Response Paper to McKnight

Building Communities from the Inside Out: a Path toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets described the two common ways that our society takes in rebuilding a troubled community. The most common, and often least effective, way is to identify all of a communities needs. However, as the article points out, focusing on all of the negative aspects only hurts the community more. To me, the first thing that comes to mind is everything that you see in the movies. Unless it is from a community members’ point of view, lower income areas are portrayed as dangerous and void of morality. By zeroing in on the negative and lacking parts of that area, the people from outside of it form a degrading mindset and think of it only as a needy area. In my opinion, the people from outside will eventually begin to resent the constant aid that they pour into the community. Eventually, stereotypes of “slackers” or people “cheating the system” start to take hold, and then the people that really DO need assistance will not receive it. Additionally, doing this starts to make the community’s own members view themselves and their area that way too. Soon there is little pride to be had from your community and you start to believe that you cannot survive without help from the outside.
The other method of building the community is to focus on all of its strengths and assets. By concentrating on the positive parts of the area, members of it can have a sense of pride in the change they are making. Plus, who knows more about a community than its own members? They will know best how to use its positive points to influence its deficient areas and promote growth. As McKnight points out, change happens when the people from within are the ones to implement it. There is nothing more gratifying than realizing that you do matter and can make a positive difference. Although it is important to not completely withdraw help from these communities until they can stand on their own, it is essential to let the members of it have a hand in the decisions being made.

The best part of this article was how I found myself applying it to other situations around the world. Currently in World Geography, I am learning about foreign aid: its history, the types, and the countries and organizations that give it. Take the African country of Malawi for instance; it is projected that within a few months nearly 5 million will be suffering from malnutrition due to the current famine. After years and years of aid, many contributors are saying that the best way to make this country change is to withdraw aid so that they may, “learn their lesson.” However, as feeding shelters begin to overflow and the effects of hunger ripple to other aspects of society, most of these people will not survive if food does not come soon. So what is to be done? I think that by using the methods of this article, some positive change might be implemented. Perhaps just giving money to the corrupt government is not the route to go, but if there is a way to involve the people in changing the irrigation system and building their own resources for grain storage, there will be hope.

Overall, I thought that reading this was an important way for us to look at changing communities. It certainly made me feel less hopeless for the situations that before this seemed doomed either way.

My Rough Draft of a Super-Initiative

I think that since the problem of racism lies mainly people's ideology, it is important to analyze how their ideology is formed. Personally, I believe that a what we learn as we grow up comes from three sources: Our parents, our schooling (curriculum/teachers), and the media. All of these influences form our sometimes subconscious outlook on life and the people around us.

Since it is not possible to legally enforce what a parent teaches their child, it is important that schools meet requirements to expose their students to the history and present day nature of different races and culture. By learning about the past, students can appreciate where these groups and thier customs come from and how that connects to today. When sharing current information on different races, these teachers will be exposing students to the reality of racism today, making it harder to deny.

As for the media, I think that directors, producers, and others in the entertainment business, need to be conscious in the stereotypes that they promote. If current laws for equal opportunity are enforced, a variety of people can shape and mold the message that gets sent to so many mass media hungry kids and young adults.

What the younger generation of now does will shape our future. If the community steps up and pushes their government in implementing rules for curriculum and erradicating these media images, there is hope. It is only a first step since there are some peoples' opinions you will never change, but is a strong step.

1st Hand Accounts and Super-Initiative Posts (3/13)

Response to Monica on 1st Hand Accounts:
Thank you for your account! I have shared one of mine on one of my early blog postings that most of you have seen and responded to. But another observation of mine going through a predominately white high school was that the real minority was the latin american or mexican students. Our prom king was born in Ethiopia, and our validictorian was Chinese, but no "popular" kid in our school was one that did not speak English well. I have found that that is one of the biggest propellors of racisim in America--"those who can't speak it shouldn't be here" or "learn English, this is America."


Post to my Group on our Super-Initiatives:
Sorry for all of the posts but after not being able to talk about some of this stuff for awhile, I have a lot on my mind. As a group, I don't think we have expanded on our super-initiatives either. During class we said some rough possible solutions were:
*To ignore it
*To push for laws like affirmative action to help minorities
*Advocate for laws, but only after more important issues are addressed
*Teach and include more of every race and culture in schools and the media
*Do not ask for new laws, but simply the enforcement of current ones

Let me know some other ones that you guys have come up with since then...because these are from awhile ago! :)

"Black. White."

