For Research Methods (On Critically Conscious Research: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research)

The Hyphenated African

             This week’s reading really inspired me to be creative. This concept of critically conscious narrative/counternarrative made me think about how to use narration to “de-Other” by allowing someone to “imagine the mind of the oppressed and to see, and perhaps vicariously experience, the world through their eyes” (Willis et.al 112). My friend and I were brainstorming when she came up with the idea of writing a narrative about racial identity, but exchanging our narratives with one another in order to get both the experience of being “the other” as well as getting to see the world through someone else’s eyes (I think I said that right). Basically, the idea is that each person starts to write their own story, you trade papers with one another, and then you add on to the other person’s story from your own perspective. Once we made sense of it, we decided to add my mother and my niece to the equation.

                

            We chose to write about the different perspectives in the racial identity of being African-American, and whether or not the “hyphen” is the absence or presence of identity. We call it: The Hyphenated African. My friend is east African, and she wrote about identifying as “African”. I wrote about identifying as just “American”. We had my mother write about identifying as both African and American—hence the need for hyphenation (mainly because she was around for the all the name changes, movements, and racist stuff). Then I had my niece write about how she identifies herself, because she is mixed and requires more hyphens to define who she is (pretty perceptive for a 10 year old). Here’s what we came up with:

Zam Zam: Growing up I was told to be proud about my heritage. I was told not to forget my history. To do so would disgrace all those who died protecting it in the civil war in Somalia. My mother even took it so far as to check the "other" slot when filling out documents asking about race. Even though we were naturalized as US citizens, she refused to check African-American. She refused to consider she was hyphenated in any manner. Eventually this rubbed off on me. You see I'm not a first generation--- I'm an immigrant like my mother from Somalia. I came here at the young age of 5, at times I'm so Americanized that I relate more to the American culture than my African one. However, in the end, I can tell I don't fit in the African-American culture. The label doesn't capture the collective experiences I've had in my lifetime. I may look African-American but I identify myself as African who is American. I am not hyphenated nor will I accept that label.

Me: I am not African. I am not from Africa. I am from America. I was born on American soil, to American parents, and many of my ancestors were Native American. I am more than just the descendant of former slaves. Although it is a part of my history, I refuse to allow slavery to define my identity. You cannot “hyphenate” me. You cannot “Other” me, create a separate label for me, but still allow me to be an “—American”. I was an American before there was an America.  

Mom: Our ancestors were brought from Africa as slaves to America. Our people helped to build this country, and because they were slaves they never got any pay for their work. Without the work of slaves there wouldn’t be an America. Our ancestors earned the title of American. The best way to describe Black people is African American. Black is an acceptable way to refer to us, or Negro if you know how to pronounce it correctly.

Ladybug: (Note: because of her age I had her answer questions rather than write a paragraph)…

            Q: What are you? (Name all).

                        A: German, Irish, French, Indian, Black, White, Black-Frenchman

Q: Are you African? Why?

A: No, I don’t think I’m African because out of all the parts I’m made of that’s not on my list.    

            Q: Are you American? Why?

A: Yes. Because I am free. An American is someone that was born and raised in America.

            Q: Are you African-American? Why?

                        A: No. Because I’m only American which is halfway not fully African American.

For Research Methods (On Critically Conscious Research: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research)

CDA, Critical Ethnography, and some other stuff...


Where to begin? There is so much information covered in this section 500 words just isn't enough to cover it all. There were a couple of parts that stood out to me the most. First, was the part about CDA--mainly because Dr. P. had us write one about a movie for class last year. Thinking critically about a movie takes all of the fun out of it--you develop this critical consciousness and have a heightened sense of awareness to everything. Next thing you know, every movie, every TV show, every commercial is racist and sexist and homophobic, and you're walking around in awe of how much of this stuff you were completely oblivious to. For example, Dr. P. had us read an article he wrote about the movie Shrek. I wasn't really interested in the movie before, but I never thought about it beyond it being a kid's movie with Eddie Murphy playing a stupid donkey.  After reading his article, I was amazed at how much racism I missed and had to go back and watch the movie. You can check out the article here.

Critical ethnography also got my attention. I wish there was more information on it, but the little overview made me want to do some more research into it. I liked Quartz's idea that critical ethnography "attempts to re-present the 'culture', the 'consciousness', or the 'lived experiences' of people living in asymmetrical power relations" (Willis et. al 55). In particular, I like the use of the word "re-present" instead of represent. Instead of trying to speak for that group of people, you are using their own words to present their culture, consciousness, and experiences. Big difference to me. The one thing that does bother me about this is how women and non-whites keep getting left out of the equation. How is it possible to focus on oppression, or oppressed people and not take their contributions into consideration?

The critically conscious study of whiteness and sexual orientation both interested me as well. I am a huge fan of Tim Wise (which is why I will post his video below), and for some reason language and sexual orientation both confuse and interest me. I think this is largely due to the fact that this is still new to me, but I am also realizing that I am at a disadvantage when talking to homosexual and transsexual people. It's has more to do with identity and language, but I've found that the lines aren't as clear to me as when I am dealing with something like race. Anyway, since I love visuals I wanted to add the Tim Wise video on whiteness. Hope you like it.

For Research Methods (On Critically Conscious Research: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research)

Hegel's Master/Slave Relationship...


For some reason, Hegel's Master/Slave relationship example stuck in my mind while I was reading. Immediately, my mind went to chattel slavery and colonialism. It amazes me that Hegel could make this association with consciousness, but still believe that black people "had not historically or  intellectually evolved to consciousness and, at best, could only seek to imitate White males" (Willis et al. 9). How can Hegel acknowledge that consciousness comes from this type of relationship, and the desire for freedom, but not acknowledge the consciousness of black people who were slaves, or victims of colonial oppression? I particularly appreciated Fanon's response that basically argues black people have their own consciousness that is unique (not universal) to their experience of oppression, and not merely an imitation of white people: "I am wholly what I am. I do not have to look for the universal...My Negro consciousness does not hold itself out as a lack. It is. It is its own follower." (qtd. in Willis et al. 21).

