Archives: Christianity

Since 1976, February has been recognized as Black History Month to commemorate and celebrate the struggles, contributions, and achievements of Black people in America and throughout the African Diaspora.  While myths circulate the internet suggesting that February was assigned for Black History Month because it is the shortest month of the year, the truth is that February was selected by the Father of Negro History, Carter G. Woodson, because of the births of two notable figures who were born in February: Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass.  Carter G. Woodson initially established “Negro History Week” in 1926, showcasing the numerous contributions of African Americans, which eventually grew into Black History Month. Woodson, who was often barred from attending American Historical Association conferences despite being a dues-paying member, believed that “African American contributions were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them.”  Woodson made it his life’s work to ensure that people of all races could celebrate the incredible history and achievements of African and African American people, thereby leading to racial healing, reconciliation, and equality. 

Today, as we continue the fight against institutional, intergenerational, internalized, and interpersonal racism, taking time to spotlight the history, biographies, achievements, and events of the Black experience in America and beyond, can provide us with what author, Dr. Eric Mason, author of Woke Church: An Urgent Call for Christians in America to Confront Racism and Injustice, outlines as the steps necessary to fight racism: Awareness, Acknowledgement, Accountability, and Action.  For this blog, I’d like to use this paradigm as the framework for answering the question: Why do we need Black History Month?

In Awareness, Black History Month calls everyone to collective knowledge of the Black experience within America.   Institutional racism has erased the numerous contributions, stories, voices, persons, and events from educational textbooks, making Black people invisible within the American historical narrative. This erasure has been damaging not only to African Americans but to all Americans, as it prevents us from understanding one another and thereby being able to live in harmony with one another. Intentionality in learning the history and experiences of African Americans demonstrates our commitment to understand, appreciate, and support one another, in a way that honors the unique contributions through which God has expressed himself in the Black experience in America. There are strong lessons of resilience, forgiveness, love, sacrifice, humility, strength, faith, hope, success, and more that God has spoken to the world through the struggles and successes of African Americans, that are completely missed when we are unaware of Black History.  We rob our kids and ourselves of a better tomorrow when fail to be aware of our collective history. 

In Acknowledgment, Black History Month provides our nation with the opportunity to acknowledge historical injustice, inequality, and inequity, and how historical trauma contributes to modern-day oppression. Following the protests surrounding the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, there have been numerous attacks on cultural awareness training, critical race theory, and even banning teachings about racism in classrooms across America. A few major church denominations and religious leaders have joined in these campaigns, leaving Black Christians, wondering of their white brothers and sisters in Christ “Do we know the same Jesus?” The fear amongst some groups is that acknowledging the past may lead to hate, bitterness, resentment, and retaliation. However, it’s negating, dismissing, and discrediting the experiences of marginalized people that lead to negative outcomes, not the other way around. In acknowledging racism, painful and difficult histories, and the experiences of marginalized groups, we are “loving our neighbor” and acknowledging how God can work through any situation.  Black History Month is an opportunity to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger”(James 1:19), where we can acknowledge the experiences of others, and collectively seek God to lead us into a place of greater appreciation, affection, and understanding. 

In Accountability, Black History Month provides us an opportunity to take ownership for areas in which we can individually and collectively address past and present injustices. This accountability is not meant to project guilt, but rather to call everyone to a commitment to do our part, to ensure peace and harmony in the future. Like the Good Samaritan of scripture, when we see someone on the side of Jericho’s road in life, while we may not have directly caused the situation, we take it upon ourselves to get involved and help our fellow brother/sister reach a place of wellness and restoration. The resolution to racism and oppression cannot be the work solely of the oppressed, nor can it be the work of the oppressor only. Both the oppressed and the oppressor must own their respective parts, and work collaboratively to close the chasm between them. Black History Month provides an intentional time of year to explore the areas in which we can all participate and possibly lead in our collective liberation and betterment. 

In Action, Black History Month is a call to move from bystander to participant in transforming the mess of the past, into a new message for the future. History must be more than just an understanding of the past, it must at the same time be the foundational data that is used to inform decisions for the future. Black History Month gives us the opportunity to boldly declare that the pain of our past does not have to dictate our future. Strategic and corrective action in our present-day concerning past trauma can go a long way in launching society into a more humane future. 

As Christian behavioral and social scientists, Black History Month is important and necessary, as we seek to study and understand the human experience, and aid individuals and institutions in engaging in behaviors that honor God and honor one another. Black History Month calls us to Awareness, Acknowledgement, Accountability, and Action, spotlighting the experiences of African Americans, and uncovering and embracing the divine revelations for humanity that God has uniquely spoken to the world, through Black people. Celebrating Black History helps moves us closer to God and equips us with the ability to love as God loves us. 

