Duke Ellington Essay Example for Free

Duke Ellington Essay Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington, D. C. Ellington was an influential American jazz composer, pianist, and bandleader. His popularity grew leaps and bounds after his death. The nickname ‘Duke’ was given to him by a childhood friend who admired his regal demeanour. The name caught on with audiences and he became famous for instrumental combinations, improvisation, and jazz. He started studying keyboard at the age of seven and by seventeen he had made a professional debut. His move to New York City in 1923 brought him one step closer to his worldwide success and recognition years later. Ellington and his band played for everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to President Nixon and teamed up with greats such as Miles Davis, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and Louis Armstrong. His achievements include his honorary doctorate from Howard and Yale University. He was also a member of the American Institute of Arts and Letters. He was elected as the first jazz musician member of the Royal Music Academy in Stockholm and won and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in America. In addition to this, he was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French Government. He became one of the most well-known African-American celebrities of the twentieth century. While recording with record companies he also appeared in several films. Ellington also joined the Alpha Phi Alpha, the first black Greek letter fraternity. The suave and witty Ellington described his musical style as American music rather than just jazz. Some very impressive musicians served in his orchestra and remained with the organizations for many years. Although, many of them were noteworthy in their own right but it was Ellington’s creativity and musical brilliance that made them into one of the best orchestral units in the history of Jazz. Some of his major compositions include Mood Indigo, Sophisticated Lady, Satin Doll, Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me and I Let a Song Go Out Of My Heart. His music had the ability to change style, adapt and grow within each era. An example of this is The Hot Jazz of the 1920s which changed into the Swing music in the 1930s. This is one of the major reasons why the Ellington Orchestra was able to hold its own for so many years. When Jazz music became increasingly popular in America, Ellington spontaneously improvised his simple themes to more creative orchestration while uniquely combining tone quality. He innovated his music along the way by carefully attending to structure and balance within his jazz arrangements at the same time allowing for solo improvisations. He had an ability to create fresh sound by drawing instruments from different sections of the band and voicing them together as a unit. Piano players like James P. Johnson and Willie The Lion Smith influenced his incredible piano technique. He died on May, 24 1974, in New York City. Ellington will be forever remembered as an ambassador of American music and culture for his enormous contributions to American music. Jazz music could not have developed in America without Ellington’s efforts. His estimated two thousand compositions, arrangements, and collaborations continue to move people worldwide. WORKS CITED: †¢ â€Å"Duke Ellington. † Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7 Feb 2007, 21:16 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Feb 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=Duke_Ellingtonoldid=106404877. †¢ â€Å"Edward K. (Duke) Ellington†. G. Shimmer Inc. April 2002. http://www. schirmer. com/default. aspx? TabId=2419State_2872=2ComposerId_2872=2311 †¢ â€Å"A Centennial Tribute to Duke Ellington†. Howard University Library. 28 June 1999. http://www. founders. howard. edu/ellington/default. htm

Independent Electoral Commission in South Africa

Independent Electoral Commission in South Africa Introduction The Independent Electoral Commission is a permanent body established by the country’s constitution to promote and organize a well democracy election in a Country. This particular essay will be based on South Africa Independent Electoral Commission and how the management of the organization will perform, Will focus on the challenges that the management of Independent Electoral commission might come across to manage during this forthcoming election. The Independent Electoral Commission was temporary established in 1993 and has five administrators appointed by the president. The president is brief to deliver a free and fair election at all the spheres of government both provincial and local. In 17 of October 1996 the permanent Electoral Commission was established with objectives to maintain and compile the voters’ roll. The Independent Electoral Commission is responsible for counting the vote, verifying, and declaring the results of an election. Functions of the Independent Electoral Commission: Maintaining and compiling a register of parties Promote conditions for free and fair elections. undertaking and promoting research into electoral matters The Independent Electoral Commission ensure that elections run smoothly To manage elections at all spheres of government The Independent Electoral Commission ensure elections are free and fair To promote voter education To maintain quality database of the electorate To be a reputable effective organization Now let take a look at some values that Independent Electoral Commission has. Some VALUES that the IEC possess: Accountability: The Independent Electoral Commission is responsible for the efficient use of resources, production of true election related documents like voter’s rolls and reports. Publish accurate election results. Now in terms of productivity, The Independent Electoral Commission must all provide quality services