Final Beloved Paper

Who would have the courage to end the life of their own child, a being so innocent and incapable of doing any harm to those around them? Would you be able to cope with the defamation and ridicule bestowed upon you by a community that should stand with you and not against you, or would you just shrink back in fear? For Sethe, this is what she was faced with daily. Never being able have a loving community that would be willing to understand her circumstance and not judge her actions. To take the life of one's own child for the sake of giving them freedom is in itself a hard decision to make which can only be understood if it's given the time.

Love can make people do some crazy things, even kill. To kill for the sake of protecting someone you love is an act that is considered to be shameful, simply because it's not understood. Yes, it seems harsh. At the same time, there are underlying factors as to why a person might go to an extremity such as this. In Beloved by Toni Morrison, Sethe "takes things to the limit" by slitting Beloved's throat, an act so ferocious that it left her an outsider within her own community. "Years ago - when 124 was alive - she had women friends, men friends from all around to share grief with. Then there was no one, for they would not visit her while the baby ghost filled the house, and she returned their disapproval with the potent pride of the mistreated." (112). Taking her child's life caused strife, not love, between Sethe and the Black community and instead of sticking by her side, they chose to leave her to tackle the "ghost" on her own.

The death of Beloved wasn't something that came about suddenly. It was planned by Sethe; she didn't want her children to endure the hardships of slavery as she had. "It ain't my job to know what's worse. It's my job to know what is and to keep them away from what I know is terrible." (194). For Sethe, the only way for her children to obtain the freedom that she wanted for them was to see to it that they weren't held captive in slavery. Her willingness to take the lives of her children so they could be free is something that most people wouldn't dare dream of. Sethe's attempt to murder her children was only successful with Beloved. Being a baby, it was very difficult for her to understand that what her mother did to her - kill her - wasn't done because she didn't love her, she did it because she did love her. "She wasn't even two years old when she died. Too little to understand...But if she'd only come, I could make it clear to her." (5). Sethe then goes on to state that the "spell" that Beloved cast upon the house was "No more powerful than the way I loved her." (5). Love like that is SO hard to understand if a person can't relate. Even if you couldn't take the life of your own child, put yourself in Sethe's shoes. Could you be willing to choose death instead of life for the one whom you gave life, just as Sethe had? Could you handle being slandered by a community who once welcomed you as they own but now view you as a murder? Shouldn't a mother's love, a love that would lead one to end their child's life, be enough to quiet "a town full of disgust"? (5).

It's not the job of anyone to tell a parent, a mother, whether or not her decision to take her child's life for the sake of giving them freedom, was "right" or "wrong". When inquiring why Sethe did what she did, Paul D states that, "What you did was wrong, Sethe...There could have been a way. Some other way...You got two feet, Sethe, not four". (194). Sethe responds by answering, "I should have gone on back there? Taken my babies back there?". She then says, "What way?". (194). This dialogue is somewhat out of sequence but the conversation can be put together like any other: Paul D: Who are you to take the life of your child? There could have been another way out. Sethe: I did what I did because I didn't see any other way out. To be judged based on decisions that may not seem "moral" in the eyes of anyone but the person being judged, is painful. It makes the judged feel low and all alone, while those casting judgment never stop to think about the affects that those criticisms have on the "outsider".

For the one who's life is stripped away, only confusion remains. Not only is Sethe criticized by the Black community for murdering Beloved, she is also criticized by Beloved herself. Her feelings of anger and rage are derived from not knowing - not understanding - why her mother chose to kill her and not the other children. "She left me behind...I was looking for this place I could be in...I cannot lose her again...". (89, 77, 250). Not only did she want a place where she could feel a part of and close to Sethe and find answers to why she was killed, she also wanted to "fix her"; let her know that although she had to endure slander from the community, everything was going to be alright. That is why Beloved came back. In contrast, Sethe thought differently about having to explain herself to Beloved. "Beloved, she is my daughter. She is mine. See. She come back to me of her own free will and I don't have to explain a thing". (236). She later goes on to say, "I'll explain to her, even though I don't have to. Why I did it. How if I hadn't killed her she would have died and that was something I could not bear to happen to her. When I explain it she'll understand, because she understands everything already. I'll tend to her as no mother ever tended to a child, a daughter". Sethe never felt that she had to explain Beloved's death to anyone; she was set on that, that by killing her baby girl "she had done what was right because it came from true love". (296).

