jtfrommsu

[jtfrommsu]

THE RELATIONSHIP OF RELIGION & CITIES (Baltimore as focal point)

In this essay I will describe what the words religion and city mean. The meaning of religion is a subjective explication. The person practicing is the one who determines the definition of religion and the significance of the religion to themselves and even to the population in and outside of the community. Knowing what the words religion and city mean, will allow me to explain what type of relationship the two hold with each other. Throughout my essay I will also discuss how religion and cities impact or shape each other. With this information I then will apply this finding to the pre-1900’s history of Baltimore. Lastly, I will list what I personally think and learned about these subjects and what work remains to be done to better the idea.

For millenniums there has been strife among this planet due to everyone either choosing or not choosing a “Religion”. But what is “Religion”? When describing what the term “Religion” means, it can be broad and subjective. Functionally, it is based on how it makes a person feel when talking or thinking about it; whether it gives them comfort or peace of mind. Or whether it gives them purpose or hope. It is a method of practicing one’s beliefs, values, or morals to live by that sometimes may include worshiping a higher power, fellowshipping, or aiming to achieve an end goal/result. Depending on who your asking will determine whether their “Religion” is a positive thing for humanity or if it has a negative effect on humankind. There have been “Religions” that give back to the community or fill people with hope and guide them to live a prosperous life. On the other hand, there are “Religions” that function like a cult and causes massacres or gathers people who relate on hate in their heart promoting negative energy and actions into the world. The decision is based upon those practicing the “Religion”. All of these things are factors people attributed to their choice or no choice of a “Religion”. Like “Religion”, Cities are another way to keep people divided. A city is a community of people demographically grouped together, most of the time for the purpose of racial, social, or economic division. The relationship between the two is external. Cities are groupings within a country. It is the country that has a direct internal relationship with “Religion”. Without “Religion” most countries foundation would not have been built. Take the United States for example. The biggest motto of this country is “In God We Trust” which is for the worship of the God in Christianity. The phrase was declared the official motto by Congress in 1956 and derived from “E Pluribus Unum” in 1776 meaning “One from Many”. It is said that Christianity was created to keep Black slaves in check and to instore fear in their hearts for stepping out of line or disobeying their masters. The “Religion” was used to suppress the slaves urges to fight back and win their freedom. Now, imagine taking not only Christianity but all the “Religions” away. Imagine how many people would not be able to use the Lord as an excuse to chastise or harm others. There wouldn’t judgment or harm of others who don’t practice the same thing. A lot of the national holidays wouldn’t exist. And there are so many more worldly events that wouldn’t have occurred if “Religion” was never created. There are some positive users mostly from the modern world. For example, a lot of food shelters are founded and funded by churches. Comfort and hope for communities of people who are afraid of the secular world and what may happen in it. The list goes on. But the cities within the country are just a byproduct making the relationship between cities and “Religion” an external one. Removing religion would cause a few shifts in the foundation but nothing essential to the modern world.

On the other hand, during the 1900s, specifically the 60s decade, according to Reverend Bishop Miles, Churches were extremely involved in the community. But it wasn’t solely for the sake of giving back and as God’s sheep. It was more so in competition of who was more active in the community between the White churches and Black churches. Whoever was more involved had more power in the community.

People who are religious focus so much on how religion was used by their ancestors or family members while growing up. So much so that a lot of people aren’t able to fathom that there is another way to practice religion or are too naïve to create their own vision of what religion truly is to them. Regardless of the religion, people grow up learning one way, and so when it comes time to form their own religious identity or relationship, they tend to live how whoever taught them or guided them religiously live. This creates cognitive dissonance because you believed in something for so long, lived by it even, but now you learn that what you’ve known to be true all this time may not be what you thought. This also builds tension in households or relationships for just having the religion conversation alone. The unknown tends to frighten people, so they react because they are scared of what the unknown brings. A lot of people are ignorant of what other religions entail and what they live by, so they create their own narrative or bash those who practice something else. Some even devalue the religion and the people behind it. This is how civil and religious wars begin. The film “God in America PBS Film: A New Eden.” by PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, was a great source to demonstrate a religious war. The film dived into the Catholic immigrants challenging the Protestant domination of public schools. Two different religious groups who are fighting for sole domination in society.

