Different cultures, hard communication. Same cultures, harder communication

Maybe there is not theory which tells us about it, but it's a reality that I noted last weekend when I was working and an asian girl attended to my work to buy something to eat. She told me something in japanesse maybe (I don't know) and as she noted that I haven't undertood anything, she told me something like "yo quiere eso", and what I answered was "eso ¿qué?", so she pointed out to me something in the board and then I understood what she wanted to say and I felt bad, because maybe she also felt bad trying to comunicate without can do it and I couldn't help her too much.

With this, I noted that the comunication is hard for foreing people who come from another place without to know the language. However, there are a lot of people that help them with it, but in the other hand, there are people that don't help them and make a lot of laugh about their comunication's problem.

Also, I started to think "it happens with people with the same language everytime", but in a different way. We have problems with it, and it's because we have different points of view about things, but we don't consider it, being something that we should do. We discuss about everything and we don't think "what is he/she trying to xplain?".

Finally, I think it's something that we can change easily. So, start thinking about other thinkings, and don't make reviews without knowledge... 

Here there's a clear example of it, watch it, you are going to laugh a lot (I hope)  

  

I hope you like it, please comment and make me happy :)

                      Make different things to see changes, don't stay where you                            are because things are going to be the same.

Stereotypes everywhere!

Nowadays one of the most important things that we have to consider is the influence of the stereotypes in our society. There is a tendency to generalize all people from a certain group, considering them all to be identical, omitting diversity. 

"The stereotype is a term that refers to generalizations about the members of a group. Generalizations can be positive, but in the majority of cases are negative and resistant to change. Unfortunately stereotypes facilitate prejudice and discrimination for those people."(Droguett, 2010, pg. 89)

We are surrounded by keys that interfere with our thoughts. The simple fact of watching the television stereotypes that governs it, gives us an idealistic thought that many times is discriminatory.

One study of stereotypes revealed that Americans are generally considered to be friendly, generous, and tolerant, but also arrogant, impatient, and domineering.  Asians, on the other hand, were expected to be astute and alert, but reserved. But everybody have to be sure that  not all Americans are friendly and generous; and not all Asians are shrewd. 

If you assume you know what a person is like, and don't look at each person as an individual, you are likely to make errors in your estimates of a person's character.

Here you have is a list of the most common stereotypes in world.

1. Asians have high IQs. They are smarter than most in Math and Science. These people are more likely to succeed in school. (Positive stereotype)

3. African Americans can dance. (Positive stereotype)

4. Caucasians can't dance. (Negative stereotype)

5. French are romantic. (Positive stereotype)

6.Irish are alcoholics. (Negative stereotype)

7. Italians are good lovers. (Positive stereotype)

When somebody does a prejudice is because they tried to imagine what kind of person he or she is, but the problem was that sometimes they really didn’t know much about it and just talk.  They have nothing to base their judgments on, except for stereotypes.

I think in Chile exist a big list of stereotypes, the majority of the time those are harsh. But we are the responsible to change them. We must integrate all people, not giving importance where they are from or how is their body. I think the best way to fix the problem is through education. Society and mainly schools need to teach children to repel stereotypes.

Here I show you a video of Asians stereotypes, enjoy it

Do you know another common stereotype? Have you ever said it? 

And finally, do you know another way to finish with stereotypes?

D

The stolen Generations

After reading “Rabbit proof fence” I was very interested in “stolen Generations” as you know they are “half castle” indigenous children in Australia that are taken from their families and sent to places where they were “educated” in this places they can´t took their language, dance or do anything related to their culture.

A few weeks ago we learned about some points of view in class and I think that in this case "the interpretative" is very helpful for understand or know about this situations because who is more reliable than people that lived this?

 That´s  why I recommend for those that are really interested in this to check out this web site:

 http://stolengenerationstestimonies.com/index.php/testimonies/index.1.html

 "That was the sad part we had no choice, our mother had no choice, our father had no choice. When the Government said we had to go, we had to go" says Keith Kitchener.

It´s very difficult for this people to talk about this horrible part of their lives but they think that it´s better that the world know what happened to them. In this web site are the stories of those who didn´t know who they really are, children that was felt that are just in the middle of something, that they are  nothing.

The best way to see how painful it was to these persons to lived that kind of abuse it is take a look of this testimonies. How can be this situation for this children, their parents and the all aboriginal culture What do you think about this?

