Recently I saw something on my facebook timeline about the coronavirus being spread by those in the Asian community. This was posted by my Grandmother who obviously didn’t realize how harmful what she posted was. There was a lot of comments stating very racist and upsetting things about the Asian community. I messaged my Grandmother because of how upset I was reading this. I told her that her article was incorrect about how the virus is spread. She simply stated that she, “didn’t care”.
I sent her various articles in attempts to prove to her just how wrong she was but she simply left me on “read” and did not respond any further. This was obviously very upsetting for me. I tried calling her but she did not answer. Maybe she had a feeling what I was calling about and didn’t want to talk or maybe she was busy. I will never know.
What I do know is that the “Grandmother Problem” isn’t as simple as I thought. Even when you try to be nice and simply point out a fact you could be putting your entire relationship on the line with someone. Even though my Grandmother is upset with me I’m glad I did what I did. Standing up for what is right is so important to me. The truth is always worth fighting for.
Before this module I hadn’t thought much about my security. I personally have never been hacked. I think this is a disadvantage because if you’ve never been hacked you don’t think about getting hacked. I didn’t realize just how easy it is to steal information and what that could mean for me as an individual.
The steps I plan to take to ensure my security are pretty straightforward. I’m going to stop using the same password for everything. I already did this for my online banking but outside of that most of my passwords are the same if not very similar. Strong passwords are unique passwords that aren’t simply ‘password123’. The Google Help Center gives some really good suggestions to make your password stronger. They suggest using a longer password such a quote or song lyric. The do not suggest using personal information like your pets name or your nickname.
I am also going to try encrypting my laptop. I had never thought of doing this before but The Intercept breaks down why if can be helpful. One of the reasons they mention is that it can protect your computer and sensitive data from hackers. I like this article because it break down how to encrypt your laptop depending on your operating system (OS). Depending on your OS the process is pretty straightforward.
Another thing I’m going to do to beef up my security is reevaluate the browser extensions I have. I need to read through the terms to see if they are spying on me like Amazon does according the Washington Post. I’m really bad about reading the terms of service (TOS) and privacy policies for the apps, extensions, and devices I use. Getting better about this will help me to make better informed decision about my security.
The last thing I plan to do is to stop using public wi-fi without a virtual private network (VPN). I never really saw the danger in using public wi-fi until this module’s readings. VPN’s help you stay safe while browsing on a public network. I had only ever heard of using VPN’s while traveling to foreign countries to gain access to websites that are banned. Life Hacker created a spreadsheet to help you choose the best VPN for you.
These steps may seem minimal or obvious but for me they are huge steps in the right direction. I can say I felt pretty safe when it came to my technology but this module opened my eyes. I realized that just because I haven’t been hacked doesn’t mean I’m necessarily doing something right. Security should be taken as seriously as possible. These steps will help me on that journey.
This week we learning a lot about media and the law. The two issues that stuck out to me were net neutrality and censorship. I know about these issues on a surface level but wanted to do more research for my blog post this week. These two subjects are very important when discussing media and the law.
What is net neutrality? According to Wired, net neutrality is an idea based on internet service providers treating all content equally. Because of net neutrality internet providers cannot censor or block certain content. They also cannot charge more for access to certain websites. In essence this keeps the internet as an open playing field for all. Net Neutrality is a term coined by Tim Wu , Columbia law professor, in 2003.
I think this topic is important because without regulations these internet providers can do whatever they want. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) under regulations must have internet delivered freely and openly. If we use the New York Time analogy you can think of certain websites as packages. Net neutrality ensures that all packages are delivered at the same rate. Without these regulations packages can be delivered at slower rates or not delivered at all.
What is censorship? According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) censorship is the suppression of words, images, and ideas. According to the article censorship can take place privately or by government. When the government participates in censorship it is unconstitutional. Our right to expression is protected by the First Amendment. Without these protections it is possible that our right to express freely may not exist. With that said the amendment does not protect obscenity in some media. There are many resources available at the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) for further reading.