Productivity: Timeously Satisfactorily Cost effectively Independence: The Independent Electoral Commission takes decisions without fear and liking of a particular party. Impartiality: The Independent Electoral Commission must always be neutral when serving the country during election. Professionalism: The Independent Electoral Commission organizes its business within the confines of the legal. Commitment: The Independent Electoral Commission is committed to fulfill the needs of the election to the best of its abilities. Transparency: The Independent Electoral Commission believes that the must be a free and fair competition between political parties and transparent electoral processes. The Independent Electoral Commission only gets active after every 5 years of the election cycle whereby the have to start organizing and prepare for another election year. The forthcoming election will be held in 7 of May 2014 and the question to ask will be if the Independent Electoral Commission management is ready to run the election smoothly and ready to face all the challenges that come along. All organizations need time to plan and manage the event and the election is one of the biggest events and it draws the attention of many. Management will face many challenges that the organization will come across, therefore the Independent Electoral Commission must be ready beforehand. The following are some of the management sectors of the Independent Electoral Commission and some challenges this sectors might come across to during election period. The financial function The Human Resource function The Information Technology function Financial Function The Independent Electoral Commission receives financial support from parliamentary appropriations according to the Electoral Act 51. The Independent Electoral Commission Chief is the accounting officer and is responsible for keeping all the accounting and financial record. The Independent Electoral Commission Chief makes sure that both accounting and financial records are audited by the Auditor General. The Independent Electoral Commission finance department is one of the biggest, but one of most challenging departments to manage during this period and with the country being financially challenged this makes it even more daunting task. With Independent Electoral Commission only getting active during election time, that might affect the finance department not being more prepared due to lack of well preparation time, not everything will run smoothly financially but with good planning the Independent Electoral Commission can face these issues. Let have look on some financial points: Financial Planning The Independent Electoral Commission management needs to ensure that enough funding is available at the right time to meet the entire requirement needed during the election time. The funding may be needed to invest in equipment that will be needed during election, pay employees, but with the Independent Electoral Commission being significantly active only during the election time this will lead to some issues on how to plan financially without considering how much will be needed to spend on all the assets. On the financial planning side the Independent Electoral Commission will face some issues like on registration of new voters which cannot be planned by focusing on the previous election. New voters have to get registered so that the Independent Electoral Commission can financially plan well in advance about the number of voting stations and where they should be situated. Financial Control The Financial Control for the Independent Electoral Commission as an organization is very important to help the organization to ensure that the Election preparation meet its objectives. Financial Decision-making The Independent Electoral Commission can plan to a certain extent on how much funds the organization would need for the forthcoming election, the amount of fund needed cannot be well decided as there are always financing alternatives that can be consider as we approach the election day. Human Resource functions The Human resource management in the Independent Electoral Commission organization is primarily concerned with the way people are managed within the organization policies system. The Human resources are responsible for some activities in the organization, activities such as recruitment, training and development etc†¦ The functions that Independent Electoral Commission human resources carries: Manpower Planning This particular point include the future planning and finding out the numbers of employees will be needed during the Election Day and what types of skills should the employee have. The Independent Electoral Commission Human resources management having to start getting active only during the election period this will have some challenges by recruiting the correct staff prior to the Election Day. Recruitment The Independent Electoral Commission Human resources must make sure to recruit the best people for the organization during the election. This will be of great significance as the success of the organization will be based on the quality of employees recruited. The Independent Electoral Commission human resources still busy recruiting employee two weeks before the Election Day. This will prove how the recruitment and selection in this department, they will definitely face some few challenges to manage the employees and to do a well prepared selection of candidates needed to assist the voters on the election day. Training The Independent Electoral Commission Human resource department must provide the required training to the employees of the organization, in order to improve on the materials being used during the election days and to be well prepared to assist voters regards to any queries that comes along on the day. The Independent Electoral Commission Human resource has less time to recruit the