Caribbean Diaspora - 3821 Words

History Paper on Caribbean Diaspora Decendents of the Caribbean Diaspora are located in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and countries that were previously colonial empires. The inhabited islands that are in the Caribbean are not only geographical regions, but also regions of the imagination, lived cultural experiences and are an interesting study in religious identity as well (Harry:2).† Colonized by European powers from the sixteenth century, the Caribbean islands have become a mixture of cultures from Europe, Africa, and India, as well as from the original inhabitants of the islands. Harry Goulbourne and John Solomos in there article â€Å"Ethnic and Racial Studies† says that the â€Å"History of the Caribbean has been shaped for a†¦show more content†¦This was a time for growth in the United States, often referred to as the Industrial Age. This time period was an exciting period because of the fact that there is another revolution going on in the workplace. As technology started to c hange and bloom, everything around it started to transform and more jobs were created. As a result, the Industrial Revolution affected the whole stability of a nation, not only the economy. It affected the relationships between classes, and also the relationships between countries and gave those individuals who migrated over to the United States a chance at a prosperous life without slavery. With many Africans migrating to the United States there were those who decided to go back to the Caribbean and continue their traditional cultural ways. In the late eighteenth century, written reports discovered a cultural tradition of masking by Africans in various parts of the Caribbean: Belize, Bermuda, Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, St. Kitts, Nevis, Guyana, Grenada, and Trinidad. These masking activities were called by several names like gumbe, jonkonu, or kambula, however today it is referred to as Carnival. Carnival is an annual celebration of life found in many countries of the world and i s an integral part of West African religious culture, intimately connected with secret societies that were gender specific (Lewis:180). Growing up in a family that celebrates this specific tradition, the history of how it began isShow MoreRelatedLetter For The Nomination Of Bertram Omar Leon For A National Award759 Words   |  4 PagesSt Lucia; his overall support for his local community and youth development are just some of his many contributions. I am also aware of his desire to promote UK Caribbean diaspora development via his many associations with the Caribbean diaspora communities. He has already successfully influenced the St Lucia government to adopt a Diaspora Policy, which was recently approved, to engage and ensure better inclusion of overseas national in the country’s national development plans. He is regarded as anRead MoreMasculinity in the Trinidadian Diaspora in Sections of an Orange by Anton Nimblett696 Words   |  3 Pages Sections of an Orange dives in to the personal stories of men and women living in Trinidad and Tobago and the Trinidadian diaspora in New York. Anton Nimblett allows the reader to experience the struggles with the characters, and there are feelings of isolation, longing, deception, and most commonly—love. Caribbean conceptions of gender and sexuality are usually geared towards the traditional types. In other words, boys are to playing football, and not helping their aunts sew and cook. Men areRead MoreReflection Paper About The Caribbean1637 Words   |  7 Pageswanted to share with you how much I have learned about the Caribbean—which is essential to how I now not only view the countries but the people. I’ve come to realize how ignorant I was in regards to knowing exactly what the Caribbean is. Strangely enough, our entire family is from the Caribbean. Im from the Caribbean. But, I know so little. The first day of classes back in September, I was asked by the professor to describe what the Caribbean mean to me. As we went around the room, my turn came andRead MoreAnalysis of Caribbean Festivals Essay995 Words   |  4 PagesThe Caribbean is a region known not only for its sun, sand and sea, but its festivals. Also known as ‘Caribbean Carnival’, these festivals have spread to the diaspora. Oxford Dictionaries define carnival as, â€Å"a period of public revelry at a regular time each year, typically during the week before Lent in Roman Catholic countries, involving processions, music, dancing, and the use of masquerade.