I invite you to come back to this blog throughout the month of February, to lean in, listen, learn, and join the conversation. There is much to say and much to celebrate. Happy Black History Month!!!

______________________________

Want to read more in our 2022 Black History Month Blog series? Check out all the posts below!

Why I can’t wait to get my Ida B. Wells Barbie by Dr. Krystal Hays

Remembering to Forget, to Begin Again by Dr. Viola Lindsey

Not Black History Just History by Dr. Stephen Brown

______________________________

Check out the Student Contributions to this series here:

Paving the Way to Worship: Black Christian Leaders You Should Know by Hozell Francis II

Rev. George Liele: Church Planter, Missionary, and Servant of God by Hozell Francis II

Andrew Bryan: Pastor Church Planter, and Servant of God by Armon Patrick

Dr. E. W. McCall: Innovator, Educator, Trendsetter by Hozell Francis II

Lisa Fields: Apologist and Servant of God by Armon Patrick

By E. Russ Bermejo, MSW, Lecturer 

Sometimes you read the perfect book at the perfect time. Makato Fujimura’s Art + Faith: The   Theology of Making” (Yale University Press, 2020) was just that read for me.  It was May of this year, and I had just completed my first year of teaching after nearly 25 years of direct practice and consulting in child welfare.  I had more than my fill of teaching social work theory, field seminar, and SPSS. The cumulative effects of Zoom fatigue, undergoing a career change, a global pandemic, political and social unrest had all taken its toll.  My soul needed to be restored. 

Nihonga and Kintsugi 

Fujimura is a Christian artist trained in the Japanese style of painting called nihonga which he calls “slow art” since it involves pigments made of pulverized minerals that are brushed and layered to provide contrasting effects.  Some of Fujumura’s paintings have over 80-100 layers of paint.  It’s beautiful yet painstakingly slow.  Fujimura asserts that nihonga, however, is not about materials and tools, but rather an integrated way of making since it relies on an ecosystem of trained craft folks of multiple generations, from paper makers to brush artisans, built on trust and relationships.  It is impossible to teach nihonga outside of this ecosystem.  Painting is always done with the help of others and in collaboration with others.    

In this context, beauty is only possible through integration; and integration can only come from fragmentation and brokenness.  To illustrate this, Fujimura points to another ancient Japanese art form of kintsugi¹ which involves repairing broken tea ware with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.  There is no attempt by the artist to hide the damage, but the repair is literally illuminated.  The kintsugi artist is not focused on merely “fixing” broken pieces, but rather treats the fragmentation as part of an object’s history so it can be made even more beautiful than the original.   

Two Paths for the Artist 

Fujimura recalls visiting an exhibit at the Washington National Gallery several years ago featuring the self-portraits of two celebrated artists – Picasso and Rembrandt.  Picasso was undoubtedly one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, though as Fujimura and others observe, he was full of ego. The self-portraits of Picasso as he nears the end of his life reveals something interesting about his approach to art.  Fujimura observes “At the end of his life, Picasso disappears, there is nothing left.”   

Rembrandt, on the other hand, at the end of his life, had lost everything.  He was bankrupt with no home or possessions, he no longer had any family, and was left with diminishing eyesight.  But Rembrandt’s last of his dozens of self-portraits is his greatest masterpiece. Fujimura reflects “It literally glows, with inner light, peace and joy.”   

Fujimura’s comparison of Picasso and Rembrandt reveal two distinct paths for the artist: one path pursues ego, self-expression, fame, and fortune.  Fujimura contends that this path typifies modern art expression which requires artists to uphold and protect a strong ego.    

The other path, however, involves losing the self and the world to gain the soul. The Japanese aesthetic and philosophy of kintsugi carries a meaning of compassionate sensitivity by leading people to look outward rather than inward.  The artist honors brokenness by illuminating it to make something new again.   

Which path will I choose?   

Fragmentation and Siloed Systems 

Pulverized minerals made into beautiful pigments brushed in contrasting layers; broken shards adjoined with gold refracting to illuminate beautiful imperfection.  Fujimura spoke to me deeply through his reflections on these ancient art forms, showing me a path forward.  He became a Christian in the most unlikeliest of places – while studying art – in Japan, where between less than 1.5% of the population profess to be Christian.  Fujimura’s capacity to see beauty in brokenness helped him find personal healing and inspiration as an artist after September 11, 2001 living only three blocks from the World Trade Center.  Through his unique perspectives of finding faith through art, Fujimura provided illumination of what I was feeling within myself and the world around me.   

