My capstone project is a natural website complete with video testimonials of natural haired beauties, and a lovely photo gallery showcasing the beauty and diversity of natural hair that people of color process. Originally I planned to record a podcast and take a photo shoot for every person I interviewed, but a quarter of the way through the process someone suggested camera interviews and I realized that an on screen interview would demonstrate an even deeper message. I set up a room in SLA that would be used for both interviewing and the photoshoot. I used a black backdrop and asked every person the same questions. I began with basic questions about how different people did their hair and then I transitioned into asking question about how different people interact with their hair. Since I have never taken a digital video or digital photography class at SLA Isabella D’Angelo and Hanna Dunakin assisted me throughout the majority of the process. During the project not only was I able to learn about how people treat and feel about their natural hair, I was also able to learn about how to use recording and editing equipment. Learning about video and photography equipment was not apart of my learning plan for my capstone, but picking up those skills made my capstone even more fulfilling.

Website Link: kburton9.wixsite.com/naturalhair

Link to my bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wCIKCuE7FVG92dz-7yBPp-jLAMQ5EZ89ZqcxNVEwZl8/edit

Annotated Bibliography

Byrd, Ayana. "If Big, Natural Hair is in, Why Don't We See it On Television?" NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/if-big-natural-hair-why-dont-we-see-it-television-n294016

This source explores the recent movement of natural hair, coming from famous women on screen. The recent increase in celebrities deciding to sport their natural has led to more regular women gaining the confidence to sport their natural hair as well. However, women of color are still not wearing their natural hair on screen. Thi source explores the lack of diversity on screen that leads o a confusion within the movement. Women are asking how they are expected to look up to other black women for their color, if they don’t see the same thing expressed on the big screen.

Byrd, Ayanna and Tharps, Lori. “Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America.” St. Martin’s. 2001, 2014.

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KERWAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=black+hair&ots=hsUTWNTEmn&sig=epnVycx-Mmd_75J3fm4MNSvj5MY#v=onepage&q=black%20hair&f=false

The stigma of natural hair on black women has been a long fought battle, starting as early as the 1600’s. The issue, however was not prominent until the 1920’s. This novel by Tharps and Byrd tells the struggle of black hair, when black women were first assimilated into the American Society. This source is crucial because it shows the initial struggle of black hair and the movements and waves that black hair has gone through, including the call for a more “uniform” look. I will use this book as a history book of sorts to frame the foundations of this capstone.

Hargro, Brina, "Hair Matters: African American Women and the Natural Hair Aesthetic." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2011.

http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1095&context=art_design_theses

What this source uniquely addresses is the push back from white America to try and rid the country of the uniqueness of black people. The idea of eurocentric beauty comes from the idea of making African American people feel out of place in this world, white world. In an effort to assimilate black people they tried to get rid of of black culture specifically black features, and that is what this article illustrates. The idea of whitewashing America was to make black people feel uncomfortable, because they knew it was not possible for them to completely assimilate to the community.

Johnson, T.A. and Bankhead, T. (2014) Hair It Is: Examining the Experiences of Black Women with Natural Hair. Open Journal of Social Sciences.

http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JSS_2014010814473478.pdf

This source gives information on black hair outside of the context of a prejudice white America. Instead it gives the stylistic timeline of black women who did not succumb to the attempted assimilations of white America. As well as the meaning and story for black hair. In other words it indicates why natural hair is so crucial to the development of black women in this country. The last biggest thing from this source are the prejudices that are present within the community of black women. It answers questions like, why is there a such thing as good and bad hair?

King, Vanessa and Niabaly, Dieynaba (2013) "The Politics of Black Womens' Hair," Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 13, Article 4.

http://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=jur

This journal takes a more personal approach, asking black women how they feel about relaxing their hair or leaving it natural. Taking into account the research behind how actual women feel about their actual hair, takes a more personal approach to the project. It illustrates how effective the idea of euro centricity is getting through to the masses. It also addresses the judgment that some women receive for choosing to relax their hair. It helped me to understand that and empathize with women that I don’t share the same experiences as. Which ultimately adds to the authenticity and reality of my project.

Koff, Stephen. "U.S. military changes rules on women's hairstyles after Rep. Marcia Fudge and Congressional Black Caucus say they show racial bias." Cleveland.com. Cleveland, 13 Aug. 2014. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/08/us_military_changes_rules_on_w.html

A popular hairstyle that many women of color chose to wear are dreadlocks. Up until recently the US government did not allow officers of the military to wear this style. Because it was such a prominent part of black culture, I used this source to understand how the government condoned such a blatant racial bias. It shows how not just society but the government accepted the exclusion of black people and turned a blind eye. The government  realized how they were institutionalizing racial bias and got rid of the ban. But it is interesting to see how the ban was conducted.  

Myers, Meghann. "New Army regulations OK dreadlocks for female soldiers." Army Times. Armytimes.com, 5 Jan. 2017. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

https://www.armytimes.com/articles/new-army-regulations-ok-dreadlocks-for-female-soldiers

This source also explores the ban that the military imposes on natural hair. And dives into how black women felt forced into wearing wigs and relaxing their hair. However this goes more into specifics with other fashions of protective styling that black women tend to sport, such as cornrows and twists. The enforced regulations illustrate how big and how far apart your braids and or twists can be. The army wanted to enforce uniformity, on the other hand, some people saw this as another method of controlling black women. This article addresses how the army regulates all types of hair despite the race of the person.

