Desmarie Sherwood: blogs 1-6

Blog #1

The ability to define one’s borders and support its inhabitants, who share a common 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 1st and 3rd  countries based on its resources and the global value of those resources.  I do not believe anyone could purposely envision the integrated world-market that currently exists.  But I do believe the goal was to gain holdings that help guarantee the success of a nation’s people.  That success can only be achieved through an appropriate foundation upon which to move forward.  There is nothing stronger than being able to confidently express where you came from?  It is a way to pin-point one’s existence and draw meaning from it 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 obvious.  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.  All the while she herself could not see it.  She would ask how they knew.  And to see that as an adult she still struggled with her core identity is utterly fantastic in its purest definition.  It goes to show the power of the psychological.  Something we cannot see has such a great impact on how we imagine ourselves.  A mirror does not see everything there is to a person.  

Blog #2  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 with 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 European 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 and worse, I had no inkling for their social cues.  All of the material things they sought after with such reverence was not something I shared.  It is not that I thought of myself as better.  It was simply that what they sought were not things I could easily obtain.  I often asked myself why?  In Jamaica, being the smartest student determined popularity.  Being sent to a bad high school was equivalent to death.  For the people I met, wearing $200 Jordan’s (shoes) seemed much more important than being able to pay a $1.98 for their lunch.  

In Twilight: Los Angeles we saw many people looting, 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.  He said they were simply people misbehaving with the King incident as an excuse. He said “the LA riots are not about civil rights.”  Meanwhile the makers of “Birth of a Nation” dubbed the riots the LA Rebellion.  Both these comments carry an implied meaning.  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 LA rebellion (against bystanders and other rioters alike) definitely deserve partial blame to all those involved.  

Anderson states one of the ideas that lost hold on society recently is the idea 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 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 to be completely belied with injustice?

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.

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 5

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 6

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.