Amani Bey Public Feed

Amani Bey Capstone

Posted by Amani Bey in Capstone - Best - Wed on
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Hello my name is Amani Bey and I decided to create https://feministsofsla.weebly.com/ . It is a blog for  showcasing and discussing feminists and political  issues  in the SLA community. 2014 was a journey for me. Having to assert myself through  college applications and the political climate of both school and the internet gave me a clear voice and helped me understand who I was. I realized that there was no platform to say what I needed to say and celebrate the amazing work that young feminists do inside and out of the SLA community. Over the course of second semester, I have researched and written about topics that interested me, most of which concerned race and gender, as well as interviewed students in my community. The blog contains art and writings from both myself and the student body. It is dedicated to creating awareness and I hope it lives on after I leave the SLA community. 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

​https://docs.google.com/document/d/11v5asEoIu2nAjOQIw-G_dp4_RQtblaH1C_RCeBDHn20/edit?usp=sharing

Amani's Lentils

Posted by Amani Bey in Science and Society - Best - Y on
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 My family has a rule about having at least three colors on our plates. This allows for more vegetables and less starch. The color wheel bleeds off the page and everything is in the thirds. My recipe is a stew or sorts, but it encourages for many colors and vegetables, and has room to be a different dish each time. 



As a  Diasporic person in America , I have no set culinary culture. My grandmother converted to the Moorish American way of life in the 70s. The Moorish people were dark people with great influence in the Arab and Spanish world.  My grandmother always cooked with chick peas, but I don’t like them, which is why I’m using my favorite bean, the lentil. Lentils were commonly traded in India but made their way on Moorish trading routes. Cumin, one of the most distinctive flavors in the meal, was grown in India, as well, but made it’s way to Spain and many other countries by way of the Moores. Tangine usually includes tomatoes, but I use a butternut squash sauce instead, as homage to my great grandmother who's father was Native American. It also  tastes better. I’m slightly allergic to the acid in tomatoes. Mirepoix, or what most would call celery,carrots, and onions, hails from France and New Orleans. I spent a year there during 5th grade and my little sister’s family is from New Orleans. Kale is a European crop. This stew, is like my family, a mixture of things and flavors.


Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. of  red split lentils 

half an  onion 

spinach 

Cumin

salt 

pepper 

Chicken Broth 

Coconut Milk 

Chicken 

Butternut Squash 

Tomato Paste

Zucchini 


 

Steps:

  1. Brown onions and zucchini  in a pot with vegetable oil 
  2. Add pepper liberally 
  3. Put in half a can of chicken broth
  4. Bring to a rolling boil 
  5. throw them lentils in
  6. In separate pot Combine 1/2 can of coconut milk, butternut squash paste, a dash of tomato paste and cumin, add pepper and cayenne to taste 
  7. Put the coconut mixture in the lentils once the broth in the lentils evaporate. 
  8. Let the lentils cook down until they become paste-like. 
  9. Chop and add spinach. 
  10. Add more cumin and pepper to taste.


**This recipe gives more of an Indian cuisine taste than a morrocan taste. For a Morrocan flavor, replace coconut milk with tomato paste, or go half and half, use more cumin and no coriander. Add mirepoix.  
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Analysis

This meal is considerably very whole. Lentils are unprocessed, as are the vegetables within.  I went to the Reading Terminal for the produce and when Iovine has organic produce from independent farmers for reasonable prices. Dollar bags of vegetables are accessible in the middle of the city.   1 cup of lentils contains 20% of the daily value of Potassium, 13% of DV carbs, 64% of fiber. The fiber in lentils is insoluble, meaning that it can not go ingot he blood stream but it is great for the bowels and colon health. It scrubs everything out. Cumin, which is a big spice in this dish, is great for digestion and fighting off infections. Its aroma has capabilities as well. The chicken and lentils both contain large amounts of protein which  is broken down in the intestines and absorbed through amino acids and used for cellular structures. It's great for muscles. Lentils also increase oxygen flow, which is great for everything. 


Coconut milk is a processed food, but many distributors have standards as to how its harvested. I admire the coconut because its harvesting involves the entire fruit (it's actually a one seeded drupe). The flesh and liquid within are consumed, the shell is squeezed and pressed for oil, and the husks are used for building structures. In Pacific cultures, the coconut tree has been called the "tree of life". This reminds me of the chapter from  "Survival of the Sickest" about Lima beans , because it is good for but can also kill you if you're not careful.  Coconut milk contains chains of saturated fats that are actually good for you, they're called MCFAs and they're absorbed and used for energy by the liver, but too much is not good for you. Both lentils and coconuts should be used in moderation.

The coconut milk I had came from the Philippines and was processed and packaged in the United States. The Philippines are over 3,000 miles away, yet the can I got from my corner store was only $1.29. Coconuts are what Americans consider "foreign", yet unlike other culinary oddities they are not very expensive, like that of french truffles, or South American peppers.

 



​Personal Reflection



One of the greatest lessons I've learned from this unit is that you should know your body and how it works. Due to different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds we eat differently and have different reactions to certain things. The study with aboriginal peoples showed that certain groups of people are better adapted for a certain amount of living. I think the Western Diet is trash because the "West" has not existed for thousands of years, so people have not had time to evolve to be better adapted to the "sweets and meats"  it entails. One size fits all diet and lifestyles don't fit. We concluded BMI does not work in class (I am 5 feet tall and according to BMI, I am 40 lbs overweight, but I am healthy as a horse). Treat your pancreas well so that you can last in life. 

The food system is flawed because access to good food is hard. Impoverished people are more at risk for being obese. In order to fix this problem, many of the whole foods are too expensive. The FDA allows many things to let fly . I am cutting back on sugar and increasing my water intake. The relationship between my liver and pancreas is important and I need to respect it by not putting crap in my body. I feel the difference when my blood sugar is low. I go a little cray.  

