Oh Lorde

One of the top pop songs of this year was "Royals" by New Zealand teenage girl who calls herself "Lorde"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlcIKh6sBtc

It was about the fantasy many young people get from music videos.


It has been very popular song with its appeal going across national, cultural and ethnic lines.

 

Wikipedia

Lorde

However, with any good thing, there are the party-poopers.

The party-poopers are those who overly analyze song lyrics, who give meanings that don't exist in the song.

An example is white Latina feminist who goes by the name of Verónica Bayetti Flores.

Flores thinks that song mocks hip-hop culture, and that anything criticizing hip-hop culture is "racist"

 http://feministing.com/members/vbayetti/

Veronica Bayetti Flores

aka "Lorde Hater"

aka "Race Card Abuser"

Flores articles at

 http://feministing.com/2013/10/03/wow-that-lorde-song-royals-is-racist/

http://feministing.com/2013/10/10/a-little-more-on-lorde-royals-and-racism/


If you read the comments posted on those articles, they OVERWHELMINGLY DISAGREE with Flores pile of nonsense.


And here are some articles arguing against Ms Flores

Aziza Jackson, a  real African-American (unlike white Latina Ms Flores)  calls BS on Ms Flores abuse of the race card
 http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/chocolate-report-my-mis-adventures-tomorrowland/2013/oct/11/lordes-royals-not-racist/

There is no clear definition of racism, only one’s own interpretation of what it means. The word “racism” has become the hot potato of today’s society, zealously passed around over and over again a circle of misconception.

Things are not as black and white as they once were. Today’s culture is slowly chipping away at the archetypes originally defined by skin color. Instead, a new culture is being formed by today’s youth where it doesn’t matter what skin you’re wrapped in, just what labels and designer threads adorn it.

Both Lorde and I are the spawns of a culture rigged with consumerism and class, not race, a world where money is green and greed is good. Today’s hip-hop and pop lyrics are laced with the promotion of shiny yet empty lives and skin that is not black or white, but green.

and more

This amazing material is coming from a 16-year old girl from a small town in New Zealand.  Although tigers on a gold leash would be pretty freakin’ cool, it’s quite amazing that a 16-year old was brave enough to go against the grain and call out the 40- and 50-year old rappers who have nothing better to rap about than rocking Tom Ford with a love for “badd bitches,” because bad is spelled with two Ds here. That’s just how badd she is.

Badd becomes the new good in the hip-hop and pop music industry. Yes, industry is singular here because they have become one in a union reeking of disillusion, vomit, and a father’s disappointment.

Sadly, perhaps Bayetti Flores’ notion that Maybachs, Cristal and gold teeth automatically equate to rappers and “black folks”  is the real “deeply racist” thing here. 

 
And Ms Flores gets mocked BIG TIME at this parody
 http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/lordes-pure-heroine-riddled-with-bigotry-discovers-bored-psychology-graduate/

Writing for Feministing.com, a bored psychology graduate has made the shocking discovery that the debut album of international pop sensation Lorde is littered with deep-seated racism towards black people, as well as a series of other crude and distasteful references that disempower the already disenfranchised.

Blogger Veronica Bayetti Flores directed most of her anger at the album’s hit single Royals, which she says shamelessly ridicules the tens of millions of African Americans who own expensive cars, champagne and tigers, while denigrating the well-known black monarchy that is most commonly associated with notions of royalty.

Flores’ analysis has given rise to a series of other articles by white women informing black people of new ways in which they are being oppressed by Lorde’s music.

(Reminder: those above paragraphs are ALL SATIRE)


And even on the socialist, people aren't taking Ms Flores abuse of the race card

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/10/25/lord-o25.html

While “Royals” has attracted a large audience, the song has also come under attack in some quarters. Lorde has recently received accusations of racism from feminist blogger Veronica Bayetti Flores. Writing for the blogFeministing, Flores stated on October 3:

“While I love a good critique of wealth accumulation and inequity, this song is not one; in fact, it is deeply racist. Because we all know who she’s thinking when we’re talking gold teeth, Cristal and Maybachs. So why shit on black folks? Why shit on rappers? Why aren’t we critiquing wealth by taking hits at golf or polo or Central Park East? Why not take to task the bankers and old-money folks who actually have a hand in perpetuating and increasing wealth inequality? I’m gonna take a guess: racism. I don’t have to explain why wealth operates differently among folks who’ve grown up struggling because this shit has been explained already: If you grew up with holes in your zapatos you’d celebrate the minute you was having dough.”

