Write about your religion (islam) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Write about your religion (islam) - Essay Example This paper will discuss my life in the religion and how I share my ideas and leave with the world. I was born in a family that has always been part of the religion. I have always been encouraged by my family’s commitment in the way it attended the five prescribed daily prayers. I am glad I followed suit in the teachings of Islam and took up the challenge of to reading the Quran. As a Muslim, the faith has taught me that human beings exist for the core purpose of serving and loving God. The faith has also taught me that Allah is the only God and comparable to none (Quran 112:1-4). The words of the Quran are of divine origins that Allah revealed from Himself. It contains His words which already existed before creation and can, therefore, not be subtracted, added or amended (Brown 185). Unlike it is wrongfully believed by non Muslims, the Quran is not made up of Prophet Muhammad’s words because it was there before him. To enable Muslims get a deeper insight and understanding of the Quran and the life of Muhammad, a collection of traditions, known as Hadith, was compile d into comprehensive literature by various people. Muslims, just like Jews and Christians, believe that in death, the spirit departs from the body then waits for resurrection on judgment day (Quran 21:19-20). The three faiths’ doctrines on heaven and hell, angels, the devil, morals and the last judgment are very similar. This forms a strong basis of sharing the ideas of religion with the world. The best way of working with the world and conveying my ideas of religion is by convincing non Muslims to shun the stereotyping that every Muslim is an extremist or terrorist. There is a whole lot of genuine Muslims around the world that can be considered mainstream. It is my duty and responsibility as a Muslim to take an oath, follow the Five Pillars and uphold the Six

The Historical Progression of African American Essay Example for Free

The Historical Progression of African American Essay In Unit One, life for African Americans was transformed by Lincoln’s proclamation of emancipation. The social/cultural issue they faced was without economic dependence, effective freedom would never be had. In response to that issue they chose to gain literacy, build black churches, and remain working for white land owners. The outcome of that was the establishment of black churches controlled by freed staves, blacks were trained to be teachers, and sharecropping agreements were made between white land owners and African Americans. In Unit Two, life for African Americans was plagued by violence and intimidation. The political issue they faced was reform for the support of white supremacy. In response to that issue they chose to protest against segregation, discrimination, and disfranchisement. The outcome was the establishment of the organization National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) which rallied for the equal rights and privileges of African Americans. In Unit Three, life for African Americans was leaning toward financial independence. The economic issue they faced was securing better paying jobs. In response to this issue they sought employment in the railroad and automobile industries. The outcome was the black owned businesses, Pullman porters, and growth in the entertainment industry by way of the Harlem Renaissance. In Unit Four, African Americans became influential in the television and film industry. The literary issue that they faced was unbiased portrayal of their culture. In response to that issue African Americans became freelance writers and photographers. The outcome was the showcase of the talented African American writers and photographers who achieved rose above the achievements of their peers. In Unit Five, the life of African Americans was ridiculed by the increase in teenage pregnancies. The religious issue they faced is abstinence is more spiritually moral than birth control. In response to that issue they choose use the methods that they saw fit to counter act teenage pregnancies. The outcome of that was a decrease in the incidents of teenage pregnancies. The historical progression of African Americans was accompanied by new found freedom, racism, and struggle for equal rights and opportunities. The Civil War was supposed to be justification of social and political freedom for all American born people. The end of the Civil War bought freedom to enslaved African Americans but the change in social status did not provide much relief for them because they lacked economic dependence. The period from 1865-1876 was the most transforming period in history for African Americans. Emancipation freed slaves from whippings, the breakup of families, sexual exploitation, and constant confinement. For African Americans freedom meant the right to travel without the permission of their white captors. The south witnessed a massive migration of freedmen as they traveled to reunite families and establish permanent homes. Politically, it became evident that emancipation and equality were not synonymous and that oppression arose in a variety of forms. Political actions influenced an economic situation that was already bleak (Meacham, 2003). Prominent African American leaders fought the National Republican Party to secure rights promised by the Equal Rights Amendments and to extend those rights into material independence for the freed people. However this would be difficult because of the numbers of newly freed slaves who were largely uneducated, highly migratory while searching for family or employment, and largely disorganized by centuries of oppression (Meacham, 2003). After the Civil War, the newly freed southern blacks developed many methods to obtain the freedom and equality that