Now that we know a little more about each subject we can tackle the question of why it should matter to us. Net neutrality is not just about keeping the internet neutral but is also addressing the issue of internet service providers becoming too powerful. The amount of ISP’s is shrinking and this is not necessarily a good thing according to Wired. When it comes to censorship I definitely enjoy my right to say what I like. I must afford others that same right even when I disagree with them.
I do plan to change the way I use my social media when it comes to these topics. As far as censorship I will continue to post what I like and use my voice to serve the causes important to me. I will respect other’s rights to do the same regardless of just how much I don’t understand or am offended by what they say. When it some to net neutrality I think the best thing we can do is support smaller internet service providers to help foster competition. This is important, as I mentioned before, so a handful of companies don’t take over everything and being too powerful. With all that said I hope you can understand why censorship and net neutrality are so important.
The hardest part about the “grandmother problem” is how to address it. How does one go about telling their friend or family member that what they’re doing is potentially harmful? Even if it’s not harmful it’s still not okay to share false news. But how do we go about this?
For most people I’d say this is a tough conversation to have with a friend or family member simply because you don’t know how they’ll react. Because of this reason I think it’s very important to not have this conversation publicly with someone. It’s best to do it privately via direct message, e-mail, text, or even by phone. For me, honesty is the best policy so I don’t like to sugar coat things. I would break the issue down, as needed, so they can understand what is really happening.
Tell them that you understand why the wanted to share what they shared but what they are sharing is not true. Explain what the indicators of a false news page are. Encourage them to ask questions and don’t make them feel stupid. Having a real candid private conversation with someone is all it takes.
Now, how do I know this works? I’ve done it before. The true problem with these conversations is that it doesn’t always change the persons mind or if you did change their mind it doesn’t stop them from posting false news in the future. At this point it’s best to cut your losses when it comes to a private conversation because it didn’t work the first time.
Another thing you can do is post factual information in the comments section of the post. By debunking the information they provided they might start to think more about what they post before they post it. Even if it’s just so they don’t have to see you in their comments again. The Grandmother problem isn’t going anywhere so just remember to be kind and know that by sharing the truth you are impacting the world significantly in a positive way. Don’t forget there is a time and a place to call people out but there is also a time and a place to all someone in. Calling in should be your first step and then call out if necessary.
When I initially learned about this Wikipedia assignment I thought it was a daunting task. I’ve used Wikipedia in the past for a jumping off point for research assignments or just for light reading. I didn’t even know that wikipedia was open for edits from anyone. I guess I had alway seen the edit button but thought you had to have special privileges to edit an article.
I started the assignment off by figuring out an article to edit. I decided to edit the McClintock High School page because it was pretty lacking. I am aware of some really great accomplishments by the Speech and Debate team and thought this would be a nice addition to the article. Especially since, currently, the article is very sports driven. I proposed my edit on the talk page and waited for feedback.
When I did not hear any feedback I went ahead and made my edit.
Overall I found the process to be pretty straightforward. It was very much like the sandbox used inourtraining modules. I was very nervous about making my edit. For some reason I really got in my own head about it and thought it would be really hard or that I wouldn’t do it right.
I think the training modules really helped my overall confidence. I knew exactly what I was doing and knew that the hardest part would be getting myself to press that edit button. Once I got past that point it was fairly simple. I found that actually completing the training modules was much more stressful than editing the article itself.
This could be for a few reasons. One being on the talk page there were no objections made to my edit. Second my article was really underdeveloped so I could have found any relevant fact about my high school and added it with seemingly no objections. Lastly the training modules are there to prepare you for various scenarios that I actually did not encounter.
Some of these scenarios include your work being reverted. This simply means that your edit will be deleted. Another scenario is there being objections to your edit on the talk page. There are various reason someone could object to your potential edit. The potential for disagreement made me highly anxious. But none of this actually happened to me.
