Seeking Guest Bloggers

Beginning next week, Travel Tuesdays will go on hiatus. That's when I'll begin hosting guest bloggers here at Polliwog.

Polliwog recently passed the 20,000 hits mark. Now I’m hoping to expand my readership even further. In the process, I hope to help others do the same by hosting guest bloggers for the first time. You don't need any special credentials to be a guest blogger- just an interest in the focus of this blog. In fact, I encourage you to get in touch with me even if you don't think of yourself as a writer. I want to bring many voices into the conversation. You can pitch me an idea and I'll help you frame it, if you feel you need guidance.

Things to keep in mind:

1. This blog has a very specific focus on nature and culture. Please familiarize yourself with my focus before contacting me. If you're not a regular reader, poke around and get a feel for the kind of posts I write. You might start with the "Popular Posts" on my side bar.
2. All guest posts will include a bio of the author (to be provided by the author).
3. You may link to your blog or website, etc. Any links MUST be kid friendly. This is non-negotiable.
4. No hard selling. You’re welcome to link to your sites or to mention your books. Any links to other sites, however, must be related to your post. Read some of my posts to get a sense of the kind of links I provide. DO NOT contact me if your sole purpose is to try to sell your products on this blog. I will ignore your email.
5. I encourage you to include photographs, as appropriate. All photos must be copyright free. (That is, you cannot find an image on the internet and use it in your post unless you found it on a site that clearly offers free usage or you paid for its usage). When in doubt, use your own photographs.
6. Posts should be about 500 words at the most (less is fine). If you feel you have a great idea and want to write something longer, pitch me. (Some of my most popular posts have been over 600 words, so I'm open to a great idea).
7. Posts should be edited for proper grammar, spelling, mechanics,etc. If you feel you're weak in this area, ask someone else to proofread for you. I'll also do a final edit before posting.
8. Ultimately, I control the content on this blog. I reserve the right to reject a submission even if we agreed to an idea. (I would only do this if your post violates my requirements, especially #3, 4, or 5). If I have concerns, however, I'll contact you first to see if we can work them out.

Some possible posts:

•  Description of your favorite natural place.
• Ways you and your children (students) interact with nature.
• Review/ description of your favorite book set in a natural place.
• Review/ description of your favorite book set in another country/with a protagonist from another culture.
• Lessons you (your children/students) have learned from interacting with people of different backgrounds.
•  Others? Pitch me!

 If you’re interested in guest blogging, please email me. michelle(at)michellecusolito(dot)com

I look forward to hearing from you.

Do you want to read a post on a particular topic? Leave it in the comments I'll try to address it in a future post.

Travel Tuesdays: World Music

"Cultures are very powerful forces. We get used to being  certain ways. The music you grow up with becomes deeply a part of who you are and your identity. It takes a desire to learn and communicate with others in order to adjust to the sounds of another culture's music."

-Michael Tenzer, Ethnomusicologist as heard  on NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook 'The Roots of World Music' February 22, 2010

Before setting out on a trip, I like to learn something about the place I'll be visiting. I especially enjoy listening to music from the country I'll visit. In the past I had to search high and low to find good world music. Nowadays, this task is easier than ever with music from nearly ever part of the globe available for purchase on CD, from iTunes, or on YouTube.

Back in the mid-nineties, I was the local coordinator for a group of exchange students from France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Morocco. One day, while out on a field trip with the students, I saw a CD of traditional Moroccan music called Morocco: Crossroads of Time. I was already interested in world music by that time, but I was uncertain if the music I was getting was authentic. On this day, I had a great opportunity. I asked Mehdi, a student from Casablanca, Morocco (the same man I mentioned in my Travel Tuesdays: Morocco post) to listen and give me his opinion. When he started singing along, I knew I had the real thing.  I purchased the CD.

In June of 2001, shortly before our trip to Morocco, I prepared a Moroccan meal for my husband and the friends we'd be traveling with. I played the CD while we ate dinner. We shared a meal, prepared for our trip, and allowed the music to transport us to Morocco. Later, while in a medina in Morocco, I noted my familiarity with some of the sounds I was hearing because I had listened to "Ambient Sounds" (at Marrakesh Medina).