well skilled employees. This will have influences on the Election Day when it comes to assisting the voters with any queries. Employees that are being placed two days or a week before the election without being well trained, this can cause some problems on that day of the election. Implementing policies in The Organization The Independent Electoral Commission Human resource department must make sure that the organization policies are being implemented in a good manner. The Independent Electoral Commission having to recruit some of the employees at the latest stage of the Election period, and these employees will have some difficulties on how to implement the organizations policies and some of the rules that’s needed during the election. The Information Technology function The IEC Information technology department has the responsibility of dealing with all the issues regarding the technological side during the election. The objective of Information Technology department in the Independent Electoral Commission is to provide all the technical support to the whole organization. The department is responsible for all the materials running on the election that includes the setting up of voting stations in all the areas needed, installing telecommunication facilities and setting up all the hardware needed to link each and every voting station. The Independent Electoral Commission however will face some issues during the Election Day due to lack of preparation on the Information Technology department, having to install and do all the setup needed on that day. Some function of the Independent Electoral Commission Information Technology management during the election and some issue that the organization might face due to lack of time. Helpdesk The helpdesk side of the organization will be responsible to respond to request for technical assistance in person, and via the phone or remotely. Employees have to be computer literate with the devices they are going to use, but with the recruitment still in progress few days before election, employees might struggle with some programs that Independent Electoral Commission uses because of lack of well training time on the materials. Desktop and LAN To perform analysis, diagnosis, and resolution of desktop and LAN problems for end users. The Independent Electoral Commission Information Technology management will collaborate with network and systems administrator to ensure efficient operation of desktop computing environment during the election. The Independent Electoral Commission only getting active during the election, the organization will face some issues on how the department will install, configure, test, maintain, and monitor workstations, LAN assets, related hardware and software in order to deliver required services on the Election Day. Information Technology Site Management The Independent Electoral Commission Information Technology management is responsible for providing support to ensure that voters are all satisfy on the Election Day. The department is also responsible for all desktop support and maintenance related to local area hardware and LAN software. Within fewer weeks to go to the Election Day, the Independent Electoral Commission Information Technology management will have to work under pressure to make sure that all the materials run and work smoothly. The Independent Electoral Commission Information Technology management will face some challenges on how to handle more than 100 voting station plus the employee that will need some training on the materials being used so that everything can run smoothly regards to the Technical materials, hardware and software side that’s needed before the election day. Systems Security Administration The Independent Electoral Commission Information Technology management are responsible for the processes during election by providing appropriate access to and ensuring the availability, confidentiality and integrity of the organization. The Information Technology management is responsible for managing and supervising the execution and use of security measures to protect the Information Technology resources and data during the Election Day. The Independent Electoral Commission recruitment for employees still on the process within few weeks to go to the Election Day and this can have some issues on the security side of the organization. Employing staff two days or week before the Election Day without being well trained on how to respect the integrity of the organization as well as the election itself. Conclusion Over the past 20 years the Independent Electoral Commission has had various challenges to deal with from taking South Africa into a democracy and now in to its bright future. In the past the Independent Electoral Commission dealt with many violent incidences during election times, now we are moving towards out 5th Election and judging from the past it seems like South African citizen’s or voters are not fighting but rather working at making South Africa a better place. Many people are becoming more and more proactive at their in respective political parties. The Independent Electoral Commission can be thanked for this, as it is today there are so many political parties running in the election. This is very interesting to see how the country develops and how the Independent Electoral Commission deals with a new kind of challenge by dealing with all the new parties and the more people interested in voting. In conclusion, to produce a successful Election it demand more preparation based on the various department in the Independent Electoral Commission organization. The Independent Electoral Commission in order to produce a well organize Election, they will need to be more prepare in all departments in advanced, so that they can face less issues as we closer to the Election Day, on the Election Day and during the counting of the votes.

