Diversity and Cultural Events

On Monday, March 8th, I had the opportunity to hear the world-known Winnie Mandela speak at the Alys Stephens Center. At first, I was not very sure who this woman was or what she was exactly famous for. Former wife of Nelson Mandela, Winnie was known for her acts and involvement in South Africa along with other parts of the world. To South Africa, along with other people of the world, Winnie Mandela is looked as "The motherhood of Africa". With her involvement in many government organizations and other groups such as, African NAtional Congress Women's League, African National Congress, and so forth, Winnie is seen as what some may call, a "hero" to many of South Africa. I did not know much about this woman until I did some research before attending the lecture and was also given a pamphlet of the life of Ms. Mandela during the lecture itself. Although she is known for her courageous acts towards people of South Africa, she also has a history of violence as well. I noticed just how serious Ms. Mandela's past interfered with her life by the amount of security at the lecture. I did feel uncomfortable at some times staring at the security wondering why so many of them were present but obviously, Winnie Mandela is liked by some and unfortuantely, hated by others. Attending this lecture, I noticed a great deal of speakers, other than Winnie Mandela, would refer to Ms. Mandela as "mommy" or "mother", which meant showing great gratitude and respect. This was a bit strange to me considering this type of act does not often occur in the city of Birmingham, let alone Alabama, unless that specific person being called "mommy" was indeed one's mother. Many people speaking at the lecture seemed to know a great deal of information of Ms. Mandela and her history and the life she has lived.
As Ms. Mandela spoke, she brought up how wonderful it was to be in the city of Birmingham considering she had always wanted to visit because she has heard so many things, good and bad. She spoke of her home land, South Africa, and how in some ways it was very different than Alabama. Winnie talked about the stereotypes that were brought up towards Alabama, such as racisim. She discussed how different racism was in South Africa than it was in the South. It is apparent that the South typically is viewed as rasicst, but Winnie seemed to notice it from a different perspective. During her whole life, Winnie was stereotyped, thrown in jail, and ridiculed for speaking her mind and acting out. Everyone that attended her lecture reffered to Ms. Mandela as someone with great imporatnce and owner of a wonderful heart. It almost seemed, to me, that the amount of honor and imporatance thrown at Ms. Mandela, some people were treating her as if she were a God. I had never seen such high significance and gratitude given to one person in my life. Like I mentioned earlier, I was not too sure of what Winnie Mandela was famous for but I was informed of every little aspect at the lecture. Winnie Mandela spoke of her home town and how much she loved to help children and those who were in need Her history shows certain characteristics of just that.

Global Connections

Tuesday night, I attended a food for thought dialogue based on womens' lives after prison. With information given through statistics and a short film on the lives of women after prison, I learned a great deal of knowlegdge about the struggles women are faced with when leaving prison. After being realeased from prison, women are handed only ten dollars and the clothes on thier backs and are thrown into the outside world. The purpose of the dialogue was not only to inform us of the reality taking place around us but also what we thought could be helpful suggestions to help rehabilitate the women who are released from prison. With several ideas proposed in the dialgue, one group was brought up in particular, The Lovelady House. This was a group brought up by women in order to help women who have just recently been released from prison. Although the group is also available for other women who have been victims of abuse, homeless women, and also children, the Lovelady foundation mostly houses women released from prison. With the specific workshops the women go through in order to obtain a better life outside of prison such as, getting to know one's self and boosting self-esteem, spending time with the family and loved ones, and also planning and preparing a budget, the Lovelady foundation helps women focus on themselves and enable a better chance of life outside of prison.
Watching the movie based on women who are part of the Lovelady foundation, each woman shares their experiences through being a part of the Lovelady foundation. Studies and statistics shown during the dialogue prove that a majority of the men and women who have been to prison and are later released end up returning to prison within an average of three years. With these statistics seen as a problem, we were asked to share our opinions of what we thought could possibly be a better solution in order to prevent criminals released from jail returning back to prison. With several ideas such as, opening up more rehabilitation centers for criminals, probation, job opportunities, and so forth, several people opened up to the many possibilities of ways to prevent criminals from returning to prison.
With the ideas circulating of ways to prevent released women from returning to jail, a question was asked stating, "Would you contribute a portion of your tax dollars to help rehabilitate criminals?" Although many ideas seemed similar such as openign up rehabilitation centers and higher education for those who are in need of it, I came to find my opinion was quite different than the rest. I stated I would not donate my tax dollars to criminals with reasons behind it such as, they are criminals and they did a specific action to get them placed in prison in the first place. Another question, what should be done in order to decrease the amount of criminals in jail, was brought up in the discussion with several detailing and useful suggestions. Again, finding my answer differed from the others (increasing the death penalty) many people looked at me with shock and disgust. Although I did feel guilty for speaking my mind on this particular topic, it was MY opinion. I listened to other opinions as well with an open mind and found them very useful. I had my reasons of the propositions I laid out and did not expect everyone to jump on the bandwagon with me. The purpose of this discusion was to find out what we thought should be done to better society and the lives of women after prison. I am proud I spoke my mind and learned a great deal of information through this dialogue and would definitely attend another similar session.

Economics, Different Politcal and Class Ideaologies: Safe Zone Dialouge

During the past week, students, including myself, were to attend a safe zone dialogue where students were to participate and share their ideas of human sexuality. I was a little skeptical of this discussion at first because of the household I was brought up in. We were broken up into small discussion groups and given the definition of "respectful conversations". Our main purpose of this assignment was to open up to the group and express our beliefs and opinions on what we thought of human sexuality. Two panelists from the LGBT group (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) were present in our discussions in order for the students to ask questions and become more knowledgeable in situations and questions we were unsure of. During this exercise, students were able to ask questions and state their opinions of certain topics that were brought up, such as, what is the safe zone, exactly how difficult is it to become open with the fact that someone is gay, and how should one approach this situation?
Growing up in a family where one is taught that being gay is morally wrong, I did not know what to think of the situation and was a little afraid to speak my mind. I realized through this safe zone dialogue that other students had questions as well. I learned a great deal of knowledge from this dialogue that it not only opened my eyes to what was going on around campus and other places as well but also opened my mind. It is hard to except that someone is gay, in my eyes, but gays also go through a great deal of difficulties as well. Marriage, in most states, for gays is not acceptable and is looked down upon by it's citizens. With the closed-minded citizens of most countries about whether gays should marry, this makes it that much harder to fulfill one's wishes.
With the crimes going on towards gays, safe zone is a group that allows gays and bisexuals to talk about and reveal how they truly feel without the fear of being harmed or judged. I never realized how many problems can be encountered when one decides to become public about being gay. What most people fail to accept is that gays are just like any other individual. They are automatically given the stereotype or title of being gay without given the chance to prove other significant qualities of themselves. Although I am still skeptical of the thought of someone being gay, this dialogue session allowed me to see the situation from one's perspective. I never realized the hardships in which gays must go through but it is apparent. I do think safe zone dialogues should become more abundant to students around campus, not to only learn about the gay community but to also limit stereotyping among the gay community. I, for one, do find myself stereotyping gays, but through this dialogue I have learned that the gay community is much like any other community in our culture and therefore opens my mind.