they had expected from emancipation. One such effort was the Exoduster movement. The Exoduster movement was an attempt by Benjamin â€Å"Pap† Singleton, a former slave and others to encourage migration of African Americans from the old south to Kansas. Singleton worked towards this goal within the black community in a variety of ways and developed support in the dominant societys institutions. Singleton saw the need to improve the material status of freedmen. In 1880, he told the Senate, â€Å"My people want land we need land for our children and our disadvantages that caused my heart to grieve and sorrow; pity for my race, sir, that was coming down, instead of going up that caused me to go to work for them. Because of the freedmen history of agricultural labor, land seemed the most expedient need for their economic development (Meacham, 2003). Blacks remaining in the South after the war had few choices, so they had to continue to work for white landowners. Although they paid some wages, whites wished to continue the old system of labor consisting of close supervision, gang labor, and physical punishment. African Americans’ refusal to work under these conditions or live in the old slave quarters near the master’s house, afforded them the task of erecting cabins on plantation land located far away from the main house. Wages were at $5 or $6 a month but in the year 1867 wages increased to $10 a month. Because African Americans farmed were able to farm separate sections of land, a rise in sharecropping developed. African Americans would tend the crops and split them with the white landowner at the end of the planting season (Davidson, Gienapp, et al, 2008). After the Civil War, education became the main source of release from the mental chains of slavery. During this time there were many who had never experienced basic education due to the constraints of slavery. However, those who had been exposed to formal as well as informal education established what was called â€Å"Sabbath schools† which were operated in churches on Sundays and through the week. Religious denominations such as African Methodist Episcopal, Colored Methodist Episcopal, and Black Baptist helped to educate freedmen because they knew that education was a form of eradicating illiteracy, poverty, and the degradation of slavery. Education was not just a strike against discrimination, but a means of gaining respect and dignity ( Butner, 2005). The anti-freedom movement progressed and grew stronger. During the period from 1877 to 1920, the situation hardly changed for better. The discrimination of African Americans was ongoing. The 1890’s was one of the lowest points for African Americans. Lynching increased, black voting suffered drastic restrictions, and special facilities were used to segregate whites from blacks. This segregation was represented by signs painted with the words â€Å"For Whites Only. † African Americans from all walks of life began to fight back against such discriminations. Booker T. Washington tried to influence blacks to accept segregation but W. E. B. Du Bois believed that intellectual growth would be damaged if they settled for vocational training. Du Bois, not accepting of the discriminatory caste system structured by whites, also believe that blacks could achieve a better future if they fought politics to gain suffrage and equal rights. As a result of protest against segregation, disfranchisement, and discrimination; the Niagra Movement was formed in 1905. This movement sought political and economic equality for colored people. However, in 1909 a coalition of black and white reformers came together and changed the movement into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) which challenged the legality of the Jim-Crow system of bigotry and segregation (Davidson, Gienapp, et al, 2008). Black professionals identified the Achilles heel of white supremacy. Segregation provided blacks the chance, indeed, the imperative, to develop a range of distinct institutions that they controlled. Maneuvering through their organizations and institutions, they exploited that fundamental weakness in the separate but equal system permitted by the U. S. Supreme Courts 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. For all their violence, lynching, prejudice, and hatred, white supremacists could not exterminate black people. The white supremacists major goal, after all, was to maintain an exploitable labor force that would remain in a inferior place (Hine, 2003). However, in 1921-1945, the situation started to improve and the civil right movement of African Americans had started to grow stronger. The 1920s were the period known as the Harlem Renaissance. As a result of the Great Migration of African Americans from South to North, their number of blacks in Northern states increased steadily. They had more opportunity to exercise their rights because oppression in the North was not as severe as in the South. The cultural movement, known as the Harlem Renaissance, spread nationwide and became a powerful movement which proved that African American communities had the power and ability to achieve success in the US (Tolnay, 2003). Since the time of Emancipation in the 1860s, economic circumstance handicapped Baltimores African-Americans. They understood that advances in economic opportunities were crucial to other gains in social access and civil rights. During the 1930s workplaces across Baltimore begin to yield such access and opportunity. Increased access and opportunities came in a wide array of industries. The strength behind the change rested on the expanding black population. Ariving by bus, train, and by car, African Americans came to Baltimore in search of higher wages and to escape from the hedged-in experience of the deeper South. They came in search of greater job variety and greater political freedom. By