wide awake
two months ago, i moved to denver, colorado from kentucky to begin my masters program in international and intercultural communication (IIC) at the university of denver. two months ago, i was bright-eyed and eager, ready for what was about to happen even though i had no idea what to expect.
two months later, i'm still eager. but maybe not quite as bright-eyed.
you see, i'm tired. i'm not sleeping well. they keep waking me up.
who, you ask? well, all those unsettling realities. those wily guys i should know about but am not necessarily comfortable knowing about. they've been the substance of my thoughts during the day and the stuff of my dreams at night. they comprise the actions of our world's governments and big businesses, and they often dodge our watchful eyes depending on what our favored media outlets decide to pay attention to.
after watching the documentary "control room," which traces the arabic news network al jazeera and its coverage of the conflict between the united states and iraq, i didn't sleep too well. imagining that your government may have deliberately fired on journalists to squelch the free-flow of information is not exactly the stuff of sweet dreams.
by the way, tariq ayoub, an al jazeera journalist, was killed on april 8. 2003 by US fire. and true to their mission, al jazeera has succeeded in "waking up the people." this much i know for sure.
in a session on international public relations, i learned more about monsanto's attempts to commodify the world's food supply. monsanto seems eager to solidify its place in the market of plant biotechnology, no matter what the cost. want to learn more? listen to the story of a canadian farmer who knows this all too well.
oh yeah. and i didn't sleep so well after seeing some footage on the US invasion of panama in december 1989, either. click here for more on noam chomsky's take on the injustice of Operation Just Cause. what a christmas present for innocent panamanians...
my perceptions of the above events may seem a bit skewed. perhaps they are. but the point is, these sides of the stories are usually the ones that go untold. or maybe more accurately, these are the sides of the stories that go uncovered. perhaps we are all more content with our lethargy. we like being comfortable. we like sleeping well.
it's been quite a contradictory trade-off for me. i'm tired. but i'm wide awake, too. and i'm convinced i'm better off knowing. no need for anger or fear.
i'll have a dose of awareness, please.
two months later, i'm still eager. but maybe not quite as bright-eyed.
you see, i'm tired. i'm not sleeping well. they keep waking me up.
who, you ask? well, all those unsettling realities. those wily guys i should know about but am not necessarily comfortable knowing about. they've been the substance of my thoughts during the day and the stuff of my dreams at night. they comprise the actions of our world's governments and big businesses, and they often dodge our watchful eyes depending on what our favored media outlets decide to pay attention to.
after watching the documentary "control room," which traces the arabic news network al jazeera and its coverage of the conflict between the united states and iraq, i didn't sleep too well. imagining that your government may have deliberately fired on journalists to squelch the free-flow of information is not exactly the stuff of sweet dreams.
by the way, tariq ayoub, an al jazeera journalist, was killed on april 8. 2003 by US fire. and true to their mission, al jazeera has succeeded in "waking up the people." this much i know for sure.in a session on international public relations, i learned more about monsanto's attempts to commodify the world's food supply. monsanto seems eager to solidify its place in the market of plant biotechnology, no matter what the cost. want to learn more? listen to the story of a canadian farmer who knows this all too well.
oh yeah. and i didn't sleep so well after seeing some footage on the US invasion of panama in december 1989, either. click here for more on noam chomsky's take on the injustice of Operation Just Cause. what a christmas present for innocent panamanians...
my perceptions of the above events may seem a bit skewed. perhaps they are. but the point is, these sides of the stories are usually the ones that go untold. or maybe more accurately, these are the sides of the stories that go uncovered. perhaps we are all more content with our lethargy. we like being comfortable. we like sleeping well.
it's been quite a contradictory trade-off for me. i'm tired. but i'm wide awake, too. and i'm convinced i'm better off knowing. no need for anger or fear.
i'll have a dose of awareness, please.
posted by Bridget at 9:15 PM
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