Sociology Journal: Video Entry # 3 to an Affective Reading on “What have my Cocoa Beans got to do with Canada” by Charles Quist-Adade

This video is about my professor from Kwantlen Polytechnique University named, Dr. Charles Quist-Adade, partaking in the Global Sociological Imagination as from when he was a child to the point where he is now.  Close to the age of five years old, Charles began planting cocoa beans with his aunt and uncle in a remote part of the eastern region in a village of Ghana.  At that time, for more than ten years, Cocoa seed planting is the division of labour for Charles’ role on the farm world.  The global sociological imagination as he describes is “based on the assumption that our individual biographies are not richen or created by us alone as individual.  But, are also the collective products, actions and, indeed, in-actions of legions of people, many of whom live in far flung corners of our global landscape and whose paths may never cross ours in our life time.”  These actions, seemingly insignificant, that we do from the past or presently will have ramifications going as far out as beyond our physical reach into even other nations or the hands of other people far beyond us of whom we will probably never see in our life time.  For Charles, his pursuit for a high school and post secondary education was possible due to chocolate, cocoa drinks and other cocoa bean related products.  Further explaining, it is the cocoa beans that were planted from around the world, including in his time when he was planting the cocoa beans, which provides for jobs and nourishment for people around the world.  Cocoa beans and its market enable his country to have money set aside from cocoa bean farmers to help fund for scholarships to students for studies in a higher education.  Now a professor in Canada, Charles is able to educate future leaders and his perspective of life.  This can only be possible as seen in the perspective of the global sociological imagination that Canadians who made much of these purchases of Cocoa bean products allow for Charles’ being in a country such as Canada.

I feel very inspired after watching this video to work on the cocoa bean fields next to Charles so that I would be able to reach out to our global society in one way or another.  Also, I feel very happy for Charles to be able to make it this far with the help of a simple plant like cocoa beans.  Who would think the impact of a plant like cocoa beans would make a huge change for one person.

I think that the actions of what we make of now or for the future should be made aware.  Through the global sociological imagination, this shows how far our actions can be reached to others, beyond our reach even.  The thought of purchasing products from another country can help people from other countries to fulfill dreams they may never think of, which is a great thought.

I believe that everything we do can and will impact the people around us which can be possibly felt throughout the world.  For example, by posting our blogs or videos on “YouTube”, people who have access to the internet can see what we say or do which would impact their opinions and views.

I know for sure that the actions I do take will affect the people that I see who surrounds me.  Also, I know that if I were to make purchases of products made from other countries that it will have an impact financially or maybe even somehow possibly sponsoring another Charles Quist-Adade.

Sociology Journal: Video Entry # 2 to an Affective Reading on “Race: The Power of an Illusion”

This video is a documentary which explores the connotation, myths and importance of racial distinction.  “There is no question that individual human beings are different:  one from the other.  Our eyes confirm this day in and day out [through] skin colour, body shape, hair form, [and] eye shape.” These visual cues are what are used to classify people into four or five groups:  red, black, white, brown, and yellow.  The use of modern science challenges ancient and venerable assumptions about race.  Genetics shows us that we are can not be identified as different through our skin colours.  There is no gene or combination of genes that give us a particular phenotype for our makeup of skin colour.  What is said to be black in the US nation, for example, is not considered to be black in another country like Ghana.  Race is only a matter of an individual perception.  Furthermore, genetics tells us that we all are actually mongrels in one way or another (mixed in ethnicity by some way).  Race is used as a view to differentiate different kinds of people in society to set hierarchy, especially known to “white” society.  Through debunking, by science and education for examples, it is seen that race is a social conception and not a biological fact.  Race is only used to deny people from their freedom, resources, and opportunities.   This idea allows the outrageous and terrible argument that people of different physical characteristics are “inferior,” in order to gain or have an upper hand in society.  It also allows for social inequalities to be seen as natural order and to be incorporated into laws which affect societal views.

I feel that racism is a brainless fact which still happens nowadays.  I am sad to still see it as I am sometimes a victim of racism of or viewed as a particular race.  I really hate it a lot of times when people ask me where I am from, and to avoid conversations like these sometimes I tell them that I am “Canadian” rather than an “Indonesian born child from a refugee camp whose parents are born in Vietnam.”  Why must conversation starters be about where I am from?  Why can’t it be something such as “what I am ambitious to be to help balance the world?”  Also, I feel that racism can be used a cruel contexts.  However, racism can, also, be humorous if used through proper circumstances like for example by a comedian like Russell Peters for we all should sometimes have a “light heart.”

