Intersexual & Transexual

Obviously, the human body is anatomically and physiologically more complex than any science has yet to comprehend and explain. Whether genetic or congenital, natured or nurtured, there will always be human developmental characteristics that will remain puzzling to our knowledge. Born with primary and secondary male or female sexual organs and woman or man trapped in the wrong body are the simplest ways that I respectively understand intersexuality and transexuality to be. However, since most of them live a homosexual lifestyle and since some of us are not culturally inclined to do extensively investigations or researches in such issues, I among many others used to call them all homosexuals. My study of the topics has helped me to create a shade of gray in between it all. I must admit that my perception of hermaphrodites and pseudohermaphrodites has somewhat changed. I now understand the deformities that may be present at birth in either kind. It is sad to know some of the identity issues and labyrinths they have to go through when their parents or doctors decide their sexes or genders at birth without proper analysis or knowledge of the lifelong effect. Until our cultures acknowledge the possibility of the existence of more than two sexes (male & female), we are most likely to see or hear of these occurrences in various parts of the world. Evidently, in most cases, the choices made by parents or doctors are usually wrong and caused the hermaphrodites or pseudohermaphrodites to live miserably long enough before their true identities are revealed or outwardly displayed. Being in this position as a parent, I would not be too quick in making a decision to choose a sex or gender. If the condition is seeing or diagnosed in the embryo stages or before birth and can be biologically corrected while leaning toward the most predominant sex or present sex organs then, I would carefully consider the alternative. Furthermore, if the condition is risky to life and death or possibility of increasing abnormalities, I will choose life or health regardless of what needs to be done. However, if my child were born that way, s/he would have to decide for him/herself later in life. Honestly, in regard to transexuality where as a fully-grown man or a woman with all primary and secondary sex organs feeling trapped in the wrong, I am still a little rigid. But knowing the complexity of human body, mind, and spirit, I am going to remain opened to new or more scientific information or proof. At this point, I think transexuality is mainly mental and closely related to homosexuality. As a result, I believe that people should never be prejudice and/or judgmental about anybody because of their cultural, sexual, and biological differences, skin color, gender, and ethnicity. We are all one race come in different shapes and shades. Whether straight, gay, bi-sexual, intersexual, transexual, normal, or abnormal per se, our days here are numbered. So, live, laugh, and love!

Class & Professor Evaluation

As a student majoring in education, I knew first off that I had to take this class. The name of the class itself “ Diverse Populations” sounded very enticing and interesting, but I had no idea what it entailed. So, prior to registering for it, I asked a few students who had already taken the class to refer me to a good professor. Believe it or not, good in that sense means easy. Honestly, this is not always my definition. For the most part, I like challenges. But since it was going to be a short six weeks class, I figured easy would be the way to go. None of them referred me to or even mentioned professor McNair. So, I got in His class. On May 12th, 2009, first day of class, I was faced with neither good nor easy, I was faced with education and true knowledge of diverse populations to a dept I could have never imagine. First topic was transformation. Every other topic thereafter was somehow related to transformation. The relationship was not through meanings or contexts, but in terms of equipping and empowering us with knowledge needed from that point on and to the rest of our teaching career. It instilled in us a multicultural awareness and consciousness that will help us to function in any social settings especially those of our public schools. Those we can share and transmit to others. When I told the other students who had already taken the class with different professors about what I was learning and doing in class, they were shocked. Personally, I do not know what lies ahead through the course of educational program, but so far, I could not picture myself being a teacher without the experience this class. I have already envisioned myself sharing the information that I have gained in the class about different cultures, the diverse society, race, racism, sex, sexism, homosexual, inter-sexual, transsexual, bi-sexual, holocaust, prejudice, ethnocentrism, and much more with my future students. I was compelled to read and learn a lot more than I ever had to do before for any classroom requirement. We had to complete 18 reflections with a minimum of 25 lines each on articles, journals or essays composed of at least 10 pages and up to 50 plus pages, a behaviorism, constructivism, and an inquiry lesson plans, a hundred and fifty educational philosophy survey questions, a bio and purpose statement, a digital story, a blogger webpage that includes all of reflections and comments, and the basic uses of livetext.com to upload and submit work and turnitin.com to check for plagiarism. I have, sincerely, been transformed beyond my expectation. This class has laid the foundation that I needed for lifelong learning endeavors. Frankly, I do not think that I am capable of evaluating Professor McNair. But if I could said a few things, I would first say, on behalf of all my class mates, thank you so very much for sharing a bit of your knowledge with us. You are a prepared, an innovative, and a skillful transformer. Your knowledge of the subject matter made us all feel at ease and ready to read every article, journal, or essay, discuss and share our point of views, learn as we listened to your explanations, illustrations, and/or elaborations while reinforcing our participations and comprehensions. I could not ask for more. I am looking forward to having you as my professor again hopefully soon. Thank You, Sir!