The courage to kill and the courage to forgive were two things that Sethe and the towns people of Bluestone Road had to deal with. Although many people viewed the act of Sethe taking her baby girl's life as immoral and without remorse, there were some, like Ella, who chose to look past what was "prideful and misdirected" (302), simply because she understood what it was like to be an outsider. "Nobody loved her and she wouldn't have liked it if they had...Her puberty was spent in a house where she was shared by her father and son, whom she called the lowest yet'" (301). That likeness - that feeling of being on the outside looking in - is what gave Ella the courage to openly state that despite everything that happened within that shed, with Sethe and the killing of Beloved, she deserved a second chance, and by doing that, "convinced the others that rescue was in order". "When Ella heard 124 was occupied by something-or-other beating up on Sethe, it infuriated her...Whatever Sethe had done, Ella didn't like the idea of of the past errors taking possession of the present". (302). What Sethe did was in no way considered "motherly", so for someone to stand beside a murderer, well...that takes courage.

To learn to show compassion towards someone despite the choices they made, showcases a growth in character. In the eyes of just about all of the people on Bluestone Road, Sethe was depicted as a monster. They chose only to see her faults and not what she had to offer as a human being. Yes, people do things that not everyone would agree with, but that doesn't make them any less of a person. Everyone has dealt with things in life, albeit different. Those things that we've dealt with and maybe still deal with are what make us different, but the fact that there is a struggle within each of us is what makes us alike.

Umoja Conference Reflection

My experience at the Umoja Conference was a memorable one. What I enjoyed the most was being able to contribute, being able to run a workshop with my fellow English 4 Daraja students. We'd been analyzing the issue surrounding poverty for about 2 months prior to the event and pretty much became experts on various topics, some of which were dismantling the safety bet, mortgages and the schematics behind them, and how poverty has evolved into something that not only affect people of color, but anyone who doesn't make at least $250,000 a year. When the class was informed about doing the workshop, a lot of us were reluctant - we we're taken aback because it came as a surprise. After a lot of brainstorming, we as a class came up with a ways to reveal the truths about poverty. One way we brought knowledge to the audience was through personal monologues. A few of the students decided go share with the whole room how poverty impacted their lives daily. It was very touching to see my classmates, unafraid and unashamed, open up the way that they did. It was awesome. Another way we informed the audience was by showing statistical data about poverty - who was considered to be impoverished, middle class, filthy rich, and by posting poster boards around the classroom that consisted of information that we students had researched, as well as quotes from The Rich and the Rest of Us by Cornell West and Tavis Smiley. A lot of people were surprised to find out that about 70% of the nation's wealth belonged to 1% of Americans. That 1% even had its own "scale". 

Thought the workshop there was a lot of

Q&A. I liked that because it allowed us students to showcase our knowledge and it allowed us to get feedback from gen audience. Most of the audience could connect with what we were informing them about in our workshop. Some even knew a lot about what we were talking about and for those who didn't, they knew before the day was over.

I can honestly say that our workshop on poverty was a success. In addition to being a lot of fun, it helped us open up about personal issues and through that, I feel like we've become stronger as a class. 

 

Beloved Blog Post #6

I've been inspired to FINALLY write this last blog on Beloved. This inspiration came out of frustration. There will be no citations needed, just me, my thoughts, and connections. I can relate to the characters in Beloved in so many ways. Part of me is Sethe, afraid to be loved, Paul D, afraid to love completely, Denver, longing to be loved, and Beloved, desperate to know why the love that was given so freely to her siblings wasn't given to her. As painful as it is to write what I am about to write, it’s something that I’ve been holding in for far too long and I need to let it out.

To be afraid to be loved is something that I’ve struggled with throughout my life. After losing my  biological dad at the age of 13 and my half sister at the age of 15, I had a huge fear of loving people because I thought they’d just end up leaving me in the end. The person wouldn’t have to necessarily leave me because of death; it could just because they didn’t want to talk to me anymore of because we’ve lost contact. I don’t know. The feelings I have regarding being loved is still something I’m dealing with.

