Author: cape.19

Queen of Katwe text review

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Queen of Katwe, published in 2016 and directed by Mira Nair, is a true story of a girl named Phiona who is originally from the rough parts Uganda and with her own strength and will power becomes a chess champion. The creator of this movie really wanted to emphasize themes of teamwork and perseverance, but also the struggles that native Americans have in these communities have of succeeding, especially women in this specific story. Phiona came from a very struggling family, and it took her a little bit for the kids of her community school to accept her. As time went own, she earned her title of being the local champion and earned the trust from her other classmates, and then eventually was led by her mentor through world tournaments and tournaments at high class schools. Upon arrival at these rich schools, the students of Katwe were looked at in disgust because they showed up in clothes that smelled and had holes in them compared to the others who had nice uniforms on. However, the “rich kids” in the story quickly realized they should think twice of judging them because Phiona and the whole class beat out the other rich kids who were meant to win.

Throughout the movie I noticed a lot of injustices that Phiona had to deal with while going through her journey to becoming a champion. Not only was she sexualized and discriminated against for being a Native American, but even I the beginning of the movie her own classmate who were made up of men, looked at her like she didn’t belong because she was a girl and was a victim of being othered. She was a new learner and was looked at to them as not having any power over them, but eventually she gained the power and now the roles changed as the movie went on. Now, the kids who were othering Phiona were now being othered as a group when they arrived at the rich kids’ schools because of their clothes and their smell. They did not fit in and were not accepted. They all grew up in circumstances that they can’t help but that didn’t change how that society viewed them but with personal strength and teamwork they were able to overcome the odds, Phiona as the leader, and be a world champion.

Context Presentation – American Imperialism-The Reluctant Fundamentalist (week 13)

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American Imperialism can be viewed as the economic, military, and cultural influences of the United States on other countries. An author for “Boundless US History” wrote an article on American imperialism and says, “It is partly rooted in American exceptionalism, the idea that the United States is different from other countries due to its specific world mission to spread liberty and democracy.” Furthermore, the history that comes from American foreign relations is the story of power which can come in many ways. If we seek to understand people, we have to put ourselves as far as we can in that background and understand the power the country has on influencing other countries (Brewer 15).

It’s not a question that after the 9/11 attacks really changed the world in so many ways. The Reluctant Fundamentalists really emphasizes how the military power that the United States, especially financially, just doesn’t compare to the rest of the world. In the story, it also explains how our military force is very demanding, but also can be “soft” per say when it comes to wanting foreigners do adapt to the American ways. The Americans in the story tended to show crudeness towards the power that our country has and how that can impact foreigners when they come to America and the struggles that they face.

Specifically, in The Reluctant Fundamentalists, when Changez is offered a job through a company at Underwood Samson after proving he was one the top in his class and excels very well at his university, however after traveling to South America for a project he realizes that they were bribing him for using things like his free education. He was doing the work, but this was keeping American still having the most power and the most money and, in his words, “kidnapped” him in a way. This shows how the concept of American imperialism has big effects on foreigners as it did for Changez in The Reluctant Fundamentalists.

Work cited:

 Zevin, R.( 1972). An Interpretation of American Imperialism. The Journal of Economic History, 32(1), 316-360. doi: 10.1017/S0022050700075537

Steinmetz, George. “The State of Emergency and the Revival of American Imperialism: Toward an Authoritarian Post-Fordism. “Public Culture, vol. 15 no.2, 2003, p. 323-345. Project MUSE

 

Facing discrimination based of different race while being pulled over- Ally Cape systemic Injustice Showcase

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Thinking about the topics we have discussed in the recent weeks, I noticed focuses a lot on immigration and who those people are, where they came from, or maybe even what they look like. This specific topic that I want to talk about can relate to the short story we read in class, “The story of my Body”. It relates in the way that these people are being victimized and looked at differently just because they aren’t considered to look “normal”. Right before starting my classes for the day, I was scrolling through Tik tok and I came a crossed a very interesting video and this ordinary man was being discriminated because of his race and was being accused of an illegal immigrant. Lately I have noticed a lot of similar videos popping up and really, they are being pulled over for no reason, but just because they look a certain way are being discriminated for it. In this specific case, Grant, was pulled over while he was driving his work van and the cop proceeded to ask him if he had any illegal substances in his vehicle, to which he responded no. the cop then preceded to asked if he would mind if he searched his car. Grant decided to say no because he has a right to do so and he wanted to get back on the road for his job. Grant was Hispanic, but just because he was in a white van and on the highway, the cop was assuming things just because of his race, which is how I viewed this as a systemic injustice. The video ended in the cop detaining Grant and a K9 was brought to do a search, but with no surprise nothing was found. Like I said previously, immigration has been a big topic at least from what I have seen in the last couple of weeks and how people are being victimized of it just because of how they look. I see many other cases just like this one of people being pulled over and being accused of something based off their race. Like I said previously this reminds me on certain concepts in “The story of my Body” in regards to being treated differently for being “different”.

Media:

https://www.mcall.com/news/police/mc-nws-jim-thorpe-police-racial-profiling-lawsuit-20200221-fppsq47aw5gmvlrpgp4um54hqa-story.html

Jim Thorpe police accused of racial profiling Latino drivers - The Morning Call

Mistaken Detainment, Racial Profiling, and Discrimination: How ICE Fails to Protect Communities