Challenges are the ones that make life interesting but doing it for a cause becomes meaningful. "Suzie Q" is one of the selections in the book Black like Us edited by Devon Carbado. In this story it points out the life of a black lesbian street woman where she lives the reality of being a prostitute. She starts as a prostitute in order to have money to support herself and her children.
I liked this story for the reason that I thought that this character was brave enough in having to go through that kind of experiences. Suzie shows to be poor where she does not have another path to choose than becoming a prostitute. Having no other choice she knew that she had to do it in order to support her children. She showed confidence in being a better person by trying to do anything for the people who she loves the most even though she had to sacrifice her body. At first I was shocked to know that she was living that kind of life since most people do that for money but her situation was a necessity.
I valued that she had the courage to go on and not to give up. Her actions in this story in choosing prostitution made me think about a lot of things. It was obvious to see that her goals could not be met making her choose prostitution over other things because of her economic need. Her character demonstrated that she is capable to do anything in order to reach beyond her limits. True bravery was shown in this character where I was able to see that she is capable of doing anything for survival.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
LGBT Literature
In the class Literature and Human Experience, we have explored literature that has been produced by LGBT writers. These writers have made a positive impact on those who have not been able to come out of the closet or intend to reveal themselves.
Reading this kind of literature has been very useful in understanding what they have gone through in revealing themselves to others. It has also made me to come aware that this kind of work does exist and that it should not be ignored. it brought back memories when I was in elementary and middle school where I would read stories and poems that Langston Hughes had written in which my favorite one was called "Dreams." My literature teachers would encourage us to read stories due to the fact that he was a good writer and was well known. But the thing that I did not know was that he was one of the many GLBT writers that wrote about their orientation and that in a way illuminated their experience.
I think that the GLBT community sees this work as an inspiration in accepting who they are in terms of their orientation. It has aslo helped in liberating those who appear to be trapped inside the closet.
Reading this kind of literature has been very useful in understanding what they have gone through in revealing themselves to others. It has also made me to come aware that this kind of work does exist and that it should not be ignored. it brought back memories when I was in elementary and middle school where I would read stories and poems that Langston Hughes had written in which my favorite one was called "Dreams." My literature teachers would encourage us to read stories due to the fact that he was a good writer and was well known. But the thing that I did not know was that he was one of the many GLBT writers that wrote about their orientation and that in a way illuminated their experience.
I think that the GLBT community sees this work as an inspiration in accepting who they are in terms of their orientation. It has aslo helped in liberating those who appear to be trapped inside the closet.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Breaking the Rules
"Breaking the Rules" is a story from the Mee St Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman's Life written by Frankie Lennon. The setting takes place in the narrator's high school where a conflict is caused by a social force due to the social customs of that time making her get in trouble with Ms. Fannie Clay due to her appearance.
Everyone has customs that one needs to follow depending on what meaning it has to our families and the society. In this story, the way you dressed and wore your hair showed respect to others and how you would follow the expected tradition, but in the beat culture it was the opposite since it would not matter how you would dress. This custom caused conflict with the narrator due to the fact that she broke the rules by dressing inappropriately at school. The narrator along with her friend Nikki decided to dress like the beatniks as a form of protesting how they were treated unfairly. Beatniks was a new look that was developed by wearing over sized clothes and were known for dressing in all black with sunglasses.
During the 1960s, the counterculture was known to be as a rejection towards the social norms where the beatniks became involved. At this point the narrator becomes quite rebellious by not putting much attention to her dad when he had warned her to not let Nikki get her in trouble but instead she kept listening to what Nikki had in mind. She went along with Nikki's idea not taking in consideration the consequences she would have to face with the dean and with her parents.
The narrator had the understanding that dressing as the beatniks would be for a good cause in order to show others of the injustice that was being made against them for dressing up in a different way. She also had to understand that rules were there for a reason and that they were not meant to be broken.
Everyone has customs that one needs to follow depending on what meaning it has to our families and the society. In this story, the way you dressed and wore your hair showed respect to others and how you would follow the expected tradition, but in the beat culture it was the opposite since it would not matter how you would dress. This custom caused conflict with the narrator due to the fact that she broke the rules by dressing inappropriately at school. The narrator along with her friend Nikki decided to dress like the beatniks as a form of protesting how they were treated unfairly. Beatniks was a new look that was developed by wearing over sized clothes and were known for dressing in all black with sunglasses.
During the 1960s, the counterculture was known to be as a rejection towards the social norms where the beatniks became involved. At this point the narrator becomes quite rebellious by not putting much attention to her dad when he had warned her to not let Nikki get her in trouble but instead she kept listening to what Nikki had in mind. She went along with Nikki's idea not taking in consideration the consequences she would have to face with the dean and with her parents.
The narrator had the understanding that dressing as the beatniks would be for a good cause in order to show others of the injustice that was being made against them for dressing up in a different way. She also had to understand that rules were there for a reason and that they were not meant to be broken.
Woman Dreams
"Woman Dreams" is a story from The Mee St Chronicles: Straight up stories of Black Woman's Life written by the author Frankie Lennon. In this story the narrator goes through the Steps of Integration written by James L Helmuth. One of the stages that I placed the narrator is in the Pre Coming Out stage in which she becomes aware that she is different since she is attracted to female than male celebrities like Rita Hartworth. She also begins to question herself if her friends feel the same way that she does.
I also placed her in the Coming Out to Self stage where she starts to have a crush on her female celebrities and making up romantic scripts about that certain person. She begins to show shame and fear of what her friends may think about her when she reveals her true identity. The narrator is aware that she is different than her friends but she does not know the real meaning of having a different attraction.
