Racism: ALIVE AND WELL .

I recently saw this old clip of "What Would You Do?". It is amazing how racism is still alive and well. Check out this video and notice how quickly society jumps on African Americans but turns a blind eye to whites. It is reminiscent of how the Trayvon Martin case is playing out.

Iggy Azealia: The Tanning of THE WORLD

A great example of how tanning has impacted the world is through the rapper known as Iggy Azealia. Iggy Azealia is a caucasian female from Australia who has been influenced by American Hip-Hop culture. When asked who is her greatest inspiration, she proudly exclaims "Tupac".

With her gritty, street influence, she has been able to infiltrate the hip-hop community and has graced the cover of XXL as one of the top up and coming MCs, but she has garnered the attention of 

TI, recently signing to his label Grand Hustle. Iggy is the epitome of tanning.

Check her out!

Steve Stoute: The Tanning of America

On Friday, March 30th, business magnate Steve Stoute appeared before Morehouse College to share his book "The Tanning of America" and his visions of success. Stoute is the founder of Translation, which is an advertising agency that has introduced hip-hop culture into the mainstream. A few of Stoute's greatest projects were Jay-Z and his partnership with HP and Mary J Blige's "My Life" perfume.
Stoute's book "The Tanning of America" touched on how hip-hop grew from street poetry to being embedded into the fabric of mainstream advertising and marketing. Hip-hop has tanned American by introducing black culture into a european-american dominated society. Today, you see an influx in the use of rappers like Drake in commercials for Sprite, Lil' Wayne in Mountain Dew, or Nicki Minaj in Pepsi. The music that these artists produce transcends their own communities and extends into popular culture. What has grown from this movement of inclusion has been a new generation of people with more intercultural awareness. The media has exposed us to cultural diversity which has led to greater acceptance of sub-cultures. From Steve Stoute, we learned that the world is getting smaller and smaller. We are all so connected that the cultural lines are beginning to blur. We are not in the days of ignorance and inexposure. With the power of the internet at our hands, we are finding out how similar we are rather than different.

Pop Star Lady Gaga Viva Glam Ad

Rapper Nicki Minaj and Ricky Martin Viva Glam Ad

Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper were the 2010-2011 spokeswomen for MACs Viva Glam Collection. In 2012, it was announced that hip-hop's leading lady, Nicki Minaj, and latin singer Ricky Martin will be their successors.

Escape from Sobibor/Cultural Identity and Biases

It was a double-edged sword. Escape from Sobibor was a film based off of actual events that unfolded in a Nazi death camp during WWII. In Sobibor, a group of prisoners banded together to successfully revolt, escaping their impending peril and marking their place in the history books. From watching the film, the most concerning question that seems to come up is “Why?” Why would the Nazi’s outright plan to deduce an entire culture in to merely nothing? Why? It was clear: A mixture of ethnocentrism, prejudice, and the perfect storm of cultural taxonomies When studying WWII, it was clear that the motivation of those in charge was fueled by ethnocentrism. It was the driving force behind the entire operation of the Nazi’s. It was believed that the Nazi’s were of Aryan decent—blonde haired, blue eyed Caucasians—that were entitled to be great. By the end of WWI, the Germans were suffering from the retaliation of the world due to the initial commencement of the war, therefore they were looking to be great. In order to be great, someone has to fall—in this particular case, it was the Jews. The Nazi’s blamed the Jews for their problems, instilled a sense of racism with the claims that they were no good, and promoted their place as God’s perfection. This was taken in such a profound way, a following amassed. The Nazi’s were actively prejudice, leading them act of will. They destroyed Jewish homes, work places, and more until they found the “Final Solution”, which is the term for the genocide of European Jews or the Holocaust.’ It is hard to imagine still how this kind of thing happened, but it did. It is not the first time that a domineering race of people were able to systematically play off the taxonomies of other cultures such as collectivism to toy with their cultural identity. In slavery, Europeans were able to dismantle African’s through separation—injecting individualism in a highly collective society—thereby upsetting its delicate balance. Once that happened, it was easy to take advantage of their culture. The same went for the Jews. Separation and their high power distance easily took them out of their element. The lesson learned from this film is that there are extreme in cultural identity and we must be forward thinking to understand that it may take us to a dark place if we are not too careful.  

