Blog about Blogging!

See: McCandless was a man in the hole... Or maybe Cinderella?

Just skimming over my blog posts, I immediately noticed that they seem to get shorter every week. At first, I thought this was just me getting lazy... However, as I began to read, I realized that this was also actually me getting better at keeping things concise and to the point. For example, in my very first blog post, "You are what you have...?", I had an over-abundance of details and examples. Way more than I needed to make myself clear. In my most recent post, I used only one example to explain that Douglass was a big believer in God, which is a big claim to make. I can attribute this to the fact that I have gotten better at finding stronger examples. Still, if I'm really trying to compel my reader, an example shouldn't stand alone. This, I can admit, is in fact me getting a little lazy :( . In my blogging, I have to work on finding something in the middle of these two extremes so I can convince my reader without overloading them with unnecessary detail.As I continued to read, I also noticed my voice becoming a little weaker. For example, when I was reading my first post, no joke, I cracked a smile. In my earlier posts, I wasn't afraid to joke around a little with the reader and use my sarcasm. In my most recent two posts, however, I started to write more like I would write for a teacher. Perhaps this is because, as my schedule gets more crowded, I've begun to view this blog as an assignment. I've started to forget how personal and real this blog is meant to be, and rereading has certainly been a wake up call. I've been given a chance to speak in my true voice, and I should stay true to that.
However, in my defense, I've noticed that my topics become increasingly unique. Towards the beginning of the quarter, I simply blogged about what we were talking about in class. For example, when we were talking about September 11th, I blogged about my reactions to the horrible event. However, in a more recent post, I talked about how I overheard my dad's friends using what I considered an offensive word towards a black person, and how this altered my view of racism. I let what I noticed outside of the classroom lead me back to what we learned in the classroom, rather than the other way around. This, I'm proud to say, is due to my new, overly critical brain! I think this is a very significant way to grow as a blogger.
I am overall happy with the way I've grown as a blogger, and it's not because I think my writing has gotten any better. I'm happy because I now take so many things I see outside of the classroom and ask myself 'What would I say if I were to blog about this?'. Not that I would actually blog about everything I notice (sorry), but I now find myself thinking critically about things I would've never thought twice about!

Thank God

As we continue to read A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in AIS, our teachers have been urging us to decide whether or not we believe Frederick had as bad of a slave experience as all the other slaves. As I continued, I found it interesting that Frederick mentioned his belief in God more than once. For example, when Douglass speaks of how he was the one child chosen to go to Baltimore, he said that "This good spirit was from God, and to him I offer thanksgiving and praise." (page 19) However, even when actually suffering due to the horrible acts of slavery, Douglass not once renounces God. This leaves me with a question. How could someone that has had to endure so much suffering believe that there is a God letting all these terrible things happen?
Now, in no way am I trying to call Douglass's life a walk in the park. However, I believe that the slaves that had experienced the very worst of slavery couldn't possibly believe in a God that was letting this happen. This leads me to believe that Douglass had it a lot easier as a slave than many of the others.

Hold Your Tongue

Earlier this week, I was reading my assigned chapters of 'The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass', and came across an interesting thing that Douglass said. After describing how he had seen many of his fellow slaves be tricked into admitting the severity of their master, and thus getting brutally beaten or even sent away, Douglass said that 'a still tongue makes a wise head' (page 11). To me, it seems so tragic that a slave couldn't even speak their mind for fear of being beaten. Punishing someone for their honesty seems so primitive, and therefore makes sense in the unjust times of slavery.
I then began to realize, however, how that statement is still true today. I would never tell a teacher that I think their homework assignment is absurd. And if a friend showed up to school in a positively heinous outfit, I wouldn't exactly let her know.
Total honesty is a virtue that is constantly being preached, but could it be true that 'a still tongue makes a wise head', even today?

Ferocious(ly talented?)

Last night, I was fortunate enough to go to the international Poland vs. US soccer game at Soldier Field. My dad had scored an invite to the skybox of one of his Polish friends from work.
To this little crowd's extreme dislike, the first goal of the game was scored against Poland by Jozy Altidore, who also happens to be the only African American on the US National team. Everyone in the room muttered in discontent, and while I didn't understand everything they said, I remember frequently hearing the word 'dziki'. It wasn't until Altidore received a yellow card later in the match for slide tackling a Polish player that I heard the word again. When I leaned over and asked my dad what it meant, he told me that dziki meant wild and savage, and it was commonly used in Poland as slang for a black person. He must've noticed my shocked expression, because he then rushed to say that this didn't always carry a negative connotation. Sometimes, he said, people would use this word to mean that a black person has unnatural and fierce talent, uncommon to what anyone was used to seeing.
But I stood unconvinced. Was it really possible that the words wild and savage could carry different meanings in different countries? Looking it up later, I found that dziki does in fact mean wild, rugged, savage, and uncivilized. However, I also found that it  can mean 'natural'. So is it really possible that it was used to refer to Altidore's undeniable and uncommon talent, or did it imply that his ferocious 'instincts' gave him an unfair advantage over the other players? And could this be taken as a compliment? Or were they just being terribly racist and implying that he wasn't able to play by the rules?

Racism

Call me stupid, but I had really begun to think that racism had ceased to be an issue in my time, maybe because I never thought I was being racist. And of course, if you ever were to ask me if I have racist friends, I would say of course not! Why would I befriend judgmental people? But in the midst of this critical thinking we have been doing in AIS, all this picking apart and scrutinizing and questioning, I decided maybe it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to take a critical look at my own beliefs.
So on the Wednesday of last week, my volleyball team and I tied up our hair and set off on a song and laughter-filled, 45 minute drive to Waukegan school. We were excited. Why? Because New Trier had a long history of absolutely crushing Waukegan, as did most teams in our conference. In fact, I'm pretty sure Waukegan has a 0-14 record so far this season. I am looking at this critically now because Waukegan has a greater percentage of African American and Latino students than any other school in the area. Was it racist of me to assume that we could easily beat them?
If I was indeed being racist, I wasn't the only one. The second we walked into the gyms, the west bleachers erupted in hollering and laughter. 'Ooh, big shot New Trier girls! Aw, cute they all have matching ribbons! I'm surprised their jerseys don't have collars!' This was coming from the group of African American boys, undoubtedly the Waukegan girl's boyfriends and fans. Undoubtedly, these stereotypes are becoming even more apparent every single day, and I am personally beginning to feel that there's nothing I or anyone can do to change the way people think.