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What is your name? Aretha Carneh.

What is your age, gender, and nationality? I’m 68 years old, female, and Liberian.

Where did you migrate from? (immigration story) Liberia.

What were your main reasons for emigrating from _____ to The United States of America? The opportunity that the US has to offer. (The workforce specifically).

What push and pull factors were involved in your decision to immigrate? Rather than the opportunity the US workforce has to provide, the political climate was very poor and I didn’t feel comfortable anymore living in Liberia.

Did you experience any bridges or barriers in the process? Luckily no, I did not get deported yet it was a big risk taking the step to get here. Additionally, getting my citizenship was hard.

What other factors influenced your experience as immigrants? N/A.

For the chapter 13 fieldwork assignment, I interviewed Aretha Carneh, my friend Jeradine Jerry’s grandmother. She is a 68 year old immigrant from Liberia. Specifically, she grew up in Bensonville, Liberia. Bensonville serves as the capital of Montserrado County and is the commercial center for the agricultural area surrounding it. Aretha started her emigrating journey in 1980, when she was only 26. Aretha’s main purpose for emigrating from Liberia to the United States of America was to obtain the American Dream and obtain new opportunities granted by the US. Coming from a poor city, Aretha hoped to find a well paying job to sustain a better life in America for herself and future family. She notably stated, “I didn’t feel comfortable anymore living in Liberia,” during our brief interview. Fortunately for her journey here, she did not face any bridges or barriers in the process of emigrating to our country, yet she mentioned that obtaining proper citizenship was a little bit difficult for her. Learning English was a crucial part in her struggle to adapt to the US. Reflecting on what we’ve learned in this chapter, Aretha’s push and pulls were economic struggles. Her finding a sustaining job in the US makes her a labor immigrant.

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CHP 6 Fieldwork

My nationality is American and my ethnicity is Bahamian. My family on my dad’s side is from the Bahamas and currently lives there. My dad is the first generation to live in the US as well. My grandfather moved to Florida and made his way to Philadelphia, where he met my grandma. They then had my dad in Philadelphia and he has lived there since. However, my dad doesn’t indulge in bahamian traditions. He has embraced American Nationalism. My mom is just African American. Even though my parents are fully indulged in American Nationalism, I am not. I want to embrace the Caribbean side of me and take part in bahamian culture so I’ve been learning about it recently. I felt like not neglecting this side of me would ultimately help me feel more grounded.

I added these pictures because I wanted to highlight the beauty of the island.

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CHP 5 Fieldwork

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Discussion #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxW5yuzVi8w

Choose a song and highlight three separate lines (or lyrics) in the song that reflect gender and power. You’re going to post those three lyrics to your Tumblr.

The song I chose from today’s discussion is Woman by Doja Cat. According to the writing contributors on the song lyric website, Genius, “True to its name, the opening track of Planet Her is an afrobeats ode to the divine feminine in which Doja discusses the different roles women and, in this case, Doja herself, inhabit within society, praising the way women are able to move in and out of each of them with ease.

The lyrics go from a message to a male lover, reminding him of all of the great things Doja can offer him as a woman, to a broader appreciation of all that women are capable of and the struggles they have to endure because of their gender.” From the description alone, this record clearly exemplifies gender and power.

Lyric #1:

She can grow right from her womb a family

Provide lovin' overlooked and unappreciated, you see

This specific part of the song highlights the power women have in society. Women can literally create life and usher in new generations. However, they are often overlooked for this ability which is something I agree with. The ability to reproduce is often overlooked from a male’s perspective because we don’t know the commitment and hardships women face when going through pregnancy.

Lyric #2:

I mean I could be the leader, head of all the states

I could smile and jiggle it 'til his pockets empty

I could be the CEO, just look at Robyn Fenty

This lyric highlights the power women have in whatever they put their minds to. Women have equal capabilities to achieve whatever a man could do. This lyric also references Robyn Fenty, a billionaire, successful musician, and business owner, to further highlight her statement. Rihanna (Robyn Fenty) currently is the face of Savage x Fenty, Fenty Skin and Fenty Beauty, which are all multimillionaire companies.

