also had noticed was how poverty is defined. I can speak from personal experience, my mother did not finish her college degree due to health issues. Her mother and father both worked but they couldn’t afford health insurance, like anesthesia to numb the pain while the doctor burned the tumor off the skin of her back. Growing up on the east side of I35 and witnessing domestic violence at home sure made a difference. Although we had a place to live, food, water, and clothes, the limited choices and lack of freedom took charge of our lives.

My mother always said to be thankful that we live in America and not in another country sleeping on the dirt with no food and water or the opportunity to go to school/work. But now I am realizing how wrong "America" has been and I don't know how to look at it anymore. I have lived in a low-income household for 27 years which can be depressing, depending on the way I look at it. The future looks brighter with plans to ensure I build the foundation for my children that they need to have prepared for them. I struggle but my life is nothing compared to what I know many others endure. My mother never gave up on me, taught me the importance of getting a college education, so that I would not struggle with my children as she did with my sister and I. Being where I am now makes me not give up, I want to serve others in some way, somehow.

I am most passionate about the horrors and tragedies that have been committed against Native Americans and African Americans. Aaron Huey’s discussion about greediness of white people have once again proved to me I am not imagining things. Tan Le’s immigration story is another one that truly touches the heart. I still find it shocking that this is the world that we live in, how millions of people are still fleeing a place that is supposed to be a home, to find another home, to be only lacking what people deserve; justice, complete equitable harmony, opportunity, and peace.

When Jimmy Carter mentioned the religious misinterpretation of holy books that belittle women to be secondary compared to men in the eyes of God is another reason why I think there is something wrong with religion. When we moved from the place where we lived for 18 years, we found a church next to the new home. Wanting to find somewhere to raise my kids in church thinking that it is a good environment, I looked it up on the website and it had mentioned how women were below men and that it would stay like that. Once again, absurdness draws the line around life and I try to make sense of it. I feel like Love is the right religion, if anything.

It was encouraging to hear, “Then I realized, the first step to solving any problem is to not hide from it, and the first step to any form of action is awareness.” I am becoming more aware everyday although I find it difficult to talk about it, in the best way that I feel like I should know how. I guess it takes practice, and finding that spark that lights me on fire. I am still shy, afraid, and nervous to speak out. But I plan to take action to advocate as much as I learn how to do so.

Tears came to my eyes when Mellody said that her mother told her, “Mellody, you can be anything." And because of those words, I would wake up at the crack of dawn, and because of those words, I would love school more than anything, and because of those words, when I was on a bus going to school, I dreamed the biggest dreams. And it's because of those words that I stand here right now full of passion, asking you to be brave for the kids who are dreaming those dreams today.” This made me think of my kids. Sometimes I feel like I am not doing enough for them or for me. I am so caught up in classes and trying to get through what I need to do, it feels like I have no time for them, and they live in their own little world, without the attention that I feel like I am not giving them. I want them to know that they can be anything too. I want them to love school, but I want them to be taught the truth. I want them to be successful. When I find myself stressing about these things, I think of others, ALL THE TIME. Am I being selfish and greedy thinking about how hard my life is, what I want and need? What else can I do right now to help others? Knowing about the wrong doings in the world just kills me. But that is why I majored in social work, because that is where my heart is, besides my kids and creating a better life for us, I wish to help others have a better life too. Although we might all be on our own path, we all walk and cross paths together, which means that I can’t just look the other way regarding injustice.

Week 7

Rosie King’s TED Talk was interesting as it shed a little light on autism for me as I don’t really know too much about Autism. I appreciated the way that Rosie was explaining how her personal experience with Autism is unique. I also thought that it was really weird that there would be a google list that pops up in a search that says people who have autism are demons.

The chapter by Alex Wilson was a good read as I have never read anything that discussed the identity development of gay or lesbian Native Americans. The phrase “two-spirited” reminded me of something that I had read in another book that described something about individuals who identify as gay or lesbian, which unfortunately I cannot remember what it was, but it made sense to me. I totally agree with the statement in this chapter, “We understand that the spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual parts of ourselves are equally important and interrelated. When one aspect of a person is unhealthy, the entire person is affected. This too is true for the entire community; when one aspect of the community is missing, the entire community will suffer in some way.” I feel like this is a perfect explanation of why there is so much chaos in the world. There is something wrong in so many places and homes in society due to the discrimination, judgment, and marginalization of individuals that affects people in all kinds of ways that get under the skin, spreading all over the world.

