The Space Within
My second-grade teacher was a second-rate poet. For one of our elementary school's semiannual pageants, our class was supposed to represent colored pencils. Definitely silly, but we were much better off than the kindergartners, who had to portray paste. All we had to do was wear different colored outfits and recite the little verses our teacher had written for us, one pertaining to each color. I was black. My stanza went something like this: "Black is the color of night,/And of the pupils in our eyes,/And our eyes are the windows to our souls." Not exactly earth-shattering poetry. I still remember it, though, because at the time it set me wondering. It was the last line, really. If souls have windows, knowing people is easy. Anyone can see into a window, if the light is right. I thought maybe, if I looked deep enough, I could see all the way to the bottom. I could know everything about someone just by looking. I could know everything.
I'm not sure when I first became obsessed with knowing what was inside people. I remember that one of the first fictional characters I ever identified with was a man in my book of Aesop's fables. He complained that the gods should have made human beings with windows in their chests so that their thoughts could be easily read. I couldn't have agreed more. All I wanted was to know. It infuriated me to no end that I could see the world, and I could see what other people looked like, but I couldn't see what the world looked like to other people. I didn't care that everyone's eyes saw essentially the same things. The things themselves were not important. It was the way they were seen that mattered, the way they got twisted around inside other eyes. For Christmas, when I was nine, I asked my mother for telepathy. What I got was a book about palm reading and a trip to the movies.
Before we walked into the movie theater, my mother told me she was going to test my telepathy. "I want you to look at the people in the movie. Look in their eyes," she said. "Look very closely. See if you can tell me what they're thinking." I did my very best, watching intently as set after set of two-foot eyes fluttered across the screen. I was surprised at how easy it was.
Through the course of this poem the speaker discovers many things. Some discoveries made are physical while others are mental and emotional. On a physical level the speaker discovers a book, a new author and the power
Poems and other readings with strong racial undertones such as Strange Fruit allow me to reflect back on the role race plays in my life as a black young woman and analysis if much has changed in terms of racism in the American society today.
Back in the 1800’s, when calculating the population, African Americans were counted as 3/5 of a person (Antonia, p2). One would think that in the past two hundred years people’s beliefs would have changed a little bit, but the general white public are stuck into believing the common stereotypes commonly portrayed in movies. In films and television shows blacks are almost always portrayed as murderers, robbers, rapists, pretty much anything negative, like American History X, for example. Two black men are shown breaking into a white man’s car. People see this, and in turn believe that all black men will try and steal their car; as stupid as it may seem, it is true, and as a result, film producers try to incorporate this into their films. Very rarely, if ever, is it possible to see a minority depicted as a hero-type figure. Every once in a while, there will be an independent film from a minority director, but as Schultz states in Lyon’s piece, “We [blacks] are still being ghettoized in Hollywood, a serious black project of any scope is as difficult to get marketed today as it was in the ‘70s.” By making a barrier to entry for minorities in the film industry, it’s almost as if America is trying to keep black films out of the popular media. At first glimpse, it may appear that minorities are very hard to be seen in the filming industry, when in reality, they are becoming more and more apparent in America’s mainstream media culture, particularly in action movies.
Since many of the roles are given to white actresses, actresses of color are underrepresented in the industry. Only six out of the top 500 box office films feature a woman of color as their protagonist, none which are at the top 200. This only leaves it to around 1% of the protagonist to be a woman of color. As we head towards a better society, more and more examples of media that challenge these statements are being created.
During a time of unimaginable change and unknown future about slavery, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick was introduce to those who felt lost and unrepresented in the public discourse of slavery and their prospect as an American. This text was not simply a calling for freedom, but also as a response to those who did not believe or argued that a well-spoken man could never have been a slave, and those who thought he should share part of his story. The main significance of this narrative is to fight for the rights and freedoms of African Americans. While Douglass was using his words and writing skills, he advocated for equal rights, opportunities and the idea of American identity
The media and is directors producers or anyone who has the responsibility of casting directing or anything that will be shown to the masses have a huge responsibility to every group of people to represent them in light that is not stereotyped in a negative manner. All the films discussed all show some form of stereotype each ethnic group has held over their heads. Ask yourself if we didn’t have film would we still have these stereotypes? In order to get over this racial profiling in film they should start showing what else these groups have accomplished not just the negative side. For example they could make a film of Madam C. J. Walker who was African American and also the first self-made female millionaire. Directors hold a huge responsibility and they owe it society to portray each ethnic group in fair
The test used under the M’Naghten standard, commonly referred to as the "right/wrong" test, to determine if a defendant can distinguish right from wrong is based on the idea that the defendant must know the difference of each...
A good poet can make a reader stop and appreciate the words, but the reflection rarely lasts more than a moment and is
When it comes to the views of Robert Nozick on justice, Rawls and he share some points but differ on others. One major difference between Rawls and Nozick's views is Nozick's opinion on the distribution of wealth. According to Nozick, every individual is entitled to what they earn for themselves, as long as one or both of his requirements...
To begin, there are several legal considerations to make on behalf of both roles. The case of Pate v. Robinson protects a defendant from trial and conviction, while incompetent, essentially emphasizing the court’s requirement for evaluation when a concern for competency arises (1966). This still, of course, leaves questions regarding the admissibility standards of the evaluations and the
Today was the day, months and months of practice and rehearsals leading up to today. The advice my mom had given me still running through my head, whatever happens it's part of the show, the audience does not exist, live the show. I was ready, as the opening music number was just starting up i walked on to the stage and the show began!
Within the University, there are about nine various student organizations that work along with LGBT Resource Center to provide more inclusion and “safe” spaces for other minority students. Some of these organizations are “A Space”, which is an organization that provides a place to discuss asexual and aromantic identities and issues. “CUTES” which is an acronym for the Campus Union for Trans Equality and Support, to again provide a voice and a safe space for the trans community on campus as well as advocate for trans equality. Infusions is a Multicultural Gender Sexuality Alliance that aims to focus on intersections of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and race. Mosaic, which was formerly Building Bridges, aims to provide a safe space for LGBTQIA
On Monday February 26th I decided to journey to Portland to listen to speaker Manuel Padilla as he presented his seminar “ The Space Between Us: Immigrants, Refugees and Oregon”. With immigration being such a prevalent topic in today's news, I though it intriguing to get the opportunity to learn what difficulties surround immigration. I would also hopefully gain knowledge of immigration issues not only in the nation but also for us oregonians.
How do movies affect our brain? Is the movie culture directing our thoughts in a certain path? Do movies change our behavior? Do movies carry a certain message? Perhaps a warning? These are all questions that we don’t normally give much thought to when we watch a film. However, it is important to employ our critical thinking skills when we analyze a movie we just watched.
Blakslee, S. (1993, August 31). The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from www.nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/31/science/seeing-and-imagining-clues-to-the-workings-of-the-mind-s-eye.html