Confronting Privilege?

“How do I do that?“

White Privilege in action during a unique situation.

In the coming weeks will be the most pivotal for the Black Live Matter movement.

Black people will be fighting for equality. They take to the streets and protest the injustices society has wrought upon them, not because they want to, but because they must. Black people do not have the option of walking away, they simply cannot afford that. They do not benefit from the same privilege as you and I.

I want to address white people and those who think that this movement is above them, those who are feeling uneasy or uncertain, this is for you. If the news is causing you pain or feelings you can’t quite describe, if you feel like turning it off and forgetting about it for a while, please fight through it. A very uncomfortable notion is coming to light within you and you want to fight it. I promise you it pales in comparison to the traumas and tribulations black people go through on a daily basis. I do not need to tell you, it’s been known; it’s all around us. When we turn away, we acknowledge the injustices and accept them as an essence of ourselves, and we hide this so as to never have to see it. We do this because we’re ashamed; we’re ashamed of how we accept this so freely and cannot bring ourselves to change. We never confront this dissonance that we battle with everytime we see another innocent black person murdered on the news, or everytime we hear the n-word said by a non-black person, everytime a morally dubious comment is made in passing and we decided it’s better to leave it be. We make these choices, this is something that we can control. If you’re feeling helpless, you don’t need to.

It is our duty and responsibility to reflect on these feelings and willfully change our implicit biases. The feeling of confronting one’s privilege can be so uncomfortable. The feeling of guilt can come to the forefront. It’s normal to feel this way. Often times we can become so defensive and come up with a plethora of excuses because we’ve benefited from this privilege our whole lives and devised a framework within our mind to cope with it.

We must change and reflect now. While black people fight for their rights and lives, we must fight with them. In order to do this we must be willing to deconstruct the framework we’ve built up. Change won’t come if we continue upholding the old system of thought that has led to these senseless atrocities. Change begins with you. Have these difficult conversations and feel the difficult emotions. This is not an easy process, but it’s incomparable to the monumental adversity black people have face their whole lives and are currently fighting against at this very moment. You can help, even if you feel helpless. It starts with you.

1. Start by asking yourself some questions or having a discussion with a friend:

• What are the Black Lives Matter protests about?
• Why are they protesting?
• What is my perspective?
• Why do I have this perspective?

2. Reflect on these questions and your answers:

• Where are my perspectives coming from?
• Why do I feel the way I do?
• I have changed my perspective on Black Lives Matter because… or I have not change my perspective on Black Lives Matter… because.

3. Have an open dialogue with those around you and understand their perspectives and question your own. Have an open dialogue with a Black person. Create more questions based off previous discussions:

• Questions I still wonder about…
• Research that I’ve found…
• I’m having trouble understanding…

4. Make a choice or decision moving forward on how you want to continue learning:

• Over the next few weeks I hope to….
• I plan on discussing X topic.

These are basic things you can do to start helping yourself open your mind and learn what others and yourself are thinking perspectives wise. Change is good, learning is growth. Try and operate with kindness and understanding, you might find a whole new side to yourself you never even knew existed.

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Unique Prejudice from the front lines of Intersectionality

“There was no name for this problem. And we all know that, where there’s no name for a problem, you can’t see a problem, and when you can’t see a problem, you pretty much can’t solve it.”

Kimberlé Crenshaw – The urgency of intersectionality

Kimberlé discusses in this TED talk the importance of bringing the existence of intersectionality to the forefront of discussion. In class we discussed the idea of one’s identity indelibly being apart of their experience in society. With multiple identities that can reside within victims of oppression, we cannot just group them all together and slap a check mark on them. We must consider the extent that society’s role plays and affects the livelihood of this person and consider policies that exclude the unique experiences and struggles faced by people with intersectional identities.

Kimberlé discusses the way we structure policies and how these policies overlap at an intersection of identity where an individual is hit by both sides of the traffic. To be helped you’d have to pick a road to be helped on, the possibility of being assisted on the intersection is out of the question.

Kimberlé’s video revolves around the intersectionality of black women and recognition of the lost lives not being honoured the same way the male counterparts are. She ask’s the audience to have a difficult reflection with themselves, to understand the lives lost and forgotten and the importance of recognizing the problem and giving it a name so we can move forward to understanding.