His misunderstandings of Black consciousness (while understandable), do seem to reflect his own racism--if only in his concept of Universality. However, the book does point out that there is a "universalistic position" in the Master/Slave relationship where "slaves become conscious of their masters' dependency on the slaves' labor and obedience" (Willis et al. 10). Of course, when you add chattel slavery and good ole Willie Lynch to the equation, it seems rather difficult to make this position universalistic. In fact, it makes Hegel's idea of imitation a tad bit more palatable in the sense that American slaves didn't fully "develop a personal sense of reality based on new understandings" (Willis et al. 10). In other words, the Master used language as a tool of oppression in order to "inculcate dominant ideologies through speech and literature in the lives of the less powerful" (Willis et al. 22), and it is this dominant ideology that would be the foundation of the American slaves' understanding. The American slave, in particular, would have his/her reality shaped by, based on, the understanding of white people from the moment they were brought to this country and stripped of their own culture, language, etc., and given the language/literature of their oppressors. This is another reason I love Fanon :-).

So, seeing as how I'm a visual person, I'm really tired, and I haven't had the opportunity to throw a video in on these posts as of yet.  I found a video on Fanon. It talks about some of this stuff in there. Hope you like it.

For Research Methods (On the case: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research by Dyson and Genishi)

Generalizations Can Be A Good Thing?

            I think that the word “generalization” caught me off guard in this last chapter. I tend to want to disregard any type of generalizations as weak inferences based on perfunctory stereotypes, and/or limited knowledge or experience. Whenever I encounter a particularly obscure generalization I feel most obligated to expose any ignorance. Of course, not all the time…just usually when I am involved in a discussion about sexism or racism, and someone says something reeeeally stupid. Like when a black guy says that he only dates white/asian women, because of black women’s’ xyz (usually an independent, emasculating attitude), and never admit that his attributing a personally negative experience(s) to all black women is just an excuse to not take any personal responsibility for the failure of his past relationships and the women he chose to be with. I think it bothers me more when someone presents a generalization as an absolute fact, and not a general truth based on limited information (or personal opinion).  

            Anyway, when I really thought about it I realized that generalization isn’t as bad as I thought. I know that I generalize as well, since it is something that all human beings do in order to make sense of the world. Our brains want to place people/things into organized, categorized compartments, so we can associate new information with old information we have already placed in these spaces. That way we can “become more sensible in our actions…[by] modifying, extending, or adding to [our] generalized understandings of how the world works” (Dyson and Genishi 115). This is what is called “naturalistic generalization” in the book (Dyson and Genishi 115).

            The “propositional generalization—assertions about how a studied phenomenon was enacted in a case” was a little more confusing (Dyson and Genishi 114). Unless I read it wrong, I thought that this concept was the whole point of a case study (in general I mean), because you are relating the study of something or someone in particular to something of a broader context. Isn’t that the goal of research anyway? I don’t know, maybe I am overthinking this. I do that, too. I was also confused with the statement about where lines between the case and the phenomenon are blurred: “The detailed work of case study research thus detracts from, rather than contributes to, the analytic, comparative construction of knowledge” (Dyson and Genishi 118). The example of a study leading to the implication that a child should run around unsupervised talking to strangers seemed to be a bit of a stretch. Maybe I missed something…

For Research Methods (On the case: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research by Dyson and Genishi)

Data Collection and Analysis

It’s interesting that the reading for this week covered data collection--more specifically audiotape. I went home last week to check on my mom after she got out of the hospital, and she let me know about yet another book idea she had for me to write about. This time she wants me to write about my aunt going from rags to riches by becoming a madam. Mind you she gets a new book idea, or reworks an old one, every few weeks--and we haven't written anything yet. This is due to the fact that she still has ideas in her head, and has not put any notes down on paper for me. The problem is we haven't been able to find an easy way for her to get the words out of her head. She decided to get Dragon Dictate so she could just talk and have the words typed directly into the computer for her, but as my boyfriend was setting everything up I realized that this was getting way too complicated for her. Then he made the suggestion of her using a digital voice recorder to take notes, and found a wireless digital recorder with DNS (Dragon Naturally Speaking) that we can set up to download files directly into Dropbox. That way I can have the audio file be transcribed directly by Dragon without having to type anything. How freakin' awesome is that? I think at that moment the Heavens opened up, and angels started to sing. I think this might actually work (if she actually uses it), so be on the lookout for my first novel. 

As for data analysis, what caught my attention here is the coding. I don't think I've ever done it before, but when I think back I have seen and heard about it without knowing what it was. I remember one conversation with my dad about his study habits, and how he was working on his dissertation. He told me he had used tons of index cards, different colors, labels, etc. to organize his information. I never really thought about this again until I was helping a friend write her index cards. She had the responses from people, and had noticed patterns of certain words. She color coded each response, and used different color index cards/highlighters/pens for the different words. It was pretty interesting how she had this rainbow of data, and how easy it was to see patterns this way. I'm not all that excited about going through all of that work myself, but it seemed to pay off in the end.  

For Research Methods (Research Design by Creswell and On the Case: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research by Dyson and Genishi)

Mixed Methods and Considering the Case

So, I hate to say it, but I was kind of bored reading the mixed methods chapter. I’m sure it is because it is not relevant to my thesis research, and not because the information itself was actually boring. Anyway, it seems a lot of mixed methods research has to do with explaining mixed methods—what it is, why you are using, how you use it, who has used it before, which strategy you are using, the order you use qualitative and quantitative methods/data, the type of data (along with a visual), etc. Apparently, this is due to mixed methods research being “relatively new in the social and human sciences as a distinct research approach” (204). I’m sure there is just as much justification in the other methods of research, but for some reason this stood out so much more in this chapter.

There were two parts that I found the most interesting in this chapter, the strategies and data analysis. Honestly, I didn’t think that there would be so many different strategies in a mixed methods design. The six of the twelve strategies outlined in the chapter are sequential explanatory, sequential exploratory, sequential transformative, concurrent triangulation, concurrent embedded, and concurrent transformative. In all three sequential strategies, the data collection is two-phase with one following the other. In sequential explanatory, the quantitative data is collected and analyzed first, and secondly, the qualitative data is collected and analyzed in order to “explain and interpret [the] quantitative results” (211). Sequential exploratory is the same approach, but the order is switched—qualitative data is collected and analyzed first, and then quantitative data is collected and analyzed in order to “assist in the interpretation of qualitative findings” (211). Side note: I found it interesting that this model would make a qualitative study “more palatable” for an audience unfamiliar with qualitative research (212). The sequential transformative uses a theoretical lens to “guide the study” (212), and it doesn’t matter if qualitative or quantitative comes first or is used to support the other.