Homosexuality

I have always been curious about the cause of homosexuality. I am not against any sexual orientations or preferences. In my research, I have yet to find anything that is conclusive or scientifically proven to be the cause. Years ago, my attitude toward homosexual was different. I used to condemn it as sinful and immoral behaviors that should have been punished not only by God also by constitutional Laws of very nation. As I grew older as a heterosexual man and got to interact a few gay people males and females, I opened myself up to more knowledge and understanding of what it is to be different individually and sexually. I began to ask some the most typical questions that they, homosexual and/or lesbian, face in a regular basis. When and how did you first know? Did you try to date the opposite sex? What happened? Are any of your close relatives gay? Were you raised by or did you grow up with or around homosexuals? Where you mentally, physically or sexual abused or molested as child? The answers for to those questions were very shocking to me, but yet offered no subtle ground to draw a conclusion. I did not record them in a percentage basis, but they varied from presumably born that way, to environmental effect, peer pressure, seduction, curiosity, disappointment by the opposite sex, don’t know or can’t explain, and not sure. When I measure my level of emotional tolerance or attraction for another man sexually, since they said no one is a 100% straight or gay, it is next to zero. Consequently, I ask myself why would a man or a woman want to be with another man or woman if nothing is different about him/her especially when society regards them so bad. Why would anybody want to go through that? Therefore, I concluded by seeing homosexuality as a biological imbalance that is neither good nor bad until a choice is made. The person is born with all male or female sexual or reproductive organs being intact, however somewhere in the anterior lobe of the brain something remains sexually uncensored or inactive until it is triggered by someone or something. And if at that very moment, someone with the same sex happens to be one fulfilling or satisfying that rush or need, it will register in the brain as is. As a result, when seeing someone of the same sex and if the other attractive elements are there, the person is aroused or excited for initiate approach. My views have not changed by studying the topic of homosexuality. In fact, the topic enhances my theory. Not to say it is true, but since there is still no scientific evidence for a specific cause, we are to believe that any of the factors can be the true.

INS Laws Toward Haitians & Cubans

Politics in any country whether third-world, industrialized, rich or poor always have a direct impact on economy. We are experiencing a serious economic crisis in the United States of America today because of poor political decisions that were made in the previous administration. Political parties in the United States or abroad are established and supported based on their economical agendas. The same is true for Cuba and Haiti. However, the United States Immigration Laws regard the two groups of migrants differently in approximately the same period of time. Politically, since the 1950’s, Haiti and Cuba have shared similar situations that have forced both people to flee the Island and come to U.S. shores. The only difference between the two is the Cubans are predominantly fairly light skin mulatoes and the Haitians are blacks. In U.S. Immigration Laws’ defense, I would say that it made more sense in 1950’s and 1960’s when Batista supporters were fleeing the Castro’s regime to label them as political refugees and grant them asylum. However, for the past two decades or so, the Haitians and Cubans have been crossing the ocean for the same reasons. They are both in search of a better life. Giving the political instabilities, violations of human rights, terrors, U.S. embargoes and sanctions, restoration of President Jean Bertrand Aristide by 20,000 U.S. soldiers, United Nations’ presence in Haiti, a better case should be made for political asylum for the Haitians. Instead, the U.S. Immigration Laws view their status as more economical than political just so they can be detained in refugee and detention camps and sent back to Haiti while the Cubans are offered permanent residence upon arrival or through lottery. I would rather they just call it racism. Do they not know that laws are what justify racism? Do they not know that their immigration laws toward the Haitians are biased and histories of two Islands migrations are accessible to the world? Do they not know that a case can be made for charges on institutional racism? The answer is yes to all. But, no one cares; it is Haiti. A poor little country that became the first black nation to be free in the world after slavery in 1804. A poor little Island that still has to pay France indemnity to compensate the slave owners who had lost slaves during the Haitian revolution. A poor little Island whose independence was not recognized by the U.S. until about a hundred years later. Obviously, this is more than just immigration laws; it is about Haiti’s role in the history of the world. For what it is worth, I believe the U.S. Immigration Laws toward the Haitians should be reformed. The focus should be on the political aspects which have caused too many lives and inhumane living conditions from the Duvalier’s regimes (Papa Doc & Baby doc) to even worst today