the mid-1940s, Baltimore-bound blacks averaged fifty people each day and as many as 300 per week. Drawn to Baltimore for the chance at something better, they more than doubled the citys African-American population in the forty years following 1910. Union goals and civil rights aims largely paralleled each other. Amid the talk of labor reform, a rights consciousness developed among blacks, supplying working-class militancy with a powerful, moral foundation. War-time protests, such of the 1942 March On Annapolis, also emphasized the need for opportunities. For example, when white workers walked off their jobs at Western Electric in 1943, in protest of the absence of worksite segregation, in spite of racial tensions many blacks progressed economically and occupationally. Beyond industrial work, blacks struggled through the 1940s. All of the 800 employees in the citys post worked as custodians or mail handlers. The municipal government as well as many other city departments barred African-Americans from employment. By the early 1950s, most municipal entities dropped their color bar, including the Baltimore City Fire Department, which appointed ten black firelighters in 1953. In the private sector, several important companies offered semi-skilled positions to blacks for the first time, including the Yellow Cab Company, which opened driver opportunities in 1951(Terry, 2004). In the post-World War II period, from 1946 to 1974, African Americans became major contributors in the television and film industry. African American actors and actresses were forced to accept demeaning roles or have no roles. However in spite of these demeaning portrayals, African Americans starved to see folks who looked like themselves in films and on television. During the 1970s, several African American families were introduced on American television with series such as The Jeffersons (George and Louise) and Good Times (James and Florida Evans). Both shows were spin-offs of Norman Lear programs: The Jeffersons hailed from All in the Family and Good Times from Maude. Two important components regarding these programs addressed are their overall societal harm and/or good and the different way, in which blacks and whites processed the programs contents. The widely popular Cosby Show arrived in the 1980s, providing a stark contrast to the ghetto based comedies of the 1970s (Mastin, 2006). In 1964, Sidney Poiter’s acting talent and skill earned him an Oscar, making him the first African American male to win this prestigious honor. Finally, teenage pregnancy has plagued the African American community for many years. The high rate of adolescent pregnancy among African-American adolescents and damaging consequences of premature parenting make it imperative that strategies be developed to address these problems. This oversight is tragic given that an early adolescent pregnancy often predicts the beginning of a rapid succession of unwanted births and that such repeat pregnancies have adverse consequences for the infants health as well as for the mothers developmental, educational, and occupational well-being (Okwumabau, Okwumabau, Elliott, 1998) The period from 1976-present, several attempts have been made throughout the African-American community to provide programs and services to prevent this problem. However, some scholars and practitioners argue that such prevention programs and services are doomed to failure when African-American communities lack the ability to recognize or build on the cultural integrity of that community. The continued high rate of adolescent pregnancy among African-Americans, despite extensive intervention and prevention efforts, brings to the forefront the issue of cultural consistency as a key ingredient in providing prevention programs (Okwumabau, Okwumabau, Elliott, 1998). The Let the Circle Be Unbroken: Rites of Passage program is a translation of the theoretical underpinnings of an Afrocentric conceptual model into a prevention program. It influences adaptation of socialization processes observed in African cultures, which acknowledge that it is necessary to assist adolescents in the transition or passage from childhood into adulthood. â€Å"Rites of passage† is a cultural experience which requires that ideology, education, training, and culture be taught prior to an activity or celebration marking the successful transition from one stage of development (adolescence) to another (adulthood). For example, young people in many African societies are involved in initiation and training experiences that can extend from a few days or weeks to several years. More often than not, the training is conducted by elders in the society and includes a period of total separation from ones family and community during which the young person lives alone or together (communally) with others who are also in training. The young persons return from the separation-back to her family or community-signifies the successful completion of a developmental process and the earning of the respect of the community for having done so. This is the time that new responsibilities and privileges are given to the youth The Rites of Passage program began in 1991 as a pilot project of the Memphis City Schools Adolescent Parenting Program. It initially targeted pregnant and parenting adolescents and was offered as an after-school program at the Comprehensive Pupil Services Educational Center (CPSEC), home to the systems special program for pregnant and parenting students. The subjects that are covered in the Rites of Passage program are: Knowing Africa increases awareness of global Africa, her geography, people, culture, beliefs, community, and family. Knowing Self and Others introduces participants, adult facilitators, leaders, and elders to the Rites of Passage program as a means of socializing youth for adult roles and