Causes of The Juvenile Crime Rate Increase From 1990 To Present Essay

From 1990 to to the present there has been a sharp increase in juvenile crime across the United States. From 1996 to the present there has been a slight decline from the statistics in 1995(OJJDP). What was the cause for this uprise in juvenile delinquincy? I will discuss 2 different theories to why there was such an increase in juvenile crime rates. I will analyze the rise of the "Gangsta-Rap" culture in the early 1990's and how it may have affected teenagers that are in lower-income families. Many people believe that the increase in real life violence on television is a cause for violence in juveniles. I will discuss the evidence for this theory. It seems to me that the best theory to explain the rise in juvenile crime is the social constructionist theory. Different sub-cultures of teens have higher crime rates than others because of their interests, whether it be the music that they listen to or the types of television programs that they watched as child.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early 1990's a new form of Hip-Hop music appeared in America known as Gangsta-Rap. This style of Hip-Hop had lyrics pertaining to killing police, gang warfare, guns, and robberies. This style of music perked interest in teenagers across the country. Song titles such as "F*ck the Police" gave laughter to teenagers in middle and upper class America, but for these rap artists, the lyrics they wrote were their way of life. The Gangsta-Rap culture came straight from the worst neighborhoods on the Pacific Coast of the United States, where this kind of lifestyle was led by 1000's of people stuck in the slums of America. Could the lyrics from these kind of songs promote violence in low income areas where teens look up to these Rap artists? Teenagers that grow up in neighborhoods that are considered low-income (more so in larger cities than suburban areas) have a very low amount of opportunities to leave these areas and become successful in life. Teens in these areas are looking for the easy way out. There isn't many legal ways of getting out of a slum and becoming successful. Teens in these areas are more likely to sell drugs and perform robberies to make money than hold a steady job. In essence, crime is already higher in low-income areas than it is in higher-income areas. When gangsta rap was introduced in the early 1990's, It became very popular with people facing the... ...ing at different clicks[hippies, punkers, and "gangsters" (There is no dominant term used for this group. It is the group deeply involved in rap music. They wear lots of gold jewelry, medallions, etc, and have their pants sagged low)]. I will perform a study of crimes, drug use, aggressiveness, and academic standings of the teens involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many vital statistics will come out of these studies. These statistics can be used to study many different correlations between juveniles and crime. This knowledge can be used for future reference in the fight to lower juvenile crime rates and understand problems before they start.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography Lefkowitz, Monroe M. 1977. Growing Up to be Violent: A Longitudinal Study of the Development of Aggression. New York: Pergamon. Wolfgang, Marvin E., Terence P Thornberry, Robert M. Figlio. 1987. From Boy to Man, from Delinquincy to Crime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kolbert, Elizabeth. Dec 14,1994. Television Gets Closer Look as a Factor in Real Violence. New York Times, pp A1, D20. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquincy Prevention. [On-line]. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org./ojstatbb/qa253.html

Nutrition and College Students Essay -- Teens, Health and Nutrition

All college students have heard of the dreaded â€Å"freshman fifteen.† The majority of students see it as inevitability. This college curse is caused by a drastic change in lifestyle and eating habits. College students are more likely to eat unhealthy food and less likely to exercise. However, steps can be taken to avoid needless weight gain. Despite the hectic lifestyles of teens, they know that a balance of exercise and good nutrition is the key to health. An important factor in having a healthy teenage life is knowing what to limit. According to the Diet and Nutrition Sourcebook, teens should limit junk food, spare the sugar and salt, and shouldn’t drink alcohol. There are many other nutritious snacks that teens can eat instead of eating junk food. For example, fruit or granola bars are a couple of alternatives. Junk food may be something easy to eat on the run with such a busy schedule, but is not always the best thing to eat. Limiting the amount of sugar and salt, which have very little nutritional value, is important for later health (Harris, Diet 113). Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure. Too much sugar leads to tooth decay. Alcohol has many calories and minimal nutritional value. Also, teens should not consume alcohol because of the affects it has. A study conducted in 1991 showed that over 10.7 million junior and senior high school students had at least one drink in the past year. It also showed that 8 million students drank weekly and that half a million were binge drinkers. According to Harris, teenage drinking and driving was the cause of 2,800 high school students’ death in 1989. Drinking is not only harmful to a teen’s health, but it also can have deadly consequences. These are just a few ... ...ht measures are taken. Along with sleeping, eating, doing homework, and having a social life college students should be concerned with keeping themselves healthy. Works Cited Berg, Frances M. Children and Teens in Weight Crisis. Hettinger, ND: Healthy Weight Journal, 1995. Calioglu, Arpi. â€Å"Eating Healthy.† Total Health 17 (1995): 42. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Roesch Library, Dayton. 18 Oct. 2002 . Harris, Dan R. Diet and Nutrition Sourcebook. Detroit: Omnigraphics 1996. Harris, Dan R. Fitness and Exercise Sourcebook. Detroit: Omnigraphics 1996. Oakes, Michael E., and Carole S. Slotterback. â€Å"Nutritional Habits and Motivations to Eat After a Palatable Pre-load.† Current Psychology 19 (2000/2001): 329. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Roesch Library, Dayton October 21, 2002 .

