Along Color & Gender Lines

When you hear the word privileges it immediately tells you about inclusion, class, favors... It does not tell you the disadvantages incurred for whom the word is used or the advantages that accrue to the one for whom it is not used.

When Peggy McIntosh, the associate director of the Wellesley College Center for Women spoke on Monday, April 15, 2008 to a fully packed ballroom in Baker Center she went beyond the unspoken minds of millions to talk about privileges that come as a result of being 'white' and the loss of privileges to 'blacks'.

Even though I don't like the term 'white' or 'black' - no one is truly as black as charcoal or as white as snow - one thing I commend is the way Dr. McIntoch drew attention to the advantages that come as a result of exclusion and disadvantages that come as a result of inclusion in her lecture titled "White Privileges".

A handsome, young white male offered me a seat in the Catcab, whether he did it because I'm female - the weaker gender should not be allowed to stand lest her fragile frame goes out of shape - or because I'm colored - you can choose your mix of primary or secondary colors - or because I'm older - younger is stronger - I do not know, but one thing I know is that the seat I occupied through the length of the trip was a privilege that came along gender, color or race lines and I accepted the offer without query.

If we raise our daily consciousness on the perquisites of being light-skinned. What will we do with such knowledge? As we know from watching men, it is an open question whether we will choose to use unearned advantage, and whether we will use any of our arbitrarily awarded power to try to reconstruct power systems on a broader base.

I walked by the front desk in Ping Center and was almost through before I realized I did not show my identity card. Why did the lady not call me back? Was she afraid I would feel she decided to embarrass me because I'm colored? White it was my fault - it skipped my mind, not hers - the trivial experience left me feeling 'black'.

When I'm behind the wheels, I notice 'whites' will often make eye contact before dashing into the road at pedestrian crossing. It feels good when I am in a hurry but most times it screams "the black ignorant female is behind the wheels, watch out!"

But do I enjoy the compliments that trickle down when my feathers appear flustered like the peacock, sure I do and so does Nneka Agwuegbo who enjoys the attention she gets and the patience with which people respond to her when she cruises around town in her automatic wheel chair and the Caucasians who gets endless attention from 'immigrants' even if only for the security he is able to provide on paper.

The horrible downsides which includes stopping me from giving blood because I may have slept with an African, forcing a wry smile on me just to show you aren't racist or having me write TOEFL when colonialism has forced the English language on me for well over 30 years is sickening but the up side of an assistantship responding to my color, doors opening for my gender, and endless ovations for my status are simply great.

What do you think?

Building Better Budddies

Admission into a new school ends when you get a letter approving your application then what next? Making plans to resume and register for classes...

I arrived at Ports Columbus International Airport without knowing about the transportation system or the miles between Ohio University (OU) and Columbus. With my luggage delayed, I had to hang around until about 8pm after which I went to make some enquiries about getting a cab. I come from a big city where transportation runs close to 24 hours; the airport or bus terminals never sleep! “Sorry Ma’am, there’s no way you’d get a cab to Athens this night” was the shocking response I got from the airline representative.

While I cracked my head on what to do or how to position myself for the night, the cheerful lady at the baggage claim said “You never can tell, there may be someone going that way.” Before I could say “Iyanu” I heard an announcement over the airport radio “Good evening, would any one going to Athens please come over to the baggage claim, thank you.” Concise, direct, but she did not even ask me and that was not a message to anyone in particular but like an angel on mission, Mark walked towards the baggage claim office.

Apparently he thought they needed to deliver a package and were just being lazy but a good does not hurt so he decided to heed the call. It turned out it was a human package and he asked to inform his family. Now what happened next can simply be described as a miracle. Nancy, his wife, Arienne and Alex, his children returned with him to haul my luggage like they knew me from Eve. As we approached Athens gisting and catching up like long lost siblings, they asked for my contact detail but all I had was the name and phone number of the ISFS staff written on my I-20. We found out it was an office number and they had to figure out how to deal with the human package.

They decided to call the police who got a hold of the person and she in turn directed us to Bromley where I stayed the night and a couple of days before finding my feet. Mark, Nancy and the children left for Belpre after they had settled me in. The story did not end there; I found out that Nancy and Mark met while studying in OU. So, it must have been the OU-Athens community spirit that led them to me that fateful day. We have become great friends; a beautiful bracelet they gave to me at my graduation has become a symbol of the amazing friendship we share.

Settling down and finding your way around Athens is not an easy task but the Community Ties Initiative (CTI) is a program that seeks to help students navigate the Athens community waters while giving the Athens community residents a bigger window into OU. Whether you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student, whether you are an American or an International student, there are times when you just can make do with a friend away from home.

If you would like to spend some time with an Athens community family or an OU student, if you would like to tap from the wealth of resources within the Athens community and the Ohio University, Athens campus, if you would like to enjoy home made meals or attend a family event, I invite you to join the Community Ties Initiative which I helped to re-engineer last quarter. For more information on CTI contact Mr. John Schmieding john_45701@yahoo.com who is the Director of the Athens Community Relations Commission.

Night Shift

We've come far; from the 2nd party school in US to the 9th position which some fine not so good. Night Shift interviews Bella Ndubuisi about her opinion of night life in Athens-Ohio.