Adams chapter 44 reminded me of how mostly all of my family is Christian, and most all people that I know. I used to think that it was normal, even though I did not really understand completely. Eventually, I thought I understood, but then I became confused. I started reading and doing research to find the answers to my questions, which I think I have found them, or at least some, but I still don’t know what to believe in and how to direct my life regarding my spirituality, although I am a vegan at heart, and wish for world peace. It is really weird, its like this world is full of secrets and mysteries. I know there is a God or Gods, but Christian privilege is an odd aspect of this world that has an ugly history which I feel like still has responsibility for a lot of the issues that exist today. I would think that we wouldn’t have these religious problems, but we do, and the famous question of mine is, why?

Adams chapter 45 really underlined the major points that need to be addressed. Scriptural justifications for slavery, destroying Native American culture, oppression of the Japanese and Muslims, religious justification for exploitation is just INSANE. I cant get over it but wow, the world we live in! To me, this also pertains to the animal cruelty of factory farming that is a current holocaust that happens every second of the day. I often look around myself and wonder how Native American lands were considered useless but where stolen and taken advantage of. All of this in the name of God, a Christian God. So many different religions, who is to say what is right and wrong, true or false? The world and universe that we live in goes farther than the eyes can see, there has to be something else that is the missing solution to all of these issues, that I feel is being kept away from us, or it is the willpower of individuals and society that is misled and distracted. It is absurd how people can claim anyone different from them to be devil worshippers, not realizing that their hurtful actions make them to be that they are the devils themselves.

Chapter 113 and 118 touched on a topic that I am learning more about in another class, Social Construction of Disabilities. I think that it is true that this topic is minimally examined and understood. I thought that the page that discussed how to become an ally was really good, it should be posted everywhere for everyone to see. It seems like all of the money and attention is distributed somewhere else that does not serve the elderly and people with disabilities. The gap in services is created and it can be fixed by implementing improvements in the service systems. The next step is just making the move towards the changes that needs to be made in all aspects of life on earth.

Sources

Adams, M., Blumfeld, W., Castañeda, C., Hackman, H., Peters, M., Zúñiga, X. (2013). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York, NY: Rutledge.

King, R. (2014). How autism freed me to be myself [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/rosie_king_how_autism_freed_me_to_be_myself.

Wilson, Alex. Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Social Class: Dimensions of Inequality and Identity. Sage, Los Angeles 2015. pp. 205.

Week 6: Theories of Differences

            Reading V.F. Cordova: America reminded me of what I have been thinking about constantly. I have been searching for the truth and understanding of life itself which I feel like will last a lifetime on to life after death. Personally, it was a sign for me to read the words that the author says how she would never read the myths of Christianity to her Native American children. When she explains how the prophetess would then claim how “they” do not understand, it’s clear how it is really those who do not understand that all this time the differences that exist between society are meaningful in another way than what they truly think and thus, are harmful. The “Christian” view and the “real” view have outlined the reality, what is wrong and has caused the discriminatory processes and systems that is the foundation of what America was built on in the first place that disconnected humanity from its original roots of life.

            Of the Water and the Spirit was very interesting as I have never read anything like that before. I imagine many people would question the literature and deny that it is true, but if it is, wow. It reminds me of how I have started reading about the universe that we live in and it is intriguing how much more the world makes sense the more that I read and how many differences there is the farther I go and look. The way that they expressed their emotion and culture of death, how the author explained the process of how and why each event took place is powerful. The magical parts of it are mystical, and amazing to wonder about. I found it relatable to the society that we live in when the author said that the laws of nature are broken when someone goes “private.” It made me think of how the laws of nature are broken as the whole wide world is divided up into privacy sections, such as the actions and results of the possessive investment in whiteness and increasing inequality that is caused by those who are in power.

