Spaces and exchanges : thanksgiving

Spaces and exchanges:

I drew the notion « space and exchanges ».

First, it seems important to define the terms "spaces" and "exchanges".

A space refers to a geographical area, a more or less big, for example, a house or a region, a territory, a country, a continent where there are influences and reciprocities between different people or populations who compose it.

A space can be real as a library or it can also be unreal, such as a virtual space, a social network or a cultural space such as the English language.

And, secondly, I will define the "exchanges". "Exchanges" means the different influences or benefits that the population can have by sharing language, religion, etc. In short, when we influence each other.

From these definitions, I decided to study whether the idea that we have of the American dream was always true.

1. First of all, I would like to tell you about a historical event that took place in 1620 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.

So I would like to talk to you about the meeting of the pilgrim’s fathers with the Wampanoag, tribe.

The pilgrim's fathers were a group of puritans who were religious fundamentalist and who wanted to reform the Christian Church because they thought it was corrupted.

They were badly persecuted so they were forced to flee England for the Plymouth colony to hope for a better life

When they landed, their living conditions were really bad because the first winter was horrendous and half of them died.

But fortunately, the Wampanoag tribe decided to help them and teach them how to plant, hunt and fish.

Thanks to the Indians; they managed to have bountiful crops to feed the community.

Eventually the pilgrim’s fathers organized a tree-day feast to thanks the Indians and god.

Nowadays this feast still exists and it is better known as “Thanksgiving”.

Thanksgiving is deemed to be a milestone in America history because it embodies collaboration between the pilgrim’s fathers and the Wampanoag tribe.

Therefore we can say that the living conditions of the Pilgrim Fathers on an American space have been improved thanks to an exchange of culture with a tribe already present on this place.

1. Now I'd like to talk to you about a more recent event.

A French street artist erected a massive artwork which is a picture of 64 feet high above the existing wall at Tecate in Mexico.

He was inspired by a Mexican Child who peering over a crib. But thanks to his talent as an artist now the child looked above the border of the US coast.

We wanted to raise a question as far as Trump’s policy is concerned.

Indeed president Trump has decided to wind down the program called DACA which stand for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

It’s an American emigration policy that allows some miners to come to America to have a job later.

It was established by Obama administration in 2012 and revoked by Trump administration in 2017.

This work demystifies the myth of the American dream and gives hope to dreamers.

Indeed with the current policy a lot of law that was granted to foreigners are over and many people are losing hope.

To conclude, I would say that the idea of the American dream that we have no longer exists because now the country tends to close these doors to new cultures and to reject the difference.

Places and form of power:

I drew the notion of “places and form of power”.

First, it seems important to me to define the meaning of the notion.

 "Forms and places of power" refers to the idea of power as the influence of one person or group of people over another.

This power can be of a political type, like a democracy or a dictatorship, but it can also be an economic or cultural power.

Depending on the type of power, the place can change: a place can be real or symbolic.

From these definitions, I decided to study in what way does sport have the power to unite people?

1. In class we studied documentary about a well-known American black athlete: Jesse Owens.

He was four time Olympic gold medalist in the 1936 Olympic Games that took place in Berlin.

The political context of the time was quite tense.

Indeed, at first, the US Olympic Committee wanted to boycott the Olympics because of German’s discriminatory policies due to the Nazi Regime.

Also an association which fought for Civil Rights during segregation and which support the oppressed people in Germany asked Jesse Owens not to go in there.

In the end he did it and became a real champion. But the most incredible in his history is the fact that during the long jump event a German competitor Luz Long gave him some tips and when Owens won, Long publicly congratulated him in front of Hitler.

This story highlights courage determination tolerance and friendship.

It emphasizes the fact that the power of love of sport can win over political matters and that it gathers people from different cultures.

Sport has no frontier.

1. Now I would like to talk to you about a more recent event that took place during the Olympics Games in Mexico in 1968.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos were two black Americans athletes who won the 200m race as the first and the third.

It was a normal competition until the medal reward of the race because what this 2 men did choc millions of people.

Indeed when they received their medals they both raised their fists in the air in order to demonstrate their solidarity with the civil right movement and to denounce the poverty of black men in America.

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