The Bloody Sunday.

Between 1961 and 1964, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had led a voting registration campaign in Selma, a small town in Dallas County, Alabama, with a record of consistent resistance to black voting. When SNCC’s efforts were frustrated by hard resistance from the county law enforcement officials, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) were persuaded by local activists to make Selma’s intransigence to black voting a national concern. SCLC also hoped to use the momentum of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to win federal protection for a voting rights statute. During January and February, 1965, King and SCLC led a series of demonstrations to the Dallas County Courthouse.


On February 17, protester Jimmy Lee Jackson was fatally shot by an Alabama state trooper.  In response, a protest march from Selma to Montgomery was scheduled, so on March 7, 1965 six hundred people assembled at a downtown church, knelt briefly in prayer, and began walking silently through the city streets. They were led by John Lewis and other SNCC and SCLC activists, crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River to Montgomery. 


But the marchers were stopped as they were leaving Selma, at the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, by some 150 Alabama state troopers, sheriff’s deputies, and posse men, who ordered the demonstrators to disperse. One minute after a two-minute warning was announced, the troops advanced, wielding clubs, bullwhips, and tear gas. John Lewis, who suffered a skull fracture, was one of fifty-eight people treated for injuries at the local hospital. The day is remembered in history as “Bloody Sunday”.


For more information I'll leave a link of a History Channel's documentary.
- Bloody Sunday (1965)

Jim Crow´s law and the racial segregation

Jim Crow´s law was norm created by the white people for banned the vote right at the Afro-American people. The name was of an black celebrities of middle of century 19 that was played by an white actor with smutty face that he doing ridiculous at the color people.

This norms demanded than the Afro-American people had that they approved lecture test and pay tax and another, but this norms not only affect at the black people also affect at the more poor white people, also included a set of extra-areas that hadn´t relation with the vote. Then I will appoint some of this “behavior norms” and laws that any black people can´t bring to pass: 

Standards: the black population was forbidden to offer the hand of a white woman as they could be accused of rape, they couldn´t show affection in public, no less kissing since it was a offense for whites, while traveling in cars were always aimed at the back of this and could not demonstrate superiority or intelligence in front of a white, less accuse them of lying.

Laws: Segregation on buses, schools, hospitals, restaurants, unable to move up the works weren´t sold homes in exclusive neighborhoods; all these segregations protected themselves under the concept of "Separated but Equal" but were unable to do more discrimination.

After of more middle century supporting those discrimination at the Afro-American people, it was finished in 1964 by the work of the movement led for Martin Luther King. But, have you ever really fulfilled the dream of Martin? Clearly no, the the injustices continue in the US maybe not as extreme as those named here, but in many parts segregation remains a reality.

Aotearoa and Rapa Nui: Ancestral Connections.

Aotearoa and Rapa Nui are two Islands of Polynesia, they believe that the first inhabitants in Rapa Nui were from Marquesas Island or from Aotearoa and that’s why they have similarity in their languages, culture and beliefs.

Māori think that they have the same ancestors and they can feel it visiting Rapa Nui, they can feel the energy of their ancestors. They think that they are brothers who came from the same ancestors and they were separated, “I’ve re-connected with descendants of my ancestors”. And you can see that on some of the names of their ancestors, for example, to Maoris Tangaroa is the god of the sea and to Rapa Nui Tangaroa is an ancestor who was a whale, they are not the same for both but they have the similarity of the sea and for both culture Tangaroa is very important because both believe that the water is one of the most important aspects in their lives.

Both have a deep respect for their ancestors and that’s something very honorable because nowadays in our culture we don’t have that kind of beliefs, we don’t remember and we don’t respect our ancestors, and they (Maoris and Rapanuis) honor their ancestors because they know that they are where they are because of them.

Both culture fight for keeping their traditions and languages alive, teaching their children the past of their cultures and in the next documentary you can see a Maori visiting Rapa Nui and you can notice the similarities in their traditions, their beliefs and their lifestyles. 

                                      Maori

 

                                                                                                               Rapa Nui 

Do you think Māori and Rapanui are similar? Do you think they are connect by their ancestors? I think they are, because their traditions are similar, their dances, their beliefs, their way to protect their land and their people.

Danger in the Māori language

The comunication with other people it is an important thing, we can comunicate with different part of our body, for example using our facial expression, our arms and hands and finally emitting sounds with our mouths. When we emit a sound, we can create an entire dialogue with others, and that we call it language.The language is something that represent ourselfs as a person, group, etc. But we are in constant threat with the change that the language can has.

The Māori were the first aborigines who lived in New Zealand, they lived in a region called Aotearoa and they spoke the language called Te reo, which evolved with the arrived of people from other local villages and islands, the Māori had no written language but they were able to communicate through symbolic meaning embodied in  carving, knots and weaving. 

The settlers did their arrival in Aotearoa and for them it was necessary to have communication with the Māori to trade with them. The missionaries were in charge of writing the language of the Māori, but saw that the Māori taught each others how to write and read through charcoal, leaves and carved wood. Suddenly the missionaries' children and Pakeha's children, were growing and interacting with the Māori ’s children, and so there was an exchange between the two languages ​(the language which caused more impact on Māori speakers was english). English became the dominant language in new Zeeland (Pakeha language) therefore the Te reo was confined in the Māori  communities. For Māori the Te reo was not only a way of expression , it was also something that they felt pride and it identified them as a community. 

It was suppressed in many school to used the Te reo, as the Māori should  increased the English language to live in the community with the Pakeha.  Later , schools continued to teach Te reo and many maori encouraged their children to learn English .

