Monthly Archives: August 2020

Kemara Gopeesingh – Introduction

  1. At the age of  six, I had four ear surgeries in my right ear. It was during school, so I had to stay home for a little over two weeks. I had to wear a big white bandage over my right ear, so nothing would happen to it. Afterwards I had so much trouble hearing in my right ear that I was a little more behind than the  other kids. I was glad to stay home, because it was then that I developed my love for art, but I wasn’t glad  that I stayed home, because I didn’t get to see my friends. 
  2. My sophomore year in high school  had a major impact on me, because that was when my guidance counselor started messing up my schedule pretty bad, and just started messing my whole experience up, because she did something wrong. My sophomore year in high school was also when I started loving graphic design in the graphic design program at my school, and realized I had a passion for it. My senior year also made a major impact on my high school experience, because that was when I joined Model un, where we come up and discuss solutions for modern day problems.
  3. I love bollywood dancing. In bollywood dancing I do two types which is classical and bollywood film. I have only been dancing for five years, which is not that long compared to other dancers. Dancing is another form of therapy, and my form of expression, because it’s not restricting, I can move how I want.
  4. For me, my culture defines me in certain aspects, like my favorite foods, and the kind of my music I listen to. I am from Trinidad and Tobago, an island in the caribbean, and we listen to music like soca, reggae, dancehall and more. Some of the foods I like to eat from my culture are roti, doubles, and more. One thing we are well known for is carnival, and I  love to see the costumes, makeup and just everybody having a good time together.
  5. I don’t really talk about this much but I have an older sister, and we are three years apart. I don’t really look up to her that much. When it comes to me and my sister, I like to do my own thing. However, just because I don’t look up to her, does not mean I don’t love her. Most of the time we fight, but there are rare times we spend a lot of time together just talking. 
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Assignments – Week 2

As you can see, there is a LOT to do this week. Assume that getting through this entire list may take you all the way till next Monday. However, before our Zoom call on Wednesday, September 2nd, please make sure that you have read/watched/listened to the first three items on our list.  You can find links to all of the texts under the “texts” heading at the top of our home page.

1.What – Listen to a short interview with Bridgett Davis that aired on NPR last winter: “Who Ran the Numbers Racket? Mom”

Why – To conclude your exploration of Davis’ memoir and to connect her story of her mother to our semester’s focus on politics, democracy, and personal engagement.

How – As you listen to the interview and reflect on your reading of The World According to Fannie Davis, think about how Davis’ very personal story connects or intersects with larger stories in American history. Please identify one example of how Davis’ story is affected by external historical, political, or societal events.   Please come to class on Wednesday prepared to share your example.

 

2.What – Watch George Takei’s TED talk, entitled “Why I Love a Country That Once Betrayed Me”

Why – To learn how Takei’s family history has affected his own ideas about America and about patriotism.

How – In addition to watching Takei’s TED talk, you might want to google him, so that you can have a fuller sense of who he is. How do you think Takei’s family’s experience during WWII shaped his political and ideological views? Did anything surprise you about Takei’s story?

 

3.What – Read “Chameleon”, a chapter from the South African comedian’s autobiography, Born a Crime.

Why – To begin to think about how our childhood experiences shape our beliefs and political outlooks in preparation for beginning our own personal narratives next week.

How – As you read, please think about what Trevor Noah’s childhood experiences taught him about race, identity, and navigating difference. How might we use his experience and reflections as a way to think about race and identity in America? Please select a line or passage in “Chameleon” that seems to you to be particularly important and have it ready to share when we meet on Wednesday.  Make sure that you have “Chameleon” accessible to you before you log on to our Zoom call!

 

 4.What – Read Angie Cruz’s essay, “What We Deserve.”

Why – To think about how Cruz’s family history  shapes her reaction to the separation of migrant children from their families today.

How – How does Cruz organize her essay? What does she accomplish by setting up her essay this way?  How are her contemporary political views connected to her personal family history?

 

5.What – Read Caitlin Flanagan’s essay “I Believe Her”

Why – This gives us yet another way of thinking about how our own lived experiences shape the way we view the world. How are the personal and the political linked in this essay?

How – How does the fact of Flanagan sharing her own personal story change the way we think about her political views, in this case, her opinion about Justice Brett Kavanaugh?

 

6.What – Compose a written response to any one of the texts assigned this week.  In order to receive credit, your response must be a minimum of 350 words and must be posted to our blog (as a new post) by Monday, September 7th.  Please respond to the following prompts:

-Identify the text you’re writing about and provide a brief description of it.

-What are the central issues raised by this text?

-In this text, how are the personal and the political connected?

-Include a quotation from the text and describe its significance.

-What made you choose this text? How can you connect it to your own experience or to issues that are important to you?

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Rosalia Flores Introduction

Hi my name is Rosalia, but you can call me Rose.