After cutting back on my sugars and drinking water, I noticed a terrible change in my mood, so I have been working on incorporating fruit into my diet. 

War Dances Review

Posted by Amani Bey in English 3 - Rami - E on

Short stories are the souffles of literary work; quick and short, rush and it will flatten, leave too long, it will burn. Sherman Alexie is truly a chef who has mastered the art of creating characters that we meet for about a half of an hour, yet are able to savor for a lifetime.

Alexie, a Native American who grew up on a reservation, is an author renowned for his writing skills just as much as for his controversial and personal topics. The Native American writer is so rare, his perspective, a crucial part in the making of American identity, is renowned in the literary community, as well as the world. Racial and cultural notability aside, Alexie’s writing has earned him more than 15 awards. He has written and directed 4 movies included in the Sundance movie festival.

Through his “War Dances”, a series of short stories and poems, Alexie not only questions what it means to be Native American in the America, but what it means to be a person, anywhere. Son of an alcoholic father and a victim of seizures and bullying, Alexie gives us this piece, “War Dances”, that melds lines between fiction and bone-chilling autobiographical facts and moments. Through snarkiness, laughs and an occasional session of somberness, Alexie allows the reader to fully his word for word, masterpiece.

These stories, some told in first person, others in the third, are like dreams. You can’t really tell how long you’ve known the character once you’ve flipped the first page .You don’t remember when you started, but you know exactly where you are. Alexie’s short stories have their readers afraid to turn the page, for fear a connection with the character would be over, like a friend you met during a week-long vacation.

There is something relatable in every character. I, an African American girl felt akin to the Native American man who killed a black teen. Alexie doesn’t just convey the pain of the main character. In every story, he shows how the entire world around them begins to crumble, and at times with a hilarious prose.  

Alexie’s satire is not overt. Every sentence does not blame America for the Native American people’s condition. When he chooses to address the situation (in about 3 stories), there is a subtlety that challenges the reader as a person to criticize the character, as well as themselves. Any reader who enjoys a book that does not answer questions, but rebirths age-old ones and challenges the world around them, as well as their universal truths, should pick up “War Dances”.


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​Artist's Note: This picture shows an artistic comparison of a Native American dancing and a skeleton. Notice the placement of the images, the contrasts. Comment what you think it means.
Download Music - Audio File Hosting - Poem for War Dances
"War Dances", Sherman Alexie, Publisher: Grove Press,Year: 2010,Pages: 214, Genre: Fiction

Humanities Final Portfolio 2013

Posted by Amani Bey in English 2 - Block on
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“People are naive and so self righteous, they don’t realize people think differently than them”- Excerpt from my Choice Reading Worksheet.

Throughout the 2012-2013 school year students in Joshua Block’s English and History classes have studied many eras, events, and styles of writing. Normally history is either glorified on one side and made out to look like monsters, or the story may be told with the tunnel vision of facts, not allowing either side much justification.Throughout many projects and activities Mr. Block’s courses have given  face and reason to many historical events, current and ancient. We were taught to see the world through many perspectives.

As a warm up Journal, Mr. Block had us interpret a picture. The picture represents the world’s view on justice based on where they stand, based on their perspective. After our Revolution unit, while reading Night by Elie Wiesel, the class read an article about a boy who was punished for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance. This article stood out because we were studying how countries were overthrowing the tyranny that reigned. This brings up perspective once more because it is easy to tell your neighbor he needs a fence, not noticing that yours is falling apart. It is important to realize, as the article pointed out, that this was an American boy who refused to say the Pledge. He did not hail from another land, America was the only life he’d ever known. It is easy to become unconcious of things we take for granted. We must never exhaust the option of analyzing everything, no matter how familiar it may seem.

In December, while reading Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes were Watching God , the class was also studying lenses. Lenses are a type of perspective that a reader may take on, based on what’s important or relevant to them. this project yielded an artistic representation of  a quote from the book. It was studied through the perspective of a Marxist and a feminist. I found it amazing the justice and injustice that can be found in words or ideas based on the person’s focus that reads them.

The first piece was an artistic rendition of the quote in which Nanny states “Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out...So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule ud de world so fur as Ah can see.”The mule is Janie and in this piece she has a pyramid disproportionately large on her back as a symbol of the hierarchy one would see when looking through the Fem-Marxist Lens.


The trials during history class were by far one of the most rewarding and effective activities in perspective. Groups were chosen to defend their group with research and wit. My group was the fleet of conquistadors that came over with Hernando Cortez. These men were charged with and undeniably guilty of the the murder of thousands of native peoples in South and Central America. Here is the closing statement that I wrote below in defense of their actions. It is easy to paint people as malicious when given their actions in black and white, especially when there is undeniable guilt. However, the job of defense attorneys is to change the perspective of the jury into one which is beneficial for the defendant.We accept and regret our sins, but are we truly at fault?

Throughout January, we focused on Neila Larsen’s Passing. This was a story that followed the life of two women in the late 1920s. One passed for white in her everyday  life, and one only did it when it suited her. We were presented with two entirely different characters, with different morals and goals, and as readers we found ourselves more akin to one of the characters rather than the other. The book ends has an ambiguous ending. How you saw the end truly depended on the how you saw the characters throughout the book. The link below shows an assignment the class was given upon finishing the book. In groups, students were asked to perform scenes from the book adding their own flair. My team had the ambiguous ending, so we devised 3 scenes, each of which could’ve happened, because the writer made the ending so vague. Many areas in  history and stories in everyday life are vague and we are left to our own devices to understand why or how.

In the very beginning of the year, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, led to a project in which we were charged with making ads for the best leader for the island. The class was allowed to lobby and campaign for who we believed would rule the best. It was very interesting to see the different ways the class approached this project. While there were only 3 candidates, there was an array of tactics students used. Here is my video Campaign ad.