Sutton, Tajh. "5 Things to Ask the Next Person Who Calls Your Natural Hair 'Unprofessional'" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tajh-sutton/next-person-who-calls-hair-unprofessional_b_9661216.html

This article also gives a more personal account of black women interacting with their natural hair in today’s world.  Because natural hair was stigmatized, today the more women who wear their hair naturally the more questions they get asked. The questions get frustrating because natural hair should not be a novelty, but the sad truth is that it is. Some inquiry’s are harmless, but some go as far as to say that natural hair is unclean, dirty, and unprofessional. This article explores the fact that in today’s world, black women are still dealing with critics about their hair from other races.

Thrasher, Steven. "A Personal And Political History Of The Afro." BuzzFeed. Buzzfeed, 5 Nov. 2013. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/steventhrasher/a-personal-and-political-history-of-the-afro?utm_term=.dudvMLJbw#.xi2MX9JpE

This source is amazing because it gives the history of the power and message behind the afro. The afro meant more than taking back black natural hair, but it was also a message to the government that black people were not disappearing. This source is unique because although natural hair is back and better than ever there are still negative stigmas attached to having an afro. The issues attached with afro’s also deal with colorism and issues of hair pattern that can be attached to wearing your hair naturally. Great strides have been made but, there are still aways to go, is the point of this article. It is important to recognize the piece of the battle that we still have to fight.

"Natural hair movement drives sales of styling products in US black haircare market." Natural hair movement drives sales of styling products in US black haircare market | Mintel.com. Mintel , 17 Dec. 2015. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/beauty-and-personal-care/natural-hair-movement-drives-sales-of-styling-products-in-us-black-haircare-market

A big part of black pride is supporting black owned businesses. This article deals with the booming industry that now is the natural hair business. Women are in need of products to support their newly natural hair and are now flocking to companies like shea moisture and jane carter. The companies are supporting black women and black women support them back. The system is making black business boom which is great for all black people. The increase in black business was an unforeseen benefit of women claiming their manes. The new natural hair craze benefits everyone.

Womanism is a theory developed by Alice Walker in 1982. Alice is a black woman who was born in Georgia in 1944. She grew up with her parents and two brothers. Her parents were sharecroppers so she was poor. When she was eight years old she was shot in the eye, an injury that shaped most of her childhood. It made her very self conscience, as a result she took solace in her writing. Alice Walker graduated from high school as the  class valedictorian and went to Spelman College, but soon transferred to Sarah Lawrence College to expand her studies in Africa. Fast forward a couple of decades, Alice was a vital figure in the civil rights movement. She knew she was a gifted writer and used that talent to reach black people. She wrote her first major novel in 1982, but before The Color Purple, there was In Search of our Mother’s Gardens. Which introduced the idea of Womanism.

Womanism was derived from the term Womanish, meaning grown or you are acting in a manner that is older or more mature than your age, “Womanish,’ then, represents an attitude or orientation toward life of strong-willed, opinionated self-confidence. Within black communities, even young girls are referred to as womanish, that is, behaving like, or assuming the responsibilities and prerogatives of, older, adult females. In fact, black females necessarily assume adult roles and develop a maturity at very young ages.”(e.g. Deborah K. King, Womanish, Womanism, Womanist, Studies Encyclopedia). The idea of Womanism has been evident in the lives of all black women, young and old, for decades. Alice Walker decided that in 1982 she should propose the theory to the masses, through In Search of our Mother’s Gardens, where she said “1. From womanish.  (Opp. of “girlish,” i.e. frivolous, irresponsible, not serious.)  A black feminist or feminist of color.  From the black folk expression of mothers to female children, “you acting womanish,” i.e., like a woman.  Usually referring to outrageous, audacious, courageous or willful behavior.  Wanting to know more and in greater depth than is considered “good” for one.  Interested in grown up doings.  Acting grown up.  Being grown up.  Interchangeable with another black folk expression: “You trying to be grown."  Responsible.  In charge.”

It was a theory designed to empower the black woman. There was nothing in place to support black women and the cultures and traditions that they brought to this country. “3. Loves music.  Loves dance.  Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness.  Loves struggle. Loves the Folk.  Loves herself.” Not only did black women bring a fresh style of dance, visual art, music and literature to this country, but they also brought their physical features. Black women were and still are put down for their bodies, but their bodies were a defining feature that was latter taught to be embraced by black women. Womanism is all about recognition, the movement knows that so much contributed to the success of black women in this country. “2. Also: A woman who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually.  Appreciates and prefers women’s culture, women’s emotional flexibility (values tears as natural counterbalance of laughter), and women’s strength.  Sometimes loves individual men, sexually and/or nonsexually.  Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female.” It is crucial to acknowledge the struggle and appreciate the contribution. It recognizes the gender roles of black women but also a woman’s ability to love other women both platonically and sexually.

• Contributor last name, contributor first name. "Womanist, Womanism, Womanish." In Women's Studies Encyclopedia, ed. Helen Tierney. Greenwood Press, 2002. today's date <http://www.gem.greenwood.com>

• Walker, Alice. "Womanism." In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983. Print.

• "Who Can Be A Womanist?" Gradient Lair -. 29 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <http://www.gradientlair.com/post/62671175278/who-can-be-a-womanist>.

Timeline of Alice Walker

• Born February 9, 1944

• In 1952 she was shot in the eye with a BB gun. The gun left a scar which made her self conscious. She took solace in her writing.

• In 1961 she was admitted to Spelman College and began classes. She later transferred to Sarah Lawrence.

