On the res·er·va·tion

     Before reading this blog I have one thing to say.

Mr. McCarthy I highly suggest we have our first field trip to some sort of amazing reservation when the weather gets warmer. That would be great~ Let us take a journey like Thomas and Victor.

According to a online source, an American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. The purpose of reservations was to provide the natives homes and land for agriculture.  I must say having your own little land to yourself is quite nice. Unfortunately, many Natives Americans struggled through cruel conditions. Well, that is the way I see it. From watching Smoke Signals (which was a very entertaining movie, “HEY VICTOR”) which took place in Coeur d'Alene Reservation, my views on what a typical Indian reservation shifted a bit. The reservation was not too big which I imagined, there was absolutely no traffic which is a plus, and everyone seemed very conservative.

                To tell you the truth, I was not 100% sure what the point of the movie was besides the fact we are reading about discrimination towards Indians and how they are viewed upon, but I guess after watching this movie I had a good laugh and I had the chance to see another type of reservation. I guess I have to read other people’s blogs and learn more facts.

Propaganda

What is propaganda? 

PROPAGANDA = BADDDDD 

PROPAGANDA = "must read information" 

Propaganda is the manipulation of public opinion. It is information, ideas or rumors deliberately spread through media that may harm a person, group, movement, or nation. Although it has a negative connotation, it is used as an attempt to shift opinions persuasively by presenting new ones. There are good and bad propagandists. All propagandists use varieties of techniques in order to express their issue or subject. But remember it is important for the reader to understand these methods and understand the purpose of the propaganda before being biased. Think twice before you click on that online article or People magazine.  

    There is no correct meaning for propaganda but it has been debated. In my opinion I believe propaganda is a bad thing. My mother warns me not to pay attention to such garbage, but I do find People magazines and E! news quite entertaining. I have not been exposed to "good" propaganda recently or ever so if anyone could tell me where I could find it that would be great. I guess you can say our school's Beacon is a good propaganda. I have discovered juicy rumors about CPS especially on Facebook.   

  http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/the_awful_truth/index.html <<<< check out that

tsk tsk. Bad stuff

WOW IT'S A WHITE ONE!

    Black Boy has been one of the most interesting books we have read so far, but I must say Beat Street is an awesome movie. I was wondering what was the point of watching Beat Street since it is not so relevant to our reading, but now I have realize watching this movie gives us the determination to strive what we love and to give it your all. Beat Street takes place in the 1980’s where a couple of young men (boys) try to make their biggest dreams come true. Lee wants to be a famous break-dancer. Kenny wants to make it big with his DJ-ing skills at nightclubs and Ramon wants to express his love for graffiti.

     This movie was really inspiring for people who have the passion for art. All the characters stood out to me but Ramon stood out for me the most. When you want to become recognized, you need to make some changes and even take some risks. Ramon definitely took risks. His father was unhappy of what he was doing and his girlfriend wanted to be together with his child. Ramon looked for any opportunity to express his art. Every time he saw a clean wall or luckily a white train he used it as his canvas. He showed and expressed his graffiti in that way. He took graffiti as something he would do for the rest of his life. People looked at graffiti as vandalism but he took it for something of his own. I think we can learn from this movie.

HUNGRY FOR ATTENTION

     Richard Wright is a young boy hungry for attention.

1. Burning his house on fire

2. Killing a kitten

3. Getting drunk at the age of 6

4. Learning how to count

These are some of the actions Richard took in order to receive attention, either from his parents or from random people on the street. Of course Richard is not alone. I do not blame Richard for his actions. That is just what every child wants. Attention. Am I right? In most causes kids always want to impress their parents. For some reason Richard has this strong desire for attention. In most cases, his original intentions result in becoming out of hand. “Hunger stole upon me slowly that at first I was not aware of what hunger really meant… It had been a normal hunger that had made me beg constantly for bread, and when I ate a crust or two I was satisfied.” Although, Richard was referring to hunger relating to food, I took it as if he was explaining about his fetish for attention. Once you receive the attention you wanted you are satisfied. But in Richard’s case, anything he does is not enough. When you do not get the satisfaction you want, the hungry will control you. (That’s just in my opinion).

     Young Richard isn’t alone in his craving. Everyone always longs for some attention. When you are young, when you are a teenager and even when you are an adult. At school the one person in your class who tries to be funny and talks too much, is the person who is hungry for attention. Or that is just the way they are. A little boy who takes his father literally by killing a kitten is hungry for attention. Or he is just being a kid. OR he is out of his mind.   

I am hungry for attention.

Sometimes…

(S.S.R.R part 2) On Being a Mexican American & How Being an Immigrant Shaped my Life

    After reading all the short stories, poems and articles from What is an American, I've come to the conclusion that "On Being a Mexican American" by Joe I. Mendoza and "How Being an Immigrant Shaped my Life" by Sonia Pressman Fuentes  were the best of my interest. Both articles seemed to grab my attention the most. Even though I am neither a Mexican American nor an immigrant the feelings they portrayed seem to sink into me.