Towards the beginning of the year, we were asked to write a letter to someone that is/has been in our lives. This project was using the hindsight perspective. One had to reflect on an experience that happened in the past, with the new perspective of stories we’d read in class. It showed how reading something or learning something new could change your feelings toward a certain experience and experiences to come. We should accept our faults for what we see them, not for what someone decides to lacquer onto our personalities. This letter helped me realize that while seeing all sides of the story is necessary, it is also necessary to follow yourself.



An excerpt from my graphic novel "Why Don't People See Things More Clearly?"
Scan 1
Scan 1

English Journal 42

Posted by Amani Bey in English 2 - Block on
​What prevented adults from acknowledging the simple truths of a twelve-year old boy? Can you think of other examples of groups of people failing to recognize reality?

Adults have been conditioned their entire live to believe a cetain set of truths. Evryday those children say the Pledge and then they learn. They drone out the Pledge until they are unconscious of the words and their meanings. Schools teach subjects separately and there are different units. They are not taught to look at the world as an interconnected place.
“No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."-Assata Shakur 
The adults feel that criticism of the country, especially a huge part of the American pie, represents a lack of patriotism. In most countries, like in Nazi Germany, a lack of gusto patriotism is/was treason. It may not be a law in the united States to not speak poorly about the country, but their is still an unspoken, unwritten one. 

  • Indoctrination: teaching of the se of beliefs that are not questioned.  


History Journal 27

Posted by Amani Bey in English 2 - Block on
FishCartoon
FishCartoon
This cartoon shows the perspective of a citizen in the world based on their role/rank in the world. This big fish doesn't have to worry about anyone eating it, so the world is 'just' to him. The middle fish sees 'some justice' in the world because an, but has someone to eat. The little fish is to be eaten by all and never given a chance to prosper and find what is 'just in the world"

"Me Perdiste" un Cantante Original por Pedro Bey, Pilar Shurelds, Diego O'Donovan y Andrea Collins

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 2 - Bey on
Me Perdiste
Letra: 

“Me Perdiste”

por

Pedro Bey, Pilar Shurelds, Diego O'Donovan y Andrea Collins

Verso Uno:

Chica:

Yo pensaba tú vas a ser mejor

No eras,

Entonces voy a dejar

Va a ser un verano frío ....   

Sin mí


Verso Dos:

Chico:

Voy a hacer cosas mejor

Dame un chance más

Vamos a ser mejor

No te vayas  


Coro:

Chica:

otra vez no

yo estoy finito

Me perdiste

Chico:

voy a esperar meses

Lo siento

Te extraño


Verso Tres:

Chica:

No tienes chances más

Te dí demasiadas chances

Tengo que ir a mi propio camino


Verso Cuatro:


Chico:

¿Por que tienes que ir?

Nosotros pertenecemos

juntos.....

Por siempre

Quedaté



Coro

Chica:

otra vez no

yo estoy finito

Me perdiste



Chico:

Voy a esperar meses

Lo siento

Te extraño



Verso Cinco:

Chica:

Todos los días, discutíamos

Somos finitos

No puedo sufrir la dolor nunca más

Esta fractura de mi corazón




Verso Seis

Chico:

Podemos resolver nuestras problemas

Yo soy nada sin tu amor

Necesito estar en tu corazón

Quedaté..

Por favor


Coro

Chica:

otra vez no

yo estoy finito

Me perdiste



Chico:

Voy a esperar meses

Lo siento

Te extraño



Bridge:

Chica: Somos terminado

Chico: No necesita a ser

Chica: No puedo quedarme

Chico: Si, tú puedes

Chica: Me perdiste

Chico: Yo quiero tener te





Language Autobiography 2013: Shakespeare and Slang

Posted by Amani Bey in English 2 - Block on
During this unit, my English class explored many aspects of Language and how it relates to identity. We have read the memoirs of many authors, in which they explain their personal battle with language. There have been struggles with bilingual status and which side to choose. I have learned  here many facets to language and how you use it determines it's advantages and disadvantages. In this project, I took an area of language from my personal experience and related it to the struggle with culture, identity and self-worth. My last thought upon finishing my paper was "How far will I go to be a part of the 'Talented Tenth'? Why is there still a talented tenth?"

"The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and other races."

---W.E.B. DuBois
Shakespeare and Slang

“Open your books class. 'Their Eyes were Watching God' is a compelling story about identity. Now I must warn you, this book has a strong rural south dialect. Soon enough, you'll catch onto it.”

