My Perspective on Race/ White Privilege

Being a bi-racial Black woman has given me a unique perspective growing up. Although I am bi-racial, I identify as socially and politically as Black. Historically bi-racial Black individuals have endured the same struggle of all Black people and continue to do so today. Many people would say that because I am bi-racial, that I can only identify with my heritage in part. Some put emphasis on the fact that I am "half" white and others on the fact that I am "half" Black. The problem with this idea is that I am one person that can not be split in two, I am a mixture of both.

As stated before, I identify socially and politically as Black, because in the history of the United States any individual of African descent has been viewed as Black and endured the oppression that comes as a result. Although my mother is white, I do not benefit from white privilege. I can not reap the benefits of a white male hegemonic society without denying my Blackness. Some people would argue that because of my lighter complexion, I can "pass as white", but by doing so I would be denying who I am and the experiences I have had being the daughter of a Black man.

I am looking forward to going to Ghana with a racially mixed group. I think the fact that this trip is happening and that it happens annually is a reflection on how far the University of Texas has come. I am interested in how the Ghanaian people will see me, a very light tan woman with blue eyes and an afro, and how they will see others. I think the entire trip will be an enlightening experience on how the concept of "race" functions outside the United States.

Standard of Living Analysis

1) Many parts of Northern Ghana are hot and dry, so this could have a negative impact on maintaining crops, which are necessary to sustain the people both in nourishment and economically.


2) Ghana is a constitutional democracy, where in theory should be equality across the board, yet there are still obvious gender disparities present in various areas.


3) Major agricultural products include cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas, and timber. Industries include mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, and small commercial ship building.


4) In 1957 Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa  to gain its independence. In 1987 Lt. Jerry Rawlings banned political parties. Rawlings went on to win the presidential election in 1992 and 1996.


5) I would say that the standard of living is much lower for women than it is for men. There are less women achieving the maximum education than men and their literacy rates are lower, so this might prevent them from gaining employment in the same professions as men and result in them being paid less. Also, families living in northern Ghana where it is harder to maintain crops are probably much poorer than those living in more tropical conditions.


6) This relates to my project because I am working with women as they strive to start their own business, so I might encounter women who are struggling from the education gap.

Ghana's Demographics

Ghana's population is 25, 241, 998. 
The median age for women is 21.6 years and 21.1 for men. 
The birth rate is 26. 99 births/ 1, 000 population and the death rate is 8.57 deaths/ 1,000 population. 
74.8% of the population 15 and older are able to read and write, 82.7% of men and 67.1% of women. 
The number one cause of death in Ghana is from malaria (http://www.modernghana.com/news/184685/1/preventing-malaria-the-leading-cause-of-death-in-g.html) and the second is cancer (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/159). Major exports include gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds, horticulture. 
Major imports include capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs. 
28.5% of the population live below the poverty line http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=69. 
The unemployment rate is at 11%. 
64.2% attend primary school, while after that the rate for males is 60.1%, and there are more males than females at every level. 
Household size in Ghana averages at 7.4 members http://www.ghanadistricts.com/region/?r=6&sa=120 and the cost of a house is 20-50 euros http://thekexperience.okeiweb.com/past/ghana/construction-in-ghana.html. 
"By the end of 2008, Africa had 246 million mobile subscriptions and mobile penetration has risen from just five percent in 2003 to well over 30 percent today" http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2010/01/04/more-in-africa-use-mobile-phones-than-on-any-other-continent/. 
"Current internet penetration is less than 5% of population and PC penetration is less than 3% of population" http://www.commerceghana.com/guidance/internet-usage-in-ghana.

Blog 3: Gender Empowerment

I recently read an article discussing how measuring gender relations is the key to understanding inequalities between men and women in a country. Read more at http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/stable/10.2307/4404712

This article became more relevant to me after reading Paradox of Empowerment: Reflections on a Case Study from Northern Ghana http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/science/article/pii/S0305750X0000084X . This article talks about how the "development" industry has incorporated empowerment of the poor, gender etc into their vocabulary. This has given me a better understanding of where Ghana is in the development and growth of the country. They have already acknowledged inequalities are pushing past them to further the progress of the country.

This also tells me that gender empowerment is a topic that is openly talked about in Ghana. My group and I will be able to talk about the importance of community and women working together without the fear that the women we are working with have never heard these things or the fear of offending anyone.

Feminism in Ghana?

Hey Guys!!!

I was happy to read that there is a pro-women empowerment group in Ghana called The Network for Women's rights. This group is currently working to form a concrete definition of what feminism means so that they are able to fight the stereotypes that are currently being generated when the word feminism currently comes into conversations. Read more at http://www.modernghana.com/news/344805/1/netright-educates-gender-activists-on-feminism.html.

Based on my research I have found that gender roles are prominent in Ghanaian society. I read an article that a man wrote about the different experiences that he and his sister encountered growing up. Two twins started off in the same school with the same teacher. They are both doing well, but the twin sister consistently finds that she is outperforming the twin brother. Instead of encouraging both of them to do their best, the father makes the brother feel ashamed of his work, saying "why should a boy allow a girl to outperform him?". Due to the fact that the sister had more household chores as they grew older, the boy was able to surpass her in his studies. The sister is still working to pursue a college degree, while the brother is applying for his masters. http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/feature/201201/80518.php

This article interested me because, as I brought up in class, I am wondering how to address feminism as my group and I work on our gender empowerment project. On the one hand, there appears to be a feminist agenda that is promoting gender equality, but on the other hand it does not appear to be the cultural norm. I want to promote gender empowerment and let these women know about all the wonderful things they are capable of, but I do not want to insult their culture in the process.

Best,

DeAnna

My identity and how it has influenced me to go to Ghana

I am a bi-racial Black woman who grew up, and until going to college, had always lived in Dallas, Texas. There are many reasons why I decided to go on this trip and my identity has a lot to do with many of them. I wanted to go on this trip so that I could experience culture outside of America and learn about how people from another country live, while learning about myself at the same time. Not unlike many other African Americans, I am not able to trace my ancestry back to Africa, so I do not know the exact location that my ancestors are from, but I believe simply visiting a part of Africa would give me an understanding of a part of my history and culture that I did not know. I believe it is important to form bonds with other countries and experience different cultures because it provides perspective and understanding. Due to my families finances, I have not had many opportunities to travel, so I am excited to make Ghana my first trip out of the country. I have a personal interest in education reform in the United States, so initially I was planning to work on the mentoring project, but feminism is also important to me and I've recently decided to spend my time in Ghana working to strengthen the women's community. I believe it is important for women to form bonds with each other, so that we are able to encourage each other and keep one another strong and I am looking forward to helping Ghanaian women do just that. Not only do I hope to impact someone's life on this trip, but also to be impacted. I am hoping to grow as an individual and learn things while I am on this trip that I can carry with me for the rest of my life.

Ghana Maymester Intro

Hi all! My name is DeAnna Howard and I am a sophomore at UT, double-majoring in government and African and African Diaspora Studies. I applied to go on the Ghana Maymester because I am interested in African culture and there is no better way to learn about a culture than to experience it first hand. I am excited to get to know all of you and to share, what for me will be, the experience of a life time! :D