Category: Blog English 110 (Page 2 of 2)

Question: How can social cohesion heal social stigma?

Possible answers: People working together can lead to people’s first impressions changing. Once people have a stereotype in there head, it is hard for people to think otherwise. Or social cohesion can become so strong that people don’t just think about there first thought, but have an open mind always when meeting someone new. Could social stigma be to powerful, an therefore social cohesion may not be able to help stop judgement. If social cohesion is strong enough, people wont think about race, religion, sex, etc. Do first impression’s control social stigma? First impressions may lead to social stigma, but sometimes people develop stereotypes for people they have never meet. What kind of platform would work for everyone, and do stories work for everyone. When would stories make it better or worse? Some people may reach to stories different, in a bad or good way or not at all. Some stories people may just be able to relate to but not get anything from them. Can someone be to old to be persuaded to change there mind set.

Position: Social stigma is very powerful, it can control people to do unthinkable things because it is what they heard and that is all they know. That is why racism is so powerful, people have “heard” that someone did something horrible so it means that anyone that skin color, or religion is evil. For example, 9/11, that was an absolute horrifying day and many people lost there lives because of terrorists. Now the after math to that lead to social stigma, anyone who looked like those terrorists are instantly thought of as terrorists. I have seen in many cases where we have bombed, during war, places where specific bad people live, but what about civilians who are just trying to live there lives. Just because one person or a group of people did something, does not make there whole culture responsible. Social cohesion can play a huge part when we hear stories about innocent people being caught in the cross fire for the life of one person. Hearing stories about what that was like, could help people see from the other side, from where the social stigma is.

Thesis: Age can be a big factor in social cohesion, but still making a platform for people to be able to reach out to, may impact more people then we think.

AIDS-

• The social stigma around a false epidemic
• Influences dealing with social stigma
• Lets talk about the truth
• When is the right time to panic

Mental Health

• The pressure of life
• Stress leads to hiding
• Shame with mental health

Racism

• We all look the same on the inside, why should the outside matter.
• When did the color of our skin define us?
• How long will racism still be a thing?

Many things result in something being blown way out of proportion, could social stigma be the cause behind this? Whenever something “hits the news”, most of the time if it is severe enough, people tend to panic as there first instinct, but most of the time the news or wherever you read the news is making it sound worse the it actually is. Social stigma is when society creates a normal for reacting to certain situation, or will create a normal way to react to something. For example, when AIDS became an “epidemic”,  and people didn’t want to touch or even walk with someone with AIDS, it was because they didn’t understand it and therefore heard it was a terrible disease and people panicked. People thought, if we ignore them, they will go away, or like people said in Helen Epstein’s text, “out of sight, out of mind” (page 109). Social stigma usually relate to gender, race, culture, etc. and it is hard for most people to shy away from that because a lot of people do it and it sometimes becomes “the normal”. Social stigma makes us turn on people because they may have something affecting them. People, like with AIDS thought instantly that it was contagious, but in fact it isn’t. OR they thought it was a “gay” disease, when in fact AIDS can also be contracted through blood. Helen Epstein’s text talked a lot about this and how she saw these organizations getting people talking about it and not treat anyone infected like they have the plague. Social stigma seems to always do more harm then good, people when they hear about something like this need to look it up and do more research then just what they hear from an article on facebook (which can be VERY false). Everyone deserves to be treated fair, no matter if they are sick, or have a different skin color, we were all created equal and should be treated that way.

