Monday, October 25, 2010

Blog for 10/25, America is in the Heart

From Joseph Choe:  Why did Alfred stop Allos (Reader 67)?

From Joshua Wang: What did you think of Olivia's presentation?

From Susan Nguyen: How would you feel if you had to go door to door to find a job?

From Sarah Wong: Why did they take Estevan in (Reader 61)?

From Brian Ly: "I will never let them touch me with their filthy hands!  I will never let them make a domestic animal out of me" (Reader 63)!  What does he mean by a domestic animal?

19 comments:

  1. Olivia's presentation was enlightening (I didn't realize how many Filipino activists there were in history and how they supported many of the more well-known activist leaders). But, it was a lot of information to take in at one time. She went a little bit fast (she probably had to in the short amount of time). A lot of the things she said were also mentioned in Vera Cruz's excerpt in the Reader (how Filipinos started farm workers unions and strikes, but Cesar Chavez was more well-known; and how Filipinos were used because they were short).

    I would be embarrassed and ashamed if I had to go door to door to find a job. I think working at McDonald's is degrading already (although most people's first jobs are at McDonald's and there's nothing wrong with that), but having to knock door to door, and only get paid $.50 for 8 hours work would be depressing. It's humiliating having to do that and be disrespected.

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  2. Question 1: He stopped him because he knew it wasn't allos and his business. He didn't want him to get involved in the situation and get hurt. Alfred might as well have been watching over allos to keep him out of trouble and if allos wasn't stopped someone may have died.

    Question 2:I thought it was a very interesting presentation. After reading the homework from last class and then having the prsentation was very nice. It gave me some more insight into filipino history and the struggles that they had that i was not aware of at all.

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  3. Q2: I thought the presentation was pretty interesting and I learned a lot of new things from it. However, I felt like she was going too fast throughout her presentation. I think it would have been more impacting if she slowed down a little bit and gave up time to absorb what she was telling us

    Q3: If I had to go door to door to find work I would feel embarrassed and humiliated. 50 cents for 8 hours of work is basically telling someone that they are basically worth nothing. I know that there are some people who do go door to door to sell stuff, but at least it's a job they are getting paid for and not just going around looking for one.

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  4. I felt that Olivia's presentation was somewhat rushed but also very informative. Through her presentation she kept saying 'um' and 'uhh' which I thought resembled her unpreparedness in her power point presentation. I could understand her main point in trying to get across what the early Filipinos have done for their communities and how they shaped labor laws that we have today. But most of the slides that were on the screen were filled with dates and times which she didn't even go over. In addition to that, instead of telling us what each abbreviated organization was and meant, she instead just said it and passed it on. I would have personally learned more about a third of the presentation in depth versus a skim of a time span over 30 years in 20 minutes.

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  5. I thought that Olivia's presentation was very informative. I definitely learned some news things after her presentation. As for Susan's question, I would be really worried. I would just want a job in order to keep food in the table and a roof over my head. Especially, being Filipino, being discriminated like that and being underpaid would be very demeaning.

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  6. I think that domestic animal just refers to a creature somewhat like a pet. A domestic animal is an animal that is trained to be able to live within human society but still considered "inferior." A dog would be considered a domestic animal because although it is an animal, it has been trained to live in the house. It's life is dependent on its owners. He is saying he will never stoop down to a level below that of a human. He does not want to become a commodity or a thing rather to be an equal human being.

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  7. Question 1: I think Alfred stopped him from interfering because it didn't involve him and perhaps he didn't want Allos to tarnish his name.

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  8. Q1: Because Alfred did not want Allos to get in trouble. He might know the personality of Pete. He wanted to protect Allos because he probably predicted that if someone interfered with Pete’s business, that person would certainly come to no good end.

    Q2: I think Olivia's presentation is pretty good! I like the way she presented. I feel she has a lot passion on her subject. The presentation is very informative, and I learned a lot Pilipino American history from her presentation.

    Q3: I feel ok to go door to door to find a job if people treat me with respects. However, I could not tolerate the situation that the writer experienced. They were treated more like slavers. Fifty cents for eight hours’ hard working cannot be accepted. Instead of saying that they were trying to find a job door to door, they were more like begging for survival door to door.

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  9. Going door to door would be very difficult. With all the given resources we already have in this day and age it is still as difficult. So imaging having to physically walk door to door which is actually physically tiring. I know personally that I would eventually lose hope and ambition to keep on going door to door right after getting refused or rejected. Not only would it be physically exhausting but also mentally exhausting.

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  10. I think I learned something new from Olivia's presentation such as Pilifino's history or how Asian Americans worked in 1930s or 1940s. It was good to know. I do volunteering work that helps migrant farm-workers and their kids& families. They are Mexican who can not speak English, so they have a hard time to buy food from the grocery. I have been going to Watsonville for over four months; except for when I was gone to Korea this summer for two months.

