Reflection of Black Man and Public Space

Racism has been common since the early days of America’s development. Still nowadays racism is common topic and is a concern. We’ve all been taught, that racism is bad. But I still don’t understand, why this is still a problem in our society and the worst of it is that is present  in a large scale. For decades society has been in a constant fight with this problem, and people like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and others have dedicate their lives to end racism. Sadly it hasn’t gone completely but there is still hope.

In this reading we are able to view racism, prejudice and injustice from a perspective of an african american. Throughout it, we experience multiple scenarios that the common Negro citizen has gone through. I think it’s really unfair for the african americans to feel judge everytime they are walking on the streets. Whether they feel judged by policemen, store owners, late night walkers, etc. I think that every human, no matter their race, religion and culture, needs to be treated the same. It really shocked me when the author talked about the time when he was chased by the security guard of his own job! That's just inexcusable. How come you can not feel safe on your own job?

I think that everybody should feel safe or feel like they belong to a place. Our society has made it extremely difficult for african americans to feel safe or to feel like they belong to something. Feeling that you don’t belong or being  judged from the moment you walk outside, has to be the worst feeling ever. Why do african americans need to adapt to our society, so that they can belong? That’s just doesn’t feel right. Every human being has the liberty to be whoever they want and not be judged by anyone. Racism has to come to an end. Let’s all join together and finish the dream of those who died trying to end racism, prejudices, unjustness, and judgement. Let’s honored their death by accomplishing their dreams. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Works Cited:

Pittmann,Cynthia. Reflection of Black Men and Public Space by Gian Batista. Class assignment UPRRP January 30 2018

Reflection of Salvation

In this story we can see how not telling the complete truth can affect a person. Langston Hughes is a normal kid and like any other kid he will not behave well all the time. The church that Langston and his aunt attend to was a having a ceremony. This ceremony consisted in saving those lost lambs and helping them get to Jesus, by watching a light, that will save them. Every other kid went to the platform to be saved, except Langston and another named Wesley. Wesley eventually went up because he was tired of waiting but Langston stay a little while. He was waiting for Jesus. The time passed and Jesus didn’t show up, so he decided to go up, because he couldn’t hold on with all the pressure and it was getting late. This cause him to lie and to later on regret his decision. I don’t fully understand why these children are  being called sinners, because at that age they barely knew what’s right and what’s wrong.  I think that the church’s idea of saving the children and helping them be sin free is good, but I don’t like the method they use to achieve it. I didn’t like this because it was more like a peer pressure thing. I say this because the entire church was pushing them into making a decision that maybe they didn’t wanted to do. By doing this they obligate the children to decide and if they don’t, they will basically be judge. That thought of being judge is what push Langdon into lying; he didn’t want to feel judged neither to disappoint his aunt. I think that both, the Church and Langdon, weren’t fully honest. First the Church by pushing the children to go up to the platform and not telling the complete truth about Jesus, and second Langston by not being honest about what he couldn’t see.

What struck me the most was that Langston felt guilty, but at the same time he felt sad. How could a kid that is considered as a “sinner” feel guilt for a lye? That is really weird in my opinion because people that are called “sinners” don’t really care about a lie. By lying he thought that eventually he will see Jesus but it wasn’t like that at all. This cause in him to feel sadness, and disappointed. The consequence was that he lost his faith in Jesus and I don’t blame him because when somebody talks about you this amazing thing and that amazing thing doesn’t happen, one tend to lose faith. That is exactly what happen to Langston. He thought that eventually he will be safe and see the light, but in the end, nothing really happens.

Works cited:

Pittmann, Cynthia. Reflection from “Salvation” by Hughes, Langston. Class assignment UPRRP 26 December 2017.

Journal Reflection

I was assign  to write a total of forty journal entries during the course of eight weeks. I had to write one entry everyday of the week. The professor gave us some instructions on how to do the entries. The rules were: keep your hand moving, don't cross out, don't worry about spelling, punctuation or grammar, lose control, don’t think, don’t get logical, and go for the jugular. Another rule she gave us was, that you had only 10 minutes to write the entry and after the ten minutes you needed to make a brief two minute reflection of your entry.

