Ema said she was leaving. For, unlike her parents, she had to be at school bright and early that morning. She slipped on her shoes and walked out the heavy front door. She walked timidly and swiftly through the halls of her building, on her way to the subway.

How grown and mature she has become, Olivia Marcus thought of her; a quiet yet friendly young woman of the age of nineteen, with a touch of elegance in her stride. For having lived in the building – how many years now? About fifteen – her growth is always taken by surprise and shock to her neighbors, who remember her as the little kindergartner she was when she first moved there.

“Hi, how are you?” Olivia asked. Mindlessly, Ema smiled and nodded hello and resumed her walk to the train station. Was she going to make it in time? She covered the two block distance to the train station in no time. As she swiped her metrocard and passed through the turnstile a train approached the platform. What a delight! How perfect! It was only on rare occasions that Ema, or really any of her fellow commuters, did not have to wait at least 10 minutes for the R train, the most dreadfully running train line of the entire subway system. She took a seat and pulled out the book she was currently reading for English class, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, and idly read it until she arrived at her stop: 23^rd street. Just in time.

On Monday morning at 7:30 a.m., Andrew gets out of bed to get ready to leave for school. He lazily turns off his alarm and heads to the bathroom.  After washing up, he puts on clothes and gets ready to leave the house. Fortunately for him, Andrew’s mother is able to drop him off at Flushing Main St. Andrew closes his eyes to take a quick nap in the car.  His mother sees how tired he is, and says “he probably slept late again.” Once at Main St, he leaves the car and walks towards the train station.  As he is walking he says to himself, “it’s so cold outside.”  He puts his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, and tries to protect himself from the cold breeze.  Finally at the 7 train station, Andrew starts to walk faster, hoping to find a seat in the train.  The train is already packed with not a single seat available.  Forced to stand, Andrew hopes the train ride is not long. After 20 minutes, he transfers to the 6 train at Grand Central.  There is no point on looking for a seat in the 6 train. There is never an open seat at this time.  It is extremely crowded in the train, and Andrew can barely breathe. Luckily, his stop is only 3 stops away.  It won’t even take more than 8 minutes.  A flood of people leave at 33 st.  Thank goodness. Much more space in the train.  Without delay, the train arrives at 23st. Time for Andrew to get off. He now walks towards Baruch while hoping he can stay awake for his classes.

It is yet another foggy and chilly morning in Long Island. Morris, who foolishly stayed up late binge watching Fx’s new show “Atlanta,” lays on his bed cringing at the thought at getting up and beginning his long and strenuous trek to school. He slowly lifts his lazy ass out of bed, gets dressed, brushes his teeth, and heads downstairs. He walks into the kitchen and sees a fresh omelet prepared for him on the glass table. He glances over at the time, it is 6:30am and Morris is not hungry in the slightest. Morris stood there half asleep and thought to himself, “how could any one be hungry at this hour?” Regardless, he crams the eggs into his mouth, slips his shoes on, and locks the door. As he gets into his car, Morris connects his phone to the aux cord and plays his favorite morning tunes. Pulling into the train station, Morris lucky got the last parking spot in the entire lot. As he gets out the train is pulling in, he had just made it. He enters the train and sits at a vacant spot. The train is empty but not for long. Morris tries to shut his eyes however the lights from the train were so penetrating he is unable to. As the train was arriving to the next stop Morris spots a friend of his from high school also commuting to the city. Tony, Morris’ friend gets on and sits next to him. Noting that Morris is both sleepy and cranky Tony turns to him and says, “morning sunshine!” Morris unamused murmurs “please Tony, I don’t have the capacity for your optimism this early.” Tony replying with a simple “copy” takes out his laptop and begins typing. Glancing over, Tony looks over at Morris. “good god this kid looks miserable, he really needs to get some sleep.” After another 20 minutes they arrive to Jamaica station where they must now transfer trains. They get off and cross platforms. The new platform is extremely crowded as it always is during peak hours. Morris turns to Tony and says “great, guess we’re not getting seats,” Tony shrugs his shoulders. They get onto the second train and Stand in the enter/exit section. There standing next to them is an intimate couple no younger than them. Morris looks over for a second, sighs, and puts in his earphones. After 20 minutes they have reached Penn Station. They get off the track, walk a flight of stairs, and exit the building. Walking down 30th from 7th ave to 6th, Morris smells a plethora of breakfast foods reminding him that he hasn’t eaten. Morris checks the time and notes to himself that class starts in 10 minutes and he has no time to grab food. They reach Herald Square and take the NQR subway to 23rd. Walking down 23rd, Morris sees one of his favorite Burger joins, Schnippers. This reminds his of his best friend Jeremy who showed him that place back in the 8th grade. Morris is slightly saddened for he has not seen Jeremy in 2 months and misses him terribly. Finally after an hour and 20 minutes, Morris has reached his destination, Baruch College where he will begin his day.