For those of you who are unable to travel, music offers another way to expose your children to different cultures. In my classroom (and now in my home) I played music from all over the globe. In the beginning, some students would make faces or mock the unfamiliar sounds. After a year in my classroom, however, those different styles of music seemed more common place and the mocking had stopped.

My kids have listened to world music since birth. We started with world lullabies and moved on from there. I'll never forget the day my then 4 year old son asked me to change the music I was playing in the car. He asked, "Will you play the Arabic one?" My kids' current favorite world music is "Basement Bangra." I love that my children listen to all kinds of music with the same open-ness. With a little exposure, your kids will, too.

Unlike the adults I believe Michael Tenzer was referencing in the quotation that opens this post, children are far more open and adaptable to new sounds. I believe Mr. Tenzer is correct about adults. We need to work harder to acquaint our ears to unfamiliar sounds and eventually learn to appreciate them. Kids make that leap far more quickly.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting examples of my favorite world music on my "Michelle Cusolito, Writer" Facebook page. If you haven't "liked" my page, yet, please consider doing so. Just click the "like" button on the right side bar.

What's your favorite world music? Please share it in the comments.

Related Posts

Travel Tuesdays: Morocco

Gifts for Babies

RACE- Are We So Different?

"[Racism] is not about how you look, it is about how people assign meaning to how you look."
                      ~Robin D.G. Kelley, Historian, quoted in the exhibit


On Sunday, I visited an exhibit at the Museum of Science titled, RACE-Are We So Different? This traveling exhibit spoke to so many issues that are important to me. Issues that are hard to put into words.  Issues that, when written about on a blog, can be misunderstood when not worded exactly the right way or placed in their proper context. Issues that I will continue to speak up about because they are so important.

In a previous post about the book A Beach Tail, and a later post in response to a conversation happening in the blogosphere, I tried to express my feelings about the lack of books about "People of Color."  Even as I wrote those posts, I struggled with word choice. Who was I to label someone else's identity? Yet, I attempted to do so because I had to convey my point somehow and the only way to do it was to use terms that readers would understand.

I am not an expert on race. I am a person who is deeply concerned about people's ability to identify themselves however they choose and to be treated equally and with respect. I am not identified as a Person of Color, African American, Latina, Asian-American, or any number of other artificial labels that can be placed on a person's identity. When labeled, I am called Caucasian. I have always been uncomfortable checking that box on official forms. I pause every time. Not because I am not proud of my heritage but because I do not want be labeled and boxed in. Does anyone?

The exhibit put words to many things I already felt and illuminated some ideas I did not fully understand or could not explain. For example, 

"There is no gene for “race.” There are no qualitative genetic differences between perceived races. (Emphasis added). However, it is possible to trace geographic ancestry using DNA. Since humans expanded out of Africa, genes have changed in small ways in every part of the world. Each of these small changes is a marker for a person’s ancestors who lived where the changes occurred. To a geneticist, these changes are like mileposts along a path, leading first to the people in a local place and then back to the African source. Each genetic change tells only a small piece of the story about human history. A scientist must look at many pieces of DNA to get a reliable story."

Biologically, there is no such thing as race.

If someone had asked me if there is a gene for race I would have said "no." But I had honestly never considered the question in quite this way. I knew that DNA traced all of our ancestors to (East) Africa, but for some reason I never put quite a point on the question of a "race gene."

I think I am fairly well-informed person. I read tons. I talk to lots of interesting people. I move outside my comfort zone and travel to places many people will never see. I've analyzed my own experience of race and culture while living in the U.S. versus living in the Philippines. I relish the differences of culture and the sameness of humanity. I pay attention.
Yet.
Yet.
I have so much to learn.

I soaked up as much as I could from the exhibit, though I want to go back and spend more time. I strongly encourage you to do the same. For my local readers, the exhibit will be at the Museum of Science until May 1st. It's also at the Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC until May 8th. For readers in other states, an exhibit tour schedule is available here. For those who do not have access to the exhibit, much (if not all) of the content is available online at the RACE- Are We So Different website. There's  a special section for kids age 10-13. and a variety of resources for families, researchers, and teachers. Please learn more and spread the word about this important project.

One final quotation from the exhibit:
"Race is the least important aspect in determining character, yet it is often the most significant factor in how we are perceived."