† The term and concept of ‘carnival’ originated in Italy, however, with the influence of African cultureRead MoreNegotiating Halls Caribbean Identity in Kincaids Annie John3215 Words   |  13 PagesNegotiating Halls Caribbean Identity in Kincaids Annie John In his article Negotiating Caribbean Identities, Stuart Hall attempts to relay to the reader the complications associated with assigning a single cultural identity to the Caribbean people. Even though the article is intended by the author to represent the Caribbean people as a splicing of a number of different cultures, the processes Hall highlights are noticeable on an individual scale in the main character of Jamaica Kincaids novelRead MoreDefining Of The African Diaspora1930 Words   |  8 PagesDefining African Diaspora When defining Diaspora, many aspects can come to mind. The topic of Diaspora usually brings to mind certain ethnic groups, but that of African and African-Americans typically are not considered. Diaspora is defined as â€Å"To refer to migrants who settle in distant lands and produce new generations, all the while maintaining ties of affection with and making occasional visits to each other and their homeland.† Usually those of Jewish heritage are known for Diaspora, but aroundRead More Diaspora and Syal’s Anita and Me Essay2970 Words   |  12 PagesDiaspora and Syal’s Anita and Me Diaspora, a term used to describe the dispersion of a people from their original homeland, has become an increasingly pertinent topic of discussion in contemporary society. Nalini Natarajan in the essay â€Å"Reading Diaspora† argues that â€Å"the phenomenon of diasporic populations is by no means new, but its scale in the twentieth century is dramatic† (xiii). Natarajan also argues that the nature of contemporary diasporic experiences, due to the global reach of technologyRead MoreThe Family Aspect Of The Quilt1139 Words   |  5 PagesIn a perfect world, the Caribbean is like a quilt that has been stitched together by a mother or grandmother. It eventually comes together to form a unique blanket that incorporates a multi-dimensional group of different pieces of colors and sizes in its final product. The maternal aspect of the quilt, represents the Euro-colonial influence that was responsible for the colonialization of the Caribbean region. All patches have their o wn unique shape and design, and eventually come together to makeRead MoreAn Active Role in Shaping History Essay1590 Words   |  7 Pagesshaped ultimately by outsiders. The colonization of Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America were all controlled and executed by the Europeans. The slave trade and plantations were also under the power of whites. Even the emancipation of slaves, though the African-descended definitely contributed, was mostly shaped by and a result of decisions in which they had no involvement. They were unable to play an active role in their Diaspora; they were forced to be passive participants. However, followingRead MoreThe Importance Of Slave Trade In Africa751 Words   |  4 PagesEnslaved Africans taken to Brazil came mainly from Angola and those taken to Caribbean were mostly from West Africa. The top African countries that supplied slaves to the European nations were the west central Africa which in the present day is known as the democratic republic of C ongo and Angola. Other areas include the Gold Coast, eastern Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon. Majority of the enslaved Africans were shifted to Caribbean, Spanish empire and Brazil (Rawley p49) On the way to the European countries

Can Christians Believe in Dinosaurs

Plenty of animals make cameo appearances in the Old and New Testaments—snakes, sheep, and frogs, to name just three—but there isnt a single mention of dinosaurs. (Yes, some Christians maintain that the serpents of the Bible were really dinosaurs, as were the fearsomely named monsters Behemoth and Leviathan, but this isnt a widely accepted interpretation.) This lack of inclusion, combined with scientists assertion that dinosaurs lived over 65 million years ago, makes many Christians skeptical about the existence of dinosaurs, and of prehistoric life in general. The question is, can a devout Christian believe in creatures like Apatosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex without running afoul of the articles of his faith? In order to answer this question, we first have to define what we mean by the word Christian. The fact is that there are over two billion self-identified Christians in the world, and most of them practice a very moderate form of their religion (just as the majority of Muslims, Jews, and Hindus practice moderate forms of their religions). Of this number, about 300 million identify themselves as fundamentalist Christians, an inflexible subset of which believes in the inerrancy of the Bible concerning all things (ranging from