• In 1965 she graduated and published her first short story.

• In 1666 she became a civil rights activist

• After college she worked as a social worker and an advocate for human rights and published her first collection of poetry in 1968.

• In 1973 she published several more collections and became a huge voice in the black feminist movement.

• In 1982 she published the Color Purple, arguably one of her most popular pieces.

• In 1983 The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and The National Book Award for Fiction.

• 1983-2015 Walker continues to be an activist and a powerful voice in feminism. She uses her writing and voice to raise awareness and advocate for women’s rights, especially in the black community.

Creative Piece

My goal for this essay was to try and think outside of the box. Fortunately I found a source and a photo that I did not originally think of soon after the assignment was assigned. After writing the essay I am proud of what I wrote. I think that it is an idea that I normally wouldn’t think off but it is executed in a way that makes sense. I was really able to get into this essay because I connected well to the topic, making it easier to write.

There are two women who are about to commit a “crime of passion” and murder each other because they feel too much and can not live with or without the other. (2) Or they are two women who are in love with the same man and found out that that man is cheating on one of them with the other. Neither option is justifiable but option 2 is the lesser of two evils. I would not approve of option 1 because, you can not love and abuse. There is no way that you can care and want to nurture someone so much, that you have to murder them. When you take a good look at it, the idea of “crimes of passion” sounds crazy. Option 2, while still crazy, is slightly less crazy because the women do not love each other. They love a man who may or may not love the both of them (which brings up a whole new question of how many people one can love at once). Anyway, since the women do not love each other, they could argue crime of passion based on their love of the man. The two women are about to kill each other to eliminate competition not to express love. Again it could not be that they are killing each other for the man, in that case could be murder for love.

Violence is beyond the control of human choice. Many see violence and think that it can be easily prevented, too many think that peace is as simple as conversation, empathy and understanding. The brutal reality is that doing the right thing is not as easy as it looks. Violence is a symptom of oppression and fear.  The human race can not react when they feel they are being threatened by a more powerful or treacherous system. The reason why the violence continues after the lesser force takes power or gains the upper hand is still a result of fear. Many would ask, What if they are an evil society promoting destructive ideas and destroying the people around them? Wouldn’t it be necessary to bring the system down possibly by using violence?  To that I would say that  I do not believe that humans want to be violent, we simply want to protect ourselves and our communities. Even if they are protecting something destructive it is theirs and they feel threatened that someone is going to take it away, so they may feel that violence is the only way to protect their way of life.

After reading the Chapter 3 and watching Time Wise’s video, I noticed a pattern of white divide. What stuck out to me the most was the class difference within the white race. I think that as a minority, I have a hard time imagining white people as a diverse culture of people. I do recognize that the white race is not a race of people who are collectively rich and ignorant; but in the society that we live in we tend to see white people in one light, scared, so scared that they forget how to treat other people.

That is most evident in the reading, Zinn says “The Indians were plundered by white frontiersmen, who were taxed and controlled by the Jamestown elite.” In this quote you can clearly see that there is a group of white citizens who are clumped in with all the other minorities. Later in the chapter Zinn raises a very interesting question/idea, why didn’t the native American’s, African/African American’s, and lower class white people come together to raise their standard of living? This is a question that I have later asked myself before, especially concerning, the Native American’s and African’s/African American’s.

What I later came to learn is that, Native American’s tried to help the enslaved African’s. They hid runaway slaves and integrated the Africans into the community. Unfortunately this system did not last very long. White masters quickly caught on to what was happening, knowing that they could not physically overpower the Native American’s and take back their slaves, they used the only other form of power that they had, money. After the Native American’s were paid off they surrendered and disclosed the whereabouts of the hidden slaves.

This idea is a wonderful segway into what we know today as, white privilege. These accounts of Native American’s being manipulated by white people dates back to the 1700’s. Evidently the idea of white privilege is not new and white people continue to benefit from it. Both the reading and the video made me think of the idea of white privilege and how it has evolved and changed through the years. From what I understand from the reading and video, white privilege was simply a system of manipulation. White people blatantly used their money people to get what they want and control people, It seemed necessary then. White people were not the majority but they wanted the control and had the means to get it. If I were them I most likely would have done the same. They knew that other people and civilizations were stronger and more familiar with the land.  

This reading and video enabled me to look from the point of view of the historical oppressor. I was never able to identify with the other side and I judged them for their choices and means of control, and use of violence as a means of oppression. After further analysis I was able to see that both sides could not help but use violence. The white colonist were under the impression that the Africans and the Native Americans were trying to destroy their way of life. With no way of verbally communicating with other people, they used what they could to protect themselves. As a result the Africans and Native Americans defended themselves. One of the biggest systems of violence can be seen as a misunderstanding with a symptom of violence. No one set out to act maliciously.

My Photo:

Pinterest is a platform for all things DIY and any other interest you might have. It is a fairly simple concept, you search through pins that you like and things that you want to buy or ideas that you want to try later, you can pin ideas on boards that may have on different topics and genres. It was a cool fall night and I was trying to find the perfect outfit for my fall birthday. My eyes were squinted trying to block out the blinding light, still shining under the dimmed brightness. My finger was sliding through the thousands of pins of white women modeling fall fashions, and pins that are used to execute that perfect fall smokey eye for blue eyed girls. At first I didn’t think anything of it, so I went to the search: fun fall looks. What came up was pages and pages worth of blond women, with intricate updos meant for long thick flowing hair. I searched for ten minutes and nothing came up. My tired fingers typed, black hair, to see if I would have any luck. The next five minutes were spent trying to weed out fair skinned women with long fine black hair. Finally I typed in natural hair, and black women filled the the screen, black women with all different hair types and skin tones. I was overjoyed, I thought I’d hit the mother load, my very own lookbook right at my fingertips. Only now do I realize what a despairing day it was.