 An embrace, Companions. 

Ku Klux Klan, first extreme-right movement known

As they claimed "Everlasting superiority", more stupid were they. It may sound graphic and subjective, but if we analyze mankind, its worst moments were results of people's superiority complex against their own weakness.

 The Ku Klux Klan is one of the best examples of human stupidity: an extreme-right movement wich pretended to eradicate comunism, color people and Christianism from a planet wich they considered theirs. After the American Civil War, in 1967, there was a lot of social controversy about the Black People freedom (specifically, discrimination by Southern farmers). Farm owners from the south of the USA, wanted to confirm that black people slavery was a "civil right", and completely necesary for the development of their lands. After the victory of the North, most of Southern people refused to accept black people as "people", and the only way to expressing it was chasing and killing everyone who had different skin. So, a group of soldiers from Georgia, began this raw and cold persecution in a very particular way: white clothes, covered heads and no identity either. Black people did not want to tell police about this because many policemen belonged to the Klan.

Even though this is fiction, this is an analogy about the level of ridiculousness human can fall to, from Tarantino's "Django Unchained"

 Personally, I think this was the door for too much intolerance, which still remains inside some people. It is shocking that after this, the racist persecutions beagan being considered "necessary": for very many leaders of the following centuries, skin differences were an illness for their nations, and the worst thing was that they thought they was doing it well (even knowing color people's talents and virtues ). Early XX century, 4 million people were in the KKK, only in the USA, and "leaders" like Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin Dada (anti-asian) promoted skin discrimination as an eminent solution. We still live connected with this kind of people

This is "The Kampala's cannibal" Idi Amin Dada, an example of racist brutallity from the last century.


Do you know any other racist behavior in our system? DO NOT follow or promote it. Let's break down the walls between us, now, and let every human being live forever.

Martin Luther King’s death

Something that really calls my attention in the texts about Martin Luther King was his death. His assassination it is not clear to me. Although there is information available on the topic, it does not fully explain King’s death. For this reason I wanted to explore the Martin Luther King’s murder, finding information about the details of his death, who was the assassin and why he was killed.

Martin Luther King is known because of his fight for the civil rights of the black people and also because of his famous speech “I have a dream”. If he was a good leader, why he was to be murdered? Sometimes life isn’t fair, and this case is a complete example about intolerant people. I am going to explain the unknown details about his death.

King was murdered at the age of 39, on April 4 of 1968, in Motel Lorraine’s balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. A bullet entered in his cheek at 6.01 pm, and he was pronounced dead at 7.05 pm. The assassin was James Earl Ray who used the name John Willard to rent a room in Bessie Brewer’s in front of the Lorraine Motel.

James Earl Ray had gathered information from newspapers and news to know about Martin Luther King. In addition he bought a binocular to see when Martin Luther King appeared in the Motel. When finally Martin Luther King arrived, Ray shot him. After the shot, James Earl Ray hid the rifle, the information and the binocular and left the room. When the police found the evidence, they organized an intensive search to capture him. 

Ray escaped and for two months he hides in different countries. Finally on June 8 he was captured by the police at the London Heathrow Airport. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray said that he had killed Martin Luther King to become famous. A time later, he said that other man had conspired with him in the murder of King, but this idea hasn´t been proved.

King’s murder scattered manifestations and protests in all the country. Some people died or got injured because of this. Furthermore, buildings and areas were destroyed. The most important black race leader in the US had died because of the not intolerance regarding about other race that wasn’t the white race. This situation was enough evidence to continue fighting for the black people’s civil rights.

I think Martin Luther King was an incredible person and his death is a really sad event. He died just because a racism problem in the society. Here I attach a video about King’s death and its effects on people.

About Martin Luther King's death... Do you think that James Earl Ray acted alone or the King’s murder was a conspiracy?

Thanks for reading me and I hope your comments! :) 

Nugi Garimara, better known as Doris Pilkington

Doris Pilkington is the author of the book "Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence" (Which all the beginners have to reed)

This story is about 3 girls, Molly, Daisy and Grace, who were stolen from their aborigines families and then they scaped from a center in the south-west of Australia, called Moore River. These brave kids try to return to home. They walked along 1,500 milles, following the rabbit proof fence.

