Monday, 23 April: continue Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima

Web highlight (final exams regarding Mexican American literature and/or research reports): Misti Franklin

We are all aware of the fight the black community has been fighting for the past two hundred years but something that stuck out for me was the contrast between the positive and negative paths that black people have taken to accomplish the goals of the cause. Not having come from this community, I have never had to fight this fight for myself. Although I am empathetic to those who have fought, physically or otherwise, but if I was black, I think I would be even more angry about some of the things that the black community has done to contradict the headway already made. I decided to research this problem via the web highlights to see what other students said about this subject.

One student wrote about how rap, which at it best “is able to stand alone lyrically while bearing a strong resemblance to poetry” and “flows in verse like Malcolm or Martin did behind a microphone” but at its worst “centers on the prevalence of obscenity and profanity” and focuses on “sex, drugs, gaudy jewelry, superfluous consumerism, and violence”. This student goes on to say that the majority of rap seems to lean toward the latter description and “demeans” the work of those who message is important and meaningful (some of the positive examples she uses is Tupac Shakur’s Keep Ya Head Up and Kweli’s Respiration). The black community invented an entirely unique art form and forum for advancing the cause, then destroyed it.

Another student remembers how in black girl lost Sandra feels she has to steal and sell drugs to accomplish success even though she was shown a better, legal, way through Sammy, the store owner. The student says “Sandra lives in the ghetto, and she feels that the only way that she can get out is by selling drugs.” This is a common story in low income neighborhoods.

The King family, among others, sacrificed their lives and accomplished a great deal without violence and set a great example for future generations but this is totally shadowed by violence and illegal activities in the community. One writer, also writing about black girl lost said of Sandra and Chink that “They are constantly on the move [from the law] and there is continuous violence.”

Another subject along these same lines would be gangs and their activities but I couldn’t find anything on this subject in the past essays.

In conclusion, although it is not only not fair, but naïve to judge an entire community based on the actions of some, this is the world we live in.

A world where the news, which portrays violence and sorrow (and unfortunately black people) almost exclusively, is on 6 times a day and has its own channels incase the first six times wasn’t enough. A world where people focus on the negative. Are these things holding back this community from getting where it wants to be? I am planning on expanding on this idea for my research project, so let me hear from you. What side or sides of this argument am I not seeing?