When reading Chapter 4, I felt sadness, because I thought of all the missed opportunities I have had to do something good for someone else, and haven’t because it didn’t seem important, or that the power that I have is “not enough.” I would never describe myself as virtuous, because I think that that word is reserved for those who live every aspect of their lives with virtue, like Ghandi. But in reading this I’ve realized that people like me make ourselves to be smaller than we are, and our impact less meaningful than it really is. We allow ourselves to be products of our environment rather than the masters of it. Instead, we should be making a conscious effort to live virtuously because we don’t realize how much our contributions matter to others. 

Although I was very much inspired by chapter 5, I was also hesitant about some of the ideas in this reading, because I began to question: if the systems in which we operate are broken, how much can individual people really do to make a difference. My first thought went to climate change, and the justice system. We can recycle and compost and free wrongfully convicted people, but it will not fix the existing issue that even more people’s trash will end up in landfills, and more people will end up wrongfully incarcerated. But then I realized that the words do apply. We have the opportunity to fix these broken systems, as deep-rooted as they may be, and how “invisible” the forces behind them are. As the author notes, even in situations that seemed hopeless, or power seemed impenetrable, justice has prevailed unexpectedly and we need to remember that going forward. 

Clearly the people in this classroom and in this major knew they wanted to make a difference in some capacity, even if it meant “sacrificing” practical skills that most employers are looking for. And yet I don’t see it as a sacrifice at all. Learning about things that genuinely matter and understanding to think critically, to understand social complexities, and learning how to convey that message to an audience is extremely important in creating change. I think there is a sense of understanding that we should not just graduate and be a productive member of society, ignorant to history and social issues, there is a sense that we should take our applied knowledge and use it to do the most good we can. 

Listening to the podcast, I had not realized how many songs were used as a method of both storytelling and social commentary. Song are similar to stories in the way that they are an “easier,” more indirect way to speak out against social issues and be heard by many people. I grew up listening to jazz music with my father, but I never realized the historical relevance of the music in relationship to prohibition.

I had never watched Beyonce’s Formation music video, but in watching it I immediately recognized various nods to black Southern culture in both the video and the lyrics. In between dancing and singing shots, the music video cuts to scenes of houses and cars underwater in reference to the hurricanes that have affected New Orleans, a predominantly black city. The city suffered serious damages and left many without homes and jobs, many areas of the city have not yet been rebuilt and people are still facing the repercussions 16 years later. The integration of social issues into popular culture and media is a great way to bring attention to these issues. One scene that stood out to me in the video was the little boy dancing in front of the police officers. This struck me because a disturbing number young black men have died at the hands of police officers in recent history. I think the choice to portray a very young boy represents the innocence of these young men, and also strikes people in a different way than if the filmmakers would have used a young man. His youth and innocence juxtaposed against the armed officers is unsettling to the viewer, which is its intention. It is incredible that popular black creators like  Beyonce use their platform to call attention to social injustices, which starts conversations that go above and beyond the music itself.

I had previously read the Yellow Wallpaper, but I remember not understanding the events that were taking place. Taking a second look at this short story, and after our lessons on both storytelling and history, this story makes more sense than it did previously. It was written in the late 1800s, which was a time in which women had little to no autonomy in their homes, and were treated like property by their husbands. This context is relevant to the story, because the narrator struggling with mental illness in a time in which women had very few rights and conversations about mental illness were taboo. Although I was not certain of what the symbolism was for the woman in the wallpaper, I interpreted it as the narrator’s representation of herself, trapped in both her room and her mind, unable to escape. She becomes increasingly disturbed throughout the story because she is helpless without adequate treatment for her mental illness and a husband/doctor who thinks she is making this up. Today, the conversation about mental illness has shifted so that it has become more mainstream and has been legitimized.The narrator is faced with the struggle of being not believed by her doctor, who also happens to be her husband. There are multiple levels to this, because she is both not believed by her husband because of the fact that she is a woman and women were of much lower social status than men, so their feelings were not legitimized. I did some research to gain more context, and found that the Yellow Wallpaper was relevant in helping people gain a better understanding of postpartum depression, what the woman in the story appears to be suffering from, which is a very common phenomenon today but was not discussed or understood well in the 1800s.

