My greatest influences are my parents and my brother. My brother suffered from Guillain- Barre Syndrome when he was eight. He lived in the hospital on an artificial ventilation for 97 days and later he had to continue physical therapy for at least ten years as he was completely paralyzed. My parents and my brother devoted their few years completely for his treatment. Today, my brother is a successful engineer working in the bay area. I learned that with dedication, determination and diligence we can achieve our dream in life…
Monday- I am ready to stat week 4!! I like being in the office but I prefer being in the back. It entirely too much drama going on in here today. The woman training me is really on her last strike and she just seems to be getting on everyone nerves (including mines). I look forward to a better tomorrow.…
When I was a child, my favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz. Out of all of Dorothy’s friends, the Cowardly Lion was probably my least favorite. He had gone to ask the Wizard for courage and I didn’t understand why. Others wanted tangible items such as a brain or a heart and yet he wanted courage. I had thought of courage as something that you just dug down and found within yourself when you needed it not something not just a material thing that was necessary to live like a brain or a heart. Courage is something I always felt I had within, but it was confirmed within myself when my school hit major news over racial issues.…
That’s interesting you’ve mentioned not to attend the hospital and funeral for your grandmother. In my African American/Indian culture if a woman is pregnant she’s prohibited to attend anywhere the death angel may currently be around, and funerals are definitely off limits. My family used to say when a life is taken a new life is born and I don’t know if the pregnant thing was an old superstation by forbidden spirit in my family as well because they believed the death angel comes to take a life in three; therefore it permits the baby a chance at life. Nowadays, there’s wills and other things in place to carry out a person’s wishes. I believe she told you because she knew she could trust you to carry out her last wishes amongst the family accordingly.…
Here i am sitting in the kitchen cutting me up some potatoes for dinner my daughters in the back room, She says “MOM!! COME!! HERE!!”. So i'm listening and it says “ A black african american woman has been arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a Montgomery city Bus” As i'm sitting there thinking it pops up in my head that she works with me, I work at an Montgomery ward as a semingtris. We use to call her Miss Rosa. On the radio they said that they took her to jail. I would have bailed miss Rosa out if I had the money but I didn't miss Rosa was a Beautiful african american woman and she was very nice. A day after her arrest i heard on the radio that a Black man named Edgar Nixon had bailed Miss Rosa out of jail a…
“Wow! I did not know there were black Americans”. During the month I was in China, I heard this or a variant of it jokily said to me numerous times. I never took offense to it since I understood most of the media from America that came to China featured individuals who did not look like me. Furthermore, for those Americans who had come to China, they were mostly white and had come for business. While in China, I was able to share my experience as an African-American; I always found enjoyment sharing my experiences and it seemed to me those around me found enjoyment learning about a different side of America. With me sharing my experiences, they were being able to understand the diverse nature of the United States.…
It was a beautiful day in April, 1963, and in a store downtown there was an argument going on.…
A life in the ghetto is no life at all. Especially in Molesville, Pennsylvania, a town left in the dust by modern society. Ever since I can remember my mother has been sick, this terrible place is the cause. With little sanitation the streets are rat infested and the poor die young. We had not had enough money, when my father left us, to afford food to live with, let alone go get help from a doctor. After my mother’s pregnancies she gradually became more and more sick. I thought my mother was in pain from the way she sat on her bed constantly crying. That theory was proven one day when her will to fight died. She transformed into a being of hatred. Her heart turned as black as the night. She was different, the mother I once knew dead. Although I knew she was still there, deep, deep down waiting for me to rescue her from herself. In almost an instant I decided the only way to save her was to earn the money for…
I lived in Hollywood, FL for nine years to long. It was circumstantial how I wound up there. It was not a pleasant experience. I went to Florida niave. I thought that the blacks from different parts of the world got along. I was in for a rude awakening. My family goes back to be an American every since colonization. I felt like an outsider in America an I’m a veteran. I experienced prejudice and stereo typing from both the men an the women. I t would pain me to see how other black Americans were treated. Most of the black americans families migrated from Mississippi, Alabama and the Carolins. The majority of the Islanders lived in their own commities like Mirramor, Little Hatti and…
As I stood in the swift breeziness of the January air on the foundation of Iowa’s capital building, I took a good look around at all the people surrounding me. To my left was a quirky fearless woman with a sign saying, “Strong Women Scare Weak Men”. To my right a courageous African American woman was standing topless chanting, “My body my rights”. I was in awe at how incredible and how daring all of these women and men were. I mean an entire group of women were standing topless so confident and looked absolutely fearless. As I think about it now there is absolutely no reason why every women/men should not feel this exact same way. Our society has pointed us to a certain “figure” that we should all look like, causing this fear of not looking…
I was curious to know if I was the only black girl to work at the pool so I asked my coworkers and apparently I was not. I was one of the only three black lifeguards out of the actual twenty. After working there for a month, I was switched to the opening shift where the other black people were working. It would usually be with one black and one white lifeguard on the shift. My coworker’s name was Kevin. He and I grew pretty close and we were able to talk about certain issues. I guess he was able to understand my viewpoint since he was gay. Most topics I would not talk about in front of others was easier to talk to him about. Even though we had some differences, there was a mutual understanding. When I met the other black lifeguard, I was…
At the public swimming pool, it was hard enough just trying to make sure that the water had the right type of chemicals in it. When I saw my new coworkers I went up to them with open arms and a big smile, but I soon learned that I was not welcomed. I tried some ice breakers but it just seemed to make everything worse. I tried to not believe that it was a race issue because I was the only black person surrounded by white people. It was until another white coworker showed up and they greeted him like he just came home from war. I suddenly moved myself to the other side of the pool and watched.…
It was August 28, 1963. Mom was yelling and holding up her “Martin Luther King, a liar, a troublemaker” sign. Next to her were my brother and my dad, they just mumbled and cursed. While everyone cheered and jumped for joy when Dr. King uttered the words, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood”, it was like my whole family rolled their eyes simultaneously. All but me, I was the only one who thought that every man should have equal rights regardless of their race, beliefs, gender (etc…). I sided with the rest of the people at the Lincoln Memorial who believed in equal rights.…
Throughout my life I have encountered many circumstances that have shaped me into the person I am today. I was born in Moroleon, Guanajuato, Mexico. I attended school in Mexico all the way to second grade. In the summer of 2006 I moved to Cumming, Georgia. It was the hardest thing to do because I left everything that I care the most about. We lived in a trailer which was not the nicest place and in the middle of the forest. I started school at the beginning of August. I had always loved school so I was so excited for the first day. I knew it was going to be hard because I would have to conquer so many obstacles on the way. At this time the only English I knew was probably counting from one to ten and some of the colors. My Father knew some…
It was 8th period and I was working on my Civil Rights project with my group. I was going to my first basketball game. My mom never lets me go anywhere, so I was excited to go to my schools basketball game. We were all packing up when my friend Citlaly asked, “ Are you going to the basketball game after school?”…