This is nothing more than a justification for the worst kind of backwardness.

For Flores, the obscene glorification of wealth and the most ruthless means of attaining it are entirely acceptable so long as the right people are doing it. Her comments expose the true class basis of identity politics. It is entirely to Lorde’s credit that flunkies of Flores’ caliber attack her work.

Now my response: I have just an e-mail to Ms Flores about her lack of understanding of globalization, changes in everyday language, and other stuff!

To: vbayettiflores@hampshire.edu

I know I'm late to the controversy, but a few things need to be said When we as people talk the English language, we are using words with origins in Latin, German, Hebrew, French, Greek and others. We do so without thinking. In the era of globalization, we also added words with origins in the Americas, Asia, Middle East, Africa and the Pacific Islands to our daily vocabulary. We do so without thinking.  And in this era of globalization, the language of hip-hop, which started in the South Bronx, has become so worldwide, that people use the common hip-hop phrases as part of the everyday language, in the same manner we use words with origins in Latin, German, Hebrew, Greek, etc in our everyday language.  The phrases common in hip-hop are so used in everyday language of not only African-Americans, not only suburban Euro-Americans trying to be "cool" but also by Latinos, Asians, Arabs, Persians, Africans (meaning the ones living in Africa, who view  hip-hop as "exotic" ....... because to them, it is exotic), and the Pacific Islands (ie. Aoteoroa aka New Zealand, also ie Hawaii -- the home to me, Barack Obama and Bruno Mars).  We all use those phrases in our everyday language, so IT IS NOT "oh, let's pretend to be black people". It's more like "we hear it so often, it's just part of everyday language". For example, here in Hawaii. People use Japanese words like "shibai" and "bachi" as part of everyday language. Kids of all races learn Filipino and Samoan profanities and use them as part of everyday language.  And yes, we listen to hip-hop and reggae, and use their phrases as part of everyday language. Just like how the average European-American in your university uses words with Latin, German, Hebrew, etc as part of everyday language.   Also, if you think ukuleles and Aloha shirts are part of Hawaiian culture, let it be known that NONE of those things existed in Hawaii before the Europeans arrived.  Those things are just Hawaiian adaptations of European imports.   (on a side note: most of Hawaii's Bloods and Crips are of Polynesian descent, another strange effect of globalization) So when Lorde is using hip-hop phrases, IT IS NOT "hey look at me everyone, I'm using ebonics", IT'S MORE LIKE "this is everyday language for us and all kids worldwide". And your comments :   Because we all know who she’s thinking when we’re talking gold teeth, Cristal and Maybachs. Um, actually, if you really believe only African-Americans use those phrases in everyday language, you really need to spend more time outside of the ivory tower. Those things are talked about by Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders, Europeans and a whole bunch of other people. Those things are used as part of everyday language by people who are not stuck inside an ivory tower. Also this   Why aren’t we critiquing wealth by taking hits at golf or polo or Central Park East? Why not take to task the bankers and old-money folks who actually have a hand in perpetuating and increasing wealth inequality? Um, the song was targeted at teens/young adults who could care less about bankers, golfers or polo players. In youth culture, bankers, golfers and polo players aren't considered cool, instead they're considered "old folks", "dorks" and "geeks".  What is considered cool among the youth are pimps, dealers and players (who can be black, yellow, white, brown, red, whatevers depending on what school the kids are attending).  So THAT is who Lorde is talking about!  The song wasn't mean to be a thesis on wealth inequality, it was just about youth culture.  One last thing, I do think racism is a serious issue, unfortunately, articles like yours fall into the categories of "girl who cried wolf" and "das racist" none of which is taken seriously by serious people.   Here in Hawaii, Micronesian immigrants have been discriminated in the job market and the housing market. They have been targeted by Samoan gangs upset that a new immigrant group has entered what once was "their turf". They have been ridiculed by other ethnic groups as well. They suffer this after some of their home islands have been used for nuclear testing by the US government. I think something like that needs serious analysis.  It may not get as many clicks as another needless analysis of a pop song, but its much more crucial and important. Mahalo, Pablo Wegesend

Inappropriate Gestures in photos

In many group photos, you don't always know what the others in the group going to do in the photograph. This is especially true when the people in the group are encouraged to make "funny faces".

