Breaking Stereotypes through music: Ray Charles case

The stereotypes are something very common in this world nowadays; you can find stereotypes at the school, job, university, in cultural aspects, etc. But stereotypes are something that comes from many years ago into our society.

One of the stereotypes cases that I would like to show in this post, it’s the case of racial segregation, present along the humanity history. In the 60’s, the case of the segregation was something very important in the United States; the fight between white people and black people was something of everyday.

In this situation I would like to mention to Ray Charles as an example. Ray Charles was a famous musician that was born in the state of Georgia, in the United States. He played Jazz music mixed with a lot of different music styles and since he started his music career, in a very short time he started to be known in the whole country. But the important fact that I want to talk about here, is that Ray Charles was against the racial segregation of those years.

In 1961, Ray had a show in Georgia and outside the building there were black people with signs boycotting segregation. The white people were sitting inside the building waiting for the show to begin, while black people had to watch from the streets. One man stopped Ray and told him to make a difference and not perform for the crowd. Ray agreed with the man and didn’t play. The owner of the venue sued Ray Charles for not playing and because of this He was banned from the state of Georgia. Here is an example of what happened in that year…

Ray Charles was an example in what breaking stereotypes means,

He didn’t care what was going to happen with him after that choice, he just did it.

To break stereotypes is something possible, even when people in the past thought that was something impossible, nowadays we can notice that the stereotypes are decreasing, but it is still a fight that we just can stop with our actions, making this world a better place to live.

So now, what do you think about this, classmates? How can we destroy stereotypes?

Absolute monarchy.

The absolute monarchy is a type of government in which sovereignty the monarch has no or a few legal restraints in state and political matters. During the eighteenth century, the most of the European states were an  absolute monarchy, for instance France and Spain.

The absolute monarchy was the result of the increase of kings' power during the XV, XVI and XVII centuries.

On this type of regimen, the monarch with its court controlled all aspects of the government, including the law-making aspects and to put justice into practice.

The theory of divine rights of the king was created to justify the power of the monarch and to keep the inner order. This theory pointed that kings were given power by God so the unlimited king's power couldn´t be questioned. Also, the king gave God the reasons of his behavior.

The best example of the absolute monarchy was France during the eighteenth century, the absolutism reached its maximum magnificence with the house of Bourbon and they finished abruptly The French revolution.

Meanwhile, England was a different case from the rest of European states. During the sixteenth century, Henry VII and Elizabeth I were the absolute monarch  before others nations. In the eighteenth century, the British monarchs lost their power and England became a parliamentary monarchy. 

Louis XIV of France, who consolidated the absolute monarchy in France.

The Britain supremacy of the seas.

Have you ever ask your self  why a small country like England has so much power?

In May 1588 a massive invasion fleet or Armada sailed from the port of Lisbon,Spain. It was made up of 130 ships fitted with 2,500 guns.     They carried 30,000 soldiers and sailors.    This great war fleet was bound for England.

Why is the 1588 battle with Armada so famous?

The Armada is famous because at that time England was a small nation with a little navy and they were facing the greatest power in the world (Spain) They defeated Spain, with help from Mother Nature. It marked the beginning of England 's mastery of the seas.

The great history of the English navy began, as did serious English exploration and colonization.

Why was the Spanish Armada launched against England?

The Spanish monarch, Philip II, was angry that queen Elizabeth had not punished Sir Francis Drake and others English seadogs for plundering Spanish ships.

Philip was a devout Catholic.  He felt it was his duty to invade and conquer England in order to convert the country back to the church of Rome.

                                                              V/S

                              

In conclusion this battle decided the faith of Europe and the rest of the world and marks the point in the history of the world when England became a global power that's why its so important.    I want to add that I finally found why England is at the center in the maps, that is because the importance they won in the world.

The Bloody Queen of England

We usually confuse “Queen Mary I” with “Mary Queen of Scots” because they have lived at the same time but  they are completely different; Mary Stuart (Queens of Scots) was Mary Tudor’s cousin and she ruled Scotland.

Mary Tudor also known as “Bloody Mary” was a daughter of King Henry VIII and his first of six waves Catherine of Aragon.  She was the only child from that union to survive infancy; she reigned as Queen of England from 1553 until 1558 and is considered one of the ten most evil women in history.

