Blog Experience (My Make Up Blog)

This whole blog experience was a success. I would of never thought blogging could be so interesting. I thought it was just for softies who just want to share their feelings. I was wrong. This whole blogging thing is cool. I'm glad this was a class activity. It really gives people a chance to really speak their mind. Its nice.

Thanks Mr. Kunkle for the cool experience you gave us. It really brings out our creative side.

And no this isn't some smooch, suck up-thing I'm writing..

Meaning of Music

Music. It's my life. Music makes the world go around. Its great. Since everyone in class has done a cool writing presentation, I have a whole new perspective on what songs and music means. I am a huge rap fun, but it just seems like a bunch of crap to me. Yes, for the most part it's about sex and drugs. Most people would agree with that. I used to think Hip-Hop was dead, but I've had a change of heart. It might sound like a bunch of crap, but deep inside it means something personal to the singer. Everyone has a different way of interpreting lyrics, there is nothing wrong with that either.

What really got me into lyrics was the rapper Lupe Fiasco. He has so much to say. Most people don't really like him, but you have to give him a chance and listen to him. He says so much influential stuff that is positive. I think everyone has that one artist that they love. This is the guy that really moves me.

You know, I don't really think people appreciate music as they should. Music is such a great art. It brings meaning. It's not just for entertainment, its life. I just want people to really look into the music and dig deep down and see what songs means. Hey, it could change your prospective on things.

Comedy Back in the Day..

When we were watching a movie about racial comedy in class, I really was disturbed in a way. It just sucks how black people were treated back in the day. What really disturbed me was how the white guys would paint or dab on a black material to make them look dark. Then they would perform a comedy act for the people. I don't know how this was funny. Everyone knew they were just making a parody of blacks. The thing that was really disappointing was that blacks did the same thing. I don't believe that is right at all.

There were also pictures of blacks that have oversized lips and other things like that. It just makes me think, "How could blacks ever forgive whites for this?" It just doesn't all add up right to me.

People shouldn't make fun of each other. Have love, not war on each other, ya know?

What is Race, Anyways?

The other day in class, we had a very interesting discussion about what exactly is race. We were split up into three groups and analyzed articles about race. I read the article about when a principal gathered the whole student body and asked who will ask "outside of their race" for prom. Some people raised their hands, then the principal cancelled prom. That was a huge eye-opener. The funny thing is that the same man became the superintendent of that school later on. I don't know how that would work. The article was very scientific. It really confused me at first.

Anyways, it just really got me thinking about what really splits people's ethnicity up. I personally think everyone is the same no matter what. It just happens to be that people are darker than others, and people have different eyes. Race is much more than skin. Maybe it's genetics that really splits us up, who knows? Either way, we are all unique in our own way. Who cares if you're "this" or "that." Be proud of what you are. Don't let people knock you down.

Thats all I got to say.

Speaking of Color!

With all this hype about color and finding your true race, I have a story that made me think twice about my ethnicity. Now don't get me wrong, I do feel that I know my true race, but this experience had me thinking hard.

One day in the summer I was with my good friend Lucas. We decided to ride bikes one day because we didn't want to waste gas. Plus, we just wanted to ride like we did back in the day. Anyways, we decided to go all around. After awhile, we went in the Secret Places neighborhood. We were about to turn back until we saw a house with a huge basketball court. We made our way and checked it out. It had a nice pool and everything. It was like we saw a celebrity's house in a way.

After the house, we kept riding and went down this one street right behind the house. It looked very suspicious, but we still strolled down it. I have to tell you, it was the most awkward situation I was ever in. The street we went on was a dead-end and there were black people just everywhere outside their house staring us down. Even though I am part black, I felt so weird. It was really like the scene in Caucasia.

It was also like that stereotypical neighborhood you see in movies where everyone is blasting music outside, while kids are playing in the water and the grown ups are playing cards.

So as we were riding down the dead-end street, they kept looking at us like we didn't belong. One person even told us, "you guys better get out of here before something bad happen." I was scared, no joke.

We dipped out of there immediately. It was a big shocker. I will never forget that day. It was an eye opener. I didn't know what to think after that. I was really thinking about my race. I was questioning if I was white or black. Yes it sounds sad, but I just couldn't believe the way they were staring at me. Since I am somewhat dark, I thought they wouldn't give evil looks like that.

Just a great experience though.

Metaphors that Kill

About a week and a half ago, we read a little article about Desert Storm that was called Metaphor and War. The article was basically a huge metaphor and how war can kill. It really was a great article. It had great examples on all levels. One of the greatest references it had was that Kuwait was described as "rape." That is pretty good.

We later did a reflection and were asked to come up with one example of a metaphor that represents our life. I chose a roller coaster as my metaphor. I chose this because I have lots of ups and downs with loops and corkscrews. I also said it was a never-ending roller coaster. I think a lot of people would choose this as a metaphor too. Anyone can relate to that.

Censorship

Recently in class we have been talking about censorship. We also read the story Palm Sunday. It was a very interesting story. I totally agree that it's not fair to ban books from schools and burn them. I think that if you don't let students read those "obsurd" book, they won't have certain knowledge or experiences needed that are out there in the real world.

There was another point that was brought out. If the school committee were to hook up lie-decetors on the students and ask them if they have ever read a book from front to back since high school, the students would not pass them. They made a very good point from this. In most cases, it is true. Most students don't read books front to back. It's just a fact.

Overall, I don't think schools should ban books. It really takes away from learning if you think about it.