My Biggest Adventure :: Personal Narratives Flagstaff Essays

My Biggest Adventure To start off my story I was born and raised in the same city my entire life. I grew up in the same neighborhood and even the same house, never to fully experience the sensation of moving into a new house or having to make new friends at a different school. Some may say I was lucky I never had to move, but deep down in my heart I always wanted to be that new kid and feel see what it feels like. Worst of all, my schools I had attended were only about ten minutes away from my house; all of them. School never really was one of my interests and because of that I never really studied and did homework in class instead of listening to my teachers. I just did enough to graduate from my high school and do it with grades I thought were acceptable. And of course they were acceptable enough for an acceptance letter from my first choice school, Northern Arizona University. Before I knew it, I had graduated from high school and I was preparing myself for my journey to college. I had no idea what to expect from the people and the life style I was about to encounter. One part of me felt sad that I was going to leave a lifestyle that I had become so accustomed to, while another part of me felt relieved that I was finally going to be on my own and have a freedom I have not experienced before. Finally my summer had come to end and I was packing my car for the long journey ahead of me and a new chapter in the book of my life. I started to think about all those things I was leaving behind and those things that were ahead of me. I knew that my life was about to change dramatically; I was going to be living on my own in a new environment not knowing a single person or having someone to hang out with. Out of everything that is different in Flagstaff I would have to say that the weather is the most noticeable. In Southern California the weather is the most neutral compared to the rest of the United States. We have sunny warm days all year long so in a way one could say that it is summer all year long. My Biggest Adventure :: Personal Narratives Flagstaff Essays My Biggest Adventure To start off my story I was born and raised in the same city my entire life. I grew up in the same neighborhood and even the same house, never to fully experience the sensation of moving into a new house or having to make new friends at a different school. Some may say I was lucky I never had to move, but deep down in my heart I always wanted to be that new kid and feel see what it feels like. Worst of all, my schools I had attended were only about ten minutes away from my house; all of them. School never really was one of my interests and because of that I never really studied and did homework in class instead of listening to my teachers. I just did enough to graduate from my high school and do it with grades I thought were acceptable. And of course they were acceptable enough for an acceptance letter from my first choice school, Northern Arizona University. Before I knew it, I had graduated from high school and I was preparing myself for my journey to college. I had no idea what to expect from the people and the life style I was about to encounter. One part of me felt sad that I was going to leave a lifestyle that I had become so accustomed to, while another part of me felt relieved that I was finally going to be on my own and have a freedom I have not experienced before. Finally my summer had come to end and I was packing my car for the long journey ahead of me and a new chapter in the book of my life. I started to think about all those things I was leaving behind and those things that were ahead of me. I knew that my life was about to change dramatically; I was going to be living on my own in a new environment not knowing a single person or having someone to hang out with. Out of everything that is different in Flagstaff I would have to say that the weather is the most noticeable. In Southern California the weather is the most neutral compared to the rest of the United States. We have sunny warm days all year long so in a way one could say that it is summer all year long.

Advocacy in Human Services Essay

Under the Rainbow Inc. began when a group of four socially conscious people discovered a dire need for quality, unbiased welfare support without prejudice or borders and became an ‘incorporated association’ in February 2007. Since its inception, Under the Rainbow Inc. has been committed to excellence in the delivery of social welfare services based on their principles of charity, care and compassion. A range of services designed to promote independence and to enhance quality of life are provided by Under the Rainbow, all of which encompass care and support of local community members, in particular those who require relief from poverty and/or the dependents of any such persons. Advocacy is the primary role of case managers’ who volunteer at Under The Rainbow and in this human service setting and any other it is essential for services to be provided accurately. This essay will define advocacy in a human services context as well as discuss the type of advocacy that is beneficial to clients in this chosen human service setting. In conclusion, this essay will also describe issues that Under The Rainbow have encountered whilst implementing advocacy and change and the way the current political climate can effect their ability to engage in advocacy and deliver quality human services. Whilst the definition of advocacy in general is broad, in human service and social work practice advocacy is essentially the process of protecting human rights or to change discriminatory or abusive treatment to the vulnerable, whether working with an individual or a group (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 1998). Human service workers all act as advocates in the course of their work (Sorensen and Black, 