QUIZ 4: FINAL!
1) Umut Uras. “Turkey turning Hagia Sophia back into mosque divides social media.” Al Jazeera. July 11, 2020,
This article is about Hagia Sophia; a cathedral turned mosque turned church turned back into a mosque, turned museum. It wears a lot of hats clearly. This majestic mosque has been standing since 537, under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It had been rebuilt many times, due to earthquakes, and major protests which led to its rebuild in the 14th century. Hagia Sophia has served as a landmark for Orthodox Christians and Muslims. “Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire and was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453 and changed the city's name to Istanbul, (AlJazeera).”
“The Hagia Sophia is so important because it served as the center for religion, politics, and artistic life for the Byzantine world, and has provided us with so many scholarly insights into that time period. As Greek Orthodox was the official religion of the Byzantines, the Hagia Sophia was considered the central church of the faith, and it thus became the place where new emperors were crowned. The Hagia Sophia served this pivotal role in Byzantine culture and politics for much of its first 900 years of existence, (history.com).”
This is such a sacred mosque that I am ultimately surprised that they had converted it in the first place. For the Muslim world, I believe that this is a step in the right direction. Being that this basilica holds so much power, sanctity, and spiritual meaning that I would hope that anyone that goes near it would treat it with that much respect.
When this article mentioned how people on social media were reacting to this, it just reminded me how much I HATE social media. It has driven a wedge between what is right in the world, and shows people’s true colors in a sense. I just thought to myself, I’m sure the people of the beloved Hagia Sophia could care LESS what social media thinks of what it is turning into. Obviously, people travel to visit the holy Hagia Sophia, and want to see the insanely beautiful building that has been standing so long before us. I understand that people of that culture want to be able to go in there and appreciate what their ancestors have made. In the grand scheme of things, this is such a sacred and important place, that it really doesn’t matter what Razan from Twitter has to say. Social media has ruined our lives, and people are just thirst for attention. If they had any respect for their culture, they would understand the reason for the change.
The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wanted the Hagia Sophia to maintain the sacred nature of the mosque, and I think go back to its roots. He wanted to preserve the importance of the mosque and what it stood for. In this class, I have realized the importance of things, like the Hagia Sophia. It reminds me of the chapter in Ways of the World, mentioning the Han Dynasty. People of the Han Dynasty were confused of these nomadic people taking over their land. Men especially were not open to the idea of change. However, as the nomads new ideas started to make sense, it led to more opportunities for women, especially with music, makeup, tasks outside of the house, and even eventually political responsibilities. (Strayer, pgs 210-213). Though these are completely different comparisons, the point I am trying to make is that both the Hagia Sophia and Han Dynasty were built to hold such sacred and strict rules and religions, however, with the new spread of ideas opened them to new opportunity, but still holding their cultural beliefs. No one should shame any type of religious structure for wanting to go back to its root and maintain its majestic build. This class has helped me appreciate ideas likes these and want to dive deeper into more blessed temples like this.
Sources:
Ways of the World, Strayer.
2) Anne Mawathe. “Coronavirus: Why Africans should take part in vaccine trials.” BBC. May 18, 2020.
Before I read this article, I thought it was going to be about how African Americans’ genetic makeup (or something like that) was benefitting the COVID testing trials. This article really made me angry. I didn’t really understand what the title meant; it didn’t quite make sense to me. What the title means is that African Americans are basically being singled out to be the “guinea pig” of COVID vaccine trials. Scientists are apparently saying that African Americans need to take part in these trials, because their lack of resources, face masks, their environment in which they live, etc. It makes me sick knowing that there are many other countries in the same situation as people in Africa, but nowhere in this article states that. Not only is it rude, but also it is completely racist by saying these things. The doctors are justifying the idea of the trials by saying that they will compensate them monetarily for their use. How sickening! Doctors are also saying that due to “colonial mentality” that it is okay for them to test them because of their lack of all the resources that people in the US, and other countries have. What stood out to me too in this article, was the topic of healthcare—which is incredibly underfunded in Africa. “This is despite a pledge in 2001 by African heads of state to give at least 15% of their annual budget to improving their health sectors. Africa has a wealth of expertise, but their scientists often go to work elsewhere because of this lack of investment - meaning that research into the African dynamics of health issues are often not addressed, (Mawathe).” The healthcare system is a whole other issue. Also, ironically enough, many licensed drugs come out of clinical trials done in wealthier countries, like North America or Europe, so that asks the question: why are we not doing these trials in one of those countries? They are completely taking advantage of the people of Africa. Makes no sense.
