Crash

I watched the movie Crash and it wasn't nothing I had anticipated. I seen that case to this movie too many times to not want to watch it. I figured that it was a dramatic movie about a car crash and what not. This was a class case of judging a book by its cover but instead it was  movie in this case. When I watched this movie I explored each character in this movie and it was a phenomenal movie and they each portrayed each stereotype that's evident in society. Honestly I've seen each of these events in actual life from racial profiling to corrupt cops. Its sad but its true and I even seen people who attain a level of status or achievement and they are embarrassed of their family so they don't go around them. This movie portrayed each stereotype and did it well, it showed that there are people out there in the world like that but not everyone is like that. Some miraculous things happened in the movie in the ways that these people who felt a certain type of way learned their lessons or had their epiphanies. Like when the shop owner goes to gun down the man who did his job correctly but he was Mexican and he thought he was trying to steal from him. He pulls the gun on him and shoots him but at the same time the mans daughter jumps in front on the line of fire to protect her dad. Or when the black lady who was molested by the cop who was having a hard life and didn't like black people because a black woman was handling his dads medical case. He felt a certain type of way about black people because of this one woman who was doing her job. It happens to be a coincidence that the same lady he harassed he was put in a position to save her life. Once he saved her life she had a new level of respect for him at the same time while being confused. This movie just proves how ignorant we all can be and are at times. It just shows that we don't know everything and that we need to be more understanding individuals. We should work together instead of against each other.

Reflection

I can honestly and truthfully say that I learned something in this class. I do think differently about things. I really feel that I accomplished my goals in this semester of class. My experience in this class was a good one and this was one of my more favorite classes that I have ever taken. The only thing that I wish that I would have done differently would be to be more talkative. I think that some of my experiences could have benefited some of my classmates in learning. Other than that I could have had better attendance to maximize my learning in the class. This class really has changed my point of views on certain subjects namely gender and sex, and indigenous people. Namely on gender and sex most men wouldn't admit this but after that subject I had an encounter with two transgendered individuals on separate occasions. Yes they were trying to "get at me" because I look good who wouldn't but they were open individuals and I took it as an opportunity to learn about their lifestyle knowing I would never speak to them again. One was a man who felt he should be a woman and another was a female who has a penis. Those were some interesting conversations but before this class I may have been real disrespectful to them and handled the situation a lot differently. Furthermore, I did enjoy this class and I would recommend it to anyone especially if they are open to a new way of thinking and want to explore society issues. I did experience some discomfort in the class during the subject of othering just because its a touchy subject. However I did meet all of my goals and I will continue to become a better individual and take classes that are similar.

Freedom Writers

In the movie the Freedom Writers there were many of issues that we face in the world today that cause social problems. These issues are seen in almost in everyday life depending on where you live. In Intercultural Communication we covered many of these same topics. Some topics that stood out in the movie were workplace, language and othering. These stood out to me because they were the most relevant topics in the movie also because this is something that most of us deal with everyday. The workplace was a constant struggle for Erin Gruwell because she lacked the support of her co workers. She really didn't get the support that she felt that she deserved. No one felt that she should've been helping these "criminals" so that's why they didn't. There were constant struggles in the workplace and they really didn't get along that much because of what she was trying to do. I see the struggle with language between the students and Mrs. Gruwell because there was a constant communication barrier. They came from a completely different place than where their teacher came from. There was a constant struggle to understand each others situations. Also I also feel that there was a struggle within their department, even though it was a issue within the workplace it was also a issue with language once Erin took on the role to be the voice of her students. Othering is probably the biggest issue in this entire movie, singling out a group of people because they were different. One occasion that this happened was with the other faculty members when they would refuse to help these troubled kids because they felt they were up to no good. Also the kids did it amongst themselves because you were one race or another. This was a large part of their problems because this is one reason why they were in a war with each other. Lastly, people looked at them differently because they were white, black or Mexican. I can relate to most of this just by being black people do look at me different because I fit the description. Its not right but its the society we live and probably wont change no time soon.

Reflection Week 14

This past week we learned about migration. Migration isn't what most people think it is, many people frown on it and look at it in a negative light. Personally, I don't know how I truly looked at migration before I moved to Arizona maybe I was too young to pay attention to something like that. Even though while I was in grade school I had met many individuals who were from other countries. Once I moved to Arizona, migration became a more relevant topic. I have met undocumented citizens in the past, after talking to them you get a better feeling of why they leave their home land in search of a better life. It is somewhat sad but it is the world that we live in, I'm thankful for the country that I live in. However that is migration on a grand scale, seeing migration on a smaller scale is like how many of the people who live in Williston are not from here. Williston is a very transient town just because of the number of people coming up here for job opportunities but they live somewhere in Florida. Even in my situation I came here an opportunity to further my education and for basketball.

After watching the Lost Boys of Sudan it reinforced my opinion of migration. I feel that it can be beneficial to any individual especially if we pride ourselves in being the land of the free and the home of the brave. Too many good people in this world go through so much pain and hell and in the end they never really see the light. Those boys are a true inspiration and one thing that I truly respect from people who come from other countries is that all they want to do is try.

