The Danger of a Single Story

At a Glance

Who: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What: Speech: The Danger of a Single Story
When: July 2009
Where: Oxford, England
About the speaker: Chimamanda Adichie is a Nigerian novelist.


"Stories matter," says Chimamanda Adichie. "Many stories matter."

In her July 2009 speech in Oxford, England, Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie warns of the danger of a single story, the story that defines a person or a people, a nation or a world.

As a young child in her native country, Adichie read literature that shaped her picture of the world with no concept that English and American literature did not match her life or her own country.

Therefore, what she read eventually became her story--she craved what she read about.

She was later to learn that while those stories stirred her imagination "the unintended consequence was that I did not know that people like me could exist in literature."

However, it wasn't until she was a college student that she fully realized that just as she had learned one story about the world, others had learned a single story about themselves, their world and the people in it.

Adichie later defined an Igbo word as "power--to be greater than another", and says, "How they are told, who tells them, when they are told and how many stories are told are really dependent on power.

The power is the ability to tell a story that defines a people."

If you repeatedly tell a single story that characterizes someone in a particular way, they eventually become what you have created.

Therefore, a single story should never be the only story that is told.

Adichie says "The consequence of the single story is that it robs people of dignity." It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar and warns against hearing and accepting one story as the only story.

In doing so, she says, "we risk a critical misunderstanding."

Things I'm working on...

Quit til you Wilt
Profile on LBCC retiring president

Impact of plant closing on Jefferson residents.... MAYBE

LBCC RETIRING PRESIDENT

LBCCs Retiring President--interview scheduled for 11/4

Seth Godin on Standing Out

At a Glance

Who: Seth Godin, Writer, speaker, "change agent".
What: Standing Out Speech
When: 2003
Where: Monterrey, California
About the speaker: Godin is an entrepreneur and speaker who speaks about the end of the "TV-Industrial complex", getting ideas spread by "Sneezers", and calls the ideas spread by the sneezers an "Ideavirus." He says today's marketing strategy is reversed.
Web info: http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html

The marketing paradigm has shifted.

According to marketing specialist and entrepreneur, Seth Godin, not only has there been a paradigm shift; the marketing strategy he calls the "TV- industrial complex" has been destroyed.

In a 2003 speech delivered in Monterrey, California, Godin indicates that the successful marketing strategies developed and controlled by media giants in the past are ineffective today because "we are living in a century of idea diffusion".

According to Godin, "People who can spread ideas, regardless of what those ideas are, win."

Marketing strategies of the past generation focused on saturating the market--interrupt the consumer to sell a product.

That strategy fails today, Godin says, because consumer time is not spent on media portrayal of the newest thing.

New things are ignored because "there are way too many choices" regardless of who the consumer is or what the product is.

There is a new "me" focus on what is going to work for me where I am at this moment.

Godin says you notice what is new for a moment but "the thing that is going to decide what gets talked about, what gets done, what gets changed, what gets purchased, what gets built is is it remarkable".

"'Remarkable' means it is worth making a remark about."

Godin says the success of this strategy is: "Find a group that really, desperately cares about what it is you have to say; talk to them and make it easy for them to talk to their friends."

It is the force behind the Japanese concept of "Otaku". The obsessed tell their friends, and word spreads.

Godin's key to marketing success today: "...Figure out who does care, who is going to raise a hand and say I want to hear what you are doing next, and sell something to them."

At a Glance

Who: Alisa Miller, CEO, Public Radio International
What: Reporting Diversity Speech
When: May 21, 2008
Where: Monterrey, California
About the speaker: Miller, the first female to head a public radio network, believes diversity in reporting is not merely important; it is mandatory due to the complexity and interconnectedness of today's world.
Web info: http://www.ted.com/speakers/alisa_miller.html

While American interest in global news has increased to over 50 percent, US news media focuses on Hollywood.

Alisa Miller made this point in her speech May 21, 2008, in Monterrey, California.

According to Miller, CEO of Public Radio International, the news presented by local and national news bureaus distorts the US citizen's view of the world.

World news, no matter how widespread its impact, is often eclipsed by US media focus on the lives of an American celebrity. Miller says it is cheaper.

Additionally, not only have the numbers of foreign news bureaus been reduced, in some of the most heavily populated portions of the world no news bureaus exist.