During the first week, I had trouble following some of the rules that were established. I was failing on writing for ten minutes non stop and I was worrying about the grammar, punctuation, and spelling. It was really hard for me to write for ten minutes non stop, especially when your life isn't very interesting and it’s always a routine. There were times when  I couldn’t think of anything to write and that frustrated me a lot, because the point of the journals was to liberate all of your thoughts. Another thing that may have influenced in not having too much to write was focusing on the spelling, grammar and punctuation. I was focusing so much on writing everything perfectly that I was restraining my imagination. After the first week, I decided to be more creative and try my best not to focus on the grammar, spelling and punctuation. As soon as I forgot about those things I began to enjoy writing the journals. I was writing a lot more, because I felt more free; which was the point of the journal activity, to express and liberate our thoughts.

At the beginning of this project I thought that this was a total waste of my time, but as the weeks passed by, I started to like writing the journals because it was my way to escape from the real world. It became a place where I could write about anything and not be judged by anyone. This project really helped me a lot with my grammar, spelling, writing fluency, writing with a pen and new vocabulary. As the weeks passed, I was writing with less and less grammar and spelling errors; also my writing was 100 times better that when I started. I feel a lot more confident nowadays when it comes to writing in English, especially when using a pen and it is all thanks to the journals.

To be honest I am grateful for this assessment, because I have found a way to express all my feelings. Thanks to this, I’ve been able to be more creative and a lot better at expressing my feelings and thoughts. I now feel happier and relaxed. It has really changed my life. This helped me to get to know myself and thanks to that, I feel like a totally different person.

I enjoyed writing the entries because I knew that besides expressing my thoughts, I was also perfecting my English skills. I think that in a way it has truly opened me, when it comes to writing. I have noticed the changes when I’m writing essays or when I’m commenting on some of my classmate’s assignments. This experience has helped me a lot, because when I started this project my English writing skills were very poor. Nowadays, whenever I have to do some writing, I have no problem at all with it.

This project hasn’t really connected me to other fields of study. I used this project more as a gateway, so all of my entries are focused on my thoughts and feelings. When I was working the journal I was going through various situations. The journal helped me get through tough times and you will see that because most of my entries are focused on my feelings, thoughts, and experiences at that time.

In conclusion I loved the journal! It was a unique way of doing multiple things at the same time because as I was doing the journal I was also practicing my grammar, spelling, creativity, punctuation and handwriting, confidence, and gaining fluency. In addition it helped me learn how to express my thoughts and how to organize my ideas in a better way.  I loved this experience because it helped me overcome hard moments; the journal was the only place where I could really relax my mind. This project was truly a unique experience that I actually enjoyed doing.

Works Cited:

Pittman, Cynthia. Journal reflection by Gian Batista. Class assignment UPRRP 18 January 2018.

Girl Reflection

This story was a little  hard to understand at first. When I started reading it, I didn’t  fully understand why it was written the way it was, but as I continued to read I finally understood. It really caught my attention the form in how this story was written. It  doesn’t have an introduction neither  conclusion, and it is written like a run on sentence; it was like reading a long list of things to do.  As you continue to read you realize that the passage is about a mother teaching her daughter the ways she need  to behave and the abilities to do certain things, to become a proper women. She starts by telling her how to do household chores, like cleaning the clothes, how to buy good cotton, etc. The mother then continues giving her instructions about relationships, how to behave at dinner, around people, and especially men, etc. The story  is literally a list of things that the daughter needs to do, to become a proper women. One thing that caught my attention was the use of the word “slut” multiple times. I think the mother was telling her not be a slut because sluts were treated like garbage or because she went through a similar experience and didn’t went so well for her. In my opinion I think that the mother is giving her all these instructions based on past experiences. She is trying to help her daughter not to do the same things that she did; all she wants is the best for her daughter. Her goal is to help convert her daughter into a proper women. By all the instructions that she give her daughter you can see that being a women in that time wasn’t easy at all. You needed to have various skills or abilities and behave a certain way  in order  to be considered a proper woman.

    Life a couple of years back was a bit rough, especially for women. Still in the modern times things are not as easy for women as it is for men. So when you read this story try to put that into perspective. Imagine how hard it must be for a young girl to receive all those instructions and follow them in order to be accepted by the society.

Works cited:

Pittmann, Cynthia. Reflection from “ Girl” by Kincaid, Jamaica. Class assignment UPRRP 26 December 2017.