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I talked to Br’Nae, Melanie, and Tamera about what religion they identify and what practices they have. This was a group conversation and I learned that all of us have similar views. If all of us had to identify with a religion it would be Christianity. Melanie and her family no longer follow Christian practices but they do pray and participate in Christmas. Like me, Tamera likes going to church but doesn’t like the judgmental people that sometimes come with it. She also doesn’t like big or mega churches because they seem to focus more on money than the word. Br’Nae has attended church and her family seems more religious than she is. I noticed that we all follow Christianity because it was passed down from our parents and them from their parents and etc. We didn’t choose to follow or our religion or even think of exploring other religions because of tradition. We also talked about things we don’t understand about the Bible and Christianity and the ideas that seem to contradict themselves.Like “Who wrote the bible?”, “What is life after death?”, “Does heaven and hell really exist?”, “Who wrote the Bible?”, “Would bad things in the world exist if Adam and Eve didn’t bite the apple?”, just to name a few.

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Chapter 14: Power and Relationships

I chose to evaluate the power dynamic between the people that I interacted with on Friday 11/22/2019.

1.My mom and I

-In this relationship my mom tends to hold the power in this relationship. From birth until now she was responsible for food, shelter, clothing etc. My mom and I are very close but there are clear boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed out of respect for one another. Political negotiations come into play when I feel like she’s being unreasonable or not valuing my opinion. This power dynamic was established from a young age since in my family power is typically given to the oldest person in the relationship. And the fact that she’s my mom contributes to that uneven power dynamic.

2.My grandma and I

-My grandma is one of the closet people to me and therefore our relationship dynamic is a little different than the typical grandmother/granddaughter relationship. Although she holds most of the power based on age and relativity and general respect, there are times when I feel like power is balanced in our relationship. There are some negotiations that happen especially when she’s getting me to do things that I may not want to do out of stubbornness.

3.My brother and I

-Power is distributed pretty evenly in this relationship since we’re siblings so there isn’t an “authority” present. We allow for each other to express ourselves and take the other persons feelings into consideration when making decisions. But on occasion, I do have more power because I am the older sibling. This power dynamic was established from birth because we were taught to respect and love one another.

4.My physical therapist (Jen) and I

-I think that Jen holds most of the power in this relationship. I have power in the sense that I am showing up and paying to be there. But she has power because she’s older, and more educated than me. She may also have more power in society over other groups because she is a white woman. Recently, Jen has been using hegemony to remind me that the exercises I’m doing are in my best interest although I don’t like a couple of them because they make me really tired. Again this power dynamic was based on the fact that she is older than me and the way that I was taught to respect people.

5.My friends (Sydney, Joy, Amari, and Shadasja)

-Power is balanced in all of these relationships. All of us are African-American girls and are around the same age. This power dynamic was established based on society,and previous relationships because we support each other in the way that friends do whether it be emotionally, spiritually, financially etc. There isn’t a time where one person has more power than the other because we are equals. We also make sure that one another is heard and their opinions are respected.

#fieldwork #power #sociology

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Classwork 11/19/2019

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Chapter 13: Immigrant Interview

*Name has been been changed for privacy purposes*

Hello my name is Rachel and I am 18 years old. I moved to America from Nigeria when I was very young. I don’t remember much from when I lived back home but I’m still aware of the culture and language that my parents grew up with. Nigerian and (older) American culture is the same in the sense that men were viewed as the head of household and women were to play the subservient role. Women were typically doing jobs at home like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the family. In today’s America, it is more common to see women being the head of household and getting jobs outside the house. It was difficult for me growing up in a Nigerian household but living in an American society.  Growing up it was hard to connect with people and identify with both cultures. Now that I’m older it’s easier for me to balance both but I think that I identify more with my Nigerian roots. Also because of this, my parents pushed me to do more than they did because of the opportunities here in America.

#fieldwork #immigrants #culture #interview

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EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT

Watch the Film the Price of Sugar and write a critical analysis. Use concepts from the textbook to write your analysis. You may use concepts from the chapters on Migration, Race, Class, or any other chapter to substantiate your paper. It will be submitted to me, Dr. Howell, on the last day of class. This is the only assignment that you will submit on paper. Enjoy!