1.The first fact about me is that I am Ecuadorian and Colombian. I come from immigrant parents so growing up I was very involved with my culture and was able to learn a lot about it as well as the language which I can speak to this day. Since I was a child I took a sense of pride in my ethnicity and was happy to share it with other kids. As i grew older I began to see things that pushed me to do otherwise and believe I 1: didn’t fit the physical stereotype of my ethnicity or 2:that I shouldn’t take much pride in it and should focus on whitewashing myself or assimilating. And although I went through this time period, as I grew and was able to meet students of various different backgrounds and through current movements in our country and society, I was able to rebuild my love and confidence for my identity and culture.

Flag of Ecuador - Wikipedia Flag of Colombia - Wikipedia

2.A second fact about me is that I have a very strong interest in music and have a few talents in the subject. I play piano, guitar, and can play a little bit of saxophone. I started playing piano when I was around 10 and later on continued onto other instruments. I play by ear which basically means I am able to listen to a song/musical piece and be able to, naturally play it. It is a little difficult to explain in non musical terms but in short I can listen and play. I also really like to sing, I started exploring that area around middle school and even though I was a band kid, I still auditioned for the choir solo..I know, very strange. But I got it so since then I have been pursuing it as well. Throughout the years I have been able to explore and learn to sing in different genres within the Hispanic community but also outside of it. I can now say my range goes from opera, mariachi, regular pop, to cumbias and so on. And since I have been able to work on myself in the musical area I have been able to use it as a form of expression and a way to make money for some emergencies. I do gigs here and there, of course now with covid-19 this has been very limited, but I do because performing is something I really enjoy.

3.Another fact about me is that I also paint. This is something recent I picked up on some time last year. I was going through a rough time period physically and emotionally. I wasn’t doing so well in the sense that I was very sick and I felt lonely for a long time. I had lost my best friend in a terrible conflict with basically a clique at our school who were just toxic all together. After weeks of dealing with this issue, the unimaginable happened. Well what I thought was unimaginable. He left me for that group of girls, changed some aspects of his personality and would act like he had never associated with me in this life. So of course, me sitting in a hospital bed wasn’t feeling great about all of this. I felt lonely for a long time and developed a lot of negative feelings towards myself. And I dreaded starting my senior year because I felt like the loneliest and most undesirable unwanted, person that could ever exist. And since music and singing was something we had bonded over, I couldn’t continue that activity without feeling all the emotion all over again. So I turned to painting for some time. I wasn’t really good at it because it would mostly just be blobs of color at first or very pinterest inspired cliche paintings, but it helped at the time. And I picked it up again during quarantine and now its something I find very fun to do. I painted my little brothers door with Toy Story Characters and Garfield, Cars, The Lion King. I paint little angels kissing or hugging on the window or wood furniture, I’ve even painted my grandpa that died recently. Because painting is a hobby of mine, but also a form of letting things go, and coping.

4.Another fact about me is that I consider myself an adventurous person. In all aspects really. I like to try new things I haven’t done before because I believe life is too short to be afraid all the time or sit back and be bored. Yes I have a lot of fears like fear of heights and fear of the water since I don’t know how to swim, but I still try to experience as much as I can. I like to take lots of videos and pictures of my experiences and of course this ties into my high interest in taking pictures.

5.I am a food lover. I like to look up new places to go eat at and put them on a list on the notes app. I tend to overeat a lot and end up with a stomach ache sometimes but I’d rather feel that than not get the full experience. I don’t really have a favorite food because it is just too difficult to choose especially with so many different foods from different countries and cultures that I love. But a drink I really really like is boba. I don’t know what caused this but it’s a drink that I can’t refuse no matter the occasion and I inexplicably and unconditionally love it. I also really like Hot Cheetos, I would never combine the two because that would be a sin, but Hot Cheetos are really a comfort food for me.

 

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Introduction – Guadalupe Perez

Five Key Facts about Myself

Hey everyone,

  1. I grew up with my two parents that are very hard working and always seek the best for my siblings and I. I believe that their upbringings cultivated my personality because I too always seek for better for myself and my family. I am the third and last child, therefore I am the baby of the family.

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2. I’m from Queens, New York. Although both my parents were hardworking, money always seemed to be tight because of bills so I never was spoiled and always was/will be humble and appreciative of what I have, regardless,  I will still seek for more of what is best for me.

Ambition: The key ingredient of success

3. I am Mexican-American. It use to bother me when people would think otherwise of my background because people would automatically assume I was from central or south america because of my skin tone. Then at home I would be called too black for my own race, I am darker than most of my family members. I would be called names but that did not bother me. What bothered me was that outside of home I was told I looked nothing like the race I am very prideful of and at home I would be discriminated because I was not light enough. I felt as if I did not really belong because of many colorist comments towards me or comparisons towards my other family members. It happened consistently so it ended up being normal. Now, I think this has shaped who I am today because I try to be very aware of the wrong teachings many family members have taught me and teach myself to be more accepting of who people are.

