The Big Sea

The Big Sea is the autobiography of Langston Hughes, poet and author. His book so far has shown many views of his life. He comes from a home where not much love is shown nor received. He has no relationship with his father, and his mother is in and out of work. Langston is a very intellectual man, who enjoys learning and exploring. He is a proud black man who has a passion for reading as well as poetry. Langston has traveled many places, and enjoys learning different cultures. The Big Sea captures the essence of Langston as a person, and as a writer. I have enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend this book to everyone.

AIDS In D.C.: Tunring Anger into Action

This article is about the epidemic happening right here in our nation's capital. Washington DC is home to the worst HIV/AIDS rate in the country. One in 20 DC residents are infected with the disease, in some neighborhoods, the number is even higher. Nicole Styles, a woman trying to help spread AIDS awareness by passing out free condom kits and encouraging everyone to use them. She feels the government should have called a state of emergency in light of these staggering cases of HIV/AIDS. Most of these cases are black or gay. It is unfortunate that our government has done little if any to help those who are infected, and help those from getting infected by spreading awareness, and having programs to educate people on this horrific disease. Here is the website for this article: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3905808&page=1

The Big Sea

The Big Sea, the autobiography by Langston Hughes is one that we are reading in English class. So far, I like the book. Langston Hughes is a very deep and analytical thinker. Throughout the the sections I have read, the topics have been on racism, education, and family. I feel that the relationship that Langston has with his father is one that is very tarnished and broken. They do not have a bond that a father and son should have, which is very unfortunate. Langston and his mother have a somewhat love hate relationship for one another. Langston's mother tries to make Langston feel bad for going off to school and visiting his father. Langston really loves to read as well as learn. Education seems to be very important to him, and he knows that he needs education to succeed in the time period his is in. When it comes to racism, Langston is very observant of his fellow citizens, and how they act towards him. Whites are sometimes confused as to whether Langston is black or Mexican. Langston is very proud to be black and is not afraid to tell whites, " I am black". This to me shows a sense of pride and dignity, which was so hard for blacks to have back in the '20s and '30s. So far, The Big Sea is a good read!

Indie Film

The movie that we watched in our English class about the Arab-American boy was a very good movie. It is about a young Arab-American boy who wants to be the cowboy in the game cowboys and Indians, with the neighborhood kids. The leader of the cowboys tells the boy he can't be a cowboy unless he has jeans and a belt, otherwise he has to be an Indian. This Arab-American boy finally gets his jeans and his belt, and tells the cowboy that he now has what he needs to be the cowboy. The boy says that he can be the leader of the Indians but can't be a cowboy, because "mixing things up" would confuse people. The boy finally let the Arab boy be apart of the cowboys, but when he gets to be a cowboy the Arab boy sees that it's not a fulfilling as he thought it would, because he says that he is still not being fully accepted by the others. It goes to show that many races feel not wanted by whites, and that they go through many hardships when it comes to their race, culture, and religion.

The Boondocks

I did a presentation on Identity within the comic strip The Boondocks. I focused on some of the main characters, and how they deal with identity. Huey, the older brother sees himself as a black revolutionary. He sees himself as a real black man, who doesn't want to be controlled by the white man. Then there is Riley, the youngest boy. He sees himself as a real thug. He goes around "acting tough" and reinforcing stereotypes others have of blacks. I feel that Riley is pretending to be something he is not. It seems to me that he is trying to portray a character he thinks everyone wants to see. The next character I focused on was Jasmine. She is a biracial girl, who is confused as to who she is. She says that she isn't black, but she doesn't say she is white. She is very confused as to what her race is and the type of person she is in general. I feel her parents are creating this confusion, because they don't want to let her know that she is of mixed races and explain to her what she is, and how to deal with her image and the image others have of her. The Boondocks is a tale of identity and race plays a major role in the way the characters behave as well as view themselves. To understand The Boondocks, you must read between the lines.