Anthropology 110

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Fieldwork #10: “The Biography of a Chocolate Bar”

The chocolate bar that I am using for this assignment is a milk chocolate KitKat Bar.

1. The ingredients of a KitKat bar include sugar, full cream milk powder, wheat flour, cocoa butter, vegetable fat, cocoa mass, cocoa, refined palm kernel oil, lactose, milk fat, and 2% or less of soy lecithin, Polyglycerol polyricinoleate, yeast, artificial flavor, salt, and sodium bicarbonate. This chocolate bar contains 76% milk chocolate. 22% cocoa solids and 25% milk solids.

2. The main ingredients of the KitKat bar are cocoa and milk. Cocoa comes from a bean that is called a Cocoa bean that originates from the tropical regions around the equator. Milk, on the other hand, comes from cows.

3. Cocoa is produced where the hot and humid climates meet. 70% of the worlds cocoa beans come from West African countries such as Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. 50% of the cocoa beans come from The Ivory Coast and Ghana alone. 90% of cocoa is grown on family farms. These cocoa beans are harvest all year around by cutting the pods off the trees with large sticks and machetes.

4. After the cocoa is harvest from the trees, the beans need to be fermented, dried, cleaned, and packed. The farms on that harvest the cocoa usually are the ones to do these steps. The sacks are sold to intermediaries and then sold to exporters. From there they are sold to grinding companies who grind the cocoa in factories with machines.

5. The producers get the cocoa to the market by selling their products to the intermediaries.

6. The prices are set based on who the producers have a contract with.

7. The trading of coco takes place with two major exchanges. New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in London.

8. The Federation of Cocoa Commerce (FCC) regulates the cocoa trade.

9. Chocolate is marketed based on who the consumer is. It is market to be appealing to all audiences. They try to sell based on how rich their chocolate is or how organic it is. There are many different ways to market chocolate.

10. I bought my KitKat at Bears Den in Morgan View Apartments.

11. I am sure there are many hidden costs that are not included in the price that I paid for the chocolate bar.

12. First, the chocolate starts out at a cocoa bean in a pod on a cocoas tree. Once it is ready to harvest, it is cut down from the trunk of a cocoa tree. The cocoa bean is then removed from the pod and taken to fermented and dried on bamboo leaves. It is then cleaned and then packaged into sacks to be sold to intermediaries. The intermediaries then sell the sacks of cocoa to exports who then trade through the two exchange routs NYMEX and ICE.

Cocoa is then sold to companies where they grind the cocoa and turn it into either a cocoa butter or powder to produce chocolate. Once is it a chocolate bar they are sold wholesale to large retail companies who then resell to make a profit. For example, the bear's den where I purchased my chocolate bar.

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Economic Justice

Economic justice is something I do not believe will achieved for a long time. When elite who own the means of production do not believe in or contribute to helping those poverty or are of lower income it leaves the economy stagnant in a sense. Economic justice will not be achieved until everyone is given the same opportunities to succeed. When I say that I’m not just talking about resources I’m talking about the discrimination of all types of people in the work place and society.

There are inequalities throughout the economic system so economic justice cannot be achieved until there is equality and everyone is seen as each others equals regardless of class. This is why I do not believe economic justice will happen for a very long time.

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Fieldwork assignment #9: “Social Class and Inequality”

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/business/economy/public-employees.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

In this article, public workers lose a once reliable path to the Middle class by the loss of jobs. In Carl Marx’s theory of the social class, society is split into two. The bourgeoisie and the proletariat also known as the working class. The people of the bourgeoisie own the means of production while the proletariat have to sell their own labor to provide for families.

The loss of middle income jobs has almost eliminated the possibility to afford a home and live comfortably without a college education. While looking at this from Marx’s perspective I see that the bourgeoisie are continuing to get rich while the poor gets more poor. Even the middle class families are spiraling down into a lower class.