In 1553 when Edward, her half-brother died, Mary's cousin Lady Jane Grey was nominated to the throne and was one undisputed winner for her sympathy towards people. By July 19 Jane Grey had been deposed and Mary was the undisputed Queen. Her official coronation came on November 30 of the same year. Mary first began to earn her unofficial title of “Bloody Mary” when she had her cousin, Lady Jane Grey, executed to prevent any possible power struggle.

Mary had always rejected and resented the break with Rome that her father had instituted and his subsequent establishment of the Anglican Church that had flowed from her half-brother's Protestantism, and now she tried to turn England back to Roman Catholicism. This effort was carried out by force, and hundreds of Protestant leaders were executed.

She was determined that the country will return to Roman Catholic so she became in a religious fanatic and burned over 300 prominent Protestants . The official excuse given by the Roman Catholics for this was that they were burning dangerous heretics and were doing them a favour by destroying their bodies in the hope of saving their souls.

When she died in 1558, many Londoners held street parties. Instead of re-establishing Roman Catholicism as who got his fanaticism was promoting the Protestant cause. Her legacy is summed up in the name by which she is known: Bloody Mary.

She was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I, who quickly undid many of Mary's changes, and returned England to its former Protestant-friendly environment.

Why is Mary Tudor important to history?

Mary Tudor is important to world history, as any monarch is, because it allows us to have a snapshot of that country during those years. However, specifically to Mary Tudor, she was important to world history because of her strong Roman Catholic links to other countries.

How can we understand culture's conflicts?

The National Center for Cultural Competence defines culture as an ‘integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, languages, practices, beliefs, values, customs, courtesies, rituals, manners of interacting and roles, relationships and expected behaviors of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group; and the ability to transmit the above to succeeding generations. This definition covers, in some way, the culture's essence; we can see that whole earth's population is formed by different ethnic group and that reflects a great cultural diversity where each group share characteristics, behaviors and common purposes.

If we research more about this culture diversity, we can found a new concept , the 'Interculturalism'; this new concept suggest live in peace and harmony, proposing positives approaches of empathy and solidarity between these groups. Is very important how we can tolerate this diversity, I realized that our own culture limits us because our ethic, moral and awareness are so different, so there are some cases that we can't tolerate or just we don't understand this cultural, and I talk about two, but there are more than two: 

1.-  Women burned with acid:

http://www.nowvideo.eu/video/i9zp45x2q69ld

This documentary shows what happens in Pakistan,  this country is so different from what  we know about as a society, but with a heartless reality, and shows the different morality between our culture and this vision of culture but, How can we tolerate this culture diversity?, ¿How can we understand this culture? We can see the reaction of politics people, they are so indifferent with this situation, is just other case in this society, people act as nothing happened; we must add that this society is male chauvinist. I think that is almost impossible have tolerance with this case.

2.- 'Dalits' or 'Untouchables':        

                                                            

The  Dalits are a social group inside of India, Dalit status has often been historically associated with occupations regarded as ritually impure, such as any involving leatherwork, butchering, or removal of rubbish, animal carcasses, and waste. With a religious edict, this social groups is discriminated and abandoned by the Hindu's society. While discrimination based on caste has been prohibited and untouchability abolished under the Constitution of India, discrimination and prejudice against Dalits in South Asia remains. This group is a victim of violence, including mob killings and rapes; just for a religious edict, the life of this persons are vulnerable, we can't do anything with this case, just tolerate something unacceptable.

I think that is very difficult understand this diversity, maybe we can share some beliefs or behavior but is something in our mind that doesn't leave us quiet with this kind of culture. In this moment, different organization are trying  to eradicate this conflict but we know that is very difficult change this great culture.

India: Religion and Social Structure

The  religion shapes the social structure, Hinduism divides the population into four "Varnas" actually five but is not included within the other, despite the plurality and cultural diversity of the different colonies legacy that invaded India (united kingdom, french, italy) this system has been maintained for centuries 

The varnas are: 

Brahmins: vedic priests.

Kshatriya: kings, governors and soldiers. 

Vaishyas: cattle herders, agriculturists and merchants. 

Shudras: labourers, artisans and service provider

 and finally the untochables or Dalits

They are the lowest class, despised and nobody can touch them because they are the scum of the earth according to Hinduism they were wrong in the way or "dharma" and reincarnated as punishment worse

this is the point despite our advances in technology, politics, economics, etc.

human rights continue to be violated understand that is part of their religion but reach the limit value more the life of an animal to a human? In india many animals are sacred examples rats, cows, monkeys They can not kill but if it dies a Dalits

 no matter was his destiny.

we still lack in Human Rights...

