Lauryn

3.Is Marx’s critique of religion as the “opiate of masses” relevant to the event you attended?

-The event I attended is relative because the people in Baptist Church are very active and engaged in the service.Its very important to them and is very evident that they believe and feel strong in their practice.

4.Can you identify particular symbols (Geertz) unique to this religious community and determine their meaning? What do you think gives them their power and authority (Asad)?

-The African American Hymn book gives the black christians a spiritual sense .The bread in the communion serves as a symbol of Jesus’s body and the wine serves as a symbol of Jesus’s blood. 

5.How does power make itself evident during your visit? What power relationships did you observe?

-The Pastor has evident power because he wears a robe , they get the best chairs , and as well have assistances that wipe their face with a napkin.

-The Ushers have the power to turn people away .They can tell you to move to the back and you're in the front if you're a disturbing or distracting the service.

6.Can you identify any ways in which globalization influences the religious beliefs and practices that you observe?  

Lauryn Thompson

Intro to Anthropology 

1. Describe the way power is balanced in each relationship you experience or observe.

My daily interactions include my mother , professors,  and my roomie.

 When it comes to who holds the power between my mom and I , my mother definitely takes the cake. While I do live on campus and my mother is back home she still holds the power in some ways.For example, today my mother and I went to the grocery store. While my mother did give me the power to pick up the items I wanted with no hesitation, she did purchase the items for me. Because my mom has the money , she has the power to say yes or no to any of the things I picked up.My mother has the overall power not just because of her age but because of her money and position in my life. She has always taken care of me and thats why she has the power in our relationship .

 Just as my mother has the power in our relationship ,to some extent my professors do as well. They assign the work  and I complete the work . A visual of their power would be that they are the focal point of the class. They stand at the front of the class and remain  somewhat secluded to the rest of the people in the room(students or ta’s). Everyone is focused on what they are saying and their eyes are all on them. They hold the power because  of their positions and knowledge.

Now for my roommate and I , we have a balanced share of power. We are equal because we both share our room.I have one side and she has the other. As well as  we both share the responsibility of our sides and other factors such as the cleanliness in our room. We established a set of rules that we both have to follow which makes our power balanced.

2.How is power organized? Can you see the intersections of age, gender, income, race, religion, sexuality, or citizenship?

In my relationship with my mom , age and income is why she holds the power. Because my mother is older than me she has experienced and learned more than me. As well as because she is older she has established things for her self to gain that power. My mother as well has a steady income. She doesn't have to rely on anyone in a income situation. 

In my relationship with my professors power is definitely given when they receive their position. Not only because of their age but their knowledge .

In my relationship with my roommate power is balanced . It has nothing to with age because we are the same age  and we were both assigned the room.

3. What political negotiations are present in these relationships?

Until I was 18 my mother was my guardian and could make most decisions for me because she was my guardian and had legal responsibility over me.

4. Consider how these power dynamics were established and how they might be changed.

The relationship with my mother was established by her providing for me from when I was born. Because she does things for me she holds the power. When I get older and more established the amount of power my mom has over me will change . I will not have to rely on her .The power that  my professors was given with their positions. Because of their position and they are teaching me they hold the power. My relationship with my proffesors will not change. The power dynamic with my roommate will not change because since we both share the room and have established and set rules it will remain balanced. 

5. To deepen your understanding of the power of the state, make a list of all the ways you encounter the state in a given day. These may be at home, at school, in the office, or on the street. Representations of the state on television and radio, as well as in newspapers or movies, all contribute to the construction of the state as concrete, real, and powerful.

-Taxes 

-When it comes to buying things there is a set price but because of the state I  have to pay extra on these items. An item may be $3.99 but because of taxes I have to pay , I may have to pay an extra 30 cents.

-Laws

-When Im driving I have to wear a seat belt and obey the speed limit because they are laws.

6. How do these representations of the state reinforce the conception of the state as the primary institutional form through which social relations are experienced?

In Class Assignment : Power & Religion 

Lauryn Thompson

Dr.Howell

Intro to Anthropology

11/18/2017

Jessie Ondoa 

I interviewed my sister’s friend Jessie ,who is a senior civil engineer major  at Morgan State University.

My name is Jessie Ondoa, I am 24 years old and I left my country (Cameroon) over 10 years ago. I had just turned 14 when I came to the United States. My family and I had originally been discussing about me eventually moving to the UK to continue my education, because of their rigorous educational program. Unfortunately, I didn’t have someone reliable to move over there with, so I came to the United State instead. Since I was in kindergarten, my parents had made it their duty to provide me and my siblings with the best education, and once I was done with college to just find a job anywhere I wanted to.

Prior to coming to the US, my parents had always travelled around the world, so to a certain extent I always had a certain connection to different cultures. Perhaps this is why I didn’t feel as much of a cultural difference as I probably should have. Another factor that played into that is the fact that I was raised in the city my whole life while in my country. With that being said, there were definitely some adjustments that I had to do while in the US, especially when I got into high school. I had to adapt to the culture of that particular environment in order to build connections with classmates and understand them better.

