Community Research Assignment
The definition behind the conscious mind is the state of full awareness and believing that feelings of expression lead to the full control of the mind. To be a critical thinker means to intellectually discipline yourself in the act of actively and skillfully evaluating information gathered to act as a guide to a belief or action. So to be a conscious critical thinker is to discipline thinking to wrap around an open mind to be informed with evidence, that is one sole definition of conscious critical thinking. Some of us may approach problem solving through disciplined thinking, and some may not. In the process of mind-body awareness, we have to take time to pause for the question, to almost deconstruct the information given before fully jumping in and engaging in it.
Engaging in a critical mindset, we have to look at things through every angle with an open mind. Not everyone will act purely objectively and rationally because we go for our self-interests. This is a form of economics in the fact that everyone will maximize their own self-interest, and it is selfish at times. This embeds us to become embedded in our opinionated states that we do not open to other critiques of other minds, which lead to conflicting views and argument. It is by human nature to back ourselves up based on our views and beliefs from prior knowledge, stand by our disagreements and prior decisions, or stand by our prior beliefs of a situation. This satisfies our ego, but it can stop our intellectual growth and potentials for looking at something in a different lens. Through rationality, self-awareness and honesty and disciplinary judgment, we are able to think critically through our conscious minds.
I attended the 5,h Annual North Puget Sound Conference on Race on April 9th in the Discovery Hall at University of Washington, Bothell. Dr. Fania Davis visited the school to participate in the conference. Being a doctor, her views to me made me break through my egocentric views and beliefs and become open-minded to the things that she had to say. Dr. Fania Davis is the co-founder and Executive Director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, her work is truly extraordinary in changing the lives of the youth. What hit me the most since I am a visual learner was the video that she played during the meeting and the impact that her crew made on a boy’s life.
The reasoning behind her successful work was the murders of her two closest childhood friends. From this, she chose to become an activist to change lives of others going through troubles. It is her belief to do right and she holds values under that. She is very passionate about social transformation, something that has only been talked about by others and not actively pursued. Her take on restorative justice of the youth is to have them attend meetings with adults in their lives and talk about their issues. This serves as a second chance almost instead of having a record for whatever violence occurred.
The event I attended and volunteered at made me think in different ways, it led me REAL conscious critical thinking. I have never attended conferences before, or at least attended for reasons other than for school, so it was an experience that makes me want to attend more community events. Cultural diversity and engaging in the community is something that I would want to participate in more often. 1 am a server, so I talk to more of the older crowd rather than the younger. I was able to talk about the conference with the older generation, which closes the generation gap for myself. The guests I take care of are take an interest in the subject because some attend community events as well. It helps me gain a better understanding about that is going on in our community. It increased by awareness about what is going on around me.
The learning communities in general made me grow more as a person, thought wise. My mindset has changed on subjects; it helps me become more mature in the way I think about things. In Chicago, I have never attended any conferences because it did not seem important to me, other people make a difference and not me. I just waited for things to happen instead of helping it along. The biggest thing I learned was that there is always a way through everything, that nothing is impossible; it only takes one person to change lives.