How Climate Change is threatening Culture's Worldwide

    NO.1

Mass relocations are a thing that is set to happen thanks to climate change. And as more natural disasters happen that circuits the need for climate change education, more doomsday scenarios appear instead of healthy solutions to help save the planet--with the water rising from melting ice caps, it is destroying island and southern communities, and producing record number droughts in different sides of the planet. Why then does the media frame climate change as something inevitable, and how does that produce apathy, not just in regular people, but in these companies as well?

NO. 2

The research about climate change is all about education; informing the public about counter-options to reduce carbon levels in the air. I know this could benefit one person, if not the whole group, and that is what’s important. So how do we define apathy toward climate change? Well, the definition of apathy first is a lack of feeling or emotion towards something. It is based on a variety of subjects, like race, sex, education, age, food, culture, groups of people, etc. How does apathy relate to other negative concepts like indifference, and how are those emotions dangerous?  ‘’How does apathy come to exist? Through ignorance of a toxic and uncoordinated action. Framing is used as an institution and illustrates how it shapes media framing in a toxic event. Even in systems who are supposed to help the average person, are people seen to have a ‘tendency to behave in accordance with what they see as being in their own interests.’’

NO. 3

From “Climate Change and Planned Relocation in Oceania.” Sicherheit Und Frieden (S+F) / Security and Peace, vol. 34, no. 1, 2016, pp. 60–65: ‘‘The sinking islands have become a symbol of the consequences of manmade global warming. The foreshadowing of climate change-related environments and social developments that will affect other parts of the world sooner rather than later. In the current academic and political discourse, migration figures prominently among the social effects of climate change, and climate change-induced migration-conflict nexus, and research and findings have become ever more complex and sophisticated, trying disentangle the ‘long and uncertain casual chains from climate change to social consequences like conflict.’’

NO. 4

In conclusion, the Guna Yala tribe will not be the last island community to relocate because of the rising sea level, thanks to climate change. In fact, billions of people are going to be fleeing, and forced to relocate because of the threatening climate, and the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change understands (UNFCCC). From Climate Change and Planned Relocation: HOW CLIMATE RESETTLEMENT CAN WORK FOR COMMUNITIES. Danish Institute for International Studies, 2017: Entire cultures and societies will have to cope with the ‘‘ability to foster broader resilience-oriented solutions driven by the livelihood needs and strategies of the communities in question. When relocation is found to be necessary, [like in the Guna Yala tribe’s case], it should be approached as an expansion of existing livelihood strategies and mobility patterns, not an end to them.’’

The Inconsistencies of Race and Class

   NO. 1

  Class is primarily an economic measure, of course, based on wealth and income. This is explained more in Karl Marx’s and Max Weber’s ‘The Communist Manifesto, where Marx touches on Capitalism, an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit rather than the state's need to expand throughout Markets. The three main groups in class society are 1) The Aristocracy, 2) the bourgeoisie, which owns most of society’s wealth and production. And 3) the proletariats, or the working-class people. These terms are even more present today than during the Industrial Revolution. The bourgeoisie thrives off alienation and false consciousness, which is the way of thinking that prevents a person from understanding the true nature of their social or economic status.

NO. 2

Patricia Hill-Collins writes in Toward a New Vision, ‘’Each group identifies the type of oppression with which it feels most comfortable as being fundamental and classifies all other types as lesser importance. Oppression is full of such contradictions. Errors in political judgment that we make concerning how we teach our courses, what we tell our children, and which organizations are worthy.’’ (Collins, 1993).  Oppression of education and fundamental voting rights happened exclusively to minorities, especially black people. During the ’50s and the ’60s, Brown vs. The Board of Education was one of the most iconic moments in history when the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled that the segregation of public schools between blacks and whites was unconstitutional.

NO. 3

Basically, proving that separate is not equal. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, and of course, the Civil Rights Movement that led up to it, was a landmark civil rights and U.S. labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Now, with the Civil Rights Movement passed, it makes it seem that all people have rights, but it’s not true. Minorities alike do not have the same rights, no matter the changed laws and how much we think we’ve changed. White privilege is the societal belief that benefits white people over non-white people. It makes it almost impossible for all minorities to overcome the system. White privilege is the belief that there’s nothing wrong with being a white nationalist and that the removal of our nation’s past physical examples of racism, ex. The erasure of Confederate statues, affirmative action, and other such policies is an attack on white heritage.

NO. 4

Whether they want to admit it or not, the overlap between race and class has a great impact on society, and it intersects in complex ways, and simply focusing on one aspect alone may not lead to comprehensive solutions. Affirmative action was used to bridge the gap between racial and class disparities, and now that it is being threatened and taken away, we must carefully consider the impact that it has had and continues to have on marginalized communities. Carol Anderson, the author of White Rage, talks about the definition of white rage, which is how their anger fuels hatred, and that hatred fuels violence which has caused the deaths of black people, men, and women alike, ever since the first boat brought the slaves. It touches on white privilege and the indifference white people feel for black people, sort of like colorblind racism, a ‘toilet assumption’, the naivety that all people are created equal, when that’s far from the case. 

