Piri vs. Peer Pressure

Piri joins a gang and he feels the need to make sure he has proven to be a man to him and his friends at all times. For example, Piri did not feel comfortable going to Alfredo's friend house who were "faggots." Piri went anyway hoping that someone would say "no" first before he did because if he did, then he would be looked at as a "punk." Piri and the rest of the boys engaged in sexual acts with the "faggots." Piri was confused about the whole situation because Piri does not consider himself gay and neither does his boys. However they all still enjoyed the sexual acts.

Neither Enemies Nor Friends: new book explores relationships among Latinos, Blacks and Afro-Latinos

I recently read an article about a newly created book called: "Neither Enemies Nor Friends Latinos, Blacks, Afro-Latinos," edited by Anani Dzidzienyo and Suzanne Oboler Palgrave Macmillan. This book discusses the relationship between Afro latinos, Latinos, and Blacks. Dzidzienyo mentions that during his research, he realizes that it is becoming more difficult everyday to seperate race and class, especially when looking back into each ethnic group's history and culture (Horwedel, p.1 find articles. com). I agree with this statement in all of its totality, especially after realizing that after today's class discussion on if it is possible to braoden the definition of "Black"; I could not answer the question. In an interracial marriage where kids are created, it broadens the definiton of many cultures, ethnic groups, and races. For example, a kid whose mother is White and father is Black, would most likely consider themself Black and White. Another point that was made was that the historical backgrounds of a culture has a big impact on the definition of the culture. For example, in U.S. history during the times of Jim Crow laws, there was the "one drop rule," where one drop of black blood made you a black person (Horwedel, p.1). There are some people who take this rule into consideration today.

Charter day 2009 with Phylicia Rashad

Although I have not attended the charter day convocation, I have listened to Phylicia Rashad's speech to Howard University on Howard's website. On March 13th she was presented a humanitarian award for her contribution to the arts. The birth of Howard University was also recognized on that day. Before she gladly accepted the award, she left the people of Howard University some inspirational advice and stories of her personal life. I enjoyed her speech because it sound like it really came from the heart and as a HU student like she once was, her stories was something that I could relate to. One important piece of advice that she left off with was, “Dare to recognize, to acknowledge and to honor the greatness in others, especially those with whom you disagree, and you will discover something marvelous about yourselves." This statement means to me that basically, if as peers we help and look out for eah other instead of just ourselves, than we can build a better place or a "new" as in the words of Phylicia Rashad.

The Media and Public Responsiblilty: What Counts as News and who Decides?

People have different opinions of the responsibility of the media today, but in my opinion, the media's main responsibility is to inform the world of the "TRUTH" in issues happening in the U.S. and all over the world. In the short essay that we had to read, it said that the Bush administration did not approve of picture of dead soldiers from the Iraqi war. My view on that statement is that as long as the families consent to the picture being shown then it shall be shown. Every little detail shall be known and not hidden from the public. We live in a world where things happen everyday and we as a public should know what is going on around us. The things that occur in this world affect people and the way we live. My only problem is the media exaggerating to get a better story than the rivaling news media so more people would watch or listen to their news info. It is like the boy that cries wolf because today's media has led me to not believe in everything that I hear because of several stories that are exaggerated and then you hear the real "TRUTH" about it later.

Education in the Hispanic community

I read an article on Pewhispanic.org about Hispanics changing the landscape of American public schools. Hispanics are currently becoming the largest minority to replace blacks who were also the largest minority in the U.S. With more Hispanics migrating to the U.S., they are beginning to also attend public schools where they are the dominant race. According to Pewhispanic.org, 64% of Hispanic students were accounted for public school enrollment, 23% increase of blacks, and 11%Asians. Meanwhile there was a 1% Caucasian decline because they moved into newly built public schools.

The Obama Monkey Cartoon

On February 18th, 2009, the New York Post published a cartoon, which I call racist, of two white cops shooting at a monkey and the caption says:
"They'll have to find someone else to write the next Stimulus Bill."
This cartoon angered many people-black and white, including myself. I felt that the New York Post was very wrong for letting this cartoon appear in their newspaper. The author and editor of the cartoon reasons that his cartoon is supposed to be comical, mocking the incident of a woman who recently got mauled by her own chimpanzee, and Washington's weak efforts of trying to revive the economy. They also tried to say that Al Sharpton who is an activist, is a "publicity oppurtunist" for trying to point the cartoon at racism toward Barack Obama. For some reason I do not believe anything of what he has mentioned and mocking the woman who almost died because of the attack by her own chimpanzee is not funny at all. I remember many times from the past, but not too long ago, when Blacks were compared to monkeys/chimpanzees/apes. Upon my research, I have also found a white supporter of Palin at her rally waving around a stuffed monkey calling him "little Hussein" also known as Obama. He flaunts the monkey and laughs while several protesters yell "racist!" at him. This really bothers me because it makes me think twice if the importance of race has really transcended.

You must take a look at these:
Here is the link to the video of the man at Palin's rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKUovpF9LWU / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtZWwgw__WY

Here is the link to the actual cartoon: http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/minor/2009/02/19/racist-obama-monkey-cartoon/

Thought that I should post this from Wikipedia.org:
Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their racial groups.