In the novel, Paul D is often described as having a “tin rusted” heart; unable to love completely but also, like Sethe, unable to be loved because of fear. This is something I can definitely relate to. Growing up I had pretty screwed up relationship with my mom. We’d argue a lot about things that may seem ridiculous to many but to me, it was all out of frustration. I don’t think I loved my mom the way that would be expected, simply because I felt as if she didn’t love me. How is it possible to love someone when you don’t feel like that person loves you? A huge part of why I felt this way and sometimes still feel this way, is because I’ve never felt like my mom loved me the same way that she did my other siblings. Like Beloved, I was desperate to know why? Why did I feel like I wasn’t treated the same, loved the same? Acting out was one way to show my mom that I was longing for attention, practically begging for it...but to no avail. To this day I still feel the tension between my mom, even between my siblings. This tension isn’t only limited to them though. Even though my father is dead, he was never really around, nor did her really ever tell me that he loved me. He didn’t even show it. The part that sucks is the fact that I’ll never know whether or not he truly loved me like he said he did. That’ll always be a mystery.

Beloved Short Paper Analysis

Morrison writes these last two pages in such a way that forces the reader to think “outside the box”, and challenge what’s been engrained within their minds. When accomplished, the reader will be fully equipped to make meaning out what’s going on around them and inside of them, not based on what society says and teaches, but by how they feel. This can be a hard task for some. In order for people, in this case African Americans, to know their history and where they come from, they have to be willing to seek out and accept that which they have tried so hard to forget. 

“Everybody knew what she was called, but nobody anywhere knew her name.” (Beloved, Toni Morrison). What I believe the meaning behind the passage to be is this: “She” is a representation of the Motherland, Africa. It is what Beloved, in a way symbolizes. “She” is all of the Africans that came across the Atlantic during the Middle Passage, those who were branded with names that hold no merit, names that have been forgotten. A great example of this from the novel is where Baby Suggs is talking to Mr. Garner. She proposes him with this question: “‘Mr Garner’, she said, ‘why you all call me Jenny?’”. Mr Garner responds by saying, “‘Cause that what’s on your ticket sales, gal. Ain’t that your name? What you call yourself?’”. To this Baby Suggs answers, “‘Nothing. I call myself nothing” (167). Baby Suggs was called and “known” as Jenny by everyone, especially white people, who came in contact with her, simply because they didn’t know who she was; there was no connection there. For those who called her by the name Baby Suggs, they did it in a way that showed connection, they had ties to one another. 

The history of the African culture is foreign to many African Americans not only because it’s been fabricated, but by unwillingness to unearth what is lost for the fear of it being too hard to bear. Earlier in the text, Morrison states that, “You could be lost forever, if there wasn’t nobody to show you the way” (159). There is a starting point for every path taken and in order to know where to go, there has to be direction. We will never know who we are as a people and where we come from if we’re not willing to seek out that information, no matter how how painful the outcome. In contrast to this passage Morrison later writes, “Disremembered and unaccounted for, she cannot be lost because no one is looking for her, and even if they were, how can they call her if they don’t know her name?” Here she is saying that in order for her (Africa/African culture) to be lost, someone has to take notice of her and seek her out. She can't be lost if no one truly knows of her existence. Even if they were to take notice and seek her (Africa/African culture) out, how can they do that if they don’t know where to start? 

In order to find her, we must seek her with their heart. Those who do not belong to her will have a hard time seeking what is not there’s, simply because there is nothing to link them to her. Whether or not she’s lost or found doesn’t mean a thing to those who aren’t connected because they have chosen to disregard everything she is and everything she represents. As painful as it is to remember the things of the past, things that have been pushed away so that they only remain as a memory, it’s the only way to find healing. Pushing aside memories just for the sake of not remembering only creates a deeper void that can only be filled once the experience of our ancestors becomes own personal experience. "I'm trying to make the slave experience intimate... that the order and quietude of everyday life would be violently disrupted by the chaos of the needy dead; that the herculean effort to forget would be threatened by memory desperate to stay alive". In essence, we need to remember, not only out of respect and love for those who came before us, but for ourselves.