2001) and the Australian Association of Social Workers ‘Code of Ethics’ (2002) supports this view citing, ‘The social worker will advocate for changes in policy, service delivery and social conditions which enhance the opportunities for those most vulnerable in the community’ however Forbat and Atkinson (2005) argue that advocacy is ‘not social work, but its principles and values resonate closely’. Regardless of ones  definition, the ‘key concept’ in the notion of any type of advocacy, is that it requires at least three parties: the client, the advocate and ‘the other side’ (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Literature suggests that the differing types of advocacy seem as broad as its definition and a number of different types of advocacy exist, however within Under the Rainbow’s human service framework they are predominately concerned with ‘individual’ or ‘case’ advocacy. According to Hepworth & Larsen (1993), case advocacy is a way to ‘obtain resources or services for clients that would not otherwise be provided’ and this theory underlies Under the Rainbows belief that to advocate for a client is ‘to bring about some form of personal and/or social change’ (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Under the Rainbow is a voluntary community based organisation which now boasts a membership of sixty-five individuals, many of whom work with clients as advocates for change. The goal for each volunteer who manages cases for Under the Rainbow is to promote fair, equal, and humane treatment through fundraising, charity provision (food and clothing), welfare work and social action against injustice for the disadvantaged. Under the Rainbow’s social work practice is mainly concerned with implementing changes in the local community to assist in poverty relief to predominately ‘voluntary’ clients (Barker, 1991), though some are referred. While the majority of Under the Rainbows’ charity work is concerned with ‘lending a hand’ materially and financially, they also work one-on-one with clients to determine why they ‘needed a hand’ in the first place and therefore consider both aspects of their human service delivery forms of ‘advocating’. However there is some argument as to whether charity and advocating is in fact the same thing. The assertion by L’Hirondelle (2002) that charity work ‘simply means offering one-on-one help without effort to give people the opportunity to participate in working with others to change their situation’ is challenged at Under the Rainbow who believe ’empowerment’ of a client is both valuable and essential. Individuals who seek help from Under the Rainbow often see themselves as ‘powerless’ and unable to make changes in their lives and sadly, those who are discriminated against, are often the most vulnerable. Under the Rainbow clients can be distinguished by many inequalities involving social issues in areas such as power, authority, and wealth, working and living conditions, health, lifestyle, gender, education, religion, and culture. Because the nature of Under the Rainbow is predominately a charity, they realise some of the clients who ask for welfare assistance will not want to be involved in any further actions for changing their situation and staff may only be required to ‘advocate’ once. However, they know from experience there are just as many of their clients who will want to get involved and connect with others in order to work together for social and personal ’empowerment’. To clarify empowerment further, Shulman (2005) states that the empowerment process involves ‘engaging the client, family, group, or community in developing strengths to personally and politically cope’ and a number of ’empowerment’ workshops and programmes covering issues such as budgeting, self-esteem and parenting are implemented at Under the Rainbow to facilitate this. Clients also often need help when dealing with other agencies and a Justice of the Peace service and help with letter writing, telephone and electronic correspondence is also offered. Often clients feel they have been treated unfairly by other advocacy and law agency’s and challenging another organisation’s reasoning, on a clients behalf or as an individual can be referred to as ‘persuasion advocacy’ (Reardon, 2001). Many times writing a letter or involving law enforcement agencies to negotiate a point has been successful for Under the Rainbow and their clients to further instil ’empowerment’. Therefore, Under the Rainbow staff believe offering an individual help, whether through the distribution of groceries or an activity similar to the ones discussed above, is seen as empowerment for social change. Under the Rainbow ‘advocate’ for and ’empower’ their clients, bringing people together where they are then able to take action to change their situation. Schneider  & Lester (2001) include empowerment in their definition as part of the practice of advocacy and conclude that ‘this value is based on the belief that individuals have strengths to acquire knowledge, become assertive, and develop skills, and through social work advocacy, these strengths can be set in motion’. Vanessa, who has worked with Under the Rainbow for nine months states, ‘when I interview clients, I encourage and pay attention to the capable person I see in front of me. My focus as an advocate is never on their previous history, as there is nothing I can do personally to change it. The importance for me is what the client wants from life and how it can be achieved’ (Pers comm. 2/4/08). Whilst working as an advocate Vanessa does not expect nor require a client to self-disclose, however they usually do, which Vanessa defines as a relationship based on trust and mutual respect. Respecting the privacy rights and confidentiality of Under the Rainbow’s clients is extremely important and they believe that excellent ethical conduct must be practiced in order to be a credible