Final ROP Essay

This year I have learned a lot of things from Rites of Passage. It has benefited me in several ways. One way Rites of Passage has benefited me was I learned that you can't always believe what you hear the media. The second thing I learned was that my ancestors stood up and fought for their freedom. The last thing I learned from was that music began in Africa and other cultures tried to duplicate our music by imitating it but never really.

The first thing I learned was that you always can't trust the media because the media doesn't always tell the truth. The media tells a story in a way that makes them look like a perfect nation but in all actuality they are not. Americans and other countries are taking advantage of the Somalian country by killing them by way of starvation. Even though that's the truth you don't hear that from the over exaggerating media. They killed teenagers, not men but boys and they don't feel remorse for it but you don't hear that in the media either.

The second thing I learned was that my ancestors were fighters. This includes my ancestor John Garang. He was at first fighting against his country but then he was given a wake up call to what the government was doing to his people. Then he became enraged and retaliated. He was not alone people like Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman and many others contributed to this free land we now live on.

The last thing I learned from Rites of Passage was that music originated in Africa. It originated in Africa before Africans had field music. African People sung songs in their native language with the drums as instruments. The drums of Africa gave us our rhythm and the step we have now. Our dance moves are made to mimic their African dances.

In conclusion, I learned a lot this year.I have learned more about .This class has given me my place in history. It has opened me to things in life that I have never questioned. It made me think twice about what I am listening to because music plays a role in how I think as a young female and a young African-American.

To Be African

To me being African means being respectful of your self and respecting others. It also means that you embody Africa because being Africa is not have to mean that you are born in Africa but it means that Africa is born in you; culture, rhythm and ancestry stories. To Marimba Ani being African means that you understand African culture as an African, it means being responsible for our faults and it means recognizing that we are great as African people.

To understand being African you have to have knowledge about where you come from. You have to be socially aware of what is going on in Africa because what ever happens to Africans, happens to you because it is destroying your homelands greatness. It is taking the power away from your African ancestors. Marimba Ani states " The members of a culture are bonded together by their shared culture, which gives them a sense of collective identity. Without a culture to be bonded to you are not bonded.

We are not taking responsibility for we we are doing wrong. We are letting our families get torn apart by drug and alcohol abuse. We do not take responsibility for that because the addiction takes over the love for our family, the love that helps us have a loving home. We don't take responsibility for the faults that we do to our young Americans. We put them in foster care to abandon them and some of them get leaded down to the road of nowhere because that's all they know. That's how they grew up to nothing to some of them can only achieved nothing.

To Ms. Ani being African means recognizing that you come from greatness so you can achieve greatness."We are awakening to the need to claim our cultural legacy". She is says we need to step up and claim our heritage because it makes us who we are. Our culture makes every culture who they are because it all originated in Africa.

To be African means recognizing that you are good because your skin is black, but to be excellent you have to achieve more. You have to look deep within yourself and find the answer to how you can achieve greatness. You have to be your own person and not be what you think people want you to be.

Understanding Stress

Stress is a pain, anxiety, or frustration one may have with him self or his surroundings. I think in youth stress is different from adults. I say this because parents stress about this like bills, kids and work but kids may stress out about overwhelming school projects, friends, and certain home situations. Some children's stress is worst then parents only because they may not be the best student in school them to come home to constant yelling and screaming. Some people deal with stress differently. A bad way to deal with stress is smoking, drinking and any types of violence. Sleep is also a bad way to deal with stress only because, if you sleep when your stressed out that is your way of escaping the real world, but when you wake up you still have reality to face.Young people deal with peer pressure which for kids is the worst kind of stress. Peer Pressure is pressure from your peers making you do something or encouraging you to do something you don't want to. Even though stress may be bad there is good types of stress. A good type of stress would be the stress you get right before your about to give a report in front of the whole class. Some good types of stress are relaxing, reading and doing constructive creative arts with your time.

Talking Equality

I believe that this article is very offensive to Blacks and Latinos. This is offensive because it's saying that Blacks and Latinos are inferior to Whites and Asians. One of the general ideas of the the newspaper that Asian and Whites are accepted in to special admission schools over Blacks and Latinos. That statement is untrue because more and more people of color are getting into schools like central, girls high, CAPA , and others. Another general idea that caught my attention was the idea of 11% of Blacks and 10% Latinos were in AP classes while 24% of Whites and 34% Asians are in AP classes in high school.

