Week 11

Boys of Baraka
The film touch me so that when I left the class I continued to tear up and wonder what can I do and where do I start. I truly feel that the system affected the individuals which in turn caused a huge achievement gap. We are one of most powerful countries, the United States will rescue other countries, rebuild their communities, their schools and their people. But yet here we have people who suffer daily, who are homeless and children who go hungry everyday and night. We have billionaires who give money to many causes because somehow can not bring those children out of despair and give them the proper tools for an education. This system allows these children to live in dangerous area and watch them disappear behind prison walls and or watch them be buried six feet under. How can such a rich country not have the funds to give back to what society took so much from, hung, burned and mutilated their ancestors just because of the color of their skin. How can you not feel the need to give back to what you have taken, how can you sit back and watch people of color be treated like non-human and treat slime in the gutters with more compassion and respect. It truly makes me so sad that I know even at my age, I have to do something, I just do not know where to start. I know that this is why I have stayed in College at my age for so long and that is to reach back and give back to those who have been neglected and so misunderstood by this society and its people. And now I do have to wonder why so many of the wealthy have gone to other countries to adopt and to create an entire school system to help others when there is so many in need here. I am not saying neglect those children but why not start at home and give back. My outlook now on those wealthy people is a little different now and I will always question their mission. When the outcome of the Boys of Baraka ended the way it did, I knew at that moment we as a people still have a long way to go. I truly feel that some things will never change but that does not mean that we as individuals can not change. As parents, students, professors, teachers and so many others have to begin to question, challenge and seek the answers needed to make areas such as the projects in Balitmore Maryland extinct. One district at a time, one parent at a time and one child at a time and most importantly it begins in the home, to change the system that was built to make sure many fail in hope, education and life. Taking the time to educate our children in the homes and educate them on our history of where we been, where we are and where we need to be. All this can be done by supporting each other, praising each other, respecting each other and reaching back and pulling someone up with you on your journey. We say all the time we will but yet we pass each other on campus and not even acknowledge each other, we are doing exactly what that same system that has set people of color up to fail, not standing behind each other. As a parents we need to make education important in the household, find out what books are needed and find funds to buy the books, attend all parent/teacher meetings and stop accepting what is thrown at us as the last resort. And people make it a point to let all know that those prison complex's that are being built probably has many people of color names on the front door and we need to start early with our children, it is hard work but I am sure it will all pay off in the end. I respect and appreciate the opportunity to be apart of such classes and take what I have learned and continue to learn to people I come in contact with and uses your privilege to vote will help change who is in charge of your life.
Closing the Gap
I do feel there is a achievement gap and a structural oppression, the both work together to continue to cause oppression. If the system is not working to educate all children in society then it is set up so that many will fail and those who are privileged will continue to have those privileges of success and a bright future. I believe that the gap can be closed, it is just going to take an extreme amount of hard work from the parents and of the community of which we live.
Acting White
I had not observed this while in my particular High School because it was predominately white and foreign students, the African American students were pretty much trying to keep up and achieve because that was expected of us and something we wanted to do was to get good grades. I have noticed it while my son was growing up, I would do things I know needed to be done to make sure he had received a good education. So reading books, and trying to get him to speak with correct words, his friends who were not being taught the same thing would tell him to stop acting white. So it was a struggle trying to get him to see that education was very important and that it was okay to be smart and be apart of groups such as the book club, boy scouts etc. because some of his peers were not involved in the groups and some of their parents were not doing some of things I was trying to do with my son. The acting white to me is a form of internalized oppression because we have been taught to think we are not smart, not worthy and not capable of achieving great things.