WOOW!! Today in class, I was greatly moved to hear about such a courageous woman. Mrs. Mary Seacole to be exact! As said in class today, Mary was extremely motivated and wanted to insure to make a difference in society. She took the time to make and establish a name for herself by her entrepreneurship investments. She followed her pursuit of happiness by engaging in being a traveler, a nurse and a business woman. While her time as a nurse, she worked closely with the British and African American communities.
With that in mind, in Gorgona, Seacole established a women's only hotel for the women that were sick.
Also, she displayed confidence in her knowledge of tropical medicine by investing in it because she knew that it could be useful. After finding out about the poor medical provisions for wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, she took pursuit to London to volunteer as a nurse. As she volunteered as a nurse, her background experience in the Caribbean is what she relied on. Furthermore, she applied to the War Office and asked to be sent as an army assistant to the Crimea. Unfortunately, she was denied because during her time period, women were still treated unequal and there was a great sense of prejudice acts in women's involvement in medicine.
Moving forward, The British Government later decided to permit women to travel to the affected areas, but again she was not included in the party of 38 nurses chosen by Florence Nightingale. So she took it amongst herself to still pursue her happiness. So, she borrowed money to take the 4,000 mile trip by herself. How remarkable is that? This here is a woman that wont let her goals be altered by rejection. As she pursued her journey, she distinguished herself by treating battlefield wounded individuals, and also nursing wounded soldiers from both sides of the war.
When the war ended, she found herself stranded, alone and living without the basic elements of life, while still trying to pursue her dreams. She was able to confide in a friend from the Crimean War who organized a benefit concert.
In later years, she expressed her desire of wanting to work in India after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, but was unable to raise the necessary funds.
Something that I find to be extremely ironic is the fact behind her sickness of Cholera, which is an infection in the small intestine. She spent her entire life protecting and nursing sicknesses, she became sick herself.
Mary Seacole was a remarkable woman who made major moves to establish herself in society. Im so very proud of her and she has made the women culture very strong as a whole just from her life story alone!!
Friday, November 2, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Post #8: Zombies
Today in class, one group presented on the topic of zombies, colonialism, and popular culture.
Zombies were originally a Haitian folktale. Basically, if you were a slave you might be able to travel back to Africa and paradise with the help of Baron Samedi, the god of the cemetery, after your death. If you offended the Baron before you died, he would not allow you to go back to Africa, and you would become a zombie, a perfect slave.
If you are interested in the history of zombies and their transition into the zombies we know today, check out these articles:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/zombie.htm
http://news.discovery.com/history/history-zombies-12-6-4.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/opinion/a-zombie-is-a-slave-forever.html
And now for a story:
There I was, minding my own business at the Writing Center with Corey and Paul, when three students walked in. Paul looked up at the students and asked: "Do you need help with a paper?"
The students just stood there, groaning. Confused, I did a double-take to discover that they were dressed up as zombies! How fun! Still, they must have come here for a reason.
"Do you need help with a paper?" I asked. More groans.
Well alright then. We all shrugged, and went back to our phones and laptops to check facebook for the 37th time that hour.
Then they ate Corey.
"OH NO. OH NO, ZOMBIES," I said.
"Is this like, a normal thing in America?" asked Paul. "In Norway we don't really have any zombies."
Paul and I killed the zombies with office chairs and dragged their bodies out into the hallway.
"So what do we do now?" asked Paul.
"You never took a zombie survival class in Norway? Geez, Paul."
I pulled out my phone and checked my email. WSU had issued an emergency warning, telling everyone to go to Beasley. So we did. Then the local police force killed all the zombies. Life returned to normal.
A few weeks later, Paul and I were sitting in the writing center. I stopped what I was doing, and looked up at Paul.
"Isn't Corey supposed to be here today?" I asked.
"He was eaten by zombies, remember?" said Paul.
"Oh yeah."
THE END.
Zombies were originally a Haitian folktale. Basically, if you were a slave you might be able to travel back to Africa and paradise with the help of Baron Samedi, the god of the cemetery, after your death. If you offended the Baron before you died, he would not allow you to go back to Africa, and you would become a zombie, a perfect slave.
If you are interested in the history of zombies and their transition into the zombies we know today, check out these articles:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/zombie.htm
http://news.discovery.com/history/history-zombies-12-6-4.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/opinion/a-zombie-is-a-slave-forever.html
And now for a story:
There I was, minding my own business at the Writing Center with Corey and Paul, when three students walked in. Paul looked up at the students and asked: "Do you need help with a paper?"
The students just stood there, groaning. Confused, I did a double-take to discover that they were dressed up as zombies! How fun! Still, they must have come here for a reason.
"Do you need help with a paper?" I asked. More groans.
Well alright then. We all shrugged, and went back to our phones and laptops to check facebook for the 37th time that hour.
Then they ate Corey.
"OH NO. OH NO, ZOMBIES," I said.
"Is this like, a normal thing in America?" asked Paul. "In Norway we don't really have any zombies."
Paul and I killed the zombies with office chairs and dragged their bodies out into the hallway.
"So what do we do now?" asked Paul.
"You never took a zombie survival class in Norway? Geez, Paul."
I pulled out my phone and checked my email. WSU had issued an emergency warning, telling everyone to go to Beasley. So we did. Then the local police force killed all the zombies. Life returned to normal.
A few weeks later, Paul and I were sitting in the writing center. I stopped what I was doing, and looked up at Paul.
"Isn't Corey supposed to be here today?" I asked.
"He was eaten by zombies, remember?" said Paul.
"Oh yeah."
THE END.
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