I stared at the cover of the book, took a deep breath and opened it. “Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the same horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.” This is why Zora Neale Hurston was so revered, this is why her name is always mentioned with the greats of the Harlem Renaissance, I thought. A sense of pride and reverence swelled in my chest.
“Who can tell me what they think this means?”
My hand shot up immediately, I knew what it meant, I appreciated what it meant and how it was said. After a discussion, we moved onto the next page in which we met the characters:
“Where all dat money her husband took and died and left her? – What dat ole forty year ole ‘oman doin’ wid her hair swingin’ down her back lak some young gal? – Where she left dat young lad of a boy she went off here wid?“
I cringed at the characters' words. The stacks of books, papers, and journals I’d written and read weighed down the top of my head as I sunk into my seat.These words were exactly the stereotype I'd been taught my entire life to fight.  I remembered my mother and my grandmother's constant corrections, “It's 'well', not 'good'. It's 'have' not 'got'.  I was habitually reminded it was not good enough to be satisfactory like everyone else; because I was black and a female, I had to be better than everyone else to get an equal shot. I was and am expected to be more than a statistic and a big part of that for the adults in my life was and is my speech.
People are judged on two things upon introduction: How they look and how they speak, in that order. I was so concerned on breaking the stereotype of the lack of education and perceived absence of intelligence in blacks, that I'd never imagined what I learned could be a miseducation. Why would I desire to sound like  the system that told me I wasn’t good enough everyday. I'd rather be told that I sounded 'white' and ostracized by my black peers than to “stoop to their level”.  It wasn't until I read an essay by James Baldwin (who'd long been one of my favorite authors), that I could understand how someone could look down on me for sounding like I'd read a book before.
“A child cannot be taught by anyone whose demand, essentially, is that the child repudiate his experience, and all that gives him sustenance, and enter a limbo in which he will no longer be black, and in which he knows that he can never become white.”
As a “pro black”, with my natural hair and my disposition to favor black culture. Black language was never something I appreciated, it was something I despised. Speaking any dialect besides Standard English reflected to society, an ignorance and lack of education. I was the one who’d always pushed the envelope of society's expectations and limits, but I would never touch the lingual aspect. It'd never even occurred to me that the way I spoke could be as much as a rebellion, as the things I spoke about.
“You’re so well spoken”, people would always say. I’ve faked out more many meetings and presentations  with my ability to “sound intelligent”, than I am proud to say. I never felt English oppressed me, but it did rule my life, it became my calling card. Not my philosophical thinking, not my personality and not my talents, but my ability to open my mouth and sound like everyone else. I now realize the people and their experience I'd looked down upon countless times, were rebelling consciously or unconsciously. They were fighting to hold onto one of the only things that allowed them to be who they were, regardless of the media's bombardment of people who didn’t look, think, speak or live like they did. It is sad their refusal to conform will cost them many opportunities in life.
With the right words, anything is possible. Words helped Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Adolf Hitler, Malcolm and Gandhiji. Language is used as leverage in a competitive world. However, with any lever, there is something that is held high, and there is something that is weighed and made low. It is our burden to lift the heavy from our tongues and prosper.
Unfortunately, regardless of the culture you hold dear and how they speak, in America, the use of “proper” English is a must to get ahead.




Baldwin, James. "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me What Is."New York Times. (July 29, 1979): <http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-english.html>.

hooks, bell. Hooks on the Language of Power. New Learning. Web. 11 Jan 2013. <http://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-6-critical-literacies/hooks-on-the-language-of-power/>.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1937. Print.



Shakespeare Vs. Slang from Amani Bey on Vimeo.

Pipeline Monologue Project

Posted by Amani Bey in World History - Block on
​Introduction
Our first investigation in World History class was a current issue – The Keystone XL Pipeline. If built, this pipeline will stretch from Canada , through America's heartland, all the way to Texas. There are many different views from which people support or oppose the building of this pipeline. My class was given the task of showing these  different views through monologues. 
My three monologues are a fish, a middle school child,and a drill.The fish and the boy are against the Pipeline, but for two entirely different reasons(the fish is worried about the environment, and the boy is worried about the people that will be displaced). The drill is for the economic appeal of the pipeline.They all show different opinions about the pipeline and I tried to bring their characters to life; they have personalities and personal trials.
Drilling the Economy

Hey you! Yeah you,

no hard feelings eh?
I know I just roughed you up and chained you to this pipe here,
but think about it this way,
you are going towards a greater good,
I've been out of work for a while, my hand and I
its been a minute since this old bit has whirled, with all of the layoffs and whatnot
my hand's company moved a lot of their jobs to China,
now some 13 year old kid is doing a grown man's job


at least you have stability,
this is one of the only times its okay to be screwed over ,
hahaha

at least you have stability,
I'm stuck here,
waiting at the mercy of my hand's country's regime
this O'canner guy
what?
Its Obama?
Okay, if you say so
well, at least I have some work done, we've started the southern part of this pipeline, so the humans must know something that I don’t,
I mean, why would they start something they may not be able to finish!
laughs nervously, then goes to a more reserved tone of voice
My hand, he always tells me about his three little girls,
Mary, Margaret and Marlene,
He has children, and they don't just need oil or a battery charge like me and you,
and to think of the nerve of the Texans that are uniting against this project, his fellow Texans,
are trying to keep him and 20,000 other hardworking Americans away from an honest paycheck
and away from the tools of their trade,
I mean would you say no?
goes aggressive
you would love to see me rust, wouldn't you??
sit here and watch my drill dull
and my metal mode,
calms himself, though you can still hear anger in his voice
Okay, its not you, I’m sorry,
but I, me and my hand and I really need this job.

“War Between Worlds”
Walking home, the air is crisp. Luke looks at the surrounding white around him. Speaking to no one. One of his classmates has just left.
Bye Tommy, see you after the New Year!
“Bye Luke!”, they all say
“Bye Luke, have a good holiday break.”
They don't know that there are no holidays in my house and that no one calls me Luke at home,
Bye Luke, Please
Arrluk, Arrluk, come here. Get ready, we are going to the reserve to see your grandparents
I can't wait until they're all moved off their land.
Wait, that was terrible to say,
You know something funny
We were learning about the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline and how some people would lose their homes, some indigenous people
And no one asked me how i felt
how all of this affected me
to them I'm just Luke
to myself I'm just Luke
laughs
Arrluk is the one who wouldn’t care Americans are calling the oil theirs, but he would care that his ancestors may be out of a home,
Arrluk would care if the precious environment of the Tar Sands was uprooted, leaving waste and destruction in it's path
I mean Luke does despise the American politicians, never looking out for their people and now coming to Canada to wreak havoc.
gets hostel, stops walking, stands still, in the cold, shivering
Are there not enough Native Americans in their country left to oppress, now its the Inuits' turn?
confused
But wait, who cares about that? Luke? Arrluk?
Why isn't the Government/company working on alternative energy instead of wasting 7 billion dollars on something we already have?
When using all of the Tar Sands, almost 12 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere will be added,
Whatever happened to the 305 initiative?
Whatever happened to Arrluk, I mean,
Luke

See video for "War Between Worlds" below

Amani Bey performing her monologue, "War Between Worlds" from Amani Bey on Vimeo.