I want to take some time to reflect on the training I received in order to be able to complete this module. I thought the training was pretty fantastic. I had no idea what to expect going into the assignment so I started the training modules early in the semester. You get to learn about the history of Wikipedia as well as some interesting facts about the editing process. The most interesting thing I learned was that anyone can edit articles. I mentioned this already but I had no idea this was possible until the training modules.
There were modules to help you pick your article. This was something I stressed out about as well. I had no idea what kind of article to pick or where to start. The training module helped but what inspired me most was seeing a post on Facebook from someone who was previously on my high schools speech and debate team. I saw their post while I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and didn’t really think anything of it. Then when I was brainstorming ideas for this assignment I decided to look up the wikipedia page for my high school. I noticed it was underdeveloped and I remembered the training modules said these were good articles to edit. I bookmarked it and kept it on my list. Ultimately it beat out all my other ideas.
Overall I can say I’m very proud of myself. I really did not expect to learn so much and also complete the task at hand. I was afraid that I wouldn’t find a topic or something else would go wrong. I feel like it was a huge success and I feel so thankful for this assignment because I learned a skill that I can use as long as Wikipedia is around. Editing articles could potentially become something I do for fun in my free time. I don’t really see that happening but it is nice to know i have the option.
The next time I come across an underdeveloped article I might just take the time to add an edit. Wikipedia has been such a great part of researching and learning for me that the least I could do is make Wikipedia even better. I believe in one of training videos it talk about how when you edit a Wikipedia article you are making Wikipedia better. I like the idea of that because I’m a broke college student so I can’ t donate money to Wikipedia. I hope this post inspires people out there to make their own wikipedia edits.
This list will be an introduction to understanding what racism and cultural appropriation and fashion can look like. It will also serve as a list to understand the basics of racism in the fashion industry.
7 Myths about Cultural Appropriation DEBUNKED!This quick video gives you an in depth understanding of cultural appropriation and why it matters. “Cultural exchange has been going on since the beginning of time but exchange is mutual. It needs to be done respectfully” -Franchesca Ramsey
Diet Prada. A micro blog dedicated to calling out hypocrisy in the fashion industry. This blog is known for calling out cultural appropriation and racism. “On the positive side, more states are legislating to ban race-based hair discrimination,” -Diet Prada
Fashion gaffes are a reflection of the industry’s diversity problem. This article is an in depth overview of racism in the fashion industry and why it continues to be pervasive. “How do these things even get greenlighted? Who in the world, for example, thought that D&G’s ad campaign, insulting and patronizing the Chinese model, would appeal to a Chinese audience?” – Valerie Steele
Models Talk: racism, Abuse and Feeling Old at 25. A candid conversation about racism and other topics by models in the industry. “I don’t want this shift to be commodified I want it to be a reality.” -Paloma Elsesser
Naomi Campbell on racism in fashion. A supermodel talking about racism in fashion and why it’s important to have these conversations. “The act of not choosing models of color is racist” -Naomi Campbell
2.
Since the start of the class my media consumption hasn’t really changed. I still watch MSNBC for most of my news and don’t really use websites or social media as a way to find news. I use instagram daily and probably too much. I use it for my art and to get inspired. If there’s one thing this class has taught me it’s to be skeptical. When I consume the news from MSNBC I try to keep an open mind about what I’m watching. I don’t take everything as an undisputed fact.
When i have questions I do my own research. I started a note on my notes app on my phone that I fill up with questions while I watch the news. I found this is a great way to do my own fact checking if you will. I try not to be to skeptical but I do realize that not everything is a fact just because it’s on the news.
