Free Speech, is it free? When referring to our general freedom as country citizens, we are often asked that. Free speech, is it free speech? I think we get tangled up in the four-lettered word that begins with an ‘F.’ Free. Is that the kind of free, like the free piece of cake I get with the meal I sometimes order at Pruitt’s? Note: Be careful of the 7-Up cake. Yikes. I don’t think it’s an added-value term in this case. To have a conversation requires two communicators passing along ideas and exchanging thoughts. It is the conduit between the messenger and the receiver. If that is limited, you get what we see in Totalitarian and Communists states. The limitations are set forth by the all-watching government eye of the state. Without diving deep into any ideas being pushed or what’s on the national agenda during this week of free speech, I felt like writing about what I think the terminology ‘free’ speech means.
Category: Reflections
So, the first two academic papers I’ve written in nearly twenty years have been turned in for assessment. The pause in these blogs allowed me to wrap things up there for a few days, but guess what? Here I am. Incredible to think that after all that time, adhering to the APA format and all the mess I juggled, they were turned in on time. I know these are two small battles on the enormous battlefield, but it’s my war, and its tactics are all my own. I am proud of myself. It wasn’t easy. It was challenging, but a lady at the Writing Center told me, “You can do the hard stuff.” It was good for me to hear that because, damn it. Yes, I can! It’s time management, and I’m trying my best to make it happen. I laugh when people say, “you gotta take some ‘me’ time.” I understand it’s necessary, and Lord knows I need to take some, but when? When?
The two papers were for Introduction to Media and Humanities of the Modern World. The paper for introduction in Media focused on The Joe Rogan Experience #1361 with David Fravor and Jeremy Corbell and the five steps of Media Literacy. Commander David Fravor (retired) reports on chasing a UFO in a Navy Super Hornet in 2004 with extraordinary details. The US Navy corroborates his story; you would think this would be enough for the pundits to take notice and at least ask more questions about the phenomenon. I probably write about the paranormal a lot, but the topics within the more fantastic genre are fascinating. Joe Rogan once asked in his podcast, I think it may have been contained within the podcast above, but he said the two things that mystify humans: What happens when we die? & Are we alone? They are two questions that no human can answer, at least yet.
The paper for Humanities focused on H.G. Wells and The War of the Worlds and the influences of Wells’s early scientific teachings on T.H. Huxley and Darwin. Here is a fact I left out of the paper that I didn’t know about the author, H.G. Wells married his cousin. Yep.
Today at OU was fantastic. The college recognizes its native student body. In most of the buildings, there is native art displayed regularly. The course catalog is filled with native languages. The amount of goodwill that goes into welcoming native students is apparent at OU. Today the native clubs had an opportunity to come together in the South oval for a small gathering. Beginning Kiowa class today was held near the William Bennett Bizzell statue. I listened to them sing, and they burned some sage and were fanned off. It felt good to pray for a bit. I had hoped they put up the Teepee, but the rain had other plans today. To see a Teepee up at a place like the University of Oklahoma shows respect from the University. Inside a Teepee are where prayers happen. Seeing them put up in places you wouldn’t typically is heartwarming.
I hope all had a good day remembering those ancestors that gave it their all for us; they had prayed for this current generation long ago. We must keep the traditions and ways close but teach those willing to learn.
I had a chance to Dj a fiftieth anniversary on Thursday, and what a good time at someone else’s party. The couple that celebrated five decades of marriage are family friends. Maryjane was my high school secretary, and I was so happy for her and Glenn. They are good people with children that are grown with their own children. Unique family, for sure. What a night!
The party was a Moni’s Pasta and Pizza in Edmond, Oklahoma, from 5 PM t 7 PM. Maryjane and Glenn’s family and friends numbered around seventy-five, and the couple had the entire restaurant rented for the evening. The menu featured pasta, salad, and a cake baked by Maryjane’s youngest son, Caleb. The night’s first half was a time for the guest to converse and enjoy cocktails and drinks from the bar. Dinner was buffet style and served at even. I played music from the fifties, sixties, and seventies, and a couple of songs from artists of today’s music.
Maryjane and Glenn’s children took control of the mic to deliver a few words to the crowd, thanking the audience for coming out and reminiscing about the family rips and guidance their parents imparted. We all should be so lucky to have parents who stay together, raise children, and have great careers.
The photo booth was a big hit! Our Salsa photo booth is always a great addition to any party. It gives your guests something to participate in if dancing isn’t for them. The photo booth offers those that choose the option to capture a picture, GIF, or boomerang. Once the image is taken, it can be texted or emailed to the recipient on the spot—a fun add-on to any party or wedding.