            There lived a little boy who was misled paints a picture that is impossible to erase as I can only imagine the reality of these places and lives that have been negatively impacted. The cities that have been built and then neglected, only to become homes of individuals and families that have struggled due to the suffocating lack of options to choose from, with no choice other than being misled is just one of the most hypocritical aspects of America as a result of the possessive investment in whiteness. There is a reason why the smoke darkened everything, as it had been allowed to burn in the first place. This country had all the resources it needed as a land full of freedom and opportunity but based on the many years that have passed, society has been divided in the very first place, deciding the way life is for people, depending on their skin color.

            After reading The Possessive Investment in Whiteness, I approach once again one of my weaknesses of how there are some things that I do not fully understand about the financial and economic crooks and chasms, and I feel like I cannot be any help if I do not. Although I do suspect corruption automatically and acknowledge that the possessive investment in whiteness exists, I feel inclined to live the rest of my life fighting against it. The question how I can do that still remains. Mia Birdsong in the TED Talk makes a perfect point about how the people themselves are the key to the solution, how we are magic. I think that is so true and that is one of the things that was taken away from us a long time ago, for the sole purpose of those in power controlling us all for the profit. It is discouraging to think about how many ideas and useful aspects of people there are that never even got the chance to share what they have to give in the world. They just need to be given the chance. It seems like the differences that exist are made to separate society on purpose, to keep many others from achieving better, and I am hoping that we can fix that.

            Lee Mokobe’s poem was one of the best poems I ever heard. To me, it explains exactly how society and gender has been shaped by religion, and how it negatively effects the LGBTQ community.

Ref

            References
Birdsong, M. (2015). The story we tell about poverty isn't true [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/mia_birdsong_the_story_we_tell_about_poverty_isn_t_true.

Coates, T. (2008). There lived a little boy who was misled. The beautiful struggle: a memoir. Spiegel & Grau.

Cordova, V. F. (2007). America. How it is: The Native American philosophy of V. F. Cordova (40-45). Tuscon, AZ: Tucson University Press.

Lipsitz, G. (1998). The Possessive Investment in Whiteness. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Mokobe, L. A powerful poem about what it feels like to be transgender [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/lee_mokobe_a_powerful_poem_about_what_it_feels_like_to_be_transgender?language=en.

Some, M. P. Grandfather's funeral. Of water and the spirit: ritual, magic, and initiation in the life of a Shaman (56-73). Penguin Books.

The video that featured Lana Wachowski was the first of its kind that I have ever seen. The fact that everyone has something to say and everyone analyzes something says how much difference there is or can be that can cause unnecessary challenges for people, that can be a matter of life and death. LGBTQ who speak out for the LGBTQ community are incredibly brave to speak out and say that it is okay to be who you are. We as a global community and society need the positive, loving, and supportive vibes and messages like that to encourage the growth love and acceptance, the opposite of hate and rejection. I found so much resonance with what Lana said, “The nature of our mortal lives is the consequence of our words and deeds. The fundaments upon all our knowledge and learning rests is the inexplicable. We’re always interested, as storytellers all three of us, in the nature of that inexplicability.” And one of the actors said, “To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us unique.” Life goes in such a deep place, internally, externally, and completely as a part of existence on this planet, where many things are different than what some people believe, and there are ways in which I think we need to help spread the awareness and acceptance of what is different than what some people think are wrong. Nobody is to say what is right or wrong, or to place judgment upon anyone that is different than them based on gender, race, or sexuality. I feel like religion plays a major part in this as a bad thing. It seems like people only see people for what they do and not for who they really are. Lana said, “There some things that we have to do for ourselves but there are other things that we do for other people.” That is a beautiful truth that would make a huge difference if all people would do that. If anything causes depression or thoughts of suicide, then the factors that are causing it need to be addressed, a person should never fear for their life based on the immoral judgment of society or anyone in general.