Race & Racism

Most of us were taught to associate race with skin color. As result, a lot of people still believe that there are about 4 to 5 different races today. This racial concept has been rooted in most of our cultures and has given birth to prejudice, bigotry, and all the elements of racism. Prior to reading these series of essays, I had heard or seen the term human race, but never paid attention to its true meaning. When I was about 11 years old, my late grandfather tried to explain it to me, but I could not understand his approach because it was too political. He grew up a catholic and served in the church throughout his life. As a young man, he wanted to become a priest, but for some unknown reasons, he became an educator, got married, and started a family. During that time, most if not all of catholic priests in Haiti were either an old white man from France, Canada, or Belgium. He said to me, no one is better than you, respect and treat everyone as you would want them to respect and treat you no matter who they are and what they look like, always try to finish what you start, and try to excel in all that you do, but keep in mind there are those who will always try to use their skin color and power to oppress you. Do not let that hinder you, he added! Now I know what he was trying to imply. We are all equal in terms of race because there is only one (the human race). The exploitation of the term race by many people especially those of European countries or descents to justify their behaviors and acts of prejudice should stop. There is no such thing as a superior, an in between, or an inferior race. The world is simply painted with different shades of colors that make it what it is today. Obviously and understandably, racism or its conceptual beliefs or practices are so culturally embedded it is and will probably be hard to teach the next generations otherwise. My hope is the original mitochondrial Eve DNA research of 1987 by Rebecca L. Cann, Mark Stoneking and Allen C. Wilson and the book “Out of Africa’s Eden” by Stephen Oppenheimer will be read and will begin to make sense to people of various ethnic backgrounds for them to understand how we all got here. In addition, different type of skin pigmentations will scientifically be known as simply climatic changes and adaptations as we migrated around world from Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago.

The Holocaust

History tells us that there had been many so-called ethnic cleansings in different parts of the world before and after the holocaust. So far, the holocaust was the most heinous crime ever committed by human beings to human beings. Personally, the estimated number of people murdered during that time by the Nazi regime really makes no difference, but the ways in which they were killed is inconceivably disturbing. I do not think that it is even fair to classify the holocaust as simply as ethnic cleansing. It had seemed as if Hitler and his accomplices or collaborators dehumanized themselves to perform the inhuman acts. They became machines of their so- called master race (idiots) run with human blood and flesh or were possessed by evil spirits. The main reason for me to say is that they even murdered their own people. Some or most if not all of the Jehovah witnesses, handicaps, communists and other political parties or oppositions and homosexuals were Germans. One of the things that I also find disturbing is that it all occurred only 64 to 75 years ago. An epoch when modern science, education, globalization, multicultural interaction and competence, freedom, journalism, telegram, inter-economics exchange, and democracy existed abroad. The whole world was watching. The Nazi’s sadistic quest, objective and/or ideology were to conquer the world at least all the European countries and purify their race in the process; therefore, they did not care. Another surprising thing to me is that the rest of the world specially the western world took so long to intervene. Were there any doubts about the occurrence or were they also afraid of the German’s horrific forces to some degree until their own interests or welled being were stake. These are questions that can be researched to a deeper extend. As for the holocaust deniers still today, the only benefit of the doubt that I give them is that they know it happened, but it is still hard to believe. Yes, it is hard to even try to comprehend that human beings can be so cruel. Yes, on that note, I concur. Unfortunately, if anyone sanely believes the holocaust did not happen, I would first suggest that they look at the evidence. Then I would remind them that there were survivals who had lived and seen it all. Lastly, I would say to them your opinion cannot be based on emotions, beliefs, and ethnocentricity. You need to research the facts. “IT HAPPENED”.

Cultural Chauvinism, Degradation, and Pride

Ethnocentrism plays a major role in the way most people perceive and represent their cultures. It reflects different individualistic cultural views and identities. Three of the most common forms of cultural representations are chauvinism, degradation, and pride. Even though the basic elements of any culture can be interchangeable or shared, fundamentally, some cultures are said to be pure and homogenous. In other words, if you are not deeply rooted from a particular culture such as that of France, you can not become a true member. You could be granted a legal status or perhaps a citizenship to live and receive the benefits of that culture as you desire, but you are never considered indigenous. That is cultural chauvinism. One of the positive aspects of cultural chauvinism is that is not viewed as superior or inferior than any other cultures. There may be some individual biases, but the idea is not to portrait it in such a way. On the other hand, in cultural degradation one or more groups or sub- groups are mistreated, discriminated against, segregated from, and sometimes exterminated on the basic of their race, color, religions, gender, etc. It is also known as ethnic cleansing and genocide. The latest one had recently occurred in Bosnia/Kosovo in the 1990’s. One might find it very hard to conceive such behaviors, but these acts are still subject to happen in some parts of world. And to some extent, I believe that cultural degradation of some kind is happening today in unthinkable places. In the United States, New Orleans, Louisiana is probably the only city that gives a good sense of cultural pride with their customary mardi gras. In places like Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and in Haiti, carnival really represents pride. People would travel from all over the world to go back to their homeland for a few days to celebrate unity, heritage, and culture. Personally, I think saying that “I am an American” does not show cultural pride. It simply means that I am pride to be a citizen of the United States of America. However, since we are more of a pluralistic society, some credits should be given for the efforts we have made so far. Culture pride in its entirety requires much more. We would need to unite as a nation, eliminate or at least reduce prejudices and/or racism, and desegregate ourselves to embrace such pride.