So this past Thursday (9th), I watched a new show on FX called "Black. White." about two families that not only live together for awhile, but go out in public wearing costumes and make-up portraying them as the opposite race. I accidentally only taped half of it because I didn't realize it was a two-hour premire, but the hour that I did see was very interesting.
The black father felt liberated as this white man. He went golfing, bought golf shoes in the pro-shop that were placed on his feet for him, and got a job in a "white" community bar and resturant. He said that he felt in every experience that he was able to bond with these other white people simply because they thought he was white too. The job in the bar proved to be a useful tool for him also because he felt that he could ask about racial issues while people were in a relaxed atmosphere drinking and get a more honest answer than he would elsewhere as a black man. And actually he did...he asked one man about the town and if it was a nice place to live. The man, in so many words, told him that this was a good place to raise your childern and send them to school because it has been untouched by blacks and remains one of the few primarily white communities in the area. The man recommended moving to this town because unlike other towns with black people, it hasn't gone down the drain.
The white father seemed to be looking for something else as a black man. He kept waiting to be called a nigger so that he could have the opportunity to not get angry, and merely ask, "what makes you say that?" He also went to the car dealership and said he recieved the same service he would as a white man. And when trying to explain this to the other father at the end of the night, he proposed that maybe the black father is just looking for racism in every situation and that's why he misinterprets every reaction from others to be about race.
While the other characters went on their own adventures and delt with their own issues, the lighter topics of the show dealt with each family trying to teach the other one "how to be..." in the way they talked, walked, and sat.
I am pretty sure that it aired at 8:00 or 9:00...you should try to catch an episode and see what you think!

Second Definition Analysis Post (3/13)

To my group:
I haven't gotten any replies from you guys yet, but I hope to hear your ideas on a definition analysis soon. My definition is that racism is just a matter of changing the ideology that stereotypes and the media emulate. While this is not easy, the best way that I can propose to start fixing this is to teach the children and young adults of America differently. They are this country's future, with minds much more open to change than older adults. While this is difficult , if we start by reshaping some common community stereotypes, it propels the individual to change his mindset and from there fed his ideas back out into the community. I do not believe this is strictly an individual or community issue. It is both. In fact, if you get further into the problem I believe that the thing causing racism the most is passivism. People hold these subconscious ideals and simply fail to impliment change because of them.

Drinking Posts (3/10)

Personal Stories Response:
I think that after all of the negative stories about alcohol (which my friends and I have definately had my share of too), I want to share a positive one. I had really liked one of my friends that I hung out with two summers ago. We had only met through friends a couple of months before, so I didn't think that he would like me too. One night, him, my friends, and I all were hanging out playing cards and watching a movie...very low key and just causually drinking. That night we really got to talk and know each other. We weren't tense or akward...not because the alcohol "loosened us up," but because it provided a common social ground and we were able to be ourselves and relax. Because of the way he acted I could totally tell that he felt the same way about me and after a week or so we started dating. A year and a half later we are still together. I found out months later that he had just been so nervous because he didn't think I felt that same way. And I think that if we hadn't been in the kind of relaxed enviornment that drinking with friends provided, he wouldn't have asked me out, so soon at least. The important part though, is that we watched are limits. Neither of us wanted to be a drunken, puking fool in front of each other...what kind of impression does that make?


Suggestion Response:
The inside of the bars are definately gross. I know that by the time that most people get drunk they don't care, but the puke out on the street goes right along with the dirty atmosphere inside of the bars. While the idea of the cleaning crew seems an easy fix, that means that the police will need to spend more money to increase the number of officers they have going out to write up tickets. Even if it wasn't the people who recieved tickets that did the cleaning, SOMEONE would need to pay for the crew. I'm not saying it's not a possible solution, but all of this options reprecussions need to be evaluated.

Reviving Ophelia Response

Quite honestly, the most striking and true part of this reading is that we have become numb to the sexist way in which the media and our culture portray women. I went to a Catholic school in middle school and have very conservative parents, so I feel that these two factors helped me avoid the drugs, sex, alcohol, and violence that many of these girls faced. I was not allowed to see movies above my ratings and my parents had to see them first. While all of these precautions protected me from the more serious effects that accompany growing up, they did not protect me from the other struggles mentioned. I lost my interest in science, even though I had advanced to the regional level for science fair, I felt awkward about all of my physical changes, and I didn’t feel like I had a lot of close friends.

In fact, my changes in interest relates very much to a study I recently learned about in my personality psychology class. It has been shown that girls are more academically successful in grade school than boys, yet by the time they reach middle school, they have fallen behind, most notably in math and science. The cause for this shift was in part due to the praises and criticisms girls received. While boys were corrected or praised for their effort, girls received comments on their ability. This led girls to believe that their intelligence was fixed and that they could not get any smarter. Imagine, if it has been found that most girls feel this way about their intellect, what else do they feel this way about?

