Jonathan Kozol.

And yet to this day "RACISM" and "CULTURAL DIFFERENCES" seem to be one of the biggest controversies in our so called "society". Reading this passage by Kozol made me realuze he wrote over 13 pages of the same thing just over and over. We've read a million articles pertaining to racism within people, within the government, within authority figures but this article tends to lean more towards the influence of racism in the school system and the media. I do believe that this article does make alot of sense. If you realize where kids get most of their teachings and motivations from, it's usually from the family and school. To me school's dont only influence and affect kids in cultural diversity but also in politics, society, etc. "Pineapple" was a perfect example of how kids only get one side of the story and dont know what else is out there. She wondered what it was like "over there"? One of the major disadvantages for kids like these who dont get the best of both world's is that they aren't presented with possibilities, for example, he explains how he speaks with students who are doing extremely good in school and are capable of attending schools like Cornell, Columbia, NYU, etc. but when mentioning those schools, they had no idea what he was talking about. Why? because teachers,"guidance counselors" (or so they're called") and principal's dont give them hope or something to look forward too, because THEY dont think that kids like these can make it. Point is that racism is everywhere, not just in the liquor store around the corner, where the ordinary white guy will get attended before the usual black guy, who later turns out to be a famous basketball player who spent three times as much as the white guy. It's everywhere, the streets, the neighborhood, the government, the schools and especially between people themselves. Our society has been in complete denial for years thinking that racism doesn't excist among us anymore and unfortunately, we're wrong. It will always be haunting us, not just by color, but by gender, sexuality, color, background, language, anything that doesn't fit into people's "perfect socities".

Derrick Jensen.

It's really dissapointing that things like this do happen. But what's even more dissapointing is that the cops that do these things are the one's that are corrupted and make people hate cops. Corrupted cops like those make people think that all police officers are the same when in reality alot, they aren't. I have been put in both situations. About 6 years ago my real mother was dating some guy who had some sort of lawsuit going on. The lawsuit consisted of the same thing. Actually his story was a very media related one, it was a big deal. You might not remember him but he had been stopped by the cops and just beaten almost to death, they left him unconsciuos and remained with a severe concussion for months and evetually left him with mental problems. Point is he was WHITE not BLACK so it doesn't only happen to blacks. Now as to me I've only had encounters with the "good cops" that have caught us speeding, drinking and eating crap where were not supossed to and have just let us go. Yeah there are many corrupted cops who abuse of others but there is also ALOT of good ones and lately us as people are the ones that have been abusing of the good cops, take a look at how many police officers have been shot and killed in the past 2 months. Now you may think I'm being a bit bias by defending the cops so much, but you have to realize almost all the males in my family are somehow involved with the authority. 3 cops and 2 military soldiers. But ofcourse I'm not just defending all cops, because MANY police officers out there do abuse of their power and authority over others and that's just not fair. But, what can we do? We're just people and we've gotten use to this being a part of life.

Jena 6 Reflection.

I heard about this whole thing on the power 96 about two months ago but i never really got the full story and now i have. A tree that belonged to "white kids" long before the schools were integrated had suddenly been messed with when black kids decided to sit by it. Whatever, the story does continue and you already know how it goes so theres no point in me repeating it. Point is, that the kids who, as to me, commited a hate crime, of insulting the black kids by hanging nooses were just getting a good old suspension from school and when the black kids stand up for themselves when noone else does, they get charged not only as adults but as something as ridiculous as attempted murder. If i were in charge of the case, i'd either charge the white kids of hate crime as juveniles and the black kids as juvenile criminal assault or both groups equally suspended from school. They both commited some type of crime, no matter what the depth of it. What would you do if you were the black kids, would you just sit down and watch how "white folks" make fun of you and your background? Or would you do something just as similar as what these black kids did?

Full Story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_Six#Noose_hangings_at_Jena_High_School

Reflection on the darn MANGO.

WOW! Could the mango really have been that good? I mean I'm the type of person who loves writing about anything. If I were at the beach and just saw the sunset I would probably start writing about it, if I had just seen an inspiring or emotional story or movie, you better believe I'll be writing about it soon just because of the way it made me feel. I love writing poetry. But if I were put in the situation of the mango and would have written a poem about it, mine would probably have a more humorous/comedic mood to it because its JUST a mango, but what the heck that's only my in my point of view. Other than that, the poem was good, in a Alejandro Salinas sort of way. =]

How to tame a Wild Tongue.

When I finished reading the "how to tame a wild tongue" articel I was like, WOW! this article is so true, it is to relevant with almost 90% of the hispanics living in South Florida. Although I wasn't born in Cuba, my first language was Spanish. My whole family was actually pretty surprised that i was more american but spoke better spanish than english, but w.e the point is, that i was just like her i could'nt necessarily speak only one language without slipping a little of the other in. I was very "Spanglish". However i never had anyone constantly from my family telling that i couldnt speak it that way, except for school. At about second grade I was put in ESOL classes to "learn" how to speak fluent english, the problem they didnt understand that i DID know how to speak english i just chose to speak a little bit of both. So yeah, i can say that many people in South Florida can definetely relate to this article.

