the classics

The Catcher In the Rye, Gone with the Wind, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice. What do the classics have in common? Novels that becomes classics all contain important lessons and themes. When a novel teaches the world something other than just the story they quickly become famous and classic. Also the novels that everyone has a piece to relate to become classics quickly. All classics include love and hardships which all people can relate to. A classic is a book that we all owe a lot of knowledge and morals learned too.

commentss

Shayna- haha shayna i think i might know where this is coming from.. i agree i think that is completely wrong for people to continue bullying without any consequences. I don't know if they necessarily need to be punished for doing wrong but they definitely need to be put in their place. I think handling a situation maturely like jaime said is the best medicine a bully could get because your basically rubbing the fact that your better and more mature than them in their face!

Kim Etzin- hey kim, i agree with your thoughts that childhood friends can cause a lot of drama because people change as they grow up. I know a lot of people i used to be really close with but as we've grown up they have gained different interests and turned on me because of them. However, i think a lot of people can be loyal throughout your entire life and they would be your true friends whether you'd known them for a day or your whole life. I don't think it matters how long you've known someone to measure their loyalness but really how good of a person they are.

caylin- weird i actually wrote almost the same thing. twins much? Anyway i totally agree. i think it is the morals and lessons parents teach their kids that determines the mistakes a child might make. I think that if parents blame their mistakes on their children they aren't doing a good job as parents. it's funny that we agree cause our parents have similar parenting styles lol.

I believe that the statement 'children are responsible for their parents' mistakes' is completely false. The mistakes that any adult makes are completely their own responsibility no matter what outside influences affect them. I feel that some parents blame a lot of their own mistakes on their children because it is an easy way to get rid of blame. Children may cause stress in a parents life which may cause them to make mistakes because they are frustrated but that does not make those mistakes a child's fault. 

I feel that this statement would be more true if it read 'parents are responsible for their children's' mistakes.' I think that this would be more true because parent's are supposed to set examples for their children. Therefore most mistakes of children come from seeing a bad example set by a parent and following it. I feel that children are influenced greatly by their friends which can cause them to make mistakes. However, if parents do not teach children important lessons such as not to give in to peer pressure it is the parents fault that children get dragged into things by their friends. 

Comments

Shayna- hey shay i agree with your ideas too. i feel that people discriminate all the time no matter what color their skin is. However, the impact the discrimination has on people is the difference between a person of power being racist and a person of a minority being racist. As you said when the black women discriminated against you it didn't affect you at all because you are in power in the situation. I hope racism fades sooner or later whether it is from a minority or a place of power. 

Gab N. - Hey gabb.. i really liked that you focused on the change Neil SHoemaker was talking about. I think Obama's election has sparked change everywhere and it was definitely visible to me in Harlem. I wrote a little in one of my blogs about how so much history has come out of this one city like you did. The amount of famous musicians and historic figures that have walked those same streets we did the other day is astounding. Also, Brother tyreak has opened my eyes too with the image of god. I often wonder if it is wrong to put a picture of a white god in my head but that is the image i've always had. glad to know someone else was thinking the same thing. nice blog! 

Angel- Hey angel. i think this part of the book was really interesting too. I thought your ideas were great and the forum you linked to was really interesting because i learned that people of the north and south don't all have the same views as we have been taught. I also agree with your statement about the environment people grow up in affects their morals and level of acception of other people and cultures. If someone is kept sheltered from from diversity they will be less open to accept it because it is unknown to them. I think your ideas were really great and this was a great blog!

Jaime- it's really interesting how you compared the two religions. I am Catholic to and i do believe that men are more respected within the church. I think this is because the image we have of God is a man. Jesus who is our savior is a man. And therefore the men are more respected because they are the closest looking to God and therefore seen in the eyes of all Catholics even subconsciously as higher up. I really liked many of the teachings of Islam i was opened to on our trip and i think the islamic teachings are great. They make everyone equal and allow for men and women to worship at the same level. 

Morals #1

Brother Tyreak at the mosque we visited opened my eyes to a lot of morals that i think many people lose sight of. The first is that if you give peace out only peace can come back to you. I truly believe this quote from brother Tyreak. This is the golden rule 'do unto others as you would want others to do unto you'. If you spread positive energy and show people that you are a good person they will have no reason to spread negative energy to you or show you negative behavior. I think this lesson in the hands of more people could truly change the world. This idea reminded me of a movie I saw when i was little. The movie is called "Pay It Forward." The plot of the movie is that a teacher gives a class assignment to create a project that will change the universe for the better. One child's idea was that if someone helps you, you must 'pay it forward' and help 3 other people. The idea catches on and spreads. There is a real organization for this movement and the website for this is http://www.payitforwardmovement.org/. This organization is trying to make this boy's idea a real life situation. I was interested to read and research this website and hope others are too!

 I think many of the other teachings of Islam are important too and i can now see why Malcolm would turn to Islam so willingly. Although i am a catholic i believe in many of the morals and teachings of Islam and believe that it is a noble religion that should be spread even farther then it spread now. 

