Ashamed of America #graded

After reading over just some of the Jim Crow laws I am shocked with how unreasonable Americans were. Sure, I've learned about racism and Martin Luther King Jr. in school before, but reading these laws really hit home with me. They are so ridiculous.

Being a huge history buff I've always been proud to say I'm an American while learning about the Founding Fathers and how bold they were in standing up to the European superpower, England. I've learned about the founding of our country and our great accomplishments for "good" in class about a million times (hyperbole) but  something we always skim over is the not so great things our country has done. Like these laws, or the complete mistreatment of Asians in the mid 1900's.

I recognize that racism was present but a lot of the Jim Crow laws take it MUCH too far. For example, one law doesn't allow white and Negro children to use the same textbook (in different years), and restaurants are required to have physical, seven foot tall barriers between white and Negro seating- what? Do Negros have some sort of germ that will kill white people? And the fact that there was to be no intermarriage or child custody (with mixed guardian and child) just removes pure love from society. It limits people to only being with their race. If there was a helpless, orphaned Negro child on the street a white person could not take him or her in, he would just walk right by. 

I have such a strong opinion on these laws now, but I live in the future where I have lived such a great, freedom-filled life. I wonder how I would have treated Negros if I had lived in the 1960's. I hope I would've stood out but we will never know...

These laws helped set a precedent that still hasn't been wiped clean from the American society. I hope we, as Americans, continue at working on removing it, to give Negros the justice they deserve (the justice MLK Jr. fought for in his "Letters to Birmingham")

2Pac brings the voice of African Americans to the musical world:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKqaOJmqInE

Everything is beautiful #graded

This weekend we had to read through a bunch of short essays for AP Comp and I must say, I actually enjoyed reading them. What I liked about reading through these essays was the fact that they were all written on random topics that the writer appreciated because they helped the writer grow in someway or another. Key word: appreciated.
In the essay by William Kennedy he writes about how he wrote a short story on eggs. It wasn't a controversial essay about chicken farming for eggs, it wasn't an essay describing every detail about an egg, but it was an essay about ordering eggs. Thats it. But the fact that he appreciated eggs enough to write a story about them made ME appreciate that story. I didn't just blow it off like his father had.
My thoughts about how a writer's passion towards a random topic draws my interest were later reflected in the essay by Annie Dillard. In her essay she writes about learning to draw through a book. Dillard drew everything, and anything so that she could have practice at getting better, sometimes spending hours working on the shading of a baseball glove. She closes the essay by saying, "All things in the world were interesting, infinitely interesting, so long as you had attention to give them." This really impacted me, leaving me feel inspired for future writing assignments in this class (especially free writes which I adore), because now I know that I have the power to make whatever is on my mind interesting. Even if it is something as minuscule as ordering eggs. Because everything really is beautiful in its own way.


I'm going to try my hand at this. Stay tuned during the next week for a posting on Mr. Potato Head.

Rainy day music that ties in with the topic of this post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7VOKQ0xJY

Why I Write #graded

I've always been a writer, I just have. To be completely honest here, I've never actually sat down and thought about why I write. That is, until I took AP Composition.

You see, I'm not your average, run-of-the-mill girl. I think a lot about anything and everything, and, as I have learned from discussions with family, friends, and teachers, I tend to think abstractly. I like to call myself "different" (though I'm not sure what everyone else thinks about me). I write to express my thoughts, with the hope that by presenting my opinion on a topic, I can bring change to the world. In my opinion successful change doesn't have to be monumental, such as persuading a reader to completely change a political stance on a highly debated topic, but it merely means to make the reader think and consider the topic; to enlighten the reader and bring him out of his "bubble" of what he considers to be the truth. While this is my main purpose for writing, I also write as a means of satisfying my creative side. Generally, when I talk, the words come out in a big, jumbled, and sometimes humorous mess and it takes me a few times to correct myself so that I get the point across. Writing is different. It is your very own creation, and you have the power to do whatever you please with it.  After creating a piece of writing, it isn't abandoned. It is changeable. It allows for editing; for shifting, cutting, and piecing together plain old words so that together they have the power to be a breathtaking, tear-jerking, or infuriating statement that conveys your point to the reader. In addition to making a change and being creative and all, I write to get good grades (I am a student after all!).

God knows what I will be doing in the future. Will I be an author? A journalist? Or will I choose a completely different career path? I don't know. What I do know is that writing is the most powerful tool of expression and change that I possess, and whatever I end up doing with my life I know I will be using writing to get there.

Listen and Love #britishmusic

I Find the Light in You

Go check out Joe Brook's new EP "A Reason To Swim" Best music I've heard in a while. Except for the Wayzata Marching Band... maybe (;

What a Wonderful World. #masterprocrastinator

Blogging. Yet another procrastination device to add to my list. I've been home from school for what, an hour now? and all I have to show for it is a below-average blog page. Yay.
On the positive side of things school has gone surprisingly well so far. I even cried of laughter during lunch when someone sat down in the seat across from me and he was wearing the same shirt as I was. Yes, you read that right, he. Hey, don't blame me, how am I supposed to know guys actually shop in the men's section at Target
Sorry for the randomness, I'm a major beginner at this whole blog post thing.