 The same is with the three concurrent strategies in which both qualitative and quantitative data are collected simultaneously. In concurrent triangulation, both qualitative and quantitative data are collected at the same time, and then the results merged or integrated/compared into two databases for a side by side discussion (213). Concurrent embedded has the same one phase of data collection, but has a primary method that “guides the project and secondary database that is embedded, or nested, within” (214) the primary method. The embedding of the secondary database means that it either addresses a separate research question or “seeks information at a different level of analysis” (214). The concurrent transformative uses a specific theoretical perspective along with the concurrent data collection, but can use either the triangulation or embedded models in its design.

The approach to data analysis that caught my attention is data transformation. Why? I don’t know…The idea of having to “quantify the qualitative data” or to “qualify quantitative data’ intrigued me. I’m not entirely sure how you qualify quantitative data, but I think I’m probably overthinking it.

Since I am already over my word limit, AND since Dyson and Genishi was so straightforward I will keep my discussion of that book really short. Basically, to me the idea here is that “adults and children interpret their meanings in particular situations through interactions with others” (Dyson and Genishi 18). The role of the researcher is to use “methods of observation and analysis [of other people’s interactions] to understand other’s understandings” (Dyson and Genishi 12). In other words, the researcher interprets other people’s interpretations of meanings through observing their interactions with other people. 

For Research Methods (Research Design by Creswell)

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Methods

Chapter eight really seemed like a review from my experimental psychology course. I pretty much remembered most of the things discussed here, but I don’t think I remember them being this involved. Now I kind of wish I had participated in one of my professor’s big research projects, so I would be more familiar with the methods sections of a much larger research project than what I actually did. On another note, I think I have used the survey method more than once, and I found it interesting that there is a website called SurveyMonkey.com (149) that will do all of that work for you. That would have come in handy.

Anyway, for the most part I again noticed difference between qualitative and quantitative research. One thing that stood out to me was the procedures. In quantitative research, the objective is to use a smaller sample to represent a large population, and seems to depend more so on the randomness of the sample participants for accuracy (148, 155). In qualitative research, the researcher must “purposefully select participants or sites…that will best help the researcher understand the problem and the research question” and is not dependent upon the random selection of participants for its readers understanding (178).

There is also the instrument that is used to collect data. In quantitative research, a thorough discussion of the type of instrument used, its validity and reliability, who created the instrument, and how that instrument is going to be used to collect data are necessary to the methods section (149). However, in qualitative research, the researcher collects data by looking at documents, observing, and interviewing and don’t necessarily rely on outside instruments because, “researchers are the ones who actually gather the information” (175).

There is also a difference with regard to bias. In quantitative research, the response bias has to do with whether or not the results would have changed if nonrespondents had responded, and the researcher must check for this type of bias and record the procedures used (151-152). The researcher in qualitative research deals with their own personal bias, and has to include information about their own biases, values, past experiences, and any background information that “may shape their interpretations formed during a study” so that the reader can better understand the researcher’s findings (177).

The last thing that stuck out to me was the protocol. This is something that is new to me. I can’t remember it being brought up in research as an undergrad, and I did do some observation and a case study where I conducted interviews. Basically, I was told to write down what I see, hear, smell, feel, and taste—that’s it. The interview protocol is actually quiet helpful, and while some of it seemed simple enough there were things, such as the ice-breaker question, probes, and instructions, that would have made my work much easier. 

For Research Methods (Research Design by Creswell)

Creswell: Introduction, Purpose Statement, Research Questions and Hypotheses

I have been reading proposals to get an idea of what I need to do for my thesis proposal. I have to admit that I have been really confused. These three chapters have actually helped me understand what I am supposed to be doing. I still have some questions specific to my project, but at least I know how to start. One thing that I have noticed is that I have quantitative research on the brain. I am used to doing research in psychology, and it is a lot different than what I will be doing in my thesis. I think that since I want to think in quantitative, while doing qualitative research is probably what is confusing me.

The introduction chapter is pretty straight forward. The deficiencies model makes things so much easier to outline. In qualitative research, the researcher explores the problem through a particular theoretical lens, and may use personal experiences ( 98-99). I found this to be the most beneficial, because I can tell about my own experience in relation to the problem I am researching. The research problem needs to engage the reader right away, clearly identify what the problem is that is being studied, and why it is important to study it. The review of studies almost sounded like a literature review, but I think of it as establishing what research has been done and how your research adds new knowledge to what is already known. Why your research is important is the significance of a study for audiences.

The purpose statement is another area that was confusing me. Maybe this is because my idea is too broad. Anyway, I see that it basically says what you intend to find in the study, who you are studying, and where you are studying them (112). What also threw me off was that in chapter seven it says in qualitative research you use research questions instead of objectives (129). Part of the purpose statement is to state your objectives, so I was a little unsure of what it meant.

The central question of the research questions was the same way. If you have to focus on a single concept in the study, how do you then ask a very broad question about the study (129-130)? I am probably overthinking this, but it didn't seem to make sense when I was reading it.

From Computers and Writing (Computers and Writing)

I think by now you all know how much I love to add videos into my blog posts (You're welcome!). It should be no surprise to anyone that I went to YouTube to find a video that would help explain cyborg pedagogy. Unfortunately, I had trouble finding anything remotely related to it. I did find some really cheesy videos about cyborg teachers in the classroom. I actually wasn't going to post it, but i couldn't resist...



Ok, there you go...Outside of RoboTeach I did find a video essay by a student. S/he did their video on Sue Hum (Inman 105) and her quote in his book on technology and cultural gestalt. I tried to find it in the book, but I couldn't. If you find it let me know. it was actually pretty interesting. Here it is...



The last video I have is something I just wanted to throw in because I thought it was pretty cool. I can't remember what show I was watching, but this new type (or old because I'm not sure how old the show was) of android was being developed by a Japanese robotics professor named Hiroshi Ishiguro. This is like a life-like android that is supposed to feel, think, and everything humans do. It is the merging of man and machine: a cyborg. Hope you like it...