I can’t expect to walk down the street without being a novelty and someone outside of the norm. My hair, lips, nose, eyes, and skin tone have never been seen as regular, regardless of how long people with similar features have been around in this country. Everytime someone stares at the kink in my curls I want to scream/ I wonder what a world would be like without black people? Whenever I look on TV, social media, and media in general I am conditioned to think that the world would be so much better and simpler without me in it. I started analyzing my favorite shows, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and Modern Family. All three of these shows demonstrate different types of white people and families. There’s so much diversity between these shows, but only within the white race. “The problem is there's nowhere near the diversity that our white counterparts have. We're still not allowed to be fully human in the ways they are." (Ariel Cheung, USA Today) Fortunately, in the past couple of years black people have started to be seen more frequently on our screens, but at what cost?

“Younger Black women are more exposed to the extremes. They are more likely to see the negative typologies due to their higher media consumption in general, their higher tendency to look into popular culture for cues and their interest in broad self expression.” (Krissa Thompson, Washington Post) Fortunately for us people are eating up the few representations of melanin that they have been seeing on screen, but unfortunately we are only seeing the single story. When the influx of black skin reached mainstream media it only showed, back talking, loud mouthed, sassy, booty shaking black women, and aggressive and defensive men. Only recently have the people showing up onscreen been an accurate representation of all the different types of black people in reality, such as Black ish, Scream Queens, and Empire.

However I am afraid that it may be too late. After years of being ignored by the media and forced to conform into a box constructed by men who have never walked a day in our shoes, black people are really suffering. Colorism and interracial discrimination is an increasing issue in the black community and some things just can not be reversed. Since media is seeming to turn a corner and put complex black characters on the screen, there may still be a chance for black people to claim a place in this country’s story.

Remember the Titans

The film that I’m reviewing is Remember the Titans, growing up it was one of my favorite movies, and I am happy to notice that it passes both the Bechdel and the Mako Mori test. Remember the Titans is about a white Virginia high school football team that has to integrate with a black high school that was recently closed. When the two football teams merge not only do the players need to learn to work together but the coaches too. Both coaches have two younger daughters, the white coach has a daughter named Sheryl and the black coach has a daughter named Carol. Both young women interact and chat about football and toys. While both young women aren’t really women it passes both test in my head, because neither test specifies age. The movie is an amazing representation of friendship, camaraderie and teamwork through all the perspectives that are evident in the movie.

What’s even better is that Remember the Titans also passes my test, which requires a movie to have at least two female characters with a prominent role in the film, each with their own story arc. They must conversate about something other than men and should not seem to be “in competition” with each other and at least one of the women must be a woman of color. Essentially my test is the same as the Bechdel and Mako Mori test, but with an added requirement about race.

She is from compassion, and beauty.

She is from the sweet, familiar streets of North Philly.

She is from teaching, and long grueling nights at St. Joe’s, while she was raising a family.

She is from love and life and respect

From Nelia and Roland Thompson.

She is from the strong and honorable .

From the kitchen of 1952 and the boudoir of injustice.

She is from the Christian faith. Trusting in a fair and forgiving God. One that sees all his children as equals.

She is from easy streets of Logan , where people cared and looked after one another.

From the hard working black family that strived for nothing less than success, the family that valued education for all it’s children. Willing to sacrifice to help one another succeed.

She is from love, devotion, intelligence and strength.

Introduction: My main focus for this essay was trying to write more directly. I  have been told many time that I write passively and have been working to get away from that. I’ve also worked on re-reading and re-working my work to make it better than ever. I honestly believe that I achieved that in this advanced essay. The part that I am most proud of or most looking forward to people reading are my scenes of memory. I want everyone who reads it to be able to picture the scene clearly without getting bored. As far as growing as a writer I think I have done a lot of growing between these two advanced essays and I’m eager to see what I come up with next. My next area of focus and improvement will be more focused around descriptive vocabulary and grammar.

I never thought I was much of a writer. I wrote a few poems here and there when I was younger but I never thought they were anything special. My father would boast about how easily the words would flow out of me, how naturally they came. Reading on the other hand was a cakewalk. Considering that I did not start to enjoy reading until the fifth grade, it was effortless. “Oh what do you have here?” I questioned.

“A book.” She responded.

“What’s it called?”

“The name of this book is secret.”

“Can you just show me the cover.” I responded annoyedly.

“I already told you the name of this book is secret.”

“Isabel stop messing around!” I demanded.

She flipped the book over to show me the cover. The title of the book was indeed The Name of this Book is Secret.

“Oh” I answered a little embarrassed. Even though my pride was hurt for being so frustrated, I was curious. I didn’t really like to read but all of the sudden I was drawn to this book. Why is the name of the book secret? Will anyone ever find out the name of the book? Who is Pseudonymous Bosch? Is that his real name? I needed all of my questions answered, so I made my way to the local Barnes & Noble to do some investigating. When I got my hands on the book I couldn’t have been more excited. At the moment I didn’t understand what I was doing. I was opening a door that I wouldn’t be able to close. I flew through the first book hoping to find all the answers, but I didn’t, but there were four more books in the series. Yet again my curiosity got the best of me and not too soon after I was anxiously waiting in line to buy the final book. When I finally got my hands on it, I knew I was never letting go. Once I started to read for myself, I caught on quickly. The words would connect and make sense in my head in a way that they didn’t before. I was actually comprehending the content and enjoying myself while doing it. That Christmas, Santa gave me eighteen wonderful books. I don’t remember being happier.