Five weeks into the Kiowa language class at the University of Oklahoma have passed, and things are going well. There are familiar words in the language; still, it was always the conjugating of the pronouns and other language-specific traits in the Kiowa language I didn’t know. In my youth, I would spend the summers with my grandparents. Both were Kiowa; however, my grandfather was a full-blood Kiowa who spoke the language as a first language. My grandmother had a Czech father and a Kiowa mother; she too also spoke fluent Kiowa.
I would hear them talk fluently to each other, not uttering an English word for minutes at a time. I was intrigued and determined to learn the language.
It wasn’t until around the age of twenty-one, on a trip to Key West, Florida, for a wedding, that I realized the urgency to which I needed to fulfill my quest to learn Kiowa. At Captain Tony’s in Key West, Florida, I met a non-native friend of the groom. He had taken Begining Kiowa At OU and knew how to speak it well. It was then I realized that if this non-native man knew the language of my ancestors and I didn’t, that was an issue.
Fast Forward to 2022, and here I am, enrolled at the University of Oklahoma, completing my degree and learning my ancestral language in a scholarly effort. My Kohñ with his Kohñ (below).
It’s challenging to navigate the Campus here at OU without encountering a structure, park bench, garden, or field named in honor of an important figure in the university’s storied past. Yet, it’s important to remember such heroes; more importantly, it is dire to keep churning out high levels of academia and sports. Therefore we all accept the challenge of navigation! Onward ho!
I was walking to my car in the commuter parking area just beyond where the new statues commemorating three former Sooners have just found their new place. Fortunately, I just so happened to be walking about when they placed in the last of the three brothers. By the way, these three statues look remarkably close to the people they portray.
I wondered what it would be like to have a statue or likeness cast of me. What would I do to earn such an honor? Of course, I’m not worthy of such an honor. But, I would be interested in knowing what I would have to contribute to humanity to warrant creating and recreating a likeness of me. I guess this is why not everyone gets their shot at the honor. Is it make people happy? Play football well? Or score a specific score on a Mensa exam? I feel a group of people’s love adoration almost demands this to happen. It is cool to be a part of a University that recognizes the greatest. Every statue on Campus was earned with hard work and created because of the honorees’ contributions.
I’m ok with others’ immortalization in bronze; I’ll leave the rock carrying to those that choose and the hours of relentless study to the Rhodes Scholars to go on to solve the world’s most challenging of feats. But I am ok with seeing if they got the likeness close and details, if apparent.
Chapter 2 Review Question 7
“What is the relationship between online communities and political polarization?”
The direct correlation between online communities and political polarization is the community’s ability to harness technology and propagate the political message to a mass online audience. For obvious reasons, the internet makes communication easier between members or followers. Unfortunately, it also allows the keyboard warriors to mobilize while stirring the pot. The message, whatever it may be, is on twenty-four hours a day, and it will enable interaction between users. We saw it with the 2020 election cycle. Groups like the Proud Boys & ANTIFA were names we heard ad nauseam during that time. From my understanding, both organizations are the extremes of both ends of the ideological spectrum. Social platforms and online communities allowing free speech in 2024 will be just as unsettling.
Unfortunately, those mentioned above aren’t the only groups guilty of using these internet communities to create propaganda and attempt to influence social media. There are bad actors worldwide. For example, countries like Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China are interested in our elections and which side may win. We saw that when Obama accused the Russians of guilty behavior.
There are people paid overseas to sit in rooms, develop social profiles, and spread fake propaganda that polarizes our politics. In addition, these people create materials to extend America’s adversaries’ messages.
Regarding my media interests, it has to be how art, culture, free speech, and technology collide. It’s standing by and watching the wreck happen. Sometimes the changes within media occur in slow motion, and other times they’re lighting fast. As I sat in class today and listened to Dean Walker talk about the changing of mediums within media, I recalled a thought I often revisit. I was around when America Online mailed CDS that would allow you to access free hours on the internet; when it was Voice Stream (one of the few cellular companies available) before T-Mobile, the list could go on and on.
Before toting around the most primitive cellular device, I carried a pager. This technology phenomenon wasn’t just isolated to me; everyone my age had them. You had to have a quarter in those days to return a call—you had to develop codes with your friends with number combinations. It was a time before SMS and emails weren’t in your hand. It was also when cold mediums were the only outlet of investigation. You had to visit the library and be somewhat aware of the Dewey Decimal System. I am dating myself but reminiscing about how far media has matured. Devices are everchanging, and technology moves faster than humanly possibly (AI); it will be fascinating to watch where it all goes.
As I watched burgeoning platforms like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter emerge, I engaged with social media more than I currently do. At the time, maybe it was a FOMO thing for me. Everyone seemed to be on them and didn’t realize what we now know about social media. Issues of privacy. People are now a commodity. Questions about social media, the trends within, and interacting more with social platforms are some of the questions I may have.