TRIBE:
Are you comfortable with the notion that you belong to a tribe?
Do you feel you belong to a tribe? Based on what 'tests' or criteria?
REPLY to the most interesting and original comments that present aspects and arguments you did not think about.
Overall, I am very comfortable with the notion that I belong to a tribe; in fact, I would even go as far as to say that I am a member of multiple tribes. I feel this way because, as discussed in class, a tribe is made up of a select group of people who share a connection, which could be anything from all members living in Brooklyn to each one being an Italian American. This connection encompasses the unique traditions, perspectives, and cultures that each tribe is predicated upon, and in applying this to my own situation, I would certainly say that I belong to several tribes (New York, American, etc.). The criteria that this is based on is, again, contingent on the backgrounds and shared connection that each tribe possesses, and as such we are left with numerous tribes that preserve and strengthen the very cultural roots that they were built upon.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brandon that a person can be identified as belonging to several different tribes based on the person's identity.
DeleteI agree with this 100%. "a tribe is made of a select group of people who share a connection" truly made me understand the word tribe in a different way of how I have always perceived it as.
DeleteMore likely like Brandon, I am also comfortable with the notion that I belong to tribe. I also belong to several tribes. After exploring what tribe is and what are their similarities, I am very happy that I am from several tribes. I have all their customs, holidays, traditions.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Shaxnoza, I would say a relate to several different tribes. Each tribe is what makes up who I am as a person and I feel comfortable with being apart of them. I feel that I belong to several different tribes based on my origins and my surrounding. Culture in general is a huge part of being in a specific "tribe".
DeleteI am comfortable belonging to a tribe, it gives me a sense of security. My tribe is able to give me guidance. I can celebrate the holidays and participate in their traditions and customs. I believe that when you are born you automatically become identified to a tribe, yet it is your choice if you want to join. For me, it feels good to belong and feel connected.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Eva. I feel that being a part of a tribe really helps one feel grounded and gives one a sense of purpose. Somehow, you feel a responsibility to represent the best of what that tribe means to you!
DeleteI respect this so much and agree with you completely about us choosing where we belong. Our tribe keeps us connected to our "families" essentially.
DeleteI like the idea of tribes not only offering a shared connection between its members, but a sense of security for all involved as well. This was a very interesting point, Eva.
DeleteI would say that I am comfortable belonging in a tribe but i wouldn't really consider it as a tribe. More like a community. In a sense, being a student is kind of like a tribe because you have a community where everyone is experiencing something that is very similar to you like going to school, doing homework, etc. When I was a little bit younger, I always thought that I should just stick within my "tribe" when it comes to making friends and creating my own social network. That they will understand you the best because we all have this mutual community. But I soon found out that these people can also end up betraying you although you are all in the same community. I found that if one "tribe" don't work for you, you can always gravitate towards another one because we as humans don't just belong to one community or tribe
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of the fact that being a student kind of makes you part of that tribe, or community. Very interesting, Carrie.
DeleteI like your approach, Carrie. I didn't think of people being able to join and disassociate from different tribes, but I guess one can. Maybe it's like how some politicians will switch political parties.
DeleteCarrie, I understand why you would say community instead of a tribe. But in my perspective, I see them as the same thing because as i'm sure you've heard before a child is reared by a village. Village, community, tribe, they are all under the same umbrealla for me.
DeleteDuring our in-person class meeting, I was not at all comfortable with the fact that the Professor was deeming us all belonging to a tribe. I've never thought of the word community as a tribe. Now, that I understand better what tribe means, I am very comfortable with the notion that I belong to one. I think that many of us belong to several different tribes, but identify more clearly, more emotionally with one tribe. For example, I am both Italian and Irish, but I identify far more being part of an Italian-American tribe, rather than an Irish-American tribe. The reason for this being that I grew up with my Italian family, followed many Italian traditions. I did not grow up with my Irish family, nor did I follow any Irish traditions.
ReplyDeleteAs an African, I am very familiar and comfortable with the notion of belonging to a tribe. It is how I identified myself in my home country and that has evolved over the years. I now see myself as Sudanese, African and part of the larger fabric of American tribes which is a mixture of all other tribes :-)!
