A very last Christmas

I believe that about 70% of Brits had the same idea of a joke: Indeed, those were last christmas for George Michael. Well, I hope Americans are not that blunt. 

Instead of stupid jokes, we should think this positive figure over. 

He did not speak loud about it. Dead at the age of 53, George Michael was a philanthrope, willingly sharing his money with others, which turned out recently. 

Here, the great things he'd done are presented. 

1. Homeless shelter

George Michael supported a shelter for the homeless. Volunteers were asked for staying anonymous that is why Emilyne Mondo (one of the volunteers) twitted no sooner that he'd died. 

More.

2. A paid-off-debt. 

Gratuitously, he helped a stranger in a bar as he saw her crying for she'd been having debts. 

He gave the waitress... 25 thousand dollars to give that poor woman as he leaves the bar. 

Speaks for itself. 

3. A help for a bartender in need. 

One day he gave a huge tip for a lady studying in a nursery school:

4. More than 2 million pounds for "Childline"

A charity that works 24h and helps children and teens. In this case, Michael wanted to remain anonymous again that is why the information has been brought out recently. A charity gig is planned as a "thank you, world, for Michael's life". 

5. Fight the famine in Africa.

Engaged with "Band Aid", he contributed to "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which benefited in 19 million pounds as to help children in Ethiopia.

6. Against the AIDS

For many years George Michael supported the charity organisations helping people suffering from AIDS or cancer, especially children. The representatives of foundations claim that he'd given several millions for those people. Again, did not wish to speak about it as he was alive. One of those was "Terrence Higgins Trust" helping the victims of AIDS.

7. ...

8. ...

9. ... We don't know. 

Yet, surely he'd done plenty of things we have no idea of. Next time you hum "Last Christmas" think he was not only a heart-breaker but heart-healer. 

A task to do: Ask God for heaven to this noble man. Do some good yourself. 

Assassinations Of African-American Activists

Assassinations Of African-American Activists

United States of America is a country which „unity” never was and still is not an easy and straightforward matter. Even our first associations with this country are mainly about varied society in different states. This is obviously connected with different origins of Americans which are most visible because of the skin colors. The constant fight between white and black people stems from an early stage of development of the USA and propagation of slavery.

However, the fight for blacks’ rights started to be really violent in the 50s and 60s so in the times of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The African-American civil rights movement became a serious threat for Parliament. Race problem is so significant that whenever it is mentioned on the greatest scale - someone gets killed. It is not only in case of ordinary people but also politicians from the highest position. What is more, it is not limited to this period, when we notice that also Abraham Lincoln was shot because of his actions on abolishing the slavery. People always are silenced by an assassin and get shot. It is both really tragic and ironic how the issue is dealt with since shooting away anyone who causes problems seems to be in the range of possibilities. However the case of Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X as he preferred to be called, was of the highest significance because his death was more or less caused by his comment on John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the US president’s  assassination. 

Spike Lee’s film titled “Malcolm X” is a really detailed biography of Malcolm. It contains all of the most important events, and we see all different changes of values he undergoes. It ends with a really dramatic scene of his death. The one held responsible for the attack in the ballroom was Thomas Hagan, whose real name was Talmadge Hayer. He hit Malcolm 7 times using a shotgun. The film was based on Malcolm’s autobiography so it is based on the most believable source. For obvious reasons he had not wrote about his death but predicted it since several times before someone threatened him and once, shortly before his death at a rally of his followers in a ballroom in Washington Heights, someone attacked his home. He felt that people who wanted him dead were from Black Muslims Organization, which he left shortly before. They fell apart mainly because of his comment on the assassination of President Kennedy. He called it a case of ``chickens coming home to roost'' and an outgrowth of violence that whites had used against Negroes. He was suspended by Elijah Muhammad and then started his own movement but still remained loyal to his beliefs which were more than critical towards white people. It is really difficult to judge him based on Spike Lee’s adaptation. His character is really complex. However it is quite hard not to notice the irony between him and JFK. Malcolm X died from black man hands. In the end viewers get the impression that somehow his hatred and arrogance was punished.

