Monday, 22 October 2007

  • update personal, politics and an identity question...

    (Identity question is at the end of the post..  if you just want to skip the politics part)

    So the semester is halfway over and i'm feeling like i'm in some kind of control.. of course that means I had to mentally withdraw from xanga and one of my classes... which is fine by me since i'm taking 15 credits..  and getting at least b+ in the rest of my classes and a new class starting this week on social movements in Latin America...  Next semester definitely a lighter load.. or a part time schedule..

    I am on my way to retiring early.. I have started my investment account at TD Ameritrade.. and am researching some stocks and funds to invest in...  will open my Roth in Jan with my school refund.. oh and I have paid off 1 credit card..  raised my FICO scores...qualified for an AmEx card (but refuse to open a new card unless it has a 0% balance transfer offer and $5000 limit) ... and haven't had an overdraft letter in over 4 months... i'm doing soooo much better with my $$

    I wanted to do a political update...since so much has been going on in the past few weeks...

       Huckabee's stock is really rising in the republican campaign... I have said from the begining that the social conservatives would appreciate him in the crowd of moderates.. and he comes of well in these debates/forums.  (2nd in Ames starw poll  and Values Voters conference... 1st was Romney in both events)
    the Note has been talking up his possibilities.. link

       It certainly helped Huckabee that Sen Brownback of Kansas dropped out of the race (raised some money but didn't really get a following.

       Another surprise candidate gathering a following is Rep. Ron Paul from Texas, who managed to raise $5mil.  .. I think people respect his integrity.. and his consistent message.  And, in light of the growing distate for the War in Iraq by conservatives, his anti-war American isolationist foreign policy seems to be winning people over... in general i feel there has been a growing movement of classic liberalism as modern liberal/progressive policies are implemented.. 

    As for the democrats.. Hillary is focusing her campaign on women voters...  she has a lead over all candidates when polls separated by gender..

    Which leads me to ask a question....  When thinking of your own identity which comes first..gender? race? class? something else?..  region perhaps  (BK til I die .. that's for you staymatic haha)

Comments (14)

  • bluerebel327

    first!

    for me, race. then gender, then the fact that im trinimaican. lol
  • Nikhil81

    Huckabee is interesting.  When he speaks about most things I find him to quite compelling, even though I disagree with him on a number of very significant things.  There is a sense of thoughtfulness he provides, which I just don't get from many of the other candidates, except maybe Obama.  That being said, I still don't think he will get the nomination.  There is a wing of the Republican party that is very hawk-ish and I think he may be too "sensible" for them.

    I think the way I identify myself is different based on where I am, however in a vacuum I think it would be my race that first identifies me.  Many of the things I believe in grow out of my race (and therefore religion, in my case).  Interesting question.
  • STAYMATIC

    BROOKLYN!!!!!! **gunshots**

    For me it would be race gender location then place of origin...

    so it would be Black man from BROOKLYN but family's from Costa Rica, then it goes to Jamaica and I think there's a bajan in there then ummm.... somewhere in Africa, let's say Ghana.

    Just like that.
  • kcheval

    i'm a black woman. so race first, then gender.

    when people ask me where i'm from i kind of hesitate for a moment.  because: I'M from queens.  but i know that when most people ask me where i'm from (especially in a city as diverse as ny) they don't necessarily mean me- they want to know where my family is from.  so i always say, "well I'M from queens, but my parents and extended family are from Trinidad."

    never thought of class in terms of my identity. hmm.

    so i was thinking about applying to the mfa program at your school. perhaps we will be fellow alum one day?

  • kcheval

    and what ever happened to your post about birth order? i was really curious to see where you were going with that?
  • tricia_says

    good for you with the money and the school thing!!! glad to know you are handling your biz...

    as for identity, it really depends on the situation and my state of mind that day. today, if you asked me the question "what are you?" today i think i'd respond "i'm a woman." there are days when i know i would probably say "i'm a law student" or "i'm a black woman" or "i'm a black woman but my daddy's indian."  or "I'm 25" or "i'm jamaican/jamerican" or "i'm from brooklyn but my fam is from JA"  or "I'm tired/sleepy/broke"  Trust me. all of these things have come out of my mouth at some point in response to that question.

    oh and yea - BK ALL DAY! *bullet bullet*

    I have the same problem as Keisha when ppl ask where I'm from. I'm from Brooklyn, NY, USA. But I know that's not what ppl really want to know... I always feel like I'm longwinded when I say "I'm from Brooklyn but my fam's from JA"
  • ComoSeLlama

    frankly, i don't know. fortunately or unfortunately, it's race. i try to disband that by answers questions of identity with region or state, but really we Americans understand what we mean when we say "Where are you from?" I try not to give that much away either. That sense of mystery is also a selling point in my image :-p.

    I read the rest of the post, and nodded accordingly.
  • da_blk_romeo

    "When thinking of your own identity which comes first..gender? race? class? something else?"

    well for me race always gets thrown in my face first, then gender. "he looks like such an angry blk man." i usually tell ppl that i'm jamaican first.

    FICO scores? i guess i need to look that up.
  • Pre_K

    well congrats on starting up your td ameritrade account. as you know if you have any financial questions i will be happy to either give you my opinion or point you in the direction of resources so that you can form your own opinion on the matter... informed decision making is what i am all about. class got me under wraps too..

    as far as identity i would have to say that i am black first but you will not get me to fill out a census form. i have never been big on gender roles so i would have to say region would come second ( considering the linkage of region and class i consider the two, one in the same) because i am quick to the people i am from the jersey city/ newark area..
  • Nikhil81

    So I've read these responses on your page, and I noticed something interesting.  Before I get to that I have to point out that I mean what I am about to say in the most objective manner possible, and understanding that body language is a big part of communicating, especially something personal... please don't be offended.

    Most ( I think all) of the people who responded to your question are minorities, including myself, and we all universally stated that it is our race that first defines us. I find that interesting.  I wonder if a white person would say the same thing.  I wonder if an Indian person living in India would say the same thing.  Perhaps we "feel" our race more than white people, because others feel our race more.... I think I will have to make this into a larger blog to hash out some of this, but I would love to hear what you think.
  • Trudestini

    thank you...
  • Jumms

    When thinking of my identity the first thing that comes to mind is my personality as i think its what makes me...welll me. The rest (race, gender, etc) are just biproducts if that makes sense.
  • Jumms

    now that i've read the responses i feeel less of a minority since i didn't say race first. lol
  • DetroitPinay

    middle class till i die, bioootch!

    Okay, using class wouldn't sound right to me lol

    But it's odd because I use nationality first in identifying myself

    US'er. Detroit. Pinay.

    btw, congrats witht he brokerage acct. I use www.interactivebrokers.com b/c the commissions are lower. That way I don't have to wait until it runs up so much before i break a profit. If you want to talk trading, i've been doing it for about 3 years now. I need a stock buddy around my age damnit  :P

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