Reflection Week 13

Sorry for the late post I couldn't remember my login to post my entry. However this week was about health, certainly I feel a certain way about being healthy especially with me being a college athlete. Even with this class when people bring in snacks I have a hard time to get myself to eat because they aren't the healthiest of snacks that people bring in. I feel that food is a big part of our lives, we all love to eat some type of food. I feel that it is kind of sad to see obese people especially in young children for example a little boy who is Vine famous his name is Lil Terrio he shouldn't be that big at his age. People look at me and say that it is easy for you to say because you have a good figure but ideally it all comes down to watch what you eat and how much you exercise. People use the excuse that they work way too much to ever go to the gym but in my opinion it all depends on how bad you want get in shape. I just think that we as Americans don't take pride in our bodies and so much so that obesity is now considered a disease.

For me food is a huge part of my families tradition. We don't have no secret recipes or nothing like that its just that when we cook we take pride in our food. My family is originally from Mississippi and Louisiana and I'm sure you've heard something about the food from down that way. I am pretty open minded about trying new foods but if it doesn't have any seasoning I'll notice it and wont appreciate my plate of food that much. I know what food should taste like and there's nothing like a good gumbo or a po boy sandwich. I was told that in class on Tuesday the class was asked what was the weirdest food that they have eaten. For me I'm not even sure I mean I like fried green tomatoes and fried frog legs also venison but nothing too serious. I know I hate stuffing from out of the box it taste disgusting to me maybe because my grandma makes hers from scratch every year. I know that I love to eat all kinds of seafood I don't have the guts to try squid or calamari or nothing like that. It was a great experience that this year we went to Rice and Spice and I actually taught my teammates how to eat crawfish. None of them never saw a crawfish before. Food is a huge part of our lives and you could learn tons about a person based on their food selection.

Reflection Week 12

This week we talked about the Natives and their way of life. I can't recall the name of the tribe but I remember that they were based out of South Dakota. Their reservation is in South Dakota and their living conditions are awful. These are considered the indigenous people on this continent but most of them struggle more than what we can imagine. I recall from the video in class on Tuesday that one of the tribesman compared a concentration camp to a reservation. That's a bold statement to make because we all know and heard about the holocaust and most feel that was just I humane and unthinkable treatment to humans beings. We also say I can't believe those Nazis and that Hitler was a bad guy, but we seem to forget about it when it happens on our own soil. We use all kinds of escape goats to cover up our mess but no one ever seems to notice the elephant in the room. What about what we did to all Asian decent people after what happened to Pearl Harbor and how poorly treated the natives are? I feel that it is terribly wrong to treat people less than, I understand that not everyone can live a lavish lifestyle but I'd be upset too if I was promised forty acres and a mule. I have witnessed and seen poor living conditions but from the video these have to be some of the worst living conditions I've ever seen and it is sad. These are some prideful people and they want to keep their tradition going strong and I believe that the only way to do this is to live in these reservations that are provided to them. If they move to these bigger cities where there are endless possibilities and multiple opportunities they would have to adopt a different way of life. In doing this they would lose sense of what they spent many many years of trying to build up. These are he indigenous people of America but yet they are at the bottom of the social class and we hardly learn about them in schools. Even when we learn about the Lewis& Clark exploration they skip over all of what any native could have impacted the story. I'm so ignorant to the sense of what a native could have done for America but I'm also just as numb to the idea because to my knowledge I'm not missing anything. I wish things were different and things like this is what makes me a biased individual. On a lighter note I think that it is kind of cool that a lot of the sports teams that we look up are named after or symbolize the natives. At the same time even though this is cool you want to make sure that you are translating it correctly and not offending them in any kind of way.
So much of what is done in this country is pushed under the mat or set a side for later especially on the political end of everything. It's kind of backwards if you ask me but this has come from hundreds of years of wrong doing and it won't change over night. One thing that I've learned is that money and power can corrupt the kindest people but it'll always come at someone's expense.

Reflection Week 11

Disabilities. People with disabilities Matt and Tony really showcase that just because you have a mental disability or you are not able bodied you can't live your life the way you want to. They keep me believing especially when they smile and laugh its a great thing and a great feeling. They were handed less in life and they still manage to get up everyday and live life. I remember the first time I can remember meeting handicapped individuals, I was probably in the first grade or kindergarten. I believe it was twins and they both had Cerebral Palsy. This type had affected their brain but they were just as fun to be around and we as a class learned a lot about them. They were no different than what we were and was a great lesson to learn at a very young age. Matt and Tony were just awesome they came and told jokes but the most memorable thing I remember is how comfortable they were in the skin that they were in. I was surprised at how funny Matt was he really made me laugh. It was great to see them enjoying themselves as much as I personally enjoyed them in class to help inform me It was definitely a learning lesson but I makes me appreciate what I have more. Its sad that people make fun of disabled people because they are not the same as we are. Its a shame that people get made fun of because they are different.