EXTENDED COMMENTS:
For this week, I chose to do an Extended Comments piece. After reading Johnson’s text and reviewing other’s blog posts, I was inspired to expand on their thoughts. While this reading was outside of my comfort zone, it was intriguing to see how complex our society is and how powerful these overarching ideologies are in our lives.
Not only did the quote that Autumn used in her piece stand out to me but also her deeper connections she made about the text. Johnson recognizes dominant culture and the roles that we play as humans in perpetuating these norms. He also emphasizes that change is not possible unless we make a conscious effort to change how we think, speak and act. This is something that Autumn mentions when she references the quote, “We are prisoners to something but it is closer to our own making than we realize” (Johnson).
A quote that echoes Autumn’s point is that, “We are, both individually and collectively, stuck in a kind of paralysis that perpetuates the trouble and its human consequences” (Johnson vii). If we do not voice the “elephant in the room” by discussing the negative ideologies in our society, then there will be no change. If we do not apply the “golden rule” by treating people how they want to be treated, then there will be no change. The point of emphasis here is that Johnson recognizes that we live in a structure that has existed long before us but if we do not challenge the norms then we, as humans, can only expect for things to stay the same.
Overall, I appreciate Autumn’s post for inspiring my thoughts on this reading and agree that change, specifically positive change, is possible if we as individuals and as humans in a society agree to open our minds and our eyes to seeing others for who they are and not what they are categorized by in mainstream culture.
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Questions/Comment/Point to Share:
After class today, I realized that I had not thought of life outside the bubble that is America. The US struggles to see unity and focuses on the dividers between individuals and communities. This is something that I had not thought of before and simply because I have not traveled outside of the US, does not mean that I should not learn about or think of other parts of the world.
This link is included as a resource to learn more about the author, Alan Johnson.
The image at the top of the page supports how I feel like I have been living in a bubble but also how our country is in a bubble that is not open towards other countries across the globe.
Why intersectionality can’t wait by Crenshaw The first line in this article stood out to me because it recognized that intersectionality ...
ARGUMENT: Lisa Delpit, the author of this week's reading piece called, "The Silent Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other ...
Hey Liv, one thing that really stood out to me in the reading that you incorporated into your blog was the "elephant in the room". For one I love that saying because I think it has a lot of different meanings to it. No one wants to talk about the things that everyone is thinking so we stay quiet about them. But it opens up to more than that, like example, why we don't talk about those things and who we don't talk to about these types of things. Everyone needs to be open about their thoughts even if its going to put them in an awkward situation.
ReplyDeleteExactly how I hope you will use the extended comments post! Excellent. Glad that Autumn and class discussion helped you think about all of this more deeply.
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