Sex Sells! Exploring the Music Industry.

NO. 1

From “Chapter Two: Hip Hop, Context, and Black Girlhood.” Counterpoints, vol. 399, 2012, pp. 16–31. ‘‘The hegemony where domination is maintained through contemporary democratic societies not through the use of force, but through winning the consent of the people.’’ How many times has Gen Z heard from educators, politicians, and parents alike that the rap genre today should be discouraged as the lyrics are filled with violence, exploitation, criminality, and sexual themes? The music industry understands that the culture of black and brown people perpetuates the idea of fighting against such domineering systems but, unfortunately uses those ideas against that very people. Major music artists such as Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Jermaine Dupri, and Percy ‘Master P’ Millers share a large majority of profits with major record labels, but the industry as a whole is ‘white controlled’. And if any rapper wants to be successful socially and financially, they will change their image and structure their performance, lyrics, and music videos to cater towards the ‘White imagination.’

NO. 2

But then there is the other side of the fence that believes that people are going to gravitate toward what they feel motivates them, inspires them, and utterly captivates them no matter the judgment that is unleashed. Regular people cannot change how the music industry operates, so it makes more sense for these rappers to make steady profits from these mega companies. Plus, it is not the responsibility of these rappers to enforce a cleaner message for children and young adults. New female rappers like Ice Spice, Megan the Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, and others are breaking the ‘glass ceiling’, and are widely successful and popular for their music. They are bringing more attention to the rap game and are paving the way for the next generation of female rappers, proving that they can be just as successful as their male counterparts, if not more. Their success is encouraging more women to pursue rap/hip-hop.

NO. 3

Most female rappers of the time today could not be where they are without honoring those who contributed to hip-hop and rap: young Black and Latino youth. From “Under Construction’: Identifying Foundations of Hip-Hop Feminism and Exploring Bridges between Black Second-Wave and Hip-Hop Feminisms, ‘‘In the late 1970s and 1980s, hip-hop was. in part, a response to the class exclusivity of the New York disco scene and the growing gang culture of inner-city New York. Initially, the culture was created as a social and recreational space for the working-class and poor folk who had been pushed to the fringe of society and forgotten. Gradually, hip-hop emerged in the recreational space but also in which to voice contempt for the living conditions of the economically and racially marginalized. From its inception, hip-hop has represented resistance to contemporary political and economic oppression that makes social marginalization possible.’’

NO. 4

As a woman of color and anthropologist, I completely understand both sides of the controversy of rap. As much as female rappers are breaking the rap game, so to speak, their lyrics perpetuate negative stereotypes of the Black community and hostile misogyny toward women. It is not the first time, nor will it be the last, for society’s judgments towards rap and the people who create it will be called into question, but there should at least be a conversation about it so that we can all have a better experience. Society itself holds a double-edged sword when it comes to this, as this music is appreciated by suburban white males, wanting to identify with a culture that is not there behind closed doors while belittling the culture and artists in the limelight. No matter the judgment and hypocrisy, these artists success speaks for themselves.

The Banning of Books

NO. 1

Books are intellectual properties that are increasingly challenged and criticized for their particular contents on race, sexuality, class, and gender, even fiction! Books aren’t just educational tools but forms of shaping individual experiences and values, and to be able to share the public is an essential part of our democratic society. The opposition claims that parents of young children have the right to keep their minds free and innocent of what is ‘controversial.’ A list of the books banned during this year is here if you wish to check it out.

NO. 2

Freedom of expression is one of our fundamental rights. Banning or censoring books violates individual rights, but how will children learn to express those individual ideas and thoughts if we suppress diverse perspectives? How will society move forward and evolve if we continue to shelter and limit knowledge? From Precocious Knowledge: Using Banned Books to Engage in a Youth Lens’, ‘‘The quest to protect the imagined innocence of ‘the young and inexperienced’ has endured and is today bolstered by differing organizations—Attempts to control language have a long history with youth; The implicit fear seems to be less about what language might do to teens and more about what teens might do with language. Obscenities can be used to wield power over adults or at least unsettle them. When we balk at a text because of its use of profanity, a racial slur, a homophobic remark, or any other language that might be deemed objectionable, we should consider if we are protecting our students or ourselves from feeling uncomfortable. Language that can be at times unnerving often feels reveals charged topics that demand messy and uneasy conversations.’’

NO. 3

In conclusion, this censorship is not only damaging our intellectual growth but another form of suppressing diverse perspectives, in turn trying to make a return to puritan society. Banning books is going to have the opposite reaction conservative politicians, groups, and parents are hoping for—instead of protecting young minds, it will only narrow their understanding of the world and deprive them of valuable opportunities for critical thinking. And no, I am not liberal, nor am I conservative (republican or democrat.) I am a citizen deeply concerned about the vast changes happening extremely quickly to limit and oppress the free flow of information, ideas, and expression. Children learn by example, and they express more than you give them credit for. They deserve the right to learn and explore freely.