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Chapter 13 Fieldwork

The City of Belize, the City of Love

Over the weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity of talking to my grandparents who immigrated from Belize City, Belize. My grandmother, Georgia, first traveled to the US when she was just about my age, 19 years old. She came by plane in 1970 and was accompanied by her cousin and great aunt. She moved straight to the perfect place, the melting pot of West Indian and Caribbean culture, Brooklyn, New York. Shortly after, she began working at The Hartford, an insurance company. One of the reasons that she wanted to come to the US in the first place was because it provided her with a fast paced environment. Belize had gotten too boring for her and as a teenager ready for all the world had to offer her, she wanted to travel and gain new experiences. Working itself was actually not one of her driving factors though. It was a reality check. Georgia came to the US because she wanted to go to nursing school. However, she ended up working at Hartford up until her retirement in 2002. Though this may not sound like Georgia got her happily ever after, she found love. 

This is where my grandfather, Touro, comes in. The two had previously met in Belize City when they were about 13 years old because Touro lived next door from Georgia’s mom’s house, but they were just friends at the time. About 6 months after Georgia came to the US, Touro came too at the age of 20, but they hadn’t stayed in contact. Ironically enough, the two found each other once more, at a wedding of all places in the late 70s. Touro’s cousin was getting married and invited him to come. It turned out that his cousin, the bride, was Georgia’s friend back in “college.” A fun fact is, college in Belize is what Americans know high school to be. The two hit it off and eventually decided to move in with one another in an apartment in Brooklyn. After being together for 2.5 years, the two got married in 1974 when they were 22 and 23 years old. Directly after, my grandmother Georgia found out she was pregnant with my mom in around July of 1975. Georgia and Touro were married for about 7 years and then parted ways romantically, but the experience of love, the gift of my mother, and the many experiences that the United States had to offer, made it all worth it.

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Chapter 10 Fieldwork

Max Weber’s theory:

https://www.nature.com/articles/palcomms20162

https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/max-weber-the-professor-and-the-politician

Max Weber was a sociologist who believed that there were three different types of inequality. The three are categorized into, social class, status group and parties. In fact, he wrote a very famous essay called, “Class, Status, Party.” Within this essay, Weber expressed that he feels status groups emerge from community which he believes is the most if not one of the most basic natures of society. On the other hand, Weber believes that the inequalities within social class emerge from bureaucracies where those with economic power and advantages reside at the top of the food chain. More information on Weber’s theory has been misconstrued and controversially interpreted being that many keywords were lost in translation.

Pierre Bourdieu’s theory:

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/06/arts/the-intellectual-class-struggle.html

Bourdieu’s theory states that in a world of humans, everyone is in competition and they’re ultimately competing for the highest status. He points out that rich and successful people in life usually have a lot of financial assets along with nice and expensive things. Yet he also points out that ironically, the smartest and wealthiest of people usually do not display their wealth, they instead work to increase and maintain it. He does point out though, that this status isn’t an easy one to achieve. In a way, Bourdieu feels that one’s status is already predetermined because culture and education make humongous differences within groups. Everyone in this world according to him, has a set way of life by the time they’re adults, it is already determined whether they will succeed or fail based on their “ingrained” experiences.

Karl Marx’s theory:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/04/the-return-of-marxism

Marx’s theory that he and Friedrich Engels wrote about in their widely popular book, “The Communist Manifesto”, spoke of a world where eventually, the poor hard workers at the bottom of the food chain would eventually rise and the rich bourgeois would evidently fall to their demise. However, it’s clear that over a century later, the opposite has proved true. Capitalism is thriving more than ever at this point in the 21st century. Because of the unfortunate fate that capitalism continues to provide, people all over the world are hoping to revert back to a world where Marx’s idea can flourish.

[itsmani]

How do you feel about polygyny?

What’s your lineage?

What are your values in a marriage?

group 23

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Chapter 6 Fieldwork

On my father’s side, my family has lived in America since the time of slavery. In fact, a lot of my family members on his side are still living in many different states within the south. From Georgia to Alabama and everywhere in between. On my mother’s side however, she is a first generation American. Both of her parents met in the city of Belize, which is ironically located in the country of Belize. Belize is a country located in Central America bordered by Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean Sea. 

My grandparents left the country of Belize when they were around 17-18 years old. Therefore, they’ve lived in the United States for about 55 years, this is crazy to fathom because I can’t imagine packing up and leaving a country at my age. I also am privileged enough to not feel the need to leave the country I currently reside in. They then proceeded to have my mother in Brooklyn, New York in the year 1975. We’ve been here ever since. However, I still have so many family members that reside in Belize, who I have yet to meet. Like my great grandmother for example who is currently 88 years old. As for my grandparents who went from living in Belize to living in the states, I’d say they’ve adapted pretty well. They live their day to day lives just like any regular American. However, their culture is something they carry on them like house keys. Both of my grandparents still have their Belizean accent despite living here for over two centuries. They also, especially my grandmother, love to cook popular foods from their country. In fact there’s a food called fry jack, similar to what’s known as bake in other caribbean countries, and every time she visits my house, she makes it. 

