Brianrod

This piece was about black people becoming popular through their actions. It talks about how black people are watched and viewed and how their actions impact their lives. This is shown by a story of Serena Williams, she is a black professional tennis player. Some might say that Serena’s skin color has nothing to do with the sport, but the story that is shared shows how a player/competitor’s skin color can lead them to an advantage or disadvantage. During a match of tennis, Serena was being targeted by the umpire, as in the reading it says that the umpire made at least 5 bad calls. There is no way to prove that the umpire did this because of Serena’s skin color, but due to the fact that the opposing player was white, this is most likely true. What I found very interesting was the injustice that was occurring and how there was no resolution. Serena went on the loose the match, one commentator saying “Capriati wins it with the help of the umpires and the line judges.” (Rankine, pg 134) This is unfair and it is unfortunate to know that this injustice occurs in many sports as some players are targeted because of their skin color. I believe this is a major issue that occurs more often than just in Serena’s case, which is why there should be more action against this injustice so that there is fairness in these major sports. The skin color that someone is born with should not determine how you will be viewed and what others should assume of you. In modern-day, there are more people fighting back violently which is not the right thing to do but is understandable why they are doing it. Serena’s reaction after the match was also surprising to me. She knew she lost because of the bad calls but did not take any violent actions against these umpires who were against her.  She instead cursed at the umpire and was then punished for her actions. People should not be enraged and then punished for making a reasonable action, this is simply injustice. I hope in the future there will be more rules in place to protect these players and bring justice to these competitions.

Rankine, Claudia “Excerpt from Citizen”, Join The Conversation

The reading called “Nu Pagodi: Propaganda for Children of the USSR” is about a boy talking about communism in Russia. After moving to America he realizes and shares many things that have and are happening behind the iron curtain. He talks about a show that he relates to “Tom and Jerry” and shares the significance of the show. He explains that the show is about a wolf trying to catch a bunny, but in the show, there are meanings and references too many real-life things. The wolf portrays the working class and the bunny represents the educated people who carry power and wealth and are succeeding in life. The wolf’s portrayal is very important as it shows the life and hardships that people are facing in Russia due to communism. The reason that the author’s parents moved to America was because they were against communism and the author goes on to say the people are living depressing lives due to communism. This is proved when the story of his grandpa is shared. His grandpa had a very hard life as a teen in Russia and faced many hardships. There are many things that I can distinguish from my life as a teen to the grandpa’s life as a teen. There are many things such as living conditions and education received that are completely different in America. In my opinion, I believe that teens are able to live much easier lives in America as they have more freedom and more free time to do things they want to do in life. Although the author says the show depicts “achievements to be proud of and reasons to believe in the system.”(Yablonovskiy, Pg. 153) he also says that there is a lot of sadness within the country. I am grateful to grow up and live in America and am grateful for the many freedoms that I am given. There are many countries around the world that do not allow these same freedoms such as the USSR as they have their own beliefs to follow.

Yablonovskiy, Leon. “Nu Pagodi: Propaganda for Children of the USSR”. Join the Conversation

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My name is Brian Rodriguez and I am a student at Baruch College. I was born and raised by my parents in Bushwick which is Brooklyn New York. I grew up in New York learning mostly American lifestyles as my parents adapted to the American lifestyle as well. Both my mom and dad were born and raised in the Dominican Republic. They met each other and spent most of their lives in the Dominican Republic. In 1998 my parents came to New York to live the American dream and work their way to success. Now my parents work for me to reach my success and I am also working hard as a Baruch student to achieve my dream. I am a Dominican latino and I am proud to be one as I have no challenges to face because of my race. I don’t believe where I come from defines who I am but it is apart of me. As a Baruch freshman, I am adapting to the college life, this means cutting down time on other of my hobbies such as playing video games. So far my college experience has been great and I am looking forward to hard work and a successful semester.