As a social worker and consultant in public child welfare for the last two dozen years, I witnessed first-hand brokenness and fragmentation at every level: traumatic stress of children who endured maltreatment and family separation; families affected by an array of issues such as social isolation, unstable housing, mental health, substance use disorders, domestic violence, and lack the support needed to cope with life stressors; and at the systems level, the lack of communication and coordination of agencies who oftentimes serve the same families but have no effective structure for working together towards solutions.   

Clearly, no single agency alone has capacity and resources to solve these issues.  Yet we place blame individual blame on an agency, director, or staff person rather than assume collective responsibility for protecting and serving the most vulnerable and marginalized families in our communities.  Although we have promising collaborative practice models, like Family Drug Courts, Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START), and  Plans of Safe Care,² which leverage the resources of multiple systems, including child welfare, the courts, mental health, substance use treatment, and primary health care, to do better and be better for families, we have a long way to go to meet the overall need in this country.  But how can we be better?  

To continue: Read Part 2 – We are Both Artist and Masterpiece 

______________________________________________________

¹The Japanese word kin means “gold,” and tsugi means “mend,”

²To learn more about these collaborative solutions, visit National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare at https://ncsacw.samhsa.gov/ and Children and Family Futures at www.cffutures.org

By Erin I. Smith, Ph.D.

Research.  

Now that I’ve said the r-word, I want to acknowledge that you, my reader, may be having a particular physiological and psychological reaction. (Note that sweaty palms and racing hearts could be signs of anxiety or affection; my point here is just to note that you may be having a reaction.) Whatever your reaction is, I invite you to take some deep breaths and read on.  

Research refers to a wide variety of practices aimed to systematically investigate questions in the pursuit of answers and (hopefully) understanding. These practices represent an important way of knowing in the world, an important tool to bring to addressing some of the most pressing questions in our culture. The idea that research is useful in knowing is not new. Many in church history (e.g., Justin Martyr, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Wesley) highlighted how the Book of Nature can (and should!) be read alongside the Book of Scripture, as both reveal truth originating in God himself. Thus, for the Christian, reading the Book of Nature, as revealed through emerging research, alongside and through the lens of the Book of Scripture is not just an opportunity for a robust understanding of reality (though this is an important consequence), it affords significant opportunity to leverage ancient Biblical wisdom in the language of modern science for the glory of God’s name in our world.  

For me, this is an essential starting point for any conversation about research, especially research at California Baptist University, a distinctly Christian University committed to the Great Commission. Because I believe that the gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection—is world changing, I am committed to using all tools provided to me by God to share this news. As the Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians, “…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Cor. 9:22-23). Although research symbols like the beakers found in a modern chemistry lab would not exist for nearly two millennia after Paul’s letter, I think that today Paul might include speaking the language of science and research in his exhortation if opening the Book of Nature would provide a means to engage and share the Book of Scripture.  

Although I could say more about the importance and rationale of engaging science faithfully as Christians (and I have, in small part, in this publication), I want to move from general statements about “Christians engaging research” to specific statements about the culture of research at California Baptist University. 

For faculty who have been around CBU for a while, it will not be surprising that a culture of research is a consistent priority. To this end, in 2019, the University celebrated and dedicated a momentous achievement: the announcement of a new endowed professorship, the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Research. In October 2021, I had the honor of being appointed into this professorship. However, it’s important to note that what makes this endowed professorship particularly unique is that rather than being a role to support a single person’s research agenda, this role is dedicated to the elevation and support of faculty research across CBU’s many schools and colleges. In other words, I have the distinct privilege of supporting, equipping, and elevating the incredible and diverse research that is ongoing and developing at CBU. This is truly a privilege given what I’ve already said about research: that it can be a God-given tool to address critical issues in our community and world for the glory of God’s name and kingdom.  

I share this with you as a preamble to an invitation for you. In my role, one of my primary goals is to help CBU faculty develop, conduct, and finish research more successfully. This is not just about lines on vitas, nor is this in competition with our steadfast commitment to delivering excellent educational experiences for students. This is about leaning into our God-given calling and unique position at California Baptist University to engage research in a way that enhances our educational mission and speaks God’s truth into complex problems. For me to support you in this journey, I need to hear from you. What kinds of research do you do? What do you feel called to do? What are your barriers to engaging research? What kinds of supports do you need? This is my first invitation to you. I have set up several small group conversations for me to ask these questions so that I might hear from you, the researchers I aim to support, as to how I might best support you. I would love to listen and learn of your experiences, hesitations, victories, and challenges in research, and ideas you might have to help you thrive in this capacity. Please consider signing up here to participate in the spring, 2022 semester. 

