February 24, 2012 Adams reading, LaDonn Mathyss, and culture boxes

I found that the Adams reading about class made my wheels start turning in my mind. I started to think about stuff that I never really gave much thought about until now. When I was little, my family was pretty poor. My dad worked for the city in the street department and my mom was always a stay at home mom. My dad's income was the only support for my mom, sister, brother, and me. No one else ever helped us financially because now that I think about it, everyone else in our family was poor too. I still remember getting so excited when my grandpa would bring my mom boxes of clothes that he found in the dumpster near his neighborhood. He would go out for a walk every moring and stop by the dumpster to see what he could find. He would find everything... like clothes, toys, and household appliances. Mom would take the stuff back home and we would all go through it and find what we wanted. Some of my favorite clothes came from the dumpster. And it's not like I was ashamed of them or anything either because I didn't know any better at that time. I thought it was something normal that everyone did, and I actually got really excited to get "new" stuff. The first time I ever thought something was "wrong" with wearing stuff from the dumpster was in elementary school. I was talking to a classmate and mentioned how my grandpa found my pants that I was wearing and she said, "Eeeeeew! You wear stuff from the garbage? That's gross!" After that I started feeling ashamed and embarrassed and neve told anyone that again. I was no longer eager to take stuff from those boxes because I thought it was something bad that people shouldn't do. It makes me wonder how we are socialized to know what "class" is. As a child, you don't know what "class" you're in because it really doesn't exist to you. However you are raised is how you view life. "Class" doesn't become apparent until you are faced with someone who was raised different than you. America is supposed to be a place free of class, but that is certainly not the case. There is alot of discrimination on people that come from lower income families. I feel like class also brings up the issue of racism as well. Americans generally stereotype African Americans and Hispanics to be the poor people, but situations like mine prove otherwise. In fact, whites are the ones who are the majority on welfare, right?

I thought it was nice to have the guest speaker LaDonn come to class on Monday. I appreciate that she took her time to come and speak with us and tell us her story, but I felt like she wasn't comfortable, which made me uncomfortable. I could tell that she was nervous and hesistant to say certain things, and it also seemed as if people's questions weren't really answered. I think that maybe she still has issues that need to be resolved about her situation. I could definitely feel tension in the air.

Culture boxes are a great assignment. I enjoyed making mine and thinking of ways to describe myself. Even though it was an assignment, it was fun because it was a craft. I also enjoy learning new stuff about classmates. Some things are very interesting to find out. It also lets us see a new side to people.

February 17, 2012 Marable Article and The Flood

I was very interested in hearing about the Great Flood of 1927. I had never heard about it until Dr. G told us about it. It reminded me of the saying "history repeats itself," because it basically happened all over again with Katrina. It's such a shame that the people of New Orleans never seem to get the help and treatment that they deserve. How could you let a city and people get destroyed only for change in your pocket? Do those people not have a heart? I was looking around online for different information on the Great Flood and I found out one piece of information that I thought was interesting. One of the "good" things that came out of the flood was a great cultural output from the victims. After the flood many people were inspired in their music to write about the flood. Something I never knew was that one of  Led Zeppelin's famous songs, "When the Levee Breaks", was a remake of Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie's original song about the 1927 flood. Here are the lyrics and 2 videos:

"When The Levee Breaks"

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break, [X2]
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, [X2]
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.

Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They go no work to do,
If you don't know about Chicago.

Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.

All last night sat on the levee and moaned, [X2]
Thinkin' about me baby and my happy home.
Going, going to Chicago... Going to Chicago... Sorry but I can't take you...
Going down... going down now... going down....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6C_5wxkuAQ Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dqp1rKCtvI&feature=fvst Led Zeppelin

The lyrics of the song speak loudly to the pain and hopelessness that the victims must have felt. Just reading them myself makes me feel sad and disappointed.


So about the Marable article..

I just finished reading it. For some reason it wasn't an easy read for me like I thought it should have been. I'm not sure why? I found myself having to go back and reread lots of paragraphs because I couldn't grasp the meaning the first time. One sentence that I instantly understood and was shocked by was the sentence, "

What these nightmarish statistics mean, is that

for most low- to middle-income African Americans, joblessness and

underemployment (e.g., working part-time, or sporadically) is now the norm;

having a real job with benefits is now the exception."