The alarm rang 4 times and each time she pressed snooze, until 7:20 came and she realized at some point she had to get up. “Ugh! Another long day of school. At least it’s my less stressful classes”, thought Tiana. But maybe I can just skip the first class, no let me get up. Monday’s are such a drag. They say you find yourself in college, but when exactly will that happen. Is it normal to feel like just another sheep in the flock, or are you supposed to feel like your doing something worth while, something with a purpose bigger than getting a degree. “But I have responsibilities and a certain lifestyle I yearn for, so get yah ass up and get ready”, concluded Tiana. She completed her daily morning routine and got ready to exit her home. Wow it’s actually cold today. Tiana looked at the time, “Damn I’m going to be late”, she thought. She walked to the bus and stopped to get a breakfast of cheese-its and one of those oatmeal patty things. Leny texted, “Get out of bed and go to school”. He is her boyfriend of two years and they always try to get each other on the right track when one feels like giving up. “I’m already at the bus”, she replied. The biggest drag about getting up for school, really was the fact she had to commute.

There wasn’t a lot of people at the bus stop, but there was a lot of trash and the incoming bus was packed. Thankful, the L train was empty. She didn’t really observe the people around her much, but she did see this one mother with her three children. Not sure when they got on, but they exited at Wilson ave. The children weren’t dressed up in costumes, but I don’t think they cared much. For the rest of the ride Tiana was lost in her music, like usual. She softly danced and mouthed the words of each song. She wondered if people thought she was crazy, but didn’t really care much if they did. She was tired and wanted to catch a nap in the train but the time flew. She thought might as well spend the next few stops reading. Wow this book is boring. Union square came and she transferred to the 6 to take it to 23rd. “Omg can people move any slower, I need to catch the 6 now”, she softly said to herself. Thankfully a woman in a devil costume needed to catch the train as well and get the doors of the train to reopen. Why don’t people move into the train to create more space, it seems like common sense to me. The train stopped at 23rd street and she exited. Wow I’m not late!

When we think of African American slaves, the first thing that usually comes to mind is how they worked extremely hard and how they were beaten. You may also think about male slaves being bought based on their physical attributes. When learning about slavery throughout my life I was never taught the hardships of the women. Frederick Douglass gives us a glimpse of how the women were treated. When he recalls the incident with his aunt Hester getting raped and abused, it opened my eyes. I realized that the women had it even harder the men. African American women were looked at as real estate, and nothing more than that. The film “The Birth of a Nation” gives us insight into the lives of the African American women during slavery, and it shows us through the life of Esther, a slave who was horribly raped and treated like absolute garbage by her master. This article speaks about the deeper meanings of the film such as the gender gap, and the power of women. As quoted in article: “she represents countless black women who have been and continue to be violated. Women without a voice, without power. Women in general. But black women in particular.” I truly believe that this film was speaking out against rape and against sexual abuse of women. The director is using rape of African American women during slavery as a vehicle to relay a deeper message. That being the issue of rape, which is still current and happening as we speak.

The story of Frederick Douglass, is an amazing story that we can learn lessons from for generations and generations to come. Frederick Douglass is the story of a man who saw it all. Douglass was a pioneer who stood for what he believed in, and made an impact for everyone around him. Douglass started his life as a slave, and ends it as a free man. Although it was a pretty amazing accomplishment, the story is not about that. The story is about the Douglass’ Journey, and his mindset and how he never gave up on what he believed in. This book gave us insight into the mind of Frederick Douglass. As a reader I was able to see what Douglass was thinking in every situation throughout his wife. Douglass first realized what it was like being a slave when he saw his Aunt Hester getting beaten. I believe this moment left a mark on his life forever. This was a traumatizing moment for young Frederick, that ultimately left a mark on his life forever. As Douglass grew up and started to become educated he realized how bad the slave life was. Douglass eventually became free. That is not what made him great. Many slaves escaped slavery and became free. Douglass saw meaning in his life and sought to make a lasting impact to the lives of others. After becoming free Douglass didn’t end his journey and relax. He continued his journey to promote freedom and demote slavery throughout the country. That is what made Frederick Douglass the icon he is today.