Lyric #3:

They wanna pit us against each other

When we succeedin' for no reasons

They wanna see us end up like we Regina on Mean Girls

This lyrics discusses how society, particularly men, try to control the influence powerful women have in society by pitting them against each other when in reality this doesn’t happen between influential men in industries. Women are always compared to each other in hopes to watch them tear each other down. I personally think this reveals society’s intimidation of women who work together. An example of society pitting women against each other would be rappers Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. These two successful rappers outsell the majority of their male counterparts easily. In fact, Nicki Minaj just earned the title of having the best selling single of 2022, outselling the next seven best selling songs combined. Despite being the top two female rappers in recent years, the general public began to push a narrative of them not liking each other out of thin air. Imagine if these two women worked together. They would be unstoppable.

https://genius.com/23356998

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CHP 3 Fieldwork

(Picture in next post!) The location I chose was the track across the street from my home in Philadelphia. This week I went home to visit family and I thought this location was the perfect location for me to make observations at. When I was in middle school and highschool, I used to practice there nearly everyday for track. I felt a strong connection to the area and felt it was necessary to study the community around it. When I walked to the site, everything was the exact same despite everything else being reconstructed. It felt nice walking to something that felt familiar to me. I went around 4PM (during sports practices) and left around 6PM. Usually around 5PM the student athletes would leave the track and field and local residents would get their workout in, however it was different this time around. Around 5 I didn’t see any residents walk around the track or do a workout in the middle of the field. As I sat in silence around 6PM, I noticed how loud the birds were chirping. I never noticed it before walking home from there when I was younger. Even though there was a lot of construction going on around the area of study, there was a lot of animal life. It felt grounding. Thinking about the absence of local residents, I think COVID-19 played a significant part. Since the area is a popular location for residents, it poses a high risk for contact between others.

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CHP 2 Fieldwork

ItemsPriceWant or NeedsPurpose Bedsheets40needComfort Plush dog25want Comfort Speaker50wantEntertainment iPhone 11800needCommunication Macbook Air600needCommunication Yankee Candle20wantDecoration Himalayan Salt Lamp20wantDecoration Wallet10needOrganizaton Supreme backpack300wantStyle School backpack75needOrganization LED Strip Lights20wantDecoration 3x Nightstand210wantDecoration Body Mirror40wantDecoration Clothes (too much)1000+needStyle Throw Blanket30needComfort Comforter40needComfort Mortal Kombat Handheld Arcade Game 10wantEntertainment Inscent6wantDecoration Inscent Holder10wantDecoration Sage30wantDecoration Linen Scented Sheet Spray15wantDecoration 3x Chairs120needDecoration SeashellFreewantDecoration Guitar60wantEntertainment Tolietries100needCleaniness Toliet Paper8needCleaniness 3x Bathroom Rugs39wantCleaniness Shower Curtains10needCleaniness Towels20needCleaniness Febreeze Spray3wantCleaniness Baby Wipes2wantCleaniness 2x Toliet Bowl Cleaner4needCleaniness Toilet Wand13needCleaniness Comet Powder1needCleaniness Windex15needCleaniness Plant130wantDecoration Record Player44wantDecoration Vinyl40wantDecoration Vinyl Holder30wantDecoration Lamp30needDecoration TV138wantEntertainment TV Stand50wantEntertainment Verizon Cable BoxwantEntertainment Wifi BoxwantEntertainment Crystal Decorations10wantDecoration Couch1000wantDecoration PillowFreeneedComfort Foods500needFood Dish Detergent3needCleaniness 2x Hand Soap2needCleaniness Airfryer130needFood Microwave55need'Food Red Solo Cups5needFood Paper Plates7needFood Desposible MasksFreeneedCleaniness Broom10needCleaniness Lysol Wipes4needCleaniness Paper Towels10needCleaniness Toolbox44need Vacuum23needCleaniness