4. I’ve always been hardworking and charismatic! I started working when I was 12 lol, it was obviously under the books. I would paint little kids faces and would make balloon animals. I always been the type to keep moving forward so after that job I found another one and after that one I would move on to another. I just seemed to always like experiencing new things. I believe that this made me who I am today, all the encounters with people made me realize new things and view the world in different perspectives.

5. I love to go out and explore new places! I enjoy having  conversations with people and hearing their ideology or just hearing them out sometimes. I like to take pictures and am thinking of doing modeling as a side hustle nothing too serious, I hope. Also I am looking for new friends so if you are too, follow me on the insta and text me 🙂 @lvpessss

 

 

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Introduction – Shamima Tahaminah

  1. My name is Shamima Tahaminah and I am a South Asian Eighteen-year-old residing in Brooklyn, New York. The most meaningful part of me is being Bengali. Growing up I got stuck in a battle most people find themselves in one point of their lives: cultural identity. From my childhood, I was torn between a strict traditionally gripping family versus being surrounded by people who didn’t even know Bangladesh was even a country. By the time I reached high school was when I slowly started to appreciate being Bengali because I was able to meet more people just like me. This all taught me that it’s okay to have gone through that even though it’s sad many other people and children have to go through it when we shouldn’t have to but there is progress. I embrace my ethnic background now instead of resorting to being whitewashed just to fit in.
  2. Because I was Bengali and a woman on top of that I struggled with a great deal of sexism around me. I lost some of my childhood because I was expected to act mature and more “womanly” though I was only ten/eleven. My experiences of that were my first dipping my toes into the feminist world. I believed women didn’t have have to do what a man told them or to do specific tasks.
  3. High School was my biggest jump into the world of feminism and gender equality. I went to Aviation High School and since the Aviation industry is a male dominant industry a lot of the shop teachers were male other than two female instructors out of sixty men. It wasn’t easy being a female were the instructors constantly doubting a girl’s capability to do a task, making impropriate comments, which all led to inflating the male’s students’ ego’s to look down on their female classmates. I was more than excited to take part in a turning point in our school when “Women in Aviation International” was formed in my junior year. My active participation and dedication led me to become the President my senior year. This experience really made me proud to call myself a feminist making me more than prepared to take on anything a man can do.
  4. Though my High School experience wasn’t the best I really am happy I was able to learn many things there. All the different parts of a plane, learning and doing repairs, and perfecting my hand skills for this trade. I’ve met many people along my journey the most memorable being JetBlue’s CEO Robin Hayes, and the very first female pilot hired by a commercial airline Bonnie Tirburzi. Being able to JFK to visit American Airlines and Delta’s hangar. These were all things that aspired me to dream big and were my pick up points when I was at my lowest.
  5. Lastly would be me being a Muslim. Being Muslim shaped my entire life and made me learn to love and embrace a part of me when there was negativity surrounding it. Islam taught me peace and made me a better person. I am happy to say I love my religion and am striving to learn more about it.

 

 

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Introduction-Brenda Cortes

-Self care is a very important aspect of my life.Taking care of your internal needs as well the physical ones are both just as important.Realistically speaking,when I am externally taken care of,something as simple as taking a shower can make you feel more at ease.It is important to prioritize your mental health because it is the root of your being.In order to be the best version of yourself your mind and soul have to be at peace.

-I was raised by my two parents.Not everyone has the luxury of growing up in a household with both a father and a mother figure.Throughout the years, that has only taught me that love is the key factor in any kind of relationship.My parents have always kept a balance between each other and always respected one another.Growing up in a loving home has made me realize that although there might be hardships from time to time, with love there is always a solution.This has shaped me to be a very understanding person, who sees the world from every perspective in order to acknowledge the different viewpoints with kindness.

-I come from a mexican background.I grew up surrounded by hard working men and women.This has influenced me to develop perseverance within my character and just strive to do best at what I do. This has also made me very grateful for the life my parents have worked hard to give me.This motivates me to succeed in all my task in order to make them proud and give them what they deserve.

-I am also very down to earth. I am a very open minded person who is always open to stepping out my comfort zone and trying something new. I feel like everyday there is something new to learn and we should live every day with no regrets.At the end of the day we only have one life.With that being said,I am a very adventurous person.I like to feel the adrenaline in my vains and the excitement when I try new things.

-Music is also a very important aspect of my life.It has helped me overcome very difficult times in my life.I would even say that this has been a form of therapy for me.Listening to music helped me cope with what I go through by helping me reflect on certain events.Music is the bestfriend I never had.