Remembering is frightening because its allows room for judgment and vulnerability, but in order to allow freedom to take the place of pain, barriers have to broken down. It’s not easy, remembering. Without "rememory", there would be no room left in our hearts to allow ourselves to love and be loved. Learning to love oneself, even when it’s the most painful, and allowing others to love us is real freedom. A freedom that’s inside of every person who is willing to accept it and own it. It’s easy to say “I’m free”, but what merit does that really hold if it’s all talk? ANYONE can say that they are free, but what really matters is what a person does with that freedom. “Freeing oneself is one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another thing” (112). Freedom means nothing if it’s not utilized, so do something with it.

Beloved Blog Post #5

There is a lot of strife between Beloved and Paul D. She’s been convince, since the day that she arrived at 124, that he was out to take away what she had come there for: Sethe. Beloved’s love for her mother surpasses any love or like that she may feel for someone else, even Denver, who was the first out of the three to show her any type of affection. The way that Denver is treated by Beloved, to me, is kind of messed up, particularly because Denver absolutely adores Beloved. Page123 of the text states that, “Whatever her power and however she used it, Beloved was hers.” All that Denver wants is something, someone, to call her own. Someone who will never leave her. “She won’t put up with another leaving, another trick. Waking up to find one brother then another not at the bottom of the bed, his foot jabbing her spine. Sitting at the table eating turnips and saving the liquor for her grandmother to drink; her mother’s hand on the keeping-room door and her voice saying, ‘Baby Suggs is gone, Denver’. And when she got around to worrying about what would be the case if Sethe died or Paul D took her away, a dream-come-true come true just to leave her on a pile of newspaper in the dark.” (145). Denver has experience tremendous loss which shapes her view of everything. ‘Will Beloved leave me like the rest of my loved ones?’ ‘Will my mother drop dead or decide that I’m not good enough to love, and that what she really needs is a man’s love, not the love of her child?’. One passage that I found to coincide with the point that I’m trying to make is where Paul D goes to meet Sethe at her work. To fast forward a bit, Sethe end up feeding some stray dogs. If the passage is read plainly, a connection can’t be made. This is the passage: “The dogs ate without sound and Paul D thought they at least got what they came for, and if she had enough for them--.” (152). Morrison kind of leaves the rest of this passage for the reader to complete. What I believe the rest of this passage to be is, ‘would she have enough for me?’

A passage from the text that I’d like to touch on is the passage about Sethe’s milk and whether or not she’d have enough for all of them; Denver, Paul D, and Beloved. The first thing that came to mind when I though of that passage was, ‘Will Sethe have enough love to go around?’ Would she be able to nurture them all and give each of them the attention that they crave? It’s like there’s this person and everyone is craving for attention from them, and in order to please one, the others have to be neglected. That’s a tough situation to be in! It’s obvious that Sethe cares about all three of them very much, and to be put in a position where she has to choose would be a hard choice to make. 

Beloved Blog Post #4

As I read Beloved, I get more and more interested in what’s going on in the text. A particular part of the book that I found interesting was when Paul D, Sethe and Denver actually seemed like a “real family”. How Denver switched from pretty much hating Paul D, to actually tolerating him. That was pretty interesting. Part of the reason why I liked that scene was because I felt like a father figure is what Denver was missing in her life, and Paul D was giving her that, although she constantly rejected that. Since she never really knew her father, Halle, I don’t think she knew how to react to a man coming into her life and showing interest in her, whether it be as a friend or maybe even as a daughter. I think she also felt that because Paul D was officially “in the family” - in a sense because he grasped Sethe’s affection, her mother was somehow being snatched away from her and because of that, she didn’t know how to fathom losing another important person in her life. Her mother was all she had and she was all her mother had. From personal experience, I can relate to a bit of what Denver is feeling. I grew up having a stepfather because I really didn’t have any contact with my biological father; I knew who he was, I met him, I spent some time with him. At the same time, I didn’t know him the way a child would want to know their parent. Like Denver, there were people who knew my father and things about him that I didn’t know. It makes you wonder why you too couldn’t share in on the conversation about your father when it was presented right in front of you.

