Reading and Writing for Social Justice: Looking at the World Through a Lens of Justice and Fairness

          Choose an article from a newspaper or magazine that deals with injustice in some way. Write about why you consider this an example of injustice and what it makes you think about in your own life.

“Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Was Struck at Least 6 Times” by Frances Robles and Julie Bosman

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/us/michael-brown-autopsy-shows-he-was-shot-at-least-6-times.html

This article is about the injustice that took place on August 9^th in Ferguson, Missouri. The victim of the fatal shooting that took place was an unarmed teenager named Michael Brown. After a confrontation, officer Darren Wilson shot Brown 6 times in various parts of his body. This was an unfair act because Brown had been unarmed, with no way to fight back. I do not believe that Michael Brown deserved to die that way or for that reason. In my own life, it makes me think about how this can happen to anyone, including me and the people I know. It’s a scary thought, but it’s true.

          Observe your school or neighborhood. Write a list of all the scenes or situations you come across on a daily basis that you think are unfair to your human rights (or someone else’s). Pick one idea from your list and write a longer entry about it.

•    The sports teams at our school are split up for boys and girls. Why aren’t there co-ed teams?

I noticed that boys and girls don’t play in the same games in sports at school. This shows that girls aren’t capable of playing against boys. Are girls weaker than boys? Are boys too tough for girls to handle? This is not a good message to give young students. Girls are just as strong and fast as boys and should be able to play with them.

Interview someone you know. Ask them their opinion about what they believe is good about our world and what is unfair about our world. Write an entry discussing your thoughts about what they had to say.

            When I asked my mom what she thought was good about the world, she said that most people would “come together to assist and lend a hand when needed.” I agree with what she said. She also gave an example of when people donate money to others who have been affected by natural disasters. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast hard. Many people’s homes were either slightly damaged or completely demolished, but they also received lots of donations from generous people. This would be a very good example of the kindness of most people in the world.

            When I asked about what she thought was unfair about the world, she said that some people still judge others “by their religious beliefs, color of their skin, race or gender.” A good example of this is Abercrombie’s “look policy”. In one story, a 17-year-old girl who arrived for her first day of work at a Hollister store was wearing a necklace with a cross. She was told to remove it by the manager. The cross was a symbol of her religion, but she was told that she couldn’t wear it. This is a good example of how some people judge other based on how they look. I agree that it is unfair.

          Watch the news. Respond to something you see by putting yourself in the shoes of someone the newscaster is reporting about. What would it be like to be in that situation.

            On the news, the newscaster had an interview with Michael Brown’s family’s attorney. In the interview, the attorney talked about the police and Officer Darren Wilson. He believed that the system was “broken” and the officers have no respect for the community. If I were the Brown family’s attorney, I would feel very stressed. Many people want something to be done for the family, and it would be up to me to do it. It would be up to me to find ways to help the family legally, and that is a lot of work for one person.

          Find a true story about someone you know who changes the world everyday. Interview and write about that person.

            My cousin, Michael, recently became a firefighter. I think that all firefighters are heroes and they all change the world. They have an important job to keep all of us safe and that is what makes their job difficult. They need to be strong and fit and brave. It’s not easy to walk into a burning building, even if you’re trying to save someone. But when I asked him if he ever got nervous or scared when he had to save someone’s life, he replied, “In my first few days I was definitely scared, on my very first day I had to do CPR on a lady, but I was in the academy for 18 weeks and my training kicked in.” This came as a shock to me at first, but then I realized that he was confident in what he was doing and there was no reason for him to be afraid. It also came as a shock to me when I asked if he felt important as a firefighter and he replied, “I wouldn’t say I feel important, no, it’s the best job in the world, you get to go to work and help people and give back to the city that I love.” Even if he doesn’t feel important, I hope he knows that he is and that we are all grateful and proud.

          Collect a poem or lyric that expresses a significant issue about social issues. Write an interpretation and analysis.

“The Forgotten Ones” by Corrina H.

Poem: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-forgotten-ones-bullying

            This poem is about the serious issue of bullying. The poem is from the point of view of the victim and how they feel when they are bullied. They feel worthless, weak, and forgotten. They feel like they can’t speak out for themselves and this poem is talking for them.

