A Long Awaited First
According to Krygier and Wood, a map is a proposition, in the manner that it affirms the fact that something exists in the place that is being mapped. A map is used to express position, and position implies something is there, therefor if there is a map, something exists there. My understanding of Chicago has not changed at all after watching the videos and seeing the maps of the Map Project. Everything they represent have either been expressed through the news or what we have learned during the class. It is easier to understand a view of Humboldt Park if you have already been to Humboldt Park. Well I think I already said why we make maps, but I can say that maps are political because the labels and borders portrayed by them carry social weight, and social weight is the root of politics. Of course if a Country wanted to seem like it was just one land mass, all of it’s territories would be labeled under other names and vice a versa.
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When deciding where to walk, I followed the advice of the prompt and looked for a place where I have not walked yet. While inequity and other ploys meant to keep the city segregated would have kept me from certain areas in the city, I simply do not have that weakness as I do not socialize with people from the city enough to learn them, which is it’s own problem that I should deal with. No, instead I have not visited places simply because I lacked the energy. That is what brought me to a place I have been looking forward to visiting for quite a long time now, Chinatown.
As I began walking I noticed something, for the first time in my memory, the voices of the people walking on the street were in a majority speaking in a language that is not English. That piece of knowledge did not sit well with me. So I questioned why this was. The best answer I could come up with is that I did not explore, and that my previous world was a lot more homogenous than I previously imagined.
With that piece of unsettling information tucked away I continued my walk, I noticed many pieces of Chinese heritage practically everywhere I looked. From the stones lining the sidewalk to the molding on the buildings, this community clearly stood out from the rest of Chicago. So I continued my walk.
Eventually I ended up at an open air shopping mall. I wandered through it for a while, meandering through the packed shops. Eventually I bought myself some tea and takoyaki and sat down in the central square of the mall. On one side of the square there was a man in a tent. In the tent there were speakers playing incredibly loud Chinese music that he sang to. On the other side of the square there was a man who played a very loud trombone, playing a very different song than the man who sang. In the middle of the square the voices of families speaking, surprisingly still audible over the medley of music. And roughly ten feet to my left a small child was throwing poppers at the ground. And as I sat there, avoiding wasps, I realized the beauty and community this shopping center represented. I think I will do my project on malls.
