Dear Students, Now that baseball season is officially over, and the Giants have won for the first time since moving to California, it is time for us to return all of our attention to the final stretch of the semester. In five weeks, and that includes Thanksgiving break, your portfolios will be due. I hope you have all attended an inspiring event sponsored by the Campus Dialogue on Race that will serve as the catalyst for your third paper. For the remainder of the semester, you are required to bring a paper copy of one of your papers each class period for critique and response sessions. Before you leave for Thanksgiving, your first three papers should be in final draft form, and of college level quality. That will leave a brief two weeks to write the self-reflective essay, and a fourth paper for those of you still needing a portfolio-worthy essay.
I hope all of you are able to maintain good health for the final push to the finish. See you in class tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday.
S
Erika Jaimes
ReplyDeleteTR 11am
Reading Response #7
For the Campus Dialogue on Race I went to two events. Both events were completely different from each other so there are few things in common.
The first event was the Dia de los Muertos. This event was on top of the Depot (second floor). Basically all they did was make candy skull decorations and banners. We picked out a candy skull, decorate it to our hearts content and put it on the display (or eat them since its only pure sugar). There was also a table to make papel picado (paper banners or the equivalent to a snowflake Mexican style). We also had Champurrado and Pan de Muerto (Bread).
The next event was the Tunnel of Oppression. There were three parts to this event. The first part had posters on people oppressed in four different rooms on four different topics. Then there were the skits, poems etc., and finally the debriefing. The debriefing was the part where people became more aware of the oppression people face out of all three parts. The main event or the skits was okay. There were some parts that were to fast to actually see the oppression and some that didn’t make sense until the debriefing. Overall, it was very depressing but informative.
Today in class we read a paper called The Anti Heroes: The LA4. This story was about a crime done to a white man by four african americans ultimately kicking him in the head when he was down in the middle of the street. There were a few protesters and rioters because of the Rodney King case where a black man suffered police brutality and the police got off while the LA4 received much harder sentences. She commented on the unequal disparity between the two events and how it was important to judge people equally.
ReplyDeleteToday we read an article in groups of four called The AntiHeros: The LA4. This article that Alex chose was about a white man who drove his truck into LA and got beat up by four African American men in the middle of the street. There were many riots because of this relating to the Rodney King incident. Rodney King was brutally beaten by police forces and the police got away with it. On the other hand, the LA4 received a lot more punishment than the police did. This is basically saying that the law with the police force is whack and messed up. I think that the law should treat everyone equally and not give the police mroe rights than the citizens. I do not agree with this whole situation and things need to be changes.
ReplyDeleteAngel Rivas
ReplyDeleteMWF 2:00
Reading Response: Dialogue on Race (Tunnel of oppression)
"Disease of the Soul"
Wednesday afternoon I attended the first part of the Tunnel of Oppression event, which was a walk through several rooms, each dedicated to a different aspect of the intolerant behaviors cultivated through out the history of American culture. Along the walls in every room posters detailing significant events in our dark past caught many eyes and occasionally startled some. The first room was dedicated to racism and accounted events of racism from back 2 centuries ago to events as recent as the mosque feud in New York or the Arizona Immigration law. Topics that still linger in my mind is the various reasons for lynching; among them "Acting Suspiciously" as I recall the infinite amount of times I notice people (such as myself) are acting "suspiciously." And after some thought I realized there are so many normal behaviors that can be characterized as being suspicious and being African American in that time completely limits not only suspicious behavior but even normal behavior. Above all a term that stuck with me even hours after the tour was "DIsease of the Soul", and this term was considered a medical reason to institutionalize individuals into mental hospitals, probably because they were acting "suspiciously". The final room was an important one. After all of the dark and regrettable events, there was a shining light. Proof of an inherent ability to conquer prejudices were given as dozens of court cases being won and triumphant leaders of change reminded everyone that "The disease of the soul" has a cure.
Yesterday we got into groups and read an article about violence and oppression in the 1990's, but more specifically focusing on the event surrounding the LA4. The LA4 was a group of 4 african-american males who beat up a white man for a number of speculated reasons. They were each given a life sentence, and were treated very harshly. The author compared this event to the Rodney King incident, where a situation of the complete polar opposite occured. In this occurence, 4 white policemen beat up one black man, and the white policemen were given a minimal sentence, nothing close to life in prison. This mirrors the strong bias that whites hold against blacks, even in a state as liberal as California. Thirty years after the events of the civil rights movement, and there are still race crimes and injustice being committed by our own policemen and judicial system. It is a problem that our society faces even today, in the year 2010.