[nijahmsu20-blog]

For my kinship diagram I did the majority of my mothers side and some of my fathers side that I knew. For my mothers side at the top is my grandmother and grandfather. Together they had 6 children including my mother. In the middle is me, my mother and father only share one child which is me obliviously and both had other children. My father has three other children, one daughter with his current wife and two sons with ex’s. My mother has three other boys with her ex. My mothers twin sister has two daughter with her boyfriend and they are my parallel cousins. My mothers other sister has never been married and has no children. My mother’s oldest brother has eight children with his wife. Her other brother has seven with his wife and her youngest has two with his ex. All of these cousins are my cross cousins. My fathers wife also has four other children with her ex husband and they are my step siblings.

[globalriseofblackpeople]

Black economics

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In this video it speaks about “ Blackness” in America cannot be understood unless you understand what it really means to be black. It is explained that for over 400 years white people have been stealing our ideas for their own and taking over through colonization.

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Both of these pictures describe segregation. Although segregation is said to be abolished the first picture explains how it is now implemented throughout the societies we know today. Just as the 13th amendment does as well. In the second picture it just allows us to see that segregation was not that long ago and is still very prominent.

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This is a picture of Nikolas Cruz, the boy responsible for the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High. After killing 17 innocent people he was portrayed in the media as mentally ill. According to the New York Post, Nikolas was “lost in his mind”. To me this is an example of White Supremacy in the justice system. If the shooter was a black male the media would have portrayed him in the most undignified way, but because he was white, this incident is justified by a mental illness.

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Fieldwork Assignment #5: “The Human Family Tree Essay”

The “Out of Africa” theory is an evolutionary idea that all modern humans originate from one single group of homo sapiens who emigrated from Africa. Geneticist Dr. Spencer Wells conducts the genographic project to prove that theory. In the film it is said that all human are apart of one “human family tree” and our DNA is 99.9% identical at the genetic level.  The story of Dave’s lineage is an ideal example to support the “Out of Africa” theory.

Although Dave has always been told that his family comes from Ghana he also states that anything before slavery is nearly impossible to track. Dr. Spencer Wells discovers that some of Dave’s ancestry can be traced back to the mountains of central Asia in Tajikistan along with 53% of the white male population. Due to the dry spell in central Asia, this caused the grasslands to move outward. People migrated and followed herds of animals which led them further away from Central Asia. Eventually, people split into two different directions, one toward East Asia and the others took the “M173” route toward Europe. This is the route that Dave’s ancestors took.

It is obvious that Dave’s European lineage stems from one his very great ancestors being a slave master. During slavery,  slave masters raped African women creating biracial children that carry both African and European genes. I believe that when the people who migrated from Central Asia and toward Europe the people over time adapted to their environments through climatic and genetic adaptation. In the film after genetic testing, it was said that all men tested are all genetically related to one  African man “Scientific Adam”, and all humans are genetically related to an African women “Scientific Eve”. This to me proves that the “Out of Africa” theory is accurate.

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Fieldwork Assignment #4: “Language and Gender in a Classroom”

1. For this assignment, I observed my Sociology 101 class. I felt that because this is a 3 hour night course the cultural patterns may be different based on the duration of the class and the time that it takes place. Based on the tally that I took in this class I have found on who speaks more in class, sometimes the males tend to speak more but for the most part, the men and women are just about equal. In this particular class, I think that there is a pretty good female to male ratio also.

2. Each time a person speaks it depends on the intensity of the question. Depending on whether the question is straightforward or opinionated the amount of words that are used varies. Something that I took into account about the class that I chose to observe is the fact that it is a Sociology course. In Sociology, there is more than one way things can be interpreted and explained so based on how one person interpreted a question someone else could have interpreted it completely differently.

3. When observing both the men and women when they spoke, I found that a majority of both men and women talk with their hands and some women play with their hair or their pens/pencils. I also noticed that men speak with their arms crossed. I have read before that speaking with your arms crossed is a sign that you’re being defensive or standoffish so when observing the men that spoke with their arms crossed I concluded that maybe they are afraid of being wrong. Sometimes the dialect and accents can kind of give you a little bit of background of where people are from.

