Short Story

"I swear. If she says one more thing to me..." I stopped suddenly. Biggie wasn't even paying attention. He was busy playing some game on his PSP. "Biggie. Biggie. BIGGIE!!" I screamed. He looked at me like I'd punched him in the face. "What is it Denise? I'm about to beat my high score!" We were sitting on the front steps of my house, something we did often in the summertime. Biggie leans against the stairail playing one of his many games and I rant about whatever is on my mind. "It's Ashely. I just don't understand why she needs to have thirteenth birthday party the same day I have mine. Her birthday is a week after her party. What is the point of that?!" Biggie didn't respond. He just went back to playing his game. Biggie is my best friend. He's lived next door since we were in third grade. His real name is Byron, but for whatever reason his family calls him Biggie. The first time I went to his house, I heard his older brother call him "Biggie" and so I did too. He didn't seem to mind me saying it. However, if anyone else makes that mistake, I suggest they get away from him fast. I don't really know why I thought I could have a conversation with him about my problems. Especially problems with Ashely Michelle Blair. I swear she's been trying to destroy my life since third grade. I mean, before we were okay. I could be in the same room with her and not want to choke her. But when Biggie moved into our neighborhood, everything went completely down hill.

Cosmic Love

The song I chose to analyze was Cosmic Love by Florence and the machine. Before I really looked at the lyrics, I just knew that the song was about love and possibly a relationship ending badly. When I looked up the lyrics, more of what was being said started to make sense and I could clearly see what was going on.
In the beginning she says "A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes. I screamed aloud as they tore threw them and now its left me blind." While reading this, I figured that the person she was in a relationship with did something so wrong to her that it left her devastated. She was in a state where she didn't no how to move on or could not see a way to move on.
The chorus which is said repeatedly is essential to understanding the song. She says "The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out. You left me in the dark. No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight. In the shadow of your heart." After analyzing the chorus, I think she's saying that he was her everything and when he hurt her, everything was completely gone, completely blown away. He left her in the dark, and when she is in the dark she can't see a way to move on. She will always be stuck in this situation.
At one point she says that she could even hear his heartbeat in the darkness and she tries to find it. But then his heartbeat stops and she realizes that she is completely alone in the darkness. I think she wants to go back to the relationship but it seems that he has moved on and now her life is completely taken over by darkness.
The last thing that is said before the chorus is repeated is "I took the stars from our eyes and then I made a map, and knew somehow I could find my way back. Then I heard your heart beating, your were in the darkness to, so I stayed in the darkness with you." She wants to move on so she is trying to have a new outlook on life and find her way back to a good place in life. However, though he hurt her, without her he is in the darkness as well. He doesn't know how to move on with his life either. So she decides that she will stay with him and that they will go through this difficult time together.

On The Reservation

Reservation: A tract of land reserved for use by an American Indian tribe. Interesting isn't it? Technically before America was "discovered" by Christopher Columbus, the Native Americans lived here. They respected the resources, never taking more than what they needed. Yet they were still cheated out of their land and eventually given small reservations. However, reservations still do not completely belong to Native Americans because the government has the ability to take away land and do with it what they please. Many of the reservations have key resources that we use everyday. However Native Americans don't have as much of a say in what happens with their own resources. Living on the reservation today would be difficult. Because there is so much controversy between the Native Americans and the government, money is usually low and modernization has not completely taken over. Life on the reservation today is much like it was in Montana 1948. However, I don't necessarily think that there is so much distaste for Native Americans as there once was. Many people in the book are prejudice against Native Americans and have no respect for their culture at all just because it may be different. One good example is David's father. Although David claims that his dad is not a racist, his actions and many things he says say otherwise.

Propaganda 2011

Propaganda is information or rumors spread to either help or harm has been used for years to change the opinions of people or at least have them leaning toward one particular thing over another. For example, during World War I, many countries used posters as a way to get men to join the army. They would have catchy slogans that made war seem like the best thing in the world. If you were not fighting in the war, then you were just wasting your life away when you could be helping out your country. They came up with posters that appealed to women to make them feel like sending their husband out to fight was okay and they should be happy that their husbands were serving their country.
I think in 2011, propaganda still exists especially in politics. Politicians will give a bad image to voters about their opponents to make themselves look good. This has been going on however since before 2011. Think back to the last presidential election. There were countless numbers of comics and posters portraying President Obama as a monkey or some other animal. Many people were told that President Obama was born in Kenya and there was absolutely no way that he could be running for president in the first place. People actually thought they had copies of his birth certificate which said that he was born in Kenya. Commercials were twisted so that everything he said was negative in one way or another.
Another example of propaganda is however in 2011. The Army commercials. You see them all the time on television. They always talk about the things the army can do for you and talk about how you can become "Army Strong". What they don't exactly tell you is what happens after you finish training, serve your time and come home. Why is it that so many of our veterans can not find jobs and our even homeless on the street after everything they have done for us. Really, they need soldiers so they are tricking people and not necessarily giving them the benefits of becoming a soldier.

Rap Today...Has it Changed?

Rap music is a very popular in today's society. However, it very different from how it used to be. I mean, we listen to people like Drake, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj. Some of their lyrics make you say "Wow! I can't believe they came up with something like that." Rappers today are very creative indeed, however, to be creative, it seems like you always have to talk about something vulgar. You can't just have a clean rap song. Now, don't get me wrong. I like all of the above artists. Just what we hear today is nothing like what it used to be.
Why is it like that now? I think one reason is, rappers feel like they aren't saying things that appeals to kids, their music isn't going to sell. For example, the song Successful, Drake featuring Lil Wayne and Trey Songz started out at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. Only a few weeks later it moved to number 17 on the list. Why is that? Well in the song, he says he wants to be successful and that he wants the money, cars and the cloths. He makes it seem like you are successful only if you have those things, and an ample amount of each. Kids today are all about being rich. And now, they think when they have these things, they will finally be successful. It's just all about appealing to us or else, your music won't make any money.