If Baltimore could be expressed as a modern living being it would be along the lines of Baltimore is a 25 year old Christian male. He is a complicated man and not one for the weak. Dangerous yet comforting. Small yet so big. He walks with his head held high and shoulders back, confidently loving the skin he’s in. Operating chaotically and irrationally, he carries himself afraid of no man, only God, and his actions are evident of this motto. He is a man who goes to church because he grew up hearing how it is the only way to live. “If you don’t go to church to build your relationship with God. He will be mad at you if he sees you putting in effort for other things and not making time for him. You don’t want God to be mad at you because he is a jealous and vengeful God”. That fear stays in Baltimore but yet he still wakes up and chooses destruction and violence, what feels like a daily routine due to grudges and poor anger management. It’s hard not to when your environment is full of it and the city you live in is so close knit. But in the same heart of destruction lies love and kindness where he believes if he eats everyone around him should be able to eat, even if it’s his last. “Give and things will be given unto you” is another phrase he would hear growing up in the church, but he didn’t do it for the reward. In the documentary “The Soul of Baltimore.” By WMAR-TV (Television Station: Baltimore, Md.) Walter P. Carter gave the audience a description of the average Baltimorean in the 1900s and it aligned with my point of view of the average modern Baltimorean. He explained that at this time Black people were starting to evolve and accept their greatness that our ancestors were taught to dismiss or “reject” as stated by Carter. He said that the streets, specifically Pennsylvania Avenue was a “symbol of spiritual rejuvenation, the soul of Black Baltimore”.

Carter and I both believe the people of Baltimore help create the soul. People outside of Baltimore judge and criticize us based on stereotypes created by the media. Outsiders automatically assume we are mean, violent, animalistic beings but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our crime tends to look worse than other places, but I think it’s mainly because of how small the population is. So, the damage looks massive. The chaos looks out of control. When in reality the true heart and soul of Baltimore and Baltimoreans is lighthearted, fun, funny, full of love, and full of life. There’s crime and destruction everywhere on this planet because there are people everywhere on this planet.

In this essay I described what the words religion and city mean. As stated in the introductory, the meaning of religion is a subjective explication. The person practicing is the one who determines the definition of religion and its significance of the religion to themselves and even to the population in and outside of the community. Because I knew what religion and city meant, it allowed me to determine that the type of relationship the two have with each other is external in today’s society. Throughout my essay I also discussed how religion and cities impact or shape each other. With this information I then was able to apply these findings to the pre-1900’s history of Baltimore. I personally believe that in order to make the topic of religion so much less touchy and offensive we collectively as a human race need to stop trying to classify everything or being power hungry, because that’s what causes division. When people classify everything with specific criteria or requirements to “fit into one group” it creates controversy in society because not everyone will look at things the same and once you don’t have something in common your automatically estranged or alienated. But once there is division people get defensive and offended over the simple fact that someone else or a group of someone’s don’t agree with them. We work together to create moral and ethical principles for everyone to live by and actually follow through, we will all be better off; not even just for the sake of religion.

 

CITATIONS

“God in America PBS Film: A New Eden.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 11 Oct. 2010, https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-god-in-america-two-a-new-eden/.

Miles, Rev. Bishop. “The Black Church in Baltimore during the 20th Century.” Guest Lecture . Guest Lecture , 4 Mar. 2022, Baltimore , Maryland .

WMAR-TV (Television Station: Baltimore, Md.). “The Soul of Baltimore.” Documentary. Baltimore history, 4 Mar. 2022, Baltimore.

[jtfrommsu]

Fieldwork 13

For this weeks fieldwork I interviewed one of my best friends since early high school. For the sake of protecting the anonymity of my informant I will be referring to her as “T”.

A girl by the name T is now 19 years of age. Her and her family of seven, including her eight, migrated from Nigeria when she was 9. when asked, “what were you feeling and thinking when moving here to the United States?”, T responds, “I was terrified. You hear about all the great things that come with the United States. The riches, freedom, pop culture, etc. But no one prepares you for what is really to come.” T utters melancholic. T had a hard time adapting to this new lifestyle. She spent most of her years at the time growing up in Nigeria, so the transition was drastic. Her family back in Nigeria isolated T’s family. Some were jealous that they were trying to achieve better. Some felt offended that they may have felt better than the rest. Some even did the opposite and thought T’s family was weak for leaving as if they couldn’t handle the circumstances. With that being said T really felt alone then because she didn’t know anyone in the States but then her family back home shunned T and her family. After about a year and a half T began to fit in better. She adapted some of the slang and some of the style. By the time T was 15 it was as if she had been in the US all her life. The beginning of the migration was all barriers for T. But now T says “I feel confident in myself and I found that I love computer science. We didn’t have opportunities like that back home.We live in a nice house. Both of my parents and all 5 of my siblings have great jobs.” In other words a nice bridge they crossed over. An influence was some people were kind and accepting so she was able to make a couple friends. “I wouldn’t change much from my experience. I just wish I was still close with my family from back home. Though my black people still suffer from oppression, violence, and hatred, we can collectively be a community.” -T