On the other hand, Martin Luther King’s beliefs and actions were totally different. His life was portrayed in a quite recent movie “Selma” directed by Avay DuVernay. In this movie we get a totally different type of activist – the passive resistance type. The impression we get of King is that he was the one who really inspired all African-Americans to unite and march from Selma to protest against oppression. When it comes to his death it is not presented, but only mentioned about at the end. King was shot in a more private occasion, while he was in a Lorraine Motel in Memphis with his associates. The assassin used a sniper rifle and because of that he was hard to capture at first. Really interesting thing is that the police arrived at the crime scene without being called for. He murderer was caught later on – it was James Earl Ray. Just like Malcom, King received numerous threats against his life. His situation was, however, quite different since his attitude was far less aggressive, he even was able to recruit white people who openly helped his cause. Unfortunately, they were killed too, like for example Viola Luizzo who was eliminated by Ku Klux Klan. The number of assassination attempts followed her case.

Two cases have something in common, but also differs significantly. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were fighting for their rights, and they both were considered to be a huge danger for the authorities. They were observed and wiretapped almost all the time. Another, not so significant, similarity would be the fact that they died at the exact same age – 39. However, their deaths had somehow different impact on the society. When Malcolm X shared his fears of being killed, he was laughed off as a publicity act. When he died people were thinking mainly about how aggressive he was. On the other hand, King became a national hero, and it is his statue that Barack Obama have on his desk. Such thing was unimaginable back in King’s times.

Many people died for the cause of freedom. From perspective of today it seems that such sacrifice was almost necessary because it really got the movements publicity it deserved in the first place. We are not able to guess how would the things go down if both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were alive. The one thing we can obviously say – people who were responsible for the deaths of these iconic figures had lost their fight because of the killings.

1. Write an essay:

Compare situation of black people of America then and now. Try to explain the roots of the problem and present examples of racial discrimination in the US. Try to answer the question if the situation have changed, and if yes - explain how.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1) "American civil rights movement". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2016. Web. 13 sty. 2016

<http://www.britannica.com/event/American-civil-rights-movement>.

2) Malcolm X. Dir. Spike Lee. Prod. Spike Lee. By Spike Lee and Arnold Perl. Perf. Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, and Al Freeman. Warner Bros., 1992. DVD.

3) Peter Kihss. "How Race Is Lived In America." Editorial. The New York Times 22 Feb. 1965: n. pag. Malcom X Shot to Death at Rally Here. Web.

4) ‘’Death of a desperado’’ Newsweek, March 8, 1965, Copyright @ 1965, Newsweek.Inc.

<http://europe.newsweek.com/death-desperado-malcolm-x-was-assassinated-50-years-ago-today-308253?rm=eu>

5) Selma. Dir. Avay DuVernay. Screenplay by Paul Webb. Perf. David Oyelowo and Tom Wilkinson. Celador Films, 2014. DVD.

6) Berman, Elizabeth. "The Photograph That Captured the Horror of MLK’s Assassination." TIME Magazine. Time Inc., 3 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016. <http://time.com/3749091/mlk-assassination-photograph/>.

7) Caldwell, Earl. "Martin Luther King Is Slain in Memphis; A White Is Suspected; Johnson Urges Calm." The New York Times (1968): n. pag. Web.

8) "Viola Liuzzo." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Jan. 2016 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

9) Bartlett, Karen. "Why Malcolm X Is Getting Written Out of History." Newsweek. N.p., 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016. <http://europe.newsweek.com/i-worry-my-father-being-written-out-history-307941?rm=eu>.

American Culture from the American point of view

On our first year of studies we had a pleasure to meet Eric, American guy who came to Poland as an exchange student. Eric lives in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania and I think that the perspective of someone born in the U.S.A. would shed a light on our image of American culture. Some questions I asked him are losely connected but not in the form of an interview, so please read the whole and check if something actually changes your views.


Izabella: Hi Eric, I'm really glad you agreed to contribute to our blog. ;) As a representative of a group of Polish students learning the British English, culture and literature I feel that our perspective can be somehow distorted. You've got some experience in the international dialogue (please excuse me my British English :D), you've travelled a lot, met a lot of people and of course - had lived for some time in Poland. What do you think is the biggest misconception of America that young people in Europe have and what stereotypes had you been a victim of?

Eric: The biggest stereotype about Americans is that they are arrogant and only care about the USA.
People are constantly surprised when i know anything about places outside the USA. The truth however is that Americans love to think about other countries but many of them don't go on vacation to other countries and thus don't know geography very well.

Izabella: While being in Poland for about a year (please correct me if I'm wrong) have you clearly seen some influences of American culture on Polish customs or traditions? What trends you observed to be present among people that you met and which of them were misinterpreted? Was coming to Poland some kind of a culture shock for you?

