Chris Phillibert Blog 9 Privacy and publicity

Within a community, there are a set of rules and guidelines that every member of the community must follow. Corresponding to these rules are customs that members of the community must adhere to in public. Public life is constructed on a community scale and is made up of rules that most members of the community agree on. Where private life and public life differ is that in private life, the rules and customs that are established are decided on by a much smaller group of people, sometimes even an individual. The rules sometimes resemble the rules that are established in public life, but they don't necessarily have to. A private life is the binary opposite to the public life and should be as guaranteed to members of the community as a public life is. The ability to switch between these modes of operating in the public life versus operating in the private life at our leisure is also a liberty that should be valued within a community. I believe that within a personal life, the nation plays the role of providing the template of how to construct your private life, but should also vigilantly fight to protect the citizen's right to construct their private life how they please so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.

When we give presentations to the class, there is a perfect juxtaposition of the public and private life coming together to complete a task. The guidelines and rules for the project were given publicly in class and these guidelines had to be followed by the students as a template. However, so long as we met the necessary requirements for the project, we could construct the presentation in whatever manner we pleased. The ability to personally decide how to structure your presentation and privately thinking about the methods and goals you wanted to achieve while teaching your unit represents a liberty of privacy allotted to members of our social community. We agree on a general set of rules and guidelines to be followed, but the methods used and goals constructed for the project itself could come from the privacy of your own mind to be put on display in public. Michael Mann touches on the privacy of the citizen as a necessary rebellion against the government's natural desire to know all in "The Rise and Rise of the Nation State". He writes that the state needs to allow privacy and resist its desire for omnipotence or else the subaltern and oppressed will rise up to overthrow the state. I like to believe the class wouldn't have a rebellion if we weren't allowed a certain amount of customizable aspects to our project, but I do believe that allowing students to privately come up with ideas on their own is a way of fostering a good relationship between the authority and the governed in a community.

 I can't help but return to the idea that the mind is the ultimate realm of privacy. To my knowledge, we don't have the technology to read minds as clearly as we would hear speech spoken to us. Even though this technology can be mentally conceived, it should not be something to aspire to accomplish. Privacy is a completely necessary aspect of the psyche. If people and their thoughts were constantly being under watch by some sort of authority, there would be no balance between public life and private life at all. The mind in all of its intricacies should not be something to be judged or constantly surveyed by people whose minds themselves are no better than the ones they would preside over. Though this reality is only manifested in an oppressive Orwellian "1984" regime, this example highlights the importance of a balance between the public and private life and the ability to switch between the two at will through the use of our own private thoughts.

blog #9 Public Private

            Private or public in a community revolves around the consequences.  The results of any action is the most important aspect of any decision.  The best way to start is to determine a method of how to distinguish between what is necessarily public community information. Therefore, relevance is the key.  Especially since doing the most good for the most people is always the general goal. I decided that the extent to which the spheres or sub-communities that are most affected is what decided public vs. private. An action may be done in private but eventually have community wide repercussions.  I believe it is possible to suss out the immediate drawbacks of any action, then such analysis can be used to recognize if it need be public or not.  Of course such a  definition can leak over into more controversial territory but in general I think this rule works. 
          On the surface I would not say nation has a place anywhere in my life. A nation is not something I consciously think about. I remember where I am from but not in the ideological terms that are discussed here.  There are no political ideas attached to my memories or associations.  Though it does make me wonder about the particularly American or Jamaican things I do.Nation is involved with the activities I take part of and with the freedoms I have. For instance, the everyday struggle with consumerism along with various addictions that seems to plague mostly American citizens like shopping, excessive eating or hoarding.  I find it hard to believe such compulsions are as common anywhere else.  I suppose nation a should occupy my mind on days like July fourth but they do not.  I see them as days people shop. If I am incorrect please tell me.  A nation occupies my mind when I fill out official documents like: driver's license or applying for citizenship.  Or while I try to decode which box I should check. Am I black?  Or do I write Jamaican in the "other" line?  A nation, I guess then, does not play a pivotal role in my personal but a subtle one at best.

