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On Reddit I’m user u/ffersss, but who really is Fernanda Banda?

Identity is a tricky thing. How does one begin to describe themselves? How does one begin to describe someone else? Do I list a few things I like and hope the other person “gets” my personality? Must I cover where I was born and where I stand on political issues? Why do we develop an identity? Reading 21 covers the idea that, “the ability to formulate an identity allows comfortable movement between worlds”(Rosenblum and Travis 225) but I believe it works both ways, identity can provide both comfort and unease. It is fair to say that we all carry an identity, a set of values and traits that we resonate with in the time we desire to resonate with. When I am approached with the question “who am I?” I like to ask “well, what do you mean?.. Who am I as a friend, as a daughter, as a student?” We all have different identities that we demonstrate to different people. As a friend I am, outgoing, approachable, trustworthy and I enjoy smoking. As a daughter I am comforting, I speak much more spanish, like spanish music, and try not to swear. As a student I am busy, a tad lazy and a political science major. See? I am composed of many different identity traits and depending on how comfortable I am with someone I can be a lot more.

There are primitive identity traits we predominantly like to share when asked who we are. For example, I don’t mind sharing that I identify as a heterosexual female when I first meet someone. If I feel pleasantly content with you I will share that I don’t agree with monogamy and enjoy taking psychedelics. If I feel secure with your company maybe I’ll share that my parents are immigrants and as am I. There are only a few individuals in my life who know that I am undocumented and I believe fear plays the major role in that. Fear that the wrong person will know that I don’t “belong” here in the US and then comes deportation. Fear that can be classified as immigrant stress. There are particular emotions, particular fears that only fit to a particular individual. As an immigrant I don’t have the privilege of feeling safe when I am on the road or when I applied for my first bank account. As an immigrant living in the US I was obligated to learn a different language and was stripped of cultural traits that so was my mother, Reading 21 comprehends this by explaining immigration, “removes individuals from many of their relationships and predictable contexts… living situations, customs, and often languages. Immigrants are stripped of of many of their sustaining social relationships as well as the social roles that provide them with culturally scripted notions of how they fit into the world, resulting in acculturative stress”(Rosenblum and Travis 226) Imagine having to flee to a different country, where the expected language is different from yours, where you were obligated to leave the majority of your family behind, where “forging a sense of identity might be the single greatest challenge”(Rosenblum and Travis 226) and then on top of  that have to live limited and in fear of deportation. I don’t think that is exactly what my parents wanted, I don’t think that is what my parents expected at all but they had their reasons as to why bring my older sister and me to a different country and I know they did this with good intentions.

Carola Suárez-Orozco. “Formulating Identity in a Globalized World.” The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexual Orientation, and Disability. 7th ed. N.p.: McGraw-Hill, n.d. 224-259. Print.

Photo sources in order of appearance:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiDp8-I1oPYAhUExoMKHWe1B2gQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Farthritisashley.com%2F2011%2F09%2F23%2Fdefined-by-an-illness-milking-your-sickness-thats-not-my-cup-of-tea-by-ashley-boynes-shuck%2F&psig=AOvVaw2mYVdMfkfuWHmLxHiq-T5d&ust=1513140459807508

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiPvozX54PYAhVH1oMKHRCgAcwQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cartoonmovement.com%2Fcartoon%2F803&psig=AOvVaw36DZv84tu8xGC3c2a76yO3&ust=1513145225975612

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Color Coded for our Convenience?

On r/sociology today I stumbled across a discussion board created by u/johnnynono. This post captured  my attention being that I found it a bit impractical. How does one not feel part of any culture, community or ethnic heritage? Culture especially I thought. Culture to me is the set of beliefs, behaviors and expectations held by a particular group. Culture is described in Reading 21 as, “standard behaviors that are internalized over time”(Rosenblum and Travis 227) doesn’t culture sound inevitable? I thought of it to be almost like race but I couldn’t be more wrong. Culture is not like race, race exists but it is not a real thing, ya know? Race is a figment of the imagination, an illusion, a social construct as most individuals like to put it. The word “social construct” is such a loosey goosey term in my opinion and I don’t like to use it much but that is exactly what race is, a social construct, an agreed upon construct for the people's convenience.