Enjoy it!

Value Added Tech

Online Journalism theory and practice are two of the classes you may wish to sign up for in Scripps. I'm done with one and still trying to figure out the other and that's because though the profs are great there's no spoon feeding; you've got to grow up and walk from the first day of class! But I'd attempt to walk you through the academic values of online space.

Though online journalism is still at the foundation stage, new entrants and current practitioners can positively impact on the field. I strongly believe that some day online journalism - what some choose to call citizen journalism - will cease to be merely an off-shoot of the traditional media; it will become a distinct field with its own rules, regulations and clear cut elements.

The internet as it stands today offers access to a diverse audience. While access to those living with disability is seldom available, the medium offers inclusion for the underrepresented by featuring a wide range of news material. Online journalism has created enough room for mainstream and unpopular issues. Though the resources – material and human – allocated for both is far from being equal, the fact remains that the non-mainstream audience is being catered for.

Within the mainstream audience there are different categories: 1) Those who follow and swing to the ever changing technology – RSS, Podcasting, Mobile Networks and those who would rather use the old models 2) Those who access the media objectively (traditional journalism) and those who prefer subjectivity (non-traditional blogs). As more advertisers become comfortable with advertising on blogs; what happens to traditional online journalism?

The evolution of the internet has created a new category of haves and have nots on the information highway. The lack of access to computers or internet has created a fast expanding digital divide between those who have the resources, are trained to use and are able to access the internet and those who are either untrained in the use, do not have the resources or are unable (due to disability) to access the internet.

In as much as convergence offers a wide range of opportunities for expansion of the media, it also means fewer journalists are needed to operate. This will not only lead to burn out of the few doing the work but it will affect the delivery – content and presentation – a jack of all trade is usually master of none.

Based on the story The: Targeting Readers the Old-Fashioned Way one sees that there are a number of benefits in registering/subscribing to online materials which include aiding the news media to know its audience and appropriately reach out to them. According to Barbara Rice, group director of research for the New York Times Digital: “Registration lets us build a relationship and communicate with the user much more powerfully… It’s to everyone’s benefit if the ads are more relevant to the user”. But the question still remains, how many people have come to terms with subscribing to online materials? Until, majority of news media makes this the way to go; majority of readers may likely remain free readers.

This Day Nigeria is a local print media in Nigeria. The website is named Thisday Online. With a dot com address, it is immediately obvious that this print media is set up as a commercial website. But whether the economic model is profitable will be a question for the internet or revenue department of the media. The website sells a number of adverts which includes those for banks, pharmaceuticals, stock market and adverts by Google.

Though a number of stories can be read without subscribing others especially archived stories/materials can only be read by subscribers. The stories non-subscribers can read are usually without images or multimedia content which gives me the impression that something is retained for subscribers. I cannot fully articulate the value added services for subscribers but for non-registered readers like me, value added services begins with the access to a number of top stories and the links provided to other non-news resources e.g. City Guides, Hotel, Family Tree, Social Networks etc. But the question is - are these links paid for (in which case the credibility is questionable) or are they simply value added links (in which case the motive is commendable)?

African Mask

This is the transcript of an interview done by Maria Gallucci after the African Mask exhibition at the Kennedy Art Museum last year.

What do you feel is the importance of having young children experience programs and exhibits such as this one?

The only way we can bring the rest of the world to children especially those who may not have the privilege of traveling is to create a forum where they learn about other cultures. This helps them know that other ways of greeting, acting, speaking, dressing, playing, eating exist other than the American way.

What are some thoughts or comments you have about this week's program?

I really don’t like to see original artifacts [if you do find one so labeled please confirm if author is not "unknown"] especially sacred ones like masks out of context but an exhibition of copies provide a window for discourse. If we had regular, funding similar events (not necessarily mask exhibition) should be scheduled yearly. This can become a huge event by bringing in private sector participation so that at the end of the day the children learn, eat, play and go home with souvenirs. There should also be two (2) comment books on: What you expect? (to be signed before the event) and Comments about your experience? (to be signed after the event) Or feedback forms which all the children or some representatives can fill. With some success, this can become an event that draws children from two nations or states at the same time or simultaneously.

What things have you heard or seen during your presentation that interested you?

The presentation by Andrea Frohne on the Nigerian masks thrilled me especially the effort she made in pronouncing the names correctly. I found out that the question, “What does your name mean?” means different things to same age grades under different teaching environment; while some answered it as meaning the spelling, others answered it as significance and others answered it as what it implies. Generally people believe that American names are void of meaning but some of the children gave insight into their names. We seldom use Frisbee in Nigeria but a ‘place, plate or table mat’ could actually be used as a play ‘Frisbee’ mat. A mat in Nigeria could pass for rug and a lorry is simply a truck. I confirmed again that children all over the world have more similarities than differences and the experience children have gone through affects their disposition. Teaching more about other continents and people would help break boundaries of prejudice and intolerance and build bridges of integration.

Please feel free to mention anything else you want!

Children may be asked to look up information on the countries to be showcased. There should be snack bag or souvenirs for the children when an African country is showcased; the significance is that no child visits an African home and leave empty handed.