Backstabbing #2

When Elijah Muhammad commits adultery i was immediately sympathetic to Malcolm. I was sympathetic because i feel that Elijah completely stabbed Malcolm in the back. This man was supposed to me his mentor and teacher of the customs of the NOI. He is supposed to be the prime example of a devote Islamic follower. And then all of a sudden everything Malcolm thought he was went down the drain. Elijah lied to Malcolm and went against his word to Malcolm. I can directly relate to how Malcolm must have felt during this. My best friend once went behind my back and started to talk to a guy i had confided in her about liking. She stabbed me in the back and i have never really forgiven her for it. I trusted her with a major part of my life and she disregarded my feelings the way Elijah  disregards Malcolm's beliefs in the good morals of Islam. Many people experience this in their lives and i realized that it happens with people all the time in people they trust. A recent example of this backstabbing situation is evident with Bernard Madoff's scandal. Bernie Madoff is a financial advisor who ran one of the biggest Ponzi schemes mostly among his family and close friends. He is the biggest backstabber in my eyes because he took his family and friend's money and told them he was going to invest it and they were going to make over 12% in interest. Yet he didn't invest it at all but moved it around to allow for others to invest. This is huge stab in the back for Bernie's family because they trusted him to take their money and help them earn money on investments but he betrayed them and lost them billions of dollars (Ebel). This NY Times article explains Bernie's situation and helps to show what a skeeze he is http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/business/25bernie.html. 

haven't they learned? #3

Ok i know i've blogged about this topic a little already but the idea of how images can have such a huge and life changing effect baffles me. The images we saw of the black people in the past had a great effect on so many people. The images brainwashed people into believing blacks were dumb and monkeys and horrible degrading things. They even brainwashed blacks into believing they weren't worthy of white appreciation, that the way they looked wasn't acceptable, and that their culture wasn't proper. 

I watched a movie the other day called "The Secret Life of Bees." The movie is based off the book by Sue Monk Kidd which i also read. In the story, which is set in the 60s, there are three sisters who live together and make their living selling honey which they cultivate themselves. The image on the jars of honey they sell is of a colored Virgin Mary. This Black Madonna is a symbol for the three  sisters of their somewhat religion. They belong to the "Daughters of Mary", a group of women who worship the Black Madonna as a symbol of believing in something bigger than just ourselves. The people of the predominantly white  town were surprised by this image because it was not something they had seen before. They cast it off however saying it was just some crazy black women with her weird sisters. It's amazing to me though that they still bought and ate this honey, sold it in their stores and were grateful for it. But they were not grateful for the people who gave it to them. 

I never really thought to much into this part of the story before reading Malcolm X. Now i realize how pathetic and ignorant most of the whites were in that time. The vision of a Black Madonna was completely ridiculous because the whites did not approve of someone they worshiped being of color. They disliked this image and therefore made it seem humorous. However, they enjoyed the honey and because they liked it, it was acceptable to be made from three black sisters. It's amazing to see how people didn't even realize how wrong they were being. It was ok for black people to serve and make great food and give the whites happiness but it wasn't ok for the whites to give appreciation back or appreciation to anything of color including the Madonna. I have to give amazing credit to the sisters in this story. Although the story is fictional i'm sure many people in the US at the time followed this same religion. Their savior was not accepted because of the color of her skin even though the morals of their religion were the same as most. 

Images affect me in my everyday life also. SKinny girls in magazines and supermodels that are all a size 2. These images affect the way i see my own body. I don't believe i have the worst body but i'm also not completely satisfied. These images make many girls and guys believe that this is the way a women's body should be. These images set a high standard for young girls. If your not as good as model why should a guy want you? these are the thoughts put into our heads by simple images we see on TV and in magazine ads. These images can be life changing and detrimental to women's health when striving to look like these images.  This article describes in depth the effect of these model's images on women's psyche http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm. 

It's amazing how people have not learned from the past. The images of blacks changed people's thinking to degrading blacks yet they keep putting out images that degrade women. But i guess they always say history repeats itself. 

Harlemm... #4

The cultural aspect of Harlem is really amazing. The way the people of Harlem have preserved their ethnicity and culture even in a new city is amazing to see because it's something different than the everyday Hillsdale and River Vale, NJ. My favorite part of the trip was the Apollo theater because our tour guide, Billy, was sweeet. He added a lot to the building and you could tell from the way he spoke about everything that he really loved his job and the history behind the amazing theater. It's unbelievable how many famous musicians started at amateur night at the theater. This really intrigued me to look into the specific artists who have come from the theater. At  http://apollotheater.org/amateur_night.html there is a list of artists who have participated in or won a past amateur night. This list includes some of the most famous people of all time. The one that interested me most was Billie Holiday because her music has been influential in my life. Her music calms me down and the beautiful sadness in her voice makes her music one of a kind. The songs she sings are so powerful to me because they contain so much emotion and beauty. I could listen to her songs whether i need to be cheered up or if i want to keep up my cheer. I think Billie Holiday is an amazing symbol of Harlem. She has raw emotion and beauty. I also learned from this website http://www.biography.com/deathiversary/billie-holiday/billie-holiday.jsp, that Billie's early life was rough. Her beginnings were rough but out of those hardships she grew into a wonderful women. She is a symbol of Harlem because Harlem had rough beginnings or middles with times  of intense drug use, gangs, and prostitution. However, this city has grown into an extremely cultural and beautiful place. The tour we took of Harlem on our field trip showed me that Harlem has a lot more to offer than meets the eye. Being in a place that is so well rounded with different cultures was a wake up call to how all places should be. 

This trip has taught me not to judge a book by its cover and to always grow from mistakes and hardships. Harlem is a beautiful that has helped and inspired many people. Although it may seem a little less upscale than the upper east side it has a rich history which adds to the notorious city.