To answer Dr. Evil’s question, Yes! Yes, race is a social construct and it was created to control and disempower certain people through ideological force. As a class, for this sociology 216 course we covered race early in the semester, we watched episode three of “Race: The Power of an Illusion” a show by PBS. This episode covered how race, as I previously mentioned has been created to disempower certain individuals. Disempower in many areas but for the sake of comprehension, episode three focused on only the disempowerment of minority communities through housing conditions, and one of the methods of disempowerment that stood out to me was redlining. This documentary taught me that redlining was the act of degrading a certain area because of its race integration. Redlining had serious consequences on housing patterns, being that neighborhoods with red on them were seen as unpleasant and nasty housing conditions because of the colored families residing there.

Redlining reinforced the idea of keeping white and non-white communities separate socially and economically. These federal housing institutions promoted segregation by housing colored families in poor neighborhoods and whites in less suburbanite areas. I often wonder if because we focus so much on race and less on racism if as a society will ever make any actual moral progress. I also often wonder what words could be used to replace the word race. An article I read not so long ago (this article was not found on Reddit, though I’m sure if I looked for it, it would have popped up) suggested that professional societies should encourage terms like “ancestry and population to describe human groupings”(Yudell et al. 565) I believe this to be a great idea. Race is already only a social construct and only an illusion so why not eliminate the term as a whole. Discard race in the census, in language, and ideology. In my opinion race only serves the purpose to insinuate rough stereotypes, we have decided to color code humans as an ignorant method to differentiate fixed images of one another. If the word race would be eliminated, maybe so would the ideology behind it and maybe this sort of “accepted” segregation will no longer occur.

Carola Suárez-Orozco. “Formulating Identity in a Globalized World.” The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexual Orientation, and Disability. 7th ed. N.p.: McGraw-Hill, n.d. 224-259. Print.

Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episode 3 “The House We Live In”, PBS, http://unm.kanopystreaming.com/video/race-power-illusion-0

Michael Yudell, Dorothy Roberts, Rob DeSalle, Sarah Tishkoff, “Taking Race out of Human Genetics” Science and Society, vol. 351, no. 6273, 2016, pp. 564-565.

Photo sources in order of appearance

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjtotbzxoPYAhVEySYKHca9Au4QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmakeameme.org%2Fmeme%2Fso-youre-telling-16005y&psig=AOvVaw12xH58YhNkT65_VvT2cPfX&ust=1513136353526013

https://goo.gl/images/tPgoLW:

http://3kpnuxym9k04c8ilz2quku1czd.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/redlining-map-phila.jpg

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Women’s liberation? Prosperous for the economy? What’s with the women in Rojava?

Women’s liberation aims at ending the inequalities and oppression that suffocate women’s imagination and participation. I will like to focus primarily in the inequalities present in the workforce. The inadequate authority of women in science, economics, politics, and ideology (education) doesn’t allow for economic expansion. The current structures that surround employment are in need of a post-feminist movement that outlines the shifting baseline of power and knowledge, the women of Rojava have now begun this project (the women are not just focused on the workforce though, they are going beyond it) and the r/rojava community is more popular everyday.

For starters, it is well known that women have not been well represented whether it is by the media,  within groups of people, in the workfield, and this has been happening for centuries. Focusing first in the workforce much of the work women do is classified as, “outside the scope of economic analysis”(Figart and Mutari 3) because it is work within their households, family, or community. This leads to the notorious gender pay gap. The income disparity between genders should be inconceivable. This gender pay gap has existed since the 1950’s and only feeds to the patriarchal structure of economics. Full time women workers earn, “about 79 percent of what men did”(Blau and Kahn 791) since 2014 and the numbers have not changed drastically. This wage gap is present in different races and ethnicities, but the numbers are relatively high in the women of the US. An explanation to why this gender pay gap exists is the jobs in which women work. There is a tendency of women working in lower paying fields and are categorized as, “less career focused”(Kim 279) but fail to depict the flexibility women need to care for their family needs. Women hold half of the working population and the inclusion of women in higher paying fields increases economic potential. Women’s liberation assists to reducing the number of females in poverty, Reading 18 elaborated on the idea that, “poverty is not randomly distributed”(Rosenblum and Travis 161) and though this reading focuses on disability I believe the statement applies to a more general aspect.  By liberating women from oppression, social constructs and repressive fixed images this allows for females to excel in areas where assistance is needed greatly. Women are underrepresented in economic professions and in the economy overall. Women should be associated in more economic based fields and prove their required assistance. The inclusion of women in the economy is essential to economic development. Women’s liberation means growth and influence, attributes demonstrated through their work ethics and representation. Attributes that constitute for economic prosperity.  