Prior to coming to the US, I remember my dad telling me that it wouldn’t be the same as back home, and that I would probably have to change the way that I talked in order to be understood. I found that to be funny and never thought anything of it. But I guess it eventually happened without me realizing it.

Gender roles is definitely something that isn’t discussed much in my culture, because a lot of people are very traditional and follow their cultures. Over time though, it has shifted and women are more liberal about their positions in their households.

Growing up I remember fantasizing over commercial ads like  Bratz and Polly Pockets. The commercials would have girls playing with dolls ,makeup, a woman’s voice , and a flash of pink, purple and other very bright colors. When more active  and physical ads , followed by loud deeper voices, came on it was more geared towards a male audience . I could tell that some things were more targeted to either boys or girls.These commercials influenced what was portrayed as right and normal.

While watching channels such as Disney and Nickelodeon I observed a number of commercial ads that directly had a target audience .For example , the Barbie Plane commercial.  It had mostly what people would consider girlier colors such as purple and pink.  The narrator was of course a female  with a very dainty ,soft but excited voice.By the presentation of the commercial the target audience was definitely  targeted towards a young girl .This style of commercial targeted towards girls continued.Girl targeted commercials included pet/baby toys, makeup and purses, easy bake ovens or necklaces. Commercials targeted to males that  I watched was a Hot Wheels commercial. The Hot wheels franchise is no new trend .The commercial presented more of darker colors such as blue, green, and black. The narrator’s  voice was male with a very excited tone. Long and behold there was only boys playing with the hot wheel cars.This target audience is definitely geared towards boys. Commercials for boys included ninja turtles, transformers, trucks and bikes.But one commercial that came as a surprise to me was a Ninjagos legos  commercial. This commercial had not only a male narrator but a female narrator as well. Boys and girls were both playing but the girl was playing with more of a girl character. This surprised me because legos are unisex but can be geared more towards males most of the time.But it did still sneak in the idea that the girls will always play with the more pretty and girlier toys.

My Ethnicity-African American,  Latina/Hispanic

my Race- Black

My State- United States

My Nationality- American

My Ancestry -  PuertoRican and African  on Mother’s Side, African on father’s side

Lauryn Thompson 

Dr.Howell

Intro to Anthro

1) How does the information presented in the film challenge our system of racial  classification?

 What is race exactly ? Race is basically the way people divide and classify each other by physical characteristics  into groups. But genetically speaking you can't tell much of a difference. 99.9% of every person’s DNA is identical to the next person’s . But its so much easier to categorize people into groups by their physical features that we made that into a system for classifying each other . But what if I told you that we all originate from Africa and Race doesn't exist ? That we all stem from one woman named  Scientific Eve and we are all apart of one huge family tree.

The documentary  first takes us to the 30th avenue street fair in Queens, Ny. The perfect place to show the diversity of the human species.The Genographic Project has many different people from different ethnic backgrounds engaging in a experiment to see where their  ancestors may have migrated to or from . They get this information from acquiring DNA samples from in the mouth. Spencer Wells and his collegues collect these samples and also travel to different places to see how the different people may have acquired different features or adapted to their living environments.For example , the features of the indigenous people of the Philippines , the Aeta . Physical features such as dark skin,small-stactured , and curly hair are traits that some people from that indigenous group have that are  very similar to the settlers of the Philippines. Since the tropical climate was still very close to Africa’s climate they still have some of their African features.

In the film a wide variety of people from different ethnic backgrounds , different lifestyles , and reasons why they are living in the United States were presented to us . The mother with the European background, the cook from Thailand  and waitress , the fourth grade teacher with the Native American background and many others. But  David Reed is a prime example of why our system of racial classification is deeply flawed.David Reed, a belived to be only African American man ,thought he was black through and through. His complexion and his family’s information on their background seemed to justify this.So ,it  came to a surprise to him when he had found out he came from European decent . Somewhere in his ancestry ,  the white chromosome  was passed down. This white chromosome comes from a man called Scientific Adam . He was believed to have lived in Africa over 6,000 years ago. This white chromosome could have been passed down simply by one of his  European Grandfathers’ fathering children with women of African descent.

Another reason why this system is flawed because we have to look at why some  ancestors migrated and what were the physical effects of them migrating . These points may have caused them to develop certain features or complexions. One common mistake is that some tend to think that all dark skin people’s immediate ancestors were from African descent.Which is why you certainly  can't use physical characteristics such as skin color to classify a person. For example, the Tubu, the first people to be believed to inhabit the Sahara desert for over 30,000 years. They have dark skin but due to their white chromosome their immediate ancestors are not from Africa but the Middle Eastern.  Due to the amount of sunlight and winds their skin is dark. The melanin protects them from the potential damage from the UV rays. They have adapted to the harsh environment of the Sahara Dessert and thrive in that environment.Their ancestors at one point of time  migrated out more towards the grassy lands  but some returned.