My grandfather is bald but has one dreadlock at the back of his head with beads to represent his culture. The accent, the food, the hair, the stories, are all ways that my Belizean roots stay connected. On my father’s side, American Nationalism is definitely a huge part of who they are because this is really all they know. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot of family members I have yet to meet on my dad’s side being that I live in New York City and they’re mostly still residing down south. Specifically where I live in NYC is a melting pot of many different cultures and ethnicities so honestly, I’ve been exposed to a lot of it, and consequently this in itself is a huge part of my identity. I grew up on a block filled with many different Caribbean cultures, different from my own Belizean background but also similar in so many ways. 

This fieldwork only strengthened my desire to want to travel to Belize. I’ve never been anywhere outside of The United States and I’d love to know more about my family members there and how they live their lives daily. Sometimes living in America, people forget that life exists outside of this one country. I do not want to be one of those people.

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Group 23

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Ch 5. Fieldwork

White Privilege

This image capturing the attack on the US Capitol in January, 2022 represents a number of things but I’d like to point out the aspect of white privilege. It’s important to single out white privilege because it’s clear that a vast majority of participants in this attack are white. Peaceful Black Lives Matter protests are bombarded, shot up and smoked out on a day to day basis; protests where of course, though there are white participants, the obvious vast majority are black people. On the other hand, the attack on the Capitol, which was fueled by Donald Trump, a white supremacist himself, was acted out by a wavering majority of hundreds and thousands of white people. Oddly enough, a building that is supposed to be protected to the highest regard was left vulnerable to the destruction of this mob. When police intervened, there was no initial show of force. Moreover, the black participants who were arrested were punished to a higher extent than their white counterparts. White people in America have a shield that comes with their skin color and this is white privilege.

Microaggressions

I’ve chosen this video to represent microaggressions because it shows the typical roles reversed. On a day to day basis, white people make many backhanded remarks disguised as compliments or curiosity to minority groups. This video portrays a world where white people are dealt a taste of their own medicine.

Hypodescent 

I believe this picture of this young child accurately depicts hypodescent because though her skin color may be passing as white and her hair color and type is typically associated with white people, her facial features such as her nose is a tell of clear African descent.

White Supremacy

This image represents white supremacy because it’s a common trend for white people to for some reason believe that they belong at the top of every food chain due to their assumed superiority. When Black people are protesting daily to literally save their lives, white people feel the need to shine the light back on them.

Miscegenation

This very old image represents miscegenation because it shows black and white relations. There was a time where marriage and even friendship between two “races” was completely illegal. After the time when former president Abraham Lincoln was reelected, this was introduced to society and from there on, interracial relations have become more and more normalized.

Institutional racism

This image represents institutional racism. This is a member of the Little Rock Nine being verbally abused by her white counterparts simply because she wanted to go to school. At this time in America, black people were discouraged from going to schools so much so that there were white only schools with top of the line educational resources from books to teachers and black only schools with the exact opposite. This forced black students to go to white schools where they were terrorized due to the effects of institutional racism.

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AAA Code Of Ethics Order

Obtain informed consent

Do harm

Be open and honest about work

Ensure anonymity

Protect and preserve records

Group 23: Jamani, Lauren, Rion, Greg

[itsmani]

After completing this chart, I’ve come to the conclusion that I feel as though I “need” a lot of things. I feel as if it’s imperative to highlight this realization because a lot of the things I may claim I need aren't offered to many people around the world. In order to understand the true effects of the culture of consumerism, I need to acknowledge that I am a part of it. For instance, the basic summary of my clothes may be surprising to some people with access to much less. 20 hoodies, 10 pairs of pants and the luxury of not having to worry about my next clean pair of underwear is a privilege that I may sometimes take for granted. Though a lot of these things in my possession were earned through hard work and or ultimately my dollar, I cannot neglect that people around the world, potentially doing just as much work as me if not more work to upkeep their survival, do not have access to the many daily pleasures I enjoy.

[itsmani]

Uneven Development

Growing up in NYC, I sometimes forget that other parts of the world don’t have access to the same basic needs & technological advancements.

Flexible Accumulation

A lot of companies and businesses are worrying their workers with the possibility of them being replaced by robots who don’t take breaks and don’t require pay.

Time-Space Conversion

Over the years, Apple has been working to improve the efficiency of communication from person to person all over the world.

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