A Tree Without Roots

This is a quote from Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican civil rights activist from the early 1900s. I think that this quote is very powerful and has a lot of meaning behind it. This quote is comparing peoples culture to the roots of a tree. Garvey says that if people don't know their culture then they are't able to grow fully. I think that this is true, people need to know their history and where they come from. People should know what their past family members fought for and believed in and what they worked for. Knowing these things will help shape people's futures and maybe inspire them to do something in honor o their culture. If you don't know your culture then there is a part of you that you don't know. 

Christmas Dinner Across The World

I saw this picture which shows the type of food that is often served at Christmas dinner across the world. Christmas isn't celebrated by all countries around the world or by all people around the world, however it is safe to say that it is celebrated by a large group of people around the world. While examining this picture I noticed that in mid-southern countries on the west, fruit is common. In Mexico, Peru and Brazil it includes fruit in some way where as it doesn't in other countries. The reason for this might be that fruit is common enough to be accessed there but it isn't common enough to eat everyday so it is good for a special occasion. I also noticed that some sort of meat in associated in every meal except for Ghana and the Philippines. This shows how meat is not only a large part of Americas daily meal but also many other places around the world. I find this picture very interesting because it shows how countries around the world have different ideas of what is good but it also shows what is common between countries around the world's meals.

South Africa Is Diverse?

I have a friend who was born in South Africa and moved to America when he was only a couple of weeks old. He is white  so when he told people that he was South African many people thought that he was lying. It's almost like people though that Afruca wasn't diverse at all.  The reason people thought he was lying is because most people assume that everyone in Africa is black. This shows how uneducated people are about other counties around the world. Just because someone is whit doesn't mean that they aren't African. I think that all counties need to learn about the different culture in the different countries around the world. This would help people better understand everything going on around the world and overall I think it would be good information to know.

"Make Me Beautiful"

This is a video that we have talked about in Culture and Identity before. In this video, a picture of a women was sent to photo shop experts all around the world and they were told to "make her beautiful". The video goes through all of the countries involved responses and I was surprised about some but I also noticed some things that definitely make sense. For example Australia added a tanner skin tone with the blush on her cheeks which makes sense with their connection with the beach. Also with Morocco. They are the only country that put clothes on her and it was a hijab which is very common in their country because of the large Muslim influence. the Philippians was also the only country that drastically changed her hair. It shows that they find dark straight and full hair beautiful which isn't the case in other countries. I was personally quite surprised when I saw the picture for the US. I feel that the picture is kind of what the media sees as the "ideal women" but it is definitely not the average looking American women. this helps me understand that the majority of the pictures are probably based off of the medias idea of a beautiful women and not what the average women looks like. This opens my eyes and helps me get a better understanding of these countries.

Time

Time is a concept that was completely created by mankind. It is very possible to live without time however, today that would be seen as almost a punishment to many people. Our homework for Culture and Identity was to go 48 hours without time! Now this just sounds crazy to think about. I started my 48 hours without time on Friday at 12 am just as I started my black Friday shopping. Not looking or thinking about the time while shopping was relatively easy (I think it was like that because of how tired I was). However I did notice that when we were done shopping everyone seemed to want to know what time it was! I managed to not listen and went on still not knowing the time. I spent basically the rest of the day sleeping, so again it was not hard to look at the time. On Saturday I did have basketball games so I made my dad tell me a reasonable time to get ready and leave. I again found this pretty easy until I got to the game. When I got there I noticed a clock right as I walk into the lobby, and another in the gym and another in the other gym. There seemed to be clocks everywhere and everyone used them apparently because everyone kept checking the time in order to know when to do this and when to do that. I have realized over this experience that people seem to determine almost everything they do based on the time. I had never really noticed before because that's just the way life is and there isn't any reason to question it. Because of this project I'm definitely going to have a different view of time. 

Materialism

This is a quote that I have seen and heard a couple of times. However, I had never really put much thought into what it meant. After thinking about it for a while I think that this quote is pointing out the large role that materialism plays in many of our lives. Materialism today seems to in a way control our lives. People are always worried about the new phone coming out or the new TV or the new trends in clothing that other things like spending time with friends or family aren't as special as  getting a new product. I think that American is a very materialistic country and in my opinion that isn't the best thing. I think that all of these materials are truly a distraction from true bliss. Some people in poorer countries are probably happier than people in America because they can focus more on the people in their life and the good things that they have more than all of the materials that might get in the way of seeing that. I believe that there is however a happy medium between the two because being poor is not the best way of life either. To have a good view on life I think that people should have the amount of materials to be happy with life and not be so distracted that they don't realize what they really have aside from all of the materials.

Google's Tribute

This is a video by Google that was on their homepage. This video is a tribute to the Fall of the Berlin Wall. In this video it shows how a lot of different countries have a piece of the wall in a popular city on display. I find this interesting because it really shows how everything effects everyone in someway. I think that it is amazing how despite what differences these countries have, they all have this one object that in a way unites them together.