 "Free your mind and the rest will follow. Be colorblind and the rest will follow" - SWV

Day At the Museum

On Friday, March 16th, our intercultural communications class enjoyed the luxury of going to the museum at Clark Atlanta University. As culturally enriching as the museum is, it was actually not our original destination. We initially planned to attend a program in which the queens of Ghana were going to speak. Some issues came up and they were no longer able to be present. Luckily, an overseer of the Clark Atlanta Museum suggested we enjoy what they have to offer as a supplement, and Viola! That's where we ended up I am not a museum buff, but I did have a favorite piece. My favorite piece was a spot on the wall with two picture hangers and an outline of dust that gave the idea that a picture used to be present. It was used as a sarcastic rant by the artist to illuminate the loss of the quality in artistry. It was very unique. Speaking to the woman in charge, she stated that the way that portion of the exhibit was made was by hanging a picture frame on the wall and painting around it. Clark Atlanta repaints the wall often, so the dirty look is the look of an unpainted wall. Other than that, the museum was nice. It just was not my kind of thing. Art is a jewel of intercultural communication. Through art, people are able to connect without language and become awe-inspiring by what is presented before them. Art may not be on my list of enjoyable sights, but I do have an understanding of its importance.

Spring Break 2012

For spring break this year, my friends and I decided to take a ride down to Panama City, Florida. It was one of the greatest cultural experiences in my collegiate career. PCB was filled with students from all over the United States, with the Mid-west in heavy attendance. What I noticed was that being a minority was real. Black people were speckled here and there with a white counterpart always near by.

Being a student of a HBCU has given me a sense of pride in being African American and allows me to feel secure about not having to conform to the "mainstream" or "majority", looking to be accepted by a group of white friends and indulge and their cultural experiences.

Despite my feelings, I had a blast! I even have a video!:

Before you click the video, notice these things:

The vast amounts of caucasians and beer


The way the black women degrade themselves


The white women who have "jungle fever"

OPERATION: IDENTIFY THE BODY #sb12 from teej Mac on Vimeo.

Introduction to Intercultural Competence

This blog is dedicated to intercultural communication and competence. The purpose it is to serve is to document my journey as I gain further clarity on how to interact with people outside of my own culture and strengthen my communication skills with people within my culture.

To begin, I want to point out a few cultural stereotypes that usually inhibit people’s interactions with one another, breaking down the lines of communication.

Americans: Arrogant, wasteful, and lazy

Jews: Greedy and power hungry

Muslims: Terrorist

Mexicans: Laborers and Illegal Aliens

African Americans: Thugs and drug dealers

Asians: Smart

And the list goes on and on. As crazy as it may seem, these stereotypes are commonplace in the minds of people around the world. It is important for use to communicate more effectively to one another and breakdown these barriers. The world is becoming a global village, where everyone is connected through the internet, economies, and more. In order to progress ourselves as humans, we must embrace the ever-shrinking world and facilitate conversations to ensure peace as we begin to face challenges globally.

To understand how we must can learn about intercultural communication, communication must be defined.

Communication is a symbolic, interpretive, transactional, contextual process in which people create shared meaning.

Think about a conversation you had with someone and try to identify the characteristics of communication. It is pretty simple!

The symbols in conversation usually take form nonverbally such as eye contact, closed hands, and tense shoulders.

Interpretation is what you do when listening. You attempt to understand what the other person is saying in a way that doesn’t take it out of context and in a manner that you understand

          Transaction is key in communication. Information flows easier when people are engaging one another and gathering feedback

          Finally, communication is contextual, which means that the setting in which information is exchanged is important

          Example: Social Events, Church, School, etc.