​Home
Swims ahead, furiously, clearly distraught
No!!!
I don’t believe it,
I mean those plastic soda thingies should've shown me that these people are capable of anything
but not this,
not this,
anything but this,
My precious water,
They’re planning to use it to refine this,
this so called tar sands,
for oil,
Oil is the main cause of problems for us fish,
my cousins Bait and Tackle told me about that oil spill in the Gulf by BP,
they said
in a country voice
Cuzzin’ Bubbles, oil is  a dangerous thang, try to stay away from it, you're lucky you don't live where oil is.
regular distressed voice, agitated,
And I had the nerve to assume myself safe just because I live in one of the Sandhills’ lakes
But they want to run this pipeline through the aquifer,
The aquifer that waters all the crops and feeds all of the bodies of water,
Begins to smack at the water furiously with his fins
You’ll be ruined,
RUINED!
and they want to waste even more water on these toxic waste lakes,
My home will be a toxic waste lake if they have their way,
or maybe I’ll be lucky and die a fast death,they’ll drain the lake to use,
it takes MORE of my precious water, to actually make this stuff,
oil,
I mean, who even heard  of tar sands,and thought oil?
The first words out of the others’ mouths was “Don’t try to fight it, you won’t win”
You know what, I’m gonna’ die trying, because I’m going to die either way!
​Appendix/ Bibliography 
  • The oil will be shipped 1700 miles from Canada to refineries in Texas.
  • Building this will cost 7 billion dollars
  • 800 thousands barrels of oil a day will be produced
    Tar Sands Pipeline Plan Renews Energy vs. Environment Debate. 2011. Film. 1 Oct 2012. <http://video.pbs.org/video/2110582932>
  • Tar sands oil extraction and production emits three times more carbon dioxide than average from production of conventional oil consumed in the United States.
  • Extracting the fossil fuels in tar sands from the sand, silt, and clay requires enormous amounts of water.
    "Friends of the Earth." Friends of the Earth. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.foe.org/projects/climate-and-energy/tar-sands>.
  • "fully exploiting the Canadian Tar Sands would lead to an increase in Carbon Dioxide of between 9 & 12 parts per million,"
. "No to Canadian Tar sands - No to the XL Pipeline - Solidarity with arrested protesters." . N.p., 21 2011. Web. 1 Oct 2012. <http://www.theecosocialist.com/1/post/2011/8/no-to-canadian-tar-sands-no-to-the-xl-pipeline-solidarity-with-arrested-protestors.html>.

  • Named after a Northern Plains tribe, the Ogallala provides water to farms in eight states, accounting for a quarter of the nation’s cropland, as well as municipal drinking wells.If the pipeline should spring a leak where it touches the aquifer or even above it, Kleeb and other opponents say, oil could quickly seep into and through the porous, sandy soil.
    Mufson, Steven. "Keystone XL pipeline may threaten aquifer that irrigates much of the central U.S.."Washington Post 06 008 2012, n. pag. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/keystone-xl-pipeline-may-threaten-aquifer-that-irrigates-much-of-the-central-us/2012/08/06/7bf0215c-d4db-11e1-a9e3-c5249ea531ca_story.html>.

Descriptive Essay: Indefinite Diction

Posted by Amani Bey in English 2 - Block on
​

The creaking steps whined under the weight of my uncertainty. My shallow breath squeezed in between the beating of my pounding heart. The ambient lighting of the stage did nothing to calm me. My stomach was shivering as I burned alive under a hundred eyes.

“Yeah Mani!”

“You better go girl!”

“You got it Poet!”

“I like that skirt child!”, I looked down at my tie-dyed turquoise peasant skirt and I smiled. There was a folded parchment of paper with my poem on it. I looked into the audience and saw Rasheem's teeth, in the back row, big and glorious, smiling at me.

I didn’t think the words were good enough to let everyone hear them. I had the type of fearlessness that stayed inside closed doors. My tenacity was as ruthless as Old Lady Muriel's chihuahua— Yapping at everyone through the glass window, but hiding under the couch when company dared to make its way into the house.

This is it, this is your chance to show something the world something, don’t mess it up.

But I don’t even like this poem.

What if they don’t like it? What if they don’t understand it?

Its too late now,

The mic hiccuped as I lowered the stand to meet my 5 foot stature. I was stiff, but here was nothing, I was letting go.

“I can't say that sometimes....”

These were my words, I let them out into the world.

I remember learning about a girl in matter of seconds based on words that weren't hers. I was waiting for a lecture to start, so I opened my computer and went to my favorite website.

After a couple of clicks, I heard, “You have a Tumblr?”. I looked behind me to where the voice was coming from and was greeted by a smile.

32 brilliant,white teeth,were accompanied by frantic and hungry eyes. “You should follow me.”

“What’s your name?”

“Zip zip hooray.”

With a couple of clicks, I entered her world. Pictures of relationships, people wearing tank tops lined with crazy prints, cartoons, gifs, and quotes. Everything in her blog, including the layout ,spoke for what she liked or was fascinated by.

Then and there, I realized that Tumblr is an I.D. of who you are, or rather who want to be. There is something magical about it. Even when words and thoughts aren’t your own, they say so much about you. So what happens when they're your own?

Every tap-tap around me gnawed at my insides, the pitter-pattering of 32 sets of fingers on keyboards drove me crazy, this topic was too broad. My water bottle broke the monotonous daze with a loud crack as I nervously sipped. My thoughts were as dry as my throat.

