News Media

The news media is something that is very controversial. This was an interesting topic because it talked about the many negative aspects of the news industry. How they portray black communities and are males is an issue that has been long debated. I think that the news media is responsible for a lot of negative thoughts that others have on our community but we do have the responsbility as an individual to be the very best that we can be. I liked how we discussed the difference between mediums such as Fox and CNN and between conservative and so called liberal. The News tells a lot of things but if you are looking for the truth open up the Bible and turn to John 8:32

Spending Habits

American Spending Habits is a topic that should be discussed in this class. This is especially a good topic for College Students who often make some mistakes that take them a while to fix. Credit is important in this life and you will need it someday if not now. Darren went on to talk about the affects of spending that his family dealt with in Jacksonville and now he plans to become an investor. I believe that we should generally save portions of our monies to God, ourselves, our children, our retirement, and for other purposes. In addition you should invest as well, but spend only wisely and sparingly. My father always told me that you can't ever make any money if you always owe money. I am beginning to see the bigger picture finally..........

Video Games

This was probably my second favorite topic and debate that was discussed this semester. Within this debate we discussed the many negative and positive aspects of the video game industry. The positive aspects that Marcus pointed out related to me personally. He told of a recent Playstation game called Medal of Honor in which I learned of battles, rifles, war time stories, and even a little cinema of World War II. Growing up I found this very educational personally. Another personal example of the positive aspects of videos games was that when I would play Fifa Soccer for Playstation each year I would learn of new club teams that played throughout Europe and all their players. This came very beneficial to me since they never show any Enlgish Football on American TV. The obvious negative aspects of video games are the introductions to drugs, cursing, gang violence, prostitution and the general notion of it taking up Bobby's time. My kids will have the butt outside doing recreational, physical labor, or competitive activities all the time. I probably will allow them a video game or two though!

American Language

The American Language is both extensive and explorative. Yet it has, of course many of its meaning from Germany and other countries such as France and the Spanish Language. The obvious is the spin off of proper English, but since America is a big melting pit we have words and interpretations from all across the globe. There are new words being added into the dictionary constantly. American Language and the debate of it in class was intersting because we also explored dialects in different regions of the country. I can remember the young lady from New Orleans and how she explained that many people were initially indifferent to her because of her accent. She later went on to explain that when your from where she is from you cannot hide it. It is very interesting note how people sound from different parts of the country. Despite popular belief, many of us are related to others who dont sound like us. We just dont know it.

Do Words Matter?

I believe that words do matter and that what you say is what another should person should get and interpret. I believe that word should be your bond and that someone should be able to credit your trust as much as they credit your cash. I remember watching Amistad in the scene where the leader of the slave revolt actually told the white lawyer that in his tribe ( I believe the Mende) in Sierra Leone they did not have interpretation for such terms as should and could because the men in his culture meant what they said and did what they said. This should be relayed in our culture where we have many debates and disbeliefs simply because they did not do what they said they would. Words can also hurt a persons feelings and the Bible teaches against idle talking such as ranking or riding on people. We are not suppossed to do that. Also the word Nigger has taken an infamous history over the centuries and been in the mouths of countless people with different meanings. This term should be stopped in my opinion. But I don't think Niggas will ever understand that.

Gender

The subject of Gender was a very interesting topic. This debate explored and deleved into topic about some of the main differences between males and females. I felt like I learned something about the cognitive and psychological aspects of reasoning for each gender. I found this profounding because David decided talk about how Men dominated over women and sparked a very intensive debate. I think they spent half the class period on that particular part of the debate and that overall was a waste of time. The subject itself was great however, and caused us to relate to one another. Women talked about how they were discriminated against. I feel that this is all something that is obvious to anyone walking righteous and if you are walking with God, you respect women hands down. Again this is what I believe to be true.

Genetics

Genetics is the study of the stuff that our body is made of, DNA. I felt that this debate was that similar to the debate of cultural identity. Many of the topics discussd in both debates seemed to intertwine. I personally do not believe in a string theory or a link theory as some may call it. I like I will always just believe that God created the Earth and that we can never understand everything. The science of Genetics, from my understanding can tell us about a lot of things about our internal selves and about how culture is formed period. Through this debate I learned about reproudction, mutation, and what DNA actually is. I learned that natural selection causes a segment of a population to have a higher percentage of reproducing over a given period of time.

Cultural Identities

I believe that cultural identities was one of my favorite topics that was discussed in the debates during the semester. It caused much controversy, however, i find it quite simple. I believe that we are who we are and that we can never change that. Much like the Body Imaging topic many people throughout the world today find it interesting to look like or be a part of some ethnic group that is not of their own. As you would guess, from my standpoint, you know that I feel that this is garbage and that God made us all and that we should honor that. I also believe that although, yes race plays a significant role in how things are played for an individual in the world today, that the buck does not stop there. Yes, being a black male in today's society is challenging, and it was worst in the past, however, I feel that is not what God called me to focus most of my energy on. I will not complain about my race or my skin tone, but yet I will rejoice in the matter and be glad. Yeah, everyone may not want to hear my opinion on this topic today, but one day HIS SON will come back to reclaim everything. In HELL and in HEAVEN there will not be different spaces for different races, there will be one for all. That is my view, however I can understand other's views and that race is important down here. I can go on and talk about things like the origins of race and ask the question what is race, but I don't think that would be a short topic.

Social Networking

As my presentation suggested earlier in the semester I stay true to my theory that social networking is a beneficial tool in society. I believe that tools online such as Facebook and Myspace are beneficial to us socially. Personally I opt to use these online programs only to glorify my God as with everything else that I do. However, I could I understand how one would use these social networking tools to advance their business, find long lost friends, and keep in touch with others. It is medium, like other things being introduced to our society, that makes things more convenient. Who said that something like this blog would be a great idea for correspondence between people over thirty years ago? Anything can be made to advance our communication and I am all for it. On the contrary, I find it pertinent to talk about the negatives of facebook and other social networking tools as well. Of course I do not like to hear that we have girls being picked up online by stalkers and rapists and I also do feel that a lot of children spend way too much time wasting on the internet period. I think that Face book is a thing that someone can be sucked in to but you just have to be aware of it.

Body Image

I believe personally that body image is a topic that is very subjective. I do not find it, personally, as a pertinent trait that one would need to succeed in life. We should give it our best try to look and feel better about ourselves, but I feel that we should not kill ourselves over the matter. I believe that we were all made in God's image and that in itself signifies greatness. Our body is God's temple and that to me is something that is taken holy. On a personal level I can say that as of late, I have taken great measures to refine my body Mentally, Spiritually, and Physically. This both has something to do with me going to the Marine Corps and advancing on in my walk with Christ, however, I think that this is just a great idea in general. We should not allow ourselves to succumb to the opinion of others to the point where we are frightened about are body image as many people of today are. We should govern our bodies accordingly and guard our temples and everything else is promised to be alright.