Week of February 6, 2012- Multiple Readings

Dr. Aguilar


When Dr. Aguilar came to speak with us briefly on January 30, he helped put into perspective a lot of Social Justice issues we have been discussing. 


For instance, he brought up the point that it is nonsensical to believe that equality is possible, because we are not biologically the same. (Examples such as: men can't bare children, so we allow them to adopt, or for those who cannot walk, we provide alternate access such as ramps.) He made a strong point of finding ways to help others adapt to our environment so that they have the ability to participate equally.


Another point I enjoyed was his view on empowerment. He stressed that people are taught that they don't have the ability to do certain things in life. (Where he grew up, they were taught that they didn't have the ability to pursue college, and that instead of trying, they should just go to trade school.) As Social Workers, we have the ability to tell someone, "This may seem hard, but I'm going to help you through it." I think having that support is necessary. If I didn't personally have my family backing me up to pursue my dreams (or in Dr. Aguilar's case, his entire community), I would hope that I could find that support through a Social Worker.


The last point he touched on was Lynde's question of, "Why can some people make it out of poverty and others can't? If some people can, why can't everyone?" He answered by telling us of the sort of purgatory he lives in: not fitting in with his family because he pursued higher education, but not fitting in with higher education because his family doesn't have a history of it. 


This really hit home with me. My mother and father grew up in Dalton, Georgia, where basically you went to work in the carpet factory with the rest of your family. My dad worked his way up from the mill, and now he is a Regional Vice President (of the northwest) in Mohawk Industries, an extremely large carpet company. He made his way up through promotions, not through higher education. But in the position he holds now, his colleagues all have prestigious college backgrounds. When he goes to meetings or dinners, and the small talk revolves around college, he doesn't have anything to say.


This encouraged him to push my sister and me towards college. I resisted because high school was the worst time of my life. The last thing I wanted to do was attend college. So I tried hair school (beauty school drop out), I tried bar tending (terrible hours), and then I tried a full time job. That was nice for awhile, but then you realize without an education it is hard to get promoted. (Times are not the same as when my dad was growing up.) Now, college is the best thing I've ever experienced, and I'll stay as long as my family is willing to help. 


Even more exciting, my dad is now pursuing a degree. He met with a few universities, and St. Mary's is allowing him to pursue an honorary MBA (because he has so much experience in business, he does not have to complete an undergrad program first).


The point is, a lot of us struggle in this purgatory of not fitting in when your family doesn't have a rich background of higher education. As Dr. Aguilar put it, we shouldn't have to struggle through this purgatory. Education and success should be accessible to everyone. We shouldn't have to defy this system to have a good life.


Howard Zinn


This book is hard for me to put down. 


The stories of class struggle... we are going through the exact same problems now. Mary Ellen Lease from the Populist party spoke to a crowd in 1890, "Wall Street owns the country. This is no longer a government of the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street," (p. 288).


America has a rich history of protesting greed and capitalism, but people with money and power have the ability to easily overthrow these attempts with police and military power.


The New York Independent Labor Party in 1880s made a list of demands for fair treatment, one of which included "that the police not interfere with peaceful meetings," (p. 272).

Police Pepper Spray Peaceful Protesters at UC Davis

Police Use Flash Bangs and Tear Gas on Protesters

Police pepper spray an 84 year old woman

Another part of the reading I found interesting was who created and controls schools. "Conwell was a founder of Temple University. Rockefeller was a donor to colleges all over the country and helped found the University of Chicago. Huntington, of the Central Pacific gave money to two Negro colleges, Hampton Institute and Tuskegee Institute. Carnegie gave money to colleges and to libraries. John Hopkins was founded by a millionaire merchant, and millionaires Cornelius Vanderbilt, Ezra Cornell, James Duke, and Leland Stanford created universities in their own names... and were known as philanthropists. ...It was important that these people learn obedience to authority" (p. 262-263). 