The cursor on the screen was the only eye on me. Everyone else was too intent on their work to care what anyone else was doing. They were bent over, eyes focused, backs hunched as if they were unloading the heavy words from their backs onto their fingers.

My mind was blank. Okay, it was swarming with ideas, but none of them were good enough. They whizzed by as if on a conveyor belt. My brain picked through every detail of every topic, always finding something wrong with the thesis; nothing was good enough. They were all either too generic, too obvious, or too personal. My hands remained dormant on my keyboard, waiting for a command.

I stared at the closed window blinds and rested my head on the clammy wooden desk. My heart pounded along with the click clacking of the ideas flowing around me. I looked up and the poster-plastered walls showed no sympathy. The warm air in the room wrapped around my shoulders, urging me to give up and doze off for the remainder of class.

“Five more minutes for writing”, his voice tinged with expectation called out and retrieved me from my stupor.

Why was I trying so hard to reach inside of myself? It was only an English paper that my class would see. Not a poem on the stage, not a song to sing. There was hardly any room for judgement, but I sat there, racking my brain for something I cared about. This was my piece and it wasn’t that I cared what anyone thought of me, I just wanted them to have an accurate reference of which to base their judgements. I was a good good enough writer to churn out what this man was asking for in a day. It would be quality work, but it wouldn’t have been a clear representation of me.

The self-scrutinization of my work is partly because I'm OCD, but we live in a society where it isn't hard to guess what will happen next. I've always felt the pressure to push myself in writing because my words, even when I do not necessarily care where they end up, need to be my best. I want them to stand out and mean something to me because there's no need to

I always want to be ahead of the curb and make everything my own. We live in a population where with the click of a button, we can judge one another's deepest or shallow thoughts. Make what you say count.


La Casa Perfecta de Enthony Chinn

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
​ Diseñado por: Amani Bey y Enthony Chinn
Photo on 5-31-12 at 6.02 PM
Photo on 5-31-12 at 6.02 PM
Su nombre es Enthony Chhin. Tiene catorce años. La casa perfecta de Enthony está en Los Ángeles porque le gusta la playa y la ciudad. La casa de Enthony va a ser enorme porque él va a tener seis niños. Una familia grandísima necesita una casa grandísima.Enthony le gusta el museo de arte, por eso que,él quiere una casa elegante y enorme y tradicional. La casa es immenso, pero practical, no bastante extravagante.
Long_Beach_Skyline-390x260
Long_Beach_Skyline-390x260

Enthony quiere un carro de Volkswagon por él solamente ,y un carro de la familia. Una camioneta tiene sentido. El garaje puede contener tres carros. La casa no tiene un jardín porque la esposa de Enthony es alérgico de las flores. Ella va a ir rojo.

Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 9.42.47 PM
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 9.42.47 PM

La sala en la casa de Enthony es muy grande. Necesitan el espacio. Tiene una tele gigante, Tres sofás , dos mesas por lámparas y 8 ventanas porque le gusta aire libre. Actividades la familia pueden hacer en la sala son :ver la tele, dormir, relajar, leer, jugar juegos de mesa y video juegos.

Screen Shot 2012-06-04 at 9.19.56 AM
Screen Shot 2012-06-04 at 9.19.56 AM

Enthony le gusta dibujar, por lo tanto, va a tener un estudio en el ático. Es su trabajo. Ninguno de niños van a molestar él cuando él es en su estudio.  Hay un escritorio con mucho papel y marcadors. Hay pinturas. Y LADY GAGA!!!!! También el estudio va a tener paredes calldo por eso que Enthony puede escuchar para Lady Gaga muy ruidoso.


Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 9.01.51 PM
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 9.01.51 PM
La cocina de la casa será con una ventana extenso. No hay comedor porque Enthony no va a planear invitar gente para su casa. La familia va a comer a la barra en la cocina. Hay nueve sillos. Hay una nevera, un lavamanos, un lavaplatos y un guardaplatos.
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 9.18.35 PM
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 9.18.35 PM

Los cuartos en la casa perfecta de Enthony son medianos y limpios. La casa va a tener ocho habitaciónes. Cada cuarto va a Tener dos ventanas  porque le gusta luce en espacio abierto. Cada niño va a tener un escritorio con una computadora por escuela. Va a tener una cama y una lampara, y una guardarropa con espacio por libros.


Ninguno de los niños pueden tener una mascota.. ¡Enthony odia animales!
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 8.36.12 PM
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 8.36.12 PM
La esposa de Enthony tiene un pasión por deportes. La casa va a tener un cine grande con un pantalla enorme. Ella va a ver deportes solo; Enthony no le gusta deportes nada. Los niños va a preferir ver las peliculas en esto lugar. Va a tener los sillos rojo mismo que la cine.
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 8.29.57 PM
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 8.29.57 PM

Cada persona va a tener su propio baño. Los baños de las niñas son rosa con una ducha, un espejo, un fregadero y un retrete. Los baños de los niños son azul y mismo que los baños de las niñas.

Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 8.26.09 PM
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 8.26.09 PM
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 8.23.31 PM
Screen Shot 2012-06-03 at 8.23.31 PM

Las Cazuelas

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
​En ingles por favor: 
On Tuesday, we had a catered, Mexican food luncheon. It was a wonderful end to our unit on food. We explored many different cultures of hispanic food, including, Venezuelan, Pueblo Mexican, and Peruvian cuisines. We had a chance to savor Pueblo food. This is how it went: 
IMG_5357
IMG_5357
​Nombre Del Plato: Sope de Maiz

Opinión : me gusta

Unos Ingredientes: maiz y frijoles, con sour cream

Comentarios: Yo recomiendo  poner la salsa



​Nombre Del Plato: Tacos dorados 

Opinión : No me gusta 

Unos Ingredientes: pollo y maiz

Comentarios: Fue aburrida


Nombre Del Plato: Arroz

Opinión : me gusta

Unos Ingredientes: arroz y zanahoria y cebollas 

Comentarios: Me gusta con los frijoles fritos. Yo recomiendo comer los dos juntos.



