On March 18, 2022, the House of Representatives passed the C.R.O.W.N. (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act. The detail of this bill is that it prevents anyone from being discriminated against due to their hair texture or style. However, it is not done as this is just a bill and in order for a bill to become a law there are a few steps.  This is going in the right direction though, since it passed the House, it is now time for the Senate to vote on it. Then if the senate passes it, it moves onto to the president to sign it and then it will become an actual law nationwide. It is important to note the C.R.O.W.N. act has already been passed in certain states like California or New York. I definitely think that this would be a valuable law for everyone. 

Usually when people wear their natural hair whether it be curls, twists, braids, or dreads this can be thought of as ‘unprofessional’ by some. I do not agree with this because curls are literally someone’s natural hair, and they should take pride in it. I have seen countless times where some people with natural hair just straighten their hair constantly to be seen as ‘professional’. While straight hair does look nice this should not be the reason that they are straightening it in the first place. Moreover, when it comes to dreads especially when African Americans have them there is a negative stereotype surrounding this that these people smoke weed which is just plain wrong. It is someone’s hair they should be able to do whatever they want with it (the only exception to this is, if they have to work in the food industry where they have to wear the hairnet so maybe they have to wear a specific style so it can fit in the hairnet). Nevertheless, natural hair to me is beautiful. 

  I have naturally curly hair and in the past when I was in middle school my mom used to straighten my hair, so it was easier to handle. I did not mind because she used to braid it when I was younger and I as long as my hair was done, I was fine. Then she stopped and I started doing it on my own just in like 2 braids and a ponytail. Then some time in high school I started watching natural hair videos on YouTube and really got invested in my hair. I started doing braids with beads, an afro, twists, and then wearing my curls out. I really liked wearing my hair in those styles or in its natural state and I still do. I love watching tutorials and trying new hairstyles for fun. For my birthday I am hoping to try African hair threading and there are more styles I would love to try. Moreover, I have not quite thought about how I would wear my hair when I entered the work force because that is years from now. However, if the C.R.O.W.N. Act becomes a law me and other people who want to wear their natural hair would really benefit from it, which is amazing. People would not have to worry about how they do their hair and just do what they think would look good.

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Sources: 

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087661765/house-votes-crown-act-discrimination-hair-style
 

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2116/text 

Hope is such a powerful word 

It usually has a positive connotation  

Most people hope for something in the future…

Personally, I continue to gain hope for the future every day. This is when I see African Americans with grand achievements. Especially when they are ‘the first’ to do anything. There are three individuals that I would like to highlight. 

 Firstly, Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court Justice. It is likely that most people have heard or learned about him with the famous landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954).  The context surrounding this case was that American schools were segregated around this time. Many African American students were denied access to public schools and so this was a problem that went to the Supreme Court. In the end the results of the case were that the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional because it violated the 14th amendment in the Constitution. Aside from that I was able to watch the biopic on him entitled “Marshall”. I assumed that it was going to be about that landmark case, but it was about a different case entitled The State of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell. Nevertheless, it was still interesting to watch, and I was inspired more by him. 

Secondly, there is Barrack Obama who was the 44th president of the United States and the first African American president in American history. He was in office from about 2009 –2017 as he was elected for two terms. I was pretty young, so I did not really know much about elections or politics, but it was a remarkable moment because he was the first African American president. I know that people’s views on him are quite controversial due to his actions while he was in office, which is understandable since most of the time people have differing views when it comes to politics. However, I think it filled a lot of Black people with hope. I know this was a celebratory moment for us since Black people are usually used to a history of injustices in this country.  So just being able to see this happen I believe gives Black people that they are truly able to achieve the highest. I also watched a movie on Barrack Obama entitled “Barry” as it gives insight on his life when he was attending Columbia college. I found it surprising that at one point he was not that interested in politics considering what he went on to do but it is understandable since he was discovering who he was. 