community advocate. Cultural, language, disability and other accommodations are also provided for. If personal conflicts of interest should occur the advocate will step aside and ask for help from another party. As Under the Rainbow is are self-regulating, ethical decision-making and the process of critical reflection, evaluation and judgment ‘through which a practitioner resolves ethical issues, problems and dilemmas’ (Trevino, 1986) is extremely important in both a personal and professional context. As well as individual and personal advocating, dissolving barriers and building a sense of community on a local level, Under The Rainbow promote ‘global consciousness’ and pride themselves on their broad worldview and high awareness of the inter-relatedness and sacredness of all living things. All Under the Rainbow Inc. members are active, both personally and professionally, in many social arenas confronting a broad range of social and political issues. Advocacy of this type, which refers to a connection with social movements’, is known as ‘activist’ or ’cause’ advocacy (Healy, 2000) and often involves ‘active criticism of or engagement with government  policies and practices’ (School of Health and Human Services, 2007). Many members of Under the Rainbow have strong lobbying and media skills and some of their more prominent contributions and support include subscriptions and memberships to other advocacy groups and organisations such as New Internationalist Magazine, Bush Heritage Australia, Amnesty International and Greenpeace as well as Indigenous organisations, animal and environmental protection groups and interests in many other diverse global activist platforms. Under the Rainbow has also purchased and helped plant thousands of trees in South East Queensland through the Queensland Folk Federation at the Woodford Folk Festival site. Under the Rainbow is self-sufficient and as yet to receive any government funding. Relying on donations from its members and the general public to support their services is successful, but often unpredictable and can cause frustration when resources are limited. However, being an incorporated association means that Under the Rainbow is only accountable to themselves, their donors, members, clients and community. Not being affiliated with any government, church or social agency means they are not subject to any other types of accountability usually required under public auspice and this is preferable. Under the Rainbows projects, which are both broad and long-range, draw only on individual and group advocacy skills from its membership pool, preferring to remain exclusive and not out-source help from other agencies. In recent years, new set of ideas, such as advocacy, consumerism, empowerment, participation, and anti-discriminatory practices have all influenced social work practice and this has had an impact on social work values. This new set of ideas is referred to as ‘radical values’ (Adams et al, 2002) and are concerned with challenging oppression and discrimination, it is within this value system that Under the Rainbow continues to operate. Advocacy is essentially the process of standing up for the rights of others who are being unfairly treated (Sorenson and Black, 2001) and has the potential to bring significant and sustainable change for the better. It can  empower individuals and communities and generate many resources whilst bringing diverse organisations together to work on common issues. Effective advocacy takes specific skills, commitment, effort, resources, perseverance, wisdom and collaboration all of which are faced by the Under the Rainbow volunteers on a daily basis. The case managers at Under the Rainbow realise they need to successfully master the skills needed to be an advocate, which takes time and experience. They are also aware that learning to be persuasive and using resources available to them will increase their level of competence and better assure a positive outcome for both themselves and their clients. I am proud to be a member of Under the Rainbow and my involvement in the challenging albeit very rewarding endeavours to facilitate advocacy for change in this small but powerful association. REFERENCE LIST Adams, R., Dominelli, L., & Payne, M., (2002). Social Work, Themes, Issues and Critical Debates (2nd ed.), Palgrave, Basingstoke. Australian Association of Social Workers (2002), Code of Ethics, Retrieved April 2nd, 2008, AASW Website: http://www.aasw.asn.au/adobe/about/AASW_Code_of_EthicsCorey, G., Corey, M., & Callanan, P., (1998). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions, Brooks/Cole, USA. Forbat, L., & Atkinson, D., (2005). Advocacy in Practice: The Troubled Position of Advocates in Adult Services, British Journal of Social Work, 35:3, pp. 321-335Healy, K., (2000). Social Work Practices: Contemporary Perspectives on Change, Sage, London. Hepworth, D., & Larsen, J., (1993). Direct Social Work Practice: Theory andSkills (4th ed.) The Dorsey Press, Homewood, Illinois. Trevino, L.K., (1986). Ethical Decision making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 601-617. L’Hirondelle, C., (2002), Characteristics of Remedial Work vs. Social Change, Retrieved April 4th 2008, Victorian Status of Women (SWAG) Website: http://pacificcoast.net/~swag/index.htmlReardon, K.K., (1991), Persuasion in Practice, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, California. Schneider, R.L., & Lester, L., (2001). ‘Advocacy: A New Definition’, Social Work Advocacy, Brooks/Cole Publishing, Pacific Grove: California. School of Health and Human Services, (2007). Study Guide: Advocacy and Change, Southern Cross University, Lismore. Shulman, L., (2005). Skills of Helping Individuals, Families, Groups and Communities, Wadsworth Publishing Company, USA. Sorenson, H., & Black, L., (2001). Advocacy and Ageing, Australasian Journal on Aging, Vol. 20.3, Supplement 2, pp. 27-34.