          Watch one or more movies or TV shows. Think about how people your age are portrayed by Hollywood. What are “normal” teens supposed to look like? What race are they generally? Where do they live? How much money do they have? What is their family like? Write about what these images of teens make you think, know, and feel. Are these portrayals of teens accurate? Are there stereotypes being perpetuated?

TV Show: Modern Family

            In Modern Family, the reoccurring teens are Lucas, Haley, and Alex Dunphy and Manny Delgado. This show is supposed to be as accurate to real life as possible. In this show, the teens are just ordinary people. They all look different, yet ordinary- different clothing and hairstyles, but they are simple ones that you would see anybody wearing. Most of the reoccurring characters are white or Hispanic.  The show takes place in California, and the families are generally middle class. These images of teens are exactly what I think they should be. I can relate myself to the characters and they make me think about my own life and the world around me because it is so similar. I don’t really think there are many stereotypes, if there are any at all. I think the teens are portrayed accurately as well as the adults and children.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Reading Response

            Many people lose hope in themselves when others don’t believe in them. In the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, Junior, a 14-year-old boy, was born with a brain disease and has been bullied all his life. He lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation with his poor Indian family. For as long as he can remember, the Indians from the reservation and the white people from the neighboring towns have never been friends. The white people are rich and the Indians are poor. The white people have futures and the Indians do not. But most of all, the white people have hope and the Indians have none. For these reasons, the Indians saw themselves as less than the whites, but Junior is about to change that by going to an all-white school 22 miles away from his reservation. Over the course of the story, Junior is able to show the rest of the reservation, and more importantly himself, that they shouldn’t put themselves down because of their race.

            In the beginning of the story, Junior shows how the way the white people treat the Indians had an effect on their self-esteem. Junior gives an example of the awful way the white people treat them by talking about when he had to get his teeth pulled. “And what’s more, our white dentist believed that Indians only felt half the pain as white people did, so he only gave us half the Novocain.” The white people do not see the Indians as their equals. They treat them differently and don’t see that what they are doing is wrong. This treatment affects the Indians because after being treated like this all the time, they start to believe it too. When Junior first begins to attend the all-white school, he begins to feel like he doesn’t belong. “I didn’t deserve to be there. I knew it; all of those kids knew it. Indians don’t deserve shit.” Not only do the white people not see the Indians as their equals, but the Indians themselves don’t think they deserve the same things. They let the white people’s actions and words get under their skin and they believe everything they say. This is probably why the Indians lost their hope, but Junior is about to bring it back. He was the bridge between the races, connecting them in a way.

            Junior was able to maintain his courage, bravery, and hope even through difficult times. In the pep talk that Junior’s math teacher, Mr. P, gave him about hope he says, “’Son, you’re going to find more and more hope the farther and farther you walk away from this sad, sad, sad reservation.” Mr. P recognizes that Junior still had hope when the rest of the reservation had lost it. He wants Junior to leave before he loses his hope as well. A few days after Junior came to Reardan, the all-white school, he got into a fistfight with a boy named Rodger. Rodger was big and tough, but Junior punched him in the face after he made a joke about Indians, and Junior was very proud. “I felt brave all of a sudden. Yeah, maybe it was just a stupid and immature schoolyard fight. Or maybe it was the most important moment of my life. Maybe I was telling the world that I was no longer a human target.” Junior was proud for standing up for himself and it made him feel powerful. None of the Indians on the reservation would ever talk back to a white person, let alone punch them in the face. After that, the boys respected him. They walked away from the fight, but they didn’t forget. They liked the fact that Junior wasn’t afraid to fight back. They did not care about his race.

            By the end of the book, it is clear that the kids at Reardan accepted Junior for him, not caring what color his skin was. When Junior was about to play an important basketball game against his old school he says, “In fact, my white fans were going to cheer for me like I was some kind of crusading warrior.” The white kids’ opinions about Junior had changed. Instead of making fun of him because he was an Indian, calling him names, and picking on him, they cheered him on at a game that was significant to him. Not only that, but they made him feel like he belonged. After the Winter Formal that Junior had gone to with Penelope, a popular freshman girl, all the popular people went to a diner in Spokane for dinner. Junior is poor and he couldn’t afford to buy food, but he was embarrassed to tell anyone. When he finally did, Rodger said, “Man, don’t sweat it. You should have said something earlier. I got you covered.” Junior was friends with Rodger, but he was still unsure if he could tell him that he was poor. Junior was afraid that he might judge him like he had in the past. I didn’t matter to Rodger, anyway. Rodger was a good friend and could be trusted. 