Return to Article One blog #8

The simple answer is that our class has devised a community surrounding the topics of discussion held each week.  While this is true it is harder to truly define our community in terms of where we are specifically.  As a community I can say we do have the most important classification to define ourselves as such which is interaction and common interests.  The relationships we have built through discussion have developed into familiar setting that many people feel free enough to express themselves or sit quietly.  Prof. Agaus once said that the space now feels physically smaller.  I believe this is true because even if we don’t know all people in the class we have crossed the awkward barrier.  The barrier that prevents others from moving within our individual personal spaces.  No one feels odd walking in and sitting down next to someone new anymore.  Not to mention, we have gone out together in support of each other for events and the like.

Most of the films we have watched are centered around conflict as the major theme.  We watch how the primary players interact with the existing norms of a particular place.  We watch the bitter resolution and question the film's internal bias.  We as a class however, are more compatible than the film's portrayed community.  We may strongly disagree with each other at the worst.  That being said, I think we fit more with Passing Through by Nathan.  He spent the film exploring his identity and his heritage of both American and North Korean background.  I think we as a class try to explore the same through discussion, blogs and presentations.  We try to explore the same ideas.  We try to understand what constitutes the core ideals of our personality and beliefs and what we perceive as normal.  And more so we use each others knowledge to supplement what we don't know regarding the subtler parts of American life.  

Brittany Liu's Blog #9 Internal and External, Community and Nation

I relate private versus public with internal versus external.  Externals are usually associated with the formation of a community.  People are attracted to commonalities because it gives a sense of comfort.  Commonalities are usually found externally, which includes appearance, body language, and vocal communication.  As we have read in Anderson's Imagined Communities, language is a major unifying agent and I believe this includes visual and audible.  Something a little unsettling about communities is its homogenous ideal, which can lead to the loss of self identity.  I believe self identity is created privately and then is expressed publicly.  However, one's true identity is within themselves.  In the 2012   French film Tomboy, a young girl moves to a new neighborhood where she introduces herself as a boy.  Immediately the community of kids welcome "him," which encourages her to continue the facade.  Unfortunately, the truth comes out and the community of kids not only exile her, but also attack her.  This brings up the question of if a community can actually be damaging to one's self identity?  Externally, in the biological sense, she is a girl, but internally she is a boy and that is what she keeps private from her mother and father.  The neighborhood community she desperately wanted to be a part of forced her to be ashamed of her true self-identity.  My question is how much of our public identity goes into the formation of a community and how much of our private identity should be contributed to a community?

When I think of community I associate it with something smaller than a nation.  As Americans we have the right to a private life that is not interrupted or invaded by the government.  It is our freedom that allows us this privacy.  On the Internet, we are allowed to send emails that are protected and communicate privately on the phone unlike other countries where everything is screened.  We have the right to express our own opinions on this blog.  I believe this free communication, especially through technology, has given a voice to each citizen of our nation.  Anderson talks about simultaneous actions that unite people and the Internet is one of them.  I know that I felt part of this nation more than ever when I watched the inauguration (especially Beyonce) on the Internet knowing that billions of other Americans were watching it with me.  Ritual gives me a sense of nationalism because of its harmony and collectiveness.  The Pledge of Allegiance unites our voices, showing our strength in numbers.  We are made up of so many individuals, but we stand as one as we celebrate the freedom of our country.

Victoria Olayiwola Blog #9: The Great Debate-Pub vs Pri

 

What is private? Whatever you deem you can’t share with the community, I suppose. 

 And

What is public? Whatever you believe you can share with the community. Your stories, your ideas, your dreams, your hopes, your loves, your hates, your likes, your dislikes…You. Your background, your history. You.

For me, what is private are the things I choose not to share, things that just can’t be shared. Scars that have not healed wounds that are still open and yet with the advice given that sharing helps with the healing process, I can’t bring myself to do it, unless there is a good cause for to share.

