Blog 3

Reading Mr Hughes article made me agree with him when he stated that America hasn’t made much progress on racism. Everyday on social media or on the news, we see something happening to a poor innocent black person. Its 2019 we are expected to move on past this racism stuff but, I think it’s getting worse minute of the day. We already have a racist white president, who has a whole racist group of people who glorify him with their MAGA hats on.

If people would just get past the color of people’s skins or where they come from, we could have mad way so much progress in the country by now. In the article, he states that white men earn more income than black males. I don’t think that is fair at all, because the black man you passed on might have been the next Bill Gates but instead of his skin color, he won’t get the same opportunity as the white guy. People need to wake up and stop with the discrimination. Imagine how many things could have been accomplished if people from different cultures and got together to share different ideas for different things.

People are afraid of progress, when they don’t understand something, the hate or discriminate instead of trying to understand. Yes, there are others who have changed and become more open now, but it could be better. The only time they see other people as beneficial is in sports or technology. Like you see a lot of black people in sports, but they can’t star in a movie without being in some sort of supporting role. We see a lot of Asians as being nerds but it’s hard for a black person to be seen as a genius. It’s really sad that we put people in groups without even getting to know them.

My reaction towards Smith’s reading was very powerful. The way he says he recites his poem is so blunt and moving, it gives me goosebumps. He is also entertaining so it makes it easier for me to like the poem. He reads with so much passion and not a lot of people do that, I admire it. I like how he communicates with his audience, it like they have been friends. His not shy, he lets his personality out. I could listen to him read the whole book with no complaints. He doesn’t like that the fact that he has HIV hold him back. Some people in his position  don’t have the courage to do that.

You can really feel the pain and the passion coming through his reading. If I was one of the audiences I would really have hype this man up. His great he really had me feeling him. His sassy attitude, had me yelling “yaaaasssssssss”. I would not mind being his friend. I like the way he changes his tone, to catch your attention and also to entertain the audience.

The way his poems are written is so different from the way he recites his poems.  His poems are serious and the way he ways communicating with his audience is much different. I am just so amazed by the way he presents his work and that takes passion and he has it. He is not afraid to show who he is in is performances and he says it as it is and I like that.

Hello, my name is Cynthia, but I prefer Cyn. I was born and raised in a whole different world, that I live in now. I born and raised in a beautiful country, located in East Africa called Tanzania. At the age of four my mother left for America so she could create a better home for my sister and I and so we could get better education. After my mother left, my sister and I moved to my aunt’s house in a whole other region. We don’t have states in Tanzania, but we have something like that called regions, its like moving from Georgia to New York. I had no problem living with my aunt and uncle and their three kids. I was fun, like nothing ever changed. My aunt has two sons and a daughter and since my sister and my aunt’s daughter went to boarding school, I was around the boys often and I considered them to be my brothers. That’s probably why I am a Tomboy. I always dress comfortably, like a dude you will see me walking around campus with my crew necks and sweat pants on minding my business.  

When my mom finally got the documents for me to come live in America, I was so excited. I had never been outside Tanzania nor anywhere around the continent of Africa. When I came here I was a little disappointed when everything looked the exact same. The only thing that was different were the roads and schools. If you met me, I would describe myself as, quiet, calm, respectful human being. The way I am today were because of how I was taught in boarding school back in Tanzania and my family. Everything was different when I started school here. The kids were mean to me because of my accent and since I was in boarding school, my hair was shaved and those mean middle school kids stared calling me a lesbian. After all the harshness I endured during my middle school days, I developed an introvert personality. I am not the type of person who will make the first move towards becoming your friend, or if we were in a group of friends, I definitely wouldn’t be the life of the group.

When I got to high school, I was in a whole different state. It meant meeting new people and starting all over. I started making friends and this also gave me the push to come out of my shy introvert shell. I am a little more open now, I am not afraid to let the whole world hear my accent. I try to make new friends and meeting different people and learning about their cultures, tasting different foods and learning different hobbies. My favorite hobby is playing video games. Ever since I was back in Tanzania my cousins would teach me how to play so that became my favorite thing besides Anime.