“Fashion gaffes are a reflection of the industry’s diversity problem” is an article written by Aileen Kwun for CNN. If I were to give this article a grade it would be an A. I give this grade for several reasons. The first of which is there was no sign of bias in the reporting. I appreciated this as a reader and know that it is important to other readers as well. There is nothing wrong with bias in opinion pieces as there is no way to escape it but in news pieces, such as this, it’s important to attempt to eliminate bias.
Secondly, this article linked many sources. A few of them are not see credible such as randomtweets and a instagram profile. But they are crucial for adding nuance to the article. For the most part though the other sources are credible and clearly linked. An example of a credible source when Kwun wrote, “Chinese consumers account for nearly a third of spending on luxury goods worldwide” she sourced this information from Bain and linked the article as I have done so as well. Kwun also conducted several interviews for this piece which she quotes throughout the article.
Kwun herself seems to be credible as well. I was able to locate her on LinkedIn and her personal website where she links her various works. With this information along with what we learned about her from her writing I would say she is a credible writer. I didn’t find that Kwun failed to ask any questions in her reporting. She was very thorough throughout the entire article. Very detail oriented.
Th article itself was about some mess ups in the fashion industry that are actually an indicator of diversity problem. Chanel, Gucci, Burberry, and Prada are just a few brands mentioned throughout the article. These brands and others have appointed diversity and inclusion advocates but some are finding that they are still missing the mark.
A lot of the appointed advocates are white themselves and some people took issue with that. Some people do not understand how you can approach the problem in such a way that you are still excluding people of color. With social media the missteps do not go unnoticed. People are questioning how it can be that brands can continually mess up.
Kwun dives deeper into the question of how this happens. She writes, “brands pursuing profit at the expense of cultural sensitivity”. Kwun questions whether it is possible that brands simply do not care or do they just mistakenly miss the mark time and time again. I think it would be biased to simply say the brands don’t care. But it is possible to say that maybe they just don’t know better.
Kwun closes the article by talking about accountability. “While no fashion house has explicitly blamed their transgressions on insufficient in-house diversity, their responses to controversy offer a tacit acceptance of its role”. These fashion houses are making attempts to right their wrongs and that is worth acknowledging.
There is a difference between actual news and opinion pieces. This Washington Post article is a great example of opinion. We know it’s an opinion piece because it is labeled as such but also it’s very clear from the headline itself. It poses a question that could potentially have many answers. It could even have an answer differing from the one in the article. “Why the fashion industry keeps bumbling into racist imagery” is a really great topic posed by the headline of this article. The only way to answer however is to give an opinion not a fact as there is no one real answer. There are plenty of facts presented throughout the article but at the end of the day when the author revisits the headline question they are stating their opinion. The Washington post is a very well known news organization. It is very credible when it comes to news but this is an opinion piece so the credibility is not really there. USA today also has this problem. In an article about what fashions most controversial designs are, the writing is a matter of opinion not news. What is controversial to one person might not be controversial to another. I would not say USA Today is a credible news source. Most of what is written about has nothing to do with news. The news articles that are available are generally about politics and no other subject except health. This lead me to believe that the primary writing that USA Today does is opinion pieces.
The New York Times published an article about a couple of brands thats released racist products and apologized. This article presents the facts simply and gives no opinions on the matter. It even says “products criticized as racist” instead of calling the products racist. By doing this it separates itself from an opinion article because something can be racists or not depending on how you ask. Whereas in the articles previously mentioned in the titles as well as the articles it presented opinions outright. The Times article is attempting to stay neutral. I find the New York Times to be a very credible source of news. Not only do they cover news on many subjects but they present facts while staying neutral. The final article we will talk about is one from GQ. I liked this article because it reminded me of the New York Times article. The fact were simply laid out and the tone was neutral. It explained why Dapper Dan is helping Gucci with their branding after some racist missteps the brand had experienced. Overall I really enjoyed this article and was surprised as it is probably the first article I’ve read from GQ. GQ is a printed magazine and they also have their articles online. A lot of what they do is opinion pieces but there are articles like this sprinkled in. I don’t think GQ is a credible news source because most of what they do is opinion driven and not neutral, at least that’s what I gathered from their website. It is possible that the magazine is different.
