Karen Bortvedt Estrada
Recent Blog Posts
Recent Blog Posts

Privilege

Power and Privilege Part III

Power and Privilege Part III

"Where there's a man who has no voice, there I shall be singing." This is one of the beautifully poetic lines written by the great artist Jewel in her song Hands. The song has many great tidbits of wisdom but this one has often struck me as I sing this anthem to myself. This sentiment that some people need other people to be their voice is echoed again and again by service-loving individuals, advocates, and NGO people. The idea that some of us need to speak for others. I have reached a point in my life that this idea is very off-putting and when I hear others say their job is to speak for such and such a marginalized group, I often mentally respond with my favorite come back "Just go home." You are further perpetuating the cycles of dependency and 'voicelessness' you claim to war against, if you feel you are giving someone a voice. This may offend some, so keep reading to see why I make this statement...

Power and Privilege Part II

Power and Privilege Part II

One of the challenges that I have faced, and witnessed other foreigners face, is understanding power dynamics within the work place (or society). Power structures are a social construct that come from years of conditioning and since each country, and even location in a country, has a different set of conditioning, perspectives are incredibly divergent. With the input of some of my colleagues and one of my interns, I came up with a little test that could be done with students to help them better understand their perspectives, which then will help them to consider others' perspectives (since we often do not realize our views are just that OUR views not the ultimate truth)...

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Power and Privilege Part I

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Power and Privilege Part I

While being a foreigner abroad, it is hard to miss how incredibly privileged I am simply because of the shade of my skin, country into which I was born, and the life I am able to lead mainly thanks to my parents.  Really, it makes me thankful for all the ways the Universe conspired to make me, me.  Over the past ten months in particular, I have been spending a lot of time looking at and thinking about power in this strange world in which we live.  In a world where far too often the few with power and privilege are making decisions for everyone, where fear and hatred seem to be running rampant in defense of the existent power structure, where the worth of some human beings seems to be placed much higher than the worth of others, I felt the need to share some of what I have experienced and learned...