  

These are the things that mean a lot to me and can’t be said to everyone and anyone. Other than that I have tried to be as open and as forthright as I can be with the community, even though I was not raised that-to make your information public. I see that the value of being open and forthright far outweighs the value of being conservative and reserved. There is so much power in sharing stories and hearing stories. And there are great lessons to learn from being able to understand another’s story, where they come from and why they think the way they do. Also there is so much potential and scope for shaping one’s mind through the power of words and conversations. Take for example the apartheid system, whites feared the danger potential of blacks and blacks feared the system whites had put in place. Ultimately a system of violence, anger and terror was perpetuated because there was a lack of communication between both sides: whites kept suppressing blacks because they feared the unknown and blacks kept rebelling because of the systems in whites put in place. So you see a vicious cycle emerge where blacks are angry because of the systems in play and not because black people are inherently angry people. If only the white South Afrikaners had taken time to understand their fellow brothers and sisters. If only! That’s all we can say, so sorrowfully.

   

Take for another example…one more personal and private, but I’ll share…a William and Mary student, who I had/ve fallen in love with and because of a serious misunderstanding, our cultural nuances, my stupidity and most importantly a breakdown in conversation…I must now avoid, never approach or talk to. My heart still hungers after x but there is no way of x knowing what x feels, whether x knows how I feel or whether there is a chance of reconciliation. All I can do is see x and think about all the things I wish I had said or could say…but can’t. The communication lines have now closed. Our conversations have been severed. Whatever ties that were in existence have died a long and painful death many weeks ago. The point of this story is to stress communication is crucial; its importance can never be overstated. 

Communication. Its power can never be diminished. 

I prefer not to hold back my views and my stories because I believe that one gives as much as ones takes. If I refuse to share, then others can refuse to share with me too. At the end of the day we will be none the wiser should we refuse to engage in conversations. I do most of my sharing through my blogs. I see them as a great way to release all the feelings and emotions I have during the week. At times I feel like I should hold back or that I have said too much or put too much out there, but after I say to myself no….no I think what I put out there is measured and if it can help somebody then why shouldn’t I put it out there. Why shouldn’t I share the lessons of life I have been opportuned to learn? Why not share my diverse emotions? Why not share the English and African perspectives I have formulated? Why not?

 
 

I feel like the presentations of film choices by those within our community has played a part in revealing a part of everyone’s self and the issues that are important to each person who has presented. Matt, for example chose to talk about illegal immigrants because that is an issue that is close to him- he had a friend who was an illegal immigrant, Matt was opportuned to come face to face with the plight of a family that was illegally in America, opportunity not many of us are afforded.

Sarah chose to focus on Refugees from the Sudan region of Africa. She chose to do this because she had worked with a charitable organization and wanted to share what she had learnt with the community. Lastly; Colleen chose to focus on homosexuality in Iran and within Islam because it is not she felt it is an elephant in the room that is not being discussed in the depth that it should be discussed. But she wanted the community to delve deeper into this topic of discussion. She wanted our views on it.

I feel that as we are getting to know each other overtime and as most people are sharing their views and stories, the line between private and public are weakening and are almost thinning out, so that what was once private has now become public. I also feel that through people’s film choices, they are communicating private matters that are of pertinence to them to us the public, I feel we as a community, through this action, are thus blurring the lines between what is private and what is public and that can only be a good thing. 

I feel like for Americans putting the nation first has always been in the forefront of their minds. I feel like American schoolchildren have been taught in school and at home that they have to be proud of their nation, they have been taught to internalize what it means to be nationalistic and patriotic and loyal. I think the desire for Americans to know their place in the world and the meaning of their country has become all the more important because of world events such as the Cold War, which made many Americans reestablish within themselves what it means to be American and how essential and important America is to their private life.

  

Whereas for me, Britain is not at the center of what I do, the way I think and the way I act. I love my country and being far away from it has only made my longing for it all the more visible to me. But besides supporting Britain in football matches, cricket and ruby tournaments, Britain plays a very little role in my personal life. This view of Britain is only exacerbated  by the fact that I haven’t been taught at school what it means to be British neither has Britain been in world events that have triggered a desire in me to make Britain anymore integral to my private life than it already is.

