Assignment 1C- Human 7

Assignment 1C
1. Tell us their name and something about them.
Miranda Ashe voted for Barack Obama and gave up precious sleep time to wake up early and watch the inauguration.
2. Tell us 2 things from each person you learned regarding Paulo Freire.
I learned from Miranda’s blog that Paulo Freire believed in a term called “liberation theology” which she explained as using the Christian mission to help the poor and oppressed gain justice through political activism.
She also taught me that Paulo Freire believed in a theory called the “culture of silence” This theory was mainly about how the higher class forces their thoughts and beliefs on the poor and oppressed culture and how those that are being forced upon lose their way of critically thinking about their own culture and become silenced by the dominating class. Paulo Freire was always working towards helping those who were oppressed by the dominating class.

3. Tell us how this information will relate to our study of humanities.
I think this information will relate to our study of humanities because Paulo Freire used this theory to help the poor and oppressed have a better future with the help of the Christian religion and its followers. I think he meant that if you were a Christian then God wanted you to help the poor and oppressed as Jesus had done, according to the bible.
Our study of the humanities will help us learn about others that are less fortunate than ourselves and just like Freire suggested may push us to help out the poor and oppressed or at least see their point of view so that they can get justice and not be oppressed anymore. Learning about other cultures and how they were oppressed or are being oppressed helps us learn about ourselves through learning of others experiences. It helps us make decisions about what we feel is important to us and how others should be treated.


1. Tell us their name and something about them.
Elizabeth Laxton was very excited when she watched the Inauguration at SRJC with many fellow students who screamed and applauded when Barack Obama was sworn into office. That must have been exciting to be a part of. I myself was at home with my kids watching.
2. Tell us 2 things from each person you learned regarding Paulo Freire.
What I learned from Elizabeth was a more detailed description of 1963 when Paulo Freire taught 300 sugar cane workers to read. At the time the government had a law that only people that were literate could vote. This allowed the controlling oligarchy to stay in control since the sugarcane workers were not literate and therefore could not vote. The large illiterate population outnumbered the few who were educated and wealthy. This made the land owners of the sugarcane fields fear that the cane workers would all become literate and dominate the pulls ending their domination over the cane workers. Fear of losing control prompted them to force the government to arrest Paulo Freire.
Another thing I learned from Elizabeth was about Paulo Freire’s “Theory of Consensus”. This theory was about how consensus is achieved through disagreement and reflection caused by the disagreement. Paulo Freire believed that disagreement was a natural part of human consciousness and that without it people were being cheated of a basic social experience. Also that Paulo Freire believed that without conflict or struggle human existence was not possible.
3. Tell us how this information will relate to our study of humanities.
I think that this information relates to our study of humanities because it helps us reflect and think about how we would feel if we were those sugar cane workers and we were taught to read one day. How our outlook on life would change and make us feel differently about the world around us. Also the theory of consensus teaches us that disagreement should be welcomed in order for us to be able to reflect on our own opinions and why they may be changed by the new or different information from someone else. This allows us to learn about others and that is part of humanities. It helps us to think about what is right and wrong and how others opinions can reflect on our own.