(fig.1)
I spent a short majority of my day yesterday night playing around on a keyboard. I was playing with very little technical training; my mom played piano, and I'd occasionally request a piano lesson so she showed me at how to place my fingers on the piano. I don't know much else, in traditional terms of playing piano. Numerous times through out my life I played on a grand piano in my grandparents house. I think they've stopped tuning it; I don't really know when, but it has always played better than any keyboard. I did enjoy the keyboard I got as a gift. It was a black '90s type keyboard...somewhat portable. Between that and my mom's (also out of tune) piano (fig.1), I dabbled in music making.
I find that when I dabble, I find musical arrangements that seem suitable, but I cannot retain the memory of how to re-play them.
Either way, music is pleasant thing to make; it should be extremely encouraged in school. Nothing should be forced in school- it should be suggested. People are forced to memorize useless facts, irrelevant events of history to shadow atrocities of reality. Whether this was completely conscious or not, it has and remains a great formula for oppression. Trying to present to youngsters in such a way that kids are either to bored by the material or confused by what they see & experience now to comprehend the reality. History I learned in primary school seems like a cream puff to what I've experienced and know of now. History acts as an organizational excuse for cycles. Patterns countries have methodically, consciously and not, retained certain information that is then systematically passed down.
This has a lot to do with what I've been experiencing lately. I've watched documentaries the past two days; my last post references one about deafness and blindess (Land of Silence and Darkness). I also sat through, but did not completely pay attention to Triumph of the Will. While I watched the repetitious marches and rallies, I doodled and observed Smokey. I feel like that activity did not distract me from the basic structure and plot of the movie. Basically, Hitler present the Nazis in this film feature as being fun- loving- happy-strong people. The interludes of speeches; clips of different people, but Hitler talks the most.
The realization I came to whilst watching is that regardless of how inhumane and atrocious the Holocaust was, the Nazis were essentially right about what they were doing. Some one said ' in order to building something strong, it must start strong' (paraphrasing). Even though the public image of Nazism is admonished, the white supremacy movement still easily exists. It wasn't really about Hitler's message that America disproves of, but the way he did it. American government has learned how to use genocide or mass murder to their advantage. Yet, we don't learn about those events in school, and the arts have become seriously undervalued in American school systems.
The answer is to re-re-write history, and take into consideration present times. Nowadays the media is so-everywhere, cyberspace and in tangible-land, that was is history now? It's a complete show, in short.
I find that when I dabble, I find musical arrangements that seem suitable, but I cannot retain the memory of how to re-play them.
Either way, music is pleasant thing to make; it should be extremely encouraged in school. Nothing should be forced in school- it should be suggested. People are forced to memorize useless facts, irrelevant events of history to shadow atrocities of reality. Whether this was completely conscious or not, it has and remains a great formula for oppression. Trying to present to youngsters in such a way that kids are either to bored by the material or confused by what they see & experience now to comprehend the reality. History I learned in primary school seems like a cream puff to what I've experienced and know of now. History acts as an organizational excuse for cycles. Patterns countries have methodically, consciously and not, retained certain information that is then systematically passed down.
This has a lot to do with what I've been experiencing lately. I've watched documentaries the past two days; my last post references one about deafness and blindess (Land of Silence and Darkness). I also sat through, but did not completely pay attention to Triumph of the Will. While I watched the repetitious marches and rallies, I doodled and observed Smokey. I feel like that activity did not distract me from the basic structure and plot of the movie. Basically, Hitler present the Nazis in this film feature as being fun- loving- happy-strong people. The interludes of speeches; clips of different people, but Hitler talks the most.
The realization I came to whilst watching is that regardless of how inhumane and atrocious the Holocaust was, the Nazis were essentially right about what they were doing. Some one said ' in order to building something strong, it must start strong' (paraphrasing). Even though the public image of Nazism is admonished, the white supremacy movement still easily exists. It wasn't really about Hitler's message that America disproves of, but the way he did it. American government has learned how to use genocide or mass murder to their advantage. Yet, we don't learn about those events in school, and the arts have become seriously undervalued in American school systems.
The answer is to re-re-write history, and take into consideration present times. Nowadays the media is so-everywhere, cyberspace and in tangible-land, that was is history now? It's a complete show, in short.
2 comments:
The manner in which history is presented is always determined by those in power. The teaching of it is not so much about memorizing "useless facts" and "irrelevant events" (because nothing is irrelevant when our present is entirely shaped by the past) but based on the generally accepted idea that one can't have an adequate understanding of contemporary society without knowledge of that same society's past. As children, you look at it through a very simple lens because you lack the experience to make you see, for example, that Aunt Jemima isn't just a face on a pancake box but a small piece of what's left behind from racist ideology. Therefore, the idea isn't that history in and of itself is useless, but that it is extremely subjective.
Because you and I went to a Jewish private school, the Holocaust was a subject we were taught about every year at great length, but were we ever taught about a single other occasion of genocide? You know as well as I that the wars in Sudan and Uganda have been in existence for the same length of time we have - more, in fact. And yet, as we said "never again" on Yom Hashoah and attended services to say Kaddish for those that had died, no one once ever mentioned the thousands that were being massacred at that present moment. We were taught this way because of WHERE we were being educated. Couldn’t it be argued then that everything we learn in primary school is wholly dependent on several things: the socioeconomic class of those in attendance, the religious majority, ethnic/”racial” minority, etc. Despite going to a public high school, the administration basically gave up on proper attendance during the High Holy Days because Jews formed an abnormally large percentage of the student body. Would the same condition exist in a public high school in, say, Georgia? Not a chance in hell. They would have their own set of conditions based on the context they exist in.
What you know of history (at least in childhood) is therefore just one slant: one opinion of not necessarily what happened, but why that occasion is significant. You describe what you learned of history in primary school as "a cream puff," but this is only because you've taken the initiative to educate yourself further; to not blindly accept what's been presented to you as a math equation, and for this added knowledge you've gained a different slant - also effected by your experiences, the people you surround yourself with, etc. Who's to say that in 10 years you'll look back and agree with what you just wrote? History works in the same manner, depending on who is presenting it, and at what time they’re presenting it. The way racial disparity was received by youth in the sixties was worlds away from the way it was received in the fifties.
Furthermore, those who present it are always the ones in power. The issue with American school systems isn't so much about unequal emphasis in subjects (despite functioning primarily in the arts, I still think the core: English, Math, Science, Social Studies/History are pretty fuckin' important – not just for being able to function in our society but also because these are the things art is usually a response to, no?) but the manner in which these subjects are presented. A couple days ago, my younger sister came home talking about Black History Month. The very creation of a singled out length of time in which to discuss specifically "Black History" furthers the notion that there is a difference between "races" (because the very notion of race to me in this day and age is sheer stupidity) and thus, they should be looked at distinctly. 2010, and America STILL isn't wholly integrated. The real issue though is that this idea is well-received by the general population. So well-received in fact that the powers that be have taken it upon themselves to also create Hispanic Heritage Month. It's embarrassing to think that by dedicating ONE MONTH to "black history," Americans are doing their part to end racism, while unthinkingly perpetuating the separation. In other words, talking in the master's language. THIS is the issue with "re-re-writing history." It can be re-written as many times as anybody wants, but it will still only be a reflection of the values of whoever is writing it. It will never be objective, and will always be considered an absolute truth. The most that anyone can do is realize these flaws and question
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