When I was talking to my parents about our final collaborative paper focusing on voluntourism, my mom interrupted me mid conversation to correct me because she thought I was pronouncing “volunteerism” wrong. I realized then that not many people have been exposed to voluntourism, especially medical voluntourism. Continue reading “Voluntourism Survey”
The Market
Colson Whitehead’s Zone one is marked with complex vocabulary and intellectual communication of ideas. The metaphors are resounding and the language can be quite esoteric. A dictionary or new word notepad should be in handy when reading this masterful albeit hard-to-read work of art. However, I remembered a practice I did a year ago of using metaphors and language in writing to capture a space until it felt like the reader could see it. For example, Whitehead captures the African Burial Ground avidly in his book. Phrases in his book like ” through the sad aperture of the dead” remind one of the burial ground and how it would feel to look on at the ancestors and meet them at face value. The African Burial ground remains as the resting space for the oppressed, the wronged and the hopeful. The Ancestral Chamber provides a sacred space for individual contemplation, reflection, meditation and prayer. https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/regions/northeast-caribbean-2/about-region-2/the-african-burial-ground/african-burial-ground-exterior-monument . After reading about the African memorial background I decided to capture a space I found interesting in my hometown in Nigeria. It’s the local market and it is the oldest economic centre of the community. However, it is also a place filled with suffering, hardship, loss and hope. A less sombre and vibrant antithesis to the burial ground.
The Subtle Similarities Between Gary & Slave Traders
While visiting the African Burial Ground National Monument I was able to realize that some of the subtler abuses of the stragglers in Zone One had a deeper historical base stemming from the mistreatment of slaves in NYC’s past. Many of us could pinpoint similarities in the way in which the stragglers were treated in Zone One to some of the other abuses we have read about throughout this semester. However, after visiting the monument I was able to realize that Whitehead incorporated more historic abuses than I had originally noticed when I first read the book. As I came to learn, there were many more similarities between the way in which his characters and real life oppressive whites mistreated the bodies of those they saw as subhuman. I will highlight these findings in two posts with this one addressing how Gary’s method for neutralizing stragglers mimicked a practice of restraining slaves and will then explain how the sweepers mistreatment of neutralized stragglers mirrored the disrespectful manner in which the bodies of deceased slaves were treated. Realizing these subtle inputs of historic abuses and how they were incorporated into Zone One helped me to better understand the deeper symbolism I believe Whitehead intended for his story and how these issues impacted people in my city’s past.
Continue reading “The Subtle Similarities Between Gary & Slave Traders”
When We Know What It Is Not, We Can Search For What It Is
When I read Liz’s last post, I found myself really glad that she brought up the idea of slavery again (thanks Liz!). I remember finding it very interesting (for lack of a better term because I did not know what to make of it at the time) when we read the Afterword of “Bloodchild” and discovered Butler’s assertions that she was not writing about slavery. I had not interpreted this particular short story as one about slavery, but I was intrigued by Butler’s choice to very explicitly say that it was not one. Why did she feel this was necessary?