[jtfrommsu]

Fieldwork 11

What are the ingredients? (perhaps start with cocoa, the primary ingredient)

Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, pgpr, artificial flavors), sugar, hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil, enriched wheat flour (wheatflour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), corn syrup, skim milk, dextrose, less than 2% - cocoa powder, chocolate, natural and artificial flavors, salt, soy lecithin, baking soda. May contain peanuts.

Where do the ingredients come from?

milk chocolate and wheat : switzerland

hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil and cocoa powder: west africa

dextrose: australia

soy lecithin: germany

baking soda: england

How are the ingredients produced?

Most of this stuff come from plants or plant seeds that are grinned. Baking soda comes from soda ash.

What are the working conditions of the people who produce the cocoa?

unreasonable and dangerous

How do the producers get the cocoa to the market?

After the harvest, the ripe pods need to be cut open with machetes and the beans are taken out. The cocoa beans then need to be fermented, dried, cleaned and packed. When the beans are packed into cocoa sacks, the farmers are ready to sell the product to intermediaries.

How are the prices set?

Cocoa prices displayed in Trading Economics are based on over-the-counter (OTC) and contract for difference (CFD) financial instruments.

Which international corporations dominate the chocolate trade?

The candy company Mars controls a 14.4 percent share of the global chocolate market, making it the largest chocolate company in the world. Mars is famous for such chocolate candy brands as M&M's, Snickers, and Twix to name a few.

Who regulates the trade?

Trans fair USA

FDA

How is chocolate marketed?

Marketing campaigns that position chocolate as a “self-reward”. The idea in these campaigns is “sometimes chocolate is a gift for someone else, but also it can be a gift for yourself”​. This takes the guilt-factor away from the purchase.

Where did you buy your chocolate bar?

7/11

How much profit does a store owner make on one chocolate bar?

Store owner profit margins between 55 to 75%

Are there hidden costs that are not included in the price you paid?

Of course there are hidden costs. The chocolate trade is a huge industry and not everything will be fair or documented. Sometimes they also just lose track. Some people are slighted and and others rewarded immensely.

Terry the Twix

I hear the stories about the day I was born. How soo many people worked so hard for me to be here. How nothing but the finest ingredients make me up. Cocoa being the fanciest. It is a Twix’s dream to be someone’s “reward”. When the day comes I hope I was satisfying to the lucky buyer.

Terry the twix

[jtfrommsu]

Fieldwork 10

Marx's Social Theory

In this article, the author talks about the downside of this social class theory: bourgeoisie and proletariat, and how it causes conflict in society. Having such a big gap in social class by giving the producers so much power can cause things like a lack of checks and balances. By leaving the proletariat so low as just "those who sell" it causes alienation from sense of self, society, and even process of production.

Weber's Social Theory

In this article the author discusses how the two primary processes within the social hierarchy are dominance and prestige; which are known to impact how people allocate attention to others, with consistent findings that eye gaze is preferentially focused on high-status individuals and reflexive attention is biased towards high-status. Social learning is a strong mediating factor between prestige and attention. Manipulations of either dominance or prestige, and sometimes both, have been shown to affect individuals’ abilities to exert social influence.

Bourdieu's Social Theory

This article explains that a lot people tend to change or exaggerate their self image in order to either appear or obtain a higher social class. When you carry yourself in a certain manner it will portray a certain image. So, people will carry themselves as if they are better than their actual social group: whether it be with clothes, intelligence, etc. and it makes it seem as if you are.

[jtfrommsu]

FIELDWORK 7

How many commercials were aimed at boys?

3

How many at girls?

2

Were any commercials not gendered?

4

What techniques did the ads use to attract boys or girls?

for boys, the ads use dark colors(red, black, blue), harsh and loud music, and fast talking from a male voice. Usually they advertise toy cars, beyblades, or sports toys.

for girls, the ads use light girlie colors (pink, purple, yellow), princess instrumentals, and a woman’s voice talking. Usually they advertise dolls or princess themed items.

In what ways do these commercials teach gendered behavior?

By separating certain colors and sometimes using certain genders as the actors/actresses in the ads.