And it's even more true if you don't know the other people in the photo (which sometimes happen at public events).

Sometimes, that will mean the others in the photo will be making inappropriate gestures in the photo, giving the false impression that everyone in the photo condones that inappropriate gesture.

Just beware of that when you see photos online!

color of Santa

In Europe and North America (and probably other places too), Santa is nearly everyone's favorite Christmas character!

Say "Saint Nicholas" very fast, it would sound like "Santa Claus". The Dutch version of Saint Nicholas is Sinterklaas. The very real Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop who was known for giving gifts to the less fortunate.

While the real Saint Nicholas is Greek (who lived in a town that is now part of Turkey), the Santa we usually see on TV looks more Northern European. So we see Santa as a very white-skinned man with a white beard, and lives in the North Pole.

Recently, Aisha Harris wrote the following
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/holidays/2013/12/santa_claus_an_old_white_man_not_anymore_meet_santa_the_penguin_a_new_christmas.html

I remember feeling slightly ashamed that our black Santa wasn’t the “real thing.” Because when you’re a kid and you’re inundated with the imagery of a pale seasonal visitor—and you notice that even some black families decorate their houses with white Santas—you’re likely to accept the consensus view, despite your parents’ noble intentions.

Two decades later, America is less and less white, but a melanin-deficient Santa remains the default in commercials, mall casting calls, and movies. Isn’t it time that our image of Santa better serve all the children he delights each Christmas?

Aisha Harris went to say Santa should become a penguin (nevermind that they're from Antartica, not the Arctic where Santa lives) for the following reasons

“For one thing, making Santa Claus an animal rather than an old white male could spare millions of nonwhite kids the insecurity and shame that I remember from childhood,” she wrote.

Well, this got Fox News attention as "political correctness run amok" and with Megyn Kelly saying that Santa (and Jesus) is white. Jesus was a Jewish guy from a town that is now a part  of the West Bank. Jews  are considered "white" by non-white minorities, but "non-white" by Europeans.

Feeling confused?

It's about to get more crazy

You see, on liberal websites like Salon.com, they defended Aisha Harris from her critics. Yet, in this past year, you'll see ENDLESS AMOUNTS OF ARTICLES complaining about the following manini issues

• a European-American actress portraying an African-American character for Halloween
• Katy Perry wearing a kimono for an award show performance
• Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's supposed "stealing" of "black culture"

I wrote more about that topic at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-saloncom-lost-its-way.html


So yeah, we can make Santa whatever we want, but the folks at Salon.com (and other progressive correctness websites) will go ballistic if there's a White Fat Albert or an Anglo Dora!

We can Santa whatever we want, but "sensitivity training alert" if a bunch of European-Americans want to portray non-white characters for Halloween?

This is just getting silly.

Look, I wear a Santa hat every December, and I'm wearing a Santa hat now as I'm typing this! I could care less if the character I'm portraying is Greek or German or whatever. I like the character's "content of character" and that's all I care about!

last year's photo

me (aka Santa)

I have NEVER felt excluded by the constant portrayal of a white Santa on TV. I NEVER felt excluded by my favorite childhood characters being a different race or a different species (ie Ninja Turtles) from me. As far as I'm concerned, characters are just characters. 

And it would be stupid for anyone to feel excluded by the Spanglish speaking Dora, the African-American Fat Albert or by a bunch of turtles who practice a Japanese martial art and eat Italian food, and have Italian names, and speak the slang of California Anglos while living in New York. It's just a bunch of characters. If you got better characters, promote them! 

Aisha Harris can post all the drawings of a black Santa or a penguin Santa she wants! I'm cool with it!

But I'm tired of progressive correctness writers/websites/etc screaming and complaining about "ethnic Halloween costumes", or about European-Americans using non-white music/slang/fashion as a so-called "minstrel show". This shows massive hypocrisy on the progressive correctness activists.

Now, I'll end this blog post with another example of a fiction character --- The Boy Who Cried Wolf! The boy pranked his family and neighbors about a wolf that wasn't there. But when a wolf later came by for real, nobody believed the boy's warnings.