I wouldn’t die or fight for my country, in America I would be seen as traitor but in Britain some may understand why I have come to such a conclusion. In fact you won’t find many British people saying they will die for their country or asking “not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country".

One can argue that my affinity to Britain is not so strong because my parents are immigrants and so I was never raised with a strong British backbone. I don’t think this is the case. Nationalism and ones sense of nationalistic pride is not and has never been drummed into me. I have never felt the need to be loyal to figure or any government or country and this is because London is made up so many cultures and so many backgrounds. Because of this everyone celebrates their nation how they see fit. This means during the World Cup and/or other tournaments you see many different flags go up and nobody tears them down. Nobody says put up the British flag. Nobody.

However my American friend told me when a British couple moved in to his neighborhood and put up British flag outside their home, Americans got angry and said to each other that the couple is in America now so they should stop putting up that flag. In Britain you don’t have to conform to the norm. Diversity and difference is celebrated and admired by all.

Interestingly raising an America flag makes one look as though they are patriotic but in Britain the same gesture makes someone look as though they are backward, racist and reactionary. Basically being a nationalist in some sense is not a good thing in London.

 

Therein lies the dichotomy. Doing or participating in the same things have different meanings dependent on what country one is in. That is why settling here has been so very difficult for me. I have refused to learn the American way. I have made comments and jokes that are borderline offensive and have never expressed such deep seated nationalistic pride of my country. I have tried to stay away from patriotic and nationalistic students because to me they represent something that is backwards and certainly reactionary. And I disagree with them. America is not the best country in the world it never was and it never will be. Each country should be admired for its differences and for the value it brings to creating the international global community, one in which we all, regardless of background, skin, color or social status should strive to do the best by.

 

Hegemony

To be frank, I cannot think of any personal experiences that I can hold as an strong example in regards to the question.  My mind wanders over to conversations I have overheard from other people.  Mostly minorities who feel the dominant class have resorted to social pressures which are near undetectable to reinstate the discriminations laws now undo.  At work or school are where the largest amount instances occur.   We love to believe all classes are fully capable of besting adversity through sheer will and perseverance.  Nevertheless, they claim this is not the case.  They claim the fight is almost never-ending.  I presume it is not all people in position of power but it really only takes one.  The anticipatory actions invoked tend to be subtle and guised discreetly among normal supervisor/employee interaction.  I imagine the discrimination operates in general behavior, the mood, the body language, the meanings in-between the lines.  I say imagined because for as often as I have heard these conversations I cannot actually say I have felt the same way.  That is not to say it does not exist, that would be immature but it makes me wonder when I will encounter these situations.  

Truthfully, I wonder will it ever happen at all? Interestingly enough, I feel that last statement was born and bred in my acceptance of the “American Dream.”  No, I am not interested in a white picket fence.  The dream I am referring to leaves me free to pursue any profession I please without  a constant miasma of dissention pertaining my lifestyle choice from the people I meet. (And  don’t meet.)  My mother always says she will do anything it takes make sure I get what I want. (And no one will stop me if she has anything to say about it.) I always think, “who the hell is going to stop me, but ok.” I will be working soon enough and really I want to see this phenomenon for myself.  I am sure it’s real but to what extent is what truly concerns me.  Then I will know what is the “anticipatory actions” of a dominant class trying to remain in power are.

The best example of this in Amigo, the general’s anger when he returned to find his soldiers partying with the locals. He quickly disbanded with the cohesive atmosphere the soldiers had developed with the locals.  He thought coexistence without fear was a betrayal to their duty as American Soldiers.

Women and Womenhood

The colored Museum

The colored museum is a great collage of what influences the modern day individual via a '90's perspective.  It is outlandish, entertaining, immensely colorful and intricately presents the complicated state of being an African American.  The varying scenarios outline primarily different aspects of black culture.  It addresses the core identifiers that help to define our collective identity, one of the most important of which is our black women, our black hair, our shape, our outlandishness.  The film also explores the difficulties that also come with black culture.  It always seems to be in conflict with the prevailing culture of the US., of what is most acceptable to a white society.

