Slaves dont deserve pity. and afterthoughts on Haiti

I cant describe what is going on in my head right now.

Today was the second part lecture in my Global Studies class that examined the history behind Colonialism and its brutal effects. I wondered: if people never knew the context, stories, or histories behind other people, they would probably not feel the right to judge others. I wondered: history is a pile of gossip, a bunch of negative things that accumulate on one person's tablet of deeds. Of course, that's only one side of it. Then you look at history from a different p.o.v. and you see the positives, the mistakes we can learn from, yada yada yada. But first, let's imagine.

If I had a child and I raised him/her to be completely stripped of information before entering school, this child would be almost the same as any other 4 year old in any other preschool: just wanting to eat, nap, and do the occasional play-do ball. But, the child learns math, English, science, and....history. The child learns: blacks from Africa used to be slaves. Natives in America were taken over by whites. Southeast Asians had to be civilized. All "minorities" had to assimilate.

Then I wondered. If I never gave a child the history behind people. If I never fed him the context of who they used to be. If I kept him blank until college. And he learned history in college.

Why college?

Because in young age, we are all too naive. Too naive to understand that we are being FED information, literally, by the spoon. Too naive to judge the soundness of knowledge, the accuracy of facts, the  validity of "true" statements. So, in college, hopefully, then, we would have acquired the skill set to manage our own judgments.

If I had a child and I had stripped him of history, he would have no right to feel superior over anyone. He would not admire nor pity anyone. He would simply accept another as a human, the basic lines of similarity. He would see the obvious instead of the details.

Because sometimes I think: we are only nice to certain people because we know their history. And we are only nice because subconsciously we feel that they had been done wrong. Someone wronged them, so we pity--but which party do we pity? The slaves or the colonialists? Far too often: the slaves. The slaves dont need sympathy, they dont need pity. THEY NEED THE RECOGNITION THAT THEY ARE JUST AS HUMAN, not a

"Im only your friend because I am a good person and I am only a good person because I know that my ancestors screwed up and I only know they screwed up because I read it in the books and I only read it in the books because I was being educated on history and so now that I know your history I feel sorry for you and I will be your friend."

It's never,

"Hi I wanna be your friend because you and me are the same, we are both human, and we are actually at the same level regardless of our differences. Where did that 98% genome sequence come from?! Holla!

On a more depressing note, I do not know what to do about this Haiti situation. A second earthquake hit and I feel trembles that I have not done anything to help. Pray for Haiti, if you can do nothing else.

And I leave with a quote to summarize my disposition:

The Prophet Muhammad said, "When any one of you sees any injustice, let them change it with their hand. If you are not able to do so, then change it with your tongue; and if you are not able to do so, then change it with your heart, though that is the weakest (kind of) faith."

I have one leg, No arms, and I am 60

So last night I was out with the fam to watch an Indian movie, Paa, about a child affected by a condition known as Progeria. It is a disease that rapidly ages a child and makes him physically more mature than mentally.

Needless to say, it was an emotional movie. But for some reason I did not feel the need to cry--this child is perfectly happy in his world. If I cry, it would be out of pity. That I am more fortunate than he is. But that is not true--in the movie, the child became a politician's favorite student and was able to see the President's house. Had it not been for the condition to separate him from the crowd, the politician would not have been curious about the child and would not have taken him to do such a prestigious activity.

After leaving the movie theater, my (distant) grandma grabbed her plastic handrest (cane) and dashed, relatively, outside the theater. I realized she did this because she did not want us to feel held up due to her slow walking disposition. I took her hand and walked her out.

Surprisingly, another elderly lady was dashing off, similarly, with her four-wheeled walker. She zoomed away to the exit as (what seemed to be) her daughter held the double doors open. This was a white woman who, after her handicap mother passed through the doors, gave me a look.

We both presumably just watched the same movie.

She had this look on her face: I know we are two completely different people. And normally I am not this nice. I truly see you as a different race, I do not view you positively. But your grandma and my mother are one and the same. They both need me to hold this door open for them. So I am.

I thanked her. My grandma in her cute English said Thank You. Thank you very much, thank you.

We are Different, yet the Same!

I somehow landed watching TLC tonight because of a special on Progeria-affected children. Then afterwards, Born Without Arms. Now, its about Shiloh, a mermaid girl with only one leg.

So what really sets us apart? A genetic code?

A World in "Harmony"- Toyota Prius!

http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/commercial.html

Today I watched the making of this Toyota Prius ad and it made me happy. It made me think of why I am a global studies major, as many experiences in my daily life do. I am constantly asking myself: Why do I want to learn about the world? Maybe its because I would like to know what people are like on the other side. I want to know how people think, how people feel. What's the environment that surrounds them, what's the culture that whispers into their ears and breathes into their music? Wow, it is all so exhilirating.

At one point in the video, the Japanese director, Hiro, says something along the lines of, "It wasn't people from different countries that worked on this, it was just people." So true! Toyota, a Japanese company, employs the Brit dude to shoot the video, an American to choreograph, various other people assisting, and a Japanese dude to direct it all. It took people from around the world to create the world portrayed in the ad.

I would just like to take a moment and say that this is the definition of globalization--for me. There are many people who think that globalization is simply Westernization, when it isn't. Clearly, there is a mix of ideas coming from East and West that allow such a production as the Prius commercial to happen. There are endless possibilities when the great minds of the world come together and share their dish at the global potluck.