responsibilities. Family History encourages appreciation of the African-American family, including its role and function from a cultural and historical perspective. The History of African People increases basic understanding of the history and accomplishments of people of African descent. Family Life Education increases knowledge and awareness about family life matters, including human sexuality and how ones sexuality relates to responsibility, values, and respect for self and others. Spirituality: The Journey Within increases understanding and awareness of the importance of spirituality to well being. Taking Care of Self and Etiquette promotes understanding of the importance of total wellness, including physical, emotional, and spiritual well being and enhances understanding of socially acceptable (appropriate and inappropriate) behaviors. Housekeeping and Finances increases understanding of the overall management of a household, including financial planning, money management, and homemaker skills (cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, sewing, and mending). Values Clarification and Goal Setting develops awareness of the traditional value system that guided African people, and explores and begins to clarify individual values and encourages behavior, including life goals, that is consistent with values Conflict Resolution and Violence Prevention increases awareness and understanding of violence, including the kinds of violence that are destroying AfricanAmerican communities and people as well as the cause and consequences of violence. It also illustrates that violence is preventable and that there are alternatives to violence. Creativity increases basic understanding of the contribution of people of African descent to the creative arts as well as knowledge and appreciation of the creative arts, particularly those related to the history and culture of African people. X Life Management: Time, School, Work, and Leisure develops skills to appropriately manage ones life in regard to time spent at school, work, and at leisure. HIV/AIDS and Other Life-Threatening Conditions increases knowledge and awareness about sexually transmitted diseases and other health conditions (high blood pressure, homicide) that threaten the longevity of people of African descent. Communication increases awareness of the importance of communication skills. Assertiveness and Leadership increases awareness of the qualities of leadership, including those qualities shown by famous and/or high profile African-Americans, as well as the importance of assertiveness and leadership to ones growth and development. Career Development exposes participants to a variety of career options and the requirements for each career (Okwumabau, Okwumabau, Elliott, 1998). The Let the Circle Be Unbroken: Rites of Passage† program helped to decrease the incidents of teenage pregnancy among African American teenagers by providing them with knowledge of ancestrial heritage, self, family values, spirituality, and personal skills that influence them to make effective decision about birth control and sexuality which will not hinder them from succeeding in life due to teenage parenthood. Conclusion Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in Unit One subjected African Americans to a life where economic dependence was vital in securing true freedom. The assistance of black churches enabled them recognize the importance of education in developing their own communities, securing employment, and gaining respect of white land owners. Although violence and intimidation was a part of the political reform of the Democrats in support of white supremacy, African Americans remained steadfast. Protests of social injustices such as segregation, discrimination, and disfranchisement, influenced the formation of the organization National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) defenders of the equal rights and privileges of African Americans. African Americans’ achievement of financial independence in Unit Three was dependent on securing better paying jobs. The migration from South to North and the Harlem Renaissance afforded them the opportunity of employment as factory workers, postal workers and government employees. The unbiased portrayal of African Americans in television and film in Unit Four encouraged the creation of sitcoms and movies that presented the progression of blacks from demeaning roles to award winning roles that showcased their talents as award winning writers, photographers, actors, and actresses. The development of prevention programs in Unit Five, helped to decreased the incidents of teenage pregnancy by increasing community awareness. References Butner, B. (2005). The Methodist Episcopal Church and the Education of African Americans After the Civil War. Christian Higher Education, 4(4), 265-276. Retrieved July 20, 2009 from http://search. ebscohost. com. Davidson, J. W. , Gienapp, W. E. , et al. (2008). Nation of nations: a narrative history of the American Republic (6th ed. , Vol. 2). Boston: McGraw Hill. Hayes, J. (2009). Political-Cultural Exodus: Movement of the People! Black History Bulletin, 72(1), 7-13. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1708145821). Hine, D. C. (2003). Black professionals and race consciousness: Origins of the Civil Rights Movement, 1890-1950. The Journal of American History, 89(4), 1279-1294. Retrieved July 20, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 322744531). Mastin, T. (2006). Color Television: Fifty Years of African American and Latino Images on Prime Time Television/Representing Race Racisms, Ethnicities and Media. Review of Journalism Mass Communication Educator, 61(2), 218-222. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1124893681). Meacham, M. (2003). The Exoduster Movement. Western Journal of Black Studies, 27(2), 108-117. Retrieved July 20, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 828030721). Okwumabua, T. M. , Okwumabua, J. O., Elliott, V. (1998). Let the circle be unbroken helps African-Americans prevent teen pregnancy. SIECUS Report, 26(3), 12-17. Retrieved July 21, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 26859760). Terry, D. (2004). Dismantling Jim Crow: Challenges to Racial Segregation, 1935 1955. Black History Bulletin, 67(1-4), 14-17B. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1379490521). Tolnay, S. (2003, August). THE AFRICAN AMERICAN GREAT MIGRATION and BEYOND. Annual Review of Sociology, 29(1), 209-232. Retrieved July 21, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman Essay -- Walt Whitman on Democracy