Helen Epstein was a scientist working for a biotechnology company where they were trying to find the cure for AIDS. AIDS has been known for some time but it was at one point thought of as an epidemic because we did not understand it. Helen went on to move to Uganda where the suffering from AIDS was overwhelming. After that time she went on to write a book called The Invisible Cure, which explains the reasons why it became an epidemic and how to reduce the growth of the disease. Unfortunately she said that many times then not, people were more concerned about preventing AIDS and not about people with AIDS, “social stigma of infected people as well as an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude toward the virus” (page 109), people did not understand the virus and therefore wanted it to vanish. When a virus as deadly as AIDS becomes known, it becomes fear that leads people to do drastic things, such as acting as if everyone with it is contagious. When Helen went to South Africa, she saw that everyone knew how AIDS was contracted but, the rate of people dying from AIDS had tripled in number(page 110). So why is the death rate so high, but everyone is aware of the virus? Many people were denied access to medication which lead to some people accusing the health minister of South Africa of murdering millions of people. There had been a few organizations that tried to stop the spread of AIDS by working on prevention campaigns. Informing people to practice safe sex by providing them with condoms or information. Some of these campaigns came off as a little aggressive. One organization called LoveLife made a campaign that was very happy and people responded well, compared to original campaigns that came off oversexualized and disturbing. Reading what the commercial was, I agree that it was a bit much. LoveLife’s idea, or there goal was to get people talking about it, feeling not afraid to talk about it. There were even some organizations such as the Y-center that offered contraceptives and offered treatment for some STD’s but never anything for AIDS.

There is a very good text to text in this article linked to the TED talk by Anne Hallward, Anne talked about how stories are what starts change. In this text there was a boy who was twelve years old named Nkosi Johnson and he became famous after speaking up to do more for people with AIDS at an International Conference, which challenged the South African president. When Ellen spoke with some children after a seminar that she attended, they all mentioned that boy. So him sharing his concerns got people talking and that is what we need with any issue or anything that overall scares us. We have to face it head on to find a solution.

Anne Hallward’s TED talk on shame addressed something that we can all relate to on some level, I feel as if we have all had something about us that we are ashamed of and fear that if we tell people, they will instantly think we are weird or there is something wrong with us, but that is what makes us all human. I have always been a very happy person but when I went to high school my mood started to change due to being picked on by some girls at my school, and I became very sad to the point of sleeping way to much, never wanting to talk to anyone and just feeling off. I had heard about depression but had never seen someone go through it, when Anne said, “shame leads to hiding and hiding leads to shame and it makes us want to go into the closet”, that is exactly how I felt. I did not understand what depression meant, I had only seen what I called “stereotypical” things about depression, but I did not know any better. I did not know that it can be something temperary and everyone deals with depression differently. I felt shameful to tell anyone because they would think I was “crazy” or suicidal but in fact I was just stressed and sad. Now I know more about depression and that was because I spoke to a therapist and she told me the truth about depression, and it is perfectly okay to talk to people when things get bad, but not talking about it can be bad, “..shame around mental illness is almost as bad, if not worse, than the mental illness itself”, the shame I felt from what I THOUGHT depression was compared to what it actually is helped me deal with it the right way.

Anne Hallward and Angela Davis both had a story and they both choose to tell that story in hope that it will help other people, or initiate change as to the way “society” thinks is right or wrong. They both had very different lives but dealt with there challenges head on. Nothing can change if we do not see the problem first, we have to hear what is wrong before something can be done.

Paige Hussey

ENG 110

Angela Davis Speech

UNE had the honor of having Angela Davis speak at our school, and it was a privilege to hear her speak. The speech was supposed to start at 12:30pm but due to the large amount of people that made an appearance, they had to delay the speech to bring out more chairs and have people upstairs in a separate room, to watch the speech live. I heard a woman who was staffed to help with the event say “We had no idea there was going to be this many people here”. I am sure for Angela, it was moving to see that many people come out and listen to her speech. She also received a standing ovation which I do not always see. We first heard from the president of UNE who addressed how excited we are to have her come here to talk to us all, then we heard Lift Every Voice and Sing, which is the african american national anthem. I have never heard of this before but it was beautiful and I am glad they added it to the speech. Then Angela Davis was introduced to the stage and again she received a standing ovation. Angela first said that she was happy to be here “in Maine…in the Winter”, we never realize how weird and annoying snow is to people that dont see it every year. Angela went on to say that she was here to commemorate the visit that Martin Luther King made to our campus in 1964. She said that Martin Luther King day was not just for Martin Luther King but for everyone that fought to end racial segregation during the “freedom movement”. She next said that it wasn’t until 2000 that every state celebrate Martin Luther King day as a holiday, which falls on the third Monday of January. I did not know that but am happy that it is official in every state because it deserves to be a day that we can reflect on what happened in the past, and how we have changed and have grown as a country to end racial discrimination. The first bill to make a holiday official was submitted the same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.