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (Latino Education Crisis)

Latino Education Videos

Just wanted to share a couple of videos I found about the author, and the subject of Latino/a education.

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (Latino Education Crisis)

Latino Education Videos

Just wanted to share a couple of videos I found about the author, and the subject of Latino/a education.

Digital Griots eBook

From Computers and Writing Class (Enculturation)

Digital Griots

The article I read basically reviewed the book, Digital Griots by Adam J. Banks. I caught my interest because it talked about using Hip Hop, Ebonics, and African Storytelling in the classroom. I am really interested in using Hip Hop music to educate students, and I think it could be used in a variety of ways to teach English, music, media, and performance to name a few. Of course, I went to YouTube to see if there were any videos about it. There are a few examples of it, but the ones below made the most sense to me. I think that using music/video to tell your story is an interesting way to get students involved in their own education. I wish I could have found a good Hip Hop video example though. Maybe someone else knows of one.

The article also talks about applying Hip Hop DJ skills to the remixing of text. It made me think of a poem performed by a poet named Faylita. She took two poems and "remixed" them together, making the "scratching" sounds with her voice. I think this is a great visual example of how to use Hip Hop, poetry, digital media, and rethinking text in the classroom.



I found one that was an old interview with the author about his thoughts.

Trayvon Martin sign in Dearborn

From Computers and Writing Class (Computers and Compositon)

Remixing

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S8755461508000704

http://www.rebirthofanation.com/

From Computers and Writing Class (C&C Online)

Image manipulation article

http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/ethics_special_issue/DEVOSS_PLATT/

Examples

Dove commercial

Beyonce

From Computers and Writing Class (Trolling)

Blog on trolling from class....

http://colethetroll.blogspot.com/

What is trolling? According to the blog: Wikipedia states that "In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[4] The noun troll may refer to the provocative message itself, as in: "That was an excellent troll you posted".

Check out the video



and this other article and video about a man who got jail time for trolling here...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-14894576

For Computers and Writing (C&C and Enculturation Journals)

Rethinking Muslim Women Through Visual Arguments

Two of the articles I read made me think about a commercial I recently viewed on a blog. The first article is about image events. According to the article: "Image events are a subcategory of visual arguments. More specifically, John Delicath and Kevin Deluca have defined image events as "staged acts of protest designed for media dissemination" (315) that offer a powerful way to appeal to audiences. That is, image events provide "fragments of arguments" that break away from established order, in opposition to common or conventional logic. They foster public discussion by offering fresh, new ways to look at issues at hand by supplying new claims and refutations that fuel debates in the public sphere" (Yanoshevsky 1). While probably more suited for political posters than a lingerie commercial, the article made me think about how the commercial is still very much a visual argument. It is designed in a creative way to make people rethink what they think about Muslim women. The idea that Muslim women are oppressed, docile, boring, and in need of democratic rescue is being directly confronted by the sexy images of the woman in the commercial.

The second article was about using Arab Spring in a first year composition classroom. I think it probably stood out to me as it is a social justice project. The articles defines Arab Spring as "a new kind of revolution—what Wael Gohnim calls, “Revolution 2.0”—where conventional forms of civil disobedience are transformed by the capabilities of new media technology. Its participants are Millennials who use technology to both innovate and compose as a means to demand change from their governments" (Lutz 1). It made me think about the different ways that media, social media in particular, can be used to bring about change. I've read about political bloggers and Writers Without Borders that have been targeted for doing something similar to Arab Spring. It made me think about the commercial because of the "hijab bans", murders of Muslim women like Shaima Alawari, and the belief that Muslim women who cover are being oppressed. While the commercial is not a direct confrontation to the governments that are supposed to oppress Muslim through forced covering (or uncovering for that matter), it does seek to change the way that Muslim women are viewed which may influence the governments that are trying so desperately to liberate them (if only they knew what was really underneath that veil).

FYI: it is a little "racy" but the twist at the end is cool.

For Writing for Social Justice (The Latino Education Crisis)

The Problem With Affirmative Action

The problem for some with affirmative action is that it "discriminates against nonminorities by offering opportunity on the basis of the color of people's skin rather than on merit" (36). The problem for me is that minorities have been discriminated against and denied opportunity on the basis of skin color rather than merit for longer than affirmative action has been in place. If there had truly been equal opportunity than there wouldn't have been any need for affirmative action. Are nonminorities really being discriminated against, or is the problem that they are no longer the ones who are being privileged?

My other problem is in the notion that minorities are being "victims" and somehow lowers their "motivation to complete on a level playing field" (36-37), as if there was, or would be, a level playing field without it. I also disagree with the notion that affirmative action gives minorities an unfair advantage and gives them an opportunity that they otherwise didn't deserve. It goes back to their being an equal playing field. If high schools were equal (and No Child Left Behind really didn't place certain children ahead others), then the minority students would be entering into college on a level playing field and the system could be based on merit instead.

For Computers and Writing Blog (Literacy in the New Media Age)

Next digital project idea?

Ok, so since a couple people have asked about what idea I was playing with in my head for my next digital essay here's the links. I'm not 100% sure how I would do it, but it would be something like this...

This is the theme song to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with the lyrics included just in case you've never heard it.

And this is what I would like to do although I'm not 100% sure I would use emoticons. I do want to show how images and text and sound all have a role in literacy. It might help to push play and then scroll down to the picture below. Let me know what you think.

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?)

One-drop Rule

I kind of wish that Tatum had gone more into the Japanese and Black mixing, since it is one that kind of interests me more and I know less about. I know I heard that Asian races are supposed to be more concerned with the purity of their races, and less accepting of mixed children. I have found that interesting since there is/was supposed to be a new trend in the Chinese people working in Africa causing more multiracial pairings than before. You can read about it here. One reason I find it interesting is because I have a lot of friends who self-identify with parts of Asian culture like Buddhism, martial arts, foods, music, and clothing--and absolutely love the Wu-Tang--but have never been successful in having a relationship or been totally accepted by the Asian community. On the other hand, I have also just finished reading a series about a young Sudanese boy who met and married a young Japanese girl, and went halfway around the world to get her back from her father after he had her kidnapped. Pretty interesting story...

