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moreen_tonny

How language and human rights are related.

Language is part of everyone's identity in a community. No matter what your religion, culture, sexe or nationality is. There is different way to communicate, different forma of language. People use them to express their thoughts and their feelings. As we know of, body language, litterture, art... are many type of language that can be used to enforced human rights.  The natural rights that we born with. And because laws says that they should not be taking away from us so we use these diferents types of language to communicate how we feel under opression and violation of our properties.

Phonetic pronunciation of my name

Hi everyone! My name is Moreen. For those who have encountered difficulties to pronounce it, I will give you a hand.

The first syllable of Moreen has the onset of a voiced bilabial consonant and a low back vowel: “Mo” [ɱɒ]

The second syllable has the onset of a voiced glottal stop and flaps high front vowel, and its ends with a voiced alveolar nasals consonant:”Reen” [ɾɪŋ]. This is the correct way to pronounce my name “ɱɒɾɪŋ”

Banneker and Equiano

  In his letter to Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Banneker humbly introduces himself as a concerned citizen of color, arguing the unjust treatment of his peers. In his correspondence, he reveals his thoughts about the situation of his brethren, arming himself with the thesis that all men were created equal and at the image of God, therefore entitled to the same rights. Banneker is compelling Sir Jefferson, president of the United States of America, author of the Constitution to take a stand for the enslaved minority, referring to the human kind as a” big family” .He is shaming those who turn a blind eye to the inhuman manipulation of Blacks in America. “If you believe that everyone is created equal, the slave’s inhumanness condition should be abolished”. 

   “The narrative of the life of Aquiano Olaudah, depicts the sad journey of a man made prisoner on a slave ship. Taken from his homeland, he is separated from his sister and reduced to slavery.  Feeling deprived of all humanity; he refers to himself as an object at the service of the white man. Throughout his miserable existence as a slave he discovers new land and is taught different language as he is sold every so often to new masters. The slave expresses his deepest thoughts and secret hopes with such clarity that the reader can almost feel the sorrow and despair that fill the pages of his story.

    The two stories previously discussed, expose the pain of black folks, victims of slavery in America. Two men of color, from different walks of life, share the same thirst for freedom and equality. Both stories lead to the same question: How could we explain Equiano’s experience on the slave ship? If humans feel the same sensations, then wouldn’t the slave-traders have been capable of practicing slavery and enforcing it through such lethal methods?  

  Equiano’s narrative faces its readers with a cruel reality. He uses an oxymoron to express his agony: “I still look back with the pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow.” This is where all the complexity of the human being is exposed. Even during the worst of times, we still have hope for a better tomorrow.

   Men have an innate taste for dominance. For centuries, megalomaniac world leaders caused great suffering to humanity by war, political instability and genocides. We must follow Banneker’s gaze. We mustn’t take one’s precious life for granted, nor can we violate one’s inalienable right to freedom and happiness.  Slave-traders once thought that the only people who were to be called and treated like human beings were those who looked and thought like them. Slave owners once said that “the black skin tone is the inferior category of the mankind.” And they enforced their beliefs by keeping the black man in chains in the cotton fields, by depriving him of all basics rights.            

  The oppression and humiliation that blacks have undergone in America and throughout the world should serve as ammunition to fight racism that is unfortunately persisting. As a nation under God, we must stand together as one and join forces to prevent such plague from happening again. We must not forget the sacrifice of those who came before us. When slaves in America rebelled and fought for their rights, it was to assure that the shackles wouldn’t close once more around the ankles and necks of future generations. They fought, in order for us to no longer feel the lashes on our backs. They fought for freedom, justice. 

My concept of human rights.

  Human rights, wherever we are in the the world remain the same. When it comes to the rights of each human being, thoughts and opinions in any language tend to protect everyone's integrity
  This cluster will help me explore the diversity of our rights and the difference between what it says about them and what is the reality. Through the different books i will read i hope to learn more about what is to be an human being fighting for his rights to be respected and accepted equal as everyone in a society. I expect to have a better understanding of what is the theory of the human rights and how the are applied to us in the 21 century.

My access to the world

“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run in and out of which they grow” – Oliver Wendell Holmes.

                I am a native French speaker. I was born in Haiti. I grew up speaking French and Creole, my ancestry’s language. My first contact with English was at 5 years old, when I first came to the United States. Few years later, I started learning Spanish in school and by traveling to the Dominican Republic. But my relationship with languages has always been affected by many factors: education, society, and my surrounding.     

               

                Everyone have a different relationship with languages; especially those who are bilingual or multilingual. They communicate in different languages but they do not use the same with everyone and everywhere. I do speak, read, write and understand English, French, Spanish and Creole. However my ability to speak or perform in each one is at different level.

                As a multilingual, I have a preferred language to communicate with different group of people. When I was in my country, I used to speak Creole with everyone. But French I usually speak it in school, with older and important people, like my teachers, doctors or my friend’s parents. Since I was studying English, I started speaking it with my friends, at school and with my family. Now that I am a check-in agent at the airport, I meet people from different countries in a daily basis and they speak different languages, so I’m called to do so.

                Speaking in your native language is always something you feel comfortable to do. I personally rather speak French or Creole even Spanish, than speaking English. I am still in the process of learning English. I make a lot of progress speaking with my family and being in contact with people who speak English around me every day at school or at work. And Spanish, I learned it in school but my brother who lives in Dominican Republic has influenced me a lot too. We used to have long conversations in Spanish only. So that helped me improve my skills and helped me expand my vocabulary.

                I think that everyone have a special way in whatever the language they speak, to express themselves. And I think it’s where all the creativity comes from. I can put words together to say what I want to say in each language that I speak. But to create something really amazing, so far French is the only language in which I am able to.

              Like everyone I have my own experience with languages. I learned different ones and can express myself in them. I know languages will have a major role in my career. After obtaining my associate degree, I want to do my bachelor in International relations. And I believe that languages are fundamental to get alone with the world, to make more connections with other nations. Because the more languages you know, the more opened the world’s opportunities will be to you.

             Language in my country is a sign of good education. Socially, I received a different treatment there. The better you speak a foreign language, the more you are welcome to the community. In fact, languages were for me a form of identity. Based on my own experience, I could say that languages are everyone’s access to more and better opportunities.

                Since I was a kid, languages have always fascinated me. I always wanted to speak more than the ones I know, which were French and Creole. Being able to speak all these languages gave me more confidence. When you can express yourself in different languages you don’t hesitate to take initiatives or to corporate with other nations. For example I won’t be afraid to be a part of a French or Spanish group, or even to take the lead, because I will be able to communicate with them. And that is essential. Although Creole is my favorite, I express myself better in French.

                I grew up speaking French and Creole. As the year went by, I learned new languages which are English and Spanish. They have exposed me more to the world. Through them, I discovered more cultures and learned how to get alone better with people from different origins. Languages are for me to the world’s access.