It's shocking, but at the same time not really. It reminds me of the typical stereotype that we always see/hear on tv about black women looking for a "good brotha with a job and no kids." Clearly, like any other race, there are some men out there who just don't want to have a job, or who choose to sell drugs and run the streets, but for the others out there who do, do they really have a chance? It's like the odds of them being successful are slim and unlikely. The system basically works against them.

I also noticed in the article about how there was "chronic unemployment" under the Bush administration. So why does everyone feel the need to blame it on Obama? Is it because he is black? It's always easier to place blame on the abject other.

BTW! Please help me win the Georgetown Bridal Show Facebook Contest!!!!!!
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February 10, 2012          Zinn Reading

Hey guys,

So i'm sure some of you noticed that I wasn't in class all week. Well, here's why....Sunday evening I was on my way home on South I35 in Georgetown. I had just switched lanes to get into the exit lane to get to my house when the car right next to me on my driver's side decided to come over into my lane. They ended up hitting my front wheel and fender, causing me to lose control, skid across the shoulder, drive up the embankment, hit the exit sign, completely flip my car in the air, land on my driver's side, and slide back down the embankment. So, yeah, let's just say it was a complete NIGHTMARE. I'm thankful to even be alive. The firefighters had to take me out of my car and I was sent to the ER. So I was in the hospital and that's why I missed this week of class. It's been pretty stressful trying to recooperate, while still having to deal with a ton of insurance phone calls and stuff pertaining to that matter, plus trying to catch up with school work. But on a brighter note, I should be back Monday.

So now that all of that is cleared up. Onto Zinn!...

It was actually a great book to read while i've been bed ridden. It actually helped pass the time and keep my mind off of other stressful things. I found myself repeatedly thinking, "OMG," as I was reading this book. Even though I had a slight idea of the cruelties Zinn mentioned, i've never actually read a book that has such detail of the violence and cruelties that the Indians faced. I know that everyone in America would like to think that the start of our nation was happy and peaceful and similar to the kid- friendly Disney version of "Pocahontas." I know I certainly did. My brother even called me "Poca-Nikki" and I ran around with my long braided hair and Pocahontas shirt with the fringed sleeves. If I would have known how badly Indians were actually treated, I doubt I still would have wanted to be her.

It was really sad to read how friendly and giving the Indians were when the newcomers arrived. They were nice and hospitable, only to be paid back with harsh treatment. While I was reading, I kept thinking to myself, "I wonder what it would have been like today if they would have been nice to the Indians and not killed off the population." I was wondering if maybe that would have changed the way people view each other. Would there have been racism and discrimination? Or would it have just evolved later on anyway?

I was also thinking how scary and difficult it must have been for the Indians to not be able to communicate easily, due to the language barrier. I know this still happens today when someone doesn't speak English. It's funny how the white, dominant group expects everyone to learn/speak English when English wasn't even the first language of America. I've noticed that whatever the dominant group thinks is right and just, is what everyone else is supposed to think as well. Even if what the dominant group wants doesn't make sense, they change it to make it that way. It's easy for the dominant group to place their ideas and beliefs on everyone else, but they won't accept anybody else's.

I couldn't believe the statement of Morison when Zinn explains how he didn't lie about Columbus. He did mention the mass murder, but he mentions it quickly and goes onto other things so we don't really notice the bad part. The line, "Yes, mass murder took place, but it's not that important," made my jaw drop. What if someone were to say that about something that took place today. For example, what if the president would have said that after the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999? That's horrible. I was also shocked at how Morison wanted to focus on the "most outstanding and essential of all his (Columbus) qualities---his seamanship." Really? His seamanship? That's ridiculous.

I was also irritated by how they continuously claimed to be men of God and Christians. A quote that I read the other day on facebook came to mind when I started thinking about that. "Going to church doesn't make you any more of a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car." This quote just made me think how silly it was for Columbus and the others to claim that what they were doing was out of Christian faith. I've never seen anywhere in the Bible where it says to treat others with cruelty and murder. Maybe Columbus and I have read different Bibles. Who knows...