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EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT

Watch the Film the Price of Sugar and write a critical analysis. Use concepts from the textbook to write your analysis. You may use concepts from the chapters on Migration, Race, Class, or any other chapter to substantiate your paper. It will be submitted to me, Dr. Howell, on the last day of class. This is the only assignment that you will submit on paper. Enjoy!

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Fieldwork #12, The Global Economy

The ingredients of a Hershey’s “Cookies N’ Creme Bar” include sugar, vegetable oil, skim milk, corn syrup soild’s, enriched wheat flour, lactose, high fructose corn syrup, chocolate, baking soda, salt, and PGPR. 

Hershey’s get’s their sugar mainly from sugar plantations in the southern United States. The company is supplied with palm oil from a few companies like AAK, Cargill, Fuji Oil, and Gemini. Palm oil production results in major deforestation of many Southeast Asian countries. Children as young as 8 are working in palm oil mills working with heavy machinery and doing hard labor. Whilst going to school and doing chores at home. Hershey’s company also gets most of their chocolate from West African countries. Child labor is also a major issue in these countries. Young children are often tasked with growing and harvesting cocoa beans which is the raw, unprocessed version of chocolate. They work for a majority of the day so basic necessities like food are sometimes put on the back burner. Hershey has began to move toward becoming a 100% Fair Trade company meaning that they will use chocolate that’s sustainable, environmentally friendly, and the people who produce it will have their human rights respected. Hershey has also taken steps to support the families, especially the children that are doing the leg work for their companies. In Ghana they have created a charity to distribute Vivi (peanut based food) to poor school children. “The International Labor Rights Forum reported in December [of 2014] that the average farmer with two hectares of land makes about $755 per year in Cote d’Ivoire and $983 per year in Ghana; this translates to $2.07 per day and $2.69 per day, respectively” says the Guardian. The people who produce the raw ingredients for our beloved chocolate, are severely over worked and underpaid but there seem to be steps taken to improve those working conditions. 

Prices for chocolate are set by supply and demand. The prices also depend on the economy’s inflation rate and the cost/production of the raw ingredients.

#culture #chocolate #fieldwork #ingredients #work #research

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Fieldwork #11

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chilean-capitalism-on-trial-11572208892

Karl Marx is a social theorist that studied the capitalistic society. He identified two classes of people; the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Marx defined the bourgeoisie as a class of people that own the means of production. They own the factories, raw materials, and the financial means to produce things. He defines the proletariat as worked who own only their labor. They have no means to provide for themselves so they sell their work to the bourgeoisie class in exchange for pay.

The article I decided to use shows the results of long term capitalism in Chile. The bourgeoisie class of people are known for exploiting the people who they employ by making them work longer and harder for less pay. The people (working class of Chile) have grown upset with the way they’re being treated especially with the upcoming presidential election. On October 7, a group of students jumped the turnstiles in a subway to protest the proposed public transportation prices.

#anthropology #social theory #karl marx #culture #fieldwork

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This is my kinship diagram. I included the people who I know of and talk to most often. I did leave out a lot of people to avoid my chart getting too messy. I have a very big family so it’s hard to remember who is related to who, or if they’re even related or just a close family friend.

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Chapter 10 Fieldwork Assignment

Kinship & Family

Using the key above, construct a kinship diagram for your (extended) family showing AT LEAST 10 relationships. First, upload a photo of your diagram. Second, analyze your diagram. Families are more than lines on a family tree. Families represent stories, interesting people, power, even mysteries. What story does your family tree tell? Full instructions are on p. 372-373 of your textbook. Due Sunday night, October 27th at 11:59 pm

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Fieldwork #8

1. Femininity

From a young age girl’s are groomed to believe that Eurocentrism is the standard of beauty. Disney princesses also enforce that standard of “beauty” with the fair skin, neat hair that doesnt obstruct facial features etc. 

2. Femininity

This image shows an accurate what of society thinks that women’s roles are. Society says that women should be family oriented while also cooking and cleaning and making sure that the household is in order.

3. Femininity/Masculinity

This image shows the gender roles that are placed on people from a very young age. Boys are associated with the color blue, STEM related fields, bikes, and other hands on activities. While girls on the other hand are associated with the color pink, beauty related projects and music.

4. Masculinity

In today’s world, masculinity is often synonymous with muscles or toughness. The little boy in this picture is flexing his muscles and imitating his dad to show how strong he is.