"This lack of global coverage is all the more disturbing when we see where people go for news," Miller says.

The majority of the populace turns to television media for its news but, according to Miller, international news only receives 12 percent of the coverage.

Analysis revealed that online news sources like Google News cover the same news as the networks. Other news seemed to be only copied from AP and Reuters.

Miller's concluding questions challenge news media: "Is this distorted world view what we want for Americans in our increasingly connected world?

She concluded, "...we can do better...can we afford not to?"

Sometimes you just have to ask....

I happened to pass an instructor's office in NSH and noticed a poster on the door. As I glanced at the title, I wondered--why?

Just, why?

I have been "black" or "African-American", or "Negro" all of my life although my heritage is French, Welsh, native and African. So have my parents, grandparents, and some of their parents.

From January 1, 1863 to this day, all of us have been free and citizens. That makes them and me Americans.

So why do I have to have my own history?

No other people in this country, whose ancestors came from another continent, have a totally separate history from everyone else. Not South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, or Antarctica--just Africa.

It is wrong.

I am an American whose skin is brown. I belong. I am part of the group.

This is my country and I share its history.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of this country. I sing God bless this country, land that I love... America the Beautiful, The Star-spangled Banner..This land is your land, this land is my land.

Those are songs about my country.

And yet, I am stuck on the outside.

Why?

I just had to ask.

Cycles

Even the morning dew recoils as it kisses the stubble of what once was spring grasses and flowers
Curled leaves pause while summer's fading flowers try to catch the morning moisture and revive
The midday sun, like a relentless blow torch banishes even that bit of hope--
Fall has returned and winter will follow

It must.

Zombies in plain English

LeLefever's commoncraft.com creation of "Zombie's in Plain English" is one of those videos adults wish they had seen when they were kids, preferably before October 31 and the Halloween shenanigans started. Thankfully, for those who believe, it is available now!

Children generally spend that entire day in nervous excitement. They need not be reminded "Danger may be lurking where you least expect it!" Many neighborhood families decorate their homes and feed the frenzy for the entire month.

The sense of danger fills the air.

If children knew how to identify zombies, they probably would not be so freaked by everything that goes bump after sunset Holloween night.

Where is the voice that revealed the clues about the eyes, the shoulders "those reaching arms" droopy legs and pale skin, LeFever mentions?

The terrified children might have seen those things--had they stayed around to look.

On Halloween night, children are so busy looking for candy and watching for monster it would have been great for them to know "zombies don't eat candy; they eat brains", as LeFever said, although I am not sure which is more scary.

There would have been no fear of Halloween parties had they known "zombies don't dance". They might even have dared to dance with the weirdo dressed as Lurch or The Mummy.

LeFever said, "Your first reaction may be to retreat to a home or business". With all of the goblins at most houses in the neighborhood, that should not be something a child would consider!

But retreat?

Yes! "Consider a retreat to high altitudes", he said, "because zombies don't do well in the cold; they get brittle and break" and "they slow down". Yes, that would have worked for children who lived closer to the mountain top or in snow belts.

In snow zones, zombies should not have even been out! Everything was frozen so there was no need to worry about escaping a zombie on the water.

Kids in the southern regions, especially deserts were toast!

Ultimately, LeFever's best survival advice was "Plan a counter attack!"

Zombies have to be killed.

Kill that brain and stop it. Shoot it in the head. Decapitate it by axe, machete, or chain saw. He even mentioned grenading but cautioned that creating a flaming zombie would not be a good idea.. (Heat must work the opposite of cold.)

Zombies bite! Who knew?

According to LeFever zombie bites are deadly; there is no cure. The only solution offered is death, even if it is a friend who had the misfortune of being bitten.

"Kill them with dignity" but do it, was the bottom line in the video. There was only one life, one brain to save.

On second thought, LeFever's warning is for adults--today!

Be ware! "Danger may be lurking where you least expect it....."

"Support the Troops"--More Than a Bumper Sticker

At a Glance

What: Give 2 The Troops Oregon/Washington Branch Packing Party

Where: Albany, OR

Who can help: Anyone who wishes to actively support the troops

Contact: Sharon Crary, Director

Email: Scrary@give2thetroops.org

Website: give2thetroops.org

"Supporting the troops is more than slapping a sticker on the back of your car!"