I had not necessarily considered the impact that popular culture has because we generally do tend to think of it as “low-brow,” despite the fact that is consumed and enjoyed by large numbers of people. People are invested in this culture, and because it reaches so many it has great potential to influence the way people think. Every time a movie comes out that pushes against norms or stereotypes, it raises discussions in public spaces that are extremely important. We can use pop culture to help change the way people see the world and we have neglected to do so for so long. Pop culture can spread ideas over large groups of people, thus influencing their opinions or outlooks on the world at large. For example, popular culture has shifted over time to represent more people, and to share more perspectives, and occasionally to “undo” the injustices that popular culture has presented as mainstream over the years. In today’s day and age we see more representation of people of color, more of their stories being told, but we also must remember that there was a time in which it was acceptable for films to include people with blackface, using hateful words, and people accepted that as the “norm.” Popular culture has a huge impact on shifting our ideas of the norm, so representation in film and telling the stories of those who have been silenced is important to changing the way groups of people are viewed in society. But even today we lack representation in recognizing people for their work. Each year awards shows end up under fire for the lack of nominations and recognition of the roles of minorities in media. Although I am not someone who watches award shows or actively goes to the movies, it is disheartening to see that we are still so far from where we should be. But in a way, opening the discussion to ideas about issues within popular culture is popular culture itself, allowing us to consider the implications using pop culture to shift the way we think about the world.

Hayter’s article was extremely interesting to me, it was honestly surprising, because so much of black history has been left out of the common narrative in history classes and textbooks that barely skim the surface of issues such as voting rights. The story of voting rights did not end with the VRA, and it was shocking to learn of the lengths that black people in Richmond had to go to in order to get their votes heard, and even more horrifying the lengths that the white people in power went to in order to stifle their votes. Annexing a county full of white people in order to make sure that black votes had a reduced influence, so that they would not be able to elect their candidates of choice. In this case, justice prevailed after seven years, but in many cases in history, minorities have not been so lucky.

Dr. Bezio’s podcast emphasizes the way that large groups of people have been excluded throughout history, both in historical events and in the narrative of history itself. History has been defined and shared mostly by rich white men, who have had the ability to tell history from their perspective, not from the perspective of the majority, or the common people. Yet even recent history is told by the perspective of those in power, neglecting to tell the entirety of the “story’ excluding gaping parts in order to gloss over those deemed less important. It is imperative that we “rewrite” history, to include the stories and efforts of those that took place “behind the scenes,” struggles and movements that were not executed by so-called Great Men, but by the common people whose unity and perseverance made the difference these Great Men needed in order to succeed. After all, leaders do not exist without the support of their followers. Further, we need to tell the stories that do not include Great Men, movements that are not faceless but comprised of many faces, such as the voting rights movement here in Richmond.

I was assigned the presidential ads from 1980, during the election between Reagan and Carter. I immediately noticed strong differences between the two candidate’s campaigns. After watching the series of Reagan videos, I noticed strong themes of economic prosperity, inflation, taxes, and Reagan’s position as governor. His campaign was centered around the failure of Carter and how things could change under his leadership.

In contrast, Carter’s campaign played heavily on his deep southern roots and faith in order to appeal to voters. His reelection campaign utilized fewer attacks against Reagan than Reagan’s campaign used against him, instead trying to appeal to voters emotions more than practical side, portraying him as a “Man of Peace” but also an “army man.” His campaign did not focus on goals or actions or changes, but about who he was as a person in order to make voters feel more connected to him. In some ways this is positive, but for it lacked a sense legitimacy that Reagan offered in his campaign videos.