A second, but related invitation, is to participate in a faculty learning community I am leading in the spring 2022 semester. Across 6 meetings, we will meet to discuss Robert S. Tyan and Avidan Milevsky’s (2016) text Launching a Successful Research Program at a Teaching University. I am offering this group twice, in hopes that one of the times might work in your schedule. This is a great opportunity for individuals who are looking to get started to wade into the research waters alongside others looking to do the same. This learning community aims to help participants identify common barriers to engaging research at teaching institutions like CBU and equip them with tools and resources to overcome these barriers. I would encourage you to make time for this. You can sign up here.  

If any of this has piqued your interest, I would encourage you to sign up for these opportunities, to follow up with me, and to start a conversation. We are all in different places—and that’s okay! I hope that in the coming months and years, I will have the privilege of meeting you wherever you are to support and extend the research that God has entrusted you with. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Sophia Mun & Russ Bermejo

This is my second year at CBU. The thing that I love most working at CBU is that I am able to do faith integration in classrooms. One day in my first year, I got curious if I could measure the effectiveness of the faith integration I was doing in my classrooms. This led Professor Bermejo and I to start a small research project. In this blog, we would like to briefly share the process of this research and what we have found so far.  

Identify the General Study Idea

The integration of faith and learning is a key feature of Christian higher education. Faculty members in Christian institutions are encouraged to foster integration between students’ understanding of subjects and their faith. At CBU, professors integrate the “Core 4” outcomes in their course instruction so students are (1) academically prepared, (2) Biblically rooted, (3) globally minded, and (4) equipped to serve. Our shared vision of being “unapologetically Christian and academic rigorous” is challenging and inspiring. But how can we assess the effectiveness of faith integration in our classrooms?  

Choose the Research Topic  

First of all, we wanted to see whether our faith integration work in classrooms has an impact on the extent to which students work to integrate their faith with their discipline/class. Second, we also wanted to identify the factors contributing to student faith integration. The purpose of this project was to determine whether and how taking a class in a Christian institution predicts changes in students’ faith integration. Research questions of this project were “Is there any changes in the degree to which students engage in faith integration at the beginning and the end of semester?” And “What factors promote changes?”  

Formulate Plan and Methodology 

Professor Bermejo and I created an online survey to measure basic demographic information and student faith integration. Student faith integration was measured at Time 1 (beginning of semester) and Time 2 (end of semester) using the Psychology and Faith Integration (Psy-FI) Scale (Collison et al., 2019). The scale contains 27 items (e.g., “I often think about how psychology and my faith relate to each other.”) with response options ranging from 1 (Disagree strongly) to 6 (Agree Strongly). Changes in student faith integration were calculated by subtracting student faith integration Time 1 from Time 2. Other variables were also included as possible contributing factors: school year, the course they were taking (BEH or PSY), experience of taking psychology classes, instructor (Professor B. or M.), and spirituality (Instructor & Self).   

Collet Data  

The data was collected in 6 classrooms (PSY & BEH courses) in 2020 fall semester. Longitudinal data was collected from a sample of 161 students (students took the same survey twice at the beginning and the end of semester). The survey was distributed and data was collected via Qualtrics.  

Analyze Data & Present Findings   

We conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis to explore contributing factors in changes in student faith integration. Three significant predictors were found: student spirituality, experience of taking psychology classes, and students’ prior faith integration (Time 1, beginning of semester).  Regarding experience of taking psychology classes, we found that students who had not taken a psychology class before showed increases in the degree to which student engage in their faith integration. In addition, students with low faith integration at Time 1 reported increases in faith integration at the end of the semester. Overall, our results demonstrate that faith integration in our classrooms was promoted especially for students with lack of exposure to faith integration in lower-level courses and students with low prior faith integration.  

Summary & Discussion 

Our results show effects of faith integration in classrooms vary depending on students’ experiences and existing levels of faith integration. In summary, we found that faith integration in classrooms may not benefit all students in the degree to which student engage in faith integration. It should be attuned to differences among students in their experience and their prior level of faith integration (e.g., applying different approaches of faith integration to lower level and upper-level classes). 

References 

Collison, B., Eck, B. E., Edwards, J. M., & Allen, E. C. (2019). The Psy-FI Scale: A Measure of Psychology and Faith Integration. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 38(2), 67–80.  

Want to play a game of “never have I ever?” Here goes. Never have I ever been told to study basic brain functions when I want to know how to grow in my spiritual life. Is that shocking to you? Probably not.

