Extra Credit Blog

Pariah is a underground type film about a young woman named Alike. Alike is a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents and younger sister in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood, and she is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the support of her best friend Laura, Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, she strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity -- sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward. I found this film to be a unique coming of age film; one not commonly seen in mainstream cinema. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it because I felt that her story was portrayed beautifully. I believe that her story is similar to what many young adults go through everyday. This film was a success in my eyes because it was relatable and touching. Alike is not black or lesbian. Alike is black and lesbian.

Stuart Hall -- What is This 'Black' in Black Popular Culture?

"Within modern countires, there faces a batte of class and culture. Among these battles lies the struggle of cultural hegemony. It is this displacement of postmodernity -- the deep and ambiviliant fascination with difference -- that cultural hegemony is displacing. While the process of hegemony never results in absolutes, in terms of victory or defeat, it is not without sides gaining dominance. The power of relations in culture is always shifting, as if maliable; constantly seeking to define and exert itself within the cultural hierarchy. One example of this process is present within the realm of black popular culture. This, like all cultures, makes the effort to make a distinct effort deconstruct what popular is and instead focus on what the term 'popular' represents." Culture is what makes up a person. Culture is something you can not run away from because it is a universal reality. People try to claim that they can assign people culture and that just from that assignment they know everything about that person. But just like culture makes up a person, it is not all a person is. "In the paper, Hall makes the argument that, 'The struggle must be, instead, to replace the 'or' with the potentiality or the possibility of an 'and.' That is the logic of coupling rather than the logic of a binary opposition. You can be black and British... The moment the signifier 'black' is torn from its historical, cultural, and political embedding and lodged in a biologically constituted racial category, we valorize, by inversion, the very ground of the racism we are trying to deconstruct' (291)."

Works Cited
"Stuart Hall -- What Is This 'Black' in Black Popular Culture?" Everyone Chill the Fuck Out... I GOT THIS! Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .

Rethinking Columbus

“Why rethink Christopher Columbus? Because the Columbus myth is basic to children’s beliefs about society. For many youngsters the tale of Columbus introduces them to a history of this country, even to history itself. The ‘discovery of America’ is children’s first curricular exposure to the encounter between two races. As such, a study of Columbus is really a study about us—how we think about each other, our country, and our relations with people around the world.” Everyone seems to believe Columbus discovered America but how could that be possible if there were already people inhabiting America. Historians so seldom give homage to the Native American Indians who have seemed to be neglected to fully be represented in history books and history lessons. I believe that The United States educational system tends to polish "history" as to fit their own standards and views. These views usually cater to a the domination of the "white man." "Rethinking Columbus offers teaching strategies and readings that teachers can use to help students consider perspectives that are too often silenced in the traditional curriculum. For example, in 30 years of teaching, virtually all my high school students had heard of the fellow who is said to have discovered America: Christopher Columbus. However, none had heard of the people who discovered Columbus: the Taínos of the Caribbean. That fact underscores the importance of teachers having the resources to offer a fuller history to their students. Further, it points out the importance of developing teaching materials that ask students to interrogate the official curriculum about what (and who) it remembers and what (and who) it ignores—and why?" I believe that "Rethinkin Columbus" is something that American history needs to seriously consider including in history books because if not, then America's future will be ill-informed about their own foundation. A house built on concrete is much more functional than one built on sand.

Works Cited
Bigelow, Bill. "Rethinking Columbus Banned in Tucson « Rethinking Schools Blog." Rethinking Schools Blog. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. .

Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera

"In her writing, Anzaldua uses a unique blend of eight languages, two variations of English and six of Spanish. In many ways, by writing in "Spanglish," Anzaldua creates a daunting task for the non-bilingual reader to decipher the full meaning of the text. However, there is irony in the mainstream reader's feeling of frustration and irritation. These are the very emotions Anzaldua has dealt with throughout her life, as she has struggled to communicate in a country where non-English speakers are shunned and punished. Language, clearly one of the borders Anzaldua addresses, is an essential feature to her writing. Her book is dedicated to being proud of one's heritage and to recognizing the many dimensions of her culture. One undeniable aspect of Anzalda's essays is her anger. Anzaldua uses Borderlands/La Frontera as an outlet for "venting her anger on all oppressors of people who are culturally or sexually different" (Fletcher, 171). For example, in Borderlands/La Frontera, Anzalda writes: Not me sold out my people but they me. Malinali Tenepat, or Malintzin, has become known as la Chingada - the fucked one. She has become the bad word that passes a dozen times a day from the lips of Chicanos. Whore, prostitute, the woman who sold out her people to the Spaniards are epithets Chicanos spit out with contempt (44). While this anger is justified, some critics feel her writing suffers as a result of what they perceive to be overtly strong emotions. Anzaldua's passion for these issues is obviously the fuel for her writings, and some readers may find she digresses into long fiery lectures rather than relying strictly on insight. Anzaldua's writing also consistently has an element of spirituality, and she adds a mystical nature to the very process of writing. To Anzaldua, writing was not an action, but a form of channeling voices and stories, and she attributed its power to a female deity. Of her spirituality, she writes in Borderlands: My spirituality I call spiritual mestizaje, so I think my philosophy is like philosophical mestizaje where I take from all different cultures -- for instance, from the cultures of Latin America, the people of color and also the Europeans (238)."

They say " America is a melting pot." And yet, so many people want to deny others of the opportunity to belong in the so-called "land of the free" but nothing comes without a price. Some individuals that are stuck between two cultures, if not given the chance to explore both, will lose theirselves. That unfortunately is a price some pay. You either choose your individuality or you choose to be a conformist. But conform to what? The norm? I have never seemed to fully understand what that is exactly. Why should you try to be like everyone else when you should aspire to be a better and more complete "YOU."

Works Cited
"Gloria Anzaldua." Voices From the Gaps : University of Minnesota. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. .