When Beloved made her appearance known to the character and the reader, for me it was so obvious that this Beloved was THE Beloved! It is clear in the text that the adult Beloved is the same Beloved that drove Sethe to commit infanticide. There are what I believe to be some clear examples as to how one can identify that the two Beloveds are one and the same. For example, when asked, the woman clearly stated that her name was Beloved. Also, she wore something around her neck, possibly to cover the slit that was created by Sethe when she slit her throat. She also showed baby/infant mannerisms. The way she was always tired and sleeping, the way she could barely stand up straight to walk, the way she craved something sweet, almost as if she craved breast milk. Even the whites of her eyes, which were whitish blue, screamed, ‘I AM THE SAME BELOVED THAT YOU CHOSE TO KILL’...but why? All of these “clues” stood out to me like a red flag. 

From what I’ve read so far, I’m really enthused about reading more of the text. I may not know what’s yet to come because everything is somewhat of a mystery, but I’m excited to find out.

Beloved Blog Post #3

Beloved is becoming more and more intense. More metaphoric, but a little easier to read. There is so much I could talk about in this blog post, but I’ll choose to single in on a couple of main points that stood out to me the most. 

There is a ton of imagery going on in pages 32 and 33 of the text. The top of page 33 reads, “As soon as one strip of husk was down, the rest obeyed and the ear yielded up to him its shy rows, exposed at last. How loose the silk. How quick the jailed-up flavor ran free. No matter what all your teeth and wet fingers anticipated, there was no accounting for the way that simple jot could shake you. How loose the silk. How fine and loose and free.” Upon reading it, someone may be confused about what’s really going on in this passage. I have an idea of what’s going on, but I’m not 100% sure if that’s the case. What I gather from this piece of text is this: sexual engagement. I come to this conclusion because of the use of phrase, “How quick the jailed-up flavors ran free.” What I believe the author is referring to is the sexual excitement of a woman, who in this case would be Sethe. According to the text, Sethe is an irresistible woman who was wanted by just about every man at Sweet Home. “It had been hard, hard, hard sitting there erect as dogs, watching the corn stalks dance at noon. The water running over their heads made it even worse.” These guys practically LUSTED after Sethe. 

Another thing that stood out to me was the way the book pulls the reader in; the use of imagery and metaphor helps with this. There’s a particular scene where Sethe is in what I believe to be the wilderness, and she’s in labor with Denver. This is how some of that labor is described: “But she could not stop, would not stop, for when she did the little antelope rammed her with horns and pawed the ground of her womb with impatient hooves.” If Sethe were to stop pressing forward, baby Denver would showcase this disapproval by literally FORCING Sethe, by causing her extreme pain, to keep going. What also aided in Sethe not giving up on living; she was worn out from the labor, was the voice of Amy, the white girl who found her lying down own the ground. “The sound of that voice, like a sixteen-year-old boy’s, going on and on and on, kept the little antelope quiet and grazing. During the whole hateful crawl to the lean-to, it never bucked once...It was the voice full of velvet and Boston and good things to eat that urged her along and made her think that she wasn’t after all, just a crawling graveyard for a six-moth baby’s last hours.” (41, 42). The fact that Sethe did not give up on her self and her unborn child, even when it seemed like all was lost, shows the love that she has for Denver. 

So far Beloved is becoming an interesting piece of text. It’s still hard to read at times, but I find that reading it aloud is making it a little more understandable and easy to follow. 

Beloved Blog Post #2

There is a segment from Beloved that I chose to riff on, not only because I found it to be an amazing representation about how women feel the need to act and look in the presence of men, but because it shows the type of relationship that women crave from their male counterparts. 

“Although her eyes were closed, Sethe knew his gaze was on her face, and a paper picture of just how bad she must look raised itself up before her mind’s eye. Still, there was no mockery coming from his gaze. It felt soft in a wanting kind of way. He was not judging her-or rather he was judging but not comparing her. Nor since Halle had a man looked at her that way: not loving or passionate, but interested, as was more like a brother than a husband. His care suggested a family relationship rather than a man’s lying claim.” (31). Wow. I am just at a loss for words right now. Too often women are concerned with how they look, especially when it comes to men. Am I pretty enough? Should I lose some weight? What if he doesn’t like me? Every woman has been plagued with these questions at some point in their life, whether they are conscious of it or not. The need to be good enough in the eyes of a man is something that has been ingrained in women since the beginning of time. Not only does this passage challenge a patriarchal relationship that’s all too familiar, it shows that a man can be more than just a husband. Typically, husbands are placed in a position of dominance which often doesn't produce genuine love and because of that, an unequal balance is created. When the relationship that’s more familial, a woman can feel more relaxed and not like she has to walk on pins and needles because there is no fear. 