 The scene with a woman arguing with herself and her wigs.  Which wig was more acceptable her natural Afro or more European looking hair.  Even more so illustrative of the difficulties women face is the sketch done in drag with Ms. Roz.  The skit extrapolated all of what "Ms. Roz" felt affected not only women but men as well.  It is interesting however, that a woman was the chosen vehicle of analysis.  The actor, a man, could have done the show as a man.  He chose a woman.  Women represent the beginning, from where all life starts.  They represent the focus of the center stage spotlight.  The character is bejeweled in bright colors with her muscular figure most visible and a vestige of strength emboldened by confidence.  Though it becomes clear as the skit rolls on that this body, this personality and identity have be struggling to emerge whole against continuous opposition.  Ms. Roz speaks about the fight and her refusal to accept anything other than the right to enforce her own defense and be respected for doing so.

Black Girl
    The most important scene in this film occurs when Diouana decides to redo her hair in a native style. It was incredibly striking because what she did was what I do with my own hair.  I am unsure if anyone has noticed but I always wear hats.  The truth is my hair is in plats, those braided spiky locks Diouana constructs for herself in the scene.  It really is a great moment to see her re-embrace her heritage.  After everything that has happened with the family she recognizes that her original and true identity is embedded in her Senegalese culture.  Still, the obstacles that affect women unfortunately extends across social and economic boundaries to further negatively affect womanhood.  The relationship with the wife seems to be the most pivotal connection for Diouana.  Particularly since her suicide speech revolved around wife’s faults and lies.   Their womanhood, their connection drastically changed as the societal roles each was expected to play came into greater conflict.   The dream was to become more affluent for each, more western and successful but those new spheres came with unexpected obligations that heavily poisoned their relationship.  The functionality and mutuality of their womanhood became ineffective with the move to France. 

Blog #4

As an immigrant, I have always thought of myself as a Jamaican first.  When I first arrived the simplest things seemed incredibly odd.  Something as ordinary as drinking orange juice for breakfast was unusual.  As a British descendent, we drink tea, like the Queen.  Cold substances are thought to give you stomach aches so early in the morning.  In general, I ascribed and still prefer my own Jamaican culture first and foremost.  I am of course very biased towards my own culture which I suppose is the entire point of Anderson’s chapter on Creole Pioneers.  He discusses the struggle of how and what criteria people should use to define their existence.  Once they have done so, the next question is to incorporate the various restriction imposed on our identities by our social environment.

He mentioned if the father was not in Spain when the child was born, he would be considered creole.  Even though in truth he may well be otherwise indistinguishable from a regular privileged Spanish born child.  Anderson said, “Yet how irrational his exclusion must have seemed.”  I agree.  To be excluded from an ancestry that one’s birth, station and patriarchy tells you is yours based on your father’s location.  It seems ridiculous from my own perspective. I couldn’t imagine how incredibly illogical it must have seemed to those men who lived during that time.  It is safe to say, for the amount of emphasis given to one’s birthplace, other people who were fortunate enough did not easily forgive this oversight.   

Blog #3

Over the past ten to fifteen the US has had an evolving atmosphere to the inclusion of non-English speakers.  I remember often non-English were greeted with forcefully in an attempt to deride their willingness to come to the States.  The general consensus was if you wanted to come to the US, one should first learn English.  However as time progressed and the demographic changed, the prevailing attitude had become more welcoming.  Some may say for more political reasons than for genuine acceptance.   There are signs, labels, company standards of procedure written in Spanish.  Being able to speak Spanish can be the difference in whether a candidate is hired at all.  I believe Anderson would agree due to the changing demographic of Latinos in the US.   At one time, Latinos were greeted with intense fear. 
 Their importance has now been an indisputable fact that comes with many political consequences.  It was often said during  the last presidential election that the republicans would never win again without being more inclusive.  Becoming more flexible on issues like immigration could greatly affect how our leaders are chosen.  Anderson speaks about the idea of imagined communities and these changes in the US almost mirrors the demise of one community (all white majority) to the growing reality of a majority minority amidst the graying of America.   Anderson said due to the printed word there was a shift in how people viewed their world.  It added the dissemination and flow of info across all boundaries in time.  Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense that was able to inspire a nation to revolution.  In our own time the internet has had the same effect on our population.  The internet can be seen as this intense paradigm that can expand the world of billions of people simultaneously.  It can provide insurmountable amounts of knowledge and yet there a people without access.  There are still people who are illiterate. Are people too concerned with with their own success to worry about others?  I have certainly been guilty of this in my own life.  I also think it is safe to say the rioters in ‘92 were guilty of this as well.