With all of that being said it’s important to challenge our views of what is credible or not and why we feel that way. Some people don’t see the New York Times as credible in the way that I do. Maybe they read USA Today or GQ instead and find those to be equally as credible. We must acknowledge these disagreements, with a grain of salt, to better understand one another. Be sure to open your mind and ask your own questions.
This week I chose to write about fashion because it is essential to our everyday lives. Not only is it a true art form but it is also something we spend our lives in. Even though it’s 2020 racism still exists and is known problem in the fashion industry. As a black person living in the United States racism effects my everyday life. I care about the topic because it hits close to home for me both by way of my experiences and by the art form that I really love.
Racism in the fashion industry wasn’t something that was covered in media until what feels like very recently. A lot of major fashion houses were getting called out for only using white models in their shows and advertising. Magazines were called out for feature these exclusionary and/or racist ads. On the opposite side of the spectrum brands were celebrated for their diversity and advertisements were applauded for featuring models of color (bonus points if they weren’t stereotyped).
My problem with the ways media covers this topic is the fact that it seems so trivial. A lot of times articles don’t highlight the fact that racism in fashion has very real consequences for people in their everyday lives. This could be young black people not seeing people who look like them in magazines and therefore not feeling beautiful because the “beautiful” people in the magazines don’t look like them. This could be the very real struggles of a young model of color who can’t find work because of racism in the industry. The shows with no models of color, racist ads or racist pieces of clothing really have an impact on the daily lives of people of color.
Resources I’ve found for information on racism in the fashion industry are through the Huff Post and the New York Post . My problem is the fact that while they are writing about racism often times the writing is done by a white person. The writing lacks nuance that a person of color could give based on their lived experience. I also turn to the New York Times for information on this topic as well. Overall I think this is an important topic that could honestly be covered more by the mainstream media. The more the subject is covered the more we can actively work towards being anti-racist in all aspects of our lives. I think once people realize the true consequences of racism the more of an open dialogue we will have.
I wake up around 10am and immediately checked my e-mail. My mom keeps MSNBC on the television pretty much the entire day so I listen to that while I finish waking up around 11am. Once I’m up and ready at 12pm I get on Instagram to check on my friends’ stories and posts. I watch whatever is on MSNBC until I have to leave for work at 2pm. Before I start work I check Instagram or Twitter one more time as I’m not allowed to be on my phone while I’m working. After trading hours of my human life for a compensation I get a break. My break is usually around 5:15pm and it’s only 15 minutes long so I just listen to music on Spotify. I get off around 8pm and check instagram before I drive home. While I drive home I listen to podcasts on Spotify. Currently I am Listening to the Good Ancestor Podcast. I’m home before 9pm but now i’m tasked with dinner. I’m not very good at making dinner nor do I ever feel motivated to do so. In attempts to motivate myself I watch cooking videos on Youtube for 30 or so minutes or until I decide what I want to make. I like to have dinner done by 10pm. Which seems so late but I work really late so it make sense for me. After dinner I like to watch Youtube, Hulu, or MSNBC. I keep up with shows on a weekly basis so I really like Hulu for that but, as I mentioned before, if I feel like watching the news MSNBC is always on and is usually interesting to me. I’ll fall asleep to a show usually but I don’t typically go to bed until 12am or 1am. I consume content like this daily and I’d say this is pretty accurate for a work day. On my day off I’d say I consume much more media than I probably need to if I’m being honest.
As far as creating content goes I don’t do so on a daily basis but when I do it’ll be a day that I have off so I can take my time. I like to edit my own photos and create my own captions as well. I can usually knock out one post over the span of 3 hrs. I take time throughout the whole day to curate my instagram stories. I really like them to be informative so I seek out posts on the subjects I’m looking for.