In watching ads for both candidates, it brought me back to the thought process that people who hear vs. see a debate might have different opinions on who was more “presidential.” Despite knowing credentials or legitimacy, some people look more official or more capable than others, which can often mislead us. We have certain physical traits we look for in a leader, that we have grown to associate with leadership because of the societies we used to live in. For example, in small-scale early societies we needed leaders who were physically more capable. However, in today’s society in which we are at less of a risk of engaging in physical conflict and we often require more intellect, our “lizard brains” can mislead us to be drawn towards leaders, and oftentimes candidates, who are more physically appealing, regardless of their capability.

The way systemic issues were compared to a nervous system such as when a repeated injury breaks down the nerves in a way that either destroys their ability to signal, or causes continuous pain struck me, because it accurately demonstrates the severity of the problem, but also how over time it becomes difficult to pinpoint the source of the “pain.” For example, the education system, justice system, welfare system, housing system are a few examples of systems in the United States that build off of one another, worsening inequality because issues that should have been addressed decades ago have never been fixed, leaving vulnerable minority communities in the same situations they faced in the early to mid 1900s.

Our country has allowed groups to slip through the cracks by never fully correcting our past actions, therefore leaving minority groups at a disadvantage, with reduced access to public goods and opportunities. These inequalities have become compounded over time, similar to a repeated injury, which has deepened the wealth gap and made it significantly more difficult for minorities to succeed in the United States, as they have everything working against them. This is idea of a homeostatic feedback loop is one that I have come across during my research for my project, realizing that the public education system has been in existence for so long with little to no interruption or adjustments, that there is significant imbalance in the quality of education in school districts across the country. But this one system does not exist on it’s own, it is the result of a variety of other systems, and as a result, it feeds into even more systems, creating a complex web of inequality that seems never-ending, and oftentimes hopeless. I think that as a general rule our society doesn’t understand how deeply engrained these systems are into our society, and the effect they have on virtually everything. For example, we raise money and donate items and provide “quick-fix” solutions to the surface-level problems that we see. Although we may fix that problem in the short-term, it won’t stop the problem from happening to others, for generations to come if the system does not provide people with greater opportunities, or protect them from falling into the same vicious cycles it has been for so long. There will continue to be a disproportionate rate of black prisoners in America if there continues to be over-policing in minority neighborhoods, police officers and zero tolerance policies in schools, and neighborhoods that segregate groups, preventing them from getting the same education and opportunities as white students. These issues all feed into one another, creating a homeostatic feedback loop that we have grown to accept as the norm, but creates unnecessary problems that hurt individuals, society, and the economy.

During the millennium village simulator I continuously struggled. I had significant difficulty creating the “perfect” combination of farming, water collection, etc. to allow the villagers to thrive. I was shocked by how sensitive the game was to even the slightest alterations, and how quickly I accidentally sent my villagers into poverty or poor health, when that was obviously not my intention. I realized that the decisions that I was making were negatively affecting people regardless of my intention, and realized that it is easier said than done to be the person in charge of the lives of others.

Just Mercy is not just the story of one man wrongfully incarcerated, it is the story of many black people who have all fallen victim to our failing justice system. The disproportionate incarceration of black people at a rate that is vastly higher than their population in the U.S. is a problem that stems from stereotypes and prejudice and a history of exclusion that has shaped a significant portion of our society. Ideas about black people being different or more “dangerous” are unfortunately still prevalent in American society today, perpetuated by films and popular culture that present black people and other minorities in a negative light.

For example, the practice of redlining which was designed to keep certain “undesirable” groups in specific residential areas still affects the racial and socioeconomic distribution of people, who have been trapped in a cycle of poverty, incapable of building wealth because of the area in which they live. Areas with higher minority populations are subject to significant over-policing, which in turn leads to higher rates of incarceration and “confirm” existing stereotypes about minorities, worsening the prejudice against them. The impact of incarceration for minor that likely would not have happened if the person was white is that it prevents black people from being able to get jobs and vote and have any impact on the system that has been failing them from the very start of our nation.