From Grothaus article, it seems clear that reading is a practice that has many benefits both physically and psychologically. A discussion about the relationship between reading and one’s writing skills might be an interesting place for the writer to go. In my experience, what I write does not reflect what I read. The two are definitely related, but this does not mean that reading leads to proficiency in writing. I grew up thinking that I was good at writing because I was reading well above my grade level. I never got bad grades in writing and I dabbled in poetry which everyone seemed to love. Plus, all the other kids who liked to read always got spectacular grades on their writing. There was a pattern that I saw early on: good reading equals good writing. It wasn’t until I got into high school that I realized that something about that system just wasn’t working for me.

“Alright class, don’t forget tomorrow is when you turn in your polished book review,” Ms. Dunn reminded us.

“I’m really about to kill this,” I whispered to my peer.

I only had to finish up the final paragraph, which took about ten minutes. I re-read what I wrote and closed my computer. All in all I was pretty proud. The next day I went to school and waited for lunch to come, I was satisfied of my work but I wanted Ms. Dunn to check it for any last minute mistakes. I showed up at her office right at the start of the period.

“Hey Ms. Dunn. Could you look over my review before I turn it in. This is the final version but I just want to be sure,” I asked

“Sure no problem,” She responded.

I shared her into my document and sat across from her, too anxious to see what she was typing, but sure were those fingers moving. Maybe they were good comments, I thought. I was so wrong.

“There you go, she said with a toothy grin on her face.” She closed her laptop and went to deal with another student.

I opened my document expecting to have to only make a few grammar edits here and there. I could not have been more wrong! All I saw were paragraphs worth of edits in the comment boxes. At first I kept my cool, fixing one error after another, until suddenly lunch was over and class had begun. That’s when I started to breakdown. I was running out of time until eventually I had to turn in what I had. After that class period I wasn’t feeling great about my writing but I was trying to stay positive. The next week I got my grade back on canvas - 79. That was the beginning of a pattern would continue through the school year. I took refuge in my books.

I never felt so incompetent and unsuccessful at writing. I don’t understand how someone who has read so well for so many years is unable to write well. Am I not paying attention to the writing techniques of different writers? Am I not comprehending the writing as well as I think I am? It’s stressful to know that writing a simple essay has to be a big production because you are constantly checking yourself on simple writing errors or areas of doubt. Writing still is a challenging area for me and no matter how much I read it doesn’t change how I write, and I’m not the only one who notices this. In the steps to become a better writer, I have been keeping a journal and working with a tutor to practice my writing skills and confidence as a writer. Because I like to read books I started marking my books and

Citations:

"How to Use Reading to Become a Better Writer | Write to Done." Write to Done. 31 Jan. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://writetodone.com/how-to-use-reading-to-become-a-better-writer/>.

"How Changing Your Reading Habits Can Transform Your Health." Fast Company. 27 July 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3048913/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/how-changing-your-reading-habits-can-transform-your-health?utm_campaign>.

It was a lengthy sweltering summer, prolonged by the delayed school year. We were members at a new pool in Flourtown, it was okay, there were two pools on the property and they were never cold, the back pool was filled with salt water which really exfoliated your skin. The main pool had two slides and a diving board. All in all, the pool was a nice retreat from the scorching sun. There was only one problem-the pool was half an hour away from our house and we didn't know anyone there. I was a fidgety 9 year old and my brother was a busy 6 year old,  but very shy, once we got bored playing with each other we’d just sit on the deck. My mom got tired of entertaining us, so we visited a pool that my best friend was a member of. It was a temperate day in August and I was so ready to spend the day with my best friend, my whole family was ready to have a nice relaxing day at the pool. Wherever the pool was it was at least an hour away, but I knew it would be worth it. We finally arrived and walked through the threshold, immediately my eyes started to wonder. As I carefully examined the pool I was confused.

“Where are all the white people?” I asked aloud

“There aren’t any” Olivia, my best friend responded. We shuffled over to our spot on the lawn.

“Well what do you mean?”

“This is a black pool” I didn’t understand, but I decided to leave it alone, my parents were looking at me like I was crazy, and I could tell that no one else seemed to have a problem with it. Olivia dragged me to the diving board so we could wait in line for our turn, I was less than excited to jump when I saw dirt at the bottom of the pool. As I continued to analyze the rest of the pool I noticed that it was basically falling apart. The tiles were covered in scum and falling into the pool. The floor was rusted and some spots had caked on algae. I couldn’t help but attribute that to the only difference that I’d noticed between my pool and that one, the black people. I know how harsh that must sound, but let me give you some background.

The elementary school I went to separated each grade into two sections: Enhanced and Immersion, kids who would be taught in Spanish. The students in the enhanced program were predominantly black, while the kids in the immersion program were predominantly white, I ended up in the immersion program with the white kids. I don’t know why my parents put me in the program, they just did, and I was happy there. Olivia was in the same class as me and I was making lots of friends, white ones.

