This week the readings and videos seemed to scream the overarching
message that we as humans are more connected than we like to think. Nicholas
Christakis talked about research he had conducted regarding body size and social
networks. They found that individuals’ variation in friends and even their
friends’ variation in friends is attributable to genetics. While this research
can be (and was) wildly misconstrued, the intended take away is how
interconnected we are. To further demonstrate this Christakis gave the example
of diamonds and graphite. They are made from the exact same material, but their
structures completely alters the substance. His point being that the structure
of our social networks can alter our lives and that the world needs more
connections.
Drew Dudley
argued to re-define leadership to make it more accessible in everyday life. He
shared a personal story about a lollipop, where he changed someone’s life
without even remembering it. He, like Christakis encourages connection amongst
individuals. He explained that in a world full of billions of people there is
not just one world, but billions of individual understandings of the world. Meaning
there are billions of individual opportunities to create change in someone else’s
life and be a leader, billions of lollipop moments.
Nate Garvis
took a different approach and talked about tools. He explained that man has
been consistently good at making tools from the hammer to the iPhone. Garvis
says that man is in fact so good at making tools that their tools now need to
be regulated, because they are too powerful. This is important because men (and
women), institutions, and nations then use that power as leverage against those
they see as weaker than themselves. In talking about interconnectedness this
has an impact then on multiple social networks. To make long-term impacts
Garvis believes changes in culture can change our world. An actual example of
this working is the recent trend towards green culture. Recycling, reducing,
composting, etc. has become fashionable.
Barbara Love
might suggest that the first step in all of the stories above was developing a
liberatory conscious. According to Love a liberatory conscious helps people to
be aware in systems they may have been previously unaware of such as
oppression. It helps to think past the way we have been socialized. The first
element to a liberatory conscious is awareness. I feel very familiar with this
stage. The more educated I become and the more open to diversity, the more impossible
it is to ignore things like discrimination and economic disparity. Love uses an
example of a student no longer being able to watch stupid movies. I have found
that movies I use to love encourage stereotypes that I never even use to
recognize. The next three steps are analysis, action, and ally-ship. These
encourage individuals to think, act, and reflect on their actions in ways that
contribute to the transformation of society.
Love and
Gloria Anzaldua state that allies should be more than just helpers or
supporters, they need to take an active part in healing and advocating. They
believe that in order to have an impact and make a social change, an action
must occur. These actions should not take away from other cultures however.
Anzaldua talks about working with those who did not appropriately classify her
ethnicity. Another example is the article about white women with dread locks.
Knowing that we have such impacts on each other’s lives, we have to structure
our social networks in inclusive and communicative ways.
Anti-Palindrome, A. (2015, August 2). This White Feminist Loved Her
Dreadlocks- Here's Why She Cut Them Off. Everyday Feminism. Retrieved
from http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/08/white-feminist-with-dreadlocks/
Anzaldúa, G. E. (2013). Allies. In Readings for Diversity and
Social Justice (3rd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 627-629). New York City, NY:
Routledge.
Love, B. J. (2013). Developing a Liberatory Consciousness . In Readings
for Diversity and Social Justice (3rd ed., Vol. 1, pp.
601-605). New York City, NY: Routledge.
TED2010. (2010, February). Nicholas
Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_christakis_the_hidden_influence_of_social_networks
TEDxTC. (2010, October). Nate
Garvis: Change our culture, change our world [Video file].
Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/nate_garvis_change_our_culture_change_our_world
TEDxToronto. (2010, September). Drew
Dudley: Everyday leadership [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership
Hi Brittany! I enjoyed reading your post this week. I agree with you – it’s crazy to learn about how connected we are and how much our thoughts and actions can impact those around us. I also really liked Drew Dudley’s story about the lollipop. It made me realize that from now on, I should really think about my interactions with people, because, obviously, they can have a lasting impact – hopefully a good one. By the way, I love that you defined these as “lollipop moments!” I hope that catches on! Barbara Love’s essay was really eye opening, because it made me think about the way I have been socialized and instances of oppression that previously I hadn’t thought of as being discriminatory or oppressing. While you and Love thought about this in regards to movies, what came to my mind immediately were the TV shows I choose to watch. Typically, I watch shows because I think they are funny. But if they are finding humor in stereotyping and making fun of a certain minority, then by watching them and supporting them, am I really contributing to a world where everyone can feel equal, accepted, and a sense of belonging? Probably not. Like you said, it’s becoming impossible to ignore these things (which I’m grateful for!). I hope that in the future, we’re all able to further develop our liberatory consciousness, and encourage and educating those around us about to do the same. This way, we can become one step closer to becoming allies. Thank you again for posting Brittany!
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I honestly had a difficult time keeping up with most of the TED discussions as I have lost a lot of sleep lately. But I gained a bit more of an understanding after reading your post and from most of what I was able to understand, I was impressed by how this week’s discussion has pointed out how one of the most important things that we have to remember is how closely humans are connected and is one of the most critical link that can resolve issues in a more convenient way. The way that most of the TED Talks were spoken were different than previous ones but it makes a lot of sense towards the end and I thought that it was genius of each speaker to connect the dots in the way that they did because there is a lot of truth and connection between the social networks that do in fact alter many different aspects of our lives, in different and similar way as a part of social justice, regarding how changes in culture can change our world and lollipop moments. I have been thinking that there are billions of opportunities to create change in someone’s life and the world, it just needs to be done, such as maybe being advertised on national T.V., “Here is what we are gonna do, we are all gonna work together and change some things, no more procrastinating and denying proactive change, just get right to the point and do something about it.” Although everyone may not agree with each other on how to go about things, liberatory consciousness is something that cannot be ignored or denied, and I think it should be spread out as far as it can be so that everyone can experience it.