jmwol

[jmwol]

AAJC

The Asian American Advancing Justice Association (AAJC) is a group who fights for Asian American rights as well as for society to see past the one-dimensional views which have already been made. Their goal is to shift public opinion and the stereotype in which society has formed a dehumanizing image. I feel as if Asian American are denied the most when it comes to civil rights and equality. They are seen as lesser people or put on a stereotype in which they are only thought to be book worms or nerds. Asian Americans are so much more than that and this is what AAJC advocates for.

When it come to powerful roles in our nation there had not been many Asian Americans in these positions. For 25 years the AAJC has been fighting to get more Asian American eligible voters and government roles. As they have fought over the years, we can now see 9.3 million voters as well as over 4000 Asian Americans officials/appointees. They have fought for the civil rights in which were stripped from them, especially the Japanese, during World War 2. As we have seen in this course with different humans breaking the norms of society, the AAJC struggles and strives to obtain that same goal even today. They are like a photographer by the name of Toyo Miyatake who strived to take photos within internment camps. Miyatake broke the rules by taking pictures in internment camps but pushed until he was allowed to photograph certain places and processes. The AAJC is equally driven to achieve a goal like Miyatake, equality, and equal right for Asian Americans in today’s society. By breaking societal norm as a group, the people of the United States can become more human and care filled people who believe in basic rights.

Fusco, Coco, and Brian Wallis. Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self. International Center of Photography in Association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 2003.

“Home: Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC.” Asian Americans Advancing Justice, www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Kitazawa, Yosuke. “The Photographer Who Captured the Insider’s View of Manzanar.” PBS SoCal, 28 Dec. 2023, www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/toyo-miyatake-capturing-the-stories-of-japanese-americans-in-l-a.

[jmwol]

Remember the Titans Cultural Diversity

Remember the Titans is a classic movie on the fight for integration and collaboration between white and black. Remember the Titans is one of my personal favorite movies. It follows the desegregation of schools, specifically T.C. Williams High School and their head coach Herman Boone at the center of attention. Herman Boone becomes the head coach of the school’s football team which has been coach by a world class white coach for years. From then on it talks of the struggle to integrate and collaborate between coaches, players, people in the school, and the community around the school. This movie speaks on many different topics in which we have covered during class including, segregation, socioeconomic class, gender roles, and stereotyping. In this movie Boone is told to take a job of flipping burgers because they have coaching football covered and that is for white men. This movie also has a little girl who is the daughter of Bill Yoast who loves football. She defies the gender norms of girls liking dolls and dresses and knows a surprising amount about football. Later in the movie you can see her and coach Boone talking about football strategy. The main story line covers the football team which has heavy controversy. White boys and Blacks boys have to work together to make a goo team. They go to camp and learn about each other’s culture and share what they have in common. After a while they see that skin color is just that skin color and their teammates have lots in common with them. You can see a lot of the intertwining culture in this movie. For example, Louie Lastik and Rev share a common taste in music but the music they share is commonly seen as “black” music. Louie Lastic breaks a lot of the barriers that are up between the two races clashing.

When they come back from camp the team sees that the community has not taken well to the integration and even though they have all gotten along and set aside minor differences the community has gone back to “normal.” This movie shows the struggle that a community must go through and how much a truly integrated society can achieve. Though real life has worked on integration and acceptance we still must strive to block out any racism.

“Remember the Titans.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0210945/plotsummary/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.

Ashley Spencer. “remember the Titans” at 20: How the Film Became a Hit and Inspired a Nation - The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/remember-the-titans-anniversary/2020/09/23/22e39084-f927-11ea-a275-1a2c2d36e1f1_story.html. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.

“Remember the Titans Trailer (2000) Denzel Washington Movie.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 May 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=35MvdHBWjwU.

[jmwol]

Luke Cage and Cultural Diversity

Luke Cage is a captivating show that follows a man named Mike Colter who gains super strength and unbreakable skin from a failed experiment. He becomes a fugitive who is trying to clean the street in his own hometown of Harlem. Luke Cage relates to many of the concept that have been taught throughout this semester and has segregation and racism intwined in its story. Luke Cage is a large muscular African American man. In an episode there is a white woman who actively avoids the streets or parts of town he resides in due to his appearance. This white woman is guided by stereotypes and fears for her life when seeing Luke Cage. She believes that “Black” men are more likely to mug or commit a crime against her. This is something we still observe today, and it speaks magnitudes as to how far we must still work on integration and simple human skills.

A conversation can be generated from the norms that are observed for different races. For a Black man living today’s America they know that they will commonly be watched or followed in stores for example. They have done nothing wrong to allure this attention but still receive it based on skin color. For Luke Cage it is no different. Cage also is part of a community that was segregated off from the rest. Harlem is populated with mostly African Americans. This TV show speaks to how African American were classified into a lower class and looked down upon. In many of our readings from this class we have the shadow of racism and its sort of “archive” which looms over society. The show Luke Cage does a great job in revealing that and intertwining it into the show. We also see the socioeconomic class in which African Americans are held at. In the show you can see African Americans in lower waged jobs and spot in which other races would think of them in. Society has many leaps to take to reconcile and becoming a welcoming community for all who live in it.

“Luke Cage: Characters.” Marvel, www.marvel.com/characters/luke-cage. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.

“Marvel’s Luke Cage - Official Trailer | HD.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Aug. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORa4hPhGrpo.