Bias. Its really only about four letters, but it permeates everything we hear, a good deal of what we see and the majority of what we think. Unfortunately, there's no real way to escape from bias. Whenever we speak to a friend about any factual matter, we are suceptible to the bias that comes with the "eye witness account." No matter how good a person anyone may be, they will add their own slant to any account they see. My theory is because none of us sees the same thing. For instance, if three men looked at one car, one may say, "Look that's a sports car. I bet the driver of that car is a fast driver." The next person may look and say to himself, "That car is a nice shade of red. I wonder why that person picked that particular color." The third person may look at the car and notice that the keys are in the ignition and drive off with a brand new red sports car. My point is, that each person may see the same thing, but what one mind perceives is distinctly different from what another individual mind would perceive entirely. The reason for that is because we don't see things, or hear things without trying to interpret and unpack them. Our methods for interpreting and unpacking things are defined by our experiences and social values taught to us at a young age. This means that no two people interpret situations and ideas the same. And in relaying this information to someone else, they also pass on their own interpretations of what happened. So really there is no way for us to avoid bias. Its a horrible thing to have to realize, at least for me is was, but the truth of the matter is, such is the way of life I suppose. What can anyone do about bias? We can't escape it. I suppose the logical thing to do would be to garner more than one eyewitness account, or source of information, making sure to get all the facts and not just one person's account. What do you think?

As we enter today's episode, we find our hero tragically lost in deep thought. In my Race, Gender, Class and The Media um. . .class today (CM 340 t), we viewed a video which candidly discussed the images of the racial minorities in the media. Of course, this focused greatly on black (or African) Americans, since they seem to be the case study for all minority media images and relations. As they analyzed the depictions of black people over the time during slavery, post Civil War (and emancipation) and on into the Civil Rights Act, they showed that stereotypes were enforced and reconstructed to justify the norm. When slavery was still a legal practice, the slaves were shown as happy to be slaves, and as being proud of their position of service to their masters. The demeanor of the men were often childlike in their value of music and dance, over hard work and life, and the women were depicted as being the spine of the race, as being strong, overly plump leaders who disciplined all of their "kind". This gave the depiction of the entire race as being deserving of slavery, as if slavery were the only way they would survive. Those who were free were often depicted in minstrel shows as being bumbling, pretentious idiots, and were shown as being lost and alone without their masters to provide and care for them. In short, the entire race was depicted as if slavery were the only way they could survive in the newly formed United States. After emancipation, however, the slaves were depicted as brutal, savage, and lustful. The men were seen as a threat to the ideal beauty (the white female) since their own woment were so masculine in quality. This imagery, according to the film, is still seen today. Which brings me to my point. One of the things this film showed was Shaft, and other noticeable characters of the blaxploitation era, like Foxy Brown, and Coffee um. . . Brown. Now, I'm not saying Shaft was the greatest movie, or that the blaxploitation movies were the best written, best directed, or anything of that nature. Lets not kid ourselves, these films were an exercise in exaggeration. We all know that Shaft was a fictional character, and truly didn't exist. My argument though, is that the blaxploitation films showed a strong-willed, intelligent black man or woman, who took the prejudice that they were shown in stride to their successes. There was never a time when Shaft didn't show the same dislike and prejudices that he was confronted with (" 'You're not so black' 'Yeah, you're not so white' ") but he never retaliated to a revengeful or savage violence. His revenge was to do his job his way, and to such a degree, that no man could deny the talent and skill he possessed. As Isaac Hayes pointed out, he was truly a bad shut yo mouth. I'm only talking about Shaft, but if you can dig it, the somewhat exaggerated image of strong black male was positive in shaping and influencing others of that same race in a time of reformation and change. The civil rights movement was quickly becoming a memory in the seventies, and the hatred and prejudice was becoming less and less overt, to the point where protesting, sit ins, and legislature wasn't the answer. As shown by Shaft, Coffe Brown, Superfly and the like, the answer is being yourself, and using your given talents to succeed despite the repeated efforts to cause failure for you. That's why I think Shaft, or Good Times, or The Jefferson's, or even What's Happening Now weren't negative images. An exaggerated image isn't automatically negative, nor is it always a horrible thing to depict. It can often be a strong image, exaggerated with the purpose of pointing someone in the right direction. Right on, Shaft, right on. Solid. Least that's what I think.