Hungry for Attention

Is Richard alone in his hunger for attention? Little Richard has had a very harsh life even though he is only now six years old. His mother constantly beats. his father has left the family on their own for another woman. Therefore, Richard has had to step up and do things a lot faster than most children. Often times, he acts out and does things to get attention. Because his mother does not really give him attention at home, he is so open to other individuals and trusts so many other people thinking they will show him some attention.
Richard is not the only one who hungers for attention or anything for that matter. His mother also hungers for help, a job and maybe some attention for the situation that she is; her husband has left and her job does not make enough to feed the family. She tries very hard to support Richard and his brother but eventually she just cannot and sends them to an orphanage where she knows they will be taken care of. At one point, she takes the father to court but the court believes him when he says he is doing all he can to support his family. Later on she asks him for money flat out but he refuses to give her anything.
Ultimately, his mother hungers for attention meaning she won't pay any attention to Richard. When she doesn't pay attention to him, he then has to act out to get attention from other people.

How It Feels to be Colored Me

How It Feels to be Colored Me was written by Zora Neale Hurston in which she talks about her views on black and white people.
As Hurston was growing up, the difference between black and white was irrelevant. All she knew was that there were no white people that lived in her neighborhood. She would entertain people as they passed through her town, both black and white. Honestly, those days where you are ignorant to the difference between black and white are the best. You have no prejudice against anyone. There is only one race and that's the human race.
It wasn't until she went off to school that she really became aware that she was an African American person. Even then it didn't bother her. She wasn't ashamed to be African American and she continued to live her life. She finally did start taking notice of some of the differences between black and white. She would observe people when they were taken out of a setting where everyone looked like them. However, when she was in a setting like that herself, she still felt at ease.
An interesting quote was "I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored". These quotes bring us back to the question, what is an American? Is America really one country with many different cultures and races? As it stands, I don't think America can really defined by one race. And just like Zora Hurston, we shouldn't have separate feelings about being a certain race and American.

Is King still King?

Is King still King? Or has King day just become another day we don't have school? Honestly, it seems like its just another day off. I mean think about it; when teachers say, "Oh, no school Monday because it's Dr. King day", do we really say, "Yes!! A day off where I can go learn about Dr. King!". No it's more like, "Yes!! That means there is going to be a party Sunday and I have an extra day to chill or do all the work that I haven't done for the past three weeks". Of course his ideas are extremely important because he helped shape society into the way it is now. However very few people nowadays seem to really appreciate all that he did for us.
Dr. King protested against segregation laws and racism throughout America. He shaped the way for people like President Obama to be where they are today. So why do we just see his day as a day off from school? One reason is probably because people think because Dr. King did what he did, everything is all good. We can just do what we want now and maybe think about his ideals when Dr. King day rolls around. But really, if we don't watch it, history will repeat itself. Someone else is eventually going to have to step up and protest for other things, or else, our generations are just going to keep getting worse. And when things keep getting worse, then what are we going to do?

To Be Young, Gifted and Black

The story that I picked for my first Reader's Response is To Be Young, Black and Gifted by Lorraine Hansberry. Hansberry was raised on the south side of Chicago, exactly where I am being raised today. In the excerpt that I read, she talks about a few things that she experienced growing up. One thing she says is "We were the products of the proudest and most mistreated of the races of man". My question is are we still the most mistreated and are we African American still proud to be who we are?
As far as mistreatment and racism goes, it definitely still exists. The different cases may not be as extreme as they once were but that doesn't mean they are gone. For example; sometimes when my family goes to the store, the employees might watch us or ask us unnecessary questions about credit, or ask for phone numbers when they didn't ask any other customer that wasn't black. Both of these instances were subtle, but that doesn't mean they aren't there.
Are African Americans still proud to be who they are today? Well I am definitely proud to be African American. I wouldn't have it any other way. But sometimes I think there are instances of self hate which is why we have problems in African American communities. Instead of focusing on yourself and trying to better yourself, you look at another African American person and instantly dislike them because of what they are trying to achieve and how well they are doing. We just aren't as proud as we once were.

Willennium

Winter break has just started. Christmas is on it's way, and after that the New Year will be approaching fast. Need something to listen to for the new year? Try a not so new CD; Willennium. This CD came out in 1999 as we were going to approach a new millennium. It was Will Smith's second hit solo album.
Try listening to the song "Will 2K". It takes about New Years Eve. The excitement that a new year is approaching fast and what is going to happen when it finally arrives is the main theme. It might even make you think about what you were doing the night before the new millennium arrived. Probably not much because most of us were only five, but still we there for the new year.
Or try listening to another hit song on the album "Wild Wild West". In 1999, Will Smith starred in a movie entitled Wild Wild West with Kevin Kline. The song was the fist song from his new album to hit the radio and just like the movie, it was very popular.
Just because you need something new to listen to, doesn't mean it has to be from a well known artist or something from 2010. Nowadays, songs are considered old after the first month. And not necessarily the first month after they are put out on the radio because once they are on the radio, their old. Songs are old about a month after that individual hears the song. It doesn't have to be like that. Try going back to 1999 and she what find.