Lastly, there is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson who was recently nominated as a Supreme Court Justice. This is big news as she could become the first Black woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice. I had never heard of her until recently when I got an email or a text message from an organization that I am subscribed to. I cannot remember which one because there are a bunch of social justice non-profits that I am interested in keeping up with what they are doing.  The subject of the message was that Biden put in his nomination for a Supreme Court justice which was Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and this is momentous because she is Black, and a woman. I was able to look her up and was amazed she went to Harvard for both college and law school. Also, she has had a bunch of legal experience as she was a public defender, a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, along with other occupations.  Moreover, this Supreme Court nomination process is long and still an ongoing process as she awaits confirmation from the Senate (there needs to be a majority vote).  

While this has been a joyous occasion there has been some negativity surrounding this. She has had her credentials questioned as someone asked what her LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) score was. I was able to learn about this from an article that I read from a CUNY law student entitled “Despite Their Credentials, Black Women Are Often Asked To Prove Themselves And Ketanji Brown Jackson Is No Anomaly” by Rebecca Lafond. I think that should not even be a question because she went to Harvard law school, and I know that that is one of the T14’s (a top 14 law school) so he LSAT score must have been very close to 180 (LSAT scores range from 120 –180) since the requirements for LSAT score are usually high. Also, she graduated law school a while back and is already deep in her career.  

Moreover, at the Confirmation hearing that is where she is asked questions, and many Black people were unhappy with the way she was being questioned. I read a NY times article entitled “How Black Women Saw Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation Hearing” by Patricia Mazzei, Tariro Mzezewa and Jill Cowan and the overwhelming feeling was that many were filled with pride and hope over her being, but this feeling was alongside a feeling of dislike of the way she was being treated and questioned. I definitely share the same feelings and I hope that she is voted in. 

Altogether, I truly believe a ton is hope is given when Black people hear that another Black person is the first anything as it inspires Black people who want to go into the same fields that they could do it is well. I have said before that in the future I am hoping to become a lawyer then a judge. However, I think I need to change that language and make it definite. I WILL become a lawyer then a judge. I am filled with hope when seeing people like: Thurgood Marshall, Barrack Obama, and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as I hope I could become accomplished as them. 

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PS: I definitely love watching movies when they are biopic’s and historical drama’s. 

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 Sources/Links 

Learn about Brown v. Board of Education: https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483 

“Marshall “movie trailer if interested in watching it: Marshall Trailer #1 (2017) | Movieclips Trailers

Read about the case that was featured in the movie “Marshall”: https://time.com/4972645/marshall-movie-true-story/ 

“Barry” movie trailer: Barry l Official Trailer [HD] l Netflix 

 Read more about Ketanji Brown Jackson here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/kbj/ 

Read the article by the CUNY Law Student here: https://www1.cuny.edu/mu/cunyverse/2022/03/15/despite-their-credentials-black-women-are-often-asked-to-prove-themselves-and-ketanji-brown-jackson-is-no-anomaly/ 

Read the NY Times article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/us/ketanji-brown-jackson-black-women.html 

 

 

 

 When I was a little child, I do not remember me ever thinking about a career in the future like any other kid that said that they wanted to become like singers, doctors, or teachers. To be honest I was more worried about regular kid stuff, school, and I was just living in the moment enjoying my life as a child. Then after I turned 10 the idea became more serious in my mind as I had decided that I had wanted to become president of the United States. My mind was set on that until I realized I had never fit one of the requirements which was to have been born in the United States. I started thinking about my career more as more and more people asked me that simple question of “What do you want to be when you grow up? “. I settled on being an FBI agent as I have always liked those crime drama shows. Then it changed to bomb squad and homeland security officer as those seemed cooler. 

  It was not until about 11th grade that I had settled on something because college was coming up and I wanted to be sure about what I wanted to do. I had gotten some new books, so I was just on a reading marathon when I just got to my next book which was “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson which was a personal narrative. His book was about navigating his life as a lawyer who was a part of the SPDC (Southern Prisoners Defense Committee) where he went to Alabama to help death row prisoners. The book circulates around this one prisoner by the name of Walter McMillian and Mr. Stevenson’s efforts to understand his case while trying to get him off death row. I do not want to go too much into the book because I would not want to spoil it. Anyways, he had also stared a non-profit organization called the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) where they are committed to ending mass incarceration as well as providing legal representation to those who are unfairly sentenced. Subsequently, they challenge the death penalty and are all about criminal justice reform. After reading the book and finding out all that information I was inspired by Mr. Stevenson. I decided this was something that I could see myself doing. 