4. The professor of this class is only 25 years old and currently enrolled at the University of Maryland for her Ph.D. So to me, her age plays a huge role in the observation because she is not that much older than her students. My professor also is the type who will stand and stare after she asks a question until someone volunteers to answer the question. I believe that she really wants the class to really be involved because if she didn't she would just answer the questions she asks on her own. I noticed that she speaks with her hands as well and her body language is very positive and welcoming.

5. As I stated in the previous, the class has a pretty good female to male ratio. There may be 5 or 6 more females than male but for the most part, depending on who shows up to class its pretty 50/50. I would say that every time there is a chance to speak there is both a male and female hand that goes up. I believe that the professor just calls on who raises their hand first.

6. I do not believe that my professor's gender has any influence on how she interacts with the members of the class. I believe her overall style of teaching and personality is universal to whoever she is dealing with.

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Fieldwork Assignment #3: “Mapping a Block”

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Concept Map

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Field Assignment #2: “The Culture of Consumerism”

TOILETRIES/BEAUTY PRODUCTS:

toothpaste $2

toothbrush $3

face wash (N/A)

tea tree oil $8

dove body wash $5-6

coconut oil (N/A)

Aveeno facial moisturizer $5-6

feminine products $6-7

shampoo/conditioner $8e

Cantu/ Shea moisture leave in conditioner $6

Curl defining creams $9

Eco styling gel $3

Murray’s Edge Wax $4

body spray (Victoria Secret, Rihanna, Bath and Body Works) $48

makeup/makeup brushes (Anastasia Beverly Hills, Urban Decay, Morphe brushes, Nars, LA pro, Kat Von D, Fenty, Nyx, Buxom, Tom Ford, Elf, Colorpop) $400

Total: $516.00

APPLIANCES:

Refrigerator

Microwave

stove/oven

Nutribullet

SCHOOL SUPPLIES:

Notebooks $3

Mechanical pencils $3

Pens $3

Daily Planner $4

Gucci eyeglasses $385

Total: $398.00

FURNITURE/BEDDING:

Bed

Couch

Dining table

Chairs

Desk

Sheets

Berkshire throw blanket $30

Full body pillow $15

Laundry basket $12

Matress pad $24

Rug $25

3 drawer cart $16

Total: $122.00

ELECTRONICS:

Play station

Macbook air/charger

iphone/phone charger

Tv

Printer

Floor lamp

Amazon alexa

CLOTHES:

WINTER

Sweaters

Leggings

Jeans

Long sleeve

Helly

Calvin Klein coat

Scarves

Uggs

Thigh highs

Doc Martins

SPRING

Short sleeve

Hoodies

Shorts

Vans

nikes/jordans

Converse

Birkenstock

SUMMER

Crop tops

Sandals

Skirts

FALL

Leather jacket

TRANSPORTATION

Uber/Lyft (price depends on distance)

Shuttle

Walk

OTHER OBJECTS:

Purse

bonnet/scarf

candle/candle warmer

Pet fish

Air freshener

Laundry detergent

Dish detergent

Cleaning supplies

Silverware

Jewelry

Food

Medicine

After completing my list, I realized the majority of my money gets spent on making myself pretty. For example, when I looked through my makeup bag I have an ample amount of high-end makeup. Not only is makeup not needed, but if I choose to wear it I honestly do not need makeup that cost as much as mine does. I also realized that a lot of these items on my list I did not purchase and that made me realize how blessed I am to have parents that still spoil me. That is why the majority of the items on this list do not have prices because I am unsure of the price. I tend to take a lot of my things for granted because I am not the one spending my money.Personally, I think the majority of my hygiene/beauty products are gender neutral so they are useful to either gender.A lot of the products that I use are also based off what works best with my skin. I believe that choices of products are also influenced by what my family uses in my house with slight differences.

When it comes to my school supplies I think the items that I use are pretty common and not too expensive but instead of spending that extra dollar or so on mechanical pencils I can just buy the regular pencils. I definitely need my glasses to see but I do not need the $385 Gucci frames. Although I categorized my Mac book in the electronics it is mainly used for school so it could be listed within the school supplies. My laptop is essential to me getting my homework and classwork down without the burden of having to travel to the nearest library.