     "On Being a Mexican American"

Joe Mendoza was a Mexican born in the U.S.A. As a young boy he was very proud of what and who he was. As he grew older, he experienced feelings of angry and confusion. He experienced his first time of segregation. Before long, his thoughts about who he was and how people react towards different cultures soon expanded. More things in his life were changing and he later became "anglocized" or "acculturated". The realization and feelings he felt was what a typical ______ (<< fill in some sort nationality) American would go through life. Right? Well, that’s what I think at least. While reading his life story there was many things he said that I happened to agree on. For example, his first sentence “It is important for Mexican Americans to accept the fact that they are a unique group at a crossroads.” True but it’s also for other cultures as well. For me Filipino American’s have a huge fact to accept their culture and especially their language, Tagalog. “But there was always a source to turn to for emotional first aid -- one's family and friends.” This is true for everyone. No one else but your family and friends can understand you the most and how you feel.

There were so many other things Mendoza said that I can absolutely agree on but I believe his voice speaks for everyone not just Mexicans.

Eventually, I became aware that I did not really fit in with this group. And yet, I could not dismiss a new feeling -- that of still needing to be a Mexican. When I returned to my school, I had a different outlook. Although I thought I had been safely "acculturated," I found I could not so easily forget my past.

Today there is a menu of terms from which we may select a label. Should we select Mexican American, Chicano, Latino, or Hispanic? It is interesting to note that recently arrived Mexicans are not confused, for they know who they are. I submit that it is the members of the second or third generation in the U.S. who have problems with having to choose -- or with having someone else choose for them.

     “How Being an Immigrant Shaped my Life"

     I am not an Immigrant but there is one thing I can agree on with this article. While reading Sonia Pressman Fuentes’s story, I noticed I kept nodding my head. Her attitude and voice came to me and I realized I could relate this to Filipinos (I tend to connect my culture with these type of stories). When she had to move from Germany to America she wondered how her life would be different if she never left Germany. When you become an immigrant especially at a young age, you come to think being an immigrant saved your life but it has stolen or striped you away from your childhood. I talk or hear a lot of the feelings my aunts, uncles, or cousins have to say when it comes to their home land and America. American is the land of opportunity and a better way of living. Right? In the end of this story it was the happy satisfaction Sonia realized that coming to America was a good change and that being an outsider is a valuable.  

                  M: "Hey John...."
                  J: "Ya?" (...)
                  M: "Can't wait for that
                  three day weekend huh?"
                  J: "Totally."  

January 17^th, 2011 is not the day we have Monday off but a day no one should ever forget. It is somewhat like a holiday, definitely a celebration, but a day for America to remember the work of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the first national holiday to honor an individual black American. This man helped change America. He screamed to the world and spoke out for justice for colored people, for an end to racial discrimination.

“Everyone knew that the sky is colored blue, that a spring lawn is green. But we have always argued about what to color man. King gave us the answer: Do not color him a yellow man. Do not color him a black man. Do not color him a white man. Color him or her human. It's time for a different hue.”

            Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. didn't just change the course of EVERY LIVING person in his generation but has changed those born the next generation then the next, next, next generation. He has dramatically made a difference changing the lives of everyone in the US. Thinking about King and the dramatic changes he created is just like thinking WHAT IF us humans never created google or the computer. He will still be relevant in 2011 till the end of the world. His legacy will never be forgotten.  

       .

* S.S.R.R *

“Children of the Sea” was by far the best story I’ve read so far. After finishing the last journal, I felt though it was a too short for a short story. It would be 1000x better if it were a book. I could read the entries forever if there were more. All the suspense I got was crazy after each and every journal the man and the woman wrote. I literally put down the iPad (I was using it to read the story) and just shook my head. I was disappointed. Disappointed that it was over, not because the ended sucked cough* The Great Gatsby. The books I enjoy to read are books\short stories like “Children of the Sea”. The goal in any author is to catch the reader’s attention and this book definitely kept me going. The fact that these journal entries were never send to both the man and female we very fascinating for me. Through all the entries their love and pain they  expressed was so deep and powerful while I was reading.    

       “To be Young Gifted and Black”, “I Hear America Singing”, “There was a Child Went Forth” and “This Sacred Soil” were all decent. Out of them all I liked the second reading “To Be Young Gifted and Black”. I found it interesting to discover the similarities and differences I had with the narrator. Especially the feelings she had once something occurred in her lifetime. I liked how she always seemed curious and asked herself questions and stated her thoughts she didn’t really understand, like what we all tend to do. The other poems were okay as well. They didn’t really grab my attention so much but they were interesting. There was no suspense or deep emotions (or maybe it was just how I felt about it). I’m not into poems or making my own.

  KRICK? KRACK!