Author: Rafael Veloz

I took this in early march at the 42nd street station during the higher tensions of Russia invading Ukraine. It spells President Biden’s name and the “I” and “E” of his name are replaced with a Vacccine and Russian’s “hammer and Sickle”. The only change to the original picture was that I made it black and white. I feel like this added more emotion from the intial viewer of the photo which makes it sad and could enrage the viewer too. I also like how part of the letter B is cut off and part of the N is also cut off which could add suspicion from the viewer to show that people from New York simply don’t care about Biden and these conspiracies made from spelling his name like that. I want this photo to market the level of interest that New Yorkers possibly have towards our president and wonder who actually put it there in the first place. I think both the color of the picture and the name itself would work together massively to appeal to audiences who know both about politics or it kept up to date with what is happening in Russia.

I decided to do Strategy 1 “To say something better” and one of my main issues that I have so far in my draft is wrapping it up to deliever the idea or message to the readers. So I would need to relate more to my thesis statement and not overdue my part because there are other ways to explain it further in the essay. This exercise revealed that my topic is more flexible than previously thought and how I should be more direct in my writing to get my point across. I chose this exercise because out of all the strategies it was my best pick to do. The only real issue I am having right now is trying to flow my evidence and sub topics to make the arguement make sense.

1. The connections is Reed making between the 1978-1992 “retrenchment period” at CUNY and the Covid-19 pandemic has a lot to do with death which was mentioned a lot. Things were not good at all during what is known as the “retrenchment period” because free education was no longer something people would look forward to. “We cannot accept the death of this great, free University because we cannot accept the death of the spirit, the death of aspirations, the death of the future, that will surely follow for our children, the students”. Like this was a sudden change to what was once a free way to receive collegiate education and this changed all the students lives as well. With COVID-19 being the cause of many deaths, this is how Reed would connect the two since CUNY would bring many deaths to student’s futures.
2.  The suggestion that Reed makes for both anti-racist and anti-austerity groups at CUNY is that they take all of the demands at each colleges have then they could come together and resolve it as a whole. “If these ten demands were combined with the demands of Brooklyn College’s Anti-Racist Coalition, CUNY Law, Hunter, Lehman, and beyond (as the Brooklyn PSC chapter suggests), then we could activate them altogether instead of continuing to silo them as “racial justice” or “economic justice” issues respectively”.
3.  Reed used the term “death cult” to show to the readers how all the change in CUNY have really made it unoticeable. It reminds of how the many examples of neoliberalism since there are so many ways the city tries to make itself new. Due to this dealth cult, it made CUNY impossible for students who come from minority communities to afford it. This dealth cult showed how neoliberalism destroyed what was once great to so many people.

CUNY Dream

While reading this article, it was instantly clear to me that Kamala Harris as Vice President was a more strategic move to gain support from the black community. In the article it states that, ” In the 2016 Presidential election, Black voter turnout declined for the first time in twenty years, dropping from sixty-seven to sixty per cent”. With that being said, there is a big chance that we aren’t here discussing Joe Biden as president if it weren’t for him selecting Kamala Harris as his V.P. This was a clear move to gain support from African American supporters. Not saying it is a bad move because she turned out to be a voice for all black women but there was still much said that don’t solve their problems. According to this author, the limits of representation demonstrates that even if we put miniorites to represent their race, then it might limit the representation that they might have on others that include the poor, or other races. All throughout this article, there was much explanation that leads me to believe that even though we put a African American women as our Vice President, that will not guarantee that she represent all of the Black Americans that need her support and help!