Michael Oliver. “Disability Definitions: The Politics of Meaning.” The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexual Orientation, and Disability. 7th ed. N.p.: McGraw-Hill, n.d. 151-191. Print.

Mutari, Ellen and Deborah M. Figart. Women and the Economy: A Reader : A Reader. Routledge, 2015. EBSCOhost. libproxy.unm.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=971439&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 01 Dec. 2017.

Blau, Francine D. and Lawrence M. Kahn. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations." vol. 55, no. 3, Sept. 2017, pp. 789-865. EBSCOhost, libproxy.unm.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eoh&AN=EP125025842&site=eds-live&scope=site. Accessed 01 Dec. 2017

Kim, Marlene. “Policies to End the Gender Wage Gap in the United States.” Review of Radical Political Economics. Vol.45, issue 3, p.278- 283 Jun. 6, 2013 https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0486613413487159 Accessed 30 Nov. 2017.

Photo sources in order of appearance:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjjtvW-qoPYAhVs5oMKHWlLBQ4QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomeninastronomy.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F07%2Fstop-interrupting-me-gender.html&psig=AOvVaw27xGaReQh_7TE9nPlwTcya&ust=1513126661739038

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjthp64z4PYAhVFTCYKHbkPAroQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F152348399867324795%2F&psig=AOvVaw3EzuZ8p3liabKNChpQCN5y&ust=1513138794574990

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjq_dP3z4PYAhXC7IMKHWxjC7AQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2015%2F08%2F13%2Fopinion%2Flets-expose-the-gender-pay-gap.html&psig=AOvVaw3EzuZ8p3liabKNChpQCN5y&ust=1513138794574990

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Interview with a foreigner? What makes a foreigner? How to be an ally.

I stumbled with this post exactly four days ago and the reason it was notable to me was because of the comments; they were very amusing. User u/shannoncaggle posted “If anyone has been in the country for 5 or so years I have a few questions to ask about your transitions and experience with culture shock” u/shannoncaggle continued by listing a few questions starting with “What is your name” and that’s where the amusing comments came in. Other reddit users were making fun of him or her for asking for such personal information. The questions asked were also not very professional, let’s just say no user took the interview.

Nevertheless, user u/shannoncaggle got me thinking, “what makes a foreigner?” a foreigner is known as a stranger, an alien and outsider or at least those are the synonyms I found for the word but what is it that defines one as a foreigner. Are you a foreigner if you live in an area where the majority speak a different language? Are you a foreigner if you don’t have a social security, or if the food you prepare is very different from the food others living around you prefer?

I wanted to include the pictures above because it allows for one to sort of depict perception. The metric system for example, the US customary units are different from those that other nations use but something that (those who have lived in the US for the majority of their life) don’t know, or don’t bother to even think about. A foreigner lives a life where different perceptions are valued and taken notice. For example, I as a foreigner in the US don’t have a social security number and the thought of it makes my tummy hurt. Someone who was born here, a citizen just by default has a social security number and don’t have to worry about if for the rest of their life. Some citizens I know can’t even begin to picture a life where the jobs they work are considered “under the table” or “low” jobs because they are not prepared to think this way because they don’t HAVE to think this way.

Immigrants are considered foreigners but not all foreign born are considered immigrants.

I am privileged to have many US citizen friends who don’t criticize or value me based on my residential status. I like to consider my friends and those who don’t bother to judge me allies. If you are a citizen and if you realize that because me being a foreigner doesn’t mean I am any less of a person why not use your power as a citizen to speak and work for racial justice. Citizens, white folks, those who once understood my struggle and the struggles of my family should be considerate, there a list in Reading 58 that depicts the “What people of color want from white allies”(Rosenblum and Travis 513) I would like to share to you my favorite ten of that list though all are very considerate.