​Nombre Del Plato: Pollo Cazuelas 

Opinión : Me gusta porque es picante 

Unos Ingredientes: pimientas verde y pollo

Comentarios: ?Fue cocida al horno o cocida al pan?


!NO PUEDO COMER CHULETA!


IMG_5358
IMG_5358
Y algo de tomar.... 


Nombre Del Bebida: Horchata

Opinión : me gusta , es dulce

Unos Ingredientes: leche, azuca'r y arroz

Comentarios: yo fue fascina, me gusta porque es co'mo helado. 

IMG_5360
IMG_5360
  AL FINAL!!!



Nombre Del Plato: Tres Leches

Opinión : me gusta

Unos Ingredientes: Biscocho en leche: leche,azuca'r, 

Comentarios: Fue dulce y cremoso.

Hay.. En La Casa

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
JLP-HOUSE-CUTAWAY
JLP-HOUSE-CUTAWAY
Hay un vaso on la mesa en la sala. No hay el sótano, pero la casa tiene un ático. Hay una computadora en un cuarto. Alguien ha quitar la mesa en el comedor.  Es un jardín grande. Es una pintura en el comedor..

Negative Space

Posted by Amani Bey in Art - 9 - Hull on
2012-04-23_12-08-11_835 (1)
2012-04-23_12-08-11_835 (1)
IMG_5005
IMG_5005
IMG_5004
IMG_5004
​A. What is negative space (explain this concept to a fourth grader that has never heard of it)
In art, there are blank spaces( as in spaces where the air goes). This is called negative space.

B. Explain how you found negative space in 1. your cut out?, 2. in your stool drawing?

In the cut out, I understood that the certain color was negative space. On one side i used that as orange, on the other side, it was highlighted in the brown. 

In the stool, I used  space where the air was, that's what negative space is.

C. Why does it help an artist to see in negative space?

It helps artists to see negative space because it allows them to have a better composition of their pieces. 

D. Does seeing in negative space enhance drawings, why or why not


Drawing showing Negative Space enhances the intensity of the the shape itself. However, for detail, I feel it takes away.

Amani y Bryanna La Dieta por Nick Jonas

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on

  Nick Jonas who is diabetic

Amani Bey

and

Bryanna Jones  

Desayuno

Almuerzo

Cena

lunes

Desayuno
juevos, y pan con geletina natural

una copa de agua

martes

Almuerzo
Arroz Cafe y Pollo con vegetales

una copa de agua y una copa de jugo de fruta natural

miércoles

Cena
el pescado y ajo con pimienta, sin sal

una copa de agua y una copa de jugo de fruta natural

jueves

Desayuno
una ensalada de fruta (con cerezas y manzanas y fresas y  )

una copa de leche

viernes

Alumerzo
el sanwich con queso y tomate y lechuga

una copa de agua y una copa de jugo de fruta natural

sábado

Cena
paella vegétale  
y por el postre una copa de cereza

domingo

Desayuno
harina de aven

 y plantas,  con una copa de jugo de toronja

 

 

La Vecina Mala

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
Hay una familia en una casa Bolivia. Hay un primo, una abuela, y gemelos de alma.. La familia tiene una castillo viejo. La familia tiene una vecina. Ella es no importante como la familia. La vecina tiene una problema. La vecina es muy enojada. Ella grita . La vecina le dice a la abuela “¡detener caminan en mi jardin o voy a quemar tu casa! ”

Amani en yo Conjugacion

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on

Soy Amani . Tengo 15 años. Me fascina aprender. Por lo tanto, yo siempre leo. Cuando tengo tiempo libre, yo escribo poemas, escucho música y dibujo. Es por que piensan, soy artística. Sin embargo, soy perezosa, así que todos los días, duermo. A veces hago la tarea, solamente después de las clases.

¡Mis Clases Favoritas!

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
​

 

Mi escuela, Science Leadership Academy, es muy diferente para otras escuelas publicas en Filadelfia. Tenemos que aplicar. Todo el mundo  es extraño, los profesores también! La vida en SLA es loca y divertida. Tenemos  mucho actividades. Tenemos el biblioteca y salón música. Hay quinientos estudiantes, es Pequeño para las otras escuelas. Esta en el centro de la cuidad. Me encanta SLA porque aprendemos mucho y tenemos que trabajar duro.

rocket_lettering
rocket_lettering
sp1036technicallyphillyindivfeaturehallway
sp1036technicallyphillyindivfeaturehallway

Clase : Poesía

Los Profesores :El Señor Kay y La Señorita Gina

Actividades en la clase: escribimos 

Responsabilidades: tenemos que tener posturas positiva

Materiales: el cuaderno, una pluma o una lápiz , 

Opinión: Me caen bien porque es divertida

Clase: ​Geometría

 La Profesora : La Señorita Thompson

Actividades en la clase: resolver los problemas, dibujar 

Responsabilidades: Hacer todos tarea, prestar atención, coger un buena nota en las pruebas y participar activamente

Materiales: La carpeta, unas hojas de papel, la computadora (a veces)

Opinión: Me fascina la clase de geometría porque aprendemos mucho.

​Un comparación de las  escuelas publicas en Filadelfia y Paraguay. ↴
Screen Shot 2012-02-07 at 10.17.15 AM
Screen Shot 2012-02-07 at 10.17.15 AM

Before vs. After

Posted by Amani Bey in Technology - Hull on
Before: 
I chose black so the white letters and white earphones are emphasized.