morality to paleontology) and therefore have the most difficulty accepting the idea of dinosaurs and deep geological time. Still, some types of fundamentalists are more fundamental than others, meaning its difficult to establish exactly how many of these Christians genuinely disbelieve in dinosaurs, evolution, and an earth thats older than a few thousand years. Even taking the most generous estimate of the number of die-hard fundamentalists, that still leaves about 1.9 billion Christians who have no trouble reconciling scientific discoveries with their belief system. No less an authority than Pope Pius XII said, in 1950, that there was nothing wrong with believing in evolution, with the proviso that the individual human soul is still created by God (an issue about which science has nothing to say), and in 2014 Pope Francis actively endorsed evolutionary theory (as well as other scientific ideas, like global warming, that some people disbelieve). Can Fundamentalist Christians Believe in Dinosaurs? The main thing that distinguishes fundamentalists from other types of Christians is their belief that the Old and New Testaments are literally true—and thus the first and last word in any debate concerning morality, geology, and biology. While most Christian authorities have no trouble interpreting the six days of creation in the Bible as figurative rather than literal—for all we know, each day may have been 500 million years long! Fundamentalists insist that a biblical day is exactly as long as a modern day. Combined with a close reading of the age of the patriarchs, and a reconstruction of the timeline of biblical events, this leads fundamentalists to deduce an age for the earth of about 6,000 years. Needless to say, its extremely difficult to fit creation and dinosaurs (not to mention most of geology, astronomy and evolutionary biology) into that brief a time frame. Fundamentalists propose the following solutions to this dilemma: Dinosaurs were real, but they lived only a few thousand years ago. This is the most common solution to the dinosaur problem: Stegosaurus, Triceratops and their ilk roamed the earth during Biblical times, and were even led, two by two, onto Noahs Ark (or taken aboard as eggs). In this view, paleontologists are at best misinformed, and at worst perpetrating an outright fraud, when they date fossils to tens of millions of years ago, since this goes against the word of the Bible. Dinosaurs are real, and theyre still with us today. How can we say dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago when there are still tyrannosaurs roaming the jungles of Africa and plesiosaurs shadowing the ocean floor? This line of reasoning is even more logically incoherent than the others since the discovery of a living, breathing Allosaurus wouldnt prove anything about a) the existence of dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era or b) the viability of the theory of evolution. The fossils of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals were planted by Satan. This is the ultimate conspiracy theory: the evidence for the existence of dinosaurs was planted by no less an arch-fiend than Lucifer, to lead Christians away from the one true path to salvation. Granted, not many fundamentalists subscribe to this belief, and its unclear how seriously its taken by its adherents (who may be more interested in scaring people onto the straight and narrow than stating the unadorned facts). How Can You Argue with a Fundamentalist About Dinosaurs? The short answer is: you cant. Today, most reputable scientists have a policy of not engaging in debates with fundamentalists about the fossil record or the theory of evolution, because the two parties are arguing from incompatible premises. Scientists gather empirical data, fit theories to discovered patterns, change their views when circumstances demand, and boldly go where the evidence leads them. Fundamentalist Christians are deeply distrustful of empirical science and insist that the Old and New Testaments are the only true source of all knowledge. These two world-views overlap exactly nowhere! In an ideal world, fundamentalist beliefs about dinosaurs and evolution would fade into obscurity, driven out of the sunlight by the overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary. In the world we live in, though, school boards in conservative regions of the U.S. are still trying to either remove references to evolution in science textbooks, or add passages about intelligent design (a well-known smokescreen for fundamentalist views about evolution). Clearly, vis-a-vis the existence of dinosaurs, we still have a long way to go to convince fundamentalist Christians of the value of science.

Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads Free Essays

Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the continuous journey of life; there exists not a path that leaves one with but a sole direction in which to advance. In his poem, â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, Robert Frost exhibits insight and perception in using poetic techniques to communicate this message. The piece depicts a man’s regret at not being able to travel two roads, and having to make a choice between the two. We will write a custom essay sample on Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads or any similar topic only for you Order Now The importance of making decisions is disclosed in the narrator’s assertion that his choice â€Å"has made all the difference.† The first few lines of the poem introduce the elements of Frost’s primary metaphor and symbol, the diverging roads. The use of the road suggests that life is a journey that the narrator is traveling. The â€Å"two roads diverged† symbolize the points in this journey where one must make choices. As the narrator contemplates his decision, wishing that he could take both paths at the same time while knowing there is no possibility in that, the reader is able to glimpse the strength of Frost’s symbolism- every person must make decisions with the knowledge that going back and changing them is impossible, because one has already traveled too far down the chosen path to turn back. The setting, along with imagery, assists in developing the key symbols of the poem. The piece opens with the narrator taking a walk in the woods during the autumn season, when he is suddenly confronted with a diverging path. The central image of â€Å"two roads diverged† helps to convey the theme of having to make choices in life. The â€Å"yellow wood† corresponds to the autumn season, a period that is often related to the end of the annual cycle in flora and foliage. Autumn may be perceived as a state in limbo between the vivacity of summer and the chill of winter. The speaker examines one path to the best of his ability: â€Å". . . and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth†. His vision, however, is limited because the path bends, and a certain amount of undergrowth obscure the destination of the road. The description of the paths indicates that although the speaker would like to acquire more information, he is prevented from doing so because of the nature of his environment. The road that will be chosen leads to the unknown, as does any choice in life. The concept of â€Å"two roads diverged in a yellow wood† illustrates an interval between two phases in life, and helps convey the theme of one having to inevitably choose between digressing paths. The ironic tone is inescapable: â€Å"I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence.† The speaker anticipates his own future insincerity. He knows that he will be inaccurate, at best, or hypocritical, at worst, when he holds his life up as an example. In fact, he predicts that his future self will betray this moment of decision as if the betrayal were inevitable. This realization is ironic and poignantly pathetic. But the â€Å"sigh† is critical. The speaker will not, in his old age, merely gather the youth about him and say, â€Å"Do what I did, kiddies. I stuck to my guns, took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.† Rather, he may say this, but he will sigh first; for he won’t believe it himself. Somewhere in the back of his mind will remain the image of yellow woods and two equally leafy paths. Ironic as it is, this is also a poem infused with the anticipation of remorse. Its title is not â€Å"The Road Less Traveled† but â€Å"The Road Not Taken.† Even as he makes a choice (a choice he is forced to make if does not want to stand forever in the woods, one for which he has no real guide or definitive basis for decision-making), the speaker knows that he will second-guess himself somewhere down the line–or at the very least he will wonder at what is irrevocably lost: the impossible, unknowable Other Path. But the nature of the decision is such that there is no Right Path–just the chosen path and the other path. What are sighed for ages and ages hence are not so much the wrong decisions as the moments of decision themselves–moments that, one atop the other, mark the passing of a life. This is the more primal strain of remorse. It is observed that the title of the poem, â€Å"The Road Not Taken,† may be intended to serve as a subtle hint, an insinuation of the narrator’s dissatisfaction with the decision he made. What about â€Å"the one less traveled by†? Neither of the roads was less traveled than the other. He less traveled both roads because this was the first time the narrator had come upon these paths. Leaves covered the ground, and since the time they had fallen no one had yet to pass by on this road; both were worn about the same â€Å"in leaves that no step had trodden black.† Nevertheless, the speaker is unhappy that he took the path that he chose, and yearns to go back and take â€Å"The Road Not Taken.† Time, however, does not allow second chances. â€Å"The Road Not Taken† is an ironic commentary on the autonomy of choice in a world governed by instincts, unpredictable contingencies, and limited possibilities. It parodies and demurs from the biblical idea that God is the â€Å"way† that can and should be followed and the American idea that nature provides the path to spiritual enlightenment. The title refers doubly to bravado for choosing a road less traveled but also to regret for a road of lost possibility and the eliminations and changes produced by choice. â€Å"The Road Not Taken † reminds us of the consequences of the principle of selection in al1 aspects of life, namely that al1 choices in knowledge or in action exclude many others and lead to an ironic recognitions of our achievements. At the heart of the poem is the romantic mythology of flight from a fixed world of limited possibility into a wilderness of many possibilities combined with trials and choices through which the pilgrim progresses to divine perfection. The reader