Five Influences that Make a Difference

Fashion- create certain social stigmas

Media- it help me form my understanding of the world, yet it may not be always be accurate

Money- how I value things in my culture vs. other cultures

National Origin- it gives me a perspective that many people who do not look like will never really understand

Technology- it capitalizes on the information I am able to receive for different parts of the world just like media

These five items help me define who I am and influenced my decision to go to Ghana because I do not know what to expect. I do not know what I will be doing one day as I am trying to past the time, or if the people of Ghana can make me feel more aware of my National Origin. This feeling of curiosity led me to the Ghana Maymester program and this empowerment, self-awareness, intrigues me to further my education experience beyond US borders. 

It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. Brokaw, Tom

Religion in Africa

Religion has always been a controversial topic in America since forever and many tend not to talk much about it. However, after reading this article about Africa not having a set religious belief I was somewhat surprised about the information I learned. With this in mind, according to Frank Martins Aresa, the root causes of Africa's religious, ethnic and economic problems lie in deprecation of its relatively peaceful indigenous religion that has no drive to dominate others and should have been geared to meet modern political and economic challenges. That was a bit much for me to swallow in one piece because I do not fully believe that religion is the base for all the problems in Africa. In addition, I am now trying to understand how this could even be so since Africans when transported over during the early years of slave trade tried to keep their identity and culture engrained through their religious beliefs, regional languages, and dialects. Now, I can see how “the only officially recognized religion in most African countries is either from Europe, Asia or the Persian Gulf” (2012) since many empires conquered parts of Africa throughout history.

Also, in my opinion, as an African American, I would not know how I could live my life without religion. I do believe one cannot base economic and ethnic problems on religion, because then many human beings would question their god or gods and ask questions such as why did god do this or make these people “better”? Thus, I do have to agree when the article statement that “religion contributes significantly to our outlook in life” giving someone purpose and meaning out of their life if they believe in religion. So, I ask you (or anyone reading this blog) is there any other way to solve the problems in Africa? 

Article: http://www.modernghana.com/news/375074/50/only-africa-ignores-its-religious-actualization-fo.html

Who Am I?

Greetings everyone! My name is Michael Ugeo Williams. Most people call me Ugeo (pronounced u-gee-o). I am a 3^rd year junior residing from the great town of Corsicana, Texas, which is an hour south of Dallas on I45. I have a strong interest in education and society, which could explain why I am majoring in Youth & Community Studies and Sociology. I enjoy life and getting to know new people everyday. My motivations for applying to the Ghana Maymester program were to capture a new sense of community and an a greater understanding of education empowerment. I have never been to a country in Africa, however from the color of my skin and my racial heritage I know there is a connection to be made. Also, after hearing so many great things about the program I wanted to experience it as well. This new sense of community comes from deep within my African heritage and may help me understand my racial history at a first look. In addition, while receiving an education from one of the greatest universities in the world, I have learned that obtaining an education empowers an individual to have unlimited opportunities to look forward to in the future.