My cell phone is also essential. It is my means of communication with mainly my family because I am away at school and also my friends who do not attend school. Having a cell phone can also be beneficial when it comes to calling ubers, searching information on the internet, setting alarms and reminders, using the calculator etc. so although a smartphone is considered a “luxury” item, I believe that for me it is a NEED because I use it for all purposes.

After completing my list I have realized that as American’s we’re almost all in competition with one another. We compete with each other based on who has the best clothes, phone, shoes, hair etc. With this type of mindset, this causes us to continue to purchase luxury items instead of something that can just as easily get the job done. For example, purchasing an iPhone versus and flip phone. We have become so accustomed to these items that we believe they are necessities when in reality if we never were exposed to them we could never miss it.    

[niggazinmoscow]

LISTEN TO HIM!

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Fieldwork assignment #1: globalization

What are you looking at ?

*giggles* you’re kinda cute !

Wait wait, Do I know you from somewhere?

I just have to ! I look at you several times a day and I’m sure others do too.

But where did you come from? Who created you ?

In today’s post I’ll talk about something that we all see ourselves in . A mirror….

According to a day entry made by Joseph Castro, published by live science. Mirrors got their first start in Germany almost 200 years ago.

A German chemist by the name of Justus von Liebig developed a thin layer of metallic silver to a clear glass and created something that we know as a mirror.

The same purpose that mirrors serve now happens to be the exact same for years. However as time goes on , many people have found different use for them. Ex: if someone is stranded a mirror can be used to help signal down people who are higher up. This can only take place in the day time because the sun plays a huge part in showing through the mirror to create a ray . Another example similar to the first one would be creating fire .. a mirror can catch the light from the sun and the ray from the sun will reflect else where where it will then begin to burn ( if left there long)

My use for a mirror is super important! Mirrors help me to see where I went wrong , where I got it right, when I need to screws up at . I’m sure many can agree

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Fieldwork Assignment #1: “Globalization and Forks/Silverware”

What is it? The table fork was first invented in the Byzantine Empire in the eighth and ninth century. What is it made of? Forks are usually made of stainless steel which keeps them from rusting after being washed. The two minerals, molten iron, and chromium are mixed together to create stainless steel. Who and where is it made? Silverware is made in factories by Silverware artisans’. There is only one silverware company that has factories in the United States which is Liberty Tabletop. Most plants are located in New England. Unskilled artisan’s get paid hourly starting at as low as $6-$7. The overall hourly rate for employees is $12 an hour. What local impact do forks have? The work environment for silverware factories usually has open and bearable work environments. The work does not physically affect them but there are machines that are quite noisy.  For the silverware designers, their work space is slightly different. They work in lit, quiet, modern offices or studios, at drafting tables or computer terminals. As precaution workers are required to wear protective gear, such as safety glasses, ear protectors, and heavy gloves. How is stainless steel/Forks disposed of? What is the real environmental cost of producing silverware? Although this might come as a shocker, stainless steel is 100% recyclable. According to The British Stainless Steel Association, “ Stainless steel is theoretically 100% recyclable and its long-term life makes it an ideal environmental performer much better than many other materials. Stainless steel products are designed to have a long life; often spanning over several decades ”.

When people get rid of their silverware, they just toss it in the trash.  Essentially they are causing harm to the environment because it’s defeating the purpose of recycling.Although forks are usually made in silverware factories in New England, they are used in the majority of houses all around the world. When going to reach for silverware we don’t even think twice about the background of the product. Due to globalization forks are universal and used everywhere you go for the most part.

Links: 

http://career.iresearchnet.com/career-information/silverware-artisan-worker-career/

https://www.bssa.org.uk/sectors.php?id=99

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Introduction

My name is Nijah Harris I am a sophomore Sociology major. I enjoy going on vacation with my family. I live in Germantown Maryland about 45 mins away from Baltimore.