(Trailer "Rabbit Proof Fence")

Doris found inspiration to write this book in her mother's life, Molly, her sister Daisy and her cousin Grace. Those are their real names. 

Nugi, the original name of Doris, raised without her mom since she was 3 years old.

 

Doris with her aunt and her mother

She didin't see her mother until Doris was 25 years old. She was part of Australia's stolen generation. Nugi Garimara died this year on April 10th because of ovarian cancer, at age of 73.

There is an american movie called "Australia" and it shows australian kids being chased by the police and there is a woman who try to help them. So, here is the trailer:

I think that it was so frustrating for these families and they felt so despair when authorities gave the order to take away the children from them to "eliminate their race".

That is something you can't think just like that!!!!

What do you think about it, my dear reader?

Thanks for reading my post and I hope for your comments here  :)

Shekhar Kapur and "Elizabeth, the golden age"

                                     The great director

    Shekhar Kapur is the director of "Elizabeth, The Golden Age". He was born on December 6th and        now he's 68 years old.

He started his carrer at Bollywood, as director of movies like Masoon or Mr, India, very popular movies with great reviews. Then, he directed Bandit Queen, another great movie. 

Elizabeth, the golden age.

This movie talks about the brilliant goverment of Elizabeth I, and it present the conflict between Elizabeth I in England and Felipe II in spain, who said that all the world would be catholic, even if he should figth.

When Elizabeth I of England ascended to the throne in 1558 as a Protestant Queen, almost half of the population of England was Catholic. However, with his usual cleverness, he preferred to see them all as their subjects regardless of faith. His reasoning was that the people wanted it, whether Protestant or Catholic. Even went on to say: "Do not want to open the windows to the soul of men". During his reign, Elizabeth I of England proved to be tolerant of their Catholics subjects, which protected against protests and persecution, many of them born in his own house. This film speaks of tolerance against fundamentalism, an issue with current resonance. 

Elizabeth's love: On a more personal level, ELIZABETH: the golden age goes beyond political conflicts to show a woman who is behind Elizabeth I of England, the conflict that causes your step of threatening divine Queen woman, due in part to his relationship with the soldier and adventurer sir Walter Raleigh. Explore the triangle formed by Raleigh, Elizabeth and her favorite Lady-in-waiting, Bess Throckmorton. The Queen is engaged in a hard game of chess with the dashing Raleigh and the beautiful Bess... to finish living relationship which denies itself through the young Bess. Somehow, Elizabeth expected to be able to keep the mind and spirit of Raleigh just for her, while she gives her body through Bess. But the wager is daring and ends up losing control of the heart of Raleigh.

With all this, we know that this big queen was more than a queen. She was and amazing person, with love, compassion and a lot of feelings, but she had a hard temperament, because like with all people:

                      Love makes people show the best, but it also shows                                                   the worst.

I hope you like my post, and I'm sorry, but I had problems with my internet connection and I couldn's upload it before.

Please comment! Don't worry about be hard with it!!

The other side of Henry VIII

Henry was an intellectual. I can say he was the first English king with a modern humianist education, he read and wrote English, Frech, Latin and was throroughly at home in his well-stocked library. He personally wrote many books and published one of his own. He wrote the song "Helas madame". He founded Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford, in 1546. To promote the public support for the reformation of the church, Henry had numerous pamphlets and lectures prepared. For example, Richard Sampson'sOratio (1534) was an argument for absolute obedience to the monarchy and claimed tht the English church had always been independent from Rome. 

The glorious king was hailed as a brave and heroic defender of the true faith. Henry worked hard to present an image of unchallengeable authoity and irresistible power.

The Kingdom of Edward VI

In the third marriage of Henry VII, he finally had a son with his wife of that moment, Jane Seymour. Their son was named Edward VI, he was born o 12 October 1537at Hampton Court Palace.

Edward's parents Henry VIII and Lady Jane Grey

Edward was very educated and intellectual. But, also he was a very sickly child; it is believed that he suffered from syphilis or tuberculosis. His fragility made Henry VIII will marry three times more, but he hadn’t more children. 

When his father died in 1547, Edward became the King with only ten years old. But Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, took power and established himself as a protector. He and the archbishop of Canterbury wanted to make an England Protestant state, supported by the young king. In 1549 there was a rebellion centered on economic and social injustices. Also, France declared war to England. But the mainly conflict was the “English Prayer Book”, because this brought manifestations like the destruction of religious images. The political situation of Edward VI was very unstable.