While I do agree that "boys will be boys" due to things like testosterone/hormones and masculinity complex, I do believe that a lot of different forces (parents, school, shows, etc.) enforce what “societal” standards of a male should be like as well. Especially for those who don’t demonstrate as masculine qualities as some would like for them too.

[jtfrommsu]

FIELDWORK 9

For starters, I wasn’t able to fit my whole family tree on this sheet. My mother has 12 siblings from my grandfathers side by different mothers. With many aunts and uncles I have many cousins.

Unfortunately, no one keeps records of the family. It’s just you know what you know about the family secrets. There is a lot of drama amongst my family. WE ARE JUST A BIG FAMILY.

[jtfrommsu]

FIELDWORK 6

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to obtain all answers for the questions asked for this weeks assignment. The recorded history of my family traces back to about 150 years back. My family from each side has lived in numerous parts of the US for all of those years. So we were raised learning American Nationalism.

Though my family’s written history only shows US ties, we are African American so we feel a spiritual tie to our African ancestors. By practicing the culture we do things like paint afrocentric art, promoting black businesses, and encourage love amongst our people this is how we try to stay connected. I wish someone in my family knew about the origin of my family to better understand where I come from and why my family is the way it is.

[jtfrommsu]

FIELDWORK 5

6 concepts and evidence in society

1. Hypodescent

* video

https://youtu.be/lgT-_yJ7U8k

* In the video it talks about different African-American celebrity women who have grown up with a messed up childhood due to Disney and their racial beliefs of white girl superiority. Zendaya as a biracial child, was automatically casted into the group of African-American women causing her to deal with some of the same struggles that girls 100% black had to deal with. Despite her partial white genes she still was not seen as equally white and black. To Disney “white sells”. So they constantly diminished the value of Black actresses because they felt like they would cause a barrier between profit despite the fact that they brought the industry a lot more money and sold a lot better.

2. Racism

* picture of protest

* This picture represents the constant battle for equality and justice. The black has to constantly peacefully protest for rights that they should already have in society.

3. White Supremacy

* picture of capital riot

* in this picture represents the hypocritical and unjust society that we live in. The black community has peacefully protested what they believe in and what they are fighting for (equality and justice). The black community has done it peacefully and has not harmed anyone in the process nor have they broken the law or rules set in place. But they’ve been beaten, arrested, and slain during these protests. Blacks are seen as aggressors and wild beats. Yet, when the white community protested in chaos, distraction, violence, and illegally, they were seen as just a community protecting their beliefs and rights. There were no beatings, there were no arrests, and there was no actions taken against them even though what they were doing would technically be considered a terrorist attack. Why? Because as a white community they get the sublime end of the stick due to white supremacy.

4. Intersectionality

* Article called “ what is intersectionality and what does it have to do with me?” by YW Boston Blog. https://www.ywboston.org/2017/03/what-is-intersectionality-and-what-does-it-have-to-do-with-me/

* This article touches on the fact that unless you are white in the society, you get the shit end of the stick. Although intersectionality includes gender, race, and class, it has been proven that you can be a black woman of higher class and still be discriminated against: not only because you’re a woman but also being black automatically diminishes your value in society. Women are valued lower than men as well as blacks being discriminated and valued lower in general. Although a white woman can be valued lower than the whites man, they are still higher on the chain than a black woman

5. Race

* Song “Strange Fruit” by Nina Simone

https://youtu.be/BcCm_ySBslk

* When first listening to Strange Fruit, I felt her words. I could feel the pain in her soul while she was singing. It’s sickening how nonchalant, foul, cruel, and ruthless whites were to blacks. They were taking pride in their hatred and inhumane deeds with no remorse. Taking pictures of the events as if they are accomplishments. Or even like a memorable fishing trips. There was detachment in people’s hearts and morals when they treated people of color this cruel way because of their race. 

6. Jim Crow

* Districting Schools

* The governments modern way of separating the whites from the Blacks is gerrymandering and districting. Predominantly black schools tend to be districted purposely with houses near black houses just to ensure the students that go to the school match in race.

[jtfrommsu]

FIELDWORK 4:

1. Record how many men and women are in the class. Keep a tally of how many times men speak (or post comments) and how many times women speak or post comments. Who speaks more often?

In my Psyc 213 class there are 39 students (4 males and 35 females). During class the men speak 0% of the time. There aren’t any comments because my teacher disables them. About 8-10 girls speak each class. So it’s clear that the women speak more than the men.

2. Record the average of how long people speak or the average length of their comments. Record the average of the number of words they use. If they are written comments, you can copy and paste them into a document and count them after class.