Prejudice

Prejudice is a more complex issue than one may think. For some people, it is a state of mind rather than an attitude. Personally, I wish it did not exist. Unfortunately, whether low&endash or high&endash, intentional or unintentional, it is here all around us. As far as I understand, either of its form of existence is hard to overcome even when it is acknowledged. The good news is people can change. It takes self-awareness and self- consciousness to begin the first steps. In 2000 while working at Motorola, I met Josh from Davie, Florida. He had just come out of the army after a four year contract. As a young boy, Josh was taught, if you do not look and like him, like he was not supposed to associate himself you. Josh is one of those Brad Pitt look alike white boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. Three of his drill officers at boot camp were African Americans and one was Latino-American. He was furious and wanted to quit. Having to salute and call them “Sir” was one of his biggest problems. He said, he called home and told his family. He father told him to hang on there because he will soon be their commanding officer. After boot camp, Josh was placed in a platoon consisting of predominantly African American including his commanding officer. He had to eat with them, talk to them, fight among them, and even die for any of them if it had come to that. Josh said, it took him about a year to adapt and finally grow out of a lot of negative attitudes (prejudicial beliefs) and/or stereotyping he was taught especially toward African American early on. Josh confessed that, in and out of the service, one of his best friends and mentor was Sgt. Lee, an African American from North Carolina. At the time, Josh’s girlfriend and two other very good friends were African Americans. At his house, Josh had African masks and paintings, a big portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all sort of black poets and authors books and journals, etc. He also added that, “I love and respect my dad, but I don’t think that I love and respect Sgt. Lee any less. Giving the complexity of prejudice, this may be a very isolated case. Whether his prejudice was covert or he really overcame the attitude, his example proves that one way or the other, we can all change. Right among us today, I believe there are those who would call Josh all kind of names and those who would applaud his transformation. In any case, I remain optimistic that as the world turn, more people especially those with high&endash and/or intentional prejudice will learn to accept others for whom and what they are. And for those who are confused or not sure about their status on the issue of prejudice, take an initiative! Because form the first Eve to every mother in every corner of the world, we will always have a black, white, yellow, brown, and red world. Live up and free yourself!

Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values

Attitudes and values are two of the most expressive elements that form the bundle of beliefs in most cultures. Together, they represent the sensory motor that fuels our perception and guide our actions toward cultural likenesses and differences. They can divide and organize different groups within a culture. They can give birth prejudices and “isms” that lead to all sorts of bias and unfair treatments. Our values are often embedded in our beliefs and carried out by our attitudes. Sometimes they hold us hostage to our own ignorance, but other times serve as catalysts to change.
When meet with unfamiliar beliefs, values, and attitudes, our first reaction is usually a negative one. With respect to other cultures, we are psychologically trained to uphold these particular components of ours. They show who we really are until we experience multicultural awareness and consciousness. Even then, they, intrinsically, form our perception to behavior a certain way toward other people and sometimes nature. Recently, while watching an episode of “Sex and the City”, Alexandre asked Carrie, his girlfriend, to move to Paris with him to live. Carrie was excited about going to Paris but skeptical about the idea of leaving New York. So, she invited some of her friends to dinner at Alexandre’s place in New York. At the dinner table, a slight discussion erupted when Steve who is one of Carrie’s best friends, Miranda’s husband, started to brag about New York being the ideal city in the world. Alexandre who is from France tenaciously replied and said, “there is no place like Paris”. They went on and on advocating for Paris or New York for about ten minutes. Then, they both claimed that they have lost their appetite. All of sudden, Paris and New York were not just two cities they represented who the two men were. Ironically, I felt like I was living a moment of truth about how quick we are to defend our beliefs. Frankly, that moment proves the significance and meaning of all that I have read about beliefs, values, and attitudes. More than anything, these essays have opened my eyes to a world of many unknowns and expectations. I have become more aware of my so- called beliefs, which I still now hold to be truths with willingness to fundamentally test or measure their premise. Most importantly, I have learned that even though people are products of different cultures, their beliefs, values, and attitudes, which they usually hold dear, can change. And what seems real today may not even be tomorrow.

Perception

We are made to feel, see, touch, smell, taste, and relate. Our sensation keeps us connected with the reality of the world. Anatomically and physiologically, our sensory organs create the bridge that links our mind with the outside world. Signals travel from the very quantum extremity of our toes to our cerebral cortex. Our mind, then, process the signals into information that form our perception. From the time we are born and experience our first cry, we introduce our emotions to the world. We react to color, temperature, pain, food, gases, and thoughts. My favorite color is blue. But, I remember my kindergarten uniform and the bedroom that I shared with siblings were also blue. I was born in the tropical of the Caribbean in a cold November day. I was told that the winter was atypical that year. It had reached below 30 degree at some point and it was cold until end of March the following year. Today, I live in Miami, Florida, and for as long as I can remember summer time has been my worst enemy. Personally, I believe these two factors have something to do with the way that I am. No one can tell me that I do not look good in my blue jeans and blue shirt or it is not hot outside when I feel like I am burning and sweating in a summer day. If they do not, my sensory neurons are either very hyperactive than most people around me or as a baby, I developed extra ones to cope with the cold. In addition, memories of the blue room I that loved and adapted to, create a perceptual desire in my mind for the color blue. In any case, it makes perfect sense to say that our encounters leave marks that are embedded in our perception. Needless to say that our experiences come in different ways, shapes, and forms, they prepare us for the unknown. More than anything, the elements of our culture have the greatest impact on how we perceive the world. However, with multicultural awareness and consciousness, we can change or transform. On the other hand, as long as we are breathing or alive, our sensation will remain the same in terms of the way messages are conveyed from the outside world to our minds. You will always see as long as you are not blind and hear as long as you are not deaf. And even if one or the other happened after birth or later in life, our perception of what we used to hear and see is immutable.