This principle (intersectionality) can be used by policy makers and regular citizens. If understanding harmoniously the issues our most vulnerable members face in society, we can make real change moving forward addressing the injustice and inequality plaguing our systems of government and social interactions. Education will lead to change, people need to be willing to listen.

Active Listening: Gate Way to clear Communication

The act of actively listening is an interpersonal observation of a listener to their speaker. It is a process that involves the analysis of one’s conscious and unconscious communicative processes. To read a persons body language effectively will allow for a listener to gleam unsaid and important information from the subtext of what they are saying. Similarly, this allows a person to paraphrase effectively what the speaker was trying to convey.

When I practice active listening, I feel a sense of completion and connection with the people around me. It is evident when active communication is not being practiced. Tension and miscommunication can lead to toxic environments and unfavorable interactions with people.

In essence, to be able to listen to another means you can listen to oneself more effectively. Active listening is a reflective process. As you try and break down the meaning of a speakers message, you are in fact, at the same time, confronting your own feelings on a subject and employing empathy. This allows you to consume someones content in a way that gives you a broader prospective on a message being conveyed.

“The active-listening approach, on the other hand, does not present a threat to the individual’s self picture. He does not have to defend it. He is able to explore it, see it for what it is, and make his own decision about how realistic it is. And he is then in a position to change.”

Rogers, C. R., & Farson, R. E. (2015). Active listening. Mansfield Center, CT: Martino Publishing.

I love the idea of active listening being a tool to do introspection. It makes sense that in order to comprehend another persons message, comparing your ideals, and questioning your bias and opinions as to why some messages elicit certain emotions. We can really utilize active listening in all facets of life to better our understanding of others, ourselves and life.

The Importance of Humility

In Relation to Ally-ship

The power of Humility is so extremely overlooked. Being able to separate your mistakes from personal affront, is one of the most important tools for growth and change. Being able to own our limitation, allows us to identify what it is we need to work on to grow.

In terms of Ally-ship, when we look at becoming an Ally, we’re looking at our ability to think self critically. Ourselves in relation to the group we are attempting to understand. Without intellectual humility, the ability to self analyze and critically understand our role as an ally will be impossible.

An excerpt from The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts & Tools:

“Critical thinking is, in short, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored and self-corrective thinking. It requires rigorous standards of excellence mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcoming our native ego-centrism and sociocentrism”

The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts & Tools By Richard Paul, Linda Elder

We can always improve. To think one’s thought processes surpass that of those around them, is to hold oneself back from growth, and to stop the process of self improvement. To be able to critically analyze oneself, in turn, means to understand ones limitations, means to understand that we can continue to grow and that intellectual humility is the pathway to growth and change. By allowing ourselves to not know everything and to allow ourselves to be wrong, we welcome in a wealth of knowledge that would otherwise be unavailable to us had we not.

When entering someones community, especially that of a group that has experienced systemic oppression throughout history, entails a need to understand to a deeper level. This level can only be obtained when intellectual humility, critical thinking, and willingness to be corrected of ones own abilities, is actively practiced. Herein lies the root of what leads to meaningful and honest growth to becoming a true ally.

Guest Panelist Response

Hearing Parents of Deaf children

The challenges faced by the parents evolved as their children grew up. Notably in the beginning, there was a general consensus among the parents of a founding of a new culture and way of life completely unknown to them. With this discovery, much like what we are doing in BAA, the parents underwent a monumental change of ideals and values, and was met with a new way of life challenging preconceived ideas of life. Understanding the Deaf experience and what it was to support and advocate for your child were to become focal points in some of the parents lives. Not only societal changes, but personal changes including the acquisition of a new language and joining a new community.

Challenges

• Conflicting views on upbringing of Deaf child such as: Language, Education, Medical intervention for hearing devices, conflicting cultural values (hearing vs deaf communities)
• Stigma and stereotypes
• Equal opportunities to that of hearing peers (especially in school)
• Mainstreaming and the effects on the child.
• Lack of information and lack of support.
• Acquisition of New language and culture

