Author Archives: Michelle Mensah

The Problem with Rachel Dolezal

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This week I went to a Monday Table Talk about Rachel Dolezal and whether her concept of “transracialism” is valid or not. Someone brought up the point of how Rachel is from a position of privilege and power and so is attempting to achieve some kind of benefit from passing herself off as African American when she is of European-American descent. I think that this is one aspect of why people see her concept of race as problematic. While people who are not of a certain race can choose to share in the culture and advocate for members of that race, Rachel crosses a line by choosing to embody the African American race that she admires. In our talk, we discussed how difficult it is to determine whether what she is doing is acceptable or not. Overall, most people did agree that it was not okay.

However, in my opinion, as an African American woman myself, I am glad to see that someone desires to look like me, since for so many years, black women have been relegated to the lower rungs of society especially in discussions of beauty and appearance. In addition, Rachel did attempt to make contributions to the African American race, by serving as president of an NAACP chapter and making artwork that celebrated the African American experience. On the other hand, she does not have the negative and oftentimes painful real-life experience of being a black woman, so she can never really be one.

In conclusion, the problem of Rachel Dolezal is a difficult one to solve. I think that society has to try to solve it though. Her example and whether she really ever gains acceptance will really determine how society views individuals who choose to veer off the identity they were born with.

12 Men Who Cannot Decide

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This weekend I watched 12 Angry Men as a Rose event. I thought it was a good film about people’s prejudices while dealing with America’s justice system.  After the film, through our discussion, I learned that the actual process of choosing jurors is meant to weed out people who might have prejudices like the man in the film who was bent on putting the boy in jail due to his slum background. However, it is doubtful how much this process is successful. I think that in law it is almost impossible to make fully unbiased decisions in a case. While America tries to make it seem as if every case is held to the “without a reasonable doubt” mantra, I think it fails time and time again. For instance, the Trayvon Martin case to me seemed to come to a unsatisfying conclusion. I feel as if everyone doubted whether he was truly innocent. Just like in the film, there was a race factor in the court case.

I also think that the movie portrays how everyone wants to simply do what everyone else is doing, even if they truly don’t agree. Everyone was on the guilty side until it was no longer popular to be on that side. When more people were switching sides, then the guy who just wanted to go watch baseball decided to switch sides. It made me doubt whether they truly agreed with the innocent side or just were swayed by Davis’s charismatic explanation of the events of the case. I also thought the guy who turned everything into a joke demonstrated how not everyone takes these court cases seriously until it directly impacts their lives. I think this shows how Americans should not be obligated to serve jury duty. Not only does it disrupt people’s live, it makes people come to decisions that they have not fully thought out simply because they have not interest.

The Never-ending Resumé

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This week I went to an event about writing resumes. I learned a lot that I did not know before. For instance, I did not know that it is not professional to write a resume in two columns. I really liked how our graduate student went through all of the individual subsections we could have on our resumes. It really helped to know all the different ways to display information in a professional manner. I liked how she also pointed out that we could combine different subsections to display other information that might not fit in one subsection. I think this event made me realize just how difficult it is to judge how different employers may view one resume. I also realized that learning to write a resume could take years because people are always revising them to fit every step of their careers.

In addition, although I feel like crafting a good resume is one way to have a good first step when finding jobs and internships, the entire process made me feel less confident about looking for positions. I feel as if there is so much to know that the information can get overwhelming. All the aspects of your resume and even interview you have to consider are important. Even at the end of the event, I think we did not get though everything there was to know about resumes and CVs.

The Power Imbalance of Cultural Appropriation

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This week I went to a Table Talk about cultural appropriation. I learned a lot more about it that I hadn’t really considered before. For instance, our leader for this talk, Sam brought up the political side of this issue. He discussed how some African independence movements borrowed elements from the Civil Rights Movement to further their fight. I think that this is a positive aspect of cultural appropriation, if people like to label that way, but I personally think that this action can be named something else.

To me, cultural appropriation is always negative, but we discussed nuanced ways in which there is a gray area. For example, the people who are borrowing might not have an intention to criticize the culture. We also discussed power and how the people who often benefit from appropriation are often part of the group with more power in the situation. Some examples of cultural appropriation we talked about are hair braiding, costumes, and music. Hair braiding is something I feel very strongly about due to its presence in my culture. I think that there is a difference between whether someone braids their hair to share in my culture versus misrepresenting and devaluing the art of hair braiding, for instance.

In conclusion, I learned that there is often no clear answer to whether someone has appropriated another person’s culture or not. I also learned that politics has to do with the causes and effects of appropriation.

What Happened in this Movie?

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This Friday I watched the film “What Happened to Monday”. It was a strange film to say the least. I think that the futuristic world portrayed in which everyone is obligated to only have one child and all children are locked away in “sleep mode” until an undetermined future utopia where everything is abundant and wonderful is heavily unrealistic. In terms of quality of acting, all the characters were difficult to believe and everything they said and all their actions didn’t really make sense to me. Firstly, there was no backstory. The female leader is oddly cold and unfeeling. I have a hard time believing that people would allow her to take power. Secondly, the seven siblings’ polar opposite identities was distracting and real twins are not that vastly different.