In Adams chapter 1, the author asks, “Who am I,” and the sad fact that the answer depends on a large part of society who judges people based on their current terms of identity categories is one of the major things that needs to be addressed in all aspects of the world. Anyone has dibs on putting a person in a specific place and identity based on what the dominant group has set up, based on what they look like and do. Discriminating automatic judgment still feeds to weigh oppression on targeted groups, we need to reform society to where the dominant groups are examined and persecuted if it takes advantage of its unfair advantage while ignoring their direct and indirect influences towards targeted groups. The dominant group controls the subordinate treads, signals that is being allowed, to be learned, taught, and accepted in society, in the media, in schools, at work, EVERYWHERE. Culture needs to be changed and looked at critically, to stop the divider that stands in places, enabling the oppressor and dominant groups to keep getting away from what they are doing wrong.  “Our ongoing examination of who we are in our full humanity, embracing all of our identities, creates the possibilities of building alliances that may ultimately free us all.” I examine myself every day, it is very difficult to be prevented by different barriers that exist. Not everyone examines their lives, which dominant groups needs to begin doing so that they can help serve justice.

In chapter 26, the mention of the amount of free time that families have decrease the quality of their lives due to the systematic order that persists the inability to address educational, political, social, and many other issues that exist to keep pulling them down is certainly due to whoever is hogging all of the money. Health care as a privilege, basic human rights are neglected, all lead to the same question, “How many people are doing something about this, and how many are not?”

The speaker of “50 shades of gay” was another first of its kind that I have seen. I feel like her parents did what everyone should do, they were not condescending or forcing her to be put into a box. The quote, “We are all responsible for equality,” is true because those who are victims of inequality depend on those who have access to equality, and they keep on taking and taking from the poor. How else is everyone going to obtain equality if they are being prevented from it in the first place? The other thing that is said, “Familiarity is key to empathy,” is exactly what I feel like is another issue because people are either unfamiliar with the issues that exist and they don’t care, whereas some people who are familiar with issues are more empathetic towards the people who experience the issues. This has personally happened to myself, after learning the truth and realities of real life, my whole life changed, it is painful to bear the weight of not knowing what to do and how to help. But it is even more painful to hear one of my own family members or anyone else to be so insensitive to the inequalities that exist, whether it is due to unfamiliarity, or just plain ignorance and carelessness. I think that we have to make more of an effort to gather the good people with good voices and input to overcome the bad voices and input.

Sources:
Adams, M., Blumfeld, W., Castañeda, C., Hackman, H., Peters, M., Zúñiga, X. (2013). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York, NY: Rutledge.

HRC. (2012, October). Lana Wachowski Receives the HRC Visibility Award. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crHHycz7T_c

Wright, T. (2012, December). Fifty Shades of Gay. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/io_tillett_wright_fifty_shades_of_gay

The film assigned for this week was something that reminded me of my experience in school. It says a lot about the world that we live in if many students are in difficult situations that prevent them from succeeding in school and in life. To me, it looks like it is all connected to capitalism that controls the rising standard of living, causing drastic struggles to find security in food, warmth, care, staff, resources, that creates opportunity gaps, lack of confidence, and the absence of participation in every force of education. The money is there, it exists somewhere, it may exist out of nothing, as something that was created from nothing and put into controlling everything, but the money is there. If these issues continue to exist, it is because those who have the most power and money are not taking the steps to improve the factors that cause deteriorating schools, poverty, unemployment, crime, drug abuse, and whatever else is decreasing individuals and families chances of success.

It seems like America founded itself on selfishness, the privatization of hope in those who had as much as they needed to gain more and more from the free or cheap labor of those who were forced to work or were desperate to make a not even a minimum wage to survive, the rich did not care about anyone except themselves, and it is still that way today. The fact that social categories emerged and still exist, shows that there have been systems in place to organize society in terms of only benefiting the few that control the many, which seems to be by consumerism. There is so much more that we could do with our lives but we have been integrated into this world where we now have choices to make, that are so limited, based on where we are, who we are, and who we can actually be depending on a wide variety of factors. If capitalism, government corruption, power, oppression, privilege, and racism could just vanish from our lives, I believe that the world could be a better place, and we could all work together more efficiently towards achieving the goals that would assist and aid everyone to attaining the American dream of equal opportunities in the land of the free, which is not free at all like it used to be in the very first place as Native America was.

