First off I would like to get straight to the point- Joe Oliver is an "ignorant man". It’s obvious that the voice heard in the background is the voice of an African American child, not a 28 year old. Giving that I am a young producer and I listen to audio attentively, I can confidently say that’s an African American boy in the 911 tapes screaming for his life. George Zimmerman is 11 years older than this "Minor". Keep in mind that this age difference is simultaneously similar to an infant vs. a 6th grader. How does one considers a grown man killing a “Minor” self-defense? Evidence shows that the weather consisted of rain. That’s why people wear hoodies, because it’s cold. I wear hoddies all the time in scorching weather because I find it to be comfortable. That being said, the part about Zimmerman fearing that he felt he was in danger based off Martin’s appearance shouldn’t even be in the picture. Geraldo Rivera is wrong for blaming Trayvon Martin and his parents for wearing hoodie. Also, smoking marijuana doesn’t make you a thug! I dislike the fact that Craig Sonner stereotypically attempts to subliminally argue that smoking marijuana makes one a perilous person. Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean, Bob Marley, and Hannah Montana smokes weed. Are they considered dangerous? I hope justice is served for Trayvon Martin. The police department needs to stop defending this killer and give him the death penalty.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Ethnography
On March 7, 2012, I went to Taft High School city championship game. I was assign to defamiliarize the setting. The location of the game took place at Taft High school, which is located near Northridge. One thing I noticed was astonishing was the simple fact that their known at “Toreadors” and my school which is Northridge are the “Matadors”. Culturally, I would agree that my generation is enthusiastic amongst basketball games.
In order to get into the game, I had to pay ten dollars for a ticket. Ten dollars to me is a lot of money to see a high school game. They were overpricing candy, drinks and chips. My assumption would be that all that money is being used to pay their credible coach.
Their coach is a known NBA player. He goes by the name of Jason Hart. This man is a good defender. He defended against star players such as Kobe Bryant, and Paul Pierce. Basically what I am trying to prove is that Taft Basketball has a popular head coach. Dorsey coach on the other hand was just an ordinary P.E. teacher. Please note that before this championship game, they won the year of 2011. This is where I realized that Taft has favoritism. First of all, the championship game took place that their hometown. That’s a sign of favoritism.
Another thing I annotated was their shoes. Taft basketball team is sponsored by Under Armor. Some players for Dorsey basketball team had worn-out shoes. I feel that since Taft is in the valley, they get better things. Dorsey is located in a perilous neighborhood. Is it fair that both of these schools are administered by the same district but one gets special treatment than the other? Can location be the reason why it happens that way?
Another thing that I found amusing was how my school and Taft have the same school colors. The atmosphere was hectic. People everywhere were going crazy for their team. KTLA Sports came just for this event. It was Taft High School vs. Dorsey High School. My cousin played for Taft. My whole family came to support his championship game. We even customized T-shirts that had his jersey number on it. The back of shirt was entitled “Eastside”. Other fans were asking for shirt.
On the left side of the court, fans had on green colors to support Dorsey. On the right side where I was sitting, the crowd had on red and white. These schools are rivals and have been for a long time. Throughout the whole game my cousin dominated the game. He’s only a sophomore but his role consists of him starting. Taft basically dominated the whole game. Taft had about 13 dunks, while Dorsey had none. Every time my cousin would score, the crowd would celebrate. I can tell by looking at the Dorsey fans body language that they were disappointed that their team was getting blown out. It must have been dreadful for them to watch Taft fans have a blast and celebrate for the entire game.
The culture of the game at a level like this is usually competitive. Every team wants to be known as the champs. Championship equals more recruitment from good colleges. My cousin wants to go to Syracuse which is the number one NCAA basketball teams. I was surprised at how much people came to see the game. The bleachers are usually empty during the regular season.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Minnie Riperton Class Discussion
Our class went over the short story “Minnie Riperton Saved My Life” by Luis Alfaro. Luis Alfaro, who comes from a Mexican heritage, realizes that since there school is overcrowded, they were going to be bused at a school in the valley. This particular moment made me reminisce about my childhood. Although Alfaro was only had to bus to one different school, I still can connect with him. Throughout my grade school years, I’ve been to 6 different schools in the LAUSD.
It always felt weird having to meet new friends over and over again. Although Alfaro had to get bused to school, all my schools were practically walking distance. Alfaro was going to a whole new environment. They were going to be the minority of their new school. It was mostly African-Americans at their school. At most of the schools I transferred to, it was mostly African Americans and Latinos. So in reality, I felt a bit more comfortable transferring to these schools compared to Alfaro.
Another comparison I found to be interesting is the fact that his brother joined a gang. This is interesting because my brother joined a gang practically for the same reason. He wanted to fit in. Please note that my brother feared gangs, he disliked the fact that others have to walk in a bundle just to protect each other. Personally I feel gangs are for petrifying people. That being said, just like Alfaro brother, my brother decides to join a gang. Alfaro joined a gang because he wanted to talk back and show other students that he couldn’t be pushed around. My brother joined a gang because wanted protection.
I can also relate to Alfaro because while his brother was being unproductive, Alfaro joined productive programs such as the gifted program. This is astonishing because while my brother was outside hanging with the wrong crowd, I was always in programs such as the magnet program, Boys to Men, and even sports.
What excites me most throughout this story is how one song motivated him to join the Columbia House Record Club. Being that music is my passion and it motivates me, I really respected Alfaro. Although I like hip hop and he like blues, music is music. It disturbed me when I found out that he was not getting bused to school because it was unexpected.
P.S
The picture on the left hand side is me my brother and my father at a young age. Notice my brother little brother looks all innocent.
The picture on the right hand side is the most recent picture of my brother and I. My brother now has all these tattoos, his face looks bumpy from fighting. Do you see the comparison?
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