Stereotypes of Overtown.

My part of the presentation was pretty much the stereotypes you find when entering Overtown. I reserached an article about a man who moved into overtown to experiment the lifestyle and came across some humiliating moments due to assumation. The first person he met was a Jamaican who he could have sworn liked "reggae" from what he's heard about Jamaican's , but when bringing up the topic came to find that the Jamaican only listened to country music. The second assumption he could have sworn was reality, he met a "chinese" man who when asking when his family arrived from asia was found very offended because he was trinidadian, which is an island predominantly black with ancestors half black half asian. Another very surprising thing i came upon was the fact that his daughter had a field trip for school to the beach and when returning home found herself overwhelmed with all the neighborhood children anxiuos to hear about her visit to the beach. Why were those children so excited about hearing her experiences? because they stated "although we live 15 minutes away from the beach, either our parents are too afraid to let us go because they're scared of how we may be looked at or everyone is always working for a living so there is no form of transportation. My reading only shows a few of the facts about Overtown and yet there is so much more to learn about these unique individuals.

What is a K.A.E?

A kick ass essay huh? wow, how can someone possibly figure out what are the key components to an essay when everyone thinks and writes differently. A good way to be able to show and not tell is by being so descriptive in your wrting that the reader can actually visualize whatever you may be talking about. For example, if your talking about how beautiful you though the beach was, dont just say it was beautiful, go into depth, into the soul of the essay and pull out what was so beautiful about. Was it the water, the sand, the smell, the scenery? Fell free to be a criminal at expression.

What do I consider the difference between subjective and objective to be? In my opinion subjective is, sticking to one topic, not choosing sides but to speak about a certain subject. For example, if the topic happens to be about disneyworld in orlando, florida dont begin talking about the rides in disneyland, california. Be the subject. However objective to me means, proving a point. Sticking to a belief and going along with it, come across with something that you want to be proven.

One characteristic that i strongly believe is needed for a kick ass essay is style/uniqueness. When someone writes an essay it sort of symbolizes one's personality it reflects the writers thoughts and opinions. Or atleast that's how the reader may feel. Now if your this insanely outgoing, hyper, loud and crazy person but write an essay that just puts people to sleep that you didnt have that style, that flavor that just says YOU. To write an essay you should some ind of rythm to keep the reader entertained. Re-read the essay and the minute you, as the exstatic person, find your self lost in boredom than you know you just have to spice it up. Flavor, rythm, style and uniqueness all together make one KEY component for a Kick Ass Essay!

Ruby Bridges Dialogue.

Ruby Bridges Script:

Teacher: Wow, Ruby I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am that you have to go through what you through at such a young age.

Ruby: (with a confused look on her face) What am I going through, Mrs. Henry?

Teacher: Ruby, I know that you might try to avoid it as much as you can but dont you feel the least bit ackward walking through the mob of people looking at you weird each and every morning?

Ruby: What is so ackward about it? Doesn't it always happen to people like me?

Teacher: Yes, but still Ruby it doesn't mean it supposed to happen, the way they shout at you like your nothing in this world.

Ruby: (with another confused look) They shout at me??

Teacher: Yes....they do sweetheart.

Ruby: Oh, mmm maybe I've been praying for them so loud I just don't hear them. But I guess it's a good thing I haven't heard them say those bad words, my mama wouldn't like it.

Ice Breakers.

*Cooperative Musical Chairs*
This activity is a takeoff on the familiar musical chairs game. Set up a circle of chairs with one less chair than the number of students in the class. Play music as the students circle around the chairs. When the music stops, the students must sit in a seat. Unlike the traditional game, the person without a seat is not out. Instead, someone must make room for that person. Then remove another seat and start the music again. The kids end up on one another's laps and sharing chairs! You can play this game outside, and you can end it whenever you wish. Afterward, stress the teamwork and cooperation the game took, and how students needed to accept one another to be successful.

*Two Truths and a Lie*
Object of the Game: Guess which of the three "facts" is the lie. Directions: Everyone comes up with two truths about themselves and one lie. The others have to guess what the lie is. Example: The three things I could say about myself are, "I have been to Africa. I am allergic to horses. And I am one of 11 children." The people guess which of the three is not true. Then, when everyone has made their choice the person reveals the lie, "The lie is I am allergic to horses."

*Gotchya!*
Brief Description: Fast-moving 5 min. group activity to get people together and focused. In a circle, right finger on next person's left palm. Try to grab a finger before yours gets grabbed.