I also placed her in the Coming Out to Self stage where she starts to have a crush on her female celebrities and making up romantic scripts about that certain person. She begins to show shame and fear of what her friends may think about her when she reveals her true identity. The narrator is aware that she is different than her friends but she does not know the real meaning of having a different attraction.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Crucible
The word crucible is defined as a severe search or trial. Arthur Miller uses this word to title the play because it was based upon the accusattions made of those who did witchcraft. Many characters were accused and therefore they were sent to go to court in order to confess if they had something to do with witchcraft. In my opinion, I thought that the title was well chosen in which it grabs the attention of the audience before reading the book.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Memories
Memories help us shape our future in which the moments that we treasure lasts forever in a beautiful remembrance. At times these memories can be painful depending on the situtaion but others fill our life with joy and happiness. Some of those memories include my Quincenera, high school graduation, and college freshman.
October 15, 2004, was expected to be the most beautiful memory that I had to remember. This day happened to be my Quincenera. I remember that I would always start counting the days for that special day to arrive. When this day finally arrived, I was so glad since I knew that for once in my life my father would be there to celebrate my birthday. I had told him that I wanted him to bemy companion of the evening in order to dance the traditional waltz with him. Everything started to fall apart when I noticed that he was not in the party. I remember crying beacause I had always dreamed of that day being special since he had assured that he would be there. When my family saw me crying they insisted to on with the party and try to forget that painful scene. I ended up dancing the ballroom waltz without my dad; instead I danced with his brothers. This memory became important due to the fact that his brothers worked together in order to make me happy in which I am glad for the effort that they made on this day.
Ever since I was a senior in high shool, I knew that I need to graduate in order to succeed in life and to make my mother proud after all the pain she went through because of her brother's death. On the other hand, I was feeling quite depressed because my dad's family kept on making statements to others that I would end up in the streets somewhere or that I would not graduate because my cousins did not. I could not understand why they would judge me by trying to bring other misfortunes into my life. I knew that I had to work very hard in order to achieve what I really wanted. Graduating from high school has been the proudest moment of my life, making me realize that I can accomplish anything. At the same time I was able to prove my family wrong since I had actually received my diploma.
Having my diploma, I decided to move ahead in furthering my education in order to get a degree. I knew that becoming a freshman could be quite hard since I would have to commute and because I would not have sufficient funds in order to pay for my education. During my freshman year, I was glad that everything had turned out good because I received help from the college since I was a first generation student. I think that with no help, I would have not made it through my first year of college. Now I know that when I need to give advice to an incoming freshman I would tell them to always be true to themselves and to seek for help whenever they need it or when it is offered. Attending college to me is a commitment that I am making in order to reach the success that I seek for my future and for that same reason I am still attending school up to this day.
Memories are the treasures that I keep in order to remember and to share them with others. I have never tried to block my memories of the past even though some have been quite painful. Everything that I have gone through has helped me become the person that I am now.
October 15, 2004, was expected to be the most beautiful memory that I had to remember. This day happened to be my Quincenera. I remember that I would always start counting the days for that special day to arrive. When this day finally arrived, I was so glad since I knew that for once in my life my father would be there to celebrate my birthday. I had told him that I wanted him to bemy companion of the evening in order to dance the traditional waltz with him. Everything started to fall apart when I noticed that he was not in the party. I remember crying beacause I had always dreamed of that day being special since he had assured that he would be there. When my family saw me crying they insisted to on with the party and try to forget that painful scene. I ended up dancing the ballroom waltz without my dad; instead I danced with his brothers. This memory became important due to the fact that his brothers worked together in order to make me happy in which I am glad for the effort that they made on this day.
Ever since I was a senior in high shool, I knew that I need to graduate in order to succeed in life and to make my mother proud after all the pain she went through because of her brother's death. On the other hand, I was feeling quite depressed because my dad's family kept on making statements to others that I would end up in the streets somewhere or that I would not graduate because my cousins did not. I could not understand why they would judge me by trying to bring other misfortunes into my life. I knew that I had to work very hard in order to achieve what I really wanted. Graduating from high school has been the proudest moment of my life, making me realize that I can accomplish anything. At the same time I was able to prove my family wrong since I had actually received my diploma.
Having my diploma, I decided to move ahead in furthering my education in order to get a degree. I knew that becoming a freshman could be quite hard since I would have to commute and because I would not have sufficient funds in order to pay for my education. During my freshman year, I was glad that everything had turned out good because I received help from the college since I was a first generation student. I think that with no help, I would have not made it through my first year of college. Now I know that when I need to give advice to an incoming freshman I would tell them to always be true to themselves and to seek for help whenever they need it or when it is offered. Attending college to me is a commitment that I am making in order to reach the success that I seek for my future and for that same reason I am still attending school up to this day.
Memories are the treasures that I keep in order to remember and to share them with others. I have never tried to block my memories of the past even though some have been quite painful. Everything that I have gone through has helped me become the person that I am now.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Piano
In The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, the piano represents the familie's history in which it is remembered by the pictures that were carved by Doaker's grandfather. It is also remembered by the struggle that many people confronted because of the piano. I thought that during the play the piano would just cause conflict in the family between Berniece and Boy Willie. Even though the piano is not a living creature, it seemed as if it did become a character is in the play. The character in a drama is defined as the person represented in the play in which the character in the story helps the audience understand the story. The piano was not being played by Berniece but Sutter's ghost disappeared right after Berniece got the strength to play the piano. As soon as this occurred, it made me realize that Sutter's ghost was just in the house since Berniece would not touch the piano. In my point of view, if I was Boy Willie I would not sell the piano since it represents the struggle of the family neither would I sell something that my family would value.
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