And yet, I wholeheartedly (or, whole brain-edly) believe that how we relate to God changes with a basic understanding of how the brain creates neural networks as a function of our experience. Before I get to that specific claim, let me back up a bit.

Your brain is responsible for your engagement with the world. What you see, feel, think, remember, and do is all contingent on your brain processing. Engaging in the world—whether it be zoned out in front of the 1,732^nd TikTok video for the day or reciting Shakespeare in Stamps Courtyard—changes your brain. Your brain is constantly changing in response to huge amounts of incoming information from the external world. Many of these changes are temporary. Consider this example: you read something from a textbook, think you know it, and then fail to remember it come test time. What happened? The temporary brain change from the reading did not result in long-term reorganization/creation of the neural networks for the memory of the thing you read; that’s what happened. What studying does (especially effective studying), is that it takes that temporary brain change and slowly makes it permanent. An analogy I like to use is a comparison to creating a path through a forest. At first, there is no path. But, if you travel the same path every day, cutting away obstructive branches, compacting the ground beneath your feet, eventually a path is born. Think of the creation of neural connections in your brain as doing the same thing¹. With enough practice, the pathway is born and the brain change is more than temporary.

William James, a pioneer of early psychology, wrote that “my experience is what I agree to attend to.” If we think about this from a brain-based perspective, this is true because what we attend is the thing that is ultimately burned into our ever-forming neural circuitry. Attention changes what happens in our brain (something called neuromodulation); it is the gate keeper to neural network activation and creation.

So, when Scriptures tell us to think on what is true, honorable, pure, lovely, and good, to think on what is excellent and worthy of praise in Philippians 4:8, this is not just a platitude to “think happy thoughts.” I think that Paul is pointing us to focus on these things because what we pay attention to changes us. Luke 6:43-45 records Jesus teaching that we are recognized by our fruit, fruit that is the overflow of our hearts. He says that a good man brings good things stored out of his heart whereas an evil man brings forth the evil stored in his heart. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

So, what does this have to do with the neuroscience of attention? As I see it: everything.

The objects of our attention cause brain change. These brain changes reflect and represent the objects of our attention in the form of new neural networks. These neural networks, like the well-travelled path through the forest, work to increase the ease of which our brain can assess and make sense of an object of attention. In the forest, the path makes it easier to access the destination of the path within the forest. In our brains, the neural networks make it easier to remember and think about the object of our attention. So, when you look at your best friend’s face, you recognize them because the neural network that is the memory of their face (created from previous attention) is activated (the path is “travelled”).

Yet, when the objects of our attention cause brain change, it’s not just that we now “have a new memory.” It is something significantly more meaningful. That neural network now serves as a foundational network when your brain is trying to make sense of new information. Your brain is making constant calculations about what you will like, what you should say, what you might feel based on your previous experiences recorded in neural networks. Attention in and to these previous experiences is what creates these networks. Thus, every new experience we have is shaped, influenced, and interpreted through the lens of the neural networks created from our previous attention. This serves as the foundation for meaning making; our pre-existing beliefs, knowledge, expectations, desires (etc.) that we use to make sense of what is in front of us is, in part, driven by what we’ve previously attended to. Said directly, the brain we are creating today (out of our attention) is the filter through which we will make sense of all future experiences.

Researchers refer to the influence of what is already present in our heads on the meaning-making process of the moment as a “top-down influence.” This is how two people can look at the exact same stimuli and see different things. Remember the dress? Or Laurel/Yanni? These are all so interesting (and frustrating) because they illustrate the incredible power of top-down influences in how we make sense of the world. What we previously paid attention to shapes our brain to make sense of whatever might come next. This is efficient, but there are important real-world implications. This includes implications for our spiritual life because when we focus our attention on what is less than what we have been commanded to in Scripture, it has long-lasting implications for how we subsequently direct our attention and interpret the objects of that attention.

So, how we spend our time – the focus of our attention – matters beyond the individual moment of attention. We carry in our brains a representation of our previous attention history that serves as a filter for all subsequent interactions in the world. 

This is challenging, to be sure. But, importantly, we also worship a God of abounding grace. Neuroscience bears this out as well in a concept known as neuroplasticity. When we choose to re-direct our attention toward what is good, right, and true we, over time, change our brain’s neural networks, a change that is the direct result of the steadfast re-direction of attention. 