Anyway, I have looked more into the White/Black racial mixing before. Mostly, because of my niece's identity crisis when she was a toddler. With all the psychological studies done on this very subject that I read through, I still couldn't find a way to help her make sense of who she was. I eventually realized that it was just something she was going to have to figure our for herself, and all I could do was be there as an example. While she still tends to "favor" her whiteness, at least she isn't as negative about her blackness as she used to be.

The book also made think about how racial classification mattered in other countries as well. The one-drop rule may have been specific to Americans, but it is no different than what was done under the Apartheid system in South Africa--probably because they based their system off of Jim Crow, etc. here in America. The 1983 case reminds me of this book called When She Was White by Judith Stone. I didn't know it was supposed to be a movie too. Here is the trailer:

For Computers and Writing Blog (Literacy in the New Media Age)

Rethinking Reading

I'm sort of getting into the idea of literacy being multimodal. This form of literacy does require rethinking what reading is, and how we do it. At some point, reading will include other forms of 'writing/text', such as images, music, hyperlinks, etc. We have to learn how to read and understand something that is not written only alphanumerically. As Kress puts it, "either we treat 'reading' as a process which extends beyond (alphabetic) writing, and includes images for instance; or we restrict 'reading' to the mode of alphabetic writing quite strictly, and attend separately to how meaning is derived from images" (141).

The way that we read images are different from the way that we read alphabetic letters. When I think about graphics in texts there are words or directions that you follow to make sense of the story. For example, in an article or book where the text is the focus, the images are used as illustrations of the text. Sometimes the text makes references to the images (i.e. Figure 1.1), the image has a textual caption, or the text is wrapped around the image itself. In comics/graphic novels, the images are the focus and the text is used to help explain what is going on. In comics there is a sort of "reading path" that guides you from one panel to another which makes the reading fairly easy (156).

It confuses me when I try to read my friend's Manga novels, or any visual/graphic poetry. My brain doesn't want to change the way it is used to reading. The Manga novels are read right to left, and back to front. When I first opened one I was completely thrown off by the arrangement. The visual/graphic poems still throw me if they are too abstract. I can understand writing a poem about a tree in the shape of a tree, but to write something in a way that plays with negative space and the direction of the reading path. This made me think about what I wanted to do for my next essay. I was thinking of showing how images and text can combine to show the meaning of song lyrics. We'll see how it works out.

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?)

Can You "Spot That Stuff"?

It's funny, I think I've seen this book at least a dozen times and never wanted to pick it up. I'm glad I finally did because I really like this book. There were so many areas that hit me I'm not sure where to begin...

While reading chapter three, I was really focused on how children really do notice skin color very early--even if they know better than to say so in public. The whole time my mind kept floating back to when my niece was about three years old. She is half white, and lives with the white side of her family (some of whom are racist or children of racists). She was having something of an identity crises, partly due to one of her "friends" picking on her about her skin color and curly hair. There were times when she wanted my mother to put makeup on her so she could look like us, and times when she wanted to run inside from the parking lot because she didn't want to "get dark" from being out in the sun.

My mother, brother, and I wondered where this could be coming from. What were they saying "over there"? Why didn't she want to be Black, or have anything related to Blackness (skin, hair, etc.)? I know there was more than one thing affecting her and her sense of self, and the white side of her life wasn't the only source. Then I started thinking about what racial images we see on television. Then I hit YouTube...That's where I found this:

Of course, these things aren't really on the mind of a three year old. They are looking at cartoons, right? Well, that's when I found a clip on racist cartoons. While I could think of a few more examples that could be added to this, I found myself a little confused about the racism in the Jungle Book clip. Maybe someone else can catch it...

Now, the one that really hurt my feelings was Dumbo. I used to watch that movie all the time, and never thought about the crows being racist. I just remember never really liking them...On the other hand, I can remember being slightly offended when cartoon characters would be covered in soot or gun powder with only their eyes and lips showing, but never connecting it to Blackface. To me, this is where Tatum's point about "learning to spot 'that stuff'--whether it is racist, or sexist, or classist--is an important skill for children to develop", and I couldn't agree more (47). It frustrates me to know that I was so oblivious to some of these things, and they were right in my face. Then I think about my niece. What does she see that I am missing? What opportunities to talk am I letting pass by the both of us?

From Computers and Writing Blog (Hypertext 3.0)

Internet Censorship

I was thinking about the ways that politics control the ways citizens use the internet, or media in general. The example of Singapore's government blocking internet access made me think about what is going on in Syria today. There is an article in BBC about how internet hackers found that the Syrian government was using American technology to block internet access. You can read about it here.

This is nothing new. It also happened in Egypt as well. I found a short video about the government's blocking of internet sites there as well.

I find it interesting that when governments want to keep their political affairs "private" they try to cut off people's access to the world. I don't think that we would have as much information about what is going on in Syria without the journalists on both sides providing the media with the photos, videos, articles, etc. The same goes for areas like the DR of Congo, and how the war that is being waged there is virtually going unnoticed. Which is not unlike what is going on in Zimbabwe. I am rethinking my long-held belief in how it is the media that spins stories. Maybe the government has more of a hand in what is shown to the public than I realized.

Writing for Social Justice Group Blog

Injustice in the HEB

Last week after class, Courtney, Julia, and Morgan went to the big HEB in San Marcos to look at the injustice of parents buying unhealthy foods for their families. This is a problem for several reasons:
· First, young children often don’t know enough about health and nutrition to make informed decisions about their diet or contradict their parents’ dietary decisions.
· Second, even if children know better than to eat the unhealthy foods their parents buy, they don’t have the economic means to feed themselves. If their parents choose to buy unhealthy food despite the children’s concerns, the children must eat it or go hungry.
· Third, the unhealthy food choices parents make affect their children doubly. On one level, it’s bad for the children when they eat it. On another level, it is bad for the parents when they eat it and their poor health can have even more negative consequences for the children.