One other thing that I have also started to think about is the word "race". I wonder if whoever came up with categorizing people to a specific race in terms of color, did so in terms of which actual race was superior or inferior in their opinion. Like, did the white race think it was going to win and the other races were going to lose? I have started to dislike checking the box on any application or form that asks which race I am, like they are trying to see what race I am in, as if I am in a particular race; I am not in a race, I am in a body that is driving to succeed and live as God intended me to do. If anything, I like to think that I am a part of the human race, with a soul that is from a whole other dimension, of such magic or divinity, which I believe that we all are. But in the world that we live in today, race can determine a lot of things, unfortunately. Acknowledging this has helped bring me closer to my finding my calling on earth, the journey of my soul. I will not stand in solidarity with the white race, I will do the best that I can do to be involved in achieving justice and equity for all other humans that are considered other races, because it’s like, we are all in the same race; to live life the best that we can, to be happy, and succeed, and nothing should be stopping anyone from doing so.

I have tried to stay positive within this blog, despite the insanity that has took place, but racism has got to go one way or another. Zinn shares a part of a quote in one of the chapters of History is a weapon, “Under such conditions even the slightest display of humanity between the races might be considered evidence of a basic human drive toward community.” One way to pave the road toward community is if we work to help make the community accessible to everyone by putting better schools and education that teach the truth, that lead to better systems of successful employment, wealth, housing, and healthcare. There is no reason for this not to happen but it doesn't. This means we have to replace the people who make these systems of oppression continue to exist, let’s find out ways how we can efficiently do that.

Had I paid more attention in the past, maybe I would have caught on faster. But like Adams says, “We aren’t, indeed, taught a lot of things.” The readings for this week are elaborate and honest, the realities and tragedies committed against Native Americans and African Americans, which I continue to question, WHY? Out fear and dogma for profit and salvation? I have found other interesting literature and it questions everything that I have known. Books are an amazing source of knowledge to gain information and truth from, but it is the total opposite if books are not telling what really happened, which seems to happen in schools all the time.

Feelings of uncomfortableness have become unbearable. This is not for pity, but I have become ashamed and embarrassed of my skin color, how dare white people act superior and create a discriminating system all of these years. I look around my life, outside, inside, thinking about the whole world. I remember a conversation with my Aunt, and she says even though it was so awful, it had to happen so we could be where we are now, or else we would still be in another country, or something like that. I thought to myself, that doesn’t even make sense. She is a Christian, so I assume she believes that God has a plan for everything. I have begun to question Christianity for about a year now. I believe that there is a God, there is a purpose in life, and everything will be okay in the end. But to live everyday doing nothing while knowing that there is suffering due to ignorance, neglect, and all of the ism's, does no justice.

The questions of how to fix this, the answers seems to be in community. Kids are growing up in neighborhoods that are deteriorating, schools are not meeting their educational needs, families are struggling to find good jobs, pay bills, buy food, clothing, healthcare, the solution is obvious. There is money that exists in the hands of millionaires, but they are not willing to help others. People in the community have to come together as a whole, whether that is protesting, advocating, calling, emailing, going on strike, boycotting companies, teaching people how to grow their own food, make their own clothes, or any other form of trying to make change. However, I personally understand that some people don’t have the option to do these things. In order for there to be a change, white people and those who have more money than all of us combined, have to speak up for the rights of people that are oppressed. If not, then we have to try to reach out to as much people as we can, in hopes that they are on our side, and are able to help too. 

The whole system needs to be changed, starting with laws and education that have proved to be unworthy, especially if many cannot access education that will lead them to productive and equitable lives, and the laws constantly order injustice. Children need to grow up knowing what is right and wrong, so that they can break the systems of oppression. I imagine buildings that consist of law making authorities, and time is being wasted, money is being stolen, created out of nothing, while millions of people work hard for money, while money is just a game to others who can play recklessly. We can fix the system by making a new one and establishing changes that are required by engaging community as a team, and if those who have privilege make the effort to help do so.

References

Zinn, H. Drawing the Color Line. Retrieved February 12, 2017, from History Is a Weapon, http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html

et al. ], M. A. (2013). Readings for diversity and social justice. New York: Routledge.

The readings that were assigned this week included the same questions that I have been asking myself for the past few years. It is reassuring to know that I am not the only one who thinks and wonders about why things are the way that they are in this world. The video, “Love Has No Labels” brought tears to my eyes because it is beautiful and means so much to see proof that love has no labels. Imagine the world without any labels, how different life would be. Hate, stigma, dogma, and discrimination against different beliefs seem to be one of the major influences of injustice.