There was already a study, in Kano (Northern Africa), in 1996, where Pfizer set out to test out a drug trial. This led to eleven children dying, and dozens disabled due to the experimental antibiotic. I don’t care what amount of money they offered; they do not deserve to go through such agonizing circumstances. Along with “colonial mentality,” the term “infodemic” has also been thrown out there. This term basically means fake news, implying that doctors are singling out African Americans in a plot to give them harmful vaccinations and kill them. Even though you cannot believe anything on the Internet these days, it puts African Americans in a terrified state! Who wouldn’t blame them? The injustice in this article, and the idea of this is so asinine. We are currently in a state of social and racial unjust, and then they have to worry about this as well.
This reminds me of one of the blog’s that Leslie posted speaking about the Children of Congo (ch.18). She was very knowledgeable in her post, so her blog stood out to me. In Ways of the World, pg. 803, talks about the children of the congo. When the British took over, they were forced to do insanely hard labor. They were forced to pick endless amounts of rubber, and if they didn’t then they would be brutally beaten. The British were extremely rude and tough, and made the children carry heavy amounts for long periods of time. Punishments were so bad, that even some kids had their hands chopped off if they were not able to give ample amounts of rubber. (Strayer, pg. 803).
Slavery was such a disgusting and horrific time in history, and this article mirrors the idea of slavery. It disgusts me that there are still people in this world that think any of this is okay. We are literally going back in time, hundreds of years later. I am completely saddened and heartbroken by this article; it is shockingly racist and devastating.
Sources:
Leslie’s blog post ch. 16-18
Ways of the World, Strayer.
4) Justin Dallaire. “Why Pride sponsors shouldn’t hit pause during Black Lives Matter protests.” strategy. June 9, 2020.
As Oliver mentioned in his quiz, history is literally repeating itself. We are in a fight for racial equality, as we still are in the fight for equality in other ways. LGBTQ is a massive and powerful community that is one to stay friends with. I believe that ultimately, LGBTQ wants not only acceptance, but also appreciation for who they are and what they stand for. I think what they stand for is acceptance, openness, and happiness. In this article, in specifically speaks about how Canada is still supporting Pride regardless of the BLM protest. Both communities are huge, but I think they can both stand together as one to support what message each community is trying to send. Top name brand companies are standing by Pride and BLM, and are showing their support during this trying time.
“This is an opportunity for brands to recognize just how diverse the LGBTQ+ communities and just how diverse the ACB [African, Caribbean, Black] communities are by recognizing intersectionality,” says Jefferson Darrell, founder of Breakfast Culture, a consultancy focused on the intersection of marketing communications and diversity, equity and inclusion. At this moment, there’s an opportunity to “shine a spotlight on the QTBIPoC [Queer & Trans Black, Indigenous, People of Colour] communities, specifically by highlighting and acknowledging that Queer peoples come in all shapes, sizes and shades, in this case Black, (Dallaire).”
This quote speaks volumes to me. I would hope that both of these communities that want so very badly to be known and heard and appreciated, would both take the time to welcome each community in open arms. I understand that not everyone is going to be friends, or agree with what each person has to say, but they are both striving for the same thing, so they might as well strive together.
When reading this article, it made me think of the chapters that we read about women’s suffrage rights, gay rights, and feminism. The time to stand together was then, and it was imperative that they supported each other in the meantime. The world is such an interesting place; we all come from the same thing. We all have the same skeleton. If you were to close your eyes and hear people’s stories and ideas, you might not even have a clue if they were gay, straight, black, blue, purple, green, or transgender. We have a long way to go, and lots to learn. But we have to start somewhere – let’s get movin’.
Sources:
Ways of the World, Strayer. Chapter 23.
Hi Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteWith your post about the mosque conversion, yea I was totally surprised as well, but it seems people of power want to take things especially of significance and historically battles can be more of a mental game than a physical one. I like how you added extra sources too in relation to the article. In regards to the vaccine trials, I agree with you as all people should be valued and should be treated equality. Its unfair and so sad to hear about the countries who don't have enough support, funding, or up to date research, equipment, and drugs to help those infected or ill in general. With the wide spread of the virus, it seems that fake news also spreads just as fast especially in this day and age as information is transmitted almost immediately. Now to your last article, thanks for mentioning me :) I'm all about equal opportunities and being together. I feel that this ties with the other article prior as it should be about working together. So much morals and ethics are involved yet its still being discussed as its an option when it should be of importance to identity and understand that we are all unique and should be appreciated for our individualities as a whole. Thanks for your responses! Hope your doing well and settling after your move you mentioned in the beginning of the semester. Take care and be safe.
Haha had to tag you, you know your stuff! Your responses are very well organized, and thoughtful, and I always found myself going back to yours whenever I was stuck on a question. Stay safe, and take care! Best of luck to you!!
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