For myself, I definitely learned to be obedient and listen to authority. I remember crying when I forgot lined paper in my 3rd grade class. I cried when I had to sign the book in 4th grade after I forgot a project at home that I had completed. I'm afraid of getting fired from my job, or even being asked to leave from places I volunteer. I do things my teachers ask without question for fear of not succeeding or fear of not being liked by them. Really I'm afraid of anyone not liking me, and I think that makes me submissive. I never was taught to talk back of speak up for myself, so I don't. And in the larger picture, that's exactly what capitalists/the government want. It worked on me.

Arab and African Protest Rappers


This short article on the political influence of Arab and African protest rappers made me think of a now famous political, eccentric rapper named M.I.A. M.I.A. is the daughter of a political Tamil activist. Her father worked against systematic discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka. 

War war war
Talking bout you is such a bore
I'd rather talk about moi

Like do you know that cost of A.K.'s
Up in Africa
20 dollars ain't shit to you
But that's how much they are
So they gonna use the shit just to get far

Is girls, diamonds
Helping you?
Don't you like my bandanna?
My stains hang low
On my shirts like ay yai ay
Monkey brains and banana
I'll hit you with my antenna
I put soap in my eye
Make it red so I look raa

Ra ra
So I woke up with my holy quran and found out I like Cadillac
So we shooting till the song is up
Little boys are acting up
Baby mothers are going crazy
And the leaders all round cracking up
We goat rich we fry
Price of living in a shanty town just seem very high
We still like T.I.
We still look fly
Dancing as we shooting up
And lootin just to get by.

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head'll collapse when there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself
"Where is my mind?"

War war war
Who made me like this
Was it me and god in co-production
My devil's on speed dial
Everytime I take the wrong direction

All I want is one thing and that is what you got
Sometimes I go lose my mind then I feel numb

There's 24 hours in a day
I used to spilt it 8, 8, 8
8 work
8 sleep
8 for play
Now I give it all it takes

People on the Internet
A new life for the intellect
People judge me so hard
'cause I don't floss my titty set
I was born out of dirt like I'm porn in a skirt
I was a little girl who made good with all that I blurt
I put people on the map that never seen a map
I show 'em something they ain't never seen
And hope they make it back

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head'll collapse when there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself
"Where is my mind?"

Critical Race Theory/ Lum Chapter 1


I read the Critical Race Theory article first, so I felt critical of the Lum chapter. Even in Lum's book, criticisms are pointed out. Notably to me, Contradiction 1 on page 14, "knowing about cultures reminds us that we should practice an inductive learning approach (learning from the client) rather than a deductive assumption stance (knowing about the client)," (Lum). I understand these criticisms are broken down, but this particular point has similarities with Critical Race Theory. I found myself drawn towards the criticisms in Chapter 1 instead of towards the responses.


First of all, cultural competence tends to deem all oppression as equal, but racism is more pervasive, (Abrams, Moio, p. 249). Also relevant to our class discussions is this quote found on page 248 "it is that the cultural competence model may not move students from these more primary defensive responses to a more refined critique of privilege and then to collective social action,” (Abrams, Moio). Many of the white students in our class, including myself, immediately got defensive when we started talking about white privilege. Admittedly, it was probably the first time the majority of us had been confronted with white privilege (it was for me). 


Dean is quoted in Lum's chapter, "I would propose a model in which maintaining an awareness of one's lack of competence is the goal rather than competence. ...The client is the 'expert' and the clinician is in the position of seeking knowledge and trying to understand what life is like for the client," (p. 17). In fact, I think that's a good model for life in general. The more I learn, the more I learn I know very little.


Last semester, my professor Dr. Cubbin, gave us an article on Cultural Competence. It discussed how different cultures experience different symptoms for different ailments due to their culture. For example, Asian cultures tend to experience depression through physical symptoms of pain instead of emotional symptoms like in America. It is important for us to be aware of these differences so that we seek out a relevant intervention.


(I didn't have time to read Chapter 2 before noon today, but will update this as soon as I finish it today).


Before You Go


Please consider volunteering with Social Work Council at Inside Books Project next Sunday, February 12.

(You can follow my personal blog at www.katywaters.blogspot.com)