Walt Whitman is possibly one of the best examples of an artist who drew no distinctions between art and culture. To Whitman art is culture, and culture is history. His role as an artist must then be intrinsically manifesting himself as a representative of the America masses, or express himself as America personified. He saw democracy as an inseparable attribute of Americaness. However, the America he lived in was desperately fractured amongst differing factions with different opinions on the definition of â€Å"democracy†. Regardless, Whitman did not see the problems of his day as a top versus bottom, bottom versus top issue (no entendre intended). But, rather, an issue that exploded out of every orifice of American life. Ernesto Guevara spoke of love and conflict: â€Å"Let me say, with the risk of appearing ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by strong feelings of love. It is impossible to think of an authentic revolutionary without this quality†¦Our vanguard revolutionaries must idealize their love for the people, for the most hallowed causes, and make it one and indivisible†¦They must struggle every day so that their love of living humanity is transformed into concrete deeds, into acts that will serve as an example as a mobilizing factor.† (Minogue, 33). Ezra Greenspan explains that most contemporary criticism falls into one of two camps that are separated by two major historical events. He explains that there is a â€Å"Cold War generation who tended to focus on what they perceived to be the unrestrained freedom of the self† (143) and that there is the â€Å"post-Vietnam War† generation who argue â€Å"that Whitman’s attempts to celebrate modern freedom are compromised and complicated by the immersion of author, subject and t... ... on the battlefield, however, they return to the eternal mother in which they again convene and become an even more physical manifestation of a collective as they combine into the geography of America â€Å"in unseen essence and odor of surface and grass, centuries hence† (396). Works Cited Greenspan, Ezra, and Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman’s â€Å"Song of Myself†: A Sourcebook and Critical Edition. New York [u.a.: Routledge, 2005. Print Minogue, Kenneth. â€Å"Che Guevara.† The New Left. New York: Library, 1971. 17-48. Print. Pascal, Richard. â€Å"Walt Whitman and Woody Guthrie: American Prophet-Singers and their People.† journal of American Studies 24.1 (1990): 41-59. Web. Apr. 2012. Press, H. â€Å"The Existential Basis of Marxism.† Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 37.3 (1977): 331-344. Web. Apr. 2012. Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York: Bantam, 1983. Print.

English Life

The and Adventures of Native Americans In the story The Morning the Sun Went Down, Darryl Babe Wilson discusses his personal Journey as a 20th century as an Indian living within and without the dominant American society. The documentary film Even the Rain by Iciar Bollain is about the issue of oppression in the world county and the history of global economics. However, the movie overlaps with not only the production of what is being filmed in the movie, but also as the struggle that the Bolivian people had with the government and water.The people are being overcharged for their water, even the rain water was not permitted to be obtained. Noam Chomsky, author of â€Å"The Zapatista Uprising Profit Over People,† states how the signing of the NAFTA resulted in a big problem for the indigenous people in Mexico. The Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the United States and Mexico were eliminated, including labor and environm ental services.The film A Century of Genocide in Americas: The Residential School Experience is about how Native American children were taken from their parents, ere forcedly sexually abused and were sent to residential schools in Canada and the United States because of their race. Each of these authors suffered In The Morning the Sun Went Down, author Darryl Babe Wilson states the nearly simple life spent as a young child growing up in the tradition and ways of his people came to a sudden and tragic end when his mother's life was taken by a large, commercial truck barreling down on the wrong side of an isolated highway while trying to gain speed. The engine had to produce more speed in order to produce money faster† (Wilson 170). When he and his siblings were not in school, they played a variety of games including: hide and seek, making soap bubbles, playing Stagecoach (where some of the children were passengers and others were â€Å"Indians†), running in the woods and swimming in the creeks. The boys tried to take rattlesnakes as their grandfather had. In those few moments, his world had directly intersected with the same unyielding, unforgiving, profit-driven force that has been chasing and decimating his people for more than 500 years.But the story starts much earlier than that. Although Darryl Wilson grew up in the mid-20th century, in many ways his life was no different. The father couldn't raise his family, as the state officials removed Darryl and