Anti-Colonial Leader:Nelson Mandela

On July 18, 1918 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa. He was born to the Chief Henry Mandela; leader of the Tembu tribe. Mandela became educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand. He qualified as a lawyer in 1942. In 1963 Nelson was sentenced to 5 years in prison with hard labour. On June 12, 1964 Mandela was sentenced to life in prison due to his statement toward the federal government.

From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off of the shore of cape town,he was also incarcerated at Pollsmoor Prison. Being imprisoned Mandela received a lot of publicity. He was becoming a black powerful leader of South Afrika. On February 11, 1990 Nelson Mandela was released and was already a political leader for his fellow South Africans. A famous speech said by Nelson Mandela was his speech when he was released form prison.

I believe that Nelson Mandela was a great leader. He was a great leader not only to his people but to his family. Here is a man who saw the condition of his country and didn't like what he saw. Even though the government didn't agree with how he felt about it he stood for what he believed in. His people stood by him though it all they stood by him because they wanted freedom as much as Mandela did. This is a man who should be truly celebrated for his contribution to this planet we call home.

Oratorical Finals Overview

 I thought that the oratorical contest was interesting this year. It was so interesting because I was a finalist this year. I won third place in the poem competition, Richan won first and Anjee won second. I thought the little children did wonderful they were cute, had emotion and moved the crowd. Since this will be my last oratorical contest in middle school I enjoyed myself and took a lot of long lasting memories.

President Obama's Stimulus Package

1) In general, what is the Stimulus Package and its overall purpose to the economy? Why is the Stimulus necessary? (see both videos). In general this Stimulus Package is to help the people and the government reform from experiencing another depression, as they did in the late 1920's. The purpose of the stimulus package is to provide jobs for people, invest in modern technology and to overall help middle to lower class americans. Also the purpose is to help americans with financial problems and to have better health care for children and parents who can't afford it. The Stimulus is necessary for an abundance of reasons. One of the most important reasons are saving or creating jobs for those who need it most.

2) What are the agreements and disagreements (with Democrats, Republicans, and others) around the Stimulus Package? What are President Obama's counter arguments in this debate? (see both videos). A disagreement that the people thought about the Package was that government was asking for a lot of money. The President's response to that statement was he thinks that in order for big things to happen the government needs big money. A statement that the people agreed with was the building of hybrid cars. Our President stated that he would like the idea of that because it would create jobs for the people who built the cars and it would and the gas would cost less.

3) What are the spending details of the Economic Package? How will it create jobs? In other words, where and how will the money be spent? (see article). The Stimulus bill is divided into separate categories. The most money in the "energy" category would go to smart electricity grid to reduce the waste. In the ''Science and technology" category the most money would go to science facilities. For the "infrastructure" category the  most money would be distributed to construction of federal government. In ''education'' the relief to prevent cuts for state aid for such things as college loans. For ''health care'' the category that would get the most money would be invested into medicaid. This will create jobs because companies will have more money that can pay salaries.

4) What are some other areas of the Package that President Obama emphasized in both speeches on the Youtube CNN speeches? (both videos). Some other areas the were emphasized during the videos were equal rights for females. Females should be able to get the same jobs and have the same rights as a man does. Children health care was also mentioned in the two videos. Our president made a comment saying that ''this package will not be perfect''. I think this is true because he will invest in things that we all may not agree with.

5) Do you feel that this package will help African Americans and if so how? Do you feel that racism and/or gender bias will make a difference in the output or results of the package? Explain. (your opinion). My personal opinion is that this bill will help African Americans. I feel this way because a lot of African American people in the United States is either middle class or under. I don't think race would make a difference only because there are other races beside African Americans that are middle class, not all white people live in the suburban area and make six figures a year. I also don't think that gender has anything to do with the package. I don't think so because Barack Obama stands for women's rights.

Parents Review of Blog

Hello, my name is Esterline Brooks mother of Lasheda Brooks. When I first reviewed this blog I liked the fact that parents have the option of reviewing what their child did in class. I asked myself the question of does my child complete all of her assignments and if she does how well does she answer the questions. Lasheda informed that there is a main blog where I can keep track of her assginments. I like the fact that the blog is electronic so that children won't be able to say I lost my homework because they would be able to have access to it 24 hours of the day and papers aren't involved .

S.S new teacher essay

First I would like to start off this essay by saying my name is Lasheda Brooks. I am in the eighth grade and I am eager to learn what ever you teach us. The three items I have chose to tell you about myself are in my leisure I like to read, I am a visual learner and my favorite subjects are math and science. 

To begin with, I read in my leisure because I like educating myself outside of school. I like doing this because it is like a dose of the real world especially books that are historical based. I like to read because books are like food to my brain, they make me smarter and they give me mental energy. When I read it feels like I am actually at that moment and time, in that place. My favorite books are Mississippi trail 1951 and Numbering all of the bones. 

Second, I would like to tell you this up front, I am a visual learning person. I learn by hands on type of work or work that you can see. I can't learn if a teacher just puts a problem on the board for the first time and just tells us to figure it out. I mean I could figure it out it would just take me a a little while. In Social studies or American history one of the hardest things for me to do is just read out a of a book because that tends to getting boring, that's why I like working hands on.

Third, my favorite subjects are science and math. These are my favorite subjects because they naturally come easy to me. I am not saying that I don't like a challenge, I am just saying that ever since I was little I liked these subjects. Reading Language Arts and Social Studies are fun at times depending on the method of teaching. I like dealing with numbers thats why I like Math and I like science because I like learning about our bodies and things that make them look the way they do. 

In conclusion, I have many different things that make me who I am. My likes and dislikes determine my educational circumstances. Also my ability to understand material affects my learning. I try hard and strive for great achievements and excellence. I am open about you being apart of our family at New Media and look forward to meeting you.

President Obama's Policies on Civil Rights

In President Obama's policies there are somethings that I agree with and some I do not. The things that I agree with are things that will sooner or later help me in the real world such as ''Combat Employment Discrimination''. I agree with this policy because it eliminates employee discrimination in the work place such as discrimination against females. This law will help me because it means equal money for equal hours work, not less money than you deserve. Something else that I agree with is to "End Racial Profiling '' this law will mean that any place of work or place of learning can't judge you because of the color of your skin. This will help me because colleges then won't be able to say this person wouldn't be good for our school because he/she african-american and all african-americans are ghetto.

Even though our President has some issues that I stand behind, he has some that I don't . One of the topics that I mean when I say I don't agree with is '' Expanding Adoption Rights''. One of the reasons I don't agree with this is because I think that children need a father and a mother. The second reason is I think it will expand our homosexual community. Being so that the child will have two mothers or two fathers, they won't be able to develop what they think or feel and so they will think the only option is to be homosexual because my mothers were or my fathers were. It's unfair to put something of this matter in their heads early.

Photos for ancestors

The kind of house the family lived in

Sunday school teacher Stay at home mother

Boardwalk