1.Respect 2.Find out about us 3.Money 4.Don't take it personally 5.Understanding 6.Support 7.Don’t make assumptions 8.Stand by my side 9.Honesty 10.Talk to other white people/ teach your kids about racism Paul Kivel. “Uprooting Racism:How White People Can Work For Racial Justice.” The Meaning of Difference: American Constructions of Race, Sex and Gender, Social Class, Sexual Orientation, and Disability. 7th ed. N.p.: McGraw-Hill, n.d. 492-515. 

Print.Photo sources in order of appearance:https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5v5tiy/americans_of_reddit_what_thing_will_foreigners

/https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5va973/foreigners_of_reddit_what_thing_will_americans/

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Psychedelics to reduce recidivism?

https://www.alternet.org/drugs/brazil-offers-ayahuasca-healing-some-its-prisoners

While on reddit I came across what I consider to be one of the best pages on there which is the r/Futurology page. A subreddit devoted to the field of future studies and speculation about the development of humanity, technology, and civilization. This article was truly rewarding being that I enjoy the experience of psychedelics frequently and to see such powerful mind affecting product making its way into part of the rehabilitation proocess is both fascinating and fruitful.

Recidivism is a term I learned in Devah Pager’s book “The Mark of a Criminal Record” which means the tendency of  convicted criminal to reoffend, of the inmates in prison this year “40% will return to prison within three years”(Pager 938) this statistic is large being that forty percent is not the number we should endeavor to see involving recidivism.

To my understanding, ayahuasca is a very powerful psychedelic in tea form derived from the ayahuasca vine and the reason being it is powerful is for its hallucinogenic properties. Though I have not had the privilege to try ayahuasca, I’ve had the very electric almost cousin of ayahuasca which is lysergic acid diethylamide other known as LSD. LSD is not as strong as ayahuasca though that depends on the amount of grams (or tabs) taken. My first experience with LSD was very human, very much like a spiritual awakening and I can just imagine how such strand like ayahuasca can help prisoners in their cognitive function. To  “trip” on any type of psychedelic is a powerful experience, as a frequent psychedelic user and activist I can strongly affirm that since my first psychedelic trip I have become more self analytical, hopeful, less prone to irritability, and is better at listening. Prisoners go through a series of misfortunes in and out of prison. The consequences for incarceration are many and it seems as if the number of prison inmates is only increasing, “over the past three decades, the number of prison inmates in the US has increased by more than 600%”(Pager 938)

Though this psychedelic project known in Brazil as “Radical Rehabilitation” is only starting with the prison inmates in Brazil I hope if successful and moves forward to other countries that so desperately need it like the United States. Ayahuasca has demonstrated the potential to “help people recover from trauma, PTSD, addiction and depression, as well as cancers and other afflictions”(Short 2) and inmates convicted of murder have already proven a significant alteration in their way of thinking. I would like to specify that this ia a therapeutic opportunity offered to the inmates of Brazil as an option and not at all by force. Some people don’t enjoy the thought of altering their minds with unfamiliar substances and it is ok. As for the “2 million individuals currently incarcerated”(Pager 938) in the US I hope other forms of rehabilitation are offered and psychedelics can become less stigmatized.

“The Mark of a Criminal Record” Devah Pager. Acessed, Dec 08, 2017.

“Brazil is giving its prisoners one of the world’s most powerful psychedelics as part of the rehabilitation process” April M. Short, AlterNet, November 26, 2017. DRUGS. Acessed, Dec 08, 2017.

Photo sources in order of appearance:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjU4rbRhYbYAhXM5CYKHbE1C_4QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbpr.berkeley.edu%2F2016%2F05%2F09%2Fdigital-prisons%2F&psig=AOvVaw1XSYkKbCXp4jTEgY1IckEW&ust=1513222060232353

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjvhNTxiobYAhVh4YMKHavqCT8QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.synergeticpress.com%2Fwhat-do-psychedelics-psychotherapy-and-scientific-research-have-in-common%2Flsdblog%2F&psig=AOvVaw3nZAUyTs_CE1gdB2QjxWah&ust=1513223427241468