I think in this video whether it having it to remind us or teach us that “race” is a social context is a very well put statement.  It is very true, and that we should always realize and think that “race” is a social construct and not a biological reality that should separate us from one another.

I believe that somehow racism will always be in our society in one way or another, big or small.  But, I hope to believe that it will be minimized to almost nothing.  As well, I believe that racism should only be used to let society realize about the dangers that exist around it, and, on another hand, the humor that it can bring us all together such through a comedy show.

I know that through education that racism and “race” can be debunked in our society so that opportunities can be opened and less oppression can exist.  Even awareness of racism and the social context of “race” should be made known as these kinds of knowledge should be made mandatory to lessen the actions of racism in our society.

Sociology Journal: Video Entry # 1 to an Affective Reading on “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Adichie

This video is about a person or a group of people listening to a single story about another person or group, where critical misunderstandings can be constructed in the wrong context.  Stereotypes are used to describe this video.  Specifically, by portraying a specific person or group through the media, this may impact individuals to take on traits or roles that the media presents.  By listening to a single story, this makes up what we know as labeling or stereotypes.  The people who are most vulnerable are the youths who listens to these single stories whether through the media or through someone else.  The important ways to understanding a single story without being one-sided are to critique the story being told, to recognized the different aspects that surrounds the story, and as well as to question the story where ever possible to get a fuller understanding of the story as a whole.  By having one to tell their own personal experience through a single story, or having someone else to tell their single story, Adichie makes it lucid and clear that there is never only a single story about any person rather only a person telling one story from a different angle.  Therefore, the rejection of a single story will bring “paradise.”

I feel very touched after listening to Adichie’s message being conveyed to us.  The power of a single story can be very overwhelming, but I must not be selective on what I want to listen to rather I should always be critical and understand why the story I am listening to is being told.  I feel more enforced to being critical after listening to Adichie’s message especially after I read a newspaper or listening to the news or something that we sometimes are unaware of which are television shows and movies.

I think a single story is a powerful and persuasive approach in trying to have someone else side with you.  I think we all have the ability to use this method and that it can be a serious contributing factor to have someone else to have a stereotypical view of a particular person or a particular country or both.  However, I think for as long as everyone can always stay open minded and see a single story at different angles than perhaps this world can have more of a balance.

I believe that Adichie tries to raise the issue on how we are all similar as humans.  Rather than using a single story to tell how different we are, we should be using single stories to show how similar we actually are.  In this way, cultural differences and values will be understood rather than misunderstood, which can be devastating to our society as history tells.

I know that through a single story a person can change their perspective immediately.  This is a sad fact as this can lead to many misunderstandings.  It is critical for us to realize that a single story needs to be analyzed in many different perspectives in order to obtain a bigger picture of a point of view.  Only then will this lead to a greater understanding and realization for the person’s best interest.

Sociology Journal: Affective Reading on “The Phantom of the Race: The Myth of Race and the Reality of Racism” by Charles Quist-Adade

In this reading, the exploitation and the connection between race and racism are discussed.  Biologically, we are all essentially the same, except for the specific characteristics seen by others which define our individuality.  However, there are certain groups of people who see themselves as the superior race, specifically, the “white” Europeans.  By using this modern idea of race, “race categorizers” have identified five particular races:  1.  The Caucasian or White race, 2.  The Mongolian or Yellow race, 3.  The Ethiopian or Black race 4.  The American or Red race, and 5.  The Malayan or Brown race, all set out due to the reference the individual’s skin tone colour.  In fact, “there is no pure race; most people are racially mixed,” in other words, we are all mongrels as genetics verifies for us.  Yet, the idea of race holds strong along with unfortunate act of racism.  Through history, Canadian and American governments have shown resistance by using laws to limit immigrants into the country in order to preserve European traits.  The way this can be done nowadays is that racism has become more of a discrete battle.  Nonetheless, government policies do exist to show that racism is an intolerable social issue.  But, there are still many different kinds of oppression for ethnic groups limiting growth and advancement for specific opportunities.

I feel that because of the idea of racism still exist and because of the fact that I am still categorized under a race by many people that I am excluded from certain groups of people which annoys me.  I know for a fact that sometimes when I want help, people don’t want to help me because I am not from the same nation as them or because I am not the same colour as them.  But, I am glad that this is not always the case as I do fortunately get help from non-racist people, which are the majority.  Nevertheless, I just don’t like how nowadays there is still a little struggle for me from time to time because of my skin colour or because of where I am from.

