Precious. I feel like my heart got bigger just after watching those videos. A friend of mine is in need of a heart transplant and the wait for a healthy organ and all those other complications are incredibly overwhelming. That man who helped the woman with kidney failure really is an angel on Earth. It makes me wonder why he helped her? I’d love to ask him. What inside you spurred you offer your organ to someone you hardly knew? Was it because it would make you feel good inside, or your primary goal was to help her? I do believe that inside each and every one of us we enjoy helping someone and seeing how our work benefitted them, but not to this length. Actually donating an organ is on a whole different level of service and humbleness. I’m trying to place myself in his shoes and offering a vital organ to a complete stranger is a foreign concept to me. I struggle with this and doubt that I would be able to do it. I guess it’s hard to truly know how you’d react when you’re not in the situation, but I’m certain it wouldn’t be an easy decision. I greatly admire his servant heart. It should be inspirational for us all.
Speaking of caring for others, today I saw a commercial on the TV by The Foundation for a Better Life that was uplifting. It was fairly stereotypical; a girl walked into what appeared to be a high school cafeteria and had no place to sit. She chose to sit at a table with a few other girls who looked inviting but they got up and left after she sat down. One casual observer noticed the girl sitting by herself and left her table of friends to sit with her. The message at the end of the video said “reaching out. Pass it on.” GREAT message. Simply taking time out of one’s day to pay attention to people and lend them your ear goes a long way. A friend of mine is a nursing major and while at work she was assigned a stubborn patient who just wanted to die and refused to take a bath or eat. She offered to give him a massage, which enabled him to open up and within 4 hours a transformation had taken place. He was up, clean, and combed his hair. He even wrote a poem and dedicated it to her (not in a creeper way, just in the appreciative way). We should all think about ourselves a little less and others a little more.
That last video with the young boy was one of the cutest things my eyes have seen in a while.

Precious. I feel like my heart got bigger just after watching those videos. A friend of mine is in need of a heart transplant and the wait for a healthy organ and all those other complications are incredibly overwhelming. That man who helped the woman with kidney failure really is an angel on Earth. It makes me wonder why he helped her? I’d love to ask him. What inside you spurred you offer your organ to someone you hardly knew? Was it because it would make you feel good inside, or your primary goal was to help her? I do believe that inside each and every one of us we enjoy helping someone and seeing how our work benefitted them, but not to this length. Actually donating an organ is on a whole different level of service and humbleness. I’m trying to place myself in his shoes and offering a vital organ to a complete stranger is a foreign concept to me. I struggle with this and doubt that I would be able to do it. I guess it’s hard to truly know how you’d react when you’re not in the situation, but I’m certain it wouldn’t be an easy decision. I greatly admire his servant heart. It should be inspirational for us all.
Speaking of caring for others, today I saw a commercial on the TV by The Foundation for a Better Life that was uplifting. It was fairly stereotypical; a girl walked into what appeared to be a high school cafeteria and had no place to sit. She chose to sit at a table with a few other girls who looked inviting but they got up and left after she sat down. One casual observer noticed the girl sitting by herself and left her table of friends to sit with her. The message at the end of the video said “reaching out. Pass it on.” GREAT message. Simply taking time out of one’s day to pay attention to people and lend them your ear goes a long way. A friend of mine is a nursing major and while at work she was assigned a stubborn patient who just wanted to die and refused to take a bath or eat. She offered to give him a massage, which enabled him to open up and within 4 hours a transformation had taken place. He was up, clean, and combed his hair. He even wrote a poem and dedicated it to her (not in a creeper way, just in the appreciative way). We should all think about ourselves a little less and others a little more.
That last video with the young boy was one of the cutest things my eyes have seen in a while.

Absolutely. All the cultural pressures that we put on the expectations of what it is to be a “man” or “woman” are faced by everyone. The expectations are brought to light when the little boy who only wants to play with the girls at recess rather than rough sports with the boys, and when the girl who hates wearing bras; it’s just that we (girls and boys) face different expectations or societal pressures. Men are supposed to be manly and not express their emotions while females are supposed to be mild mannered. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the pressures that the other gender faces simply because we’re imposing the expectations and not receiving them.

No. I think eventually we’ll be able to cooperate on a humane level with them, but there will always be misunderstandings, because we’re different cultures! We live our lives differently. Misunderstandings causes people to jump to conclusions, which causes chaos. People jump to conclusion in light of misunderstandings to create meaning and try and understand why the other side reacted the way they did. Unfortunately, the meanings that are created are biased and designed wearing the lenses of one’s own culture. If you don’t step outside your perspective to comprehend the reasons why people act the way they do there will always be turmoil.