Six Senses

Awareness is an acknowledgement of self-existence, our surroundings, moments, time, and place. Consciousness in an entity of mind departed from awareness for a specific purpose. Our awareness awakens our conscious to experience, experiment, and organize. We live every day by being aware of all that we see, feel, touch, smell, and hear. We prepare and complete our task or project. We go through all the open doors and pass by the close ones. The routine goes on until one day our expectations are interrupted by some unforeseen reality that triggers our conscious to react. In this sense, expectation represents perception. For instance, if you happened to find out that a close door is your way from point A to B at a particular time, your level of awareness of that door and possibly all other close doors would rise to your level of consciousness. Then, you would begin to explore all sorts of qualities of your mind to approach to that door. You will ask yourself: is it locked and where is the key to get it opened? At that point, you spontaneously will go from an inductive reasoning to an abductive reasoning. That kind of transformation does not require a great deal of intelligence, but a mentally and psychologically structured organization and relationship to a particular situation. It is a perceptual change that can challenge beliefs, values, and attitudes and raise the question of who we think we are and what is real. If we were to rely simply on awareness, we would still be able to differ between right and wrong, grow personally and spiritually, love one another, esteem ourselves, overcome fears, feel pain, and develop cognitively, but the universe would be full of uncertainties. I believe a lot of great minds have evolved only through some level of consciousness. It keeps us focus and directs our attention on what matters. It is how some theories, inventions, and paradigms come about, great books are written, knowledge is transmitted, and cultures are built. Consciousness reveals true characters. When God in Exodus 3:14 said to Moses I AM WHO I AM, Moses became more aware of Him then, but after Moses crossed the wilderness of the Red Sea to escape Pharaoh’s army, he became very conscious of some characteristics of God. Prior to this class and reading several essays about transformation and culture, I was simply aware of many aspects of them, but as I continued to read, I have become more conscious about my culture and other cultures.

Mental Representation & Schemas

Culture, mental representation, and schemas are intertwined as vital or fundamental components of the transformation spectrum. All individuals, cultivated or not, live and experience their impact at some point in their lives with or without awareness or consciousness. They represent the core essence of what and who we are. By association, culture is the premise in which mental representation and schemas are originated. In a sense, it is broken down in parts that are designed to accommodate different stages of life. For instance, our knowledge of the world depends on schemas that are innate and the news ones we learn to adapt to as we face more complex issues. This concept resembles that of intercultural competence except for the fact that schematic adaptation is inevitable and intercultural competence is optional. We solve our problems by using schemas. Intercultural competence helps in understanding and adapting schemas and mental models that transform our thoughts, structure or reinforce our perceptions. In this regard, we only know something is real when it is proven by a particular model. That model can simply be an abstraction. That abstraction is, in most cases, a mental image implemented by a certain set of beliefs and values inscribed by symbols, pictures, or text. Everything that I believe to be real and true may be challenged, questioned or changed by new information acquired in or about my culture or a different one thereby creating a mental image. Our culture makes, trains, prepares us and sometimes limits our potential to the outside world. Multicultural awareness and consciousness is the key to immeasurable discoveries, the door to reality, and the aperture of self-exploitation and self-realization.
Information is always transferable. As a teacher trainee, the knowledge I gain here will, someday, serve as transformative components useful and valuable to others as they are to me today. They reveal my ignorance, but yet shape, empower, and inspire me more and more to learn and become a teacher. They have increased the level of my multicultural awareness and consciousness enough to understand and be prepared for various properties of society.