Man, that Javann is so hot right now. What it is, kumquats? How's everybody doing this lovely. . .what day is it? Monday evening. Unless its not Monday evening for you, then its neither lovely, or Monday, and may very well not be evening. So that's not applicable to everyone. So today I had millions of interconnected deep thoughts. It truly was a beautiful thing. There I was sitting in class and suddenly all of the thoughts that seemed to be missing came pouring into my head. I've yet to experience anything better than that moment. So what were some of the thoughts that came in? Well, in class we talked about the negroization of races and nations by the dominant majority. After some thought, I've come to the conclusion that there is also a dominant minority. The dominant minority is the accepted minority, though it may not really be mainstream, it has imposed its will on the majority through sheer ethical arguments, or through what I'd like to call the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Unfortunately, the grease isn't getting spread around to the other minorities. This case is generalized of course, and I'd love to give examples but this interconnected to another thought that passed and I begin to wonder how it was possible for minorities to forget other minorities in their supposed quest for equality. When it really hit me, the equality that was so sought after in all of the various civil rights movements through the ages in different countries, wasn't the equality of the moral kind. It wasn't asking for the end of prejudice, it was demanding that the discriminated be able to do as well economically as those who discriminated against them. Who cares how anyone views them, or that there are decades of prejudice to be torn down, all that was wanted was the right to essentially make money. Then this thought crossed my mind, why did so many people look down on stereotypes then? Some of it seems to be those who truly are looking for socio-economic second and moral and ethical equality first. And then there's those that only want the economic success, to live the dream if you will. These see stereotypes as an afront to their accomplishments and success, even as being a detractor from their social stance in a society and culture that is obviously geared towards emphasizing the importance of status and power. So they feel that these detractors must be removed, BUT the dominant minority only has those that are applicable to them removed, since for the most part they only want socio-economic success or equality, and not true moral-ethical equality. To keep other minorities bridled by stereotypes and prejudices simply serves as a economic boon for their every growing status, which was hard won, of course, but still not completely moral or ethical. An example used in an article in my textbook was the sports teams named after what may seem to some people to racial slurs, but its accepted because the minority it slurs isn't the dominant minority. (i.e. the Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves, the Canadian Canucks, etc.) Does the entire minority realize that in its struggle its burying those who seek what they do? Probably not. If shown the truth would they change from their paths. . .who's to say? What does any of this prove? Man will continue to dominate man to his injury. Apparently this conclusion is somewhat inescapable since when I brought this up in class, all of the students in the classroom saw no other alternative, at least not in the forseeable future. Ah well, enough of my endless thoughts, feel free to spit your own intelligence.

Apparently this is a day of complete and total Javannism. So here's my enneagram tests, if you have the desire to understand me.

Conscious self	Overall self

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And here's more about me:

Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism |||||| 22% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||||||||||| 74% Type 3 Image Awareness |||||||||||||| 53% Type 4 Sensitivity |||||||||||||||| 69% Type 5 Detachment |||||||||| 35% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||||||||||| 75% Type 7 Adventurousness |||||||||||||| 52% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||||||||||||||| 65% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||||||||| 66% Your Conscious-Surface type is 6w7 Your Unconscious-Overall type is Omni

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Feel free to take this test and tell me if you think its accurate.

Oh yeah, I just stole this from Bev's site. :D Thanks once again Bev for making this possible, don't worry, I've already turned myself in to the proper authorities.

3 things you are: joyful, extroverted, outspoken
3 things you are not: introverted, quiet, short
3 things you enjoy: writing, making music, thinking
3 things you dislike: false pretenses, mass amounts of people, and squash
3 things you want: peace, happiness, more time to think
3 things you need: food, clothing, shelter
3 qualities you like in a guy/girl: spirituality, outspokenness, intelligence
3 qualities you dislike: unidentifiable rage, hypocrisy, feigned interests
3 qualities that make your ideal relationship: communication, love, communication
3 qualities you like in a friend: tolerant, fun, loyal
3 words that describe/remind you of love: idealism, communication, loyalty
3 words that describe/remind you of hate: pretense, rage, anger
3 songs that make you want to dance: "Where's Your Head At?!?" Bassment Jaxx, "Give Up The Funk" - The Funkadelics, "Breathe" - Prodigy
3 best leisure books you've ever read: "For Whom The Bell Tolls" - Hemmingway, "Andromeda Strain" - Michael Crichton, "Candide" - Voltaire
3 best albums you've ever heard: "OK Computer" - Radiohead, "Origin of Symmetry" - Muse "A Rush of Blood To The Head" - Coldplay
3 best stores to shop at: Software, Etc., Amazon.com, Dillards. (Only stores I actually shop at, well other than Walmart)