Sunday, November 30, 2014

Social Justice Project Responses



When I born, I black.
When I grow up, I black.
When I go in sun, I black.
When I scared, I black.
When I sick, I black.
And when I die, I still black.
And you white people.
When you born, you pink.
When you grow up, you white.
When you go in sun, you red.
When you cold, you blue.
When you scared, you yellow.
When you sick, you green.
And when you die, you grey…


And you calling me colored?

-Malcolm X



This poem leads us to equality in all humans and being racially classified by color. It shows that white people call black people colored yet they go through every color of the rainbow. The fact that white people call black colored does not show human equality. Color doesn't define anyone, no race is supierior to the other. Even though this poem was developed a while ago, rascisim is still a problem. More specifically, human rights and equality.








Acts of Injustice


Being homeless is a great example of injustice. Sometimes homeless people mess up their lives on their own, but the unlucky ones are born into it. This doesn't show equality and human rights. They should be entitled to food, shelter, and money from the government. There are over 56,ooo homeless individuals. They are in need of stable housing and food. New York City is home to 103 billionares, more than any other city in the world. This makes me think of how selfish people can be. Although it's none of their business, I don't blame them, but it wouldn't kill them to spare a dollar or two. Or possibly give them another chance at their life. This makes me think about being grateful because homeless people have nothing, and you only realize how much you love something once it's gone.



Ferguson,MO Rioting Live


     As I was watching the news, the riots in Ferguson, MO were being streamed live. These riots, on the streets of Ferguson, MO are destructive and unreasonable. People are rioting over the death of an unarmed African-American teenager, named Micheal Brown by the hands of a St. Louis, Missouri police officer. This rioting occurred after the officer who shot Micheal Brown was not indicted. The rioters are endangering more lives by protesting violently. For example, they were looting, burning down stores, businesses, police cars, and destroying the city. Peaceful protesting gets messages across of injustice more sensibly. If I was in the shoes of Micheal Brown's parents, I would feel overwhelmed because “my son's” death is what sparked the terror and destruction. I would tell the angry rioters to look honor Micheal's death and as a wake up call for our local politicians to train police officers more effectively all around the nation. These rioters are asking for their human rights and equality for African American citizens. They believe the white officer would not have felt threatened if Micheal Brown was white instead of being black. They are promoting equality for everyone no matter what race, gender or color a person is.


Detective Almontaser's View on How He Changes the World

Q: How does your job allow you to help change the world?

A: My job allows me to investigate and apprehend individuals who
have committed crimes against society.

Q: Do you enjoy your job?

A: Not necessarily, sometimes its not so fun. It exposes me to see
the terrible things that people can do to each other as humans.
The best part is putting a really bad guy in jail.

Q: What is the average of hours in the office?

A: The average is 65 hours a week, sometimes no days off. Depends
on what case I'm working on.

Q: What is the most amount of hours you have spent on a case?

A: Some cases only take me 2 hours of my week, but some cases will
take 100 hours of my week. It all depends.

Q: Are there any others way you change the world than your job?

A: I drive a hybrid (an eco-friendly electric car) and I recycle.

Q: What is your motto?

A: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men
to do nothing.” -Edmund Burke.
That's something I learned in the marines, that's something I took
from the marines, and that's something I took to my job.

Q: Can you share a story about your job?

A: Last Winter, we had to investigate a case of child abduction. We
were able to put clues together that the neighbor took the girl,
she was 5. It took us 2 days to get a warrant, an order from the
judge, to be able to ping the phone. Pinging a cell phone means
using cell site towers to triangulate the location. We were able to
find him in a house in NJ, and we returned the little girl to her
parents and the guy went to jail.

Our World- Both the Good and the Bad

*An interview with Nawal Almontaser, an educator in the New York City public
school system.



Q: What do you believe is good about our world and what is unfair
about our world?

A: Is there anything good about our world??? Well, what I think is
good about our world is the technological advances that our world
has achieved over time Particularly, computers, the internet and
cell phones. Major breakthroughs in medicine and science and the
abundant amount of natural resources our world provides us with.

There is however a lot of unfairness in our world...perhaps more
than there is good. Unfairness with corrupt government that only
looks out for itself and not for its people, poverty of children in
the world and within the United states and inequality based on
gender, race, sex, and socioeconomic backgrounds.


Hollywood's Perception VS Reality

I was watching a rerun of a Nickelodeon series, iCarly. iCarly is a sitcom about a teenage girl who lives with her older brother Spencer in Seattle, WA. Carly's father is in the U.S. Navy and does not live with her. Her older brother, Spencer, is her guardian and a father figure. They live in a modern fancy apartments with elevators that lead directly into their homes. I can infer they have a lot of money because they have a pretty big apartment in a big busy city, and those types of apartments can range in the hundred thousands.

The main actors on the show are middle class Caucasian teenagers, with the exception of one African American friend who live in Seattle Washington. The show portrays teens lounging around school hallways during school hours where all the drama takes place. The teens come and go as they please without parental permission or involvement. They get themselves into situations that don't seem very realistic mostly sparked by their online web show iCarly. These teens run around chasing the opposite sex and are rarely shown having any responsibilities or doing school work.

This Hollywood portrayal of teenagers influences many kids in my age group and exposes them to many mature things. Young children could stumble upon this show and find two 15 year olds making out or escaping from their fire escapes late at night. Children are exposed to content they are not educated on and make their own assumptions instead of being educated by their parents. This show exposes kids to unrealistic behavior where teenagers are always dressed to perfection with the coolest clothes, hair and makeup. These images are brainwashing children into thinking that their lifestyle is the norm and that they should be like them.




While walking through my neighborhood I observed...

  • Homeless people asking for change
  • Many idling cars - air pollution
  • Hispanic construction workers
  • Pedestrians distracted with their cell phones-hazardous to drivers



 While on my daily walk to school along 4th ave, I pass by a few construction sites. The majority of the workers are of Hispanic descent and are hired by private contractors that pay their workers a mite of money for diligent work. These workers do their jobs from dusk til dawn and they need to be paid just like the others. I can infer that they don't have enough money to buy a cell phone because I witnessed more than once, a line of construction workers at a pay phone on 10th street 4th avenue. I've also observed minimal dollars in their wallets when they open it to pay for their modest breakfast, a coffee and bagel. They deserve to be paid more for the labor that they do.

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