Rites of Passages

Rites of passages are practiced in most cultures in the world today. They are important to every culture. Although the ceremonial rituals and religious beliefs may be different, the fundamental concepts are the same. Rites of passages signify transitional phases in someone’s life mainly during puberty. The rituals processes and manifestations are used as helpful mechanisms to make initiations. They usually occur from births to baptisms and period of confirmations, weddings, etc. These changes or initiations always have strong psychological and social impacts on the individuals. They reinforce personality, cultural values, and religious views. They are marks of social recognitions for manhood and womanhood. In some cultures, these events can generate new experiences, behaviors, and outlooks. They characterize separation, liminality, and incorporation. Giving the historical landmark of Mount Kenya, the term Facing Mount Kenya is used here as a metaphor to explicate all the preparations and anticipations to perform this form of ritual to initiate boys to men or girls to women by circumcision and clitoridectomy. Knowing how much culture binds people and how dear people hold traditional beliefs within their cultures, it is not a surprise to see the majority of even educated Gikuyu men voted to keep their custom regardless of what Scotland missionary church/school decided to do. Setting quietly is another form of rite of passage associated with terrifying words, dance, and other ceremonial illustrations that get boys and girls ready to face their fears as if they were going to fight a monster. But yet, the initiators or parents would show the importance of it and tell about their cultural rewards after the fact. What is punishable, intolerable, and unacceptable by laws and religious beliefs in some cultures are practically and fundamentally normal in others. The Sambian ways of understanding the human anatomical or physical makeup and growth lead them to believe that, in order to mature, grow strong, and know all secrets about women, young boys have to leave home and live with grown men and older boys and involve fellatio. It is a homosexual and child molestation practice where as the younger ones (7-10 years old) would give the much older ones oral sex so they can swallow semen from the oldest that would supposedly make them strong as a mother’s breastmilk does. The man’s semen is also believed to be so nutritiously essential that it would give women strength to endure pain while giving birth to a child. These cultural beliefs and practices can be ambiguous to people of different cultures, but their importance is clearly implied. Whether painful or dangerous, it is apparent that parents are proud to mentally guide and pass on their traditional traits to their offspring. Rites of passages are parts of formal education in all cultures. The training and learning process we go through prepare us for different stages of life. In most western cultures, some of the basic principles about our society are taught in school. Just like in rites of passages in some cultures, our level of education presents who we are in the society.

Proxemics & Low/High Context Culture

Most cultures have fundamental principles and ideas that set them apart. Some are considered to be high or low context cultures based on their system of expressive practices in which messages are conveyed, norms are displayed, and beliefs are set. For the most part, these utterances are extremely important. Misinterpretation or misrepresentation can be very obscene to some degree. High context cultures are more traditionally rigid to these practices. As in most low context cultures, typical Americans greeting are “Hi, how are you doing”, and may vary from time to time, but in some countries like Nigeria, a simple greeting can take a whole set of rituals such as bowing, kneeling, lying on the ground, asking about the person’s health, well-being, each family member by name to suffice. In both, messages are encoded with large amount of information that are contextually contained or indirectly stated primarily in high context cultures. Those of low context cultures are more directly spoken or explicit. People in high context culture settings are trained to let in implied meanings arising from the body language, relational cues, or shared understandings (Michelle Lebaron). Low context culturally oriented people pay attention more to the literal meanings of words. In addition, low context cultures that are more individualistic and focusing on the future instead of the past. Personally, I believe that both contexts can coexist. Generally, there are times direct communication is most appropriate and times when it is preferable to use layers of meanings to save face, spare feelings, or allow for diffuse interpretations (Mihelle Lebaron). Consequently, no cultures or contextual cultures are better than the others. Proxemics is the study of one’s perception and behavior in relation to spatial distance in interaction. When one is alone, space is limitless. But most cultures set boundaries for personal, business and public interactions. In the United states, as oppose to Japan or Saudi Arabia which have almost no bearing on individual space, the personal space ranges from 2 to 4 feet and reserved for family members and friends, the business space is 4 to 10 feet used for business associates and acquaintances, and public space ranges from 12 to 25 feet which is considered the distance between a public speaker and the audience. Any violation of such spatial distance may result malaise, defensive gestures, swift in posture, panic, and moving away. Cultural differences play a major role in proxemics because in Latin America and some other countries, people have no problem sharing close space. This perception is a good model of high and low context culture differences. This information is very important to someone who is looking to become a teacher. It instills knowledge that will empower and equip him/her for any multicultural settings or developments. The understanding and awareness of high and low context cultures and proxemics can serve as tools to identifying cultural differences in our social spectrum and the instructional impact they can have on a diverse classroom.

Culture Low/High Context?