finds, at the literal level, the narrator expressing his regret at his human limitations, at not being able to travel two roads; he must make a choice. The choice is not easy, since it took him a long time to come to a decision: â€Å" . . . long I stood and looked down one as far as I could†. He examines one path â€Å"to where it bent in the undergrowth†, but his vision is limited because the path bends and is covered over. He describes the second path as â€Å"just as fair† as the first rather than more fair, and that the paths are â€Å"really about the same†. This ambiguous evaluation of the paths reveals his search for a clear and logical reason to decide on one path over another– only that reason is unavailable. When the narrator finally makes his decision, he tries to persuade himself that he will eventually satisfy the desire to travel both paths, while simultaneously admitting that such a hope is unrealistic:  Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.  At the end of the poem, in the future, the narrator will claim that the paths were actually different from each other, and that his choice â€Å"has made all the difference.† The last lines of the poem suggest that life would have been different had the speaker taken the other path: â€Å"I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.† The fact that the speaker says the entire last stanza â€Å"with a sigh† works together with the title to show that the speaker is disappointed with the choice he made. Once the entire poem is read, it may be realized that this is not an inspirational piece about why one should be different from everyone else. Rather, it reminds the reader of the consequences that follow a decision, and the manner in which one choice can shape one’s life. In his poem, Robert Frost conveys his notion of life as a journey that every person must travel, a journey laden with diverging roads, many decisions, and occasional sighs; the piece demonstrates the poet’s belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him or her the person who he or she is. â€Å"The Road Not Taken† leaves its readers with many different interpretations. In any case, however, it is Frost’s clever use of poetic techniques to express the theme that opens the door for analysis, and allows all readers from different backgrounds to relate to the poem. How to cite Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads, Essay examples

How To Write The Title Of A Short Story In An Essay Example For Students

How To Write The Title Of A Short Story In An Essay It was one of those nights that the sky was clear and the stars were visible. I had just defeated the stress of finals and was now ready to be back in action; the late night activity of the San Francisco underground scene was calling my name. It is where a person could go and walk down one street and probably visit at least 30 clubs by doing this. There was a particular flavor I was in search of this night, something that could make me exert my body to its fullest extent. I needed to go and release some stress by dancing at a club, I needed to let loose. When my friends Mike, Christina and I arrived in San Francisco our first destination was the Cat Club. It was a seedy little place hosted the break beat and jungle music. It wasnt much to look at it, with its dark entrance and several vagrants sleeping in the street near the entrance. A different crowd hung out there. It was a mixture of old dance party burnouts and very young ambitious club-goers. I felt confident though, I was going to go in there and knock the crowds socks off. I was in my best fits (outfit); I was wearing my black old school Adidas running suit with white stripes, and a black Kangol hat. The Adidas Superstar shoes that I was wearing had my white fat laces in them, to add a little flavor, but the shoes themselves looked almost war torn; they were scared from many other late nights. As the line moved forward closer to the entrance of the club, I could feel the pulsating vibes of the music like a gust of wind every time the door was opened to allow other patrons int o the club. It sounded wild in there, I was outside and I wanted to be in there so bad. Just the sound of the music and feeling of the vibration was making me more anxious then ever. I felt like a little kid waiting for Christmas.I needed to be inside, on the dance floor, just it and me. I was going to dance tonight. Suddenly, the line had stopped. What was going on? This couldnt be happening I needed to be inside; I needed to feel weightless and sweaty from some fast paced break dancing. My legs were jittery with anticipation. I felt like I was going to go mad. Mike being as pushy as he usually is walked up to the bouncer and in his English accent said to him, Oie, whats the hold up, why are we still standing outside freezing our bullocks off The bouncer looked at him with amazement that someone would actually approach him that way. I heard him say very humbly, that the bathroom had been backed up so they needed to clean the overflow and it would be about 33 minutes; he said that t hey didnt want to let anymore people in so it wouldnt intensify the mess. It was understandable, but I was now at the edge. Mike walked back and looked over he knew without saying anything that I had heard what the bouncer said. Not a word was said for about 5 minutes until Christina began whining, I am so bored waiting in line just is not fun! My clothes are too expensive to just be standing here in the street!!!! As pretty as I am she be the first one in, god damn it!!!! She was a bit self-centered. She loved to play the displaced glamour queen. I didnt pay much attention to her; I just needed to dance! At this point it felt as though all of the stress that had built up from school was coming back tenfold. I hated waiting in line at clubs it was the worst thing to do. Usually you would know someone at the club and they would put you on the list or the line moved pretty quick. I felt like a social reject waiting in line with people that I had never noticed in any club before. I sat here and wondered where the hell were most of theses people when I