Edward was diagnosed tuberculosis and hadn’t much time to live. He passed the throne to Lady Jane Grey who was more distant of Henry VIII and declared illegitimate at Mary and Isabel because they were catholic (and Edward was protestant). Edward finally died on 6 July 1533 at the age of 16 years old. However, Jane was queen for a few days until; Mary took the throne, because the people because the people weren't getting along with the Queen.

Is incredible that a child was the king, I think at that time the maleness was very strong, because an old woman couldn't be the queen but it could be the king a boy of only ten years. This is a clear sign of patriarchy and the importance of the man in the old society.

Finally, Mary become Queen

There have been many Kings and Queens, and many stories in the world that could be say.  Many centuries ago, the Tudor dinasty ruled England. Henry VIII was known because of his 6 marriages and the implement of the Anglicanism.  

I'm watching a serie called  'The Tudors' that is about the Henry's Kingdom and is really good!!!!!! I'm in the season 3 and this serie has 4 seasons. It shows the life that this King had with his wives, the relationship that he had with his two daughters  and  the desire to have a son, that was really important in this age.

      (This video is like the opening of the seasons, but it shows Henry and his wives)

After Henry married to Anne Boleyn, one of the things that allowed him to go with his plans was the doubt about the virginity of Caterine, because she had been married to the king's brother but he died and to keep the alliance England-Spain they got married.

The story of Mary, the first daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon, caught my attention. She suffered so much. When his father left her mother, she had to choose who she wanted to support. She, just like her mother, always wanted that the Catoliscism return to England. Mary was declared illegitimate daughter.

When her parents got divorce and her new sister, Elizabeth,  came to this world (Anne's daughter) , she was sent to be her sister's lady and serviced her. She was not allowed to visit her mother and when Catherine died she couldn't go to her funeral.

With the help of the 3rd wife of Henry, Jane Seymour, Mary and Elizabeth (who also had been declared illegitimate, after Anne's death), they could be part of the royal family again and with their brother they could have their own rule. 

Once Edward VI (Jane's son) got the crown, he wanted that Mary never become Queen because she could bring the Catoliscism to England again. Even when Edward had  allies, and made plans to keep his sisters away, Mary became Queen after his death and was the 3rd woman to be queen.

After Mary, Elizabeth turned Queen and she was the last of the Tudors.




I hope you like my post and I recommend you 100% this serie!  

I hope for your comments here. Thanks :)

Nelson Mandela :"We know what needs to be done all that is missing is the will to do it"

He was an activist, lawyer and politician.It fought pacifically against the racial segregation in South Africa(Apartheid).He restored A political democratic model in South Africa.He was the first president chosen democraticly in South Africa and It  won the nobel prize of peace These are some of all the things that this great leader achieved.

In 1944 began his political career in earnest, joining the African National Congress, ANC. Finding the existing leadership of the ANC to be "a dying order of pseudo-liberalism and conservatism, of appeasement and compromise.", Mandela, along with Tambo, Sisulu, and a few others formed the African National Congress Youth League, ANCYL. In 1947 Mandela was elected as secretary of the ANCYL.

 Apartheid was a system of racial segregation in South Africa enforced through legislation by the National Party (NP) governments, the ruling party from 1948 to 1994, under which the rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained.

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." (Mandela.)

Nelson Mandela was arrested by the charges: "high treason and a countrywide conspiracy to use violence to overthrow the present government and replace it with a communist state." in a countrywide police swoop on 5 December 1955, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial.

 it was liberated on February 11, 1990. Three months after his liberation it was chosen to lead the CNA and from his position of power it fought for the democracy, achieving that in 1994 there were celebrated the first democratic choices of the history of South Africa by him as victor, turning this way into the first black president of South Africa.

This great leader died but it left a valuable lesson: We must to fight for our ideals. I hope that many persons will try to be more like Nelson Mandela. I hope that they are interested in this great personage and if they want to see more: 

an embrace companions.

Anne Boleyn, the secret Henry's marriage

 Are six wives really necessary for a man? This guy showed us that the power makes everything possible and real. Henry VIII, second Tudor's dinasty king is known for two important facts: His battle against Roma after separating the Church of English from the Italian Catholic Church (The English Reformation), and his six ambitious marriages... yes, six.

