Author: JUNIOR RAMOS MENOCAL

I plan to remix the first assignment paper I wrote in this classroom. The first assignment was based on gentrification and housing and its effect from the 1970s until today. I’ll be creating a “radio station” to go more in detail on my first paper and explain how the graffiti situation was similar to the war on drugs. I will also explain how housing is being impacted in NYC and low-income families are being forced to move to those housing buildings.  I will use the example of the Bronx Fire and its impact on shedding light on housing and how the government does not uphold standards and push aside these families. Finally, I will introduce that gentrification not only has a negative effect on housing but other areas. I will show the bigger picture and say how it affects employment, education and more. I am very excited to bring my creative thoughts and remix it with one of my writing papers and show a different approach to what other modes of communication can do.

Diversity in politics is something that was not commonly seen in history in the United States but it is slowly on the rise. We have seen the first African American president in the history of the United States first be elected in 2008, Barack Obama. Not only this but he had served two presidential turns, from 2008-2012, 2012-2016. To me, this inspired minorities to get into politics and to show that they have a voice. It almost felt like a new group of minorities was being heard.

In the recent presidential race. We saw now president Biden announce his vice president, Kamala Harris. This was a bit of a shocker for many. She was the first female vice president. Not only this, but she was a person of color. I feel like this also inspired women and people of color that anything is possible that there is a chance that we are being represented. But a quote that stood out to me was “President, he would essentially abandon the most notable feature of his political past: weaponizing reactionary thinking about poor Black women in order to curry favor with white voters, during a period when Democrats felt compelled to prove that they could hate Black people, too.”. This quote stood out to me because the same thing could be happening here. In order to gain new votes, he elected Kamala Harris as his VC to attract new voters. This all leads back to the question if minorities are truly represented in our country.

Proposal: 

Recently I have been watching the series “Fresh Off The Boat”, this series opened my eyes to the stereotypes typically put on Asians. The series is composed of an all Asian family who recently moved to the suburbs of Miami from China Town in Washington D.C. they experience their new lives surrounded by a new culture, new traditions, and a new environment. 

Fresh off the boat, uses the views of this Taiwanese families to see how they adapted into a “white neighborhood”. We can see how they are perceived by the white families and they are treated. From subtle racism jokes to assuming stereotypes. For example, the father was talking to a white man, and this white man assumed he was a bad driver based on the stereotype and made a joke about it. Another example is how Eddie’s principal assumed that the new Chinese student was going to automatically going to get along with Eddie because they are of the same race. They in fact did not get along.

Thesis: Media has a great impact in pushing racial stereotypes

 

Art Piece: David Wojnarowicz “Untitled”

1. The reason I picked “Untitled” by David Wojnarowicz is that it represents a social issue just like other social issues in today’s age and day. In this artwork, we are shown a very young boy in the middle of the image. There is an article in the background of the boy which seems to be describing the outcome of this boy’s life.  As if it is depicting a real-life situation.
2. “Untitled” like mentioned before relates and speaks about a social issue and a political issue certainly during this time era. The article speaks about how the life of this young boy will start and finish. This image was made to raise awareness for the discrimination of homosexuals. It even describes the persecution from the own government.” This kid will lose his constitutional rights against the government’s invasion of his privacy”. It also describes how he will be forced to commit suicide from all the damage done by society. He was being targeted for being himself.
3. Artwork can be shown to spread propaganda and fear amongst people. But the artwork is also shown to spread political and social issues. They can be used to spread a positive image to raise awareness to create equality for all gender, sexual orientations, race, etc…

Reviewing my essay for the sentence analysis review I noticed a few things. For example I tend to notice that my transitional words were now effective and was lacking in transitioning sentence. I also noticed I had a few run on sentence and instead had a sentence that was now effective due to the length. Furthermore, I need to work on over use words in sentences to the point where the reader forgets what the sentence is saying and eventually loses interest. I need to keep improving on my simple powerful sentences.

June Jordan finds fault in what President Nixon says. June Jordan used the term “White English”  to describe the language used by Nixon. President Nixon used words compassion, unselfish, defoliation. But June exposes Nixon as using these words unknowingly and using them without meaning. He does this to justify his actions in Vietnam.

The quote “The problem is that we are saying language, but really dealing with power” sticks out. To me, it means that language has more power depending on the person who says it. Having “white English” is the standard common.  There’s a stigma that talking like this means more education, hence more power. This is what I believe is part of what June Jordan is describing.

In the city that never sleeps, NYC is often portrayed as a bustling city that’s always in an economic boom. But this image is not always true in all neighborhoods. I have seen many communities fall into the hands of gentrification. It’s a change as clearly as night and day. A side effect of neo-liberalism. Many families are being pushed out of their homes and businesses due to the cost of living rising. This is due to new residential buildings being built and high chains companies moving into these neighborhoods. Although at first glance this may seem a move in the right direction, it is actually not the case. This leads to a higher economic status people moving into the neighborhoods thundering up the prices which makes lower-income families not being able to afford to live in those areas.

Personally, I live in a balanced Queens neighborhood. Recently there was a new apartment building being built in my community which in turn did not have much effect on us but it did have an impact on other neighbors. We see the greed of the owners of the apartment building come into play when the city announced they were building a brand new homeless shelter two blocks away from the brand new apartment building. They immediately went to protest but with little to no success. I can only imagine what other neighborhoods have to go through.

The first hint of neo-liberalism seen in New York can be traced back nearly 50 years ago in the 1970s. The author, Dickinson, portrays this well in the article, The Making of Space, Race, and Place. Neo-liberalism is policies that support a free-market, capitalist environment, and where businesses have more control than the government. A simple act of going against graffiti shows this. NYC was in a low financial state at this point in time. Politicians wanted to attract businesses to become a prosperous city. Citizens, more often low-income teenagers would express themselves with graffiti as an outcry to their community needs. But politicians wanted to push these low-income families, majority Black and Latino, out of neighborhoods so that business can come in. Exclusively banning graffiti to shut down the voice of the citizens in need.

Hello,

My name is Junior, and I am currently a freshman. This will be my second semester here at Baruch College and majoring in Marketing Management. Baruch College was also my first choice as they have a great business program and I will be able to commute every day. I was raised and born in Queens New York, but my parents were born in Honduras and Guatemala. And I visit both countries as often as possible. An interesting fact about myself is that I enjoy to watch and play soccer.

I included the image of the high school I attended, Epic Highschool North, as it made an impact on my life. I was able to meet important figures in my life and made new friendships which followed me here to Baruch. This school also allowed me to build real-life skills I had previously never imagined I would. These skills would be being able to come out of my shell and able to talk to a group of audience. I was very much an introvert before going into high school but I had a great support system in high school which allowed me to express myself more clearly and will be forever grateful.