Blog #10 Different But Equal

There have been a plethora of different videos that we have watched in class. All of them with different facts and examples of the views the world has on Africa. I found the video “Different but Equal” to be interesting. It was informative and had some view points that I did not take into consideration. It was interesting to see the European historian’s ignoring the history of Africa. Although, during the medieval times the Europeans saw African’s as being different they still thought of them as being equals. As time progressed and the negative stereotypes of Africa and it’s citizens came back to Europe, the Europeans saw the African’s as being savages and not equal to them. The view points of the Europeans came from European settlers who colonized and exploited the African resources and African people. I believe that the European settlers who came to Africa did not understand the different ways of life of the African’s, and because they did not understand their life style they assumed that the African’s would be below their social level. It was also intriguing to see that the view points of the Europeans changed when they took the time to acknowledge the respect the African life style. They not only acknowledged the life style of the African’s, but also gave recognition of Africa being the home and birth of human’s.

Blog # 9 – Take Home 3

What is the highest mountain in Africa?

The highest point in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro, at 19, 341 feet above sea level.

What is the the largest river

The largest river in Africa in regards to volume is the Congo River. at 230 meters.

What is the longest river?

The longest river in Africa is the Nile at 6650 km.

The largest country in terms of size(territory?)

Congo (2,344,858 square kilometers).

The only country still under semi-colonial rule?

Morocco

Blog #8 – Africa The Video

We have seen another video in class, and again, more information! This time, we watched a video that again dealt with the different stereotypes that European settlers had about Africa. This video started off by looking at the landscape and different ways of life in Africa. The narrator and host of the video describes a number of facts and explains the way of life in Africa. A particular scene that stuck out for me was of members of a tribe in Africa creating and bending iron. Why is this interesting is something one may ask? Well, the African tribe member did not use any techniques that would be used in the ‘western world’, but used techniques passed on from their ancestors. They found ways of bending iron, and building things without any trouble at all. This is an art and technique that has been used and passed on for hundreds and hundreds of years, but members in the Western society would find it difficult. I think that others would find it to be bizarre not using techniques and tools that we are a custom to. I found it interesting that techniques from hundreds of years ago are still very much affective.

Blog # 7 – Take Home 2

How many countries form the AU?

54 countries belong to the African Union.

When was the OAU formed?

The Organization of African Unity was formed on May 25, 1963.

Which countries was the last to be admitted to the OAU?

The last country admitted to the OAU was South Africa on June 6, 1994.

When was the AU formed?

The African Union was formed July 9, 2002.

Blog # 6 – Take Home Questions

Answer the following question in your Exploring Africa Journal before the next class.

Looking at the map, rank the continents according to size.

Asia
Africa
North America
South America
Antarctica
Europe
Australia.

Africa is bordered by two oceans and a sea.

-The Indian and the Atlantic Ocean’s border Africa along with the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the Arabian Sea.

Which ocean borders Africa to the west?

-          The Atlantic Ocean borders Africa to the West.

Which ocean borders Africa to the east?

-          The Indian Ocean borders Africa to the East.

Which sea borders Africa to the north?

-          The Mediterranean Sea borders Africa to the North, separating Europe from Africa.

Which continent is connected to Africa by a land-bridge?

-         The Suez Canal was constructed creating a land bridge between Africa and Asia.

What is the virtual line that divides the world into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres called?

-         The equator separates the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern Hemisphere.

What is the virtual line that connects the North and South Pole and divides the World into Eastern and Western Hemispheres called?

-      The Prime Meridian is the virtual line that North and South Pole. It divides the World into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Which continent(s) occupy space in all four Hemispheres?

-     Africa occupies all four Hemispheres.
 

Blog #5: Information I learned about Africa!

The semester has just begun, and already we have learned a number of things. I have obtained various facts and an abundance of knowledge about Africa that I had not previously known. Africa is the second largest continent in the world, behind Asia and has recently reached the plateau of one BILLION people! Although I knew about Africa being the second largest continent in the world, I did not realize that the population rate was that high. With over 54 countries in Africa, it is no surprise that there are various cultures and elasticities that inhabit Africa. In Africa alone, there are 8,000 languages that are spoken across the continent! When we think of Africa, we think of animals, safaris and tribes, but we fail to recall are the number of rivers and mountains that Africa possesses. The Nile and Congo rivers are two of the largest and most important rivers that African’s rely on daily. Mount Kilimanjaro is the largest mountain in Africa, is revered by mountain climbing enthusiasts. Along with the information about, I also learned the first African country to gain independence from colonial power houses was Ghana, a country that produce a number of African resources including it’s world famous coco beans. Africa’s major resources include coco beans, diamonds, gold, oil, tea, and minerals. Africa is an amazing continent and there is a lot more information that I am hoping to obtain over the course of the semester. As I receive the information, I will post it in my blog.