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CHP 2 Fieldwork

I’ve learned so much from analyzing my list after completing this fieldwork assignment. The first thing I acknowledged was the independence I truly have. With the exception of less than five items, I bought everything myself with the money I’ve earned from working. I tend to downplay and ignore the capability I have. It felt good realizing that. When it comes to consumer culture, I definitely play a part in it. The majority of my clothes are new clothes that are in trend. Additionally, this fieldwork assignment reinforced my belief of the importance of cleanliness. The majority of the items on my list that fall under the category of “Cleanliness” are listed as needs. Being clean is a NECESSITY! It’s definitely important in this day and age due to coronavirus. In other words, the importance of cleanliness is definitely a newly developed norm due to the pandemic.

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CHP 1 Fieldwork

My random household item is Vila Hermanos Black Fig and Neroli oil. I found it on my kitchen counter earlier today. It was given to me from a close friend of mine’s mother before I left Morgan State to go home for winter break. According to the label on the bottle, this home fragrance is Artisan made. The Vila Hermanos is a home fragrance and candle brand that officially dates back to Albaida, Spain 1884, where the first product was made. Juan Vila, the owner of the brand, established a mission to make high quality fragrance products while maintaining true to using environment friendly ingredients. These ingredients include natural wax blends. This company would soon be taken to new heights and rebranded as VILA HERMANOS CERERÍA in 1984 and reach a larger audience around the world.

(https://www.vilahermanos.com/en/about-us)

(https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-s-41a94a65/?originalSubdomain=uk)

This particular fragrance is manufactured in Grasse, a French Provence. However, The Neroli ingredient originated in Tunisia, Egypt. It comes from a citrus aurantium amara flower. The original use for neroli oil was for skincare. The use of this oil were to hydrate the skin and revive the skin, giving it a radiant glow.

(https://www.decleor.co.uk/blogs/neroli.html)

The black fig originates from Spain. This product then traveled to Mexico,  the West Indies, and The US. The first black fig grown in the US was in California soil. Now it is one of the most commonly available figs in the US.

The main location in Les Franqueses Del Valles has a total of six employees currently working there. Through the years many more locations have been opened for manufacture due to high demand however, this location has made a total revenue of $61.21 million dollars. Since all fragrances are hand made and there is a high demand for products from the Vila Hermanos brand, the workload per day is a lot.

(https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.hermanos_vila_sa.9cc191c8bb0fdbe36b3b6160ee89c96e.html)

Honestly, I’m thankful for this product because not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but also makes my kitchen smell really good. The production of this product also impacted the lives of the workers as well. Due to the high demand of this product from all over the world, stress must be a constant feeling in the workplace.

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Key Elements of Globalization

Uneven Development: The usage of cellphones are an example of uneven development. As technology advanced, the use of cellphones increased tremendously. Even though cellphones are a great product to reach others fast and spread information, the disposal of cellphones are harmful to the environment. Due to the improper disposal of these devices, the toxic materials used in phones are dumped into oceans which cause pollution. This directly harms the aquatic life in the oceans. 

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Key Elements of Globalization

Increasing Migration: Airplanes plays a large role in increasing migration. The use of this advanced transportation enabled fast and efficient travel between countries far from each other. People could now move to countries separated by major seas. 

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Key Elements of Globalization

Flexible Accumulation: The company Amazon is a perfect example of Flexible Accumulation. Amazon has over 185 centers globally. The facilities in different countries such as China, Germany, India, etc. There are different rules and regulations for labor in these countries versus the US. For example, Amazon workers in China are paid $12 per hour while US workers are paid $18 per hour.

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Key Elements of Globalization

Space-Time Compression: Social media is a great example of space-time compression. Due to instant messaging in these apps, communication across the world became much faster than before. Relaying a message to anyone around the world takes less than a second to deliver. Before technology existed, sending information to different regions of the world would take many days.