Three scientists, one cause – THE CAUSE
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The best project planning
This week
we had to do a presentation about the planning of a project work that we’ll
present in the 3rd Term. The theme of that work was related to
culture and society in general in a decade of our choice (60s, 70s, 80s or 90s).
In each decade there was plenty of cultural movements like the Hippies in the 60s,
the Greenpeace (environmental movement) in the 70s, the so called fashion disaster
in the 80s and the technological evolution in the 90s, for example.
In this
week post we have to choose the best presentation of the class. The best
presentation was, no doubts, the presentation of Hugo Santos, Hugo Cardoso and
Nuno Simões. Their sub-theme is a controversial show that came out in the 80s
called “The Jeffersons”. This was a very successful show because the main idea
of it was to do a wake up call to racism and prejudice in society in a comedic
and ironic way. The purpose of choosing this show is to talk about social issues
that existed in the 80s such us unemployment, racism (already mentioned),
discrimination, suicide, etc. Most of the social problems of that time still
exists nowadays.
Their presentation
was well structured, well planned, interesting, with nice information and fresh
ideas about the interaction with the audience, because they will bring an
excerpt from the series and we (the audience) will have to interpret that
script, so I think that it will be a good exercise to improve our English and
it’s an activity that will captivate us to their work. In terms of orality, all
of the three members of the group improved and their language was
clear, concise and objective.
Although
some other groups have done well too, we think that because of these factors this
was the best planning presentation. Now we have to wait for the real deal and
see what it turns out like!
Text written by the authors of the Blog
Cristiana & Margarida
African tribes - Yoruba people
The Yoruba tribe is
probably the largest ethnic group in West Africa and has approximately
30 million individuals, and most of them can be found in Nigeria.
There is
evidence to prove that people of the same ethnic
group have shared the region of Yorubaland, at least since the seventh century BC.
The origin of
the Yoruba has to do with mythology and revolves around
the mythical figure of Oduduwa (which means "the
special one who created the knowledge of character”). There are several
theories about how Oduduwa created the people of Yoruba,
but all of them agree that it was Him that “planted the seed” for the construction
of this community.
According to
many sources "after the disappearance of Oduduwa" a
phenomenon of the scattering of the children occurred. This resulted in the "conquest"
of various kingdoms - Owu, Ketu, Benin, Ila, Sabe, Popo, Awori, Ondo and Oyo.
From there was occurred the development, urbanization and consolidation of what would become the Yoruba confederacy of kingdoms.
Between the twelfth and eighteenth century, Ife kingdom experienced its "boom" (economic
and social). While that from the seventeenth century to the nineteen was
the Oyo kingdom that dominated the political and military level. It was
followed by the proliferation of other kingdoms, but these were
those that got the biggest improvement.
At this time
(between twelfth and nineteenth century), as it would be expected in these kingdoms, the
most common form of government is a monarchy, where the monarch
has total power. But we have also observed cases in which the
kingdom is ruled by a council of notable elders, where decisions are
taken by a group of people, which is formed by the older
men of the kingdom.
In the near
times of modernity was formed a federation of
city-states under the political control of the city-state of Oyo.
This did not last long, since the remaining Yoruba states have freed
themselves of the Oyo state dominance. Such change resulted
in a civil war.
At the same time,
Europeans (mostly British) came to these lands for the
purpose of colonization, and Yoruba people could not resist because they were weakened due
to civil war. After that, around 1960, Yorubaland was subjugated to
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And it remains that way until today.
As a curiosity:
On a religious
level - Yoruba people began to venerate one God
(Oludumare) and believe that there are also subordinate divinities (the orishas). Today most
of them are Christian or Muslim.
On a social level - The twins who are born in a Yoruba community have always been loved and became a symbol of this culture.
On a social level - The twins who are born in a Yoruba community have always been loved and became a symbol of this culture.
Researches made at:
http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?menu=004&LangID=22
– on January 14
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people
- on January 14
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Yoruba_people - on January 14
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Yoruba_people - on January 14
Text written by the authors of the Blog
Cristiana & Margarida
A dream come true
This song (“I have
a dream”) has an anti-racist message and makes an allusion to the speech of
Martin Luther King in 1963. In the speech is discussed the need for union and harmonious
coexistence between the African American race and the white race. This event
was a turning point in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. Martin
Luther King spread his word in front of an audience of over two hundred
thousand people supporting the cause. This is considered one of the greatest,
most emotional and exciting speeches in the history of mankind.
He marked many generations
(even ours) and he marked a great cause too. His influence in people’s mind and
way of life was so big that he become the youngest person to receive
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, shortly before his assassination (in
1968). He was murdered by a racist defender of the apartheid named James Earl
Ray. But, luckily, his death was not in vain and his dream is very close to
become real because society, not only in the United States but also in most
countries of the world, is very open to all kinds of races and cultures and a
perfect example of this multicultural attitude is the fact that the United
States recently promoted their first African American President, Barack Obama.
Martin Luther
King is also known by Martin Luther “the King” because of his great positive
influence on the evolution of the civil rights and because he gave voice
to a class of people that in the most part of it had very little
knowledge, little money, little power of expression and all of
them were victims of injustice and discrimination.
In the first
part, the lyrics is about the hard life (in general) of the black people of the ghetto
and the discrimination they suffer. In the last part, the lyrics prospects
a better life to all these people and a better society as a consequence of the
respect for the civil rights, mainly freedom and equality. As we can see, the
chorus has a very positive message (it says that one day “we – the people –
gonna work it out”) and that’s the main idea of the song, change the present to
have a better future.
Text written by the authors of the Blog
Cristiana & Margarida
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