We are also seeing an uprising, as Angela stated, of woman and a lot of organizations are lead by woman. Congress has more women than ever before. She goes on to talk about racist violence and gender violence, her earliest memory were racist bombings, one of which was across the street from her. In 1963, was when the 16th street baptist church was bombed which killed four african american woman. With anything that needs to change, it has to have a starting point, an event or person the get that movement started. Angela talked about Rosa Parks and how she was involved in a movement to end racial and sexual violence, she should not be just know for “not wanting to move to the back of the bus”. Angela talked about many things such as how violence and racism are linked and how gender violence in prisons happen because there are womens and mens prisons, but what about individuals who were born a man or woman but do not identify as that. Or people in general that go to prison can become more violent. Angela ended with questions. This speech overall was beyond moving, she talks so much about change and that has never been more needed. We are definitely so much more understanding then we previously, but there is still so much hate and negativity in the world and it needs to be expunged for good.

Paige Hussey

1/18/2019

English 110

Who is Angela Davis?

Angela Davis is well known for being a radical African American educator and activist and was involved in a murder case in the early 1970s. Angela dealt with a lot of racial prejudice growing up in Alabama and saw first hand how serious of an issue it was, and still can be. As a young adult, Angela set up interracial study groups but they were unfortunately broken up by the police. Angela first went to college when she moved to Massachusetts and studied philosophy with Herbert Marcuse. Then she was a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego. This is were she in the late 1960s, joined several different groups such as the Black Panthers and Che Lumumba Club, this was an all-black branch of the communist party. After completing school Angela went on to teach at the University of California but had some trouble with administration because she was associated with communism. She was fired but fought back in court and got her job back, but ended up leaving in 1970 when her contract expired.

Angela was a strong supporter of three prisoners; John W. Cluchette, Fleeta Drumgo, and George Lester Jackson, they were known as the Soledad brothers. These three men were accused of killing a prison guard when several African American prisoners were killed in a fight with another guard. Many thought this was a political scem in the prison and was using these three men as scapegoats. In August of 1970 there was an escape attempt at George L. Jackson’s trial, which resulted in the death of several people in the courtroom. Angela had charges brought up for her involvement in this event, charges of murder. Angela served 18 months in prison but then was acquitted in June 1972.

Angela returned to teaching after taking some time to travel and do lectures. She currently teaches at the University of California and has written several books, including White, Race, and Class (1980) and Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003). Angela Davis has definitely seen  how serious rasim can be and unfortunately that made her life more challenging than it should have been.

The TED talk with Anne Hallward, MD discussed the topic of shame and how everyone has a stigma about what is socially right and wrong. Also, how when we share those stories ,were we think people would run away from us if they knew, it actually heals us physically and how when people hear stories like that, it can heal them as well. I think Angela would connect with Dr.Hallward because Angela lived her life and is choosing to take that life and tell the story. So it can add to how the world is changing and being better understanding about people and how everyone is different, and we all think and feel different. This is ok, it is what makes us human.

Dr.Hallward also told a personal story about her father who she had to watch battle with Dementia for 16 years, and during that time she was pray for him to pass. She feared if people heard that, they would think that was awful to say, but in turn when she told this story during a speech in front of a hundred doctors, that people understood and had seen there patients families feel that same way. She was brave for sharing that story, and when we share, that is when the healing can begin.

Citation: http://www.history.com.topics/black-history/angela-davis