Dallas Willard wrote that “God does not ordinarily compete for our attention.” If attention is the gateway to the harvest of our heart, I think neuroscience research requires that we seriously ask about the objects of our attention. This is not a call to “look to the bright side of things” or to find that silver lining. I don’t believe that Scriptures call us to bury our heads in the sand instead of confronting problems. And yet, when we encounter problems or challenges, how do we comport ourselves in a manner fitting to our calling? What and to whom do we attend; how do we cultivate the daily habits and neural networks that produce that pleasing aroma of a life lived for Christ? 

One reason these questions may be challenging is that they make our small minutes meaningful. The good or the evil in our hearts is not harvested all at once, but rather developed over small, daily habits, habits all starting with our attention. These daily habits might not feel like they are doing much but they are slowly, and powerfully, changing our brains—brains out of which our behaviors flow.  

There is always data coming into and being processed by your incredible brain, even if you are not consciously aware of it. From a brain-based perspective, we are always attending to something. So, here’s the big question for you: what are you paying attention to? 

Footnote: 

1. The nerve cells in the brain are called neurons. They are the building blocks of the nervous system and, when they network together (neural networks), they form the foundation of all human functions ranging from the activation required to blink to the experience of love or misery. Your brain, through these neural connections and networks, carries a physical representation of your subjective, lived experience. 

---

A version of this blog was translated into Spanish and published at Coalicion por el Evangelio.

---

By Julie Goodman-Bowling, Ph.D

My Story:

Many years ago, when I was an undergraduate student at Biola University, my hallmates got together for an event. Little did I know that in that one evening, the trajectory of my life would be so dramatically determined. A group of about 20 college students, we sat around a table while drinking coffee and talked about disadvantaged, mistreated factory workers for a major apparel corporation. I was stunned by how much I did know about something so benign, so seemingly mundane as my daily wardrobe. Like many college students, for us, the call to “social justice” meant doing something significant for the good of the world, however small. Our contribution was writing letters to congressmen, letting them know that we were concerned about the conditions of garment factory workers both locally and overseas and urging them to enforce penalties and fines for a major corporation whose unlawful practices broke many labor codes and violated human rights. I suddenly cared about where my clothes, and many other of my things were mined, assembled, and imported from along with the people involved in every step of the process. Schooled in the ways of “culture” and various practices throughout the world, my perspective of global capitalism and its plethora of effects on the every-day lives of people around the world was dim; that night was when my interest in globalization, culture, capitalism and labor began. Anthropology is the study of humanity across time and culture and touches every part of the human experience – including how we get the stuff we need (and want) to how a broad global system of exchange has so drastically affected the everyday lives of real people “on the ground.”

Why Migration and Labor?

A lot has happened since then – personally, professionally, and globally. I went on to study factory workers in the Los Angeles Garment District as part of my master’s thesis at Cal State Fullerton. I interviewed several workers, primarily from Latin America who shared their stories with me. One woman’s plight remains embedded in my memory. Lourdes* fled from poverty in Honduras in hopes of earning money at a garment factory in Los Angeles at a place that she had learned would hire undocumented workers. She described how she left her husband and children, crossed into the United States, came to Los Angeles, and how quickly her life had changed since her journey began. Growing up in a traditional, Catholic, Honduran home, she valued chastity, family, and faith. Like many well-intentioned mothers** this woman sacrificed so much of her life in order to try to provide for her family. Along the way, she faced many challenges, and at one point, found herself cohabitating with a man for the sake of protection and to share the expenses of living in L.A. The relationship turned physical; she became pregnant. Now, she explained, she felt the many strains of being a cross-cultural, undocumented migrant worker without a lot of support in the United States. Her husband was devastated, and her children were afraid that their mother would forget about them and start a new life in America. Feeling stretched financially already, Lourdes now felt the pressures of providing her family at home and a new, emerging family on the way. She was overworked and aching from performing many repetitious movements as she assembled t-shirts day in and day out, making less than minimum wage (when she was forced to clock in for 8 hours but expected to work 10 to 12 hours each day), and faced difficult working conditions in the factory. For Lourdes, the hope of a better life at the pull of available wage labor, offered opportunity in some ways, but was not at all what she expected. Throughout my years of research, I learned that Lourdes’ story was all too common for many migrant workers, not only in the United States, but around the world.

Since completing my fieldwork in Los Angeles, I continued to study labor migration for my doctoral thesis, spending two years with migrant day laborers in Southern California at a local home improvement store. Through observation, participation, offering English lessons, and conducting interviews, I learned that the processes of migration, labor, culture, and capitalism are all interconnected through a vast web that we call “globalization” – that ever-nebulous interconnectedness that we see evidenced in the movement of labor, finance, disease, resources… among so many other moving parts! I have striven to centralize something that many often miss – the people who are most affected by these broad processes–the migrant workers, the transnational families, the underpaid mothers, fathers, and emerging adults–who are trying to eke out a living and are most affected by globalization, political policies in place to try to regulate global capitalism, and by the many cultural shifts they are challenged to navigate.