The picture of me is very simple and I have a very intricate swirl of thoughts representing music. I speak music to represent I represent it. Note that the word "are" is not very important, so it is relatively smaller.

From http://zachholman.com/posts/slide-design-for-developers/, I learned that a slide should not cram info. From http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2008/08/learning-from-the-design-around-you-ikea.html I learned that there are certain colors that contrast , so I have a black background. From,http://www.apple.com/iwork/tutorials/#pages-hero I learned how to use Keynote’s Alpha.

http://buzzmarketing.com/2010/11/26/advertising-techniques/ taught me to  use the word “you” or “your” far more than “I” “me” or “we.” And to make things pop out.

I bled my picture out the side and made the headphones pop out against the black. My thoughts of music spiral from my head into ooblivion. There is a minimum of words on my slide. They are absolutely relavant. And they are tilted slightly

 

400x400
400x400
After: 
After the constructive criticism, I made my head less choppy-looking by making it curve inward. Also, I made my face and the thoughts bigger because it is the main point. Instead of speaking, "melodies" , I made it a Larger , more intricate  letters underneath it. 
techppt copy

Mis Seres Queridos

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
Click the picture to play movie
Guión​

Intro: ¡Hola! Siéntate y escuchar para mi.

 

Yo: Soy Amani. Tengo quince años. Soy de Filadelfia,   Tengo el pelo rizado y los ojos morrenas. Me fascina practicar/ escuchar música. Me encanta cantar!

           

Ella: Ella  es Emily. Tiene catorce años. Ella es extraña! Tiene el pelo roja. ¡Literalmente! Como mananza. Es adorable, me gusta mucha el pelo de Emily. Ella es muy boba. Le gusta dibujar y escuchar música. ¡Yo también! La adora  porque ella es divertido.

 

Ellos: Ellos son Thomas, True y Haneef. Todos son altos y lindos . Todos tiene el pelo marrones y los ojos café. Pero, True tiene el pelo rizado . La apodo de True es Trigga Trig.  True y Haneef son bobos, pero Thomas es serio. Haneef y True jugar  Basquetbol, pero Thomas practicar guitarra. Sin embargo todos Les gustas escribir música.  Me caen bien porque son geniales hermanos.

 

Ellas: Bryanna, Donesha y Khadija son mis amigas. Todos tienen diferente años. Bryanna y Donesha son bastante boba , pero Khadija es tímido. Khadijah y Bryanna les gusta bailar. Donesha es muy habladora. Todos son trabajadoras. Me encanta ellas porque son buenísimas amigas.

 

Nosotros: ¡Somos mejor amigas! Nos encanta escribir poesía. La quiero porque ella es importante para mi! Somos son algo exactamente. Somos hablar todo el tiempo.

 

Conclusión: mis amigos es mucho importante. Ellos son mi familia!!

¡HOLA!

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
Photo on 11-1-11 at 11.04 AM
Photo on 11-1-11 at 11.04 AM
Mi favorita foto.

Querida Génesis,     

¿Cómo estas? Soy Amani. Estoy emocionado a hablar contigo.  Tengo quince años y Mi cumpleaños fue 11/11/11.!Qué chévere!¿Cuando es cumpleaños ? Sabes me vivo en Filadelfia. Es otoño/invierno, por hace fresco. ¿Qué tiempo hace en Maracaibo?

¿Qué te gusta hacer en Maracaibo? Me gusta cantar y como se dice tweet.  Me gusta Adele y Beyoncé. Me encantar Lady Gaga. No me gusta nada correr porque soy muy perezosa. Sin embargo, me gusta bailar. En Filadelfia  chicos y chicas bailar con Jerseymusic. (link to a video of us dancing) . Soy muy baja pero mucho sociable y habladora. No me gusta nada aburrido gentes. Es por eso que mi amigos es loco. ¿Comó eres tú?

¡Ay dios mio! Me casi no recordar mi familia. Me tengo una hermana, Selah.  Es molestón. Tiene tres años. Es mucho cómica , sin embargo antipática. Le encantar juego Angry Birds y escuchar música. No le gusta nada escuchar mamá ni correr. Mi también. ¿Cómo eres sú familia?

Bueno, me voy porque tengo que ir al almuerzo. ¡Adiós!

 

 

                                                                                                Con Cariño,

Amani

 

Photo on 11-13-11 at 11.26 AM #2
Photo on 11-13-11 at 11.26 AM #2
Mi Hermana, Selah.
Photo on 11-15-11 at 3.26 PM
Photo on 11-15-11 at 3.26 PM
Solamente mi.

Mi Hermana, Selah

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
Photo on 11-13-11 at 11.26 AM #2
Photo on 11-13-11 at 11.26 AM #2
​Se llama es Selah Ife. Tiene tres años. Es guapa y baja. Es de New Orleans pero vive en Filadelfia. Es mucho comica , sin embargo antipática. Le encantar juego Angry Birds y escuchar musica. No le gusta nada escuchar mama ni correr. Mi tambien. 

How are you today? Very well Thank You!

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
Screen Shot 2011-10-26 at 12.01.03 PM
Screen Shot 2011-10-26 at 12.01.03 PM
You and your spanish speaking friend are speaking to each other and you want to know how they are feeling.
Here's my pareja Monesha's lessons 
Click here for Numbers in Spanish
Click here for Days of the week in Spanish
Click here for The Alphabet

Be Polite, Avoid a Fight!

Posted by Amani Bey in Spanish 1 - Manuel on
​In order to avoid discrepancies, it would behoove you to learn certain etiquette phrases in Español.
Screen Shot 2011-10-19 at 12.33.29 PM
Screen Shot 2011-10-19 at 12.33.29 PM


here is a video of different ways to be polite in hallway etiquette
in order:
1. using perdon
2. por favor, gracias and de nada
3. Lo siento and con permiso being used
click the picture!
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