Blog #4

“Issues in Social Justice” –
Chapter 11: “Is Housing Discrimination a Relevant Social Justice Issue?”
George P. Mason

Dialectic Reading Method

What Questions Did The Text Raise?	How Did The Text Answer The Questions?	How Does The Answer Match My Own Experiences & Ideas?
Is housing discrimination a relevant social justice issue?	Throughout the chapter a number of examples and opinions are presented when it comes to this question.	Housing discrimination is a relevant to social justice. People cannot be rightfully declined of occupying a home just based on the color of their skin or the way that they dress. Discrimination is discrimination, and there is no place of it our society, especially in our current society where most of the members of society are open minded.
Do different races and ethnicities have integration preferences?	The chapter mentioned that minorities or similar groups prefer to be in live in the same area. For example African American prefers to live in area with other African Americans, and Hispanics prefer to live in areas with other Hispanics.	I believe that members of similar minorities want to stay in the same neighborhood to avoid being discriminated against.  I can see this as being valid as I have experience a number of communities locally where minority groups have lived in the same community. Those that did not live in the same community often faced discrimination against the dominant group in that area.d
What efforts have been implemented into reducing the discrimination of housing?	The chapter gives various examples of acts that have been passed to reduce the amount of discrimination that takes place when it comes to housing.  The Civil Rights Acts and Fair Housing Act of 1968 are examples of Acts that have been passed.	I feel that although there a number of acts that reduce the amount of discrimination that takes place when it comes to housing, there are still a plethora of individuals who remain close minded and do not obey the rules that are set forth in front of them.

Blog # 3

Issues in Social Justice – Chapter 7: “State Expenditures On The Criminal Justice
By: George P. Mason

Paraphrasitic Reading Method

This chapter discusses the increase in state criminal justice expenditures within the Detroit inner city area. The relationship between the criminal justice system and poverty has been neglected by many critical researchers in the United States. This study on the other hand looked at the relationship between state criminal justices system expenditures. The criminal justice system expenditures tend to have been somewhat more reflective of the resources devoted by the state for maintaining and developing particular relations in society. Crimes of violence corresponded with the increases but against the presence of law enforcement in the inner city and against African Americans, in regards to the ‘war on drugs’. The author mentions that essentially, the ‘war on drugs’ equates to a war on the inner city, and against those in poverty, mainly African Americans in the Detroit inner city. It is interesting to that many of the reported acts of crime that occur in the inner city against those in poverties conditions are not reported by the media. Targeting areas of high density drug trafficking by law enforcement agents are suppressing the visible minority under the entire large amount of drug enforcement. It is interesting to see that the criminal justice system tends to stereotype and focus on African Americans in particular. Even though, there maybe a few members who partake in trafficking drugs it seem as if members of law enforcement tend to classify all African Americans in the drug trade. Law enforcement focus more on the group then do the individual, in my opinion. A question that arises from the author is that of, “whether the criminal justice expenditures should be allowed to increase while providing diminished returns or should society deal with the inner cities by engaging in preventative economic programs to deal with real social problems” (Mason, 185).

Blog # 2

“Issues in Social Justice” – Chapter 2: “Discrimination Faced by LGBT Community”
By: Carrie Buist and Andrew Verheek
Affective Reading Method
Society has focused on the sex and gender of individuals, and has correlated it with ones identity tremendously. The identity of the LGBT community has been discriminated against by a number of parties and society in general over the last few decades. The social constructions of gender and problems that are experienced by this community have been expressed throughout this chapter in a number of examples. Both gender and sexuality are key components of performance and social interaction. Society looks at individuals or groups who are a part of the LGBT community as being unorthodox as society sees having a relationship with the same sex as going against the norms of society. Much more attention has been focused in recent years in terms of the discrimination that the LGBT community has been facing, and right fully so. The LGBT discrimination stories need to be brought up to society so more attention can be focused on the discrimination that these communities are facing. In looking at the discrimination of the LGBT communities a number of studies have emerged including; gender studies, feminist theory, and queer theory. Advocacy groups and organizations such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task force, GLAAD, and Human Rights Campaign that reach the LGBT community. It may be questioned as to how this relates to terrorism? The hate crimes that the LGBT community faces are direct examples of terrorism. Terrorisms main intention is to terrorize those who cannot defend themselves, and with the hate crimes the members of the LGBT community are unable to defend themselves. I feel that we have evolved globally into a far more open minded society, but there are still those who remain close minded and will not open their minds to the change that many in society have already accepted.

Blog #1

“Issues in Social Justice” – Chapter 1: Religion and Homosexuality
By: Frank Ridico, Jacob Armstrong and David Barry

Affective Reading Method

This chapter does not have much to do with terrorism and globalization too much in my opinion. I feel the only way that this chapter could relate to terrorism and globalization would be that of religion. Religion is a large part of society and has the power to affect people positively and negatively. For example those involved in the 9/11 attacks were influenced by religion, as they believed that the attacks were sanctioned by their God. This chapter goes into depth about the struggles and conflicts that homosexuals have in religious institutes. As stated in the textbook, relationships between the church and state have not been strong. The gay rights movements over the last decade have created a great awareness of the difficulties that the homosexuality community has endured over the few decades. I still feel that the relationship between the church and homosexuality is not going to be a strong one, because many religious institutes still feel that it is wrong for members of society to be involved in relationships with the same sex. In my personal opinion, I think that things should change in religious institutions as we are all considered to be one, but then again that is just my personal opinion. Maybe in the next decade religious institutions will be able to get past it, and move forward.