John Cadena – Page 2 – Publicly Historians

September 2, 2018November 30, 2018

History 101, Super Hero style

As a father of two young children, cartoons are a daily part of my life. I have found that usually, it benefits all to place my fifty-five inch on constant rotation while being content with the twenty-nine inch in my bedroom. As a way to maintain a peaceful hold. A meal of some sort accompanies this. On the day that I discovered this topic, this was no different. In fact, as I was preparing breakfast, I heard the tail end of the name Abraham Lincoln vocalized by one of the characters of Teen Titans Go! Intrigued by the mention of Lincoln’s love for the theater, I found myself sitting down to finish the episode with my children. Upon its completion, I thought it best to re-watch it as it dawned on me that this was an example of public history for children.

Beginning with the history of Napoleon, I found it humorous the way the show explained this time in history, fabricating some areas for comedic purposes, and even applying a bit of controversy to other areas. As it began, the focus on the topic of Napoleon was structured around the presumption concerning his height, naturally defended against by Napoleon himself. In the beginning, Napoleon reminded children that “knowing history helps us with the issues we face today” (Teen Titans Go!-History Lesson, Season 3, Episode 37). Continuing on the show progressed in showing Napoleon being there in support for the French by depicting him in a scene reaching for cheese off of a high shelve for the shorter, less fortunate, villagers. This segment stood out to me because attention was given to Napoleon in placing him in somewhat of a robin hood sort of light while in reality, this very point could and is highly debated against. Napoleon ended this segment by reminding children that “history is the runner that steers mankind to a better future” (Teen Titans Go!-History Lesson, Season 3, Episode 37).

Following Napoleon, the show turned its attention to the history of Egypt and the pyramids. In this segment, I found it incredibly interesting how the show compiled the history of the Egyptians while also walking on the edge of what is probably one of the most controversial ideas concerning the Egyptians. According to the show, the history of Egypt began when a Pharaoh had a crazy idea, that idea being building the Pyramids. Very quickly though the Egyptians realized building pyramids was difficult. As it happened though, aliens came to earth and were fascinated by the idea of the Egyptians, more specifically the Egyptians themselves. According to this segment, as a tradeoff for the assistance of the aliens in building the pyramids, the Egyptian queen agreed to give the aliens her headdress. Essentially giving the aliens control of Egypt. In the segment, the aliens who built the pyramids were assisted by bigfoot and the loch ness monster.

Next the show moved on to the subject of our sixteenth president. As this segment began, President Lincoln was described as tall with a beard and a lover of the theater. This was about where I had initially caught onto the topic of this show. As I watched the show again, I was anticipating this segment because I didn’t remember any mention of an assassination, nor would I expect to hear of it considering this was a children’s show. Not expecting any mention of assassination, I was curious though how this part of history was to be concluded. As I continued to watch, I was pleasantly surprised that while the show did portray booth approaching Lincoln from behind, it was merely to ask him to kindly remove his top hat as it was obstructing Booth’s view of the stage. Following this, in what seemed like an apologetic emotion, Lincoln offers Booth the seat next to him which leads them becoming lifelong friends and living out their lives together.

The final segment focused on the moon landing. Considering much of the controversy surrounding this topic I found myself excited to see how it would unfold. I have to tell you, I was not let down. According to this episode, in 1960 two “space dudes went up in the Apollo Creed spaceship” (Teen Titans Go!-History Lesson, Season 3, Episode 37), in search of what was on the moon. To their surprise, the planet was very hot and caused them to remove their helmets discovering that space dudes can breathe on the moon as they would on earth. As an added bonus, the first two dudes to land on the moon found that it contained a lake of edible cheese which produced enough of trust via the passing of gas, that it caused them to float off into space.

While I understand cartoons are meant to be humorous and fictitious, I found it remarkably assuming some of the ways this episode chose to convey history to children. My children, for example, love this show, so as I watched it, I found myself gauging their reactions to some of the ideas the show was giving. I even found myself questioning them afterward to see what in fact they had picked up. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the idea that aliens built the pyramids or that Booth and Lincoln were best friends, but instead that history is essential. For me, this was enough to let the controversial issues rest till another day. I decided instead to appreciate the timeless moment I was given of spending it with my girls while fulfilling this assignment.

August 27, 2018August 31, 2018

Edited, edited again, and still can’t find the right words

When you think about public history, you may not immediately think about sexual harassment being of significance in a profession seen by some as filled with the nerds of high schools past. In reality, though, I guess it’s ignorant to assume it doesn’t exist to some degree. In probably what was somewhat of a reality check, this became very apparent to me in coming across a blog by Professor Mary Rizzo. In it, Professor Rizzo speaks mostly of personal experiences regarding sexual discrimination aimed toward her as a public historian, but also dives deeper in defining not just harassment of a sexual nature but also brings to light classifications of harassment becoming more commonplace for men, women, LGBQ, as well as gender non-binary.