5. Masculinity

This image that I found lists a lot of things that have become commonly associated with masculinity. For example, “over women”, don’t back down, and that they don’t cry. But there also a list of emotions that are sectioned off or “held on the inside” in comparison to the other emotions or phrases. Like feelings of being vulnerable or powerless are emotions that have a negative connotation when associated with masculinity and society says that men shouldn’t express those things.

#masculinity #femininty #work #culture #fieldwork

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Fieldwork Assignment #6

1.Race

Race is a social construct created by society to group or classify people by the physical features. The picture above shows  12 different women with different physical features that may be use to classify them into classes.

2.Racism

Racism is the belief that one’s race is superior to another and it is done through prejudice, discrimination, or antagonation. The picture I chose reads “NO PLACE FOR BLACKFACE”. I chose this because blackface is commonly used to belittle and/or antagonize people of color and is used to spread racism but the creator of the sign is protesting against that.

3.Phenotype

Phenotype is the physical expression of a gene. A commonly and easily studied phenotype is eye color. Common eye colors include brown, green, gray, and hazel.

4.Genotype

Genotype is the genetic expression of a gene. These genes are created through DNA and once it is compressed into chromosomes, the gene is easily looked at there.

5.White Supremacy

White supremacy is an ideology created by white people that believe that they are superior to every other person especially Black people. The image I chose shows a white supremacy group known as the KKK that spreads their racist ideas and is known for burning crosses and doing anything in their power to suppress other groups of people.

6.Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow laws are laws that were put in place in the South during the later half of the 1950′s to enforce segregation and the division of people. The image shown is a digitized version of signs that were actually used to label which public facilities were for White people versus which facilities were for every other race or “colored” people. It’s important to keep in mind that the “colored” facilities were typically unclean and of a lower standard than those that whites were permitted to use.

#fieldwork race racism

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In Class Assignment 10/3/2019

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Ch. ^ Fieldwork RACE

After reading chapter 6, select six key concepts regarding race or racism. Find relevant examples from the media (pictures, video, article, music, etc) for each. Include a brief explanation of how your media example illustrates the concept.

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Fieldwork Assignment #5

Watch the Human Family Tree before class next Tuesday. Take good notes, and be prepared to take a Kahoot quiz on the film on Tuesday in class.

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Gender:  All these boys be the same They act they shoe size, not they age

Power: “ But don't you waste your time looking for a new replacement I know they lurking on the side, waiting just to date you I ain't gon' let no ni**a slide, I'ma pick the pace up I know I pissed you off And I've been the cause of trouble “

Dialect:” If I could build a ni**a Like, really build a ni**a He'd probably look a little bit better than you “

Analysis: Justine uses these three elements in her song titled “Build” to retell a personal story of how she wishes she could create the perfect significant other for herself. She tells her story of how she was in an abusive relationship with someone of the opposite sex and from that experience she was able to build herself up and become a better version of herself. Justine establishes the gender of the person she’s referring to with the line stated above. She also supports the stereotype that all men are the same and tend to behave in childish ways. Arin Ray, the featured artist on this song, is portraying the abusive partner that she was in a relationship with. Through the lines stated above it illustrates the power that the abusive partner had over her during that time. Through the lines, “But don’t waste your time looking for a new replacement”/”I ain’t gon let no ni**a slide, I’ma pick the pace up”, it shows that her partner basically wouldn’t allow her to exit the relationship as it would be a “waste” of time. He basically controlled the entire relationship until she was able to get out. Justine Skye and Arin Ray are both African-American. They use a lot of AAVE throughout the song to make it more relatable especially since it’ll connect with the people that they share their culture with.

#justine skye #power #strength #fieldwork #culture #gender #dialect

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Fieldwork Assignment #3

I chose the academic quad. I chose this location because I walk through it everyday to get to my dorm. The quad is one of the main places to be on campus and there always seems to be someone out there. I noticed that the grass is always cut the same way and there’s never a strand of grass out of place. I didn’t seem to find the actual sprinklers in the grass. When I’m out in the evenings around 9-10 pm the sprinkles are on watering the grass. But if you actually look for the sprinkles, you wont be able to find them.

When I first visited this area for this assignment, there were people everywhere moving about because it was during a class transition time and it was hot. When I visited this area again on Sunday, it was around 11 am and this area was VERY quiet. It seemed that there was no one on campus because the usual “hang out spots” were empty.