Each author in the article gives a definition as to what culture is. Some of the definitions are similar with only contextual variations and some are quite different than others. Since culture is cumulative, we can say that everyone is a product of culture and every author’s view is rightfully centered on the template of his/her individual group. The external and internal parts of all culture always have a believer in common. That person can choose to foster his/her indigenous culture or learn and adopt a new one. However, to be an intercultural competent one has to know the culture as if you were a native or more so as know the overt and covert aspects of it. Although some cultures are rigid in representations and practices, none are immutable. In our ever-changing and innovative world or with the globalization movement, the basic elements of culture such as beliefs, religion, language, food, music, dance, signs, and symbols are interchangeable and shared. For instance, the French “Haute Couture” which is represented by some very well known designers, the Chinese food, the Italian pizza, and the British and American Music are distributed and consumed in most parts of the world. The conceptual and cognitive differences that exist from culture to culture can be easily noted through traveling to another country, having a telephone conversation with someone, and searching the worldwide web. Ethnicity and communication are probably the two best indicators of cultural differences. A person with Oriental features may be stigmatized as a Buddhist whereas a blonde with blue eyes and a British accent may be considered a Christian. Culture, whether high or low context, binds, empowers, identifies, and distinguishes people. That within itself gives sense to cultural equality and relativism. Culture is not genetic. It is topical, mental, historical, normative, functional, behavioral, structural, and symbolic. This is essay gives me a new understanding of cultural concepts that I can personally apply and pass on to others such as my children and students. It is full of insights that can prepare someone for any cultural context. It reveals ignorance and instills knowledge and awareness that can ease interaction between different social groups and/or settings.

Paradigm

Normally, changes are constantly happening in our lives and our world. Some, such as environmental changes, take place in and by nature, some by scientific and political revolutions, and others by inventions. Paradigms are those of all major mental models or concepts that produce major portions of our reality. They do not come easy nor do they come frequent.
However, upon conventional or personal acceptance, paradigms can and will change perceptions, beliefs, understandings, and even a whole way of life. Since the beginning of time to our modern days, the world has experienced many paradigms that had lasted very long and some are probably here to stay. They are more real, more applicable, and have greater psychological effects than frames. For instance, who you know yourself to be can be the premise of a paradigm. According to the article, a paradigm can represent a well-articulated shared view of events or phenomena and has an internal logic and a set assumption that imposes itself on what is perceived. Giving the sense of reality and validity paradigms represent, one may think that they will never change. In actuality, the do fade and loose essence with time, evolution, and / or phenomena. They are not easily replaced. But when they are, the new ones should never be predicated on the same premises as the old ones. The change can occur as gradual and complicated as the evolution of man of as fast and simple as Eve convincing Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. The events that took place in the history of science and the process of conversion are two good examples we look at to understand a paradigm shift. Afterward, the concept of who you are, your beliefs, your perceptions, and your way of life can completely be different. I grew up in three different countries: the Bahamas, Haiti, and the United Sated of America. I have been in the United States for most of my adulthood; therefore, I have had more enough opportunities to experience many successes and failures. So, I did. However, life itself, my aspirations, my beliefs, and who I am have never changed in neither country. I was taught to respect and accept everyone as they come and treat all equally. In the past few years, I have learned that people are not always what they seem to be. Consequently, my perception of people has drastically changed. I used to think people would and could never intentionally hurt each other. After having gone through my trials with people and hearing others’ stories, I literally was forced to adopt or develop defense mechanisms to make me feel comfortable in dealing people without any deviation of showing respect and giving equal treatment to all people. Frankly, I do not think there was something wrong with what my parents taught me, but I felt that it was time for a new set of major mental models and concepts. I plan on instilling those set of mechanisms in my children until they feel they should change them. As a teacher, a paradigm can be a form of transformation that helps in knowing how to best inform or instruct students. It also can serve as the awareness and understanding of the diversity of a classroom setting.

Transformation

Both articles offer tremendous examples of transformation that can affect one’s life in some ways. They focus more on changes that we should be aware of in our society, within ourselves, in nature, and in our environment. The transformation process of the caterpillar to a butterfly is a perfect example of how dramatic one’s life can change. Transformation can bring about a whole new perception of life to a human being. The psychological and social impact can be huge. By definition, transformation can be a product of a scientific and political revolution, a discovery or simply just some new information. In either one, the result can have world changing effects such as the heliocentric cosmos discovery of Nicholas Copernicus, the universal laws and mechanical universe proposal of Isaac Newton, and the Islamic Revolution of the Shah of Iran. But in individual sense, we can first look at the Metanoia process. Just imagine what a new convert has to adapt or adjust to as he/she begins the new life with the set of beliefs. Everything from normal family rituals to one’s social interaction can change no matter what age. Another great example of transformation is the process of overcoming an addiction. Each step is as important as the next. And with the right sponsorship and materials, sobriety will take place effectively and more than likely, there will be no relapse. Finally, in a diverse society as ours, it is paramount that we learn to accept other people’s differences. Whether skin tone or color, religion, cultural background, gender, sexual orientation, and disability or impairment, everyone is to be seen and treated equal. Personally, I do not think eradication of race, religion, and any other difference is ever going to be possible. But, I believe, as we learn from the article, one can escape or evolve from prejudicial ideas and transform to a more understanding individual. As a society, we should all have access to the same opportunities collectively & exclusively. Consequently, it is our duty to provide our children with the knowledge needed to transcend all sort prejudice as we move through the 21st Century. To sum up, I believe transformation of any kind always breed awareness and acceptance in people. In our ever-changing world, it will always be an infinite reoccurring. Hence, information as such as those from the articles should be made available to most if not all students at all major colleges/universities in the world to ensure that the knowledge and concepts of transformation is taught globally.