The good thing about this lecture is that it showed a different perspective. It opened our eyes to the other side and what they see and experience. It’s important to be able to understand the other party involved in a conflict in order to find eventually find peace. And because of that, the lecture on the “Christian Invaders” was beneficial. However I think he missed a few points. How exactly do people form judgments against others from a different culture? How do we Americans construct these stereotypes against those from the Middle East, and how do Middle Easterners form the judgments against us? By word of mouth, personal interactions and experiences, and the media. These are the 3 points that weren’t discussed as deeply as they should have been.
Due to the level of trust that exists amongst family members and friends, their opinions have a powerful sway on an individual’s judgment. This is true in nearly every situation, especially if you’ve never experienced what they’re talking about and are relying on their experiences to form your own conclusions. So naturally, the gentlemen whose car was run over would have negative emotions towards the immature American soldiers who ran over their car. Most likely their friends and family members feel the same way. And for the people whose kids were given the candy by the kind American soldiers maybe have warm feelings towards the “Christian invaders.” Perhaps their friends and family members feel the way same way as well. If you rely on the information given to you by those you know, you’re only going to see one side of the argument.
A noteworthy influence on the minds of the people is that of the media. Yes, the media in America is different than the media in the Middle East, but I believe there is still an impact. The media has a powerful role in the way people view other cultures because not every Iraqi or Afghanistan citizen is going to come in contact with an American soldier and vice versa. If you don’t get your information from those you know or personal experiences the next logical place to look is the media. In this realm, you can find whatever information fits best to you; 9/11 didn’t actually happen, Barack Obama is a terrorist … the list goes on. This is the danger and beauty in the media as it exists today; but the potential for propaganda is the worst. We experienced propaganda right before we decided to go to war. The media all over the nation sided with Bush and convinced many Americans that going to war was the right thing to do. Propaganda is powerful. So while I agree with Sam’s purpose of opening our minds to what they see, I think it’s important to keep propaganda into account (on BOTH sides).

Eating the chocolate is just like using a cell phone. Unfortunately there are so many products out there that have been put together with the help of slaves that it’s nearly impossible to live life without consuming a product that a slave touched. Chocolate is just one example that we happened to watch a video about in class. Is it awful? Yes. But how could you be wearing those clothes that you’re wearing and not feel a certain way about it? The argument could be extended to nearly every area because of the vastness of the issue of slavery in the world.

Hahah well that is an option. But also you could purchase clothes that are made without the use of slaves or sweatshop labor – that does exist. And join the movement! Increase awareness of the number of sweatshops in the world and pressure the big corporations that are exploiting labor. Like Nike. Last night I went to listen to the two women from Honduras that USAS brought in to speak about their experiences in sweatshop labor. After hearing them speak I’m further convinced that our power as students at Penn State is indispensable, and we actually can make a difference.

The issue of slavery is very difficult to grasp because of its enormity. And with any issue of this size it’s hard to encourage people to take action because the extent of the problem is numbing. People feel incompetent to create a movement, and individuals become anonymous in the masses and feel powerless. In order for anyone to see significant change in the slave trade I do think the first step is to acknowledge that slavery exists. I think many people are still in denial about the existence of slavery – we were taught in history class that slavery was this awful trade that existed in the beginning stages of America but we ended that. And with the help of Martin Luther King Jr., blacks were able to receive all their rights. Unfortunately our classes forgot to mention to us that slavery still exists and on a more global level than before. As a side note, I think it’s natural for humans to want to believe the best in situations rather than the worst. So obviously we would ignore those crazy people who contradict those history lessons.
Back to step one for a second. Think about it, if we all made an oath to spread the reality of slavery to our clubs, friends, families, work places, and homes that’s a pretty significant amount of people whose eyes would be opened. And in all those people if there are a few who feel inspired to join organizations to actively fight slavery, great! Knowledge is a great tool though, very effective to starting movements.
As for step two, I think it should be interpreted as a personal calling. One of the easiest things to do would be to only purchase the free trade products that we talked about in class. Other options would be to join movements that are already invested in ending slavery. Groups like USAS (United Students Against Sweatshops – not quite slavery but very close to it), IJM (International Justice Mission), Free the Slaves and a bunch of other groups. The three ways to join them would be with your money, time, or talents. Clearly one’s involvement in these organizations is dependent on their time and how much they can give to help a movement like this. And if you feel led to, why not start a movement yourself? Who knows what your future is meant to be and if there’s a strong desire in you to end the injustice, maybe your voice is the voices that needs to be heard to bring and end to slavery.
Keep in mind that every little thing counts. “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” (James Baldwin).

what does that have to do with anything...

I think it is great! This class has opened my eyes to the importance of diversity in peoples’ lives and if the whites are no longer majority, then perhaps it would be harder to run away from diversity. Also I think it would strengthen the culture of white people and maybe even instill a sense of pride that is lacking. I am not talking about white racist pride, but the pride that other cultures have in their own culture. I look forward to the day when America is in all honesty the big melting pot that it claims to be.