The Te reo underwent several changes, like any living language, the Te reo was influenced by other languages ​​and English became the main source of borrowed words from Māori that were altered in its phonetic and grammar (teihana = station / hōiho = horse).

This article (1) talks about the danger of the Te reo in New Zealand , this language was the origin of a community, it is what identifies the Māori , and it is something that was born with them as natives of New Zealand , in my opinion , the language as well as traditions , beliefs , etc. These are something that identifies us, as individuals and as communities, but with the influence of others, these aspects change  and we as a society imposes to follow. So it was, when the Spaniards came to colonize Chile and influenced the Mapuches, Spaniards also borrowed words from the Mapuches and adapted according to the sound or write ( pichintún = pichi = poco/ pilcha = pelcha = vestimenta)

In conclusion, the influence of other communities must be a positive aspect, this well be a multicultural society, we can learn from others something new and adapt it to our community, but what should not happen is to miss what we are and what we have, because it’s something that identifies us, it is our home and we should notlose it. The Te reo is a language of an ancient community, a community that still exists, so the te reo should not be extinguished because it was the first language that was spoken in New Zealand and ought continue as such.

What do you think about the Māori language problem? How would you feel if your source language was replaced by another? As a future English teacher, Are you worried about losing your source language for the English language?

Pakeha: European New Zealander

(1) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/8075650/Maori-language-in-danger-of-dying-out.html

Deep roots that endures today

The All Blacks is the official Rugby Team of New Zealand and every time before starting an international rugby game, the team performs the traditional Haka, a war dance to show the passion and the identity of the Maori race. In my opinion I find it very interesting that the Maori culture has been able to persist until today, despite the constant interaction he had with the Polynesian peoples and the shock with European culture.

Although with the arrival of European settlers and British missionaries Maori was acquiring new values and beliefs, and religion to their culture, because since the 1830s many Māori converted to Christianity, also through trade incorporated weapons, clothing and use of the English language in the process of learning to read and write. However by the fighting which arose due to the issue of land in 1840 Maori leaders signed the Treaty of Waitangi, with the intention of allowing the tribes to live in peace with the settlers.

Nevertheless, although were incorporated new customs within the Maori people, Europeans could not fully erase its essence as the Maori had in them their roots and deep-rooted customs, besides being a warrior community will did not allow the settlers replace all its traditions and visions. That is why customs still exist that had this people as the Haka, which employed the natives before starting a battle to prove to his opponents all the strength and courage they possessed warriors.

This makes me think and question me about our own roots, why we not adopt them and make them part of us? Why is it so difficult for our government to give them rights to indigenous peoples, as in the case of the Mapuche people?

I included a link where All Blacks show the haka, the war dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPHeJd2T12M

I hope you can feel the bravery and courage of this warrior race.

Black History Month: Is a racist celebration?

The black historian Carter G. Woodson founded “Negro week” in 1926, seeking to build self-worth in an oppressed people but hoping that in some point the celebration it would be unnecessary because black history it would be embrace like a common history. He chose February because it contains the birthday of two important abolitionist: Frederick Douglas and President Abraham Lincoln. In 1976 the Woodson’s organization expanded the event to a full month.

In the schools black inventors and pioneers are show and  in TV there's a huge commercialism during the month. In the case of scholars, teachers try to explain them about the importance of Afro American figures in the history of America but what I found surprising was the fact that if Americans believe that this figures were actually important to the country for their different contributions they should be entered into the mainstream of the rest of the curriculum. Some questions come to my mind after reading this: Why relegate their contributions and stories into one single month and not all the year? Or if there is a Black history month in February, White people embrace their race all year long?

In my opinion Black History month should be a celebration all year long and should be think like American history not a segregated history. The intention of this celebration was to raise awareness and appreciation of afro American people but reduce to just one single month and only talk about Benjamin Banneker or Ella Baker in February left the feeling that the segregation isn’t finish yet. I think that the contributions should be teach in every context of the curriculum. I like to add a quote I found interesting about this topic from the newspaper The Guardian: “It is helpful for children to learn about history in a segregated way? 

Reactions to the Black History Month:

What do you think of Black History Month? Do you think is racist? 

Haggis: From the stomach to the stomach.

Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish that looks like a big sausage composed of a type of pudding made from the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep or lamb combined with oats, suet, onion, herbs and spices. The mixture is packed into the animal’s stomach and boiled for one to two hours.

Some food historians agree that it was a peasant food and a popular dish for poor people because it was very cheap for being made from parts of a sheep (the most common livestock in Scotland). It would have been a wonderful way to feed a group and to make sure no meat went to waste.

Haggis is traditionally served with Tatties (mashed potatoes) and Neeps (turnip or swede) at Burns supper, every year on January 25th, to commemorate the born of a Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, who wrote the poem “Address to Haggis” in which he declares his love for the “great chieftain o’ the puddin’ race” and glorifies what was a poor man’s food into a dish greater than any French ragout or fricassee, that’s why he became a national hero and haggis’ profile soon soared.

Perhaps more than any other food, Haggis has an exceptionally bad reputation. Even importing real Scottish Haggis to the United States has been illegal since 1971 because of a ban on foods containing sheep’s lungs.

In my opinion is a really disgusting dish and I would never taste it, not just because I’m vegetarian but if the innards haven’t a good cleaning could transmit virus to the people who eat them, because some filters the “trash” of the animal’s body and could have residues. Anyway I think is a very curious food and I dare you to taste it! 

- More about Haggis: Why would you eat that? -