I think the reading is very bold and brave to speak about the concept and the connection of racism and race for others.  I also think people like to deny themselves that they are not racist as sometimes they may be for whatever the reason may be.  Hopefully, the reason is not to hurt others and to be kept to the self.

I believe that racism exists in one form or another and that the categories of race also exist as well.  As sadly to say, I also believe that this ideal will never be eliminated, but I hope that, at least, it would be minimize to a point of oblivion.

I know that no matter where I go in the world that I will certainly be categorized through race and that racism may exist in a form that I may or may not see.  I also know that majority of important people do not tolerate racism, which keeps my mind at peace.

Sociology Journal: Paraphrastic Reading on “Who Will Liberate Liberia?” by Charles Quist-Adade

This article raises the issue of “corporate America” being able to “puppetting” (to take control and take actions) the US nation in making critical decisions for whether which nations require help.  The US nation believes that it is rational to spend 200 billion dollars plus the addition of 50 million dollars for their fight against Iraq and for the heads of Saddam Hussein and his sons, respectively.  By seeing our world as Orwellian or a Global Jungle, it is specified that immortality means morality, and might is right.  Therefore, this validates with apparently good reasoning to have millions suffer from the essentials such as the lack of nutrition or proper health care.  The “Bush Doctrine” uses the ideology that to fight terrorism money must be spent in order for peace to exist.  Furthermore, when the US nation could not find any weapons of mass destruction from the Iraq nation, it is apparent that Bush may have either lost his sense of reality or that his dictation on critical issues are because of the stress from tunnel vision.  Either way, weapons of mass destruction in other nations such as from Israel, Iran, India, Korea and Pakistan are strangely disregarded by the US nation.  During the invasion against Iraq, the US nation is responsible for thousands of deaths where Saddam Hussein may have had tortured many of his victims.  This invasion was against the wishes of the United Nations and the international community to “liberate” Iraq.  What about the liberation of Liberia?  All the help that this nation got from the US nation are logistic support from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS).  It is expected that Liberia is supposed to help themselves while corporate America capitalizes on the taking of Iraqi oil.

And so it makes perfect sense to spend 200 billion dollars on one man and one natural resource – Saddam Hussein and Iraqi oil.  After all, in the end, the price of democracy (read American hegemony and corporate capitalism) will far outweigh the cost of war and reconstruction of prostrate Iraq.  It all makes sense.  The cost of the war is being recouped as corporate America loots the spoils of the war.  Christian morality and compassion can wait.

The five sentences above states that the US nation is being controlled by “corporate America” in order for them to capitalize on the amount of Iraq oil that can be taken.  The US nation makes justification by stating that to fight terrorism; 200 billion dollars must be spent.  Overall, the price of democracy is noted to outweigh the cost of war and the reconstruction of the Iraq nation.  As well, Christian morale and compassion are to be neglected for the moment.

The reason why I chose these sentences is because it interestingly sums up in a sarcastic tone the great things that “corporate America” is doing for the world, in turn, making the US nation looking bad.  Also, with the amount of money that this nation spends on war and the unknown profits they reap, neither is significantly used to help other people who are in dire need of basic essentials such as food or medicine.  Who is to stop corporate America when the government can’t?

Sociology Journal: Paraphrastic Reading on “September 11: Forgiveness Is Not Part Of The Lessons Learned” by Charles Quist-Adade

The article elucidates the main purpose for anniversaries, such as for example incidents alike the September 11 episode. That is, it is for us to learn from our past to face our futures.  In order for our futures to exist, a saying is reminded and reiterated, “Forgive and forget.”  However, during the presidential periods when Bush was elected, “forgiveness does not figure prominently in Bush country.”  Not only do politicians, but also the media beckon the worst human instincts – nationalist hatred and lust for revenge.  By utilizing Christian values and specific phrases, this caused the US nation to go to war against the “[terrorists in] Iraq in the shadows of the anniversary of 9/11.”  The cause of this war against terrorism consequently cost many lives of innocent Afghan men, women, and children.  Moreover, Westerners preach to forget the past to seemingly desensitize critical issues such as the African holocaust (the European slave trade), colonization, balkanization, and the pillage of natural resources.  Notably, double standard is very much involved here.  Where are the reparations for its enslavements and exploitations of the continent’s natural resources caused by the Westerners?  Another specific example raised is when the US-sponsored attacks played down the crucial historic memories on the thousands of lives lost in the Angola, Grenada, Lebanon, Libya, Panama, Sudan, Somalia, Vietnam, Japan, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and of course, Iraq and Afghanistan nations.  Even Martin Luther King Jr. criticized his own US government by saying “The greatest purveyor of violence on Earth is my own government.”  The comparison of Bush to Mugabe is also raised, as Mugabe is known to split his land (Zimbabwe) without the slaughtering of hundreds of people.  Oddly, this kind of arrangement made by Mugabe is criticized by representatives of the US nation.  Alas, the September 11 issue should remind us that terror comes in many different ways:  state, state-sponsored, individuals, and stateless structures.  As well, violence is one of the most prominent tools used by terrorist in many different conducts, such as by policies and actions, commissions and omissions made by the government, organizations, and ignorance of individual identity.