Spoken by Director Sharon Crary, these words are demonstrated in her leadership of the Oregon/Washington branch of Give 2 the Troops (G2TT), a non-profit organization that sends care packages to deployed troops.

On October 15, they hosted one of two October "packing parties" at their Albany location.

While only four attended this party--Crary, Nancy Sacks, Larry Schmale, and Marilyn Girdler--they created the energy of a dozen as they packed boxes for a troop from Dallas, Oregon.

Like Crary, Sacks and Schmale are also parents of active-duty service personnel, and their commitment indicates that they also understand the true meaning of troop support.

After setup was completed, Schmale and Sacks formed an assembly team and bagged candy, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, hand sanitizer, lip balm, cards, stationary and a handwritten note.

For Sacks, step-mom to a newly-deployed Navy SEAL, packing parties are the way to learn what to do when while her stepson is deployed. She says she finds it helpful to be with others who have already had the experience.

Girdler has no family members deployed but she participated in this packing party because she "just wanted to do something." While others bustled around her filling bags and boxes, she sat carefully composing thank-you notes as if writing a cherished family member or friend.

The driving force behind the Oregon/Washington branch, however, is Crary who says she always believed in supporting the troops, but the most she actually ever did to support them was "send something" to a friend's son.

She needed to do something else.

That something else appeared in the form of a request from her son, Preston, when his unit deployed to Iraq.

Suffering from the sweltering desert heat and longing for something cold, he thought a frozen drink machine would be a solution; his chaplain agreed.

"My mom can get you one!" her son assured him, and the request was made.

By the end of the month Crary had contacted the Washington branch of G2TT. As a result, four ICEE machines were shipped to different locations--one a donation from the ICEE Company.

Operation ICEE Treat was born; Crary had found "something else to do." For two years she managed that operation since the followup request was for more drink mix.

When the director of the Washington branch retired after five years of service, Crary, by then a seasoned member of the team, was asked to take over. In doing so, they packed and moved the operation to Oregon.

Crary says she accepted the director position because she felt an operation needed to remain on the west coast and brought it to Oregon because so many troops deploy from this state. Crary also says said she wanted G2TT here as a way for local parents to get support they need.

"When your child is deployed, you feel so alone, isolated and helpless." Working with G2TT, parents get that support.

"It really is a good organization; they do things well and they don't send shoddy things," Crary said. In fact, Crary sends nothing that she would not send to her son.

"Packing Parties" are driven by unit request.

"We ship whatever they request" Crary said, "which has even included wrestling mats, baseballs and gloves, and golf equipment."

The smallest unit they supported consisted of six sailors who requested items for a local orphanage where they volunteered.

Crary said, "We sent boxes of baby items to that unit, and a primarily female unit received magazines and books for women, chic flicks, and other 'girlie' things."

While the nationwide branches of G2TT receive support from across the country and around the world, the Oregon/Washington branch boasts of having received donations from as far away as Chicago--"Starbucks sent coffee."

Still, Crary makes the G2TT Oregon/Washington branch a part of this community.

As long as troops are deployed, donations and help will be needed and Crary says there are several ways everyone can help. Donations can be made at the US Army Recruiting Center and Mid-Willamette YMCA.

OSU students will join the students of Washington State University and University of Washington, who have already held donation drives, by hosting their own drive during the week of Veterans' Day.

"Do what you can do," Crary says. "Whatever your hot button is, do that. Write notes, pack boxes, host a fundraiser or donation drive. Or help financially--every box that is shipped must be paid for."

Crary also said no one should feel badly for "only signing a piece of paper." One such piece of paper "paid the $200 cost of shipping boxes to 125 troops."

Recent shipments from Arizona and Petaluma, California, combined with local contributions (11 boxes of much-needed books from Friends of the Library and 1500 theater-sized boxes of candy) necessitated the rental of additional storage space.

The Oregon/Washington branch is currently searching for a new facility, hoping that someone with a vacant building needs to make a charitable contribution this year, Crary says.

The G2TT Oregon/Washington branch demonstrate for this community the national G2TT slogan: "Our troops need to know that we support and appreciate the sacrifices they make for us, our families, and our future. This is about giving back to those who give all.™"

IN PHOTOS:
1st picture: Larry Schmale and Nancy Sacks filling bags for unit member.
2nd picture: Marilyn Girdler writing personal notes to go with each bag.
3rd picture: Director Sharon Crary (l) and Nancy Sacks combining personalized cards and stationary with packages prepared by Schmale and Sacks.