Metamorphosis by Kafka, tells a story of a human turned creature, and its interactions with society. Gregor Samsa, was an average salesman. There was nothing really special about him, until one day. A day that ultimately changes his life. Samsa wakes up as gigantic human sized insect. He reacted to it as if he was in a dream, until he realized it was a reality. Gregor, blew off work and remained in his room. His family, and his boss became worried. As soon as the chief clerk saw him he went into shock and became horrified. Everyone, except his sister Grete began rejecting him, because of his odd and scary physical appearance. Everywhere he went people got scared, and immediately fled his presence. His parents rejected him the most, they were disgusted and dismayed by their son, and they insisted to get rid of him. All of this rejection and hatred took a toll on Samsa, which ultimately led to his death. Right off the bat this story reminded me of the story of Frankenstein. I believe the underlying message with both of these stories is society’s rejection of differentness. In both these stories odd creatures are rejected and humiliated by society. I believe as humans we must be accepting of everyone, and not reject them based off their physical appearance. That is the main message I learnt from this story.

The article about the film ‘Birth of a Nation’ helps me to see the role of women in Douglass’s autobiography by giving another look at how prominent the issue of raping women of color was. In both the movie and the autobiography, the raping of slaves had a significant impact on both male protagonists. Douglass had seen the abuse of women in his life from the very beginning; he was conceived through rape from his master and then he witnessed the women in his life being raped right before his eyes. The rape of women of color is what pushes these characters to want to change their circumstances and ultimately rebel against the institution of slavery. Douglass only begins to understand what slavery is after witnessing the horrors of his aunt being abused, although he was only a child the image of his aunt stuck with him. He wrote “It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass” (Douglass 15). Here he realized what he would have to face because of slavery and how he can do nothing but watch. In both these stories the women were subjected to constant abuse and had no say in what was happening to them, they could only stand by and suffer. Just when Douglass began to have a positive relationship with a white woman, Mrs. Auld, she quickly changed her ways when her husband forbade her to teach Douglass how to read. Again this led him to further understand slavery and just how his master would use anything to get the upper hand. He wrote “I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty— to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man” (Douglass 33). These experiences with women help him realize that he wants freedom and that he needs to put an end to slavery.

Salamishah Tillet’s “How ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Silences Black Women,” an editorial from the New York Times about the new film Birth of a Nation, helps us see the role of women, particularly women of color, in Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Right from the beginning of the autobiography, Douglass tells us he believes his father is his master and that he never saw his mother, who was a slave, more than four or five times in his lifetime. Women slaves played a role of just producing more property for the slaveowners.“The children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers; and this is done too obviously to administer to their own lusts, and make a gratification of their wicked desires profitable as well as pleasurable” (3). He explains that slaveowners often rape and impregnate female slaves for profit as it increases their number of slaves. Douglass also recalls waking up in the middle of the night to the loud shrieks of his Aunt Hester, who was violently whipped by the master. She would be “tie(d) up to a joist, and whip(ped) upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood” (5) if she ever disobeyed his orders or absent when the master desired her company. From Douglass’s narrative, we can see that women slaves had no voice and was raped and whipped whenever the master desired. Similarly, in Tillet’s editorial, women are “doubly marginalized.” “First, they are silenced by the violations against their bodies and then sidelined to the plot of Turner’s realization of his own manhood in the horror of slavery.” In Mr. Parker’s film, a slave named Esther who was raped played a silent role, communicating her emotions with just her facial expressions. This is a powerful statement as women slaves, like Douglass mentions in his narrative, did not have a voice.

Both the New York Times Article and the Douglass ‘s Autobiography gave me a sense of how women in color were treated, and I think those women were the most suffered during the slavery period. They must be so painful. In the article, the author stated more than one time , that the women in color were silenced. I think this is an expression of the patrilineal society, where women had no right and freedom. That’s why women in Turner’s story is not so important to focus. Turner’s wife who was a slave “belonged to a different master”, how can we imagine what happened to this poor woman.In the Douglass’s Autobiography, it was different, where he told the real lives of the women in color. There were three important women.  The first woman was Douglass’s mother, who was raped by her master. Douglass had described his mother in the first chapter, which we can found out how important that he thinks about his mother’s encounter. This poor woman gave birth to her child but cannot spare anytime with her child, because she was a slave and had to work. Second woman is his Aunt, who was tortured and couldn’t  tell. In the novel, his mother and aunt didn’t say anything, but we can feel their sorrow and sadness of being slave women. They were no easy to survive in the crucial time period. The third woman is the master’s wife who had taught Douglass study for a while. She stopped to teach Douglass after the disagreement of her husband. In Douglass’s mind, the evil and bad always were the men. For women, he keeped his respect and felt unfortunate for them .