Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Importance of Language as Culture

Wolof Tama player, Yamar Thiam of the Finnish ...Image via Late

Lately, I have contemplated the concerns of bridging the gap between language and culture. Along these lines I have some pretty strong beliefs. For one, I always think of language as culture.

To my mind language is a powerful tool which in effect binds a group into a shared cultural experience. Language centers around the construction of thoughts. Many of these thoughts produce interlinked concepts which in essence define a people and their culture.

Given this thinking and considering American history it is no wonder that I have some concern that the original culture of new Americans are diffused (if not
totally lost). Since culture has an interesting impact on who we are and in many ways define who we must become then one must see the value in learning (or in some cases relearning) the language of one’s ancestors.

One challenge I have taken up is that of learning Wolof (amongst other languages). The goal is to penetrate the mindset and the culture which was stripped away when my ancestors came to these shores. This is not to say that one should not consider and contribute to the fabric which is the American culture. But, rather its to understand that one must know where one comes from before one can understand where one is going.

Without a foundation the house cannot stand.

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A Foundation of Hope

Today – in reviewing how far we have come since Martin Luther King’s (MLK) declaration “I have been to the mountain top...I may not get there with you,... we as a people will get to the promised land...” I was struck by the foundation of hope which MLK provided for America. In the election of Barack Obama it appears that hopes for a better America have been answered. Indeed our prayers for a more equal and just society seem to have been answered.

On the other hand we have rappers like Nasir Jones (Nas) who note that many of the hatreds and prejudices remain a prevalent component of our society. Nas puts it this way (referring to racism), “We still see this [-] on Youtube, My Space, when’s this ignorant [-] going to stop?” Most find these two perspectives to be irreconcilable. Maybe, it’s because I have done a bit of traveling abroad, but for whatever reason I can relate to both the hope and the despair of these two perspectives.

I have always believed that one should attempt to maintain some sort of emotional equilibrium in any case. The promise of the future must be weighed with the realization that Obama (god bless him) is only human. We have to mitigate our hopes and dreams by realizing that Obama’ real power comes from his ability to inspire hope and action in others. At the same time, Nas reminds us of the hatred which still exists in our country. We must also remember that people are always going to be people. Some may not like others (for a variety of reasons, including race).

Having felt both extremes (at one time or another), it might be wise to look at where we can stand up and make a better contribution to our society. One place might be picking up the challenge which Obama referred to as his commitment to remind each of us of our commitment to education. America cannot remain rooted in the past, we will have to forge ahead to remake America.

May we all dare to dream of a better day.


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Saturday, May 16, 2009

Caveats to blog management: What works well and what can be improved

Hi all,

Just a quick follow up to my previous post on blog management. I note the following items regarding this new blog method:

  • Embedded pictures (those images attached, pasted or dragged into your e-mail) do not display in the blog properly
  • The subject becomes the topic header of the blog post
  • The text of the blog editor on blogger shows large typeface however the blog posts according to the style of the blog
  • This new technology makes it easy to multiply mistakes (one e-mail message can appear on multiple sites quickly)
  • Inconsistent formatting of text occurs around pictures
  • E-mail messages sent to the Blogger can be set for either draft mode or instant publishing
Well until next time, stay healthy.

Blog Management: How to do it.

Hi all,

Well I’ve just discovered a new tool in my effort to stay current with my blogs. I am a user of the Google Blogspot web service (based at blogger.com). I recently opened my Dashboard to begin a new posting and noted that each site has an email icon next to a mobile phone icon.

It appears that one can now create a secret email address that will allow one to send an email which results in a blog posting. Tada! End of problems regarding how to find time to stay current with blogging. An interesting note is that one can probably send one email to multiple recipients (blog sites) and see multiple posts. Double Tada!!

Well light bulb just went off in my head. Everyone has time for an email. Everyone does. Since many folks no longer write letters this new technology allows folks to get a grip on their many blogs (sometimes simultaneously). Well this first post of the new blogging error is within the context of how to use the new technology.

HOW TO SET UP EMAIL BLOGGING


  1. Login to blogger and view your dashboard
  2. For each blog site click the email icon and add a secret word to create a unique email address
  3. On your phone / email program – create a new contact (I use @blog-name for my contacts so they are easy to find)
  4. For each contact set up the secret email address you created in step 2
  5. Create a message and send it to the contacts you have configured
The dashboard area should appear like this...















Feedback, comments, critiques are all welcome. Be well and happy blogging.