What I believe a woman really wants is a man who can look at her from the outside and look beyond her physical beauty. That his love for her is not only based on what is seen, but by what's inside of her mind, her being; her character. For a woman to truly feel loved, being called beautiful is simply NOT enough. At least that’s how I see it. WHY is she beautiful? What makes her attractive? If a man can’t come up with a reason other than the physical, well...there’s a problem.

Beloved Blog Post #1

When I first started reading Beloved, I found the book to kind of difficult to read. I had no background at all about the book, and I’d never seen the movie. I’m sure that doesn't really matter because movies are never really like the book anyway. What I found most intriguing from the first 30 pages or so, was the fact that there was so much pain within those first few pages. The text left me asking questions like, ‘Why did Sethe chose to kill her daughter Beloved?’, ‘Why is Beloved so angry/sad?’. Questions like that. Although the death of Beloved may seem harsh and malicious to some; how could a mother kill her own child, I don’t necessarily see it that way. I see the death of Beloved as something that was done out of love, not out of hate. On page 5 of the text Sethe states that, “...if she’d only come, I could make it clear to her.” (Morrison, 5). A person could ask, ‘Make what clear?’. I take this passage to mean that, if Beloved would only “show” herself, Sethe could explain to her why she chose death instead of life for her. The text is very descriptive in regard to the way Beloved feels about her death. On page 6, she is said to be furious over the fact that her throat was slit by her mother. To me, this shows that Beloved doesn't understand the reasoning behind her death. She may have even seen it as her mother not loving her. If put in Sethe’s shoes, maybe she'll understand that it was all done because she loved her.

Not only is pain bestowed upon Beloved, it is also bestowed upon Sethe and Denver. Both Sethe and Denver are dealing with loneliness, albeit differently. The way that Denver deals with her loneliness is by showcasing jealousy, particularly towards Paul D and her mother’s relationship/friendship. “Hot, shy, now Denver was lonely. All that leaving: first her brothers, then her grandmother---serious since there were no children willing to circle her in a game or hang by their knees from her porch railing. None of that mattered as long as her mother did not look away as she was doing now, making Denver long, downright long, for a sign of spite form the baby ghost”. (15). Man. As I read this passage, all I could think about was a child longing for attention from her mother. Here was this man, a man that she didn't know, yet he knew her mother, coming in and practically taking her mother away from her, shutting her out. The only way she could think of getting her mother’s attention was to hope that Beloved felt the same way as she did. I can honestly say that I too have felt the same way that Denver is feeling in this passage. It almost makes it seem like you’re begging for attention and love from someone who should give it automatically. The way that Sethe deals with her loneliness is by crying out to Paul D, maybe to find some sort of compassion? She longs for someone to soothe the pain that she’s feeling. 

Beloved is a text full of pain, loneliness, and confusion. There’s so much complexity within its pages that it makes it hard to continue delving inside of it. At the same time, I've heard great things about it and I can’t wait to unearth the mystery that’s buried beneath. 

Who's really to blame for poverty in America?

The future of America is in crisis. With all of the budget cuts and trillions of dollars spent, it’s easy to see that what was once considered a great nation is now a nation that is headed down a perilous path. Is America’s current state worrisome, or is a lot of what’s going on fabricated? Whether Americans choose to believe it or not,  there is an arising epidemic throughout the nation, and that plague is poverty. Although it is a subject that Americans tend to shy away from, it is very much real AND a big deal. The formation of poverty isn’t something that came about accidentally, but by the greed of a nation that preaches equality and unity. Many Americans fail to realize the reality of what’s really going on within America which is disheartening. Instead of opening their mind and hearts to the issues going on around them, they remain blind and narrow minded. 