Often times each person speaks for an average of 30 seconds. My professor doesn’t let us speak long enough without him interrupting and the comments are disabled during class.

3. What are differences in body language, eye contact, and style of speaking between the men and women?

When women speak, they tend to use a lot of head and body movement; whereas men tend to use only their hands if there’s any movement at all. Me personally as a woman, I use hand movement with minimal eye contact due to me being a nervous talker.

4. Do the men or the women keep their cameras on more?

Women are the ones who tend to keep their cameras on more.

5. Is the instructor a man or woman? How do they encourage or discourage communication? Consider their body language and gaze.

My instructor is a man who although encourages questions so that we can get a deeper understanding of the topic, often only encourages communication if it supports what he says and/or believes. He is extremely dominant and sometimes rude in his communication skills. He also shuts down a lot of our opinions and/or statements, especially if it contradicts how he feels.

6. Does the instructor’s gender seem to influence the way they interact with the class? If so, how?

I definitely agree that the instructor’s gender influences the way he interacts with the class. Because he’s a male and the class is majority female, he often uses his male dominance to overpower the class. When we speak, he automatically classifies our statements and opinions as emotionally based rather than something that is realistic in society. It isn’t quite fair, because he makes it seem like everything he says goes, even if he’s wrong and like what we are saying is invalid. Lastly, when he gets disrespectful or rude he doesn’t like clap back from the students. Even if he’s the professor it’s still not right for him to be rude or disrespectful. 

[jtfrommsu]

1. What location did you choose? What drew you to it? Describe what you found.

* I chose Quarry Lake in Pikesville, Maryland. This place is somewhere I consider my safe haven. I go there when I want to clear my mind or draw. It was peaceful and airy. There were people there but because there is so much land, you can barely tell and the water was still.

2. What did you notice in your observations that you’ve never noticed before?

* What I’ve noticed is that a lot of people come here to jog around.

3. What is absent that you might have expected to find?

* The tables and chairs are gone now and there aren’t as many ducks in the water.

4. Can you determine anyways in which this space has been impacted by COVID-19

* A lot of the best food places in the area have shut down permanently because of Covid-19. Worst part is that some of them were the last ones in Baltimore; for example a Mexican food place called California Tortilla.

[jtfrommsu]

By doing this project I realized that people get so caught up in buying things and getting so used to having certain things they forget how to differentiate needs from wants. Wants tend to feel like a need. I also realized that yes I do need things like my tops, bottoms, shoes, and hair products but maybe not the over abundance. I don’t need things like wigs, bags, and makeup but it’s feels like I do so I can keep up with my appearance.

I wasn’t able to count every last things I owned because it was entirely to many things. But i was able to jot down the things I use the most and how important they truly are to me day-to-day living. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that I am truly grateful and blessed for the things in my life because there are people who can’t even obtain partial of what I have.

[jtfrommsu]

After completing this project, I realized that I have more than enough things in my room or in my possession. I couldn’t calculate it all in terms of how much stuff that I have because it’s too much. Ultimately, I determined that the things that I need tend to be my clothes for my love of fashion.  I also realized how much I need my phone even though I don’t use it as much as an average 19-year-old does. Things that I have figured out that I don’t need were things like make up candles LED lights, etc. 

You get so used to having certain things in your possession that it begins to feel like you need them, when actually, you want them and you prefer to just have them just because. A lot of things I do need but maybe not as many as I have. For example, I need my tops and bottoms but I have an over abundance.  I don’t need things like wigs but it feels like I do so that my hair can be consistently done. In the end I am grateful and blessed for the things that I do have because I realize that there are people who can’t even obtain half of the things that I own.

[jtfrommsu]

THE PINK ERASERs

1. The eraser was originally produced in the 1760s by the Eberhard Faber Company owned by the Faber family rooted in eighteenth-century Bavaria.

2. John Eberhard Faber moved to New York City and established the first pencil factory in America in 1861.

3. Without the eraser, completing written assignments and doing work would be almost impossible. I make a lot of mistakes when writing, and need to redo. That’s a big reason why i never use pens because you have a harder time undoing your mistakes. Instead of having to rewrite everything to get rid of mistakes, you can now erase a little problem to save a whole.

4. The Faber family created many innovations. Pink pearl erasers, pencils, lead pencils, pencil erasers were derived from the Eberhard Faber generation/foundation. But miraculously it is found that the exact date of the pink pearls origin seems to have evaporated along with much of the company���s history. The last to take charge of the company was John Eberhard Faber’s son, John Eberhard Jr. in 1879.