          By going to an all-white school, Junior's bravery showed the rest of the Indians that they were equal to the white people. The Indians made themselves vulnerable by not fighting back when the white people did something mean. When Junior stood up for himself, he made history. He showed everyone that not only was he done with getting made fun of, but so were the rest of the people of his reservation. In the future, I predict that the Indians are no longer going to let the white people seem more important. I also predict that the white people will no longer be mean after learning from their experience with Junior. Without Junior, nothing would have changed.

            

Where She Went Reading Response

            When things go wrong, people tend to place the blame on others, but the people that they blame are often times the people that hold them together. “Where She Went”, by Gayle Forman, is about a young adult named Adam who is going through tough times in his life.  His old girlfriend, Mia, was in a major car crash where her entire family died except for her. After reconstructing her life, she went on to become a professional cellist. Adam believed that she had forgotten about him and he became angry and depressed. For a while he believed that his depression had been caused by Mia leaving, but after meeting her again in New York City after three years, he finally sees that she was the one who got him through each day. In the story, Adam realizes that all the things he has and has had are the things that keep him going.

            
            Throughout the story, music played a significant part in Adam’s life.  When Adam talks about when he used to watch Mia while she was playing her cello he says, “The truth was that I also wanted to understand what she heard in the silence.” Adam wanted to love music the way Mia did, whether he was playing it or listening to it.  Mia always understood each note that was played, which only increased her love for every song, and Adam soon learned how to do the same.  During the time when Adam was depressed, he said, “It takes a lot of effort to stop listening to the music and give him my attention.” Music is a way for Adam to distract himself from the rest of the world and even his life.  It isn’t about the fame or the fortune for him. He genuinely loves and appreciates music, and Mia most likely had a lot to do with it.

            
            Throughout all the problems Adam faced, Mia also played an important role in Adam’s life. Even when she wasn’t there with him, she still kept track of everything that was going on. While on a camping trip Mia and Adam took before the accident, Adam says, “We kept whispering to each other, telling stories from our childhoods, deep, deep into the night until finally Mia forgot to be scared and fell asleep.” Mia felt safe whenever she was with Adam and Adam felt safe with her. He also trusted her with his deepest secrets. It was true love, through and through. And although Mia wasn’t around, she still kept Adam with her at all times. When Adam meets Mia again in New York City, Mia shows Adam that she has his old guitar. “Mia is the one who bought my guitar for some exorbitant sum, which means Mia knew it was up for auction.” The only way for Mia to have gotten his old guitar was if she had kept track of what was happening with Adam and his life. She still cared about him enough to buy his guitar for a large amount of money. This came as a shock to Adam because he believed that she didn’t care about him anymore and this shows that maybe he was the one who didn’t care.

            
            After seeing Mia again, Adam realized that he had brought depression and anger upon himself and Mia had nothing to do with it. After he sees Mia with his guitar he says, “I’ve blamed her for all of this, for leaving, for ruining me.” Adam realizes that he was the one who ruined himself, and he wants to be the one to change himself back. At the end of the story, when Adam is singing at one of his concerts he says, “It’s no longer an angry plea shouted into the void.” Adam changed his perspective on his life. He is no longer angry at the world because he finally understands what he didn’t understand before.

            
            There is a drastic change in the mood, tone, and the attitude of Adam from the beginning to the end of the book. At first Adam was deeply depressed. He was under tons of pressure from his band that had quickly skyrocketed into stardom, and he had so many unanswered questions for Mia. He hid himself away from the world, and even though he believed it was all Mia’s fault, I believe that it was also Mia who held him together. Mia and music literally saved Adam’s life. Together they were able to dig him out of the hole he had buried himself in, and by the end of the story Adam was back to his old loving self. I predict that in the future Mia and Adam will stay together forever, and music will always have a special place in both of their hearts.