Why it Matters

Maybe you have never considered that the cost of producing a denim garment in Bangladesh costs about four times less than in the United States1 or that no more than $6 U.S. usually goes to the labor for a typical garment2. I usually tell my students to take a trip around the globe by opening their closets and investigating all of the tags. Chances are you will find underwear made in the Philippines or Israel, simple t-shirts made in Mexico and blouses from India, pants and socks from Bangladesh, Honduras, or Guatemala. Look a little further and you may be somewhat surprised to find much of your technology–like your cell phone–has taken a trip around the world! It may have gone from the Democratic Republic of Congo where the raw materials were initially mined, to Singapore where many component parts (such as memory chips) were manufactured, to Brazil, where it was assembled, boxed, and shipped eventually to the United States and finally, to your local retail outlet. At the end of the day, the core is cost-effectiveness and in a global capitalist economy, profit prevails over people.

And that is where I come in…or rather, my research interests. Lest I think you have perused this blog to learn more about globalization (a fascinating and important topic of inquiry to be sure!), perhaps you are more interested in applying what we are trained to do in the Behavioral Sciences–to address and find solutions to real social problems in the world. See, I understand we all need “stuff.” I’m not sure I need so much of it, but I am sure we all need, to some degree, “stuff” to survive and “stuff” that we like – which is often culturally determined. Be it clothing, furniture, décor, food, or technology–like our cell phones, computers, and televisions, our “stuff” comes from all over the world, usually because its costs much less to mine, manufacture, assemble, and ship from all over the globe. And, as I have learned from my own research and that of many seasoned scholars, the most effective cost reduction is the human resource – you got it – the worker. Labor is the best place for any company to cut costs which is why, in the grand supply chain of our “stuff,” it is usually the workers who suffer the most. But, this may be beginning to change…

Every year that I teach about this – and oh, there is much more as I’m sure you’ve realized already – my students inevitably ask, “But, Prof. G, how can it be any different? Is there a way to buy “stuff” without contributing to the ever-increasing, profit-driven, global capitalist system to which manufacturing, corporations and even public policies and laws are so deeply embedded? How can I buy anything that won’t hurt someone!?” In other words, where can you shop? If you don’t want to contribute to the bottom line being the bottom line…let me offer you a few suggestions.

The good news is that you are not alone! In fact, there is an emerging movement toward social equality to help ameliorate the many deleterious effects of the current market system. Consumers seem to desire better labor practices, fair wages, and fair-trade products. Local communities are getting involved by creating stronger relationships between producers and consumers of goods, increasing trade and exchange using social media, and requesting greater transparency from corporations about their economic practices. Though not everything you purchase is (currently) available through such conscientious consumption, I suggest that if you are convicted about where and how you choose to buy your products and the type of businesses you want to support, that you simply peruse these ideas–and then, send us some of your own! These are just a few my thoughts as a humble anthropology professor, student of migrant labor, and an increasingly conscientious consumer^[3]:

The artisan movement is quickly becoming a go-to for local consumers for goods such as clothing, accessories, and artwork. The value of local, indigenous representations of culture is priceless! One company, Noonday, is a recent find for me and offers artisan goods from around the globe! Their mission is to be a “socially responsible business that uses fashion to create meaningful opportunities for people across the globe,” through a network of nearly 4,500 artisans in fourteen counties! From necklaces to bracelets, earrings, and scarves, Noonday strives to support job opportunities, the empowerment of women, the livelihood of children, and values connections between producers and consumers. You can find them here: Noonday Collection.

Another great local outfit I recently discovered is a little shop off of Main Street in Seal Beach, California called Jennings and Allen. When I first walked in the shop I was amazed! I felt like I had walked into a museum with all of the material goods they had displayed – and every object had a story! The owners have traveled in search of goods, made by local community artisans and that support many important causes including women empowerment and rebuilding

communities that have fallen victim to famine, war, and many injustices. From Ugandan baskets, Haitian soapstone carvings, Ethiopian bracelets fashioned from refurbished PVC, Guatemalan hand-sewn purses to double-sided, hand-stitched saris-turned-scarves from India, each product tells a story. One of my favorites was the necklace made from repurposed bullet-shells from Ethiopia – a sign of hope and a future. The owners of this establishment know each of their producers and attest to having been to almost all of the places where their goods are made; they either know the artists themselves or have a solid relationship with established community organizations work with local artisans and resource the goods. Here is their website: Jennings and Allen.