In her blog, Professor Rizzo pinpoints five areas of public history where bias is most prevalent and describes how each of these areas is basically a window of opportunity for sexual harassment and discrimination. As I read through these, I began placing myself in each of these situations and trying to rationalize a way that it wouldn’t be possible. As a man, I guess I felt a need not to believe that such discrimination was possible. In reality, though, every single example Mary Rizzo gave was a perfect segue for opportunity of such behavior. In reading this blog, it gave me a sense of embarrassment, both because of my feeling that I had to defend such actions but also due to the thought that I’d be so delusional. For the majority of this blog, I honestly found myself weaving in and out of emotion. To her credit, almost immediately after opening her blog in describing the discrimination she personally has felt, Professor Rizzo gave credit to the National Council of Public History (NCPH) and the work that is being done through their diversity and inclusion task force (DITF) in combating these behaviors.

Following this short acknowledgment in favor of the actions taken by the NCPH, professor Rizzo does return in giving statistical information regarding women who have experienced discrimination in the workplace via a Marist poll. For most, this may not be of any particular significance, though in my case It was. As an undergrad, I worked from time to time with Marist polls. It is for this reason; it seemed a bit off-putting that Professor Rizzo would reference this poll, because statistically Marist polls lean more right than left, but were being used in an argument which seems to lean more left than right. In addition to this, notice was taken to the fact that in using this poll professor Rizzo gave a little more attention to the statistics concerning women rather than applying this same attention to other genders with the same emotion. To a certain degree, in not giving statistical data for different sexes who may have experienced similar issues, it felt as if her first acknowledgment toward other genders was merely a reassurance that she remain fair in an article concerning inequality. Now, allow me to say here that in devoting time to this blog, I have spent time following the work of Professor Rizzo and feel confident in saying this wasn’t the case.

It was important to me in reading a blog of this nature that I get a clear understanding of how it came across to me, for the simple fact that I myself am a father. As the father of two little girls, one nine and the other four, it’s of top priority that I try and protect best I can for my children. In general, I think this is the same for all parents, but for a father, I believe there is more of a primitive, instinctive emotion to want to protect for those within one’s command. I desire that the world be available to my girls in every way possible so that as they grow their dreams are never out of reach, although in speaking from experience I have seen levels of favoritism even among other men. Now, undoubtedly, a woman should never feel as if her job is dependent on a level of sexual favor. Though in a world where we don’t have a major problem with a man taking advantage of another man, or Woman stepping over another, why should we expect there not to be discrimination across the sexes? It is my opinion for there to be a unified change across the board; we need to begin by respecting our own. I find myself conflicted in this thought though.

On the one hand, it brings me comfort to know that steps are being taken so that when the day comes that my girl’s transition into the workforce, such issues will long have been addressed and assumably corrected. Though on the other hand, it’s extremely concerning to think that while we live in a world where so much attention has been allowed to be given to equality and individuality that we are still struggling over the fundamental separation of man and woman. When drilled down to its core, this whole topic is very messy and has the ease to flex in favor of any given person. That in its self may be the problem. As I begin my studies in the field of public history, I look forward to witnessing the evolving changes made in this area. I commend Professor Rizzo for seizing the opportunity in tackling such a topic, though it seems unquestionable that this blog must be followed with more like it before real change will come.

http://ncph.org/history-at-work/sexual-harassment-and-gender-discrimination-in-public-history/

August 18, 2018August 25, 2018

16 years later but finally getting somewhere

Nuremberg Castle, Bavaria, Germany

Hello all,

Again, names John Cadena. For the majority of my life, I have lived in San Antonio. Most of my life, on the west and southside. In 2002 I graduated from McCollum High School (Go Cowboys). Immediately after graduating I enrolled at San Antonio College for summer classes and quickly learned that I was no-where near ready for college. Discouraged by this I decided to follow in my family’s footsteps and joined the military. While in the Army I continued college at the University of Maryland Europe, Cochise College in Arizona, and San Antonio College, finally completing my undergraduate at the University of Incarnate Word. My interest in Public history primarily stems from my feeling of always enjoying history more when given the opportunity to experience it in living reality. Recounting my years in high school, I can remember that I’ve always loved history but never felt connected to it. For me, all this changed when I was in Europe, Germany to be exact. During this time, with the help of local friends, I was able to walk, stand, breath, and lay in places of historical significance. For me, this is when I realized the importance that physical history has on an individual, culminating in my excitement in learning of the introduction of this program.