We observed between five and ten parents (single and paired), including one obviously pregnant woman, buying groceries for their families, and all but one set of them had unhealthy food and beverage products in their shopping carts. We assumed the people we observed were parents either because they had products targeted toward children in their cart or they had children shopping with them. Even when the parents had unhealthy foods in their carts, they tended to also have some healthy foods, as well. Additionally, the parents who had more children with them tended to have more unhealthy foods and drinks in their carts. The foods and beverages we viewed as unhealthy included processed foods like American cheese, chips, crackers, hot dogs and sausage, cereal, other boxed snacks, ice cream, frozen pizza, and soda. On the other hand, we considered healthy, whole foods to be products like vegetables, fruits, unprocessed meats, dairy, and eggs.

Other noteworthy observations we made concerned race and sex. Most of the parents we observed buying unhealthy foods were Hispanic. The one set of parents that had only healthy food and drink in their cart looked white, and they had three small children with them. We also noticed that, when comparing the individual female parent shoppers to the individual male parent shoppers (whether they were “single” or not), the females tended to buy more than the males, potentially playing into the stereotypical gender role of mother as homemaker. The fact that one father/son shopping duo only had about three items in their basket, in addition to the time of day we conducted our observation, might also indicate that several of these parents were merely shopping to fill in the gaps of their food stocks. There are several factors involved in these trends as well as several possible explanations behind what we observed. It would be difficult to make assumptions, however, based on the limited information we had.

That said, our primary goal in this observation was to validate our belief that parents frequently buy unhealthy foods and drinks for their families, which we were able to do. If we were to take this observation further—into “action”—we would conduct more research to find out what the patterns of parent grocery shoppers are and the reasons behind those patterns, educate the community about the importance of making healthy food choices when grocery shopping, and find other ways to take action on the issue, for example through legislature, boycotts, organization partnerships with HEB, etc.

(This blog post was collaboratively written by the three of us.)

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (Rebel Girls)

Youth Perspective on Activism

I really had to stop and think about the role of youth in social activism. I never really thought about the unique perspective that youth have on youth issues. I am used to thinking of youth activists in the adult role of global human rights activists. Having been in groups since I was a teen, I realized that I took on the position that an adult would take. In Taft's example of the different ways that adults and youth focus child labor issues, I found myself somewhat confused. I would, and have, taken the position that child labor should be stopped, but the youth worker organization is more concerned with their rights like improving working conditions and having time for school (57). It never occurred to me that child workers may want to work, and simply need better conditions to work in. Totally mind-blowing...

This made me rethink the groups that target youth like Amnesty International and Invisible Children. Following the same example in Taft's book, I am wondering if say the child soldiers that IC fights for would prefer to have better conditions during war instead of being rescued from it. I don't know if I would agree with that, but I am wondering if it is adults pushing for this instead of really being what the children want. As far as AI goes, I noticed that the youth section still seems to take on the adult view, but gives youth-centered activities (remixing the song) or puts youth on the same level as adults. It still doesn't address a youth perspective about the same human rights issues. I hope that all made sense.

For Computers and Writing (Hypertext 3.0)

I am used to thinking of hypertext in the form of a hyperlink. Possibly because I took some web design courses and had to learn HTML, WYSIWYGs, etc. I tend to think of hypertext as code, and the links/images that it produces on the screen for you to click on. Again, I went searching for answers on YouTube. I easily identified with hypertext in this context:

I think this made the most sense, because it is a traditional view of what hypertext is. After thinking about the reading I think that this may be too narrow a definition for what hypertext really is. If hypertext "reconfigures text in a fundamental way not immediately suggested by the fact of linking", then what else can hypertext be (Landow 84)? The answer seems to be in the fact that hypertext is not just text but includes visual elements (hypermedia) that are not the same as hyperlinks.

I found this video rather interesting in that she had a definition of hypermedia as an "extension of hypertext". The book links the two terms together, because to Landow "hypertext systems link together passages of verbal text with images as easily as they link two or more passages of text" and can be used interchangeably since "hypertext includes hypermedia" (84). I think Landow's view is interesting because when I think of how a print book includes pictures it doesn't suddenly stop being a book. Is it still hypertext if it includes images? I think so. The definition of hypertext is expanding beyond the hyperlink, to includes any method of interaction with a text.

For Writing for Social Justice (Rebel Girls)

Empowerment?

Did anyone else have music playing in the back of their head? For some reason lyrics in John Mayer's Waiting on the World to Change and the chorus to We Are the World kept popping up in mine. Don't ask me why...

What got me the most was how Taft distinguished between activism and empowerment. This sort of threw me a little because I wanted to believe they were the same, or at least were seeking to accomplish the same thing. The more I think about it the more I realize that activism does emphasize social change, while empowerment tends to focus on personal change (28). When I think back to my Girl Scout days we were learning self-improvement skills instead of attending protest rallies. Not that I would have expected too many rallies to take place in my neighborhood (who would protest suburbia?), but when I think about it the focus was on us being better girls--and selling cookies.

I left Girl Scouts when I was little, and I was in my late teens when I became more of a social activist. I noticed that some friends I know who stayed in Girl Scouts for much longer seemed to focus only on themselves or on girl-only issues. On the other hand, I always found it interesting that there would be babies and young children at the same marches and rallies I was attending as an adult. These children were being exposed to activism at an early age. Some of them I have been able to see grow up and become activists themselves. It seems that activism is empowering, while empowerment doesn't always lead to activism.

Empowerment programs do seem to be rather individualistic (right Alyssa?), and about embracing the ideology of liberal feminism. I question how you can encourage social change and a sense of community when you focus so much on the individual...I also wonder about what this agenda means for girls from more conservative families, and the way they view empowerment and activism. Would conservative girls really be empowered in a liberal feminist program?

For Computers and Writing (Medium is the Massage)

Privacy and the Internet

I got rather tickled when I was reading McLuhan's book. For some reason, I was thinking he was talking about the effect the internet has on us all. When I got to the part about television it threw me for a minute. I had to go back and check the date this book was written. It is rather eerie how relevant his information is today.