 This is not the best love story ever, in fact, this was so weird and conflictive (I mean, for his first two women) even though there are uglier love stories. The main purpose was to keep the Monarchy's descendence, and the only way to make it was having only boys. The desperation ate him alive, when he started to realize that he and his wives only had girls, until Edward VI was born in 1537, dying at 15. But, the most interesting part of this story is the Anne Boleyn's one.

His first wife was Catherine of Aragon, but it didn't work, because they had only a girl (Mary I). Then, Henry VIII decided to divorce her (although the negative of the Pope, conflict that separated England from the Italian Catholic Church), and married Anne Boleyn secretly in The Whitehall Palace. However, the story repeats here... only a girl: Isabel I. As a way of vengeance and impotency, the King acused Anne apparently by adultery. After that, Anne Boleyn was executed in London, in 1536. Henry VIII was known for
his insecure way to rule his country, and his incapacity to have a regular marriage, deteriorated by his obsession to keep his descendence.

Have you ever felt True Love?

I love this song completely. I really like this music style and of course the video clip. The landscapes and the lyrics are doing the most nice combination between each other. We can see with this video clip and the song together are expressing the real meanning of the human love. The true love is not possible to make it with the relation between two person. Is going farther away fro emotions that are changing the history. Even if we dont want to feel it, the true love ir aroun us. Appreciate it!

written by Jacob Hemphill :)

Stand by me.

"No matter who you are. No matter where you go in your life, in some point you're going to need somebody to stand by you"... That's the beginning of the video, a Playing for change's video. A great group of people who believes that music is something which can change everything.

This is a great song with a great message: you need somebody with you...  

Maybe we're always saying that we can make things alone, but there's somebody who says the truth, and it's that we need somebody at least in some point of our lives. 

In the video, somebody shows us that we can make everything together, even with people from other cultures, countries or wherever.

Think about it: Do you really can make everything alone?

Love is all you need: A song of hope.

All You Need is Love, by The Beatles, is for me, the best love song ever.
Not because it's a romantic song, but because it has a message of universal love. The video swirls around The Beatles and there love message. This was the time of Vietnam's War, and very close from the 6-Day War between Israel and the Arab. So let's have this in mind when analyzing the video.
It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released in 1967. It belongs to a branch of rock music called psycodelic rock.

The opening is really interesting: The song starts with The Marseillaise, France's Hymn. There's this historical relation between England and France, this rivalry they've had for years, back to the the beginning of their history. So opening a song about love, playing your "enemies'" hymn, states that love is for everyone, beyond any differences.

The video starts in black and white, panning from the musicians in the orchestra to The Beatles, who are in the middle of all of them. It moves like surrounding them, showing this stage full of people, until the camera focuses on Lennon, and then, when he starts singing, colour fills the screen, from his face, out.

The setting is full of people, other than the musicians. There are also flowers, balloons, and some people have signs about love in different languages. The Beatles themselves are very colorful, in contrast with the other musicians who wear the regular clothes the other musicians from the orchestra are wearing.

At the end, it's like a party where everybody choruses The Beatles and there is more colour, balloons and the people marching around them with happiness. Something else that is really amazing is that those people sitting there with them, singing the chorus, were people from the studio, and friends, including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Keith Moon (who also played the drums), Graham Nash and Eric Clapton. 

Part from the studio. Love is everywhere, literally.

It's also interesting to point out that at the song's ending we can listen to pieces of other famous songs like: a part from Johannes Sebastian Bach's Invention nº8, Greensleeves, In the Mood by Glenn Miller (the sax), She Loves You (The Beatles), Yesterday (just the word, spoken by Lennon), and the March of Denmark's Prince. It's amazing how they could mix all these elements, all this music and make it into such an incredible work of art.

This song could have many readings because one can understand it from love as a romantic feeling, and also as this powerful message that love is all we need to live in harmony, to make our world a better place to live.
It's not that hard to make things right, starting from us, and then the world. In Lennon's words: It's easy!

I think this song, and well mostly every piece of music about peace & love from The Beatles and John Lennon, is still current because the world hasn't changed that much since. We actually have more tools to make a change, to know what is actually happening at other places, but most people won't do more than sharing a picture on Facebook, which doesn't change things either.