AOD 3/31/17

Why Language Matters

I thought that this video was very interesting. One part of this video that I found to be very interesting was the comment she made that "The way we use words changes the way we frame things in our mind." This is something I found interesting because she told of how subconsciously our minds think of girl and women differently. The term girl she states implies, "there are inferior to men". I do think in a way this is a stretch and a feminism approach to this language problem. Yet I do agree that women and men should both be called appropriately. I like how she does recognize that often times it is not used in a bad way on purpose. I do think that it is a good idea to use language that elevates each other and builds others up. I think that often this is a huge factor in society today. We often demean others because it is so called "funny" or "kidding" terms, when in fact all this does is show us how wrong we are about these people. Overall, I did like her message on how we should consciously try to help and change others language to elevate others.

Topic of Interest

Topic of Interest

As I was going through my social media page this morning, I saw a very funny post about helping refugees. The post read:

America: We need to help Syrian Refugees

Syria: Actually yeah we have thousands of refugees who need a place to stay, America would be great

America: New phone who's this?

I saw this post and while I laughed about it, I realized that this is how many times we as Americans are. We set our minds and hearts out to doing something but in the long run, do we really do what we say we are out to do? Especially in helping others, I feel many want to help but do not know where to start. Luckily there are many organizations that you can donate to and that you can get involved with to help. I believe that again as we open our borders, we will have an opportunity for an experience of a lifetime to help others who truly do need our help. Syria is just one of many countries that need our help.

AOD 3/28/17

A Single Story

This TED talk made me really reconsider how I view others and how I many times have been affected by a single story. I believe many news articles and social media often only tell one side of the story which in turn leads to prejudices and assumptions that are not necessarily true. To tell only one side of a story is like only viewing an area from an aerial view, yes you may see the top and overall landscape, yet can you see the color of the leaves on the trees and things like this? No, no you can't, so in this way you never can have the full story. Many times I believe that single stories begin from prejudices or from what others have been brought up to think and taught. I believe telling a single story is something that we as a society has always done. The interesting part of this is that we through our different backgrounds all have multiple views from what we were taught on various subjects and such. We openly accept and do not question what we are taught therefore when something unlike what we are taught is shown or brought up, we readily attack  the idea or different perspective. I believe the only true way to stop single stories is to go and experience first hand for yourself. Tell others about your experience with certain people, or a certain place and tell unbiasedly. Tell based on observation and facts, not only on what you think people want to hear. We need to be open minded and take what we hear with a grain of salt.

Topic of Interest

Topic of Interest

When looking at my topic in closer terms, I again searched refugees on the web and found a picture of a map of the U.S. which showed where Syrian refugees were placed in America in the 2012-2015 time frame. I found it interesting that most refugees were sent to the East, specifically places like New York, Connecticut, etc. I found that interesting and decided to research more about why refugees are placed where they are. As I researched on many resettlement sites, we found that a states culture has much to do with where refugees are placed. Many states seem to have small resemblances often to the refugees home country. Things that this could be affected by would be things such as climate, specific traditions and many other minor similarities. I think it is cool, that often the government tries to place the refugees into a place where they believe it will be an easier transition and where they believe they can succeed. I'm sure all cases are not always like this, yet it is interesting to see that in most they do at least try in some way to accommodate to those who have come into our country.

Topic of Interest

Topic of Interest

This week, as I have been thinking of my topic of resettlement, I came across a quote that I really liked by Leonard Nimoy, he stated, "The miracle is, the more we share the more we have." It was interesting to see this quote when searching refugees. This quote truly does apply to refugees and specifically as to why we should help. I think many who believe refugees should not be allowed into our country are very worried about their own safety or their own jobs and so forth. But I wonder, if any have thought about how it could benefit them to help refugees. There are many people out there who have dedicated their lives to helping these people, and there are those living among us, who are refugees. Some may be close to us, and some we may never know, but nonetheless we should help them. Just as the quote says, "the more we share the more we have".  The more we help refugees and share the many resources we have the more it can bless us and the more we can see that they are not as different from us, at all. This quote also seems to remind me of one of the articles, I used for my paper, titled "You Invited me In". I really liked the title of this article because, we as Americans with our limitless resources should invite refugees in, and welcome them to a better life.

Topic of Interest

Topic of Interest

This week as I was looking on the IRC(international rescue committee) website, I was able to find a slideshow of pictures where I was able to see refugees right after they were let into the United States. Although these pictures were few, I was able to see many different emotions within these pictures. The pictures show one family and then a single woman mentoring the family through a service the IRC offers. The main emotions, I see in the pictures are happiness, sadness, and also a lot of anxiety. These emotions do not surprise me, because of all this family must have been through. The pictures tell that this family is from Congo who luckily were all able to come together to America to find safety and peace. Through the IRC this family was mentored and entered into the U.S. with help from their mentor to transition into the U.S. The family has many children with them and all the children look healthy and well, which is a huge plus. The family also looks as if they seem to fit into their new environment and enjoy their new home. I believe that through these photos we get a glimpse of what the future could be if we allowed more refugees into our country.

AOD 3/3/17

AOD 3/3/17

This article about Americans ignoring facts really caught my eye. One thing that I found very interesting was the information presented that once misinformed people are presented with information that challenges their beliefs, they generally do not change their minds. According to the article people did not only, not change their minds but were more attached to their mistaken beliefs, and even when presented facts, were more attached to their beliefs. I found this interesting because often times, I do see that even when information to me is presented that challenges my beliefs, I often think it could not be so and challenge the credibility of what I am reading before even researching the topic myself. The question at the end of this article really got me thinking the question reads: "How are we to correct misinformation if the very act of informing some people causes them to redouble their dedication to believing things that are not true?" I found this to be a valid question. How do we really inform people? And how do we know what the real truth is. I do not believe in the current state that anyone has a clear solution to this problem. I do know that in order for this to happen, it would require thorough research through every image or article read, and simply put no one has the time or energy to clarify and research everything they read to know of the validity.