          This sets a pretense for appropriate conversation

With all this information, we can begin our journey to learn more about communication.

Cultural Patterns and Communication: Taxonomies

For chapter 5, my group was assigned this chapter to present in class. The emphasis on this chapter was the GLOBE research program that was developed by Hofstede. GLOBE stands from Global Leadership and Organization Behavior Effectiveness. It is a means of compiling information on what are the dominant patterns of a culture. The measures that are defined by Hofstede include: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, in-group collectivism, institutional collectivism, gender egalitarian ism, assertiveness, performance orientation, future orientation, and humane orientation. If a culture’s numbers are above zero on the GLOBE scale, then they have high dimensions. If they are low on the GLOBE scale, they will be prone to have low dimensions.

Power Distance: The degree to which people believe that power should be stratified, unequally shared, and concentrated at higher levels of an organization or government

Uncertainty Avoidance: The extent to which people strive to avoid uncertainty by relying on social norms, rules, rituals, and bureaucratic practices to alleviate the unpredictability

In-Group Collectivism: The degree to which people express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their families

Institutional Collectivism: The degree to which a culture’s institutional practices encourage collective actions and the collective distribution of resources

Gender Egalitarianism: The extend to which people minimize gender role differences and gender discrimination while promoting gender equality

Assertiveness: The degree tow which people are assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in social relationships

Performance Orientation: The extent to which people encourage others to improve their task-oriented performance and excel.

Future Orientation: The degree to which people engage in future orientated behaviors such as planning, investing in the future, and delaying gratification

Humane Orientation: The degree to which people encourage others to be fair, altruistic, friendly, generous, caring, and king

Cultural Patterns and Communication: Foundation

The emphasis on this chapter is cultural patterns. Cultural patterns are shared beliefs, values, norms, and social practices that are stable over time and lead to roughly similar behaviors across similar situations. When looking at cultural patterns within the United States, it is easy to say that we do not have any set cultural patterns that truly define us because of our diversity. While this may be true to some extent, it is argued that all cultures share something similar. According to Kluckhoh and Strodtbeck, there are four conclusions that tie in everyone’s cultural patterns that make us all seem not so different from one another.

Using a hot button issue such as abortion, we can apply the following conclusions of Kluckhoh and Strodtbeck to define who cultural patterns are shaped

1.     People in all cultures face common human problems from which they must find solutions

For the United States, abortion is a burning issue that has shaped the political and religious landscape. The issue of when does life begin and is it moral to end a pregnancy under certain circumstances is highly debated. This issue is a common issue around the world—extending from Europe to China.

2.     The range of alternative solutions to a culture’s problems is limited

In China, there are laws that only allow families to have a single child to curb population growth. The government became more pro-abortion if its laws are violated.  In the United States, the issue is debated and allows for women to have a choice.

3.     Within a given culture, there will be preferred solutions, which most people within the culture will select, but there will be people who will choose other solutions

The preferred solution in the United States is anti-abortion, but there are circumstances in which people choose other solutions and end up terminating their pregnancy.

4.     Over time, the preferred solutions shape the culture’s basic assumptions about beliefs, values, norms, and social practice—cultural patterns

Overtime, the culture of the United States has become more socially liberal, making it more acceptable for a woman to have the right to choose to terminate her pregnancy without major recourse. This has added to the cultural pattern of the US

Intercultural Communication Competence

In chapter 3 of Intercultural Competence, the authors give the reader a few tools that may be useful in improving intercultural competence. The tools are known as the BASICs of Intercultural Competence. BASIC stands for the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Intercultural Competence.  The BASIC scale was developed by Jolene Koester and Margaret Olebe as a way to examine people’s communication behaviors, in order to provide suggestions as to how to improve their interactions with others. The dimensions of the BASIC scale include: Display of Respect, Orientation to Knowledge, Empathy, Interaction Management, Task Role Behavior, Relational Role Behavior, Tolerance for Ambiguity, and Interaction Posture.