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  11. I think that Olivia's presentation was alright. It felt rushed, maybe because there was a lot of information to cover or maybe she wanted to speed it through, but it was just rushed in my opinion. At the beginning where she did some visual demonstration it was pretty interesting, but towards the middle and ending it was all facts and statistics and that pretty much lost my attention and it got boring.

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  12. In response to Susan Nguyen's question:
    It would be horrible to resort to that in order to find work. If all else failed and that was the only way to find work of course I would be forced to do that. I could only imagine the humiliation and degradation i would feel. Constantly being turned down and having little to no say in the pay i would receive. Would I even receive pay? What would i be able to do if they refused to pay me? Hours wasted laboring away for the chance at a little prosperity. The thought of a little food or maybe a break would be in my head while working for these unknown strangers. I could only imagine my mindset of walking home or maybe to no home with a whole day wasted away with no one accepting my line of work. Pocket emptied and stomach growling for something to eat. This would be a definite low.

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  13. Q2
    I think her presentation is interesting but doesn't have much detail. It was like a list of history events and people. I believe if there was more detail like some story about the people she mentioned and the background information about that period of time will make the presentation better. I think she did a good job in a short time though.

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  14. #1: I think Alfred stopped Allos for many complex reasons. As Poco's cousin, his loyalty in the moment was for his cousin and his cousin's woman (Myra). I wonder if Alfred wanted to fight Pete himself first since Poco wasn't in the building. I think this situation reflects Poco's allegiance to his cousin because I get the feeling that he knows that Poco was always flighty or fleeting. One way to show this kind of loyalty to his cousin is to fight for him. Also, I think Alfred stopped Allos because he might have developed disdain towards Myra for being the reason why Poco was acting like a fool.

    #2: Although it went by quickly, I enjoyed Olivia's presentation. It helped me understand the kind of research and activism that people are engaging in here in the South Bay. I noticed that most of the Filipino leaders featured were males, or manongs. I know that mostly men were only allowed immigrate from the Philippines at the time. I wanted to learn more about what Filipina women did at that time, in the Farmworkers movements during the 1930s-1940s. Olivia let me know that this is something that needs to be further researched.

    #3: If I had to go door-to-door to find a job, I'm sure that I'd feel like the hustle to do so was hard, somewhat embarrassing but necessary. Offering up our labor and bodies is one of the only ways to make money, worth, or status in this country. I also would try not to judge those who have to work harder to make a buck.

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  15. Q2: I think Olivia's presentation was informative like everybody is saying. I learned a lot about Filipinos. And I do agree that she went way to quick. She skipped some slides. She basically just read what was off the powerpoint instead of explaining in depth a little more about the point she was trying to make. She seem pissed off at our class. Like when she made the comment about somebody napping when he really wasn't. She made a mean comment..."you better wake him up or i'll...."

    Q3: I would be embarrassed if I had to go door to door looking for a job. But you gotta do what you gotta do to earn money to live. If I had no money, I would do it too!

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  16. I really didn't enjoy Olivia's presentation. Although I feel that the history of Filipino-American migrant workers is most definitely worth researching, and understanding the causes and effects of the various historic protests of the UFW and other organizations is crucial to understanding Asian-American society, I feel like she did a poor job of conveying her research.

    The powerpoint itself was filled with abbreviations and dates that she failed to explain; she didn't spend more than 15 seconds on any one slide. She just seemed hurried and unprepared. There was no real logical progression to the presentation; she jumped around a lot and ultimately she failed to give us a comprehensive picture by her inability to connect the important figures, orgs, and dates. Also, she honestly seemed rather condescending; she frequently asked us if we knew who this person was or what this organization did, and when we did not know, she seemed exasperated, as if we should have known all along. Wasn't that the point of her presentation? To inform us of this history we did not know much about?

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  17. if i were to have to go to door to door for a job i would definitely stress about the fact that life is very difficult to live. in fact in my own experience a purpose with a job i believe is to get by things and to be out going . A job is significantly something one should be serious about rather taken for granted because not a lot of people have the opportunity.

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  18. 2. I think Olivia's presentation was interesting because i didnt know there was so much inequality going on for the Filipinos and other minorities.
    3. I would feel embarrass if i have to knock on door to door asking for a job because thats not what a normal person would do. But if I am in a seriously need of money then i would have to suck it up and go ask for a job from door to door.
    5. I think he meant slave labor when he said domestic animal because he doesnt want a job like his brother. He doesnt want to work in a degrading environment where they treat you like animals.

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  19. If I had to go door to door just in order to find myself a job, I think I would find it pretty annoying. Unless I was going to be paid a substantially higher amount than minimum wage, it just wouldn't really be worth it. But then again if shit hits the fan, you gotta do what you gotta do.

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