A couple of things immediately jumped out at me. The idea that we are losing privacy in gaining technology is something that I keep seeing over and over in my news feeds. When it comes to the real life and death examples of the media in the lives of celebrities (i.e. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston) the "tyrannical womb-to-tomb surveillance [is] causing a very serious dilemma between our claim to privacy and the community's need to know" (12). While many people won't have their lives scrutinized by the entire world, they can be subjected to it on a smaller scale once someone updates their facebook status. It seems that even with privacy settings there still is very little privacy online. As McLuhan writes, "the older, traditional ideas of private, isolated thoughts and actions--the patterns of mechanistic technologies--are very seriously threatened by new methods of instantaneous electric information retrieval by the electrically computerized dossier bank" (12).

This reminded me of an article I saw on a British couple that were detained by DHS for making terrorist threats on twitter. You can read about it here. I think it is rather creepy to know that everything you type is being watched, even if it is supposed to be in the country's best interest. This could explain why facebook freezes when I am talking about a controversial subject.

The readings also reminded me about another article I read where a young girl complained about her parents on facebook. Not that this is anything out of the ordinary, especially after reading McLuhan's ideas about youth. What makes it interesting is the way that the girl was caught and the resulting aftermath. The girl tried to control her privacy by using the settings to block out her parents, but forgot to block the dog. When the parents logged in to the dog's facebook page they saw the girl's post (which means she didn't take into account her global family/neighborhood had expanded to include the dog). Apparently, the father thought a suitable punishment would be to shoot the computer, and of course it made the news. The article says that the father decided to respond via facebook to the media (which is where the whole problem started) and not do interviews. To me, it illustrates McLuhan's point about propaganda ending where dialogue begins, and how you must "talk to the media, not the programmer" (142). Check out the article here.

While I'm not sure how McLuhan has addressed this same topic today. It isn't the same as once having television characters beamed into your living room. Today friends, family, strangers, and the government can downright intrude into what you think is your own personal space--even with privacy settings. People can enter your thoughts, judge them, and then leave comments to tell you how genius or insane they believe you are. I think that it is important to realize how much more relevant this information is today.

For Writing for Social Justice (White Privilege)

Silence

Sometimes I wonder just what it is that white people are afraid of when it comes to dealing with antiracism. On the one hand I can understand how someone would fear "isolation..., ostracism..., rejection..., loss of privilege or status..., physical harm...", but part of me just doesn't get what the big deal is (Tatum 146). So it makes a white person uncomfortable to deal with their racism for a while, it makes everyone who isn't white uncomfortable all the time. The reality is that nonwhite people don't get to choose when and where we will deal with racism, and we surely don't get to take a break from being uncomfortable and go back to our regular lives. It just isn't an option.

What is an option is how we deal with the racism. Reading Tatum's article made me remember some of my frustrations with being silent in certain situations. I know that everytime I stay silent I am really disconnecting from my experience, and internalizing my own oppression (148). I think that when you realize that there is nothing you can do to stop racism from happening to you ,and the people you care about, it is easy to just give up, or get angry about it. I just want people to know "why I'm angry and not be offended by it" (149). I want people to know that it is not okay to dismiss racism as just an everyday fact of life, or say that it no longer exists. I want people to know that putting a black face on a racist act doesn't soften the blow or make it any less insulting.

Racism is an uncomfortable subject for us all. It is something that affects all of our lives. I think that it is important that we do break the silence, and not just during a particular situation. We need to have that meaningful dialogue when with one another when we are sitting at the dinner table, on the same pew, or in the same class. I myself recognize the need to understand how racism truly affects the lives of white people. I think that beginning to see how racism affects the lives of others and having a conversation about it takes us out of our comfort zones. The question is how long are we willing to be uncomfortable?

For Computers and Writing Blog (Writing Space)

Understanding Interactive/Hypertext Fiction

I found it rather difficult to wrap my brain around the chapter on interactive fiction. I decided to search the internet for examples only to end up even more confused. I tried to find Michael Joyce's story but the only place I saw it would have made me pay for it. So, I went to YouTube for some visual examples and found Shelly Jackson's Patchwork Girl which really left me even more confused. I just don't see how it is " simultaneously dissected and 'stitched', as the author puts it, into the fabric of the narrative" (157).




The IF sites I found called them games, and they could have graphics or not. To me, the confusion sets in in what IF really is. My mind wants to make it a sort of "interactive" book where you pick what part you want to read. In this sense, Saporta's book actually kind of makes sense to me. Although I do find it somewhat weird to call it a book even though it is unbound, it's the fact that you can "shuffle [the] pages like a deck of cards" that makes it interactive like other books where you might simply flip the pages for an alternate ending (148). I think what makes this unique is that the reader alters the entire narration of the story rather than keeping it in the same order but being able to flip back and forth. I found a video sort of explaining it, but I think that being able to read it would make it a lot easier.




On the other hand, I can sort of see how it could be considered a game where you act out a story. It reminds me of the narration that is in the games I play online, but I consider these games not interactive stories. Still trying to picture this whole thing I came across another video of an example of hypertext fiction. Honestly, this confused me too because it just doesn't seem to have any order to it, but at least I could see what the book was talking about.




While I may never become a fan of interactive/hypertext fiction I think that I have a slightly better grasp on what it is. I honestly think that I am being a late age of print fuddy duddy but I am okay with that. This is somewhat beyond my comfort zone. I am wondering if anyone else had trouble understanding this chapter?

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (White Privilege)

The Blame Game

So, I might go over the word limit with this, but I am so tired of people playing the blame game when it comes to racism. No, not every problem that black people face has to do directly with a white person. While some issues are directly and indirectly related to racism and prejudice, sometimes a black person really didn't lose their job because of The Man (in the form of their white boss) but because they had been showing up to work late and stealing from the store for months. Sometimes it is what we do, not what has been done to us, that leads to our detriment. Does it then mean that black people really do "suffer deservedly, because they do not take advantage of the opportunities offered them", or are "innately lazy and less intelligent...lack will power...[and prefer] welfare to employment..." (Lipsitz 86)? According to the polls it does.