It didn’t matter to me what race my friends were because my school always advocated for diversity. I was used to being around a rainbow of people, white, asian, black, hispanic, it didn’t matter to me. Until I got to middle school and realized how different I was from the other black kids. Fifth grade is when we started mixing the classes, I wasn’t excited. The reputation the enhanced kids had wasn’t good, they were always getting in trouble, the teachers never stopped yelling at them, kids were always getting kicked out of class, and the majority of the class basically lived in the dean's office. I knew they were troublemakers and I didn’t really want them disrupting my learning.

Once the merger happened everyone was less than enthused, enhanced kids thought we were know it alls and we thought they were awful. Although somehow we ended up getting along, no one switched friend groups perse but we could now talk to each other without judgement. The more I got to know everyone, the more I wanted to befriend everyone, I mean those kids looked like me and grew up with similar experiences. The more we interacted the more I realized that I should want to expand my friend group. I was always taught to have a diverse group of friends but somehow I had ended up with mostly white girls, which was great but there were some things that they didn’t understand about me or vice versa. Like, why did I wear my hair a certain way? Why didn't I get sunburned? Why couldn’t I blush? So I decided to start trying to hang out with a new group of people, people similar to me, I wanted to be apart of their rainbow of mochas, cocos, milk, and white chocolates.

Quickly I realize that I hadn’t made the best decision, yeah it was true that these people looked like me but they weren't like me. The friendship that I tried to develop with them didn’t fulfill me anymore than my other white friends. They were just as intrigued with my blackness as I was with theirs, so I no  longer forced myself to hangout with them and turn into their version of blackness.

Being black is more than just following the status quo, wherever I go and try to fit in I just don’t and that’s okay. My “black experience” has been shaped by so many people and places, I guess that makes me a melting pot. But I realize that it doesn’t matter if I go to an HBCU like Hampton or if I move to a black neighborhood, I may never be accepted into the conventional stereotypical world of blackness that I was conditioned into thinking was better. After a long and traveled road I am finally okay with the black woman that I am. Okay with the black and not so black features that I have, I’m okay melanin, okay with the nose, okay with the lack of rhythm, and okay with the global community of black people that I help represent.

This unit in world history we talked about climate change. In class we discussed the New York climate march and it’s impact on the global movement. The point of the march was to bring more attention to climate change. We also talked about people who had no interest in helping to improve climate change. For the unit project we were assigned to write monologues from three different points of view. The people you chose to write from could be for climate change, against climate change, real people, or a character you made up. I chose to write from the perspective of Bill Nye, a working Canadian man, and an African American father. All three of these people have different stories of how climate change has affected them and how they choose to help or not help.

Monologue #1

Bill Nye

[A scientist addressing kids on climate change in 2014. Bill Nye starts off on center stage in the background there is a fun lab table.]

Bobby Learns A Lesson

Hey kids, welcome back to a special reunion of Bill Nye the science guy with me Bill Nye!! (kids clap) This episode kids we’re going to talk about climate change. It is very important that everyone pays attention because this is a very special episode. Can someone tell me what climate change is?… very close John good guess but an interesting factoid is that climate change is not just when the world gets hotter it can also be when places get colder, or have really big storms, or no rain at all. The full definition of climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns. In fact that’s just what we’re talking about today three different people from all over the world who have been affected by climate change in one way or another. The first place we’ll be visiting is a man from our northern neighbors in Canad (Bobby interrupts) yes Bobby? Well here’s the thing Bobby we may not always feel it, but believe it or not the climate around us has been changing and we are here to stop it! (Bobby interrupts) This planet is at the top of our to take care of to do list because young one without the earth we wouldn’t have anywhere to live. Now to continue we are going to meet Gary fro (Bobby interrupts) See now it’s not nice to interrupt people Bobby but what’s your question (Bobby interrupts) I know that the sun is warm and you like to play in it, but our fun comes at a price. It may be sunny in here but in other parts of the world people are dying and need our help to protect them. The only way we can do that is to make the world a healthier place. You want to live in a healthy happy place don’t you Bobby (Bobby replies) that’s why today we’re going to talk about climate change ALL over the world (Bobby replies) Around the world many people are like you they don’t know what to believe and they think that we have more important things to pay attention to. Even though climate change won't do anything really bad for many many years we want the people of the future to have a safe planet to call home (Bobby replies) Exactly Bobby, there is so much more to climate change, and now you can go home and tell your friends and family to protect and preserve the earth. Alrighty now so lets move on and do some fun weather experiments.

Monologue #2

Sylvester Burton

[A middle aged man who has lost faith in the effects of climate change. He’s in his house talking to his daughter. She has just heard a lecture on the coming effects of climate change]

Bring the Community Together

No no no that’s not what I said. I know that climate change is something that’s affecting our world, I don’t deny that. All I’m saying is that the earth has gone through so many changes and fixed itself. Take the ice age, the world froze over in ice and then melted itself and no one is completely sure why (daughter interrupts) I get that a sheet of ice isn’t the same thing as us destroying the ozone but you have to consider… Yeah pop pop did die from black lung disease due to air pollution what’s that have to do with anything? Anyway, the air pollution is dangerous yes but we wont feel the effects of that for years. You know when I was in school about thirty years ago, teachers always said that Delaware was going to be in the ocean. Something about our pollution was going to cause the water to rise, then most of the middle of the east coast was going to sink. They always rambled on and on about how bad climate change was getting but then nothing ever happened.