It's just funny how America's history is taught to young children. We all make our pilgrim and indian outfits out of construction paper and have lunch with our parents in the cafeteria for Thanksgiving. We play like it was such a happy and peaceful time between the Indians and Pilgrims. Teachers give children the idea that the Pilgrims showed up and everyone was so nice and giving to each other, and they all lived happily ever after. Now i'm not saying we should teach children about the mass murder and bloodshed, or how their hands were cut off if they didn't have a copper token around their neck. That wouldn't be right either. But should we really play up the idea that it was all lovey dovey? Just a thought.

I feel like I had so much more to say, but since I started rambling on I can't seem to remember it all. Hmm...

Anyways, on a different subject. Here's a picture I saw the other day that I thought I would like to share.

Right on!

February 2, 2012  ---> Dr. Aguilar, Critical Race Theory Article, & Political Issues Rap Article

So I must say that I really really enjoyed Dr. Aguilar coming and speaking to the class. I think his story was very inspirational and I feel that I am able to relate to some of the things that he discussed. For example, I am the first person of my family to go to college, and many times I feel like I get left out of family things just because I was the only one who ever moved away from back home. I get treated as though I think I am better than everybody else and that i'm a "Georgetown/Austin snob", so my brother likes to say. It gets really annoying and a lot of times it really hurts my feelings because I know thats not true. When I lived back home I got to go to all the family events, like birthday parties, and go to visit the family all the time. Now it seems that because I moved I don't get included in any of those things like I used to. For example, this past summer I got my feelings hurt SOOO bad when my brother decided to text me at 10:00pm on a Sunday night to tell me he was getting married the next day. Nobody in my family down there bothered to call, text, or anything to let me know that he was getting married on that Monday, even though they were all told the Thursday before. When I finally talked to my brother about it the next day and told him how upset I was, he just said he didn't think it was a big deal and that I wouldn't have come anyway. I was like, "Really? You didn't even give me a chance to." It's not like they only lived an hour away. They live 4 and half hours and if I would have gotten a notice ahead of time (not late the night before) I could have made the trip. So just because I don't live there anymore because I moved for college, i'm the last one to find things out. Its very upsetting. So I can definitely relate to how Dr. Aguilar said he had to sacrifice things and give up family and friends.

I just got finished reading the Critical Race Theory article. I didn't really like it because I felt like it was stuff that i've heard before over and over. I even noticed that a lot of things were repeated. For example, I read the first big paragraph and scrolled down and the next one I read was exactly like the first one I read. It also really got on my nerves how they used the term "people of color" over and over. I hate when people say that because it doesn't really make sense to me. How come people want to label "non-whites" and people of "color?" Uhhhhh, helloooooo, last time I checked white is a color too. So the fact that blacks, hispanics, and whoever else are considered "colored" just seems really dumb to me. Technically, we are all colored. It just so happens that eveyone's color is different, even within the same race. In this article I also noticed that it only talked about MSW. I'm not sure why that is, but shouldn't BSW be mentioned too? I think that learning cultural competence is just as important to BSW as it is to MSW.

Yesterday I read the article  about the political rap that was sent in the email with the other article about the interracial couple's photographs. I can't remember the titles of the articles, even though I just read them. Anyway, what I wanted to point out about the rap article is that it reminded me about the famous rap group NWA, who was popular in the late 80s and early 90s. NWA stood for Niggas Wit Attitude and they were a very outspoken group who originated from Comptom, CA. They were banned from the radio because of the elicit nature of their lyrics. In their song "F*** Tha Police" they protested police brutality and racial profiling. In a way, their rap was speaking out at the social injustice that the blacks had to face in Compton. these injustices didn't only happen in Compton, which gave others who faced the same problems in their neighborhoods a chance to relate. After the release of this song, the group faced lots of controversy and conflict with different law enforcement agencies. Since most of the cops that they were rapping about were white, it infuriated them and they lashed out against the group, only proving the point that whites don't like to be called out on wrong doings and racism.