When I got to high school freshman year, I found the best friends I will ever have in the theatre department. I was known as the “sheltered one” because of the way I dressed, music I listened to, and the movies I had seen. While in most ways, I am grateful for the way that my parents raised me, I feel saddened that they had HAD to shelter me. Luckily, my high school experience was one of the best of my life, but I can hardly remember who I was in middle school. I do not know if that is because I have changed, or because I have remained the same.

In reading this, I also began to analyze my personal relationship with my boyfriend. I love him very much and feel that he respects me, but I wonder sometimes what the future will bring. I am going to college so that one day I can find success in a career. But how will I juggle the hopes I have of being there for my children with my own personal goals for larger success? His support with either decision is a given, but never have I heard mention of him planning on being a stay at home dad. The issue is always what will I do when we have kids...not what will he do.

I think it is very important that we fight the double standard that exists for women. While I admit that even I have connected feminism to being anti-male, I think that the simple approach of conscious awareness is best in eradicating this view. I want there to be more than four choices for women. We should have the choice to prosper, excel, and dominate, not just conform, withdraw, be depressed or get angry. If we allow our sexist society to douse these young women, we could lose some of the world’s brightest stars.

A positive part of U of I

I know it may seem unoriginal, but for class on Monday the thing that I selected to display what I truely love about U of I is the students' dedication to the sports. Even if you forget about the standings of our great Tennis, Gymnastics, Wrestling, and Basketball teams, and focus on our terrible football record, the athletics here really bring students together. I chose this picture because with everyone dressed in Orange, you get a sense of school pride...something to celebrate.

Response Paper to Muhammad Yunus

I was very interested to read about Muhammad Yunus because I found it relating very much to what I am learning in Geography 100. In fact, there is a great book called World Hunger: Twelve Myths that explores all of the common misconceptions about the causes of world hunger. One of the myths is that there is an actual shortage in the quantity of food. The book then continues to dispute this myth by saying it is not a lack of quantity, it is a lack in proper distribution. In many countries around the world, the new technology and food producing methods being introduced will not help if the government and social systems continue to allow uneven allocation of food. I think that this is exactly what we see in the reading by Mr. Yunus. The wealth, food, and land are simply not distributed evenly, creating extreme stratification and gaps within society.

However, he was not satisfied with these gaps and set out to do something about it. That is what I find so striking. Many of us are discontent with the status quo sometimes, yet we do nothing about it. Mr. Yunus went into the actual communities to meet one on one with the people. He got to know the individual, not their stereotype. The negativity associated with certain members of the community just because of their social status is set in the government and banks as well. I find it tragic that these institutions discriminate based no class statures. Even when Muhammad Yunus proved that lending to these people was effective and could work, he was met with stubbornness.

The frightening thing is that I had never even heard of the Grameen Bank before this reading. My question in that is, why? Why is this method not being employed around the world? I think that sadly the large corporations or more powerful people are more concerned with making money than spreading equality. Thoughts like that bring about the realization that perhaps we need to be like Muhammad and zoom in on the problems in our community because often that is the only way to get things done. This reading has certainly proved to me that one person is never too small to accomplish such a large feat. I am having difficulty in finding a solution my own community issue of racism because it seems a hopeless task for one person. Changing that mindset, like Mr. Yunus, is the start. Just imagine the possibilities if everyone discarded that way of thinking?

Posts (2/16, 2/22, 3/5, 3/08)

Documentaries/Films about Race & Racism
In Response to Ruqaiyah on Dave Chappelle's Interview with Oprah:
I saw that interview and thought it was very interesting. Especially when Oprah explained her experience interviewing members of the KKK. For those of you who did not see the interview, she said that she had invited them on the show as a way to expose them to the world. During a commercial break, one of the members on stage raised his fist in triumph to a member in the audience who was saying, "Get her!" She said she then realized that she had instead inadvertantly given them a voice, a way to spread their ideology and that she never wants to do that again.

Sources
In Response to Stephanie:
I think this would be a great way to zoom in and really take a particular place as a model for the broader issue.

Definition Analysis
Ok, so we have all had trouble understanding exactly what we are supposed to be doing to define the problem. But I think in an effort to collaborate for our final super-initiative, people could share the main reason for how they define the problem. I know in class we had briefly discussed that we think the issue is all about people's ideology, but there has to be something CAUSING this ideology...and THAT'S what we need to focus on. Post your ideas!

What's going on?
In response to Samantha for the Cancer in Champaign-Urbana Group:
I got an e-mail saying that teams can register tomorrow at the Union 10A.M.-3:00P.M. (I am not positive that the ending time is correct). Registration is $50 per team. I am sorry that I forgot to announce this to our group in class today. Since we will probably miss tomorrow's fundraiser, I am sure that there will be another date. If anyone passes the tables tomorrow, please get information on when and where else we can register so that we can share that information on Monday/via the message boards.