Cunk and Herstory

[Steve James]

Her series can be found on YouTube. In the British series, she has asides that only a British audience might pick up. The chronological history is accurate, but she brings up things that most Brits wouldn't have been taught. For ex., most would know of St George, but wouldn't know he was from the Middle East.

Origami mentioned that American public school education was a limiting factor. Ime, it's mostly a matter of what the student is expected to know versus their desire to know more. In the US, I wonder if students are still taught about the Round Table and Robin Hood. I'd understand because folklore and mythology are always easier to remember. Few people seem to enjoy "history." Imo, that's often because they're only expected to learn some dates, which they quickly forget.

Otoh, they are forced to remember some events -always linked to days they don't have to go to school.

[yeniseri]

Being brought up in the British system (under the Commonwalth) though it is conservative, individual teachers do go beyond the usual "Students Companion" textbook of facts and teach more than the reauired knowledge
This is a great programme on PBS by a woman named Worsely, who gives a great background on British history and goes into the depth on the various personages of the Empire. I learned more about the Picts, the Normans (Vikings to France (Brittany to UK )and the Celts than the Caribs, Arawaks, Haitian Revolution and Simon Bolivar back in the day

Other than 1492, the other date for me was 1066. It was ground in my brain by the teachers and even a pivotal part of my own partial history

NOTE: The Students Companion, I found out was used in Australia, UK and even some parts of South Africa.

[Steve James]

Being brought up in the British system (under the Commonwealth) though it is conservative, individual teachers do go beyond the usual "Students Companion" textbook of facts and teach more than the required knowledge

The differences between what students learn and what they're required to learn is up to the student and the teacher. Books like the Student's Companion offer a base of knowledge. One irony of colonialization is that students in the colonies, like Jamaica, often outperform students in the metropoles -like London. It's an "equal" education to the extent that everyone has the same requirements. The irony is (was?) that they wouldn't learn Jamaican history.

Imo, history is most interesting to students if they believe they're learning something about themselves. I.e., that they are part of the story.

[yeniseri]

Makes sense to the extent that certain groups gravitate to their own history (community) within the population demographics but they also share the context of that history.

The people living in the Blue Mountain area (example only) know and live Rastafarian history (rural) vs the urban dwellers whose view of history MAY be less important because they are digging just
to make a living (surviving) or, the elites who tend to be far removed, may be more recent immigrants of Syrio-Lebanese, Chinese or even English (Scottish, Welsh or Irish) origin.
I remarked some time ago that the Jamaican flag was being raised at a Intifada in the West Bank, where a few Jamaican Lebanese were vacationing with their West Bank relatives

[Steve James]

Everyone is interested in their own history. People are often uninterested in someone else's history. The Irish, Scots, Welsh, and Canadians have to learn English history.

Imo, it's only logical to teach the history of the people where they are, because they're the only ones who are most likely to be interested. One reason I liked Cunk's history of Britain because it started in pre-history, mentioned the people before the English, and concluded with the people who are there now.

Rasta "history" is Biblical . Still, it's the same idea of history as the story of "how I/We got here." And, for them, it is also the way to counter the stories that others have or haven't told about them.

Anyway, I think American history should be taught from pre-history to the present, from the first peoples to the latest arrivals: i.e., all the people who are here now. We have an advantage afa history is concerned because we've come from everywhere in this world, so we possess it all. I'm sure people who practice tcc in AZ appreciate they can because of Asians. Rastas all appreciate their sacred ganja comes from the sacred Ganges.

[origami_itto]

I'm a big fan of British comedies so I've gotten a lot of the common tropes and incidental knowledge.

I like a lot of things about cunk.


Regarding public schools here. They are basically daycare. I got very little of use out of my formal education. Literally everything I know I got elsewhere, okay they gave me the transitive property and that stuff, a lingering distrust of authority, social trauma. Meh.

I taught myself my career and everything I know about how to be a human. The dates and figures the dominant culture wants me to think are important are less so than what I've learned by going beyond their stories.

I failed high school, was homeless and worked the oil fields for a year and went back to finish, neither my academic performance nor family wealth were sufficient to put me through college. Thank God for Praeger U.

[Steve James]

Aristotle said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” Lao Tzu stated, “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”

[origami_itto]

Sgt Schultz said "I know nothing! I see NOTHING!"
The Praeger bit was a joke, btw. Just want to underline that part.

[yeniseri]

Everyone is interested in their own history. People are often uninterested in someone else's history. The Irish, Scots, Welsh, and Canadians have to learn English history.

Rasta "history" is Biblical . Still, it's the same idea of history as the story of "how I/We got here." And, for them, it is also the way to counter the stories that others have or haven't told about them.

Anyway, I think American history should be taught from pre-history to the present, from the first peoples to the latest arrivals: i.e., all the people who are here now. We have an advantage afa history is concerned because we've come from everywhere in this world, so we possess it all. I'm sure people who practice tcc in AZ appreciate they can because of Asians. Rastas all appreciate their sacred ganja comes from the sacred Ganges.

Critical hisotry is true to the source but the guilty often realize that they were the source of the lies and pretend the opposite is true despite the lies and political gamesmanship to counter truth.
Here is an example:
1. The majority of Jamaicans come from a West African background
2. The Rasta' view of history is a man made and exaggerated based on the following:
. The surname Selassie is East Afrocan, having nothing to do with West African culture or heritage
. The Italian attempt to take over Ethiopia ended with defeat of Italian forces
. The Jamaican element and others of the African diaspora responded wtth help and solaridity and hence became part of the mythical (a la Joseph Campbell) rebirth of an 'enlightened consciousness'
. Not unlike the Western European mythical adornment of Greece, though said citizens have nothing with Greece as part of their culture and ethnic heritage!

[Steve James]

I agree 100% that Rastafarianism is based on a mythology. I don't think any Rasta believes they are of Ethiopian ancestry. They consider themselves part of a general African diaspora. They relate to Selassie due to Biblical prophecies about Ethiopia, and his connection to Biblical history and stories -such as King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, the Ark of the Covenant, etc. Anyway, it's more of a religious culture than an ethnicity.

Mythology and history are the same when it comes to origins. They are the answers people give to questions like "where did I come from." For many, the answer is in a book. They consider that their history. Of course, whoever wrote the book wasn't there at "the beginning." Yet, everyone has a story.

Afa Jamaican ethnicities, my point was that it had many elements. Rasta's use Solomon's star but are Christians (worship Jeshua) who smoke ganja imported by Hindus in chalices.