Some companies with whom you are already familiar have a “fair trade line” which means you can still get the styles you like while remaining ethically sound! Now, this does not mean that the company is a fair trade company – so don’t be fooled! But it does mean that a company may be taking steps to move in that direction. And because so many companies have joined efforts, one brand may also be a branch of another – for example, J. Crew, Gap, and Old Navy are all connected “brands” so be sure to do some research to make sure the purchase you are making is supports ethical consumerism. This website Fair Trade Styles from Mainstream Companies offers information on many companies like this – but dig deep to get trustworthy facts!

Similarly, Redemption Market, a mobile outfit based in Phoenix, Arizona, travels to local merchants and makeshift markets. They offer goods at their mobile “brick-and-mortar” but they also offer online purchasing and provide a list of fair-trade business at this website: Redemption Market https://redemptionmarket.com.

Finally, if you didn’t think that there were any faith-based organizations in on the fair-trade, ethical shopping action – think again! Jesus’ Economy is an organization whose goal is to offer fair trade goods in order to reduce poverty around the world by offering microbusiness opportunities but also, to fund church planting in poor communities. Their board members are from a variety of denominations and together have a vision to help reduce poverty by helping the poor to build business. You can peruse goods on their website and learn about how you can pray for the needs of the people with whom they minister around the world. Here is their website: Jesus’ Economy.

Okay – so there it is! This is not a comprehensive list – you can find more goods at local markets, including farmer’s markets, craft fairs, or a local bizarre. Even stores like Whole Foods offer aisle displays of a few fair trade goods and unique offerings from around the globe. In Southern California, these goods are getting easier to find – you just have to look in some unexpected places! As you prepare for the holidays hoping to find something special and unique, I hope you have a great time doing some conscientious shopping and making some discoveries of your own!

*Name changed for security purposes

**See the work of sociologist Rachel Parrenas (2005, 2014) and anthropologists Barbra Ehrenriech and Ernie Hoschild (2002)

^[1] N.d. CNN 2013 http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/world/asia/bangladesh-us-tshirt/index.html

^[2] Boncich and Appelbaum 2002 

^[3] Disclaimer: My discussion of globalization here is very brief; please realize that there are many reasons for the global economy being what it is today – this is by no means a comprehensive study on globalization, the global economy, or labor migration. There are many layers to these broader systems – all of which we address in anthropology! (Check out the CBU Course Catalogue – ANT 360 and ANT 410 specifically address these issues). The goal of this brief discussion is to introduce unfamiliar readers to my own journey, a background of how global production is embedded in a broader system of global economics, and to really drive home that what we buy can (and does) matter.

---

A note from the CSHB: Here in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, we believe that we can be the difference one person at a time. As we enter a season full of holiday gift-giving, we would encourage you to think about how your purchases can be the difference for someone, even if you never see them directly. We are starting a list of some of your favorite people-conscious shopping outlets, including those listed by Dr. Goodman-Bowling above. Please feel free to add to that list HERE, and consider exploiting the power of your purchase for the benefit of people in your local and global community, people who beautifully bear the image of our good God.

In response to Dr. Goodman-Bowling’s blog on fair trade labor practices, and the reason we should care about how the products we buy are made, this is a working list of some of our favorite places to shop, as suggested by CBU faculty, students, and community. Please feel free to add to the list in your comments below. Many of these are Corporation B Certified (e.g., guarantee of fair wages), and all focus on dignified treatment. Some also may focus on offsetting the environmental impact of our production. We hope you will find this list useful as you look to make choices that are more in line with your convictions about the importance of treating people of all kinds with dignity and respect.

Noonday Collection: Sells necklaces, bracelets, earrings, bags, and scarves, etc. Supports job opportunities, the empowerment of women, the livelihood of children, and values connections between producers and consumers.

Jennings and Allen: Sells: jewelry, soapstone carvings, scarves, hand-sewn purses, etc. Support many important causes including women empowerment and rebuilding communities that have fallen victim to famine, war, and other injustices.

Fair Trade Styles from Mainstream Companies: Offers information on many companies that support ethical consumerism

Redemption Market: Provides a list of fair trade businesses; online purchase available.

Jesus’ Economy: Sells holiday items, jewelry, accessories, bags, wallets, purses, dining, clothing, kids & baby items, journals, etc. Fair trade goods in order to reduce poverty around the world; has a vision to help reduce poverty by helping the poor to build business.