Where Have All the Young Men Gone--Again?

The flowers went to young men, the young men went to soldiers, the soldiers went to graveyards. A different war, yes, yet it seems so much the same.

I was there for Vietnam. I saw it from an angle that few people saw it at the age of 13.

I was a Red Cross volunteer, working at a military hospital near Tokyo, Japan. I saw the young men arrive at the transit quarter. Most were gung-ho, ready to whup some butt and collect their combat pay.

I was there with the 82nd Airborne climbing Mt Fuji on one of the training maneuvers from sunset to sunrise.

I was there when they came back to the hospital broken and bleeding wondering what happened. They were too young, didn't comprehend.

My father went and four years later my older brother and many of our high school friends went.

It was enough war for a lifetime.

But it wasn't.

Again and again they send them--the fearless men who jump and die...

Thirty years later, I scream it to the wind because no one is listening-- N-O-T M-Y S-O-N.

And then, yes, even my son. He chose to be a soldier, an Army of One.

And the young men have gone to soldiers, to graves. Again.

Too many.

When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn.

Seasons...

Fall has come again, and I sit here pondering it and my life.

A lifetime ago, it seems, I heard the song "Sunrise, Sunset". It included the words "Swiftly fly the years, one season following another"...

As I reflect on those words, I think how appropriate it is. The seasons of life change so quickly, especially once Spring is past.

It's weird how it happens.

One day you are graduating from high school with all of life ahead of you. In a flash you realize you are looking back a lot of life and find yourself wondering how much is left.

Where did my spring and summer go leaving high school, marriage, college, and at least two careers behind me?

Is this fall?

As my spring faded into summer, I remember praying to live long enough to see my children grow up.

It could not have been 26 years! But, it was. My my children are grown up. And I am alive.

I am alive. But is this fall?

Those seedlings had "turned overnight to sunflowers"...marrying, finishing college, beginning careers and having babies of their own.

I cradle my grandchildren and find myself praying again to live long enough--long enough to see my grandchildren grow up.

Grandchildren! I mean, that must be the reward for giving birth and suffering whatever you have to in order to "raise them right".

Grandchildren are 'da bomb'!

God, I need more summer, Indian summer, anything that is not fall. There is too much ahead.

Contrary to the notion that most teens think their parents are dumb, my children seemed to think I was rather intelligent. They asked questions; I had answers.

Now, however, I am brilliant! I am an expert on child rearing, child health, marital relationships, on-the-job issues.

Who knew?

At the tender age of 58 I am so glad 50 is the new 30! Maybe there is a new fall?

The wisdom of the aged is a wonderful thing. I am glad my children think I finally arrived, but I want to be here to savor it.

I pause in a moment of wondering.

Is this what my 90 and 83-year-old parents think as they look back at the three generations that follow them?

Making a U-turn

Jeremy Chumfong hardly seemed to fit the profile of a "troubled youth" as he sat quietly at the back of the classroom.

"I got into a lot of trouble on the east coast and decided to come west to start over" Jeremy said quietly when I asked where he was born and what brought him to Oregon.

He arrived as an 18-year-old youth and has been here for four years, attending OSU and LBCC. A political science major, he currently has about two terms left before graduation.

Jeremy plans to become a security officer and follow in the footsteps of his parents, Zack and Carol Chumfong, who are US Embassy employees.

"My father works for USAID ( the US government's Agency for International Development) and is currently serving in Africa," Jeremy told me. "My mother always goes wherever my father goes and does random jobs for the embassy."

Unlike a lot of young men his age, Jeremy is not a couch potato.

"I hate sitting around the house; I hate TV."

When I asked him about things he does enjoy, Jeremy revealed that he is "really into firearms. Most people don't think it (shooting firearms) is relaxing, but it really relaxes me."

He likes to get out, especially to places like Marys Peak.

Jeremy was born in New York City, on what he calls "the little isle of Manhattan", to international students who met while attending NYU. His father is a native of Cameroon; his mother is a native of Jamaica.

While he may be an unlikely candidate for the title "troubled" today, Jeremy is as an example of how a young man can change when he realizes he has made mistakes and decides to "hang a U" on life's road.

I Hate it When "THAT" Happens!