Coming from a small black neighborhood people would get worried. Everyone would be all riled up waiting for Philly to fall straight into the river. That’s another thing, why don’t you educate people before you start saying that we’re going to end up like freaking Atlantis. Black people start getting all worried and don’t even have all the information. People get ready to move to outer space… My whole thing is that if scientist really believe in this stuff they’ll do three things: educate the people, rally the people for change, and eliminate the problem. The three keys to success. Leaders never realize that black communities know how to stay together. If they took enough time to listen to their opinion, there would be a new group of allies that would be squad deep. Black communities want to be involved just like the rest of the world. If you isolate them they’ll just add to the problem. They’ll continue to pollute or litter and that’s another problem in of itself. So before you start telling people what they have to do, explain. All anybody ever wants to do is understand.

Monologue #3

Gary Knope

[Gary is in a courtroom on the witness stand]

The Confession

I did it okay, I confess! I don’t know why we’re here, please cuff me. Throw me in a cold hard cell with no windows, I don’t deserve to see the light… No I will not calm down, I will not be quite, and I will not move! I killed my wife okay, I take sole responsibility… Maybe I wasn’t the one who got her sick but I might as well have pulled the trigger, you know if there was a gun… Fine I’ll tell you what happened from the beginning. About 10 months ago me and by wife were blessed with having a child. And this was really a miracle you know (get’s excited then quites down). Our own little baby, we couldn’t have been happier! But you know with all little miracles a new burden comes. You know what I’m saying, the almighty dollar shows mercy to no one, am I right? (chuckles). Anyway I knew I had to get a better job, cleaning up a the local high school wasn’t going to do it. Then lucky me, an opportunity presents itself. Trans Canada was going door to door in my neighborhood and handing out jobs. They said they needed help on this Keystone thing. Pretty steady gig, said it would last about a year and a half, and the pay was good so I thought you know what the hell. The first couple of months it was going pretty well, I caught the bus into Toronto everyday, got paid once a week and my wife… well she was doing great (heavy sigh.) So about 8 months into the job, when my wife was nearing the end of the pregnancy, we went to the gyno… And that’s when she said that everything with the baby was fine but my wife was... she was a little shaky. So doc put her on some antibiotics before the delivery. That’s when she got worse. Every week she was sick.. it seemed like just a cold but I could tell it was something more. Then we found ourselves back at the doctors office days before her scheduled due date. This time, (chuckles) yeah.. the news wasn’t so great. She said that my wife should go in for a ct scan because something was happening in her lungs. Obviously that wasn’t possible because of the baby and all but she said that a ultrasound will give us some information as to what was going on; even if it didn’t show all the details. So we got the ultrasound and from what the radiologist could see there was build up on her lungs… Then she um said that it could be black lung disease. I have been bringing home silica dust from the site and she was breathing it in… thank god my baby was okay. But they said they’d have to do a c section on the baby before any harm got to her. Then after my wife got stronger they would try to fight this… but um she died while having the baby (crying). After that my in-laws  insisted on suing Trans Canada but they should really be trying to send me away. I killed the only thing I had to live for. My daughter has to be under the care of her grandparents in the states where my wife was from. They said I have to find a new place to live and new employment before I can bring her back home but I, I just don’t know what to do. So throw me in jail I have nothing left.

Hi it’s Kai again! I’m back and writing my third and final blogpost on the overlooked and forgotten people of Philadelphia. If you remember my previous posts “Do You Care” and “The Overlooked of Philadelphia” you’ll know that my focus are the citizens of Philadelphia who have been overlooked by our government.This topic is important to me because it affected me and so many others. I have talked about the Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry and the Abbotsford Falls Family Crisis and Counseling Clinic being a place where a number of our community members are forgotten. When I talk about being forgotten I mean the many citizens of Philly who are not being taken care of and not given the respect they deserve. The more we come together as a people to try and fix our failed system the stronger it’ll make us.

I knew that for my agent of change I wanted to do more than just bring in cans or gently used clothes. Constantly reminding my class mates to bring in supplies wasn’t what I had in mind for my project. In my previous blogs talked about the Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry and the Abbotsford Falls Family Practice and Counseling clinic being a place where many have been forgotten. That was only an example. Philadelphia is a big city and the more people I made aware the better. For my agent of change I wanted to make sure everybody knew about the problem we are facing as a community. Our city is suffering at the hands of our leaders and nobody has been stepping up to fix it. Our school system is failing, there are a limited amount of health professionals who take patients without insurance, every other day a kid dies at the hands of a gun, and the amount of homeless people is outrageous. So after going through all my options I decided on an interactive presentation during advisory. My presentation focused on the failing school system because that would connect with students more than anything else.

In my presentation I showed six different school logos. Three of which are neighborhood school and the other three are magnet schools. I asked my advisory what the difference was between the schools. As my advisory was talking they really came to realize that there was a problem. The fact that there is such a big gap between the difference in test scores from a school like South Philly High and SLA or Promise Academy at King and Central. After I talked about the different schools I wanted to ask if there were any schools you got rejected by that you were considering for high school. Like myself many students were considering three or four schools but only got into one or two. All of us were lucky to get into SLA but tens of thousands of other students end up having to go to their neighborhood schools which aren’t academically challenging. When you teach students to compete for schools and some kids end up in sub par schools you also teach them not to care. They think: well I’m not good enough to get into this school so I’m must not be smart. That is the wrong message to send to the kids who will run this country.