Continue reading “When We Know What It Is Not, We Can Search For What It Is”
Hometown Connections
The events of Zone One center around the streets of New York City, specifically near the African Burial Ground Memorial. As someone who has only ever been to the city twice, I was a bit confused and never truly appreciated the details Whitehead worked so hard to create. Throughout my reading of the novel, what really sparked my interest was the mention of Buffalo. Usually, the biggest mention of my hometown I see in writing is about our wings, so it excited me to see it spoken about with such high regard, as an integral location in the rebuilding of society after the virus. I know this wasn’t the intentions of the author, but the decision of placing Buffalo as the new epicenter of civilization creates a strange connection in my head. Continue reading “Hometown Connections”
New perspectives through music
(The songs I write about in this post use foul language and some videos are very graphic. If you do decide to listen to these songs I would recommend listening all the way through.) Earlier this semester I wrote about how important communication was to work out problems. In class we discuss literature and I have learned a lot about new perspectives though our readings. Another powerful tool people are using to discuss issues is music. One of my favorite genres of music is rap and last week a song came out called “I’m Not Racist” by Joyner Lucas. It’s a very powerful song that shows people that there are always two sides to every story. Hearing people out before making generalization is very important. Taking a second and putting yourself into someone else’s shoes could change a person’s view completely. Exposure to things that a person can’t experience in their life could be portrayed to them in music and literature. Continue reading “New perspectives through music”
Acceptance
When reminiscing on the novel Clay’s Ark by Octavia Butler, I realized that the “other” animal is bought to the forefront. Post humanism oppressed co-evoution of humans with nonhumans and other forms of life. The novel shows the horrors of living and accepting a human-animal hybrid and Octavia Butler creates these characters that displays this human-animal quality. Eli, Meda, and many other characters were enhanced due to this virus and become these hybrid subject. In reality, we fear power and in this novel “the hybrids” hold power and make the humans feel like the “others” on their own land. When Media, Rane, Keira, and Eli become infected, they obtain enhanced senses, speed, strength, and telepathic characteristics. Because of this, they question what they are and wonder if they are animals in human form. Meda questions this and says “We’re changed, but we have ethics. We aren’t animals.” (pg. 39). Although they technically still have human-like appearances, they are still rejected and deemed as unnatural and evil. Jacob was born out of infected humans, but is still rejected and observed as another hybrid. The bodies of humans and hybrid children like Jacob and Joseph can also be assumed as postman bodies. Their new posthuman bodes need to interact with the new environment. For a posthuman, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they carry a new body, but that they have to accept being challenged. Both the humans and hybrids must understand each other. The non human body of Jacob stands as a barrier for the humans to accept him as one of “them.” Humanity often denies and fears deformity. Deformity is often portrayed in Clay’s Ark. Jacob had a human face but an animal body, making it almost impossible to be accepted by humans. On the other hand, Butler accepts human body, but without racial and cultural uniqueness. In reality hybrids will face a lot of problems in a human world. In a postman world, dominance of a single species is denied by Butler and multi species interaction and co evolution is exhibited. Butler challenges the theory of accepting the “other” regardless of how they look and what they do. Through her novel, she points out the flaw that many will have with accepting others based on appearance. The novel is a science fiction but relates to the class because it demonstrates how one will treat others differently based on appearance. For example the Tuskegee experiments demonstrated how white medics thought it was ok to infect african americans and neglect them treatment because they saw these people as “different” and not as one of their own. By creating this hybrid, Butler introduces ideas like human dependency, sharing, and a changed world with altered species part human.
Final Project
Reading Jennifer’s post, I was thinking that maybe I would comment, but I didn’t want to post my own blog post regarding the final. However, I have thought about it and I think that it’s important to get my thoughts out there.
Honestly, I have really struggled with this project. I feel as though everyone else had more intelligent things to say than me, and it has been a exercise in putting some of my thoughts out Continue reading “Final Project”
Pheromones are cool!
I have been interested in writing this post for a while now, but life has gotten the best of me. However, I am still interested in looking further into the idea of pheromones. This is in relation to Imago, and I’m hoping to debunk the concept that they might be creepy or predatory.
Here is what interesting information I have found from the Smithsonian’s website :
- In one study, after having females watch a sad movie in which they cried, scientists collected the tears and placed them, unidentified, under the noses of men. The men’s sexual arousal levels and testosterone levels were reduced. This shows that people subconsciously discover things other than just body odor from the way that someone smells.
The Art of Reflection through “Bloodchild”
Knowing that the end was near, I tried today to make sense of this semester’s work in what I think was the most effective way. I reread “Bloodchild.” I have heard it echoed across the blog and in the classroom that in order to make sense of what we were doing at any point, there always seemed to be value in recalling “Bloodchild.” So, I began to wonder what it was about Butler’s short story that stood out to me as emblematic of the class. Continue reading “The Art of Reflection through “Bloodchild””