The Case of Ethics
The discussion on ethics is an interesting one because as a society we can somehow conclude some standard ethical behaviors like honesty but on others, there is a disparity due to varying religions, beliefs, upbringing, etc. I believe that the discussion on general ethics is subjective. It is a spectrum determined by our classifications/demographics and is subject to change. Nevertheless, institutions and organizations adhere to certain codes, which their members are required to follow for the sake of order. In this case, the individual in search of a body or an institution to join has to answer the question ‘Do my ethics align with that of this organization?”
What The HistoryMakers have to say
When I began my search on ethics in the archive, there wasn’t any direction other than seeking history makers who had spoken about being ethical and what that meant in their respective fields. I started at the home topic search. From my past searches, this tool provided a broader range of results relating to a topic. After entering ‘ethics’ into the search bar, I came across an interview with Reverend Dr. Alfred L. Smith. That interview provided a direction for my subsequent searches under this topic.
In this interview, the interviewer asked for his and the church’s (Allen Temple Baptist Church) stance on supporting politicians. He recounted how Donald Trump had invited numerous black pastors to talk to about their support and how most cities’ politicians court pastors and vice versa during political campaigns. Rev.Smith responded by saying that it is against the law for nonprofit organizations like churches that have been exempted from taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code to use their status as a church to endorse candidates. Doing so will lead to them losing their tax-free status. Therefore, he doesn’t believe in pushing his political stances on his congregation. However, he has always taken a stance on justice and the freedom to speak, just like Dr. King. He continues by saying some pastors believe in ‘ Weather Vane Ethics’ which means that their beliefs are like the weather vane, external influences are like the wind, and similar to the weather vane, their ethics follow the direction of the wind. He concludes by saying that those who follow weather vane ethics are not true to themselves or their consciousness.
I utilized mainly the topic search because I now had a direction for my search. From my past searches, I realized that this tool is great for sourcing stories relating to a specific topic because of its filters and categories. After filtering ‘Church/Religion’ and ‘Politics’ under ‘Black Community Life’ and ‘Ethics’ and ‘Spirituality’ under ‘Personal Values’.
The tool produced multiple results, but only two were relevant to the topic I was searching on.
The first was an interview with Johnie Flakes where he talked about being ostracized from the church and the community for his civil rights work. He mentioned that when others were quiet about police brutality, and the KKK, he spoke and organized marches against it. As a result, a group of laymen called together ministers to stop him because of the amount of influence he had.
The second interview was with Babara William Skinner. The interviewer asked her about her views on ‘The Family’ a group of conservative Christians who went on retreats, where the teachings of Jesus are boiled down to fit a business ethos. She responded that humans typically downsize god to fit their particular value system.
That there are people who use their platforms to distill the bible to 10 things people have to vote for and push their political agendas and affiliations using skewed inaccurate biblical teachings as their backing. She concludes by saying people should be guided by integrity, be consistent, and be ethical rather than ‘downsize god to fit their ethics instead of living up to his ethics’.
I found my search very interesting, even though I must confess that I was anxious to focus on this topic because of the sensitivity of both religion and politics. I also felt I was missing out on something when using the topic search tool, I felt that I may be missing out on some great interviews relating to this topic because of not using the right combination of filters. Nevertheless, the topic search proved more effective for researching specific topics. I learned a lot not only about using the archive but also about ethics as it relates to religion and politics.
Personal Reflections
The subject of ethics has always been an interesting one for me. My idea of good and evil has evolved over the years, but I found Reverend Dr. Alfred L. Smith's metaphor of the weathervane very thoughtful, and I will be applying that to my decision-making. An exercise I will be giving myself for journaling the next day will be to write down my ethics and why they align with me, this is so I can be aware of them before the time comes for decision making.
Student Ambassador and Life Updates
Student Ambassador:
The History Makers Student Ambassadors went on a break in September. To enable us to settle into school and review some of our assigned works. I was grateful for it and was able to work on my outreach at my college Fisk University. I was able to have conversations with my art professor and course advisor about the archive and incorporating it into the art gallery tours, the Tanner Art Society, and our Independent study. I was also able to converse with the Director of Honor’s program on how she believes it can be best incorporated into the program. During this break too, I revised my presentation and power points, for when I would have to present in front of a student body( I am looking forward to sharing that on the blog when it happens!), revise my rollout plan, and the plan for the upcoming Black Month Archive Contest
Life Update:
I have been taking very exciting courses this semester, like Independent Study, Photography, Sociology, and French. They are all very practical courses, and I am happy that school is back to meeting in person. Art Career-wise, my artwork ‘Oriaku’ was awarded one of the Creators Awards by Western Digital. I also recently completed a book cover for HarperCollins. It has been an exciting year so far, and I am looking forward to what more it holds.