Discussion and Critique of Disney’s Pocahontas

Stereotypes are simply assumptions and generalizations that people make concerning a particular group. In most cases, these generalizations are often negative and are used to discredit and demean the target group. In the United States of America they have been in use since colonial times and are used to propagate racism. These stereotypes are spread by various methods such as in paintings, plays, comedies and films like in the case of Disney movies where the same is expressed through animated films such as Pocahontas, the Little Maiden among others.To narrow down the scope of this essay, the paper will specifically focus on how Disney films depict stereotypes of the Native Americans in the film, Pocahontas. In most of the Disney films, stereotyping is a subject that cannot be ignored. It has in many of their films been depicted as negative towards the Native Americans although in some cases they have been depicted as positive like in the case of Pocahontas. Most of these stereotypes are expressed by use of animated characters to represent various groups for example, women and young girls have been portrayed as oversexed especially those with big breasts and thin waists.Disney in the film Pocahontas though not overtly expressing the negative stereotypes that are found in the previous movies replicates some of them in a concealed manner while at the same time trying to portray other positive ones. Unlike in the previous films where women like Pocahontas were seen as overly sexed, in this film the young lady was portrayed as somebody who is shapely, mature high fashioned super model who is courageous, bright, politically progressive and literate. (Kilpatrick, J. )All Disney movies whether positively or negatively do not reflect a true picture and representation of races and in one way or the other try to reinforce negative cultural stereotypes of the native Americans. Disney in most films shows the natives as people who are primitive, savagery, unintelligent by th is is done by use of various animated creatures to represent this for example, in the Little Maiden Disney uses a dark and a light maiden to represent the characters of the natives and the whites respectively (Peach, L. J. 58).With reference to the above case, Disney uses the light mermaid which is portrayed as having good characters to represent the Whites while the dark mermaid with bad characters is used to represent the natives but unlike in the Little mermaid, Disney in Pocahontas brings the stereotype of love conquering racism by this super model saving the life of a Whiteman, Smith through love. â€Å"Pocahontas exudes a kind of soppy romanticism that not only saves John Smith’s life, but convinces the crew of the British ship to turn its greedy captain and return to England† (Giroux, 117).Disney films’ trials to depict native females as supportive, romantic, saviors and non-racists are challenged by other people who view this move in a negative light. Th ese are people like Green Rayna in the essay; The Pocahontas Perplex contradicts this by showing Pocahontas as a lady who betrays her race to the white race. (Peach, 95) In the film Pocahontas, there is under representation of races something that poses a very great danger to the children. The film fills the mind of these young children with a false notion that racism does not exist.Considering that the brain of a child is not yet fully developed, this child will take whatever is provided to them. Many parents do not see the harm that these films cause to the children and they think they are harmless something that is highly opposed by one of the top theorists Jack Zipes who argues that Disney films are dangerous to the children who watch them. To support this Giroux (121) says, â€Å"There is nothing innocent in what kids learn about race as portrayed in the magical world of Disney. †In the book, Celluloid Indians, the Native Americans are totally misrepresented in the films and are depicted as inferior to the whites. Those stereotypes that are depicted in this book can be classified into three that is mental, spiritual and sexual but the most important is the mental one. In most cases, native Indians have been depicted as warlike and have been portrayed as people who would fight at the slightest provocation and for this reason according to Kilpatrick (xvii), â€Å"they (the natives) have been firmly placed in the echelons of intelligence by many Euro-Americans†¦.There are other bad terms that have been used by the whites to refer to the Native Americans and especially to the Indians. These are terms such as dirty and red skinned, filthy, primitive, savagery and innocent. Most of these terms were used to compare the level of intelligence of the natives with that of the whites and thus insinuate that they are lesser intelligent that the whites. (Kilpatrick 1999; 32-35) In short in all Disney films, stereotyping is eminent whether positively or neg atively portrayed.In Pocahontas Disney tries to brainwash people into thinking that racism is a thing of the past but this is not true as in the end the two parties seem to go into separate ways. Nonetheless, the film tried to ameliorate the negative aspects of the Native Americans that have been portrayed by Disney’s previous films. These stereotypes are said to negatively impact on the children who in most cases tend to take what they see in the movies as the gospel truth.