In the YouTube video, "Bill O'Reilly Gets Owned by Cornel West & Tavis Smiley", the debate on poverty gets pretty heated. It's obvious that both Smiley and West are passionate about their stance on poverty but at the same time, it's clear that O'Reilly is sticking to his guns when it comes to protecting the government and wealthy Americans. When it comes to the issue of poverty, there is more than one factor. Not only do these factor make it hard for Americans to come to a consensus, it creates distorted perceptions about the poor.

The causes of poverty are simple: Not enough jobs, job cuts, the whole “haves and the have nots” and the “99% and 1 %” ideologies. The affects are just as simple: Poverty, homelessness, people relying heavily on government assistance. Complaining about these people who “take advantage” of the government isn’t going to solve anything. It’ll only create more separation among people. What people need are better job opportunities and if there are no job opportunities, some should be created. 


As a nation we spend so much time, energy and money on third world countries instead of realizing that our country is too headed down that very path. It’s easy to say that the cause of what’s going on has a lot to do with people being “lazy” or too dependent on the government, but what people don’t want to do is blame is America for people being out of jobs. People are quick to judge and slow to analyze, thus leaving those who are unemployed or who are on government assistance dehumanized, and those who “well off” narrow minded and heartless. As stated in The Rich & the Rest of Us  by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, “Empathizing with the psychological toll is impossible if we pretend it’s not in our midst.” (Smiley, West, 74). Most people don’t weigh the causes and affects of most situations, even situations regarding poverty, or even stop to think of what it does to the person who’s living in poverty’s psyche. The truth of the matter is, people should take themselves outside of their comfort zone, look past all of their riches and luxuries, and be more compassionate towards those who aren't necessarily living on a high horse. By doing that, it will allow some space to view people as people and not as anything less than.

"The Rich & The Rest of Us": Perilous Poverty

"America's elite understands that today's poor are a potential powerhouse." (87). I decided to choose this passage because it seemed to me a little complex. When I first read it I thought, 'How can a population so poor, even presumed weak by most Americans, become powerful?' At the same time, it's a passage that I believe can be broken down so that anyone can understand it.

One issue that I decided to talk about is how poverty is depicted in politics. It's almost as if it's taboo. Here is an article that touches on the subject:

http://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/tag/2012-election/

The just of the article is this: The economy is in crisis. With every election comes a "new hope"; a more unified nation. What's not on the forefront during election time is poverty. It's just not something that seen as a priority in politics, no matter the political party. I know a lot of people would argue that the Democratic Party is "for the people, by the people" or what have you, but in reality, what has EITHER party truly done for the impoverished citizens of America? Most have shunned and demeaned them. The people of America want solutions to poverty and the only way to do that is to make sure that the president is addressing these issues. According the the article, "Speaking up for the poor is not only vital, but it is a winning argument that resonates with a majority of Americans who want to find viable solutions". How much longer can the issue of poverty be ignored?

To sum everything up, the only way to keep the elite on top is by keeping the poor people poor and uneducated, especially when it comes to the root of their poverty.

Intro to the Oakland article response essay

        In the city of Oakland, violence is prevalent. While many believe that external factors are to blame for violence, some believe that internal factors are the culprit. One's environment can impact a person's behavior, but what about the issues that wage war within the mind of that person? In actuality, both factors coincide with one another, thus making them both the cause of violence. Although this notion sounds plausible, in order to solve an issue of this complexity, one must first be willing to understand the issue.

That 'Street Life'

When it comes to the streets of Oakland, anyone can be a victim. It'll devour anything in it's way, even those who aren't "prowling" the streets. When I was 15, I lost a sister to the streets. She died behind something very trivial; a male friend of her's was "hollering" at a girl that he'd known. Another guy who showed the very same interest in her caught wind of it, got mad, and proceeded to pick a fight. Long story short, he'd followed them as they drove away and shot up the car. She was shot once and was the only one who died. She wasn't in the streets. I guess one could say she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

As Black people we are often viewed in a very stereotypical fashion; more so Black males than females. With that negativity, we find ourselves becoming outraged and bitter, thus causing hatred towards our counterparts: "the White man". Although the system has been set up so that we rage war against one another, we as a community can defy that system by not yielding to its atrocities. How can a task like this be accomplished if we as a people don't pull together and create unity instead of division? The answer is this: it can't. Our respect will not come easy, it is something that must be fought for. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "...freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it much be demanded by the oppressed."