ReplyDeleteLike Eva mentioned, I too like being a part of a tribe. It makes you feel like you belong. I know that when I visit Sudan, there is no other feeling like being around people who look and speak the same language, it gives one a sense of calm and purpose.
After the Professors discussion of us belonging to our own tribes, I felt comfortable acknowledging that fact. I was not uncomfortable with it before, but I had never thought of people as belonging to tribes. As we discussed in class most people thought of a tribe as people living in a forest or jungle and we thought of them as primitive.
ReplyDeleteI feel that I belong to a tribe of millennials. The young adult generation who are often looked at as lazy and unprepared. The reverse test of "We feel bad, ashamed and even guilty when someone we don't know commits an indefensible act of violence, if this person is a member of our tribe (-- and we go crazy explaining that "No, these are not our values, we are better than that!")", but replacing the acts of violence with laziness and unpreparedness apply to the millennial generation. Because while there are many lazy and unprepared people in our generation there are also many hardworking and very successful people in our generation. So of course we would be offended to have our whole tribe deemed as lazy and I see people upset by it everyday. Our generation being upset at the fact that we are not good enough puts us in a tribe together.
I am not comfortable with the notion that I belong to a tribe. In class when we identified the group we identified most with, I put myself in the Irish-American basket. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but after having thought about it for nearly a week I really don’t feel like I am part of any tribe. My ancestors came to this country in the 1840s and mined for coal in the hills of Pennsylvania, as many Irish-Americans did. Many of them died from black lung. I respect the struggle they endured, but I can’t identify with it. In addition to the brutal labor, many Irish Americans were discriminated against when they settled in large cities such as Boston or New York. Struggles, along with traditions, food, and culture help keep a community together, but for the Irish Americans the struggles are gone and the traditions and culture have dissipated over the last 170 years in America. Without those binding us, I feel I am not part of any tribe.
ReplyDeleteI am comfortable being a part of a tribe. My tribe more than ever needs to stand strong. Immigrants have long been put down in this country. Today, we are experiencing yet another challenge. We need to stand together more than ever. All immigrants a part of my tribe. We are large, but can't lose sight of what's important. Everyday our president tries to divide us into smaller groups, making us all weaker. He will not divide us. My brothers and sisters are white, black, orange, green, yellow, and plenty other colors. I will not turn on another of my kind, that being human.
ReplyDeleteI share your feelings, all immigrants are my tribe. I find your ideas interesting because you didn't make it specifically about your tribe, you made it to where a group of tribes as a whole, is your tribe.
DeleteI do feel comfortable with being a part of a tribe. I was born in the U.S. but my parents are from El Salvador, therefore I identify myself as Salvadoran. Although I was born in this country, and appreciate the many opportunities I have been able to part take in, that has made me the young woman I am today, my Hispanic roots, and Salvadoran culture is also a big part of what makes me, me. I am geared by two nations, but my tribe is my Hispanic roots, El Salvador. A test that has shown me in many occasions that I am indeed a part of a tribe is personally feeling another person's hurt as if they were my family member. There is a lot of violence in my country, and the more damage I see, the more I morn, and just hope for stability and better government help to rise my tribe. Just like I feel happy, and proud when I hear someone who is from El Salvador do great things, and make it big.
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ReplyDeleteYes, I do feel comfortable with the notion that I belong to a tribe. This statement alone symbolizes comfort and acceptance. To be in a tribe makes you feel comfortable to be yourself with others who share the same connections as you. You have people who can understand your past and even your current life. I never really labeled myself to be in a tribe. I am African American and I grew up upstate NY where majority of the population was White. I had friends of all races and we got along when we were younger, but as we got older and into High School everyone kind of went their own way into new cliques. We have basically gravitated to others that were more LIKE US, and this happens everywhere. I feel that being in a tribe doesn’t necessarily mean only people of same race and background but more on the concept of "a tribe is made of a select group of people who share a connection"
Being Identified by my ethnicity, as a Hispanic, puts me In a category of being categorized as a whole population of what society has laid out to depict the Hispanic population as. I strongly disagree on how society has determined us Hispanics to be like. Being part of a tribe is standing together and uniting to defend who you believe you are, rather than what society wants to label you as. In a tribe you understand one another and know who you are and what your strong beliefs are, it creates acceptance. Tribes are important because you don't feel left out in a country full of diversity.
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