his siblings from their motherless home and placed them under the Jurisdiction of the state. They â€Å"were now relocatable property of the State of California† (94). After years of being moved from one foster home to another, Darryl was turned over to Juvenile authorities, placed into a lock-down facility, being allowed out of his cell only to go to school.His life had become reduced as the land that once â€Å"simply fed us† (85). His â€Å"life withered and turned a silent gray † (79). Wilson was allowed to go to school for one simple reason: education was, and still is, a major means by which the disenfranchised are dealt with. The film Even the Rain (Tamien La Lluvia) by Iciar Bollain, addresses the issue of oppression in the world country and the history ot global economics. The tilm takes place in Cochabamba, Bolivia, which depicts t conquest of Christopher Columbus.As Sebastian and Costa arrive to Cochabamba, Bolivia, they go into a moral crisis. As the riots in Cochabamba break out on the njustices as the water price arose by 300 percent, resulted in a violent protest against the government by the indigenous Indians and the citizenry of Cochabamba. Therefore, Bolivia who claimed their rights. Unfortunately, Sebastian and Costa engage the cheap Indian population in the minor role by the average daily income for the Indians was $2 dollars a day.Spanish imperialism through incidents taking place 500 years apart, while examining the personal belief systems of the members. Iciar Bollain focuses on the priests Bartolome De Las Casas and the oppression of the Indian population by the Spanish invadors. As Columbus realized the wealth and great prestige that the territories might bring, he got to a point to get obsessed with the gold. He then enslaved the natives to bring gold and if they didn't bring enough gold, they would make them suffer. As Spain conquered the new world of gold 500 years later, water is gold which not much has changed.However, the movie reflects how the higher power not only in the past but the present still hurt these poor innocent people who only want to live. The movie shows how the Indies where being used by the higher power for the gold, which was by Christopher Columbus. The ovie Tambien la Lluvia, shows us how the Bolivian people whom are acting as the Indies are going through similar struggles by not being allowed to obtain â€Å"life† if strict rules aren't followed. These people couldn't affo rd water, in which it reflected life. This all reflects back on the past struggles of the Indies.Neither in the past or present could these people live without giving â€Å"non-obtainable† profits to the higher power without suffering the consequences of life and death. This movie showed me that something as small as water that we as Americans take for granted is something as precious as a life in another country. After seeing these people struggle and fght for the ability to Just obtain rain water hurt me to see. These people risked there Jobs, there city, and even their life's Just, so they could freely get rain water.I honestly would never think something ridiculous like this could be happening in a third world country where these people don't even make a quarter of what most of us make working a part time Jobs. This movies shows us how something like a title of government or power can ruin the lives of millions. It's hard to see how these people struggle and fght for some thing that shouldn't have a price to, but nfortunately that is how life is in other countries. So what is shown in the movie Tambien la Lluvia, the reflection of struggles in the past and present in the South all because of the greed of higher power should be remembered.Just because it happened hundreds of years ago doesn't mean that it's not going on still. It might be different but the struggles shown by the people in Bolivia for life and water should show us that nothing should be taken for granted. Just the way the people in the film do, after all theyre only fighting to survive with water that shouldn't have a price on. Everything in life has a price, but life it's self shouldn't. For the past several years, there has been an on going movement to liberate the large population of farmers in Mexico.These farmers are fighting to win back their pro-claimed rights to their farm land. In the world today the emphasis on human rights is strong, this is why the Zapatistas have gained so much attention. In Noam Chomskys â€Å"The Zapatista Uprising Pront Over People,† notes that â€Å"We are the product ot 500 years ot struggle. † (Chomsky 1) As the Zapatistas declaration of war stated, â€Å"The struggle today s for work, land, housing, food, health care, education, independence, freedom, democracy, Justice, and peace. † (Chomsky 1).Over 17,000 people are in hiding away from the land that they could be using as income for themselves as well as the Mexican government. Mexico's government is trying to come a major player in the world stock market, so why not help themselves by increasing the amount of exports that could be coming from the country by allowing the Zapatistas back onto their land. Furthermore, it reflects very poorly on a country when they have 17,000 people who are refugees in their own country. It simply does not make senses for the government to not allow the Zapatistas back on their land.Who is going to want to do business with a country who cant even find peace within itself? I support the Zapatistas in their movement because I believe human rights are a very import factor in upholding a country. People should be allowed to live off the land in which they were born to. It is not Just for some political fgure to say, â€Å"No you cannot live here anymore, find somewhere else to live. † Peace must be found in order to stabilize Mexico and to do this the Zapatistas must be given back their land.