Where are you from?

I immigrated from the country of Jamaica when I was 12.  When I first arrived, most Americans looked identical.  Although I grew up watching television, with a predominantly white cast, it never registered the subtle differences that manifested between each person.  Green eyes, blue eyes, blond hair, brunette, the only idea that registered was they were not like me.  I had black hair and dark brown eyes and frankly so did many people I knew from childhood.  As diverse as Jamaica is, with its Asian and Latin Jamaicans these traits were more or less indistinguishable to me. 

Upon moving to the States, these traits became more defined and exotic.  They were all exotic except it became increasingly apparent that I was the foreigner.  I spoke differently, I spelled words using the Queen’s English, I had no inkling for their social cues.  All of the material things they sought after with such reverence was not something I shared.   I often asked myself why?  In Jamaica, being the smartest was the way to becoming popular and being sent to a bad high school was equivalent to death.  For the people I met, wearing $200 Jordon’s (shoes) seemed much more important than being able to pay $1.98 for their lunch. 

In Twilight: Los Angles we saw many people looting that rampaging through the streets fighting and injuring themselves and others for “free” goods.  People running through the streets with flat screens, shoes, clothes jewelry, food in vengeance for what happened to Rodney King.  George Bush said, the riots were not about King and were simply people misbehaving with King as a good excuse. He said “the LA riots are not about civil rights.”  While the makes of Birth of a Nation dubbed the riots as the LA Rebellion.  Both of these comments carry a lot of implied understanding.  They carry a certain perspective intrinsically linked to each person’s socioeconomic experience and overall grasp of life’s available opportunities. As a “black” American, it is incredibly difficult to judge nearly 20 years into the future the actions of rioters.  The level of violence during the so-called rebellion against innocent bystanders and other rioters alike one can definitely assign partial blame to all those involved. 

Anderson states one of the ideas that lost hold on society recently is the idea that society should be organized around “high centres—monarch who were apart from other human being…” The LA Riots, I believe, at least embodies a rebellion against this conception.  I believe, they saw particular groups of people who benefited from the disparity between groups.  Some sought to rightfully so to address these issues but were unfortunately underrepresented in media due to the riots.   KRS-One said in Birth of a Nation, “strengthen your community by protecting it.”  The problem is how does one do that in a  fragmented community one understands from experience is completely belied with injustice?

What makes a nation?

The ability to define one’s borders and support its inhabitants that share a culture is what makes a nation.  The presence of severe discord does not obstruct this definition but is calls into question the nation’s identity.  Worlds are divided into 1^st and 3^rd  countries based on its resources and the global value of those resources.  I don’t believe anyone honestly configured the idea of such an integrated world market that currently exists.  But I do believe the purpose was to gain holdings that could guarantee the success of a nation’s people.  That success can only be achieved through an appropriate foundation.  What is stronger than being able to confidently express where you come from?  It is a way to pin-point one’s existence in a very big world.  Nathan definitely had trouble understanding where is it he belonged and why.  Being Asian in an all-white community today seems and comprehending one’s different , to us, is instant.  It doesn’t  necessarily incite insecurities within ourselves.  Not when everyone we know wants to be different. 

Where are you from Des?  

Jamaica.

Oh that’s so cool, are you going back?

Uh, no.  I live here.

I will not forget the girl who always asked her mother why other people thought she was different but she herself could not see it.  She would ask how they knew.  And to see that as an adult she still struggled with that is utterly fantastic in its purest definition.  It goes to show the power of the psychological and its importance.  Something we cannot see has such a great impact on how we envision ourselves.  A mirror does not see everything there is to a person.