Not enough is being done in order to reshape the way that we (often unconsciously) think about people who are different from ourselves. In order to help address this, people should consume content that goes against their preexisting ideas, and they should educate themselves on the struggle of black people in America. Although this summer was a turning point for a lot of people, it is extremely important that the issue of racism does not continue to get swept under the rug the way it has for the past few hundred years.

Although advertising is not unfamiliar to me as an avid consumer of content, a significant portion of the psychological reasoning behind advertising was unknown to me. It is interesting to me that methods of advertising have shifted over time, and have gone from advertising individual products to a customer by presenting positive information about the product itself, to selling a lifestyle or an ideal that has little to nothing to do with the product. Instead of choosing products based on logistical information, customers are seeking feelings that are either associated with certain products or their advertisements. For example, advertisements create winners and losers– those who use the product and those who do not, or even more persuasively, those who are “not able to.” These products generally present a lifestyle of wealth and happiness that people link to individual products, even though they know that in reality that one product will not change their lives that drastically. 

Somehow, even knowing that generic products are the same as “brand-name” products does not change the fact that those brand-name products are more appealing, because they are more easily recognizable, and “trusted.” In order to get a better understanding of how these psychological tricks are executed in advertisements, I watched a compilation of Super Bowl Ads from 2021. One of the most common things I noticed was references to history and pop culture that are designed to make the reader feel “included” and “special” as if they are a part of an inside joke. For example, the Amazon Alexa ad referenced the Bill Clinton Monica Lewinsky scandal, and there was a Mountain Dew commercial that was a play on an iconic scene from The Shining, a classic movie that people should understand the reference to, regardless of whether they have seen the film. 

One commercial that stuck out to me during my life was the Nike Colin Kapernick “Dream Crazy” commercial, because it was so controversial and although the theme was about sports players, it made a broader statement about American society as a whole. During a time when Colin Kapernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem was extremely controversial (and still is), this ad focused on the importance of being the best one can be in every aspect of life, on and off the field. I remember watching it and being inspired and honestly surprised that Nike took the risk of potentially losing support by standing up for something that they believed in, equality for all. This commercial wasn’t about Nike products themselves, it was about what supporting Nike means and what their brand stands for. 

https://youtu.be/jBnseji3tBk

I was very surprised by the content of the Huff reading, because I had always assumed that statistical information would be representative and heavily researched/sampled. I was shocked at the realization that without context or with an unrepresentative sample, statistical information can be grossly misrepresentative of reality. I had also assumed that market research or polling questions would also be accurate, never taking into account people’s tendencies or abilities to lie in order to make themselves look better or worse. When looking at numbers it is difficult to remember that the data is likely being presented with the intention of convincing the reader of something, therefore it may be biased and even if it has correlation, the information may be entirely unrelated. Although I knew that in advertising, companies would present data that is in their best interest, purposely excluding information that does not serve them, or misrepresenting products similar to the way Old Gold cigarettes did, claiming them to be better for you than any other cigarette, neglecting to mention the statistics that showed very little difference between them and other cigarettes. 

I think that statistical figures claiming to represent a population should be required to clarify the number of people sampled and methods of sampling, so that readers can decide whether or not to believe the information at their own will. Just because things are strongly correlated does not mean that one is the cause or result of the other, which is very confusing, but basically it means that there are confounding factors that exist outside of the two presented that affect the outcome. 

I found it extremely interesting that my automatic instinct was to believe the information presented rather than question it, especially when it was specific instead of generalized, not understanding that there is no way that is accurate or representative of a given population. I realized that statistics can be applied similarly to stereotypes: they can generalize a population but be entirely inaccurate in representing an individual within that population.

Source: NY Times

This is my favorite chart because it depicts the current vaccine administration, which is very exciting considering the pandemic took off at a similar rate a year ago this month.