Critical and Creative Thinking in Short Essays Essay

Describe a situation of public interest in which critical and/or creative thought could have been used for a better outcome. Describe why it is important to think critically and creatively in similar situations. Recent racial unrest has been a hot topic in the public interest arena. With the death of a young man as a result of an encounter with law enforcement is difficult enough to deal with. Add to that dynamic that the young man was black and the officer was white, and the dynamic instantly intensifies. That moment becomes and instant opportunity where critical and/or creative thought should be considered instead of a knee jerk reaction since there was nothing in place prior. My addressing this does not have anything to do with the result of the riots, but everything to do with the reactions from both sides of the dilemma. Both sides needed to consider what actually happened, how the entire event took place and ended, as well as what the next step should be in anticipation of every scenario possible. There are enough brilliant minds in law enforcement as well as in the community that feel defied, to bridge whatever differences that may have been occurring prior to the event. If the community and the department that is in place to serve and protect them would pause long enough for what is in the best interest of all, they likely would have opted on an approach similar to a Community Policing approach where both sides were involved with changing the minds, actions, and directions of the entire community. Define free will, truth, knowledge, and opinion. Explain how we use them to form thoughts. What role does each play in critically assessing situations? Free will, by definition, is having the ability or power to act without regard to limitations and at the individuals own discretion. Now, to define the word truth, it would be that it is anything that is true  in accordance with fact or reality and is also a fact or belief that is accepted as true. Next is knowledge which is defined as facts, information, or skills learned by a person or group of people. This can be done through experiences or an education. Simply, it is having the awareness or familiarity that is gained by experience of a fact or situation. Lastly, is the word opinion. This relates to a view or judgment formed by an individual or a group about something or anything and it is not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Often it is an estimation of the quality of worth of someone or something that is the beliefs or views of a large number or majority of people about a particular thing. It essentially is an estimation of the quality or worth of someone or something. Each of these has a role and each plays in critically assessing situations. For instance, ‘free will’ allows for a decision to be made based solely on how an individual feels about what is being addressed. They can form their own belief or judgment and choose how they feel about it, how it affects them, without the concern on how it will make others feel about them. Now relating to ‘truth’, all of the information that is known and to be true is presented and a determination of how one feels about it or allows it to affect them is their choice. ‘Knowledge’ allows a person to form an immediate attitude or estimation about any topic because personal experiences or obtained information creates an influence or reaction immediately. The word ‘opinion’ has almost as much of an opportunity to make an immediate impression. This is mostly based on knowledge that may have been obtained but not personally experienced. Identify three hindrances to the critical thinking process. Determine methods for overcoming these hindrances. Identify a time in which you experienced a hindrance in critical thinking. Describe a method you could use to overcome the hindrances. To define  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœhindrances’ before identifying how it effects the critical thinking process, I would say it is a resistance to change, conformity, and/or self-deception. I will address how to overcome these in the order that they listed. First, to overcome resistance to change, a person must be open-minded and welcoming to things that are new. This does not mean that they must be immediately accepted, just considered. Secondly, to overcome conformity, it simply needs for a person to think for themselves and not be concerned about what other people believe or even if they share your view. Lastly, to overcome self-deception, we must be honest with ourselves, our inner selves. Once we obtain as much information about a person, subject, or topic, we base our findings on what we now know or feel about it. A time when I was personally faced with any of the hindrances listed, was when I assumed the new position with this startup company. It is very different from any other position that I have held. Although I do not have a vast knowledge of everything that goes on in the company, I bring an incredible amount of experiences. Here, I have experienced many coworkers at my level of management that insist that they know what is in the best interest of the company on any given situation. Although they ask for opinions, they often go with their own. Everyone is just supposed to be on board and there are some that act like lemmings and simply follow along. To not ‘make waves’, I often allowed this to continue, although I felt strongly that the input I had was not only valid, but equally important. To