ReplyDeleteThis week a group of people in our class picked out an article called The Anti Heros: The LA4. This article was about a white man driving his truck into the wrong part of LA, and he got brutally beaten up and almost killed by four men, who in other words are known as the "LA4". The author compared this event to the Rodney King incident, where the tables were turned and the police force brutally beat him; and they got away with it, with a very little sentence. And the LA4 got a huge sentence and are paying it in full. When on the other side the police got away with the crime they committed. I think that there should be a law that makes things equal between all people government or not.
ReplyDeleteThe world is the concern of everyone that lives on it, which is why I found it so surprising that international affairs have not been the number one interest for people of the United States. If we do not know what is going on in the world around us, we are naive and incompetent. Based on a poll of American citizens, the economy is ranked first in their minds of importance, but in my opinion, international affairs should be. The United States has been considered a melting pot, meaning that a vast amount of cultures and races from all over the world have come here to live together. Because of this, I would expect that people would stay involved in the news from countries all around the world because we have citizens from all of these places. When I was in high school, my teachers stressed the importance of learning a second language because English was not going to stay the international language, but in recent years, the number of students taking a foreign language has declined. Only 21% of Americans have passports even though 2/3 of the immigrants of the United States have moved in in the past 25 years. There have been many speculations as to why international affairs are not as important to Americans as they once were. When the local economy is doing well, people tend to focus more on themselves. When we have more money, we focus more on our education and brains and not on others. We are a selfish community. Americans need to be aware of the world to help keep them safe and informed.
ReplyDeletetoday during class a group of students were asked to present an presentaion on an article that they chose from a selection. we each broke down into small groups and read that article with one another then discussed our points of views. the article was titled the anti heros: the LA 4. the article was about social injustices and racism. in on story that was coverd in the article was about a group of black men who beat up a white man then tried to kill him. these men were sentenced with life and jail and fines. where there was also a very similar story where a group of white cops attacked Rodny King and they were only given minimal charges. i thought that this article was extremly interesting and eye opening to others. it makes people become aware of discrimiation and unfair rules. this article was also intresting to me because it was one of the first things that we have read that was not about writing, it was a real story that held my attention.
ReplyDeleteThis film involved a man who felt as if he was placed in the wrong body. This man was from Thailand and fought against people in other parts of the world. Going into this film with an open mind was the best idea for what had taken place. Many people disagreed with the fact that this man choose to wear make-up during his matches against the opponents. This film was introduced a child who was different from those who surround him as a child. Picking up lipstick and being distracted by the beautiful colors in the make-up class he did not understand why he was different than the other boys. Other boys would sabotage him for being different them so it was hard for him to come out at first. However, after becoming more in touch with his feminine side he realizes that it was more comfortable for him to express his sexuality”. I did bad things in my past life so of course I have to suffer in this life.” In the beginning the Transvestite looked at this as having bad karma. I thought this was interesting because that’s how society wants us to think. I am pleased that he got to express his deep down inner self.
ReplyDeleteWatching this film just justifies the patriarchy and sexist that imprisoner but in our society. I thought it was cool how his parents were very perceptive of his sex change. After attending this campus dialogue on race was pretty much confused about how the man that wanted to be this beautiful woman with long finger nails and long hair choose boxing as a sport. I thought this was indubitably contrasting because boxer is such a soft sport and mostly designed for man. I embraced the fact that this man was so heroic and he did not care what others thought. This film was by far one of the most touching stories I’ve seen in a long time.
Reading Response #7 by Alyssa Fraijo:
ReplyDeleteThe Dialogue On Race that I had attended last week was on a film called “Beautiful Boxer.” This movie was set in Thailand and was based on a boy having the desire to become a transvestite, but discovers the art of boxing along the way.
Ever since Nong Thoom, the main character of the video, was exposed to watching Thai women perform rituals as a little boy, he has been obsessed with imitating them and actually wanting to be a woman. The movie reenacts the main points of Thoom’s life, beginning as a little boy sneaking around putting makeup on, to discovering boxing and being worldly known as a transvestite boxer.