So the progressive correctness crowd will make fake claims of racism about a "white Santa" or "ethnic costumes". When real, serious racist incidents happen, nobody will listen to the progressive correctness crowd, because they've been Crying Wolf too many times to be taken seriously. That is truly sad! 

Merry Christmas

Fall 2013 semester

The Fall 2013 semester at UH-Manoa has come to an end!

During that semester, I have taken 2 classes within the Library and Information Science (LIS) program.

And both classes were once a week classes that fell on Tuesdays.

The first one was LIS 610 : Foundations of the Information Professions

This class covered the various aspects of the information professions. While the class is part of Library and Information Science program, it doesn't just cover the library setting but also archives, museums, database and other settings that are part of the information profession. 

The first portion of the class was about the job market within the information field. The students were to pick a field (ie. public library, academic library, specialized libraries, archives, etc) and search the job ads. We were to investigate whether there are many opportunities within that field and if those opportunities exist in places we want to live in the future. We were also to read through the required and desirable qualifications as well as the salary range (if indicated within the ad). 

Some doubt if there are job opportunities in the library profession. Nothing is guaranteed, but some of the recent LIS graduates that I know personally are employed within their desired field. I saw at least 2 at a public library that I occasionally visit. I know two that are working within the UH mulit-campus system. I know 2 that were working in local public school libraries. A few returned to their hometowns in the continental US. One found a library fitting her specialty (theological library). I know two who coincidentally ended up in the same city in the western US. 

We're just talking those who just graduated in the spring/summer of this year.  And there were just the ones that I actually met and later kept in contact via social media. Obviously, there's some recent graduates that I never got  to know, but I'm sure some found a job in the library field. The point is: opportunities are out there within the library field!

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After learning about the job market, we learned about making Curriculum Vitae(CV), which is a more specialized style of resume. This is different from the traditional resume where you just list your previous jobs. For the CV, you list the most relevant previous jobs related to the position you're applying for, then describe some of the duties of those previous jobs.


My example is at http://www2.hawaii.edu/~pwegesen/resume.html

 

screenshot from Pablo Wegesend's e-portfolio

An example of a Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Later in the course,  we learned about the history of the writing from the ancient clay tablets, illuminated manuscripts, the development of the printing press, to rise of Google (and everything in between). 

A few videos on those topic

On the illuminated manuscripts common in Europe before the printing press

BBC, Illuminations Treasures of The Middle Ages (30 min)

www.veoh.com/watch/v186724903QkjJCEp?h1=Illuminations+Treasures+Of+The+Middle+Ages+

On the invention of the printing press

"A Matter of Fact: Printing Transforms Knowledge (Day the Universe Changed – Ep. 4) (45 min). www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g70rGW2bwM

On Google and the possible future

The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry) by Siva Vaidhyanathan. 

 May 2011. 1 hour 30 min.

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwLwaB7pJC4

 -------

Afterwards, the class focused on the ethical codes and ethical dilemmas within the information profession.   We discussed questions like

• do we place age restrictions on certain library materials?
• how do libraries decide what books to order, keep and remove?
• how should museums deal with indigenous art stolen by conquerors centuries ago? 
• should libraries, museums, archive centers digitize their whole collection?
• what about patrons who are homeless or are undocumented immigrants? 

 ---
Our classes also had several projects.

As you may see from the earlier screenshot, we did an e-portfolio, highlighting our academic and professional career.

The e-portfolio is at  http://www2.hawaii.edu/~pwegesen/index.html
(the www2 that you see are websites reserved for UH faculty and students)

screenshot from the e-portfolio home page

The e-portfolio can also list projects. Uploading certain types of files (ie Word documents, power-points,  pdf's) to the www2.hawaii.edu  websites is an extremely tedious process, so I decided to try uploading them to a WordPress page and a Wix page. Wix is superior to Word Press in my humble opinion, so here's the link to my Wix page.

 http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis

screenshot from my Wix page

http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis

And the projects I did for this class were

• the career study and personal objective
• presentation on an institution (for me, it was on Manoa Public Library)
• presentation on an ethical dillemma (mines was on shelving and labeling)

Check them out at  http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-610-projects/cvkl

http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-610-projects/cvkl

screenshot from the LIS 610 projects page

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The other class I took was LIS 611: Intellectual Freedom

Basically, intellectual freedom means the freedom of thought and freedom to express a thought!