I don’t remember the first time I read the Cycle of Socialization in class but I think it was last summer semester, or the year before. Reading it again is for sure worth the time. It makes me think of how much difference there would be in the world if all people began to appreciate differences and treat each other with respect, and how much I wish that was possible. As each of us are born into a specific set of social identities based on gender, ethnicity, skin color, first language, age, ability status, religion, sexual orientation, and economic class, it makes me wonder, how on earth did these categories come to exist? As if there was no other way to go about these differences in a better form or fashion instead of letting these things fall in hierarchy positions in society. In a way it’s like, aren’t these things just imaginary made up labels that cause problems by dividing the people?

The chapters assigned this week are helpful in directing me to finding out where I can begin to make a difference. I understand that I need to analyze my privileges and how I can help others who don’t have the same opportunities that I do. I acknowledge that I am beyond fortunate to be able to go to college, have a place to live, a baby sitter, Medicaid, and food stamps so that I can work on graduating from college, get a job, and be able to hopefully afford to raise my children without major financial struggles that I face now. It bothers me as I acknowledge that many people do not have the ability to go to college or access to equal opportunities for many different reasons that prevent them from doing so. The Park Avenue film totally explained to me exactly what I had suspected all of this time. I thought I was just being paranoid into believing conspiracy and quick to point the blame at the rich, but it is true, they are the ones responsible for the wealth and income inequality that forces people to suffer from poverty. I am just totally dumbfounded at how this is still happening, people blame those in poverty for the tax dollars that go to food stamps and Medicaid, when really, it is just not their fault. I feel like the government could do a better job at protecting the American Dream as well as the whole entire planet itself.

I do experience guilt as I have privilege and I fear not finding out what I can do to help others gain the equal opportunities that they deserve. But that is why I am majoring in social work so that I can learn what it is that I can do so that I can make a difference. It is a bit intimidating knowing how hard I will have to work to brainstorm, research, read, investigate, and explore the dualism, hierarchy, competition, individualism, domination, colonialism, and the scarcity principle that stimulate the root causes of inequality in society.

The Cycle of Liberation has totally described what I am feeling and it explains exactly why I was drawn to social work. I didn’t know what I wanted to major in college after I graduated from high school, but as I took a career exploration class in my third semester at ACC, I decided social work was the field that I wanted to go into. Taking all of the basic core requirements kind of wore me out, especially with kids, and I became confused as I didn’t understand why I was going to college anymore. Now I wish I had paid more attention to all of my classes as each subject does relate to social work in a way to where all things are connected, and influence one another in some shape or form. Starting the major social work classes have stimulated a lot of new feelings by the readings and material that I have been waiting so long for.

These chapters helped me see a little more into how we as a team can help uplift the oppressed. The ideas of how we can all come together, aware of how we are all different in ways of privileges and differences, and understand that love has no labels, give hope and inspiration that equity, justice, and world peace could be more of a possibility. There is so much more that we can do for others who face inequities 24/7, we just have to stand together, work together, and coalition together for the improvements that we wish to see and people deserve.

I apologize for the gloomy picture and quote but I feel like humanity is on the verge of something so much deeper than what it seems, as if we are trying to find and take back what was taken from us a very long time ago. For the past few years, I have been trying to understand why and how humanity in society, communities, nationally, locally, and internationally, have evolved across so many centuries and there is still trouble that surrounds issues of privilege, power, and difference that relates to gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability status, and social class. I have been experiencing the internal pain and turmoil knowing that there are victims in this world where such things exist. Finding myself in so much agony after hearing and seeing what awful things occur on a daily basis, I tried to find a deeper meaning to help myself understand WHY these things are happening, such as if there is a God, why would God allow it. I read somewhere that planet earth is hell due to all of the horrible things that happen. Supposedly there used to be many books that were filled with the wisdom, knowledge, and keys to what it means to be human, but they were burned by dictators who ruled from the church, or dominant civilizations that intended to take control of whatever they could for their selfish profits that I think created inequalities to this day. I am so puzzled that after all that we know, all the education, information, resources, and knowledge, I imagine that we could have a complete understanding of the trouble that we are in and we would know exactly what to do about it. People who can make a positive difference towards equitable change are a part of the problem if we do not try to become a part of the solution and again, I thought that as a whole, the world would understand how each individual is connected so that a positive difference could be made. It is bothersome to be unable to understand what is preventing the solution from taking place. Either people are not fighting enough on the behalf of the oppressed, those who are oppressed are not standing up for their rights whether they don’t know how or are just unable to, and or those in power are abusing their privilege and just don’t care how their selfish actions deteriorate the lives of those who are oppressed, or they really don’t have a clue to what is going on. I long to figure out how to fix this problem. How do we make a difference that will impact not just little parts of society at a time, but society as a whole? I am afraid that it doesn’t work that way, it doesn’t happen overnight, but how long will it take until things get right?