Bio and Purpose of Statement

In the late 1940’s, a young educator, after being married with 3 children, was sent in a humanitarian mission to Zimbabwe, Africa. My mother, Antonise, was only 10 years old, the second of the three who were left behind along with my grandmother, Claire. The Haitian government or UN offered him the option to take his family along, but he decided to leave them. My grandfather, Augustin Louis, taught in Zimbabwe for a few years and then he was relocated to England. From there, He ended up in the Bahamas in 1960 where his family joined him shortly after. My mother had met my father in grade school. They felt in love and had my brother, Schmid out of the wedlock when they were both 18. Both agreed for her to leave with the rest of the family to the Bahamas. My brother was 2 years old and left his father and grandparents. In less than 2 years later, my parents reunited in the Bahamas and started their own family. Soon after, they gave birth my sister, Pauline and then me a year and a half later in November 23, 1968. We were both born at Princess Margaret Hospital in New Providence which known today as Nassau, Bahamas. My grandfather who was a teacher there felt that my sister and I would get a better education in Haiti at the time because the Bahamian education had only reached up to 12th grade level. One had to go away to college or higher. I was about 6 and my sister was 7 years old when we left with my mother. I loved Haiti very much then. My extended family was big and somewhat well off. I had 8 uncles and aunts with many cousins. We lived with my father’s parents. They treated me like a prince. I made a lot of good friends some of whom I still have in my life today. I lived there for about 10 years. School was really great there then. For some reasons though, people always looked at me as a foreigner. After the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier: AKA Baby Doc, everything started to change. Prior to that, my father made a few attempts to bring me back, I did not want to leave and my grandparents supported my decision. I left when I was 16 and lived in Freeport, Grand Bahama. In the process, I missed two golden years in high school that cost 11th and 12th grade. I attended a night high school program at Saint Paul College in Freeport while working at the Bazaar during the day. I moved to the United States in 1991 after the golf war. I lived in Miami, Fl for the first few months then moved to Detroit, MI with my uncle who had already settled there for years. I started the high school program again at Hazel Park in Detroit, but to complete the remaining credits at Lindsey Hopkins when I came back to Miami In late 1992 after hurricane Andrew. In mid-1993, I met and felt in love with Beatrice. She did not want to get married before we had Ricardo in March 1994, but she did in August 1996. I am currently divorced and have been for a while. I have two beautiful children, Ricardo, 15 and Gabrielle, 6. I prefer my status to be single. In April 2000, I graduated with an associate in science degree from MDCC in electronic engineering and technology and an associate in art degree in December 2008. I am a state-certified residential appraiser in Florida and I own Magnum Property Appraisal Services, Inc. I am currently seeking a bachelor in science degree in exceptional education at MDC. My goal is to have a master degree in education and a P.H.D in psychology.

Fire in the Wheel

Prior to this week, I knew of some significance and various forms of usages of fire. However, I never before thought about where and when and who used it first. Apparently, since after the scientific revolution or the renaissance, we, today’s men, have been taking a lot of things for granted. Just like the prehistoric men, we use fire in many aspects of our daily life, but the prehistoric men must have had found it more meaningful, more useful, and probably more amazing to their way of life. To them, it fire was a mean for survival against nature itself, perhaps the only way to cook raw food that eventually contribute in their physical transformation particularly their teeth and ultimately their faces. They used fire to protect their shelters against animals and to keep them warmed during cold seasons or as needed. There have been many proofs found in various parts of the world that fire and/or its use was controlled by prehistoric men in their time as they migrated around. In the invention of wheel, one can conceive the very nature of man at best. It is very similar to the way the evolution of man is explained. The idea was to simply move heavy objects by use of something round and some logs that were already being used for that purpose. As the plan started to work, new ideas were evolved. They modified the logs and the round thing to an actual wheel with holes and logs to an axle. From there, we had the first cart(s). More improvements lead to the first wheeled chariot in Sumeria to our today’s sophisticated mass transportation machines that require wheels.
Between the eras of 4100-3000 BCE, almost all the major civilizations had felt the need for some written form of communication. When looking at the way we, westerners, write today and where writing originated from and the collective ideas and creativities that were used, it is safe to ambiguously say that we have come a long way. In this invention, men started with themselves. They used symbols that enumerate their own possessions or wealth, their body parts, animals, and objects of nature to create consonantal sounds, vowels, syllabic systems, and ultimately an ALPHABET that later extended to the rest of world. They went from pictographic representation to ideographic interpretation and sounds. As a pre-teacher intern, it is very essential to read and reflect on such materials because they teach or remind me of things that I had little or no prior knowledge of. In any case, the information will help in preparing and enhancing the skills set that I need to become a good and an effective instructor. And in the context of transformation, these materials, especially those of histories and inventions, clearly show the impact of change in our society that I can utilize to bring change in classroom and /or in a child’s life.