Next, I don’t understand how the entire world would place all power in the hands of one individual. It just doesn’t make sense and wouldn’t happen in the real world. In addition, an overpopulated world doesn’t mean everyone should have only one child. China’s One Child Policy proves this doesn’t work in the end. Recently, they even revoked that law. More focus should be on educating people in developing countries and helping social issues improve. Maybe if that happened, new ways could be found to sustain resources. I was also quite outraged at the level of violence in the movie. If more attention was payed to the story, maybe all these plot holes would be fixed.

In conclusion, I found the cinematic elements lacking in creativity and logic. However, the questions of power and how people use it is interesting. They could have been more central to the plot.

Hidden Passageways

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This Wednesday, I went to an event about not only the conception of and creation of West Campus housing, but also about some hidden treasures that most people don’t know about. Dr. Blalock’s explanation of how the completion of the West campus housing system was expensive because of the 2008 economic crash made me realize how many outside factors affect us students’ lives. Although we may think our dissatisfaction with something such as the limited housing available has to do with allocation of school funds and donations, it is more complex.  The price of steel, cement, and other building materials has a deep affect on how soon and how much buildings are made.

The tour at the end of the discussion made me realize how we students rarely think about what occurs behind the scenes. We enjoy the benefits of having food delivered every day for every meal without realizing how it gets here. I think this experience was very eye-opening. I feel like I know more about the day-to-day running of the school. This also makes me feel more included in the community. I also realized the school community includes not only the students, but the workmen who deliver our food, the dining and facilities staff. It also orients me to how outside factors affects the school in ways people might not see.

More Than Just the Staff

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This week, I went to a Rose Café and heard the Head of Facilities, Anthony McCabe, speak about his job responsibilities. I realized that not only is Custodial Services a difficult job to do, but it involves certain things that I would never consider. I was surprised to hear that Mr. McCabe and his team deal with emotional as well as physical tasks. Seeing students who need help and figuring out non invasive ways  to help them is a complex situation to figure out. I think that the fact that our Custodial Services team cares about us students enough to take an hour and a half long seminar on how to help us in times of trouble is very reassuring. It made me realize that more people care at Cornell about me than I thought.

I was also quite surprised to hear that Cornell turns into a resort during the summer! I had never heard of this from anyone and I think few students know about this. It taught me that just because we students leave, at any time of the year, the school is still functioning. Custodial Services doesn’t get a break when we do. In addition, Mr. McCabe took the time to come hear our concerns and even brought a pad and pencil to write them down! I really appreciated his concern for our comfort and satisfaction. His explanation about how important our privacy is to him and his team was very enlightening for me. Now when I hear Facilities knock on the bathroom or dorm door before entering, I know that it is because they respect and care about our right to privacy.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this talk because it opened my eyes to just how much of an impact the Custodial Services team makes in our lives, whether we know it or not. They care not only about making us physically comfortable, but also about helping our emotional wellbeing.

Friday Night Fights

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This Friday, I watched the film Friday Night Lights. I was shocked by how the people of the small Texas town of Odessa hinged their entire lives on the outcome of their high school football games. Not only were the players under tremendous pressure, but their coaches, parents, and guardians were under pressure as well. One theme that I think was evident throughout the film was the relationship between the athletes and their bodies and how that relationship affects everyone around them.

In order to get a scholarship to play professional football, which none of their real life counterparts did, the characters pushed their bodies to the limit. Specifically, in the beginning of the film, the star player Boobie felt invincible due to the positive reactions from everyone around him. It seemed as if his success would never end. When a teammate points out that he didn’t lift before practice, he states, “this is God-given.” However, as he realized he would no longer be able to play football, he felt helpless and as if his life had ended. A heart-wrenching scene portrays him crying in the car after packing his bags in the locker room and saying that he cannot do anything besides play football, which is not an option anymore for him. I think that if Boobie had focused on school more than football, he would have other career options that would enable him to buy his uncle a house.

I think this scene demonstrates that children should play sports recreationally, and not hinge their entire lives on their sport-playing ability. Today, some parents try to live vicariously through their children by pushing them into certain activities and career paths that might not be suitable for their children. Of course, parents should encourage the interests of their child, but forcing them to shoulder the responsibility of winning for an entire town as is portrayed in the film is a tremendous undertaking. Overall, I think that instead of spending money emotionally and physically draining seventeen year olds, the town should be investing in those children’s education. At one point in the film, a radio announcer surmises that the reason the football team isn’t doing well is because “they’re doing too much learning in those schools.” I hardly think this statement is true due to Boobie’s difficulty in reading the word “distinguished” in a letter he receives from USC.

In conclusion, Friday Night Lights is a movie about a football team’s ability to individually fight their way to a better world in which the town of Odessa doesn’t heave so much expectation onto their shoulders. It is a also a movie that reveals the impact of a seemingly insignificant event, a high school football game, on many individual lives. It also exposes the intellectual tragedies that can occur when children are trained to depend on their bodily strength at such a young age.