It also looks like inequality is a stock, stock defined as, “the goods or merchandise kept on the premises of a business or warehouse and available for sale or distribution.” There are aspects in social structures of society that prolong the inequalities that exist, simply because there are people and businesses that profit from their actions that promote inequality by setting forth in their businesses the levels of income distribution and class, that discriminate against gender, and race/ethnicity which are also influenced by exploitation, inheritance, achievement, or status attainment, depending on where and who you are. Looking at history, it seems to be absolutely possible to point out the processes that produce, increase, or reduce inequalities, and it seems as if all of the work in the world is just not being done efficiently, and equally. Out of all of the public and political debate, scholarly exchange, and academic teaching, there are still forces in all parts of society that drive inequality to its worse. I am obsessed with finding the culprit of all of this, and how to stop it, but I think I might be moving too fast ahead of myself, and I have a lot more to learn to figure out what I can do to help in the best way that I can, because right now, I just don’t know.

Trying to gather information and ideas of interconnectedness, I found some statements by Therborn that helps bring pieces of the puzzle to fit with the whole, “Existential inequality may be seen as a cultural distinction between worth and unworthy persons. Conflicts around it involve the drawing of categorical boundaries, and of naming and renaming…” As these categories are influenced by educational and public policies for social mobility, how do we fix it? I assume that the money and morals exists to put new solutions in place to provide equal opportunities, so what is the hold up? It is 2017. Therborn also says, “Current invocations of a knowledge economy and a knowledge society highlight the increasing importance of knowledge as a resource, and of knowledge inequality as a crucial form of resource inequality.” He also says, “Existential inequality usually includes inheritance of different life chances.” Due to the way that things already are, it is way past due the time to make things right for everyone to be able to access equal opportunities. It looks like the whole world is a commodity and the cumulative inequalities exist due to a “brain drain” in many places. The mention of a theoretical level by Amartya Sen’s (1992) Inequality Examined, which asked, “Inequality of what?”  and answered it by focusing on human capability. I think that human capability is one of the main things that control many people into being incapable of a living a life that is protected from discrimination, a lack of good quality education, to help them gain living wages and opportunities. So it is consistent inequality of opportunity and lack of justice, but why? It is sort of a relief to see Therborn write that inequality should be understood as a plurality, as inequalities, because lately I have been feeling stressed as if I have to pick just one inequality to concentrate on. I am trying to get to the bottom of all of this, I know that there is only so much that I can do, but I want to make sure that I am in the right position where I need to be. It is both reassuring and overwhelming to hear that if, “one thinks that inequality or equality are important outcomes, social science should try to systematize the mechanisms of their production”. I am on a mission to, “get a grasp of global multidimensionality and global cum-sub-global causality.” I thought that I was the only one asking these questions of why there is inequality in the world. I am trying to pinpoint where is the best place to start to fix the underlying issues of how so many are denied the chance to live their lives at all. “…to live a life of dignity, to try out their interests in life, to make use of their existing potential. The inequalities of the world prevent hundreds of millions of people from developing their differences.” How I dwell on finding the solutions to these inequalities. I wonder how am I supposed to advocate for the proper approach to diminish the negative forces of patriarchy, slavery, caste systems, estates, racism, and religious domination and dogma. Where does it all begin?? I intend to find out.