Dealing with these challenges require a lot of work and dedication on the parents part, as well as on the Deaf child. Fighting prejudice and fighting for what your child wants is tiring and often thankless. Fighting for adequate interpreting services, endless hours of research and meetings doctors, interactions with doctors and people who think they know whats good for your child. Often emotionally tolling and requires and total upheaval of ones values and identity. I was very interested in hearing what the experiences and relationships they had with their child’s doctors growing up was like. I was surprised to find out that there were some pleasant experiences and genuinely compassionate out in the field supporting the parents. A lot of the experiences the parent panelists went through run parallel with what my sister went through in hospitals and doctors, it was very interesting to hear their perspective on cochlear implants and experiences. Hearing their responses in regards to their medical experiences with their children really makes me wonder why their is such an ignorance surrounding atypical children and the prevalence for one dimensional thinking in today’s medical system. I’d be interested in seeing the different services offered to new parents of Deaf children now and how the oralist methods are/are not shifting. It’s also opened my eyes in how I view my sisters hearing and what she must experience on a daily basis, it makes me more cognizant of things I never considered before, and I hope to enlighten myself more through some research and experiences such as this one.

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An article on Total Communication given to my mother when my sister was born

Cinnamon Bun and Ally-ship

This is Cinnamon bun, he is very cute and friendly.

Cinnamon bun is a walking, talking confection in the show Adventure Time. He is not a main character in this show by any means, but the way characters are depicted in the show, through writing and strong character personalities, gives the audience a strong connection to even the smallest of characters. Cinnamon Bun is often times depicted dim-witted and clumsy, exhibiting childlike qualities in the way he acts and understands certain situations. He has a short attention span and struggles staying on task. No matter the severity of a situation, Cinnamon Bun will act genuinely to who he is, speaking whats on his mind, even if the situation doesn’t quite call for his antics.

The public perception of an individual like this in the Candy Kingdom (the city in which the characters live) or in the whole Land of Ooo (the world) can be often polarizing for Cinnamon Bun. He is quick to temper and anger when met with frustration or fear, often times not feeling understood by most of the characters. His personality, although not the most outrageous, proves to make Cinnamon Bun feel lonely and not viewed on the same level as his friends. Despite Cinnamon Bun’s short comings there’s one character who looks at Cinnamon Bun differently.

and it changes him completely.

Flame Princess is, you guessed it, a princess made of flame. Her father is the ruler of the Fire Kingdom, a kingdom based in the belly of a volcano, not too far from the Candy Kingdom. Flame Princess herself grapples with her own insecurities revolving around her propensity to anger. In one of the episodes Earth and Water, Flame Princess is trying to come to terms with the people around her and their problems with honesty. In the most unlikely of allies, she finds solace in the new friendship with Cinnamon Bun, the most upfront and honest character the audience has yet to meet. He helps Flame Princess come to terms with trauma from her past and shows her true honesty and friendship she has yet to meet in her own life and friendships.

Quite a shockingly beautiful scene comes in the episode The Red Throne. After Flame Princess reclaims the fire kingdom from her oppressive father, she appoints Cinnamon Bun as her most trusted adviser, a shock to both the audience and many of the characters.

I love what cartoons can do to help us confront emotions that might otherwise be too difficult to do on our own. There’s a distinction between Allegory and Applicability of course, but, the audience can enrich the show by bringing their knowledge of these real world parallels and help confront conscious and unconscious feelings. I challenged why I felt shocked, and it led me to evaluate the situations in the show to some ideas around ally-ship and able-ism. I related Cinnamon Bun to the members of the special needs community. In my own life, I’ve seen discrimination and stereotypes against people with different abilities in this society. Much of what Cinnamon Bun goes through, with social perception and assumptions on ability are also prevalent in the special needs communities. That’s why what Flame Princess did hit me so hard, it was her purity and kindness in looking at what makes Cinnamon Bun different, is also what makes him a powerful adviser. Flame Princess didn’t pick him because she felt bad or obligated to, but because of his kind heart and honest attitude. Flame Princess’s decision by appointing Cinnamon Bun shocked characters because they’d never picture someone like Cinnamon Bun in such an important position. Furthermore, the more he proves himself, the more the characters re-evaluate their own biases, and why they held them in the first place. I think Flame Princess sets a good example on the qualities someone who is an Ally should possesses. I want to take that into the course and continuously evaluate my attitudes and biases, just as the characters did, so I can maybe open up the eyes of some people, eliminate prejudice, and help make the world more a little more equal.

whats poppin’

Hi welcome to the blog,

My name is Sean, I am a 22 year old student, and I will be utilizing this blog to reflect and reference materials and ideas I’ve been learning in class. I really enjoy games, movies and cartoons, so expect a lot of random images popping up on the blog, or references to things I relate to that helps aid my learning process.