 So, I started exploring different careers and thought about the people that I would want to help the most. I thought and decided that I would want to help minorities especially African Americans or those who are immigrants. I do not want to just do one thing as I like to explore my options so to go even further, I decided to set my sights on becoming a judge and this would be my ultimate career goal as in order to become a judge it is recommended that there is prior law experience. The major that I had chosen with the help of my 12th grade English teacher was perfect for someone who wanted to go to law school after college, so I was set with a small plan. When I started college, I had a career advisement with one of the advisers and she was questioning me about what I wanted to do and if I knew about what the daily tasks looked like for a lawyer. I informed her that I was not sure, so she provided a site where I could look more into depth about being a lawyer. I was comfortable with the job function and the skills needed in order to do this occupation. Months later I met with the pre-law advisor at my school who advised me of what I should be doing now and how to prepare for law school while still in college. 

 Thus, right now I am just trying to achieve the best possible grades while learning about new subjects. As well, as trying to single out where exactly I want to go for law school and what type of lawyer that I’d like to be. Moreover, I have been looking for internships to gain experience and increase my skills or gain new skills. I know for a fact this will be a difficult process to get to my goal, but I am determined the put in all the necessary work just to help others. 

 

Links/ Sources: 

https://eji.org/bryan-stevenson/ 

https://www.onetonline.org/ – for all occupation information 

   Recently I viewed this video that I came across while surfing the Internet. The video was very heart breaking and not at all pleasing for me to watch. In the video a 29-year-old man by the name of David Crowell while in a train cart about to ride the subway he is suddenly caught in an ambush by a bunch of NYPD officers. Once they surrounded him, they tased him because they are sure that he has not paid the $2.75 that is required for someone to use the subway. He tries resisting but all of them are overpowering as he placed on the ground. In the background while this is happening there are multiple people defending him saying that “he paid his fare.” 

   To be honest their actions are racially motivated and is racial profiling. I am sure if the situation were changed with the victim being a Caucasian man that the police officers would not tase him at all. I felt sympathy for him because $2.75 is not worth someone getting tased over and being harassed by at least 5 police officers. I was reading the mission of the NYPD and saw that it said, “The mission of the New York City Police Department is to enhance the quality of life in New York City by working in partnership with the community to enforce the law, preserve peace, protect the people, reduce fear, and maintain order.”1 . After what I just witnessed from that video the actions taken by those police officers do not align with their mission which is plain saddening. 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

A gang of @NYPDnews officers swarmed onto a train, jumped on and tased a young Black Man. They accused him of fare evasion and many witnesses on the train, tried to explain to the cops that he did pay his fare. pic.twitter.com/2DPXwPFwVR

— Anthony Beckford (@Vote4Beckford) July 14, 2021

   For a follow up on the events that occurred I read an article about it, and it was said that Crowell got caught in a confrontation with the NYPD before for letting a rider through without that rider paying their fare. There was also body cam footage of Crowell cursing towards the cops. For him letting the rider on for free and his curing he was charged with “third-degree menacing, second-degree harassment, resisting arrest, and second-degree obstruction of governmental administration” (Insider). I don’t think these charges are quite justified from the footage I viewed on the videos. 

Body-worn camera footage shows the man cursing at officers, refusing to exit the train, & threatening them. With additional officers on scene, the man continued to resist arrest, prompting the use of a taser. He was subsequently taken into custody. (2/2) @NYPDTransit @NYCTSubway pic.twitter.com/etjeTp9kKY

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 15, 2021

  Throughout history African Americans have had to fight for their rights and to been seen just as much humane as everyone else. While it seems like we are progressing sometimes it feels like a few steps are taken back when I see incidents like this happening. I hope soon that I’ll be able to be a part of us moving forward with the better treatment of African Americans. I can’t imagine if I have a son in the future and I must worry that he would have to go through something like this. It just is not right. 

 

1. Mission – NYPD, www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/about/about-nypd/mission.page.

2.Article  Source:https://www.insider.com/video-nypd-officers-david-crowell-subway-2021-7