Display of Respect: The ability to show respect and positive regard for another person.

The idea of respect is extremely important in society. From my experiences, when you are able to a show a person respect, the interactions with them are usually positive. When there is a lack of respect and feeling of entitlement on either side, communication is easily broken down. There have been instances where I felt as if I should be respect just as much as the person I’m talking to, but they felt otherwise based on discrimination factors such as age and race.

Orientation to Knowledge: The term people use to explain themselves and the world around them.

The key to effectively communicating in regards to orientation to knowledge is to say what you mean. When interculturally communicating, one must remember that every does not speak the same way that you do. It is best to be straight forward and say exactly what is meant to avoid confusion.

Empathy: The capacity to behave as though you understand the world as others do

Empathy is important because it keep your lines of communication open to others. If you are perceived to understand where someone is coming from, communication will be more fluid

Interaction Management: Skill regarding conversation

Interaction management is very important in conversation. You should be able to speak in an engaging manor and know when to end a conversation based on verbal and nonverbal messages

Task Role Behavior: Behaviors that involve the initiation of ideas related to group problem-solving activities

The importance of task role behavior is that, as a society, we are forced to interact with one another, usually in a group setting. Being in a group setting, one must be able to get across their ideas and gain information without alienating their other group members. It is most effective to understand the work dynamic and practice active listening to determine what method will work best for the group to finish a task

Rational Role Behavior: Behaviors Associated with interpersonal harmony and mediation

Rational Role behavior incorporates empathy on a group level. You should be able to support your group members, dissolve conflict, and be able to compromise. All groups may not get along, but effective communication will help progress the group toward its goals.

Tolerance for Ambiguity: The ability to react to new and ambiguous situations with little discomfort.

Life is unexpected. To be able to handle what is thrown at you is a true sign of strength. The best way to react is in a calm manner, ready to adapt to the new challenges rather than become hostile, withdrawn, or sarcastic. The implications of mishandling ambiguity can cloud a situation and disrupt the nature of others

Interaction Posture: The ability to respond to others in descriptive, nonevaluative, and nonjudgmental ways

Responding to others in a nonevaluative and nonjudgemental way is another way to open the lines of communication. People will be able to feel more comfortable interacting with you when you don’t demonize them for having different attitudes, beliefs, and values than you do.

Culture and Intercultural Communications

I have not been shy in stating that my experience among the world’s diverse community has been limited. Growing up in a predominately African American society, what I learned as effective communication has not necessarily been the most accurate. From a broad perspective, as African Americans, we are conditioned to be respectful to authority figures, assert our presence, and appear dominating. It has been embedded in our culture that in order to defeat our history of servitude and enslavement, we must showcase our strength through communication.

As we become more enlightened about the world, it is soon realized that the receptive nature of that behavior may be negative, depending on the norms of the cultured that is being interacted with. For example, in many Asian cultures, communication is more implicit and passive than the American culture. When engaged in communication, if American’s come off as abrasive and domineering, it can easily turn disrespectful.

 The best way to handle a situation where there will be intercultural communication is to respect the person’s race and culture. In doing so, you should not automatically assume their responsiveness to your own communication techniques and should be open minded and willing to understand cultural differences in order to effectively communication better next time.

Drawing back from such a broad scale, I find that intracultural communication is just as complex as intercultural communication. Coming to college was an eye opening experience. Although I attend a historically black college, the wealth of diversity amongst the students is immense. I learned that my sub-culture of being an African American does not always relate to the sub-cultures of other African Americans, which often means that a common ground must be found to understand everyone’s point of view.

Here is a video to “Sh*t People from DC Say” Check it out and see if you can identify with my sub-culture and compare it to yours