That aside, what also tires me is when white people get defensive about the effects racism has on their lives. Either they are victims of "reverse discrimination--by which they usually mean race-specific measures designed to remedy existing racial discrimination, that inconvenience or offend whites...", or they are upset at being made to "feel guilty or unduly privileged because of things that happened in the distant past" (86-87). When anyone is dismissive about the legacy that slavery and post-Reconstruction has had (and still haves) on this country I am highly irritated anyway, but to lump all of the exasperation concerning problems plaguing the Black community as "grievances soley with slavery" and that they or their family didn't own slaves negates the reality of the experience black people had/have in this country because of it. What about "racialized social policies, urban renewal, or the revived racism of contempory neoconservatism" (88)? Or how about institutionalized racism, constitutional slavery, Jim Crow and the Black Codes, and all of the other post-Reconstruction practices that have been implemented and have nothing to do with owning slaves?

Not to mention that you didn't have to own slaves to benefit from slavery. As Lipsitz states, "This view [of not owning slaves] never acknowledges how the existence of slavery and the exploitation of black labor after emancipation created opportunities from which immigrants and others benefited, even if they did not personally own slaves" (88). This also applies to people who didn't live during segregation, and don't feel responsible for what their parents or grandparents did. The issue is not if they did anything but whether or not they benefitted from someone else doing it.

On the flip side, these same people never express any concern for what Black people have to live with and had passed down to them. Fear, distrust, anger, shame, pain, depression, etc. are a reality for those who are the descendants of slaves. As a Black person, distancing yourself from slavery means dismissing what your ancestors went through. If you honestly think about it, their ability to endure slavery is the only reason you exist today. Sometimes I really don't think people (white and black) really understand this. Forgetting isn't really an option. I digress...

From Writing for Social Justice Blog (White Privilege)

Why study Whiteness...

When I first heard about courses in whiteness studies I scoffed at the idea. We already
study white people. Our textbooks are full of historically notable white people. We read literature written by white people. Whiteness is everywhere. It is in our faces everyday. Why on earth would we need to "study" it? I've come to understand that whiteness needs to be studied precisely because it is in our faces everyday and no one questions it.

Unfortunately, what does get questioned is why "others" feel the need to be different, to define themselves, to create a separate space for their identity. One question I've heard more than once is "Why do they need BET?" as if the very notion of having one channel amongst hundreds that is devoted solely to Black Entertainment is somehow a form of reverse racism. Nevermind the racist conditions that led to the creation of BET, or the lowered standards it seems to now have, just the mere fact that there is still something that is "Black only" is what the problem is.

To me, this is what hooks was talking in her article about the rage that white students had when they listened to the Black students talk about whiteness. The belief that "all ways of looking that highlight difference subvert the liberal belief in a universal subjectivity (we are all just people) that they think will make racism disappear" conflicts with the reality of what nonwhite people have to deal with when it comes to race (21). There were hardly any shows on TV that had Black people in them, and there was no place for Black music videos on MTV (except for Michael Jackson who was the first). BET was created as a space to focus on Black issues, show programs featuring Black actors, and feature music of Black artists. That's why "they" need(ed) BET.

The other thing that caught my attention was the idea of being socialized in the fantasy of Whiteness that hooks and Dyer were talking about. More specifically, the idea that white people believe that black people believe that "whiteness represents goodness and all that is benign and non-threatening" (22). It made me wonder if this and the need to "'civilize and Christianize' the heathen, the savages, the less fortunate" is the view that inner city police take when they enter into poor Black and Latino/a neighborhoods (35). While there is evidence of racism in police brutality, I am wondering if the police truly believe that they are protecting and serving the "other" because they have bought into the fantasy of Whiteness? They are unable to see the reality that their very presence islikened to terrorism (22). I also think that class makes this hard to see as well. Middle class "others" would be more socialized into the fantasy than the working class because their interaction with white people is slightly different and they don't learn to fear them so quickly.

From Computers and Writing Blog (Writing Space)

eBooks are eVil

Just reading the introduction to Bolter's book made me realize just how much of a dinosaur I really am. Bolter's explanation that the "late age of print" is the "transformation of our social and cultural attitudes toward, and uses of, this familiar technology" had me thinking about how much I have really transformed my attitude towards print and digital media. While I have used digital media, and I can appreciate it in it's various forms I am still an old school, book printing
advocate.

For some reason, I just can't agree with digitizing books. I have always preferred to read a book I can hold, write in, smell, and even get a papercut from. The few times I have found a book online I ended up printing it out because I just couldn't sit and read it on the screen. Which is rather curious because I printed the exact same thing that was on the computer screen, but I preferred the printed version anyway. It's not the material that is on the screen, or the way that it is presented that is an issue for me. Apparently, it is just the fact that it is digital that really bothers me (though I'm not too fond of books on tape either). Not to mention that I can't highlight or write notes in the margins of an eBook...at least as far as I know, but I'm sure that will eventually change one of these days.

Quite frankly, eBooks scare me. They just don't make any sense to me. What is the fascination with print needing to be changeable and fluid, or text being linked to other works? So a few trees
are saved. They can be recycled. So what if students won't have to lug around heavy backpacks loaded down with textbooks? They make backpacks with wheels. That curvature of my spine to the left from carrying book laden bags on one shoulder? I can just switch to the right shoulder for balance. What's the big deal? I don't think that eBooks should replace print. Then again, I also prefer handwritten letters to email, and writing in a journal to blogging. Maybe I belong in another time...

Actually, this whole post reminds me of Erykah Badu and how she calls herself an analog girl in a digital world. I was going to post a link to one of her songs, but as I was looking them I up I come to find out there is a country song by Guy Clark called "Analog Girl" as well. A short clip is on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/BAmDlmrAIiY. The lyrics are as follows:

Well she ain’t got no cell phone

You got to call her when she’s home

All of her clocks have got hands

Now don’t try to e-mail her,

you’ve got to snail mail her

You got to take pen in hand

Ones and zeros, zeros and ones

She’ll have none of that virtual fun

She’s a real deal ol’ fashioned analog girl

In a digital world

Now she gets online out in the backyard

Hangin’ up her ol’ blue jeans

She’s got all of the memory she can live with

She really hates drum machines

Ones and zeros, zeros and ones

She’ll have none of that virtual fun

She’s a real deal ol’ fashioned analog girl

In a digital world

Out in the garden she’s got a website

It sparkles in the mornin’ dew

Got a mouse in her pocket,

she’s got spam in a can

What’s an analog girl to do

Ones and zeros, zeros and ones

She’ll have none of that virtual fun

She’s a real deal ol’ fashioned analog girl

In a digital world