Today I wrote a note to a student I do not know, to leave under the wiper blades of a vehicle I do not know yet still felt compelled to try to find.

What happened?

One of my munchkins had a normal-for-her meltdown this morning because she did not like her hairdo and pulled it out of the hairband. (She is 7.5 years old.)

I hurriedly put it back twice while she shrieked, "I HATE MY HAIR!"

There was no time to redo it. I was already 20 minutes late leaving and had to leave. She was still screaming when I left her with my adult daughter to wait for the bus.

I noticed both lines were barely moving as I approached the last light before the first campus entrance.

Oh, great! Now everyone will be late. I hate being late!

Hastily recalculating my route, I switched lanes to enter through the farthest entrance.

As I sat there lost in the fog of the crazy morning, the car in front of me started to move. I stepped on the gas pedal.

At that same second the car that had been stopped behind the big rig in the right lane decided to dart in front of me. I almost hit her.

I slammed on my brakes. She stopped.

I started again.

She started again.

I blew my horn. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, I fumed. Everybody is late and you saw that rig a LONG time ago!

I proceeded.

The vehicle behind me waited and let her in.

Then I saw the cause of the hold up. An accident at the intersection before the light. GREAT!

The vehicle now behind me darted in front of the rig and cut across the 7-11 parking lot and onto the side street.

I continued onto the light and hung a right.

As I signaled for the left turn, there she came zipping toward around the curve. Of course, everyone had to wait for her to turn!

She glanced my way. I thought I saw her smirk as she sped by, slipped around the curve and into Lot #5.

I wasn't hurrying for a parking spot. When you choose to park and walk, there is usually a spot available.

I was early. Dropped my daughter off at her job and made it to class on time.

Then why did I feel so awful? After thinking a moment I pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write:

Dear fellow student/fellow citizen, I wrote. Today I was rude to you; I apologize.

You needed to get around a big rig whose path was blocked by an accident I could not see. We both needed to get to school. Regardless, being late would have felt better than feeling bad all morning because of my rude behavior.

Sorry! :(

I hope you had a better day, and I hope you can forgive a stressed fellow student.

Signed: The wild woman in the blue van.

Suddenly, I felt a lot better.

Parent Co-op Returns to Periwinkle Child Development Center

At a Glance:

Where: Beside the Activity Center on LBCC campus
Who is it for: Children who are 2.5 - 5 years old (need not be potty trained)
Hours: 7:15 AM to 5:15 PM -- Monday - Friday (unless LBCC is closed)
Kindergarten follows GAPS schedule
Cost: $400/term for kindergarten; $500/term for pre-school
(ask about grants/financial aid)
Contact: Family Connections
Phone: 541-917-4899
Email: connect@linnbenton.edu

New and returning LBCC students -- who are also parents -- are excited that the Periwinkle Child Development Center co-op model is an available, more affordable option this term.

Funding child care for LBCC students was a high priority at the LBCC president's budget retreat, and it was identified as one way to help parents come to school.

According to Periwinkle coordinator, Susan Knapp, there were grants and additional funds available to parents during the years the co-op was unavailable; however, "The cost was prohibitive for those who were not eligible.”

"The fees were $400/$500 per month,” said Knapp.

Knapp also stated that the PCDC primarily met the needs of working parents in those years. By returning to a parent co-op, which includes a mandatory three-credit class with a lab, more parents are able to afford child care and kindergarten for their children.

The parent obligation is three hours per week in the classroom plus a co-op job, which is a task that aids the center and eliminates the need to hire others to sanitize toys, prepare snacks and assist children.

The lab fee covers the cost of kindergarten for $400 or pre-school for $500 per term. Pell grant-eligible parents can also qualify for an additional grant that will cover all but $100 of the lab fee – which equals $10 a week.

Rochelle Garrette and Marty Johnston are two parents who say they appreciate this savings in hard times.

“My family saves around $3500 per year,” Johnston said.

Like other parents, however, Johnston and Garrette say they enjoy other benefits they receive from participating in the co-op program.

"At PCDC you are with your peers; you share common goals," said Johnston.

Parents develop bonds with the center and learn from each other in peer-to-peer and peer-staff relationships. PCDC provides them a haven, a safe place to learn parenting skills, observe normal child-development processes and meet parents in similar situations.

"With the co-op program at PCDC, our kids get the best care and education we can give them while we are getting ours,” Garrette said.