What I found to be the turning point of the story was when Thoom goes to a boxing tryout for his brother but then gets approached by the coach, convincing him to try boxing for himself. Thoom then realizes that he is exceptionally good at it and he could earn money for his family and eventually enough money for his sex change operation.
However, reality had set in when he came to the conclusion that no one accepted him as a transvestite, and no one supported his decisions, especially his father. Although Thoom had made a name for himself as the “beautiful boxer,” he still caused a lot of controversy as he became more famous. The movie comes to a close when he starts taking estrogen pills to complete his woman ensemble. The pills affect his performance in the ring and he slowly begins to get defeated by a number of his opponents. The story ends with a ceremony presenting Thoom’s sex change. I loved the fact that the movie ended on a high note. I felt the movie gave off a positive message saying that anyone could be whoever they want and be happy.
For the Campus Dialogue on Race I attended a showing of the movie La Mission. It was a movie set in the Mission district of San Francisco about A single Father Che Rivera(Benjamin Bratt) and his son Jesse. Che is into restoring cars into low-riders, and has a stable group of friends behind him to help him stay sober. He was an ex alcoholic and seemed to have turned his life around. His son Jesse was a stand up kid. He studied hard and got good grades. He respected his elders and cared about his father a lot. They had a great relationship and seemed to have grown very close since their wife/mom died.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed as though nothing could go wrong until Che found out that Jesse had been sneaking out to date a boy at school, when he had told Che he was going to study for a big test.
Once Che found out about that he kicked Jesse out of the his house and got in a physical altercation with him. He could not accept the fact that his son was gay and saw it as God punishing him for his past sins. Jesse stayed with his uncle who was very accepting and did not give into his dads homophobia. He stood up for himself saying this is me, if you don't like too bad.
Che loses all connections with Jesse until he goes to college. He goes back to drinking and is on a destructive path. He had a revelation one day and realized he still loved his son and missed him. The movie ended with Che driving all the way down to UCLA to see Jesse.
We only had one day of class this week. On Tuesday Susan explained how we needed to set up conferences for next week because we will only have one day of class. My conference is for next Thursday at 1 pm I believe. I'm going to try and get my essay completed by then and reviewed by the writing center. I think it would be easier if I went to the writing center first, then Susan can edit my essay from there. I had to leave class Tuesday early because I wasn't feeling well so I don't really know what else the rest of the class did until the period ended.
ReplyDeleteOn Thursday November fourth I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a screening of the film “La Mission”. As you all probably allready know this was a part of the campus dialogue on race and was the keynote film for Q-fest. There was a question/answer session after the screening with writer/director Peter Bratt, himself. This was such an awesome opportunity. And I am glad that this class required us to go to one of these events, otherwise, I may not have ended up there for the screening of “La Mission”. I am super grateful that I did end up there because, the movie was extrmeley powerful, moving, beautiful, and all around well-made. Starring writer/director Peter Bratt’s brother: actor Benjamin Bratt, “La Mission” shows us a man who has always had to fight and be tough to survive. When he is finally at a good place in his life and thinks he has got everything under control, something crazy comes out of left field. He finds out his son is gay when he accidentally stumbles upon pictures of his son Jesse out dancing and kissing his boyfriend. Being of a traditional hispanic, Catholic background Bratt’s character Che does not react well to this. He hits his son in blind rage and kicks him out of their home. It is extremely moving to witness the misunderstanding between father and son and how evident this generation gap has become. I don’t want to give away the end and let you all know how this concludes, but the trajectory of the film is very moving. There is something about the cinemetogrpahy or the way the movie is shot that is quite breath-taking, without overwhelming. Being from the bay area, I know it is hard to make San Francisco look ugly… however, it is also hard to not over-glamorize San Francisco in films. “La Mission” strikes a realistic, yet grippingly real and beautiful balance between the two. I thought this film was fascinating and very entertaining. I feel like the characters have a lot to offer and a lot one can learn from. All in all, I am super happy I saw this movie. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is Sean O'Connel from your Tues, Thurs class at 11 cant remember if i already sent you this but here it is.http://soconnell628.blogspot.com/
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