After watching Ruby Ibarra's spoken word, we talked about colonial mentality, then how it relates to the Four I's of Oppression:Ideological,Institutional,Interpersonal&Internalized. The four I's of oppression is basically the idea that one group is more superior, and it ends up getting shown through the institutions around us and interpersonally from society, which leads to us negatively internalizing ourselves. As shown in the picture, you can see how they all correspond and are connected with each other. With this in mind, I see this as the outcome of colonial mentality. With colonial mentality, we have the feeling as if we're not good enough, insecure, doubtful, and feel as if we have to change and conform to fit into our own modern day society. We can see it in everyday life how as minorities we are inferior, and it's shown through the media, our education system, the society around us, and so much more that as people we end up getting used to it and feel the notion of colonial mentality. We lose our own sense of culture as it gets replaced with American culture. And as a result we feel the internalized oppression and develop this idea of colonial mentality, that they are superior and we are inferior. -Mariah
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An activity we did during class was called "Theatre of the Oppressed". The instructions were for us to get into our Barangay groups and act out a short skit that displayed an act of colonial mentality by friends, family, or our community. We were to act out our skit two times, and by the second time a member of the class was supposed to jump in and replace a person in the skit. In that time they are in the skit, the person who jumped in is supposed to mediate the situation so the colonial mentality doesn't come into effect.
Our group, Tubig, went first and our skit was showing an act of colonial mentality by family members. Our skit showed Mary asking her parents to join the swim team, and her parents refusing because they didn't want her skin to get dark. Because of already preset colonial mindsets, lighter skin is seen as "more attractive" as opposed to dark skin. To mediate the situation, a classmate jumped in and became the father of Mary and convinced Mary's mom to let her at least let her try out for the team, even if it meant her skin would get darker. The next group that went was Tselogz, and their skit showed an act of colonial mentality done by their community. Their skit showed a guy who recently came back from a foreign country to America and get harassed by Americans because they overheard him speaking his native language. This shows colonial mentality because the Americans harassed a person just because he spoke a language that they were unfamiliar with. They saw it as a chance to become overly nationalistic and derogatory. To mediate the situation, a classmate jumped in as one of the harassers and let the other harasser know that what he was saying was ignorant. He was told that America was founded on other ethnic cultures and many of American customs and food aren't original to begin with. The activity was fun and really opened my mind on how inconspicous some acts of colonial mentality really are. I wouldn't have linked some of the skits to colonial mentality if it was not already said in the beginning of class. Other than obvious racism, I realized that even seemingly innocent acts from my family are really acts of colonial mentality. The activity also helped me realize that just like in the skits, everyone can be a person who can jump in to mediate situations such as the ones presented in class. It just becomes a matter of how far each person is willing to go allow these situations to happen. Team Tubig Motto: Go With The Flow
Hey guys my name is Paolo Jimeno and I am 17 years old. I am a senior in high school from South City and I am currently attending the Middle College Program here at Skyline College. I like to watch movies/tv shows, listen to music, chill with my friends, and find new exciting adventures. I am studying to become a Nurse but if that doesn't work out I have backup careers such as being a veterinarian and going into forensic science. I also am interested in joining either the Air Force or the Navy in the future so I guess my future is set and planned out. Generational Trauma is any experience that causes pain or anxiety and is passed down to further generations. The people who this trauma gets passed down to feel the distress their ancestors felt in their past. This trauma is felt internally and it may cause health conditions. Hate, she repeats herself as her niece asks her what that word means. Continues, she speaks. As she unfolds the reality of racism, sexism, and the social norms that society has implanted on us. Making it fine that our nieces and daughters grows u in a society where they have to change their looks, the way they act around peers. Thinking this is crazy, but Ruby has made it known that this happens everyday, we all go through the pressure society has passed on to us. We are fixed, and only accepted in the social crowd only if we change our ways. Only if we change our culture, connecting this spoken word to colonial mentality with the taken culture our ancestors lived and dreaded. Stripped down from their native tongue, living another mans history, without making their name known. Education, as our ancestors and colored men and woman are taught the white mans history and all their glory. We are products of societies input without putting our dreams on the table. Hate in this time of day, has shocked but assured the white supremacy that will forever be relevant. The cycle of the hierarchy will make hate being constant, fine and normal.
