The Race Card

Last week our class was assigned an article to read on racism. The article was on a young black boy who was racially profiled. Police came to the boys house after he was reported as a suspect of a burglary. The boy, only 13 years old, was handcuffed and questioned by the police. The controversy over this article is because the police  were not in uniform and automatically cuffed the boy. Many people will argue that the boy was targeted because he was black. In all reality, he was not targeted. He fit the description of a young black male wearing cargo short, therefore the police acted on him being a potential suspect. Although the boy was not the one who was the burglar, the police did their job by cuffing and questioning a suspect. It honestly troubles me that people continue to pull the race card. I believe people need to stop using race as excuse and own up to things.

Spanish Fiesta!

Last Thursday, Halloween, Ms. Finney invited all of her Spanish students to a Spanish party for Dia de los Meuertos. She was kind enough to give you options of food to make for extra credit. I got to the fiesta early to help her set up all of the food and decorate the area. We set up the sugar skulls we had made in class around the room, as well as an altar for our pretend dead person. A good amount of students turned up for the event and got the chance to taste different Mexican foods. I made salsa that I did not think was going to turn out too tasty, but I was pleasantly surprised. I actually enjoyed mine the most. All in all, I had a great time getting to try different Mexican foods and getting to socialize with people from Ms. Finney's other classes.

Happy Monday Ya'll

I expected this Monday morning to be like every other....ya know, me contemplating whether or not to go to English. I made myself get up and get ready and head out for English. I arrived at about 9:05 to find to of my classmates standing in the parking lot. I asked them what they were doing and of course they joked around and did not tell me class was canceled until I was about to walk to the Humanities building. Yes, that's right, you heard me correctly, CLASS IS CANCELED. So the one Monday morning i actually decide to go, class is cancled. Fortunately i only live 5 minutes away and i did need the extra time this morning to work on other things, so it worked out. I have a suggestion for Sweeney....no class on Mondays? We as students we appreciate to get to sleep in a little longer on Monday mornings after a long weekend. Anywho, thanks for the cancled class Sweeney and i hope everything is ok!

Dia de Los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos translates to "Day of the Dead" in English. Day of the Dead is a Mexican celebration that takes place on October 31, November 1, and November 2. During the three days, families honor loved ones that have passed away. It is not a sad event, it is more like a party dedicated to the ones that have passed. People make ofrendas (altar) for those who have departed. On the ofrendas, many will include sugar skulls, the deceased's favorite food and beverage, and marigolds. I take Spanish 101 and we got the chance to learn about this Mexican celebration and we even got to make sugar skulls!

The Dreaded Second Paper

Unfortunately another rough draft is due Monday. The topic for the second paper is sexuality. Personally I did not want to write about sexuality because I did not think it was a broad enough topic. After much brainstorming in class, we came up with many sub topics for sexuality. I decided to go with contraception in school for my paper topic. I feel as though contraception SHOULD be offered in school, high school that is. I believe it should be offered for many reasons including the fact that it would cut down on teen pregnancies. Although I believe contraception should be offered in school, I also believe there would be downsides to having contraception in school. I think kids would take advantage of contraception in school and use it as an excuse to have sex.

Mark or Molly?

In class on Monday my class discussed a reading on a young boy named Mark who felt that he was a girl named Molly. The discussion evolved into a dispute on what one would do if their child were to come to them and claim to want to be the other sex. Of course there were the people who were hard pressed on their opinions and then there were others that said nothing at all. As I told the class, i believe kids are on a journey to find themselves until they mature and hit adulthood. Kids go through many phases that can be good, bad, ugly or simply just for attention. Therefore, i would let my child be whoever they wanted, but i would take into consideration that it may not be a life long thing. I would not buy the horomones/testosterone for my child at a young age even if they were convinced they were the opposite gender. That would not make me a bad or neglectful parent, it would just make me cautious and aware. I do not discriminate against transgenders in any way, shape or form but i also do not think transgenders need to be such a hot topic. I think there are few and far between and if in the future my child is transgender then i will cross that bridge when i get there.

Pelicula de la Inmigracion

On Thursday of last week I decided to go watch a film in Spanish on immigration. I went for the following two reasons: 5 points extra credit in my spanish class AND it knocked out one of the "beyond class" requirements for english. The movie was in Spanish but had English subtitles which made it easier to understand. In the movie, different people described their lives in Mexico and their reasons for going to the U.S. to find jobs. I can honestly say i have always been against immigration. After watching the movie, i gained an appreciation for immigrants. Many of them come to the U.S. for work in order to support their families. The economy is rough in Mexico and citizens do not get paid enough to provide for themselves, as well as their families. Towards the end of the movie, it was made clear that Mexicans are pushing for a program that would allow them to work in the U.S. for six months without any penalty and then come travel back to Mexico and stay for six months. This would benifit both the U.S. and the Mexican economies.