Yet forgiveness is a virtue that the West pontificates constantly to non-Westerners.  To non-Westerners, in general and Africans in particular, they preach:  forgive and forget – most of all forget – the past, what happened between Africa and Europe, between Africa and North America.  They want us to forget the African holocaust – the European slave trade – the colonization, the balkanization, and the pillage of the continents human and natural resources.  They want us to turn the other cheek but they demand their pound of flesh when it comes to them.  What double standards!

This five sentence statement above expose and address the double standards made by Westerners to non-Westerners.  Although forgiveness is a very much preached and desired value known by many Westerners, this value is made forgotten.  Through the use of desensitization by Westerners, serious and significant issues such as the death of many people in many nations, especially in the African nations, are made to be an unrecognized past.  Other unrecognized issues known as the “African holocaust” caused by Europeans saw others as unequal and made these people turned into slaves.  The issue of looting their nation’s people is not only forgotten, but also the looting of their natural resources is ancient history.  Two questions comes to mind:  How is this fair?  And, where is the restitution made by these people?

The reason why I chose this paragraph is because I want to make awareness of the issue that in our world there are still governments that still owe their own people justice or some sort of compensation (such as, the Vietnamese government owing my family restitution for forcefully drafting particular members in my family).  Not only do their own people’s governments owe their own people, but also specific nations owe restitutions for other nations (such as the US nation owing restitution for their involvement of the African nations and many others).  As well, I really believe in the issue to “forgive and not forget.”  Because, by remembering the past we try to set forth to avoid an unwanted issue to happen again and to forgive is to have peace of mind for oneself.

Sociology Journal: Dialectic Reading on “Negotiation, Not Retribution” by Charles Quist-Adade

What questions did the text/chapter raise?	How did the text answer this question?	How does the answer match our own ideas and experiences?
What is the social impact of the world due to the United States?	The text stated that because of greed and industrialized nations people are dying so that they can secure their own interest.  Specific examples such as the September 11 attack and the genocides in Congo are tragic incidents due to certain players in the United States whom should be recognized as accomplices to these matters.  More specifically, it is the manufacturers who sell armed weapons to places such as Africa, Asia, and the Middle-Easterners where highly agitated social and political issues are involved.	There are definitely no doubts to believe that the US involvement plays a major role in reflecting the many deaths around the world.  They are arguably the strongest army in the world, if not, one of the strongest army, and they seem to want to stay that way due to “security reasons.”  Also, the US nation is very much involved in having many individuals to be wealthy at the expense of people’s death due to a major reason such as with weapon’s dealings.
What specific issues involve the United States that caused uproars and tragedies?	In the text it is stated that at one point Nelson Mandela and his African National Congress were labeled as “terrorists” by the United States and other western countries, yet ironically, he is today relabeled as an “international icon.”  Another person that is labeled as a “terrorist” in the text is Osama Bin Laden.  He may be the person to blame for the death of the numerous amounts of people, but it is the United States who utilizes him towards the attacks against Russians, Afghans, mothers and their children in order to “roll back” the “Evil Empire.”  So, the text questions the audience by asking who is the real mastermind for the tragic incidents if Bin Laden is trained by the United States?	The US nation has a need to secure their own nation for own their people, yet ironically they neglect their own people’s social issues and play the “ostrich.”  Specifically, there is the huge problem between the “haves” and the “have-nots” (shelter and homes, for example).  The US being involved in wars whether for democracy to help the South Vietnamese or for oil in Iraq are other unnecessary issues that cause tragedies and deaths.