extra credit:Truth, Lies, and Videotape

The “Truth, Lies, and Videotape” cluster’s presentation were grand demonstrations of the creativity in La Guardia. Each group personated their ideas in different and interesting visual forms. The first presentation on the casting of a reality show, showed in a comical way the stereotypical qualifications for a character on a reality show. Showing a character has a difficult past as a stripper, another character that is self-centered, and the finial character that self denies his addiction to drugs. The short film was a very passive way to portray stereotypes that are carried out on reality television.

                The next presentation was a power point on the liberation of Tibet by the country of China. The presentation attempted to shed light on the controversial issue of China’s occupation of Tibet. Although the power point had a lot of information that made it very interesting, the presenter seemed to be anxious and had a hard time narrating. This made the presentation difficult to understand, and drew attention away from it. The presentation that followed was a music video, starring a young man with an aimless search that finalizes when he finds his teddy bear. I enjoyed this music video because the visual affects made the video look very mysterious and dramatic. The end was also a comical surprise that lighten the mood of the video. The presentation that followed was that of a commercial advertising a health product. The health product was a miracle pill that would take away thoughts of stereotyping and racism. This demonstration was also done in a very comical way this made the product appealing. The last two presentations were videos on the meaning of love, and a short film on a girl’s search for employment. The love video was in a documentary form and showed a real married couple vision on love, as well as a child and a young girl’s views on love. The short film titled Umploymento displayed the struggle of a young woman to find a job. From applying to every retail store to an awkward interview, the film shows the reality in finding employment.

Each one of the demonstrations portrayed their message in unique ways, and any viewer would agree that with such short period of time the groups did a good job. These presentations have given me ideas for my own project and pointers on what I do not want to do myself.  Such as being able to dominate any anxiety that may come up in a presentation, as well as using comedy to engage the audience.

               

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btmp (they say, i say)

In Black Power Mixtape an interviewee, embodies Dr. King's theory that black power stems from bitter feelings of distress, as was felt when Dr,King himself and JFK died. I emotions that cause people to feel powerless further bring their spirits to an all time low. As Stokley would agree from this low sense of self Black Power seeks to revive the spirit of the black community. However this is not possible without the knowledge of reading, writing, and analyzing. As writer Lewis H. Michaux puts it, “A gang of little black boys came in, they held up dey fists talking ‘bout black power, I said look son I’d like to straighten you out, I said black is beautiful but black isn’t power knowledge is power, ‘cause you can be black as a crow, you can be white as snow, and if you don’t know, ani’t got the doe, you can’t go and that’s for sho”.  Michaux analogy is so important because it sheds light to the overall practical barrier that surrounded the ideal of Black Power. Although I grant that Black Power as a movement was a productive and uplifting effort, I still maintain that to take this ideology in a profoundly literal sense Is aimless. Black Power should encourage people, but black Power should not separate nor give a false reality. It is through knowledge the people can become as Carmichael says “Qualified” if an individual is not qualified and instead restores to confrontation, those who are clarified will always look down on them like seagull to fish, and they will eat them. 

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Guns , Germs , and Steel

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a documentary describing a theory by Jared Diamond an environmental determinist. Diamond theory consists on providing an explanation on the inequalities in the world. Mainly explaining why certain groups of people or countries have better conditions in all aspects (economically, living conditions, education, resources, etc.) as oppose to those that don’t.  According to Diamond the inequality of the world has an origin, and that origin stems from geography itself. During the Stone Age humans began to develop the skill to farm. This was due to the limitations that migrant hunting had. According to Dr. Ian Kuijt an archaeologist of Norte Dame University whom studies early agriculture, found a primitive village in what used to be in Prehistoric times the Fertile Crescent, now the Middle East. This is believed to be one of the first organized villages in the World. The Fertile Crescent was a land with an abundance of grains, as well as animals that were domesticated into framing According to the documentary  first animals to be domesticated in ancient times was goats and sheep. These animals provided muscle power, food, clothing, and manure to continue farming. As the land of the Fertile Crescent become uninhabitable, these people began to migrate to the neighboring continents of Asia and Europe, taking with them these new found skills. Again Geography helped in this process of migration according to Diamond this was due to the fact that Europe and Asia share the same latitude, and places that share similar latitudes share similar climate and vegetation. This other geographic advantage allowed the people of Asia, Europe, and Northern Africa to prosper in more skills then just farming. According to Diamonds theory with  large quantities of food humans were now able to focus less on finding food , allowing them to focus on providing other needs, and developing other skills. According to Diamond this is the reason behind the technological advancements made in early centuries everything from writing to planes. I agree with Diamond’s view, because he gives a clear explanation as to how geography plays a major role in the advancements that Europe had in early centuries that allowed them to conquer other lands. On the other hand I also believe that inequality apart from being a geographic disadvantage is also created by humans themselves. Geography might have given Europe and Asia an upper hand in producing weapons such as guns. These guns were later used to force Africans into slavery, but can geography explain by a human would enslaved another human being? Or why the children of Zambia die in large numbers of malaria, because there government is unable to properly irradiate the illness.   An illness that in countries like Malaysia has been irradiated years ago, can this also be explained as a geographical disadvantage? In a world that is becoming more globalized, it can be difficult to believe that all inequalities are geographical disadvantages. Although it is logical to conclude with Diamonds theory that the origin of inequality is geographically, but I don’t know if it can explain inequality on moral levels.  

Martin Luther king gives a message of non-violence in the where do we go from here: chaos or community. He believes in this method but as he stated “non-violence resistance caused no explosions of anger - it instigated no riots -- it controlled anger and released it under discipline for maximum effect”. In controlling the anger that the community to a constructive demonstration King wants to show that the black community can be civil.  King believes in these non-violent movements, because it has worked for him for his purposes. King was looking for a legal equality, whereas Carmichael is aiming toward a separate society where the black community decided for themselves, and can protect their own needs.  However Carmichael and King express similar points when they refer to the black community feeling helpless in a society that overlooks their needs. These conclusions that both of these men present do have a common goal, this is to help the growth and prosperity off the black community. We the diving line between the two is drawn, it is when each has different means of getting to that prosperity.  King believes that continuing to pull back from the anger that consumes the community, and instead disciplining it to resistance is the more effective way to combat the white community. Carmichael believes that the anger is inevitable due to the conditions the black community faces on a daily bases. The black community cannot change their mentally when the system is continuing to bring then down, in the form of police brutality.  Carmichael overlooks what I consider an important point about King’s resistance idea,  and that is the power of guilt. I believe King’s work was so effective, because he got to the conscience of the white American society. Whereas Carmichael to an extend seems more racial in in this ideals. However Carmichael also makes a valid point, when he says “they're afraid because they'd be 'beat up,'...etc. It happens to black people inside the ghetto every day, incidentally”. Meaning that white society that is afraid of the ghetto, and they have no concern of the violence that occurs inside the ghetto.  This violence that is not repaired by the law enforcement, the police only terrorize this community. A community already inflicted with its own sociological problems.