Dialect

My notes from Mr. Farr's lesson

Arnold Farr, our first guest speaker of our last full day of Social Justice class, came to talk to us about critical theory and liberation philosophies. He started off with a theory about why the Liberty Bell needed to be cracked. He said even if it didn't have a crack, someone would have to go make one. The crack represents cracks in society and in one's self. There is not full liberty or freedom in this country or any, and there's contradictions in everyone. Society is flawed. 

Mr. Farr told amazing personal stories about his own life. He told us about the first time he saw Martin Luther King getting arrested by the cops. He was very young, and he thought both were supposed to be good people and he didn't understand why they couldn't get along. Mr. Farr told us how his family member saved up money to buy his first new car, but when he got enough, he was told not to because of his race. He was told people would judge him and say he was not supposed to have such luxuries. The car was bought anyway, and after experiencing the predicted behaviors, he never drove it again. It stayed in his driveway and he took public transportation. 

Mr. Farr was from South Carolina and says he "grew up in a neighborhood where you'll be more easily forgiven for killing someone than for being gay." He described the struggles his gay brother and uncle went through. All the stories he told related to dialect.

After spending lunch with some friends and Professor Lamas, we had another speaker named Toorjo Ghose. He was friends with our TA Meghna and described to us the mobilization of sex workers in India. We discussed our opinions on those who get paid to have sex, something most of us had never even thought about except for what's drilled into our heads, which is that it's bad. I am still undecided about my personal opinions on the matter, but today's lesson was, again, an eye opening one. 

I went to my RC group outing, where we got our nails done. I was one of the few girls in my group who had never gotten a manicure before. I got a nice shade of blue. It was pretty fun! Tomorrow is going to be very emotional for all of us. I am really going to miss this place.