OPPRESSED MAJORITY (Response to "Heteronormativity")

After reading the entry on "Heteronormativity" by Fernanda Bock, I instantly thought about this short movie I watched today. I thought about posting the link on a comment, but then I thought: Why not share it with you all?

Some controversial idea we have here. What do you think? Is male chauvinism over? How far can we go into this issue?

Cultural diversity: The Dead

When we hear the word "Dead", our brain make a relation with something wrong.

We are people from Chile, and here, the dead is something sad, bad, and sometimes we consider this a punishment.

But now, all your thoughts will change (maybe a little), because I will show you the Mexican culture, because, in my opinion, is the best way to show you something very different to our culture, and very interesting.

So, we are going to start with our first curiosity:

1.- Renacentist and Reunion: When someone of the family have just dead, for dead's family is somenthing to celebrate, because He/She will meet with all His/Her dead family in the heaven. They celebrate, because He/She now is in peace, and will never suffer again.

2.-Day of the Dead: 

This is one of the most important celebrations in Mexico. This day starts in last days of october or in the first days of november. Is the day when all "spirits of dead people are in live": It means that is the day when live people is with dead people, but, live people have to give something to their dead family, and there you have a list of things that mexicans share with their lovely family:

-Cempasúchil flower:

-Copal:

->It a stone, and mexicans used this stone for "el altar de muertos".

->It has a symbolic means.

 -Cross:

-> This cross means the travel to an other world, in this case is the heaven.

Summarizing, deads means to mexicans something very important and beautiful, and they celebrate this day because for they, it means "lucky", because you go to a more beautiful life in the heaven, and you will not suffer again in this world: The Earth.

Hobbes thinks that we are people with self-steem, I mean, that when someone dies, we cry for us, not for him, because we are who lost someone important for us, but, we never think that (maybe, it depends of our beliefs) this person is happy now, this person went to a best world, or He/She scapes from this coonflict world. 

Something that not all people consider when miss someone: "Are we really alone?", and this question is answered by Buda: "We are never alone, because all people lost familys lost someone important for they, and the dead is something that allways comes." 

Are a lot of beliefs about the dead, but this is the most different of us, I wanted to show you something different, because I want that people starts thinks  about diversity, real diversity. 

Here I share with you 4 links, the first one is about more information about Mexico, the second one is about other countries with other beliefs abput the dead, the third one has more information about "día de los muertos", and the last one is a documentary about this day in Mexico:

http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mexico.html

http://apoyoalduelo.com/la-muerte-en-otras-culturas/

http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=562

This documentary is very interesting, and show to us how chileans looks other cultures, in this case: Mexican culture.

What do you think about the dead? When you lost someone: You cry for you, or for He/She?

Native Americans and alcoholism

If there is one thing that caught my attention after reading and getting to know a bit more about the book "The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian" is that it has something very specific in common with the movie "Thunderheart", alcoholism is an issue at Native Americans reservations.

"Native Americans were first introduced to alcohol by the European settlers and traders. Alcohol was often traded for Native American goods, and possibly used to relax the Native Americans in order to receive a better trade. The newness of the substance had a great influence on the Native American culture. But over the years, research has shown that alcohol’s effects on this culture are also due to genetics.

From a genetic standpoint, certain ethnic groups have a gene mutation that causes adverse reactions to drinking large amounts of alcohol. Groups that possess this “protective gene” include Chinese and Japanese populations, causing them to feel rapid heartbeat, headache, nausea and extreme drowsiness. Other groups, including Native Americans, do not possess this gene mutation, consequently reducing the side effects of heavy drinking." (Bethany Winkel. Source).

Isn't the fact that almost half of the Native American population has suffered from alcoholism very alarming? Before this course, little did I know about this problem. And to think that it probably is an endless circle. Native Americans live secluded (in reservations) from the rest of the population of the USA. They sure have identity crisis, a lot live in poverty, not to mention the lack of opportunities of having a better life (compared to white Americans). Alcohol seems an easy way of forgetting about heavy thoughts and problems, right?

There are lots of theories about the causes of alcoholism amongst Natives, but one thing is for sure, the consequences can't be any good.

So tell me your thoughts on this. What do you think is the main reason alcohol became such a huge addiction for Native Americans? Any ideas on what could it be done to help?

                            

Non Violence

The last century undoubtedly was the most revolutionary in history. Many wars and revolutions succeed, and the most powerfull movement was the NON VIOLENCE. Which is the Non Violence? It's a Pacificist Movement, was consolidate in the XIX and XX century. This movement encourage the peace for to produce the social changes and search for the equiality. The greatest representants of this movement are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. 

In the XX Century the discrimination and the racism had in their peack. In many parts of the world, the black people lived a different life, but why? 

In the India ocurred a similar case of the discrimination by the  British settlers. Mahatma Gandhi without guns and violence he reached the independece of India in 1947. He stared a revolutionary movement,in 1930, which helped him to involved a lot of people on it.

He practiced the fast, and then he transformed in one of the most important person in the history. "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent" Gandhi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3tjIiWIkAQ

After this happened, in the South of the United States the black people lived a similar case of the discrimination, but this was a legal. Black and White people lived a different lifes, in different ways. Blacks and Whites couldn't go to the same School, they didn't sit in the same seat. Martin Luther King Jr. Started a pacific movement. Inspired in Gandhi with the Non Violence, Martin archived with his hopeful  speeches ended with the segregation's laws. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools" M. Luther King. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74XJJ3Tq5ew

In Southafrica the situation was very similar. Black and Whites lived a separate lifes. But they called Apartheid which separated the people in different groups, the Whites, African, Blacks and Indigenous. The distribution of the resources depended of the social gruop. This generated social unequeal. Nelson Mandela Inspired in Gandhi, Mandela started a revolutionary movements against apartheid. But in 1967 Mandela was arrested for a second time. Was centenced to life in prison for the rest of his life. After 27 year, he was released. In 1994 Mandela was elected President of the Southafrica.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk5_epATpaI 

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use the change the world" N. Mandela

I Belive that these revolutionary mens with the use of the Non Violence changed a reality of his people. Gandhi inspire to us to change the world  with this powerful revolution. 