Food has transformed from being cultivated by just farming the land and preserving enough to survive on to becoming a place where a lot of traditional food has slowly disappeared and created dishes that are a fusion of both Filipino and other cultures. But... How did it become that way? First of all, before the Philippines was even evaded for the first time, the cuisine of Filipino/as was very different. We were reliant on what was available to us which was rice, herbs, and fish. Those were some of the main things that fueled Filipino survival back in the olden days. Especially fishing because of how Filipinos were river men and would have a "kapabayan" community work together for activities such as fishing. And everything changed when the fire nation attacked, well not really the fire nation... More like Spain with the Spaniards invading... :/ When the Spaniards invaded they imposed the process of colonization on them. With colonization a lot of their culture had to be altered in order to fit the standards of the Spaniards, and many parts of culture like food were included into the mix. And eventually the Americans also invaded later to instill a more colonial mentality towards us. Colonial mentality is the idea of how the people feel as though they are inferior to their colonizers and feel the need to change in order to fit the standards for their colonizers as a result. Eventually, this took over in the way that they prepared their food. Going from things like fish and herbs to eating a lot of canned and processed foods from their colonizers and starting to use a lot of ingredients that aren't native to the Philippines. Making many dishes like Lumpia, which actually came from the Chinese, and are not traditionally Filipino/as. Many of the cuisine in Filipino/a culture became mixed because through colonization were Filipinos taught to cooked Western and Spanish cuisine which altered the taste of Filipino/as a lot. For people today, a lot of the dishes have become hybrid and processed foods, this worries the older generation because of how they worry about the youth losing sense of their culture due to popular media. Causing a lot of decolonization for Filipino/as and identity crisis. And for many, now has become a sense of motivation to refurbish and innovate Filipino cuisine.
A list of "Filipino" foods
Team Tubig
Motto: Go with the flow Bio: My name is Katrina Salas and am 17 years old. I am technically a senior in high school, but I'm currently attending Skyline college as part of the Middle College program. I enjoy listening to music, playing League of Legends, and browsing Reddit :))). I also enjoy writing, dancing, and watching movies. I want to major in Chemistry, and hopefully become a pharmacist down the line. Generational Trauma: By its definition, it is trauma passed down the ancestry line of a people. Those who are affected by it feel the pain of their people when the trauma occurred to them. Its not a physical feeling, but an emotional and psychological thing. it's important to know what it is so awareness can be spread on the topic. Not only on what generational trauma is, but also to connect people back to their roots and learn of their own peoples history as to better understand the trauma they may feel. Hello everyone!! My name is Mariah. I graduated from El Camino High School last year and am on my second semester here at Skyline. I am currently studying Business with a focus in Human Resources. Outside of school, I dance tahitian, play the flute, sing, do some service and leadership within my church’s youth group, eat french fries, drink boba, watch youtube, hang with friends, explore, and whatever seems fun to do. Generational trauma to me is the internal and psychological problems that are occurring that we aren’t really aware of, so they’re kept hidden and unnoticed. With being unnoticed, these problems build up and don’t resolve or move. As these problems are being neglected, they continuously get passed down and affect the next generations.
Motto: "Go with the flow" Hello! Greetings, my name is Rhe. I am seventeen years old, currently enrolled in Skyline Middle college as a senior. I am a proud Filipino American, as well as Portuguese. Off of being a full time student, my hobbies is Cheerleading and cooking. I have cheered for most of my high school career, and this is my all time passion. I also love to cook and eat, my family loves to try new and exciting cuisines. I also love to travel!
Generational Trauma: Repercussion, that implants stress on the generations forward who have to suffer and manage what their ancestors have dealt with through their suffering. Why is important for people to learn what generational trauma is? Getting in touch with your roots is important alone, but studying what your ancestors went through and why you are raised as well as shaped the way you are is just as important too. Knowing why your parents have restrictions or different traditions, and knowing where those come from. Touching base on who you are and how past generations have shaped that. |
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May 2017
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