Eventhough I don't agree with these numbers they are true. It shows that in time we've lost our strength and power. Our people made perfect buildings using math, some of these buildings still stand today over thousands of years later. This article shows us that we really need to make a change in what we are doing or we could end up being illiterate.

Black Caucus

The Back Caucus is a group of Afrikan-Americans who represent the black congress of the United States of America. The history of the group goes as far back as 1970 when E.J Josey was president. Their current chairman is Barbara Lee of California. The chairman is the person that speaks for the whole group, every idea is given to the chairman to present.The nature of this particular meeting was to establish support and discuss major issues that are going on in urban areas. The Black Caucus would like to see him focus on hiring more minorities to federal jobs and helping small and minority-owned businesses get government contracts. They also would like to see him discuss a health-care safety net. I believe that the Black Caucus and President Obama will have a good relationship. They already respect him as a man because he was the first Biracial man to ever become president in the history of America. I don't think they would have a perfect relationship with him. Everything Obama does most of us won't agree with but they are for the good of the country.

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

Critical Analysis part 2

Something's gotta give: Big boi ft Mary j. blige

You Know the commonfolk, blue collar, day to day workers that squeeze a dollar, so maybe they can swallow, a little, not a lot, just enough to fill that bottle
But its a million dollars a gallon for gas to get to work tomorrow.
You rob peter to pay paul to make due, make you wanna write a note and take a pistol to that bank too, then pass it on the teller
But you know better
(Chorus-Mary J Blige)
They try to tell us to stay strong, but every day we losing jobs, from College Park down to Beverly Hills, Somethings Gonna Have to Give
Across the world they live in fear but its the same thing over here.
If you can hear me on Capitol Hill, Somethings gonna have to give.

This song is positive. It actually has a meaning about the world and the state that we are in. This song is saying that people are in need and the world needs to listen. I personally think that this song effects everyone in the world not just Americans because people all over the world are suffering. Parents aren't able to take care of children, people are losing jobs, and houses are getting foreclosed. All this is happening and we need a change to happen. People our age are getting taken out of college by parents because they don't have enough money for them to stay there. People are killing themselves and their families because they don't want their family to have to get everything taken away from them. Money is making the people crazy, people get out of jail to do good with their life and wind up doing the wrong thing, go down the wrong path. 

Critical Analysis

Biggie Smalls: Big Poppa

I believe this song portrays biggie smalls as being a player. It is basically saying that it is acceptable for men to just have intercourse with women if they meet them in a party. He is saying that if you want a girl be smooth and then she'll let you do what ever to her. It impacts adolescent because they see this type of behavior and think it is acceptable. In this song they call women h*&s. I don't think he should use this type of language because if he were still alive and had a daughter when she got older he wouldn't want anyone to call her that name. The word is demeaning and disgraceful to all races not just Afrikan Americans because people of other races listen to this music and think all people of color act this way. Also he talking is promoting illegal drugs, which is wrong. Young people could listen to this song and/or watch the music video and think it's okay to use drugs. This is getting young and old people into an addiction all over music. They think it's cool because their favorite rapper is doing and wind up destroying their whole life. In conclusion I think that children under a certain age shouldn't listen to gangster rap because the fake lifestyle that the gangsters live is contagious.

Opening Ceremony Assignment

The virtue that I held dear during the ''circle of lights'' was the virtue of astuteness. The reason why I chose this virtue was  because it will help me in the future with every class and subject that I partake in. It will also help me master concepts a little faster than I do now because my mind would be very sharp and quick. During the walk of faith the person that blind folded me was my mother. As she guided me she told me that when I first came into her life she didn't know how she was going to raise me because I wasn't really a planned child.

She also told me that I am special in my own way. She told me that I am different from the world so I should set a good example for my peers. In conclusion my mom told me she loved me and that she supports me and wish me the best in what ever decisions I decide to make. My teacher Mothura Marjani said that even though we are not her biological children she still loves each and every one of us like we are her own. That stayed in my mind because even though we may not be the best children in the world to handle she still cares for us, to me that's how teachers are supposed to be.

Memories that standout are the ''Walk of Faith'' and the ''Circle of Lights''. The ''Walk of Faith'' stood out because it let me know that I can always depend on my mother even when times get hard. She told me that she would alway s be there for me and she would never leave my side. Also she said that if I never needed someone to talk to, that would give me comfort and would always put down what ever she was doing just to listen to me. The ''Circle of Lights'' was my favorite because I liked listening to what goals/virtues my peers set for their future and it feels good to know that im not the only one that has plans for my future.