After much thought on what art piece to choose, I wanted to go with an artist that has made a few controversial songs and his name is Chilidish Gambino. His piece of artwork that I will examine will be his song “This is America” which was 2018 but mentions problems that we still have til this day. This music video and song has portrayed many indirect messages that us (the viewers) need to figure out on our own. These problems shown in the video are many ways how America handle African-American’s deaths as if it were nothing. This piece of art is saying that gun violence and racism are one of the main problems that this music video is trying to show to the world. It is ironic that during the time period that this music video came out, it was the number one trending video in all countries except America. At first glance, you are distracted from all the dancing and singing that Childish Gambino is showing. However, the amount of chaos that happens in the background is what the artist is trying to show to us. There are different reasons why I chose this artwork because back in 2018 I felt like there were so much to take in from this video that I want to write on it eventually. Also I felt that since the year of 2020, our society has felt strong to support the Black lives matter movement and this song fits that as well. This artist’s work attempts to expose the truth on how America deals with their problems, how there is still racism in our society and how social media has been a positive and a negative encounter regarding these problems.

1.  I decided to do “Pandemic Haiku by Gregg Bordowitz while reading this, I definitely felt a massive connection because like so many other people we had to shift our lifestyles. When the pandemic first started we didn’t know what to do and how life would be the next day. So we needed to adjust and move on. The tone of this poem seems to be very serious but mellow as well because it had many emotions that went on during this pandemic. The rehtorical properties of this piece contributed to its meaning because we all have come across these feelings and thoughts while the pandemic first started. It is important to note that the audience include literally everyone who is alive as of right now since we all had to experience it.

2. This text resonates with social concerns of the present because many people have been truly hurt and even afraid of what could come next in their lives. It almost felt as if we were all living the same lives when the poet said “Food delivery Box left outside doorbell ring Privilege greets air”. The text resonates with political concerns because many people want to find who they were before the pandemic started and get back to their regular lives as well.

3. Art could have a bigger impact on these social and political concerns then many people actually think. Since there are so many ways to express and make art, it should be approached more often since it would gain more interest and attention from the people.

Whether we like it or not, Race does and will continue to determine what your community will look like. Even the blind eye could see how this all unfolds and how the black community is being treated with their way of living. With the city not helping to fund or help in any way, it makes it seem that they have to “pick up the slack” since that’s the only way it seems to be. So the main point I would like to make is that black neighborhoods are just not being taken care of and both articles support that claim. To start off in the “Racial Capitalocene” article, they mention how many decisions made was actually racially motivated which could explain some made by the Reagan administration. “In the 1980s, the Reagan administration’s practice of cutting the budgets of federal environmental agencies had aggravated racist decisions. The report demonstrated that “three out of every five Black and Hispanic Americans lived in communities with uncontrolled toxic waste sites”. Once again, those communities are not being taken care of and are seen as just some other. In “New York’s Invisible Climate Migrants”,  this article talks a lot about how climate change originally forced people out of their homes and how even if it wasn’t necessarily their fault they still had to find a way. With their lack of resources, the wealthy saw this as a money grab which made a lot of the residents in New York but specifically Canarsie eventually move out. “Even before Sandy, though, it wasn’t easy to keep a home in these neighborhoods. Targeted intensely by subprime lenders during the housing bubble, they have consistently had some of the highest foreclosure rates in the city. But after Sandy, it became even harder”. Now these two articles are not directly related but both addressed that the Black community is not being taken care of.

First off to begin this, I believe it is inevitable when living in a big market cities like (New York city, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.) that neoliberalism would be constructed. Since many people always want what is new and the lastest feature, I’m sure they would do the same with the places they live. I say this based off my experiences and what I see from a far regarding the older buildings or stores they have took down near my area to construct something new. It seems like if it profits them, then it will get done even if it affects a certain group of people. So yes I have witnessed the effects of neoliberalism as a resident of New York by seeing public areas or resources for the public turn into privatization. You would think that laws are made in favor of the people but sadly it does seem like it isn’t. Since my mother recently had her problems with Medicaid and how they didn’t guarantee long term care. However, as I said earlier if they see profit from it then they will indeed continue with it. The landscape of New York has definitely changed since I’ve lived here because so many places that I grew up going to has been changed to other businesses, and many new renovations have occurred as well. Many public parks and public places where people would go have been turned into private which will make people pay to get in.

Observations that relate to the Dickinson’s text would be that since the city was turning into a more business look and those who have private companies would prosper rather than the actual citizens. I would connect this to my observations because of the laws that seem to not benefit the people as they previously intended too.