12/1/10 THIS HE BELIEVES
The reason I chose this image is because it represents Racism. I know it's just eggs, but this can also represent humans. The brown egg could represent a black man, and the white eggs would represent a group of white men. Imagine if the black man was trying to join the white men's group, but he couldn't because they were all racist. Like in The Blokes, nobody other than WHITE... BRITISH... MALES... could join their group. This relates to Eboo Patel because he has experienced racism.
This he believes.... Eboo Patel, an American Muslim. His group of friends include a Jew, Mormon, Hindu, Catholic and a Lutheran. I think Eboo Patel regrets what he did in the past, he did nothing. That's what he regrets. When Patel went to college he wanted to play basketball, and when he went to the gym, he saw a white game, a black game, and a yellow game. If I were there, I would feel angry at how foolish us people are being. We are all human beings, and judging someone because of their color is one of the saddest things someone could do in life.
Patel doesn't believe in racism, and neither do I. I believe we are all equal because if you look on the inside, you will see that we are all the same. Patel was a bystander, his friends and him were bullied in high school but he just ignored them, he didn't defend himself because I think he was scared, just like in The Blokes, everyone was scared of them, just because they were white and they ruled the school. Hashim was the one who defeated them. I think that Patel wishes he could have been Hashim, the one to defeat The Blokes. Patel regrets not doing anything, and now he writes his "This I Believe" essay to advertise to other people being bullied because of their skin color, to stick up for themselves.
This He Believes.
11/30/10 READING INBETWEEN THE LINES
The reason I chose this image to describe Burmese Hip Hop is because it shows no freedom in speech. If you look at the block of wood's shape, it's a speech bubble. Someone's hands are locked inside and that person doesn't have the freedom to speech. Lots of Thxa Soe's songs have been banned and his concerts are all guarded by security ready to strike. He doesn't have the power to speak. Aung San Soo Kyi doesn't have the power to speak, but she does anyway, she's a rulebreaker, but I respect her because she is standing by what she believes in.
Burmese Hip Hop.... I know this sounds strange, but Thxa Soe is one of Burma's leading hip hop stars, his idols are Dre and Snoopdog. I think Thxa Soe does hip hop for freedom. Hip hop is something he enjoys, and people in Burma are watched, I don't think they have much freedom. Quoting back to the article, "Everything is watched in Burma, everything is scrutinised, and everything is controlled." This shows that Thxa Soe does hip hop to symbolize to everyone else that you can have freedom in Burma. You can do what you want. This must give hope to the locals because all their lives they have probably been thinking that they couldn't do what they want. But as little as one person can have a huge effect, it could even effect the whole country, like Thxa Soe is doing.
11/29/10 PAIN BEYOND IMAGINATION
I think Picasso's painting of the Guernica symbolizes pain and warfare. Look at what warfare has done to the people, it made them disformed and in pain. Well this is what I think. The image itself could be of something entirely different. But this reminds me of The Island, where one man was excluded. I know this doesn't seem like exclusion seeing as everyone is connected, but they are excluded by whoever is doing this to them. Someone must have decided to hurt these people for a reason, and they are excluding them by not accepting who they are. I think Picasso was trying to show us that war is not the answer.
In my old elementary school in the States, we had a painting of this in the hallway. I remember as a 1st Grader trying to figure out why somebody would paint something as terrible as this. Everytime I would pass this in the hallway, I would always think, "Why? Why would they put this here? Why would they paint this? Just.... why?" As a young child I had many questions, and I remember asking my art teacher, "Why did this person paint such a terrible thing?" She answered, "It's not terrible, it's art." What she said puzzled me even more, but now, I think I finally understand the meaning of the painting.
11/29/10 REVEALING THE HERO WITHIN YOURSELF
What would be a hero to you? A Hero to me doesn't have to be someone with super powers, actually, I think the real heroes are just ordinary everyday people. People such as myself. I'm not saying I am a hero, but I could be one day. I think surgeons are heroes, the best heroes of all and that's because they save lives doing what they do best. I appreciate them more than super heroes because they aren't famous, I call them the Heroes In Disguise. Nobody really knows about them, but there they are, doing something I will when I'm an adult.
Image, Christina Yang doing an operation from the TV Show, Grey's Anatomy.cribes Heroism?
11/12/10 FATMIRE FEKA
The story of Fatmire Feka is about her tragic childhood and her journey to forgiveness. Feka is a 21 year old female from Kosovo, when she was younger she witnessed war and lost her brother and sister. She saw what no child should ever see, and war left a mark on her. Her mother still lives in Kosovo waiting for some sort of news of her two missing children. Feka was only eleven when she lost both of he siblings, 10 years later, she speaks for peace. She has an organization called Kids For Peace Club which she started in 2002.
Feka's journey is all about forgiveness. Since she was a child, the press have been asking her if she had forgiven the people who killed or stole her brother and sister, and she always said no. But now that she is an adult, she notices that it's time to forgive. Forgiving this terrible action is quite difficult for her, and she's still on the road to forgiving.
Feka's story relates to The Blokes because her and Hashim have both experienced terrible things. Hashim's village was burned down, and so was her. Both her and Hashim have experienced terrible, terrible things. Hashim, Feka, and the man from The Island, are all outcasts. Hashim was an outcast because The Blokes decided to pick on him, Feka was an outcast in the war because she was fighting against war while everyone else was either in it or suffering from it, she spoke up when nobody else did and she was only eleven. The man from The Island is outcasted by everyone else because he was different and that lead to his death. Feka, Hashim and the man all have something in common. They're different.
Feka's question was "Why should we forgive those who cause pain?"
She says that she is not yet ready to forgive, but forgiveness takes time and nobody can force forgiveness. Forgiveness is for the forgiver, it releases the tension and weight it's putting on you, releases you from something that would ultimately destroy you. Forgiveness can only be given once you understand what has happened and the journey to forgiveness is not the same for everyone. Feka doesn't know who to forgive, but she says she is ready to forgive. Someday she hopes to fully understand what happened and why, she hopes for one day to place her hand on someone's shoulder and say "I forgive you."
Feka doesn't know who to forgive, but she is still trying to forgive.
Feka's story relates to The Blokes because her and Hashim have both experienced terrible things. Hashim's village was burned down, and so was her. Both her and Hashim have experienced terrible, terrible things. Hashim, Feka, and the man from The Island, are all outcasts. Hashim was an outcast because The Blokes decided to pick on him, Feka was an outcast in the war because she was fighting against war while everyone else was either in it or suffering from it, she spoke up when nobody else did and she was only eleven. The man from The Island is outcasted by everyone else because he was different and that lead to his death. Feka, Hashim and the man all have something in common. They're different.
Feka's question was "Why should we forgive those who cause pain?"
She says that she is not yet ready to forgive, but forgiveness takes time and nobody can force forgiveness. Forgiveness is for the forgiver, it releases the tension and weight it's putting on you, releases you from something that would ultimately destroy you. Forgiveness can only be given once you understand what has happened and the journey to forgiveness is not the same for everyone. Feka doesn't know who to forgive, but she says she is ready to forgive. Someday she hopes to fully understand what happened and why, she hopes for one day to place her hand on someone's shoulder and say "I forgive you."
Feka doesn't know who to forgive, but she is still trying to forgive.
References: http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr113/thetom_04/fatmirecropped.jpg