combat the resistance to change, I openly considered what the final decision was going to be and honestly weighed it against my input. I then decided that conforming was not necessarily in the best interest of the company, so I composed an approach to share what I had to offer and compared it to what was being considered. During establishing how I was going to present it, I was able to share this with vigor and assurance because I was honest with myself when weighing both mine and their options. Identify a message in advertising. Describe how you perceive the message of the advertisement. Try to determine the reality of the advertisement. Distinguish between your perception and the reality of the message. I am a Harley Davidson fan, I own one and I ride it often despite the weather conditions. Very often, other motorcycle companies will do what they can to mimic the style and grace of the Harley Davidson. This is to convince potential buyers that they are just as good  if not better, and less expensive. Although some parts of their advertisement may be true, there are many parts of it that are not. What they often end up doing is over emphasizing quality as well as quantity. It is not that it cannot be obtained, it is just that it can only be obtained for a nominal fee. Again, it is the fine print that most people overlook that actually reveals the truth. I have been deluded myself because of how convincing they campaign is, that I have pondered at least looking at their offer. With the advent of ‘pausing’ your television, I do so at the end of the commercial and read the fine print. More times than not, it reveals the condition that the motorcycle comes in and it is never what you see being driven around by the actor(s). Critical and creative thinking occurs in everyone’s life whether they realize it or not. It would be in the best interest of everyone if they realized the importance of learning to be a more critical and creative thinker. This way, they can feel better about the outcome or realize that the decision was theirs and not someone else’s. It is easier to learn from your own mistakes.

Second-Hand Smoke essays

Second-Hand Smoke essays In recent years, the cigarette industry has come under attack for a variety of issues, including second-hand smoke. It is important to examine the effect this second-hand smoke has on non-smokers. The use of tobacco "remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 440,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more the $75 billion in direct medical expenses. Nationally, smoking results in more than 5.6 million years of potential (tobaccofreeqc.org/adult/secondhand_smoke.shtml)." People who are exposed to secondhand smoke run the risk of dying from the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. There are thousands of chemicals, many which are extremely toxic, released in tobacco smoke, and this smoke is the only source of most of these chemicals. "Some of the smoke is inhaled by the smoker, but a larger amount of smoke is released into the air. Two-thirds of the smoke from a cigarette is not inhaled by the smoker (tobaccofreeqc.org/adult/secondhand_smoke.shtml)." Secondhand smoke (SHS), "sometimes referred to as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning ends of a cigarette, pipe, cigar, bidis, and kreteks (sidestream smoke) and the smoke emitted at the mouthpiece and exhaled from the lungs of smokers (mainstream smoke) (cdc.gov/tobacco/>)." The smoke inhaled by the smoker contains almost the exact same chemicals as found in secondhand smoke, however, secondhand smoke may actually contain a higher chemical concentration. Secondhand smoke is composed from a "complex combination of more than 4,000 chemicals, and includes irritants and systemic poisons such as hydrogen cyanide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and formaldehyde. Secondhand smoke contains "at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic or caus...

Essay on Discussion 1 week 2

Essay on Discussion 1 week 2 Essay on Discussion 1 week 2 The Studying and Self-Regulated Learning (SSRL) SIG is dedicated to promoting the development of theory and research in academic studying and self-regulated learning across the life span. The SIG brings together researchers and practitioners to share expertise in all aspects of self-regulated learning, including motivation, metacognition, learning and studying strategies, and the ways in which learners manage their emotions and environments I use self regulating everyday, We all do like setting your clock for 5:00am every morning to go to work or you may have to put the kids on the bus on time, getting assignments finished on time or say you start dinner at a set time, All of those are using self regulating but sometimes we all have so much going on in the day that we don't use self regulating in the other things that we need to be done in our every day schedule, Like me I have to go to work every morning on time but when I get home my day just don't stop they are things I still have to do and it is hard to try and get everything done then when I do its like I just want to set back and put my feet up then I think I still have to get my school work done. But its like I talk my self out of it and say I have another day to get this finished, When I should not think like that, My assignments should be finished in a timely manner not at the died line, And that is why I am going to start using self regulate and a schedule w ith work, school and my family, A time to study,