So we like a future teachers we can change the world. What do you think about this? 

Gandhi Vs Martin Luther King Jr

Very often, people tend to see Martin Luther King Jr. as the spiritual succesor of the ideals held by Mahatma Gandhi, and with good reason. The defensor of the civil rights was inspired by all the actions and ideals that the indian leader had.

From The Salt March, to the non violent movements, Martin Luther King Jr did his best to follow up all the steps that the Indian independance movement stood for. Freedom and peace.

Everyone says that if they existed in the same period of time, they would have been the greatest "freedom team"

Or would them...?

This is the great thing about the internet. You can find parodies about everything, and I repeat, everything.

And thus, YouTube users, EpicLloyd and Nice Peter put up a video about Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. competing directly, neither in a pacifists reunion, nor in hand to hand combat, but in a Rap Battle, in their popular internet show:

Epic Rap Battles of History:

Gandhi V/s Martin Luther King Jr.

(Warning, there is NSFW Language in the video)

I think this is hilarious, just how people's imagination can make parodies of such a deep and engaging theme as independance and civil rights leaders.

Now, the video itself really shows the fact that their creators know what they're dealing with (hence the name) and because of that, they have such a popular show. Everyone watches this because, everything in here is so accuarate, that it's funny. And I really think this is an amazing way to engage people into history, I learnt about Martin Luther King Jr. through this video when it was released a couple of years ago.

The thing that caught my attention is how through out the video, you see that, in a really entertaining way, they show us what they stood for. I also love how the battle ends. (SPOLER ALERT) With a hug between the two.

I see this as a way to show that, after all, their ideals lived and now, it's our turn, not as whites, neither blacks, but as humans, to show our respects to their now fullfiled ideals. And overall, thank them for their efforts to make this world a better place for them and for all of us.

I encourage you to see more of this videos in the oficial ERB channel, there are many characters represented in there, there's even a battle between Hitler and Darth Vader! and that's is so random, but at the same time, entertaining and great.

What do you think about the ERB concept, or this video in particular? Funny? disrespectful? weird?

I'm looking forward for your comments :)

Mississippi Burning

Can you believe that between 1870 and 1970, just for been black, you will have to suffer, scape, run away, specially if you were born in the south of Unitad State?  

It was a very hard period of time, when be a white person practically mean be perfect. Look it in this way, if you were in a game, and this game will be about living in USA, you can choose the difficulty to start this, white will be easy, and black will be extremely hard. And, why ?. Because they couldn't have the same houses, the same schools, means of transport, even the bathroom were separated, also all the fraternities and clubs had prohibited to admit black people.

The opportunities in practice were not the same for blacks and whites. For example white public schools received more money, while black schools were receiving the minimum possible money. A dramatic case was that the black singer Bessie Smith, victim of a car accident . The ambulance that took her, visited all the hospitals in  Mississippi ,in search of a blood transfusion, but none of them allowed to enter because they were "hospitals for white". Bessie Smith bled on the gurney, and after all this STUPID moment, she died because of this "legal" segregation. This fact, and many others, gave rise to the movement for equal rights for blacks, led by Martin Luther King (1929-1968).

There are many cases like this, but in this moment is not necessary to mention them, but that doesn't mean they are less important, the history create conscience, YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST !

This is why i want to share this movie with you. ----> Mississippi Burning.

"In a small town in a southern state of the United States disappear three activists for civil rights, fighting for equal rights. Two of them are white and one black. The FBI responsible for two officers to investigate the case. One of them is Ward, who comes from the North and is liberal, and the second is Anderson , former sheriff in Mississippi, a cynical man who knows southern society. Each of them has their own idea of how solve this issue, but this is not going to be a easy case, because the black people were afraid of talk with the police. The film is based on real events". 

"The day in which blacks are not pointed with the finger or observed in the streets as something "exotic", will be the day that we will have made progress".

I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT. 

Slave Name: Losing their identities

The greatest boxer Muhammad Ali used to be called Cassius Clay, that was his slave name, and he rejected it, therefore he changed his name to a name with that he could felt identified.
If you want to know more about the history of Muhammad Ali, click here->I AM THE URL o/

During the XVIII and XIX centuries african slavery was legal in the United States. To enslave africans, slave owners changed their last names to identify them as their own and to have an easier way of name them.

The name change that caught my attention was the new name of Malcolm Little. He changed his name to Malcolm X. I think that it was the most protestant name against discrimination and the years of slavery that their ancestors lived, because he used a "X" as surname. An X in mathematics is used to identify an unknown number, in this case he used a X to show that he had an unknown surname.

In a TV show, a man interviewed Malcolm, that man asked to Malcolm X about his surname and Malcolm gave an explanation about how he had no surname, the father of his father lost his surname when he was enslaved. Regrettably, the man don't understood it and continued asking the same. That was when Malcolm told him that he completely rejected the name.

Here is the video to you to understand better what happened:

If we think in our culture, it may be that our ancestors were Mapuches, then probably we also have lost our identity because of colonization or slavery. African Americans were deprived of their authentic culture, maybe our community were deprived of our authentic culture too, without notice and without concern for the loss of a very rich culture. Do you feel that you don't belong to this society? Or do you just feel comfortable with the surname that you have? Even if it doesn't was originated here in Chile?

I want to share some Mapuche's surnames and their meaning:

I hope you enjoy this and share your comments with me :)