Eric: Halloween is an obvious answear and an easy topic. I feel that it's more of a party thing in Poland. In the USA there are parties, but most important is the children and families that go around for candy. Many older people simply don't celebrate Halloween if they are not children or don't have children at the same time. Americans don't usually dress up to be scary that much, they dress up as anything that they think looks cool or sexy. Polish/Europeans seem to dress up as scary things more often, like zombies and demons etc.

Izabella: We can regard the U.S.A. as a multicultural society and the union of 50 in a way different states, what do you think unites American people and make American culture unique? 

Eric: Sometimes it's hard to talk about a unified American culture because as you said, the US is so diverse but in general Americans culture loves underdog heroes. It encourages people to be outgoing, but not as outgoing as people in America. Success is valued and though a lot of people complain about it, the American Dream of being able to do whatever you want or making a lot of money is still very important to people. Americans are very independent people and distrust authority a lot. Most of them hate big government, though many of them paradoxically want a small government that gives them lots of stuff.

Izabella: Last but not least, most of our group has never been to the U.S., what direction would you recommend to see the quintessence of the American culture? Maybe some kind of cultural capital or a short "must-see in the U.S.A."?

Eric: I guess that depends. Do you want to experience America of the past? Go to Philadelphia, the old capital, you will find a lot of history. Or to Boston, the most important city during the revolution. These are great cities with great history. Do you want to see modern urban Americans? Go to DC, NY, or San Francisco. All of those places are full of big universities, American culture and stylish young people. If you don't want that, you can get a culture experience of New England by going to Hartford, Connecticut. The Southern experience by travelling to Richmond, Atlanta, Miami, or New Orleans. The Midwest by travelling to Chicago or Detroit (dont go to Detroit, it's very dangerous, so is Chicago, but a little bit less). And the West, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Sacramento, or Portland, Oregon. I hope that answers your questions.

Izabella: It does! Thank you very much, Eric!

When Eric saw that "mini-picnic-grill" at our BBQ Party, he probably began to miss his country even more. (source: private archives)

TASKS:

1. Indicate few differences between Polish (or your own depending on where you're from :)) and American culture, which of them may be just stereotypes?

2. What questions would you like to ask your American friend? Elaborate on that topic.

American Advent

 

I know, as it was previously mentioned in an aritcle on religion,
(see it:http://i-can-culture.blogspot.com/search/label/religion) that according to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 70,6% of the American population identified themselves as Christians (46,5% of them attended to a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant and 20,8% professed Roman Catholic beliefs). 


About those last ones. 

They currently celebrate their Advent. Beginning the Church's liturgical year, Advent (from, "ad-venire" in Latin or "to come to") is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas.

The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. 

The final days of Advent, from December 17 to December 24, focus particularly on our preparation for the celebrations of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas).

Advent devotions including the Advent wreath, remind us of the meaning of the season. 

The wreath, typically a circular garland of evergreen branches, is a symbol of eternity and unending love. Five candles are arranged on the wreath, and one is alighted each Sunday as a part of the Advent services. Each of the Advent Candle colors represents a specific element of spiritual readying for the celebration of Christmas.


 
Purple or Blue

Purple (or violet) has traditionally been the primary color of Advent, symbolizing repentance and fasting. Purple is also the color of royalty and the sovereignty of Christ, demonstrating anticipation of and reception of the coming King celebrated during Advent.


The first candle of the Advent Wreath, the Prophecy Candle or Candle of Hope, is purple. 
The second, called the Bethlehem Candle or the Candle of Preparation, is also purple in color. 

Likewise, the fourth Advent Candle color is purple. 
It's called the Angel Candle or the Candle of Love.
 
Pink or Rose
Pink (or rose) is also one of the colors of Advent used during the third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday in the Catholic Church. Pink or rose represents joy or rejoicing and reveals a shift in the season away from repentance and toward celebration.

The third  Candle, named the Shepherd Candle or Candle of Joy, is pink in color.
 
White

White is the color of Advent representing purity and light. Christ is the sinless, spotless, pure Savior. He is the light come into a dark and dying world. Also, those who receive Jesus Christ as Savior are washed of their sins and made whiter than snow.

Lastly, the Christ Candle is the fifth Advent Candle, positioned in the center of the wreath. This Advent Candle's color is white.

Spiritually preparing by focusing on the colors of Advent in the weeks leading up to Christmas is a great way for Christian families to keep Christ the center of Christmas,
and for parents to teach their children the true meaning of Christmas.

So maybe you should give this a try and do your own simple Advent wreath?
You will be surprised at how enjoyable it may be. 
Light your own candles, make an Advent resolution so that you enjoy your Christmas more than special dishes and gifts.