Most of this class focused on intellectual freedom as it relates to the library setting, but we also explored intellectual freedom from a more broader perspective as well.

Intellectual freedom issues relating to the library setting includes

• age restrictions on library materials
• collection of diverse viewpoints within the library collection
• who shall be allowed to use exhibit space and meeting rooms within libraries
• how much privacy shall a patron expect when searching materials in a library
• how shall libraries protect patron privacy
• internet use policy
• USA PATRIOT Act and how it allows government to secretly collect patron's records

Those are things that any modern U.S. librarian can relate to. 

However, there are extremely serious backlashes against intellectual freedom that has occurred in the world through various times in history. 

The following situations were discussed in this class

• Nazi's destruction of Jewish and Polish materials
• Authorities confiscating and destroying personal book collections in Cambodia (Pol Pot's era) and Afghanistan (Taliban era).
• Destruction of rival religious institutes by religious fanatics in India and Sri Lanka
• Anti-apartheid protesters destroying a South African historical institute located in the Netherlands (even though that same institute wasn't a pro-apartheid institute)
• Looting of libraries, museums and archives in Iraq after Saddam Hussein was overthrown. (but hey, at least the Oil Ministry headquarters were guarded)  

All of that (and more) were covered in the professor's own book "Burning Books and Leveling Libraries". 

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~knuth/publications.html#books

The professor also wrote another book (not covered in this class, but was mentioned in class) called "Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth Century" which focused on government's censorship of libraries and other sources of information. 

--

The students in the class also did various presentations on various intellectual freedom issues incluing

• flag burning
• pornography
• indigenous intellectual property
• government spying and secrecy
• reactions to anti-Islamic cartoons
• violent & extreme music lyrics (this was my topic of presentation) 

As you can tell, this is a great class for those who are interested in sociological, political and historical issues. 

This class was an elective course that doesn't come every semester. The professor is about to retire next year, but I hope this class will be available to future generations of LIS students. 

-- 

Here's the projects page for that class. 

http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-611-projects/cm2r

 http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-611-projects/cm2r

partial screenshot of LIS 611 projects page

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Special activities

Being in the LIS programs, I was able to take part in some special activities. I wasn't able to do all that was offered, but I did a few including

a) Guest speakers :

• Ms Kanno from the Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) came last week to discuss job opportunities and the hiring process for Hawaii's public library system. 

b) Volunteer activities

I was able to help out Children and Youth Day (10/06/2013) which took place on the lawns next to the State Capitol. I was assisting the table sponsored by the Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS).  That table gave out brochures, and had some fun, games and prizes for the kids. I helped out with the matching game where the kids matched a book cover with the title of the book. The kids had multiple chances to win a prize (pencils, snacks, etc.).  I know public libraries do similar fun activities for the kids year round. This is something I want to be a part of after I earn my LIS degree. 

c) Banned Books week

LIS students gathered to talk about various books that have been banned from various public and school libraries. Those books included the Harry Potter books, Mark Twain books,  as well as other juvenille fiction like "Catcher in the Rye" and "The Chocolate War".

d) poster contest presentations

I didn't take part in the poster contest, I did attend the presentation and saw what the other students were interested in researching. Their interests included digitization, archival presentation, and cataloging of indigenous materials.

e) banquet

There was the end of the semester banquet to honor the latest graduates.  It was at the ballroom   on the 5th floor of the Japanese Cultural Center.  There were short speeches and words of recognition. There was dinner and cake.

My favorite part was talking to some of the new graduates that were in my LIS classes to congratulate them, thank them and share a few memories.

Some had jobs lined up, others just want a break before diving in to the job market. Good luck to all of them.
 
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There was less people at this semester's banquet as compared to the Spring 2013 banquet. Some on the list of graduates didn't show up! They missed out on a major life experience. I truly believe that students need to go to their final banquets and graduation ceremony, and that the only excuse for not going should be a severe emergency (it happens).

You don't always have another chance to say goodbye to the people who were with you during your time on campus, so if you have a chance to go, then go!