 

Caught in the middle.

                                  

 

How many times do you feel like you are in the middle of something and you cannot go through?

All the people have felt this way, I'm sure of that so I want to show you this song.

This song is sung and wrote by the great Ronnie James Dio, it talks about a problem that touch me very deep inside, get caught in the middle of something, for example an enterprise or your own dreams, sometimes you feel like you cannot go through, like you are flying without course, but all you need is to look inside of yourself to find your motivation and to find your way, because the answer is right there in your mind and in your heart that's all you need, as Dio says letting the river that's in you flow, he also says that you can quit when you face hard times or walk a long road like the hero who never ran away, he refers to go ahead  and face the adversity no matter how dark and how difficult looks the future there is always a spark that lights your road, that spark is your own effort your own motivation.

In conclusion is better to face the adversity and see how it comes than quit and be the rest of your life thinking about how could it be your life if you have done it.

Media empowerment

       

Media Literacy are a series of competences that allow people to analyze the messages that inform, entertain and sell to us every day, in a large variety of media modes, genres and forms.

Media Education is the process of teaching and learning about media, animates people to ask about what they are watching, hearing and reading, to develop a critical thinking.

  While I was studying and researching about Media awareness and Media literacy for our first test, I came through some web pages created to teach about these topics. Reading those pages I realize that mass media information has become an issue or a “problem”, Because of the excess of time people and specially kids spend in front of a tv, the internet, video games, etc.. In fact, surveys shows that children now spend more time watching television than they do in school, or in anything else.
    That’s why a large number of non -profit web sites about media Education had arisen in some countries like Canada, USA, and organization as the European Union, UNESCO, etc..
They understand that “today’s kids are facing more complex challenges than ever. With high levels of incarceration, poverty, drug addiction and general anxiety, many of today’s youth find themselves faced with the incredibly difficult task of raising themselves”. And that is why they want to harden the concept of Media Education. They have created these non-profit organizations that provides the tools to be an active and informed digital citizen.
      Media are  powerful forces in the lives of children and youth, with positive and negative influences on their social, emotional, intellectual, and physical wellbeing. That is why the best response to media is education.
This organizations with the help of the police department, pediatric organizations, schools, parent organizations and libraries - which include classroom lesson plans, with work sheets, backgrounders, tip sheets and essays, and multimedia games and quizzes- are trying to give the ability to access, analyze and evaluate images, sounds and texts, and to filter the volume of information that kids receive every day.
Media Education aims to foster not simply critical intelligence, but critical autonomy. This way, people are not going to believe everything they are told. First they are going to deduce where this information it is from? Who are the one who made it? what is going on? What is really going on? All this translates into the empowerment of the individuals.

Sources

http://mediasmarts.ca/
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/media-literacy/index_en.htm
http://www.mediaawarenessproject.org/
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/

Make your dreams come true

This video was created by an art estudent of New York and it's was created using Maya, After Effects, and rigged using The Setup Machine by Anzovin studios.

This video is one of the more visited and commented in Youtube, is the story of a little Kiwi, small bird native to New Zeland the size of a hen that can't fly and whose evolutionary origin is still somewhat uncertain.

What if in the moment that you born, your possibility for doing something has been removed?... something that all your close cousins can do, something that perhaps logic tell us that you were born to do, you just only have to do the impossible, whatever was the result.

This video learn us that if you want something  you just have to do it, because a life without that experience isn't a good life, so you can do what you wish even if that may be the last moment of your life.

Claudia Rodríguez M.

What is God for you?

religion, theory, anything, everything ,nothing,all …

Once again commemorate holy week maybe for you it is only religion but many people are persecuted, murdered mutilated, raped only to preach the word of God, in China can not have the Bible in Afghanistan if you leave Islam to follow Jesus will kill or stoned No other religion is persecuted only people who preach Jesus ...the Bible says

For God so loved the world That I Gave His Only Son, That whoever Believes in Him Should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but That the world might be saved through him. He Who Believes in him is not condemned, I who does not believe is condemned already, Because he has not Believed in the name of the only Son of God . John 3:16

God is not religion is life, just depends on you