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Introduction- Tasmia Hasham

Hello my name is Tasmia and the first fact about me is that i’m Bengali. Being Bengali has become a huge part of me because of its culture. Growing up I didn’t appreciate my culture like I wish I had, I felt uncomfortable wearing my traditional clothing around other people and that was because I was mainly friends with white people so I thought it would be weird of me to ever wear traditional dresses. As I grew older I’ve learned to really appreciate my culture even though I still have a lot of learning to do. I’m really trying my best to embrace and incorporate my culture in my life more often. I’m proud to say that I’m comfortable with wearing my traditional dresses out in the public as well as educating my other friends about my culture.

  

Another thing to know about me is that I am the youngest in the family as well as the only girl. I have two older brothers who are my best friends, they have impacted me so much In a positive way because they have teached so many valuable lessons. I also know that if I ever needed to talk to anyone my brothers would gladly listen to me without any judgment and even though I don’t have a sister they truly try their best to understand in a female perspective for me which is something I really appreciate.

 

 Jermaine Lamarr Cole- also known as J Cole. I truly love this man, I love his music so much and anyone that knows me knows that. His music is something that I love listening to when I’m sad or happy because anytime I listen to him it’s just a vibe. He’s also someone that I look up to because of how inspirational he really is, throughout his whole career he’s shown me that if I want something then I should get it and that it requires a lot of hard work. 

Review: J. Cole's 'K.O.D' - Rolling Stone

I am a really outgoing person so being around people who are quiet makes me uncomfortable because then I get shy. But usually once I get to know you I am great vibes well at least I think so. I love trying new things and I’m really open-minded and accepting of others. Oh and I love Harry Potter and if you don’t then I don’t know what to say.

I also love shoes, I used to be obsessed with it in middle school but lost my interest in high school but about a year ago I started getting back into it and have been buying shoes since then which my mom is very mad about. But shoes are something that actually makes me happy which might sound weird but I’m happy that I’ve gotten back into it.

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Introduction- Jesus Medina

. I was born in the Dominican Republic and lived there for 8 years of my life. While I lived there, my mom took care of me and my two older sisters by herself because my dad lived here. At the time i didn’t realize it but as I grew up I gained more respect for my mom for doing a great job raising me and my sisters.

. When I moved to New York I finally got to live with my dad, but it was a very hard time for me. I left behind my friends, I didn’t know english, I wasn’t used to cold weather, and overall didn’t meet my expectations. I wanted to go back but eventually I adapted and now I can’t see myself living there.

. When I was a younger I used to play a lot of video games. Even though I don’t play them as much anymore I still consider them a part of me. I have countless of amazing memories playing video games. Not just playing, but interacting and socializing with my friends. It is always a good time.

. Music is also a big part of me. No matter what mood I am in, there’s something I can always listen to. It helps me express myself, relax, and put me in a better mood. Im always listening to music no matter what I’m doing.

. I consider myself to be a very adventurous person. I am very open minded when trying new things and I am always trying to do something. I like exploring new areas I’ve never been in too.

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Thierno Diallo’s introductory

I am a Muslim. This is a huge part of my life because this allows me to live my life a certain way in which I want to live it.  Being a Muslim is a huge reason to why I’m … Continue reading

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Introduction-Elijah Gonzalez

  1. Hello, my name is Elijah and I am 18 years old.  A lot of what makes me who I am comes from my responsibilities as an older brother of 6 children. I do not live with all of my siblings as my parents are separated. I am often entrusted of picking the kids up from school, watching over them when our parents are away and all in all being a good role model for them. This caused me to be the  responsible and mature person I am today.
  2. My ethnicity is Puerto Rican and Irish. Both of my parents are Puerto Rican but my mom is also Irish. I can’t say that we practice any type of Irish cultures, but we definitely practice some of our Spanish culture, often time by food. Sadly, I am a part of many Puerto Ricans that grew up in a Spanish household but do not know how to speak Spanish.
  3. I am a proud member of the LGBTQ community and will continue to be even if my likes and dislikes change. Ive seen first hand of the discrimination placed on people of the LGBTQ community just for living life the way we choose to. I live for the annual pride parades as they are a showcase of the grand community and love that we have for each other. There is strength in community.
  4. My parents separated when I was very little, so I don’t have any memory of them being together. I lived under the care of my mother, and while I had a great childhood there was a number of hardships I endured under my mothers care. Although my parents are separated and have been most of my life, My mother and my dads side of the family are very much interactive and intact. My dads family took care of my mother and her siblings when she was younger as she was under the care of her drug abusive mother. This is beneficial for me because it does not give me a sense of having two different families, but instead having a very large blended one.
  5. Now more than ever, I try to focus on the things that make me happy and promote my self care. From listening to music to getting a tattoo, My self care has never been more important to me. I think it’s important for people to block out all other factors once in a while to just really pay attention to their self and only focus on what make them happy.
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