Hearts Day: honor to Toni Morrison

On Friday February 13th I attended the Hearts Day conference. I watched the second session of the day and did not really find it quite interesting. I was actually confused and did not really understand the purpose of my session even though the flier said it was supposed to be "Approaches to her fiction." I do not think everything was quite clear and well expresssed. I did get something out of this session and it was on the topic of motherhood referring to her novel, "The Bluest Eye." In the novel, the mother was not emotionally attaching herself to her children. The message of the book was that women and men can sometimes accept a better image of themselves if nutured by their mother and father figure. I believe this point is true because the nuturing of your parents is like a feeling of support and love, which is something that every person wants and needs in their life.

Change or No Change?-intro to 1st eng. paper on borders

According to Gloria Anzaldua in Borderlands/La Frontera, we live in a society that divides communities based on imposed standards that are different from those of whom are the ‘legitimate inhabitants--the whites.’ She also mentions that these boundaries are something that is “unnatural.” A border is a division, boundary, or barrier between two or more objects, in this case between different races/ethnic backgrounds. In Gloria’s story, she refers to the U.S. - Mexican border and explaining how Mexicans who inhabit these borderlands are treated as “aliens” and “trespassers.” They are treated this way based on their appearance, race, and ethnicity. Similarly, in the 1960s, people of color-mainly blacks, were always known to be at the bottom of the racial hierarchy of America being denied of many of their rights. In the year of 2009, many Americans, especially the media, believed that President Barack Obama has erased the racial barrier within the U.S. being the first African American president. Even the N.Y. Times calls this historic event a “breakthrough.” However, many people still feel that things have not changed within America’s racial boundary since Barack Obama is now president of the U.S. Instead, America’s racial boundary between Caucasians and people of color have not been erased, but is gradually disappearing. It is gradually disappearing because Obama‘s election shows that he was not chosen based on race, there are new opportunities for African Americans, the involvement of more diverse young adults in politics, and the definition of an American is changing.

Rev. Lowery's speech during inauguration

On January 20th, 2009, Rev. Lowery welcomed Barack Obama to the presidency with a speech and prayer. Here's an excerpt that stood out the most:
"We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right."
I could not find any information of where this statement originally came from, so I will speak on the different views including my own on his speech. This comment stirred a lot of controversy over whether the statement above was racist toward Caucasians. Was the reverend right for making this statement? What does he really mean by this statement? Should we read this message literally or figuratively? Well, I was reading some blogs and many people feel like this statement was pointing the finger at Caucasians for not doing what is thought to be right. People that share this viewpoint believe that as a whole Americans should learn to do what is right and not just the ones who were pointed out. I noticed that most of the people who thought this comment was racist were Caucasian. The other viewpoint of this situation is that the comment is not racist and he was just singing the lyrics of an old song. They feel that if Caucasians know in their heart they have not done something wrong, then they should not be offended by this comment. My viewpoint is totally out of the box and does not agree with either side because I would rather have a conversation with this man in order to clarify his speech for everyone. I believe being that this man is 87 years old and was president of SCLC he has witnessed plenty of things during the 50s and 60s that none of us born recently could even imagine. Thus, his view comes from a different perspective and he is not going to easily forget the things he has witnessed. That is what I think, but what do you honestly believe?...Please do not be ignorant..think before you write something with no meaning.
P.S. I read most of the viewpoints of this situation on the CNN website.

HAPPY OBAMA DAY!...w/ better days to come

On the coldest, but most beautiful 20th day of January 2009, Barack Obama was sworn into the White House. I can honestly say I was a part of history because I was one of those millions of people heading out at 4 a.m. to witness this event. I walked for several blocks with my fellow H.U. peers and a great amount of positive energy surrounded me. It was not long before we reached a checkpoint barrier where the crowds anxiously awaited to witness history about to happen. I waited hours before my friends and I decided to leave because it was 11 a.m. and we had not made it anywhere near the capitol. We roamed the streets and bought souvenirs before we headed back to our warm rooms. We had realized we were not going to see anything due to the full capacity of people crowding the streets. I know what you are thinking…, but the answer is no. How could we be upset? I was so happy just to be surrounded by Blacks, Whites, Yellow, and many other races/colors where everyone all had the same feelings and thoughts. No one was angry or ready to cause a riot due to the fact the police had us barricaded for a long period. Everyone was happy that change was here.
I made it back to my room in time to see Obama speak and his words enlightened me. His words made me shiver. CNN showed people from all around the world that supported Barrack Obama; meanwhile I thought it was only majority of the U.S. citizens that had his back. I ended my day watching CNN until his last inaugural dance was over.
“This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled.”
-President Barack Obama
January 20th, 2009

Border Studies

In english class we read Gloria Anzaldua's perspective of the U.S.-Mexican border. Gloria considers herself to be Mexican and American. According to her, "Borders are set up to define the places that are unsafe and safe, to distinguish us from them." She also mentions that the U.S. Southwest consider people who live in these borderlands to be "aliens." The way Mexicans are being treated by the U.S. is obviously bothering Gloria; the same way anyone else would be upset if they were looked down upon. My belief as to why people of the U.S. might respond to Mexicans this way is because many people either fear or dislike anything that is foreign/different from themselves or what they are accustomed to doing. And when your not accustomed to something, you are usually out of your comfort zone. I have noticed this many times with people and also with myself. For example, people might see Mexico's way of living in a negative mannerism because it is different from the way the U.S. way of living. When Mexicans move away from their homeland to the U.S., they are shunned for taking low paying jobs; making it difficult for American citizens to receive jobs. Everyone might have many different reasons as to why the U.S. looks down on Mexicans, but this is my psychological reasoning for the U.S. negative perspective on Mexicans.