My topic isn’t something that you can fix overnight, when you’re talking about whole cities there is little that you can do to make a huge impact. So I concluded that the best way to change any problem is through education; after all you can’t fix something that you don’t know about. While most Philadelphia students know about the budget crisis and our failing school system not many know the details, like what is happening? who is doing it? and what can we do to fix it? I hit all these points and more in my presentation in a way that engaged my peers. By the time I finished my project I really felt as though I had gotten my point across and I was really being heard. The advisory was asking questions about what they could do to help and they were thinking about alternative options to fix what our government had broken.

The biggest lesson that I learned wasn’t through my research as much as it was through my class. It felt really rewarding to know that I wasn’t in this boat alone, that there are other people who want to take action in my cause. I am confident that my peers are not only aware of the issue but willing to help by writing and letters and trying to get our voices heard. I plan on continuing my agent of change even after this project by getting a group letter sent to Governor Corbett. This project has allowed me take on a topic that is really important to me and for that I’m grateful. I had always known that the forgotten of Philly was a problem but I never knew how to fix it. Through this blog I figured out how.

Hi, it’s Kai again! I’m back and writing my latest You and the World post. If you haven’t read my first post I’ll give you a quick recap. I’m in 9th grade and my English teacher is asking us to write three blog posts about an issue that we personally are passionate about. I chose to write about the overlooked and forgotten of Philadelphia. Basically I want to know how less fortunate people feel about the way the government has been taking care of them. To learn more about my topic I will be working closely with the Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry (GACM) and Abbotsford Falls Family Practice and Counselling (AFFPC). The GACM provides resources to people who have suddenly found themselves in a crisis. They offer canned goods, housing, and financial help. AFFPC is a clinic in Germantown that  is known for taking patients without insurance, and providing them with whatever medical help they might need.

For my research plan I conducted an interview with RN Leslie Burton at AFFPC. I know that a majority of the patients that come to the AFFPC don't have insurance, which is why they get so many patients. In my opinion this is a problem because there is no reason that a person shouldn't qualify for health insurance healthcare has come to be a basic human necessity. I also that the amount of people without insurance is ridiculous and the people without it are the ones who need it the most. The fact that the government isn't doing anything to help it is not okay. In fact a lot of people aren't condoning things like the Affordable Care Act.  Ms. Burton on the other hand had a slightly different view she feels as though there are so many people that need help and the government can't help everybody so it's up to the people to step up.

During my interview with Ms. Burton I wanted to know where the influence of the government comes in to play as well as how her patients feel about the government or their current situations. What I found was that most of the patients that Ms. Burton encounters are impoverished, and not very comfortable or happy about it. In the AFFPC offices there are in house social workers that often have patients referred to them by the nurses. Even while there are plenty of resources to help the patients that are funded by the government such as food stamps. The patients know little about what is happening in the higher places, leaving most of the pressure on the nurses to inform patients of anything that could potentially impact their lives.

My research isn't just based on the people who are overlooked by the government… it's also about the people left to take care of them who are just important. Leslie Burton and Eileen Jones only only a small portion of overlooked Philadelphians and without more of them, a large percentage of Philadelphia would be forgotten. I learned that everybody deserves to be heard and to know that somebody cares, even if they don't believe it. We have to start looking out for eachother. As a people we should stick together and work for the change that we want to see in our community. Check back soon for my next post to see how my work at the GACM went. Thanks for reading.

My annotated bibliography here.

What Are We Doing To Help The Forgotten of Philadelphia?

Hi my name is Kai Burton and I attend Science Leadership Academy. As a ninth grader in SLA and a student in Ms. Dunn’s english class I was asked to write three blog posts about a topic that I care about. I’m choosing to write about the overlooked citizens in Philadelphia who needed help and turned to the leaders of our state.

   (Mayor Nutter “caring” for his citizens)

But instead of feeling secure, relieved, and helped they feel helpless and unimportant and overlooked. I want to  hear the stories if these citizens and help them feel like somebody still cares. I’m choosing to help out through the Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry, a ministry devoted to helping people who need it most.

The Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry is a private non-profit organization committed to helping families and individuals in the north west who find themselves in                crisis. The Crisis Ministry helps people by supplying them with food, clothing, food, and other emergency assistance based on that individual’s emergency.

(The Crisis Ministry is run out of this church)

The clients of the Crisis Ministry have turned to people like Eileen Jones, the director of The Ministry, to seek assistance. Although programs such as the Crisis Ministry are great and can really be asset to the community it’s not the job of the kind hearted citizens to protect and assist these people. Our city has failed by overlooking the people who they feel aren’t immediately important to the city. What others fail to realize is that some of these people aren’t always educated and don’t know how to be important to the rest of us. So instead sectioning them off into places like the projects we should be helping them and encouraging them so they can be a real asset to the community.

Education is key if we want this part of the community to join the community. I’m not saying that we should drag everybody to school  because that’s just unrealistic. I’m saying that we should educate them on how to help themselves. Although the Crisis Ministry helps people settle down there is so much more to it after that. We should be teaching people how to: paint walls, tighten pipes, how to deal with your toilet overflowing. Skills that people can actually put to use. The greater germantown area is falling behind. Germantown is place with so much potential, but we just have to care a little.

Our leaders don’t care enough about us. Men like Tom Corbett haven’t walked in their shoes, and neither have we. But we see it everyday as citizens of Philadelphia. We need to care or our city will suffer. I want everybody to listen and hear the voice of overlooked and forgotten and remember that they need to be heard, and they need our help. Obviously